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This is the best time of year to discover new recipes. As the days get shorter and colder, a glossy new cookbook – and all the food-related inspiration that comes with it – can be just the thing you need. And there are plenty of new releases to sink your teeth into – whether you want to transport yourself to a sunnier country, settle down with some comfort food – or even get a head start on Christmas shopping. Some of the biggest names in food – including chef and former Saturday Kitchen presenter James Martin, BBC stalwarts the Hairy Bikers, and cult restaurateur Russell Norman – have new cookbooks out – and this is what you can expect from each of them. 1. ‘James Martin’s Spanish Adventure’ by James Martin If you were captivated by James Martin’s 20-part ITV series taking a culinary tour around Spain – from the Michelin-starred restaurants of San Sebastian to the local markets of Santiago de Compostela – you’ll want to pick up the accompanying cookbook. One of Martin’s favourite areas in the country is Toledo, “a special ancient city right in the middle of Spain”, he notes. “It’s famous for great produce including game, saffron, honey, olive oil, garlic and the list goes on.” Yorkshire-born Martin says he first fell in love with Spanish food when he came to London as a young chef, and wanted to dedicate this book to the cuisine because he “wanted people to know about the people, the fantastic variety of landscapes, and the spectacular produce available”, he says. “They have the best markets in Europe and the range of ingredients is fabulous – the seafood, the meat, the vegetables and the fruit.” In the cookbook, Martin highlights that Spanish cuisine is far more than just paella and sangria. There are plenty of recipes for traditional dishes – including tapas bites, croquetas, empanadas, Seville pork with patatas bravas and burnt Basque cheesecake – as well as classic Spanish ingredients (such as chorizo, olives and plenty of seafood). While Spain is predominantly known for meat and fish, Martin also shows some of the beautiful ways the country uses vegetables too – such as a dish for deep-fried aubergines drizzled with honey and served with a tomato sauce, and salt-baked celeriac with new potatoes and salsa. Valencia beans and red prawns “Located on the east coast, the 2,000-year-old city of Valencia boasts wide sandy beaches, striking architecture, a buzzing food scene and culture,” says Martin. “It has its own language (a dialect of Catalan) and unique cuisine, with a focus on rice, seafood and meat. This dish showcases red prawns on a bed of white beans and vegetables.” Serves: 2 Ingredients: 75ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 onion, diced ¼ leek, diced ½ carrot, peeled and diced ¼ green pepper, cored, deseeded and diced 3 bay leaves 2 whole smoked chilli peppers (or a pinch of chilli flakes) 300g cooked butter beans Splash of white wine Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped 8 red prawns, split lengthways Sea salt Method: 1. If you want to use a BBQ, heat a BBQ until hot and the coals are white. 2. Heat a medium paella pan and, when hot, add the oil, then add the garlic, all the vegetables, the bay leaves and the smoked peppers. Cook for two to three minutes, then stir in the beans, 50 millilitres of water and the wine and cook for three to four minutes. Season with salt and finish with the parsley. 3. Meanwhile, pop the prawns onto the BBQ, drizzle with oil and season with salt, then cook for two to three minutes until charred, turning once or twice. Alternatively, grill on high for three to four minutes. 4. To serve, remove the smoked peppers (if using) from the beans and then pile the prawns on top of the beans and drizzle with extra olive oil if desired. ‘James Martin’s Spanish Adventure’ by James Martin (Quadrille, £27) 2. ‘The Hairy Bikers’ Ultimate Comfort Food’ by Si King and Dave Myers It’s hard to believe Dave Myers and Si King – otherwise known as the Hairy Bikers – have been on our screens for nearly two decades, with their first BBC show airing in 2004. They’ve written plenty of cookbooks over the years – dedicated to everything from Mediterranean food to curries – and their latest is all about comfort food. In the introduction, the duo think back to what comfort food meant to them growing up – for Myers, it’s a classic chip butty, and King picks out his mother’s curries and casseroles. British classics like these permeate the book – including beef and barley stew, sausage rolls and lemon drizzle cake – but there’s a definite international flavour, with dishes inspired by Myers and King’s travels all over the world. Think soba noodles with miso mushrooms, Szechuan lamb bao buns, chipotle prawn tacos and more. While comfort food might make you think of heavy, rich dishes you want to curl up in the winter with – and those recipes are represented – there’s also a wider picture of ‘comfort’ and what it means throughout the year. Lighter recipes such as the teriyaki chicken salad and Spanish-style roasted vegetables with halloumi will bring just as much joy in the