One thing’s for sure, good food makes you happy – really happy. In this book, Jan Henrik Siversen, aka the Happy Chef, shares his best recipes for regular days and parties. Not just recipes for delicious hot and cold dishes but tasty barbecue recipes and sauces too – and let’s not forget the sweet temptations. He also includes well-known cocktails and drinks, but mixed the way he likes them best, with a little added touch that’s liable to get you dancing if you’re not careful.

The Happy Cook offers a delicious beef sandwich, Wiener schnitzel with gorgeous garnishing never goes out of style, you’ll always enjoy fried sweet potatoes with masses of sauce and cheese, and fish and chips with home-made tartar sauce is truly terrific. When you get out the barbecue, why not try juicy spareribs with your own barbecue rub and BBQ sauce. But grilled pork neck is also one of the best things you can stick on the grill, preferably served up with home-made coleslaw – that’s happy food right there. And so are barbecued clams with a delicious tang of lemon and fresh herbs, or grilled squash with a delicious yoghurt dressing. The book offers tips and tricks for making your own spice mixes and barbecue-rubs, as well as pastas, home-made ice cream and delicious, slightly sinful cocktails.

This is a cookbook that will make you really happy, especially when the sun peeps out and the mood is high