The debut cookbook from critically acclaimed chef Brendan Collins with 100 recipes to impress your mates Are you looking for tasty, no bullshit food? You've come to the right place. Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes is for every bloke searching for inspiration and a solid guide to good cooking. Brendan's 100 straightforward recipes can help any modern man broaden his kitchen skills―from making proper vinaigrette to the foolproof technique for braising meat. Brendan covers everything, from super simple side dishes, such as Roasted Winter Vegetables and Burrata Salad, to game day nibbles such as Spiced Lamb Shanks, Homemade Pita Breads, and Spiced Yogurt Dip, and ending with desserts; the book wouldn't be complete without his famous Sticky Toffee Pudding. Sometimes it's about a quick meal thrown together on the fly―mushrooms on toast, or a lamb burger charred up nicely on the grill―but when you have some time to tinker, Brendan will show you how to roast a pig's head to glistening, golden perfection, cure your own duck prosciutto, and put up jars of silky, savory caramelized onion compote for a crazy flavor boost. Over time, you'll grow into a solid, intuitive cook―just wait and see. So go ahead; roll up your sleeves and get cooking. One of those extra special cookbooks you want to read and cook your way through from cover to cover. (Curtis Stone From The Foreword ) Dude Food with serious technique to back it up. It's a fun read, as it should be, with 100 recipes and bits about things such as "all parts of the pig," bad chips andfootball cookery. This is very accessible food, with chef-y foundations, meant to make you reach for a pint while you turn the pages, get hungry and, inevitably, decide that you should make milk-poached smoked salmon while you figure out how to find that rugby match on television. (Amy Scattergood Los Angeles Times ) COOKING FOR BLOKES and ARTICHOKES: A Modern Man's Kitchen Handbook by chef Brendan Collins is the perfect gift for your favorite Dad, granddad, uncle, or friend for Father's Day. I have followed Brendan Collins through the restaurants he has cooked at including Palihouse, Waterloo & City, and now Birch. I still marvel at his clean flavors and straightforward style of cooking. To quote the British chef: “no bullshit bloke, no bullshit food.” Highlights include: Stilton and onion marmalade grilled cheese; quinoa and shellfish paella; roasted duck breast with figs and farro; arugula salad with smoked almonds and crispy shallots; and his famous sticky toffee pudding. (Laurie Burrows Grad Epicurious.com ) Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes: A Modern Man's Kitchen Handbook is directed to men seeking a basic guide to good cooking and pairs stories and recipes in the process of discussing how to produce food from scratch with foolproof results. From a basic introduction on kitchen tools and how to use them to a recipe collection designed to impress yet which excels in simplicity, Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes includes such dishes as Roasted Duck Breast with Figs and Farro, Pigs in Blankets, Octopus Salad, and more. User-friendly introductions to each dish makes for a cookbook which will appeal to men who look for cookbooks that presume no prior knowledge but don't 'dumb down' their ingredients or their advice for novices. The result is an excellent blend of innovative and fancy-sounding fare that men will relish. ( California Bookwatch ) Brendan Collins is executive chef of Birch, Larry's, and The Corner Door in Los Angeles. He has appeared on Spike TV's "Bar Rescue" and MTV's "House of Food," as well as The Esquire Channel's "Knife Fight." Drawing on his training in butchery and belief in using the whole animal, Collins is dedicated to using only the best ingredients and cooking food that he likes to eat. He worked at several prominent restaurants in London, including those of Marco Pierre White, before moving to L.A. He combines impeccable French technique, seasonal California ingredients, and his inimitable "British lad" attitude to his cuisine.