Tweet Treats

Originally written for http://www.culch.ie

Tweet Treats – Book Review

Tweet Treats is a recipe book that was conceived on Twitter.  All the recipes in Tweet Treats are in under 140 characters or less as submitted to compiler and editor Jane Travers over the medium of Twitter. There are over 1000 recipes in all. 140 of those were submitted by celebrities ranging in talent and glamour from Keith Barry to Paula Abdul, Neil Gaiman to Ryan Tubridy. The rest came from your average tweeps including a couple from little old me! It contains a foreward and some great cooking tips from Marco Pierre White. All the royalties of the book go the deserving charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

But there’s only one way to review a cookbook. This is how my Tweet Treat day went:

8am: breakfast: Look longingly at @HazelkLarkin’s Tropical Breakfast “1 ripe papaya, 1 fresh lime. Seed, peel & chop papaya. Squeeze limejuice over papaya. Eat. Yum.” but as papaya is not really one of my store cupboard items, I leave it for another day and go with @Countrylets Fruity Porridge instead. “Boil 450ml watr, 1tbsp b/sugr, 1tsp cinmn, 2tbsp map/syrup. Lower heat add 75g oats, stir 5min, remove from heat. Stir in apples, sultanas. Serve” Deliciously good start.

11am: I swear porridge makes me hungrier. I peruse the snacks. Spy @LevParikian’s Perfection “Really good Stilton, a russet apple, walnuts. Maybe a glass of port. No need to muck around but take time to savour flavours.” but as it’s a tad early for port, mark it for later and go with @JenOConnell of SBP’s Instant Croque Monsieur instead. “Toast 1 side of bread. Grated swiss, drizzle cream, smidge mustard. Mix, spread on other side of bread, grill.” Sure beats Starbucks CM offering.

1pm Lunch: Prepare @SarahBrownUK’s (yes, the former PM’s wife) Easy Vegetable Soup. “Add chopped leek, carrot, potato to homemade chicken or veg stock, heat for 20 mins & season, yum.” Smells good. Leave it to simmer while I collect the kids. Surprise surprise, one eats it and asks for more the other looks at me like I’ve offered him bread and dripping. Not wanting to give up yet I throw him together @campbellclaret’s (Alistair Campbell) Easiest Snack “Two slices of toast in toaster. Open tin of beans. Cook beans on stove. Pour beans on toast when beanjuice is sizzling” Success – but then I knew he’d go for that.

I’m off to a meeting later, everyone’s expected to take goodies to share. I study the generous selection of desserts. Some look delicious, some incredibly simple @Tracytid’s Golden Biscuit Cake “Melt 125g butter, 3tbsp golden syrup, bash 200g biscuits, mix together, put in tray in fridge for a couple of hrs. Eat” some as complicated as 140 characters will allow. @justinbrownchef of Masterchef UK has one there for crème brûlée. @mduffywriter has one in there for Chocolate Body Paint. You know what? You want those recipes, buy the book and look them up yourselves. I went with @goodtoweet’s Lemon Cake. I didn’t end up bringing any home again which is always a good sign.

I spent a long time wondering what to make for dinner. There’s large fish, poultry and meat sections. A section for pasta and rice dishes and a decent vegetarian and vegan section. I’m overwhelmed by choice. All look achievable and most look like everyone here would eat them. With the exception of my own Spiced Lentils. Must’ve been having an ambitiously healthy day the day I tweeted that one. I look at the mess in my kitchen after the day’s culinary escapades and one recipe stands out: @Glinner (Graham Linehan’s) beef recipe: “Step 1. Order take-out…”

Tweet Treats Compiled and Edited by Jane Travers. Published by The O’Brien Press. ISBN 978-1-84717-302-7 Price €7.99/£6.99 Proceedds to Medicins sans Frontieres. Available from Amazon.co.uk, Book Depository, Waterstones, Eason, Dubray Books, O’Brien Press and all good bookshops.