Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom

“It’s taken me a long life to know for sure that life is for living, and that hard graft has to be worth it.
So, if you are whacked, short of time or just don’t like cooking, cheating is fine. I cheat all the time, and I LOVE cooking.”
—PRUE LEITH

“There’s nothing quite so charming as a true grande dame of cuisine tackling a contemporary technique—and nailing it…‘Hip, hip hooray!’” —BOOKLIST 

“Practical and inventive…sure to inspire” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 

Chef and TV legend Dame Prue Leith brings us the cookbook you’ve always wanted – 80 delicious recipes, with accompanying kitchen shortcuts and hacks, for a lifetime of easy cooking. 

Every recipe in this book comes with a handy tip, plus you’ll find over 25 videos accessed by a QR code to help you learn a skill or get ahead.

Coined by Shirley Conran in her ’70s bestseller Superwoman, ‘Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom’ is a phrase that every time-poor cook can relate to. In this clever cookbook, you’ll find really good recipes without the fuss: recipes where a neat trick can save you time, recipes where the cheat versions taste just as good as the home-made, and recipes to help you avoid waste and save you money. How do you cook the perfect steak? What’s the best way to dice an avocado? And what about when it just all goes terribly wrong?

With recipes including Celeriac Rémoulade with Prosciutto, Rocket and Pine Nuts, Crispy Pork Belly, Buttermilk Chicken, Sushi for Scaredy-cats, Chocolate Almond Torte and Cherry Clafoutis, Prue’s handy hacks show you how a little bit of insight goes a long way.

Perfect for every home cook, the absolute beginner, or someone who has been doing it so long that cooking has somehow lost its attraction – Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom contains years of culinary know-how and inspirational meals, squashed into an accessible cookbook. 

Recipes include:

• Chicory, Pear, Hazelnut and Goat’s Cheese Salad
• Gunpowder Steak with Coriander Chutney
• Tomato, Chilli and Fennel Sugo with Spaghetti
• Herbed Salmon Parcels
• Brown Sugar Meringue, Roasted Pear and Salted Caramel Sauce
• Passionfruit Yoghurt Cakes
• Baked Camembert and Olive Wheel

Prue Leith has been at the top of the British food scene for nearly sixty years. She has seen a huge success not only as founder of the renowned Leith’s School of Food and Wine, and proprietor of the Michelin-starred Leith’s Restaurant, but also as a caterer, teacher, TV cook, food journalist, novelist, and cookery book author. She’s also been a leading figure in campaigns to improve food in schools, hospitals and in the home. Well known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off and the Great American Baking show, she also has her own ITV program, Prue’s Cotswold Kitchen. Prue was born in South Africa which she visits regularly to check up on The Prue Leith Culinary Institute, the country’s top chef school. She is married to retired fashion designer John Playfair and between them they have 11 grandchildren.

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