summertime. Chocolate eclairs “Possibly everyone’s top teatime pleasure, eclairs are a bit of work, but are so worth it,” say Myers and King. “Just picture yourself biting into that beautiful choux pastry filled with cream and spread with chocolate.” Makes: about 8-12 Ingredients: For the choux pastry: 115g plain flour 100g butter 2 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Pinch of salt 3 eggs, well beaten 1 tbsp icing sugar For the filling: 300ml double cream 1 tbsp icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract For the chocolate glaze: 100g dark chocolate (or 50g dark chocolate and 50g milk chocolate) 50g whipping cream 50g butter 25g golden syrup Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line two baking trays with baking parchment. Sift the flour on to another piece of baking parchment. 2. Put the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in a pan with 225 millilitres of water and a generous pinch of salt. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat until the mixture is boiling. Remove the pan from the heat. 3. Pull up the sides of the baking parchment and slide the flour into the butter and sugar mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients to form a thick paste which should come away from the sides of the pan in one solid mass. Put the pan back over a gentle heat and continue stirring with a wooden spoon for two or three minutes, until the mixture is slightly steaming and leaves a floury residue on the base of the pan. 4. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then beat for a couple of minutes more. You can then transfer the dough to a stand mixer or use electric beaters if you prefer. You will see steam escape from the dough at this point. Keep beating until the steam has subsided. 5. Gradually work in the eggs, just a couple of tablespoons at a time, until you have a thick glossy dough – it needs to be quite stiff and firm enough for you to draw your finger through it without the sides falling back in. The dough initially breaks up a lot, but eventually it will come together again. 6. Fit a large star or plain round nozzle into a piping bag and scoop the dough into the bag. If you don’t have a nozzle, simply snip off the end of the bag off – the hole should be about 2.5cm wide. 7. Pipe tiny amounts of the dough under the corners of the baking parchment on the trays to keep the parchment in place. For large eclairs, pipe eight lines of dough, as evenly as possible, on to the baking trays, making each one about 15cm long. To make sure they don’t spread to an oval shape, pipe them slightly wider at each end. To make slightly smaller eclairs, pipe 12 lines of about 10cm long. Wet your fingers and smooth out the ends of the eclairs if peaks have formed. If you haven’t used a star nozzle, run a fork along the length of each one. 8. Dust the eclairs with the icing sugar – this will help them darken and crisp up in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes by which time they should have formed a crust. Use a skewer to poke holes in each end of the eclairs so steam can escape from their centres, then continue to bake for another eight to 10 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar. Leave the eclairs in the oven for about half an hour – this will help make sure they are crisp all the way through. 9. To make the filling, whip the cream until it is stiff, then fold in the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Chill for half an hour. 10. For the glaze, put the chocolate, cream, butter and golden syrup into a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Melt together gently to make a fairly thin ganache. 11. To fill the eclairs, cut three holes in the base of each one. Fill a piping bag with the cream and pipe it into the holes. Squeeze the eclairs lightly – they should feel nicely full. Dip each filled eclair in the chocolate glaze – this gives a much better coverage than trying to spread it – then leave them in the fridge to set. These are best eaten on the same day they are made as the pastry will eventually soften, but they will keep for up to 48 hours. ‘The Hairy Bikers: Ultimate Comfort Food’ by Si King and Dave Myers (Seven Dials, £25) 3. ‘Brutto’ by Russell Norman Russell Norman’s debut cookbook, Polpo, won the Inaugural Waterstones Book of the Year back in 2012, and anything the London restaurateur has done since has always been hotly anticipated. For his latest cookbook, Norman has turned his sights on Florence. Named after one of his London restaurants, “brutto” is the Italian word for ugly, and references the Italian expression, “brutto ma buono” – ugly but good. Tuscan cuisine is known for meat, offal, game and beans, Norman explains in the introduction – and these are all represented in the cookbook, albeit with a few more veggie options than you might seen in a traditional Florentine kitchen. You’ll learn a lot about food in Florence from Brutto – such as the city’s passion for wine bars, where antipasti such as coccoli (fried dough balls served with prosciutto and soft cheese) and deep-fried courgette flowers are served. Some of the recipes are