Welcome to Off The Shelf, the monthly series where we dust off the cookbook shelves and commit to cooking properly from one book every month. Rediscover the joy of flipping through the pages of a well-thumbed cookbook, add some new meals to your repertoire and see what happens when you step away from the endless scroll of online recipes.
Skye McAlpine is a cool girl. Not in the Rosamund Pike sort of way of course, but the kind that, should you be invited round for an evening meal, you’d be greeted at the door with an ice-cold, perfect martini and an effortlessly chic table with mismatched chairs and seasonal fruit piled high on vintage cake stands. With one foot in Venice and another in London, McAlpine’s approach to entertaining is laid-back yet impressive, unfussy yet rich in flavour. It’s the sort of food that encourages conversation and connection, created to be shared and enjoyed with those you love.
Why ‘A Table For Friends’?
It is a book without pretence or complicated technique, just genuinely beautiful food that makes you want to open another bottle and stay a while. Her recipes are rooted in Italian cooking but adapted to real life. She knows that despite our intentions we may not have 4 hours to roll, fill and fold our own tortellini like a true Nonna, but that’s perfectly fine. These aren’t recipes designed to showcase your technical prowess, they’re designed to bring people together around a table laden with good things. McAlpine understands the art of the menu, centring each meal around one star dish supported by a constellation of easy sides that guests can help themselves to. It's the kind of cooking that makes hosting feel less like a performance and more like a gathering of friends. Which, of course, is sort of the point.
The Show Stoppers: The Honey-Roast Poussins were everything a centrepiece should be; theatrical, beautiful and utterly worth the fuss (which actually wasn’t very much at all). There is something impressive about a whole bird plonked on everyone's plates and the honey caramelised to perfection, leaving those wonderful golden, sticky bits. When paired with the spiced plums, which were halved and simply roasted with a touch of sugar and seasoning, it created a rich and unctuous autumn dish that sang with notes of spice and warmth, a good reminder of why the pairing of stone fruit and bird goes back centuries.
The New Regulars: Walnut Soda Bread became an unexpected star this month, the making of bread on a Monday morning a dreamy way to start the week and one which actually requires very little effort. With no kneading, proving or waiting around for the dough to rise, it’s simply a matter of mix-shape-bake with a satisfying, rustic loaf waiting and willing to soak up any sauces or soups. It's the sort of recipe that makes you feel rather smug about your baking abilities, even when you've done very little to earn it.
The Other Side: I’ve come to learn that I am a carbonara purist and not much can convince me that the addition of any sort of cream is ever needed, so the Rigatoni with Mascarpone and Pancetta - whilst utterly delicious and nary a scrap remained - was too close to encroaching on an unbeatable classic. And then there was the pannacotta incident. A misread of the gelatine sheets resulted in what can only be described as a caramel puddle. It tasted wonderful, but required a spoon and a certain suspension of expectations about what pannacotta should look like. A reminder, perhaps, that even the most foolproof recipes require the cook to actually read the instructions properly. No fault of McAlpine’s, of course…
What We Actually Learned
Above all, this is a reminder to enjoy the art of hosting. To do what you can ahead of time, not over complicate things and focus on creating memories with friends over a beautiful table rather than sweating over unnecessary detail. Plenty of the recipes can be prepared ahead, leaving you to enjoy the day. The recipes are helpfully arranged into menu suggestions, inspired by the season, group size or style of cooking, showing you how to build a meal with a formula that takes the stress out of cooking and allows for plenty of make-ahead elements. One impressive centrepiece, a couple of easy sides, something sweet to finish. It's a formula that works, and it takes the stress out of entertaining because you're not trying to execute six complicated dishes simultaneously while your guests arrive. Instead, you're calmly pulling a tray of roasted vegetables from the oven and arranging plums on a platter, looking far more composed than you have any right to be.
McAlpine's approach is refreshingly honest about what home cooking can and should be - delicious, yes, but also achievable. Not every meal needs to be a statement. Sometimes it just needs to taste good and bring people together. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a reminder that food is best when shared. 'A Table For Friends' isn't just a collection of recipes; it's an invitation to gather people around your table and feed them well.
Next Month
As the nights draw in and autumn fully settles around us, there's no better time to curl up with what is, in my humble opinion, the best food writer there is. Next month, we're cooking from Nigel Slater's 'A Cook's Book'. Expect seasonal wisdom, poetic prose, and the kind of recipes that feel less like instructions and more like gentle suggestions from a friend who happens to be a genius in the kitchen. See you then.