I’m missing my cookbooks a huge amount during lockdown, and none more than Ella Risbridger’s beautiful Midnight Chicken.
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This has the perfect blend of storytelling and recipes, and all of the illustrations are beautiful. The perfect comfort book that also produces perfect comfort food. I got to hear Ella talk about this book at Bloomsbury when it was published, and I love her way with words - she always has the right ones for the right moment.

4☆ A Delightfully Heart Warming Cookbook

Wow what a delightful cookbook.
Not only does it contain some delicious recipes it has a storytelling flavour to it as Risbridger takes the reader on a journey of her personal connections to the recipes. Which was a joy to Read!

All the recipes are measured in Grams,  ml, and spoon measures and uses UK ingredients. So a conversion maybe needed for those outside the UK.
The recipes are very well written and has much detail.
However my only gripe is there is no pictures to see what the food looks like, which is a bit of a bug bear for me. Especially if you have never heard of the recipes before of are new to the ingredients it helps to have a visual aid.

The chapters are broken up into
* In the Kitchen... gives an insight into store cupboard ingredients, freezer, kitchen utensils
* Breakfast... recipes
* Soups and Bread... recipes
* Picnics and Pack Ups... recipes
* Store cupboard Suppers & Midnight Feasts... recipes
* Weekend Cooking....recipes
* Sweet Things....recipes
* Taking Stock

So as you can see a variety of chapters.
Here are a few Examples of what you can expect inside.....
* Drop scones, * Bagels
* AGA Mama’s Milk Bread,
* Tipsy Amaretto Squash Soup,
* Danny the Champion of the Pie,
* Wildly Easy Hummus, * Danish Crackers,
* Emergency Risotto, * Needs Using Up Minestrone, * Ciao Bella Tomato Sauce (for Pizza & Pasta), * Pea Parmesan Pasta, * Marmite Spaghetti, * Uplifting Chilli & Lemon Spaghetti, * Goat’s Cheese Puff with Salsa,
* Stuck in a Bookshop Salmon & Sticky Rice, * Saturday Afternoon Charred Leek Lasagne, * How to Make Pasta, *
* Squash Skillet Pie,
* Et Cetera Apple Pie, * Reading in the Rafters Parkin, * Whiskey & Rye Blondies, * Whipped Goat’s Cheese & Ginger Nut Creams, * Salted Caramel Brown Butter Brownies, * Rhubarb & Ginger Ripple Ice Cream *

Overall this is a lovely heartwarming cookbook and would make a special gift for foodie lovers.

There's much to like about this book and I'm sure it will be of great comfort to readers, especially those who live with mild anxiety and depression and who, with Risbridger's support and encouragement, feel able to contemplate cooking again. The food is good home cooking, you aren't expected to have prior knowledge and Risbridger is clearly on your side if this is the case, or you feel too demotivated, tired, or unwell to know where to begin.

I do feel that Midnight Chicken walks a fine line between inspiration and derivation and at times, falls on the side of the latter. At times I felt a little patronised because of the tone which is as if Risbridger is talking to a small, slightly simple child. I don't think I am the target audience.

Midnight Chicken is undeniably moving in parts though and I think it will do well.

Gorgeous cookbook, interleaving memoir and advice, along with real experience of mental health crises. Good selection of recipes, stunning illustrations and excellent food writing.

I've been a follower of Ella's blog for a few years and was delighted to hear her recipes and prose were being turned into a book. Midnight Chicken is a cookbook that will make you cry or a memoir that will make you hungry. The love of cooking, love of friends and the love for The Tall Man radiate from every page. I have already made several of the recipes and can attest to the deliciousness of the titular chicken. Although I read the book knowing some of the background to events it's a book that anyone new to Ella's work can enjoy and I book that I will cherish and return to frequently. I can't wait to read what comes next from the author.

This is a real treasure of a find on NetGalley. I’ve requested several recipe books over the years and found some wonderful new recipes to try. This book just feels as though one of your friends is sharing her favourite recipes with you. She shares memories, tough times and her recipes become stories. It’s a whole culinary experience making you want to bookmark recipes to try. I would love to get a paper copy of this one for my kitchen bookshelf and add lots of post it notes to the ones I want to try for my new recipe challenge in the new year.

I am utterly in love with this book. She hooked me with the breakfast chapter, and things just got better from there.

What do I love about it? Well, I love her voice. It's as if Maeve Brennan relocated to London and started cooking for herself instead of eating in adorable local restaurants. I love the atmosphere she creates. Ella is one of those cooks who makes you really want to eat the food. She gives you a little story to go with each recipe.

And I really like the recipes, so far. There's a Vietnamese-y risotto-y jobbie that went down really well with the assorted family, and a parkin that went down really really well at work...not only does she make me want to eat, she also makes me want to cook.

Of course, it's more than a recipe book. It's a little bit memoir, a little bit love letter, alittle bit comfort blanket. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a real copy so I can stain the pages, write some little notes on them, and wallow in it all.

I'm also going to add this to my Cancer Toolkit series, once it comes out in physical form.

This is the most wonderful book. I eked it out over a week because I just did not want it to finish, and when I finished it I immediately went and pre-ordered two copies, because this is a book I know I'm going to need to savour, and use over and over again. I follow Ella Risbridger on Twitter and have done for a long time, so I know the circumstances in which this book was written, and I found myself at times, moved to tears at the love in these pages. It's so much more than a recipe book. It's a memoir and a love letter and a healing and it's everything I love about her writing. I love that she writes about pie and arguments and Danny Champion of the World all at once. It's wonderful and magical and the best thing I have read all year.