Above And Beyond - A Collection Of Recipes From Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel

It is here! Finally! The Singapore Airlines cookbook, written by is panel of celebrity chefs. I had it ordered online at its Kris Shop, and it came in a UPS sealed envelope, in mint condition! That is the efficiency of SIA!

While looking through this, I notice that there are lots of interesting recipes - some are straight forward, some not so straight forward. The recipes and pictures are so delicious that I felt like eating them there and then!

But the first question that went through my mind was that : are these recipes and food actually served on airplanes?

Personally, in all my years of taking airplanes, I have never come across food that is so beautifully prepared and presented. The airplane food I have partaken all come in a box, like the Japanese bento set, or else would be a normal kind of set meal. I have never eaten such beautiful and delicious creations as in the book!

I cannot wait to go back and try out the recipes in there! Hopefully my concoctions will not be disastrous!

The Good Housekeeping All Colour Cook Book

Due to a very kind lady, I am now the owner of another great cook book - The Good Housekeeping All Colour Cook Book. I first came across this cook book at her place and was looking through it. The next thing I knew, she saw me again and passed it to me!

The book has over three hundred recipes, as can be seen. It contains classic recipes like Chicken Cordon Bleu, French Onion Soup, Cakes and other traditional recipes. Now I have another cookbook for my collection, really cannot wait to try out the recipes!

The Cooking Book

I found another "treasure" yesterday! After I saw this cookbook of all cookbooks at a friend's place, I have been wanting to get my hands on it. This is the absolute bible for cooking beginners. Every recipe is illustrated, ie there is a picture of every ingredient used, how the dishes turn out, and it comes equipped with a shopping list stating how many servings in how much quantity of ingredients, as well as a DVD on cooking demonstration!

What can be better than that - a cookbook with practical instructions and detailed pictures so you can never get the overall output wrong? I cannot wait to try out the French Onion Soup recipe and compare it to that one in the Le Cordon Bleu cookbook I have!

Here are some samples of recipes from the pages.

Le Cordon Bleu At Home

I have been trying to whip up a full meal for ages, instead of various dishes here and there. So I referred to the cookbook of all cookbooks - Le Cordon Bleu At Home, written by the chefs and trainers of Le Cordon Bleu Paris itself and published by them too.

The book is divided into three sections - Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced. Every section has about a hundred recipes or so, and every recipe is a full meal, starting from the appetizer to the main course, ending with dessert. For instance, there is a Peach Mixed Fruit Salad, Duck Confit and Poached Pear in one recipe.

As expected, the famous Beouf Buguignon is under the Intermediate section. Although the beginners section looks to be a bit too advanced for me too! The prologue to the book includes kitchen skills, the different utensils, the different measurements, and every section also touches on how to bone poultry and how to remove all the innards of a fish.

In short, this is a chef's bible. If there is a cookbook you must have on fine dining, this should be the book. Afterall, every recipe lets you whip up a full meal, what can be better than that?