Italian classics you’ll know about – such as tagliatelle with ragu and asparagus risotto – and others are more unusual, deeper dives into Italian cuisine – think Florentine-style fried chicken or an oven-baked spinach dish cooked with eggs, cream, Parmesan and a dash of nutmeg. Tuscan food is largely known as peasant food – meaning it’s relatively cheap and easy to make, while still being packed full of flavour. Spinach and ricotta dumplings “Gnudi translates as ‘naked’, as these little dumplings are the most nude and simple form of homemade pasta you can make,” says Norman. “The combination of spinach and ricotta is a very traditional marriage and appears in much of the pasta of the region, in ravioli and crespelle for example. It’s a very satisfying process, and easy enough for children to help with in the kitchen if you want to encourage an early interest in Italian cooking for little chefs.” Serves: 4 Ingredients: 500g baby spinach leaves, washed 50g ‘00’ flour 250g ricotta 1 large free-range egg, beaten 150g grated parmesan Flaky sea salt Black pepper ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg 250g semolina 100g butter A large handful of sage leaves Method: 1. Steam the spinach for three minutes over a large pan of boiling water. Thoroughly drain and squeeze to remove the excess water, then chop the leaves finely. Set aside. 2. Mix the flour with the ricotta in a large bowl until it resembles lumpy breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg and two-thirds of the Parmesan. Add a pinch of salt, a twist of black pepper, the nutmeg and then add the spinach. Combine thoroughly with a wooden spoon or with your hands. 3. Put half the semolina into a bowl and shake the rest on to a baking sheet or a tray. Take small lumps of the flour, egg and spinach mixture and form them into small balls by rolling them between your palms, to the size of large olives. Turn each ball through the bowl of semolina, then place on the tray you’ve prepared with the rest of the semolina. When finished, you should have 24–30 little balls. 4. Fill a very large pan with water and bring to a rolling boil. Place the gnudi in the boiling water as quickly as possible, bringing it back to the boil on the highest heat, and continue to simmer for about three minutes. 5. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and add the sage leaves. When it bubbles, reduce to a very low heat. This should take no more than two minutes, while the gnudi are cooking. 6. The gnudi will float to the surface when they are ready. Turn off the heat, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain the excess water on kitchen paper. Place on four warmed plates, pour the butter and sage over the top, then evenly distribute the remaining Parmesan. Add a flourish of black pepper. ‘Brutto’ by Russell Norman (Ebury Press, £32) Read More From a £22 bag of pasta to £28 sandwich – why do they cost so much? How to host a dinner party for under £2 per portion Pearly Cow, Margate, restaurant review: Go for the steak, but stay for the potatoes Three authentic Thai recipes to try at home What does Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt cook at home? Three recipes that prove traditional Irish food is better than you think

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A father-of-three and his pet Labrador, both of whom were diagnosed with kidney cancer just months apart, are now enjoying what little time they have left together after the project manager’s cancer went into remission while his “best friend” only has a short time left to live. Simon O’Brien, 48, had already been crushed by the news that his eight-year-old golden lab, Bella, had just months to live after she was diagnosed with kidney cancer, when he discovered that he too was suffering from the condition in 2022. Both started experiencing similar symptoms, feeling constantly tired and thirsty, before scans revealed they had potentially lethal lumps on their kidneys, which were later diagnosed as cancer. Convinced his days were numbered, Simon visited the Marie Curie website to plan his own funeral and get his family affairs in order, even writing future letters for his three children, Ivy, 27, Callum, 18, and Niamh, 14, to open on big occasions. Thankfully, this proved to be unnecessary when he found out his cancer was in remission earlier this year after undergoing a seven-hour emergency surgery and having his kidney removed. The surgery is sadly too risky for Bella, who only has a short time to live, and so Simon is now making the most of what precious time they have left. “If you are not an animal person, then you probably don’t get it, but if you are are, then you understand,” said Simon, who lives with his wife Ruth in Aintree, Merseyside, and works as an IT project manager for NTT Data. “She is my best friend and is so much more than a dog to us, she is family. “It was like a bolt out of the blue and having two cancers in the family at the same time has been awful. “You are aware of the burden you put on others, even though they might not show it, you can see their worry and concern.” Alarm bells went off when Bella