Katherine MacAlister takes a look at some of the best recipe releases

With Christmas upon us, and gifts to be bought, we have rounded up the best cookbooks on offer in 2015, to make your lives that little bit easier.

The Gluts & Gluttony Cookbook & Growing Guide

A practical and entertaining guide to growing and eating your own vegetables from food writer, gardener and private cook, Kathy Slack, founder of Gluts & Gluttony in Oxfordshire – a blog inspired by gluts from the veg patch and the ensuing gluttony in the kitchen. This little collection of 36 recipes is a celebration of simple, seasonal, British food. It is full of easy-to-grow crops with recipes that make the most of your harvest.

£16.00 plus £2.50 P&P from glutsandgluttony.com/cookbook/

The Cowley Road Cookbook – Culinary Tales and Recipes from Oxford’s Most Eclectic Street by Martin Stott

This illustrated cookbook includes more than 60 historic and contemporary recipes and offers a unique insight into Cowley Road in Oxford – a multi-cultural hub adjacent to the hallowed spires of the university. This is for anyone wanting to taste Oxford’s richly diverse food culture.

£14.99 from Blackwells, Waterstones and Oxford Museum Bookshop and online from Signal Books signalbooks.co.uk

Panini: The Simple Tastes of Italian Style Bread by international food writer Veronica Lavenia

Taking readers back to her native land for an adventure inspired by bread, this is a celebration of dozens of types of Italian bread and the fresh, seasonal ingredients that have made them famous. With recipes taken straight from the author’s family traditions, readers will soon be creating their own authentic bruschetta, paninis and more.

£16.45 from veronicalavenia.com and available on Amazon

The Real Taste of India: 100 Easy Recipes for First-Time Chefs

This new book reveals secrets of achieving truly authentic Indian cuisine at home. Written by award-winning head chef Shabu Natarajan, this will help curry lovers go beyond tinned pastes and sauces to create traditional, out-of-this-world authentic Indian food in their own kitchens. Natarajan grew up in India and has generations of cooking secrets to share – resulting in a book of starters-salads, curries and rice dishes that are 100 per cent authentic. Friday nights and special occasions will never be the same!

£24.99 from Amazon and therealtasteofindians.com

Wine Enthusiasts’ Manual from Haynes by Tim Hampson

Award-winning author Tim Hampson provides an essential guide for enthusiasts, and for anyone wanting to learn more about the fascinating and diverse world of wine.

Providing readers with a reassuringly practical guide to the history, appreciation and making of wine, Tim Hampson has travelled the world in pursuit of the best wine, and this provides a fascinating step-by-step guide, including an explanation of how a commercial wine is made, and how to make your own wine at home – not just from grapes, but from fruits foraged from your own garden or the countryside. It also offers recommendations for pairing wine with food, along with a selection of recipes featuring wine as a key ingredient.

£22.99 from haynes.co.uk

Amina’s Home Cooking

Amina El Shafei shot to fame during Masterchef Austalia 2012. Banned from going to cookery school by her parents in favour of a university education, the paediatric nurse from Sydney was selected to appear on Masterchef from 7,500 applications. Her inventive and unique cuisine – inspired by her rich Korean and Egyptian heritage – wowed the judges. Drawing on her finely honed pan-Asian/Middle Eastern palate, served up with an extra helping of generosity and enthusiasm, her ‘Home Cooking’ recipes are exciting and achievable.

£18.99 from Lantern

Spice I Am by Sujet Saenkham

Oxford Mail:

Sujet Saenkham is Australia’s most exciting and talented Thai chef. His Sydney restaurants have been wowing the food critics for the last 10 years. Now, his infallible, authentic and delicious Thai recipes are available to cook at home in this his first cookbook.

Published by Lantern, priced £16.99

Bill’s Cookbook – Cook Eat Smile

Ever eaten at Bill’s in Oxford or Witney? If you haven’t, then put it on your To Do list. If you have, then you’ll know it’s all about the atmosphere and the food – and Bill’s cookbook is the same – delicious, different, full of fabulous flavours and textures; a unique celebration of eating.

From breakfast to bedtime, from the first green shoots of spring to the frostiest of winter days, Bill picks and cooks his way through the seasons. Choosing favourites as he goes and bringing colour and energy to even the simplest dishes, this book is packed with recipes and ideas that will inspire you to cook, eat and smile every day of the year.

£20 from bills-shop.co.uk

The Scandi Kitchen – Simple, delicious Scandinavian dishes for any occasion by Bronte Aurell

Bronte Aurell, owner of hugely popular ScandiKitchen has released a new cookbook with an accessible introduction to the increasingly popular Scandinavian cuisine.

Scandinavian food is at its essence simple, natural and honest, with an emphasis on quality seasonal produce. Its appeal lies in the fact that it is healthy, wholesome, flavoursome, simple to make and beautiful to look at.

Published by Ryland Peters & Small for £16.99

NOPI: The Cookbook

Includes more than 120 of the most popular dishes from Yotam’s innovative Soho-based restaurant NOPI. It’s written with long-time collaborator and NOPI head chef Ramael Scully, who brings his distinctive Asian twist to the Ottolenghi kitchen.

From ottolenghi.co.uk/books