Nights Out in the Kitchen: More recipes and stories from a restaurant critic's life by Jay Rayner

Nights Out in the Kitchen features an irresistible combination of recipes sparked by the dishes that Jay has fallen for during more than a quarter of a century as a restaurant critic, alongside 20 of his very own recipes; family favourites refined in his kitchen at home. From meatballs with braised spaghetti, to shaved fennel and lemon zest salad, tartiflette tart and slow cooked tandoori lamb shoulder.

There are accessible, home-cooked versions of Little Dumpling King’s haggis dumplings with crispy chilli oil, a take on Jacuzzi’s vitello tonnato croquettes, Claro’s squash three ways and a whole section dedicated to the joys of good things on toast, all created with the blessing, and often the help, of the chefs who inspired them.

As well as delicious recipes, Nights Out in the Kitchen is seasoned with stories which walk both sides of the ‘home’ and ‘away’ line in Jay’s life. From the problem with dinner parties and the route to a less painful Christmas lunch, through the lexicographical challenges facing a restaurant critic who wants to describe flavour without resorting to ‘mouth-watering’, ‘moist’ and ‘sumptuous’, to the burning question of whether, given the large number of wretchedly negative reviews he’s written, Jay might actually be a total scumbag.

Jay’s love of restaurants and his passion for great home cooking spill off every page of this beautifully written, warmly inspirational cookbook.