started losing weight, sleeping more and drinking lots of water in May 2022. “Bella was your typical, cliche Labrador – just a family dog, who is always happy and loves playing with children,” said Simon. “She was usually very prim and proper and groomed herself, but she had stopped and constantly had her tail between her legs, which was unusual, so we knew something was wrong.” The family took Bella to the vet, who referred her to a specialist animal hospital in Chester, where a scan confirmed she had terminal kidney cancer. “The vet said there was nothing they could do and she had months to live, and to enjoy our time left with her and make memories,” said Simon. “We’ll get her on some meds and make the most of the time you’ve got.” A few months later [October 2022], Simon, a keen half marathon runner and member of the Liverpool Running Club, started feeling exhausted after his routine training. “I was struggling to finish a training session with the guys and thought I must have really let myself go during the pandemic,” he said. “But then I found myself getting really tired and thirsty, and losing weight without wanting to.” Oblivious, he visited his GP and was referred to his local hospital for tests in November where a CT scan revealed a mass on his right kidney. He said: “(They) told me over the phone that they had found a mass on my right kidney, that they suspected it was cancer and that there was a chance it had spread to my lymph nodes. “At that point I was feeling pretty rubbish because I had continued to lose weight and was feeling very weak.” Simon and Ruth decided to break the devastating news to their children that same month. “Telling the kids was one of the hardest things, but we decided it was best to all go through it together,” he said. “Of course we played out the best-case scenario to them because they are only young. “Quietly to myself I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, I cant believe this, me and my poor dog. “At least I can get the op.” Fearing the worst, Simon launched into preparing his funeral and wrote a series of letters for future special occasions like his children’s big birthdays and weddings. “I was hoping for the best but planning for the worst,” he said. However, his cancer is now in remission after he underwent a seven-hour emergency operation at Royal Liverpool University Hospital to remove his kidney in December. “We only officially got the news last month,” he said. “Seeing the sense of relief on family and friends’ faces was very emotional – a real good feeling.” Sadly, the same cannot be said for Bella, whose cancer is terminal. Despite this, Bella, who is on £600 worth of medication a month, has lived far longer than was originally expected. “The medication is very expensive but has been amazing, and after a week or so we pretty much had her back,” Simon said. “The one thing we have kept going is taking her to the beach because she loves the waves, and for five or ten minutes she’ll forget everything and be a puppy again.” Simon, who stopped working after his diagnosis, heaped praise on his employer NTT Data, which has continued paying his salary throughout his ordeal. Determined to enjoy his time left with Bella he has since embarked on a Park Run challenge to raise money for Marie Curie, which supports terminally-ill people and their families at the end of life with care, information and support. “Everything on the Marie Curie website was in one place with support on finances, funerals, wills and all the practical information you need when you are in that situation,” he said. “It removed the worry and gave me all the information to protect my family’s future. “I wrote letters for my children and even planned my funeral songs. “It gave me peace of mind whereas my health was out of my control.” Dr Laura Chapman, medical director at the Marie Curie Liverpool Hospice, said: “This is such a sad situation, to have Simon and Bella diagnosed with the same type of cancer at the same time is something I have never heard of in my medical career. “The chances of a dog getting this relatively unusual cancer at the same time as her owner are around a million to one. It’s heartbreaking for the family who are now making cherished memories with Bella.” Matt Williams, associate director of information and support at Marie Curie, said: “I am glad that our website was there at a time when Simon needed it most. People with shock diagnosis often have nowhere to turn and need information fast. “So we have created a one-stop information hub to help people put their affairs in order and plan their funeral and finances when the worst happens.” To find help or support, visit the Marie Curie website at www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support To find out more about Simon and Bella’s Park Run fundraising challenge, visit www.justgiving.com/page/si1of75. Read More Does sunscreen expire, what does SPF mean and which type is best? ‘Fearful’ Shannen Doherty shares devastating cancer update Cancer patients face worsening treatment delays due to lack of staff, finds report

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