Ross Dobson's 3 Ways With... Stale Bread

How do you use your cookery books? Are you the methodical type that chooses a recipe, following every exacting amount and precise ingredient to the point of chasing across town for the last packet of Nigella seeds? Or maybe you're the kind of cook who turns to a recipe book for inspiration, voraciously reading the book from cover to cover only to realise you have none of the ingredients - so you retreat to the kitchen ravenously wolfing down a sandwich, because Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Italy has made you very, very hungry...

But if you are one of those people who looks in the fridge, makes a quick inventory of ingredients, turns straight to the index of a cookery book, thinking "now what can I make with some Camembert, half a tomato and two slices of bacon?" - Then Ross Dobson's 3 Ways With... Stale Bread, is the book for you.

Ross Dobson, Aussie chef and food writer has made an ingredient-led recipe book to end all ingredient-led recipe books. Cleverly appealing to the cook who 'makes do' with what they have in the cupboards. Dobson picks a main ingredient and writes three recipes around it - so puff pastry can either be Lamb Wellington or Hot Apple Danish. Frozen Peas are Rigatoni with Pea, Aubergine and Mint Sauce or Pea Soup with Crispy Prosciutto and Ricotta Toasts via a simple but effective Pea Curry. Divided into three chapters, The Fridge, The Freezer and The Pantry, 3 Ways includes one hundred ingredients with everything from sour cream to broad beans, soft tofu to hand-cut ham. The emphasis is on taking an ingredient and creating a framework for a great dish. Nothing is fiddly, time consuming in its preparation or more than a few ingredients long. It's a truly innovative concept, right down to the bright, colourful, funky photographs of the produce in their packages.

Dobson's inspiration for the book was obviously finding something to make around a stale baguette, and in these three recipes he excels with: Pasta with Chilli Crumbs, Crumbed Prawns with Plum Sauce and Parmesan and Herb Crumbed Lamb Cutlets. In our fast paced world, with ever more exotic ingredients becoming available, yet set against the backdrop of a food revolution reminding us of less-waste, Ross Dobson's 3 Ways With Stale Bread, couldn't come at a more perfect time.