Real Fast Food Nigel Slater, ISBN 0141029501, Penguin

Some days I get a little too engrossed in my work and realise the troops will soon be home and I have missed the market. This book is my secret weapon - it has a selection of good recipes using canned fish and I always have salmon, tuna etc in the pantry.

Slater is a great practical cook and I like his style of food. This title has 350 recipes that are ready to eat in 30 minutes. This book was first published in 1992 and I picked my copy up in a secondhand bookshop. More recent editions are available online.

The Improvisational Cook Sally Schneider ISBN 978-0-06-073164-8 William Morrow (an imprint of Harper Collins) RRP $78.99

This book is all about mastering basic techniques and recipes and then going forth and improvising. You think outside the square and allow ideas to develop organically. What would happen if...? It's a substantial book and there are many basic recipes to use as a springboard. Current inspiration is coming from the section on pan-fried fish. I generally dust the fish with plain flour and shallow-fry. Rice flour makes a good alternative to wheat flour. The addition of some curry powder will soon have the cook thinking of other things to marry with the dish - maybe some chutney, a cucumber raita, some baby poppadums.

Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch Gordon Ramsay ISBN 1-84400-280-2, Quadrille Publishing Ltd

I bought this book on the strength of one of the recipes which was served at Ramsay's book launch lunch in Melbourne last October. It was a spiced aubergine puree which was served with roast rump of lamb and herbed couscous. All the food was good but the puree was particularly delicious.

Sunday lunch was invariably a roast when I was growing up. These days, it’s often a brunch at a local restaurant. But there’s something good about getting together with friends at home and enjioying an unfussy collection of delicious dishes.

This book, produced in conjunction with The F Word, is the place to seek inspiration. From serious joints of meat to warming soups with a twist and delicious desserts, this is a kitchen bench book rather than a coffee table volume. It takes all the dishes served on the series and arranges them into 25 menus, each featuring a starter, main course and a pudding, plus a timetable and all sorts of helpful hints, such as carving and what to do when things go wrong.

The recipes are easy to follow – and the photos show the finished product just as it looks when cooked at home. A favourite is Italian Sausages with Lentils.

Brit Spice by Manju Malhi, ISBN 0-141-00602-1, Penguin

Malhi is a favourite with me. But this book is quite different from her India with Passion.

This is her take on the British-Indian food she grew up with - Indian cuisine as interpreted by the British. Bread, bacon, baked beans, Vege-Mince, frozen mixed vegetables.

Traditional Indian dishes have evolved into something quite different in Britain. The vindaloo, redolent of garlic and wine or vinegar, has become a spicy scorcher with hot curry paste and chilli powder and tomato sauce. She presents it as Football Vindaloo - a dish that can be quickly assembled and be ready to eat by half-time.

There's a good mix of recipes, they're easy to follow and once a basic store cupboard of spices is acquired, they're easy enough for a learner cook to master. Best of all, they're tasty, even if an Indian national might not recognise them.

The Vietnamese Cookbook, by Meera Freeman and Le Van Nhan ISBN 0670906727 Viking)

I met Meera Freeman in 1996 when she visited New Zealand to promote her book and a gathering of Wellington food writers enjoyed a lunch with her, hearing all about Vietnamese cooking.

If you want to learn more about this tasty cuisine, this is the place to start. Meera Freeman with the assistance of restaurateur Le Van Nhan has worked with chefs and traders from the Vietnamese community in Australia to produce this book. Many of the recipes haven't previously been written down and are accompanied by useful informative notes.

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