Lucky dip - Marie Claire, basil and mint and Donna Hay. Easy and elegant.

It's Sunday, a dull day and I'm tired and uninspired, so it's a lucky dip - which turned out to be the book on the right. I think it also happens to be one of the first books written by Donna Hay who must have started out writing for Marie Claire. And when I think about it a very large number of cookbook writers began by writing columns and/or articles for various magazines. Robert Carrier springs to mind. I have two Marie Claire books and the second is very similar in style and format but written by Michelle Cranston not Donna Hay.

Marie Claire is actually mostly a fashion magazine with a much longer pedigree than I had realised. The picture on the left is of the cover of the first edition - back in 1937! It was begun by Jean Prouvost and Marcelle Auclair, which is maybe where the title came from. Provoust retired in 1979 and handed over to his daughter Evelyne who apparently took over L'Oréal, so I'm not sure whether the current French Marie Claire is part of L'Oréal or not. And interestingly all the different international editions appear to be owned by different companies who presumably have licensed the name. In Australia I think it is the Murdochs.

Anyway Marie Claire continues still and certainly continues to publish cook books, although Donna Hay branched out on her own a long time ago. Indeed she now has her own quarterly magazine.

I have mentioned before that, superficially at least Donna Hay is about style rather than substance. Her books and magazines are superbly designed and produced. As is this particular book. The emphasis is on quick, fresh, easy but above all stylish. And this book is no exception.

It is divided into sections such as lemon + lime, chillies, garlic, cinnamon + spice and as luck would have it I opened it at the first page of the section on basil + mint. The section is introduced with this full page very close-up, but simple and elegant photograph. I've cropped the top and bottom but the photograph takes up a whole page.

Each section of the book begins with a double page spread of quick and easy ideas of things to do with the ingredient in question. Basil and mint have the following quick ideas. If you click on the pictures they will fill your screen and you will be able to see what they are.

good ideas 1

good ideas 2

As you can see they are all indeed very simple and very elegant. But are they tasty? Yes indeed they are. Try them. I haven't actually made this particular pesto but it's basically the same as Stephanie Alexander's which is the one I use, and really the same as anybody else's. They are all worth trying. One - the salt - is so simple they do not even bother to explain.

And there are recipes to follow - most of which are hardly any more difficult. Here are two:

CHICKEN IN BASIL AND COCONUT BROTH

2 cups coconut cream

3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons shredded ginger

2 red chillies, seeded & chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

3 fresh coriander roots, bruised

3 chicken breast fillets, sliced

1 cup shredded fresh basil

100g bean sprouts

Place the coconut cream, chicken stock, ginger, chillies, fish sauce and coriander roots in a large, deep frying pan over medium hear and bring to a slow boil. Allow the broth to simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken to the pan and stir. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir through the shredded basil. Pile the bean sprouts into shallow serving bowls. Top with the chicken and spoon the broth over the top. (I think I might be tempted to then remove the coriander roots.)

GRILLED RUBY GRAPEFRUIT

2 ruby grapefruit

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup chopped fresh mint

Halve the grapefruit. Place the sugar and mint in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Press the grapefruit into the sugar and mint mixture and place, cut-side down in a hot frying pan and cook for 4 minutes or until golden, caramelised and warm.

Serve for breakfast, brunch or dessert.

Now how easy is that?

I'm guessing you could grill it too - after all it is called grilled ruby grapefruit.

I remember when I got this book I sat in the garden and read it through in one session, telling myself all the time that I should try this or try that. And I haven't. I really would love to try that soup, but I know I won't because my husband doesn't like either coconut or chilli. So I shall have to wait for an occasion when he is not there - which is not really going to happen.

I have recently been trying a few of Donna Hay's recipes. I have one book of hers and a couple of the magazines and the recipes are worth having a go at. I think I have been put off by one of my sons scoffing at her - not sure why. Perhaps because of the thought that anything that beautiful couldn't possibly be good too. But oh yes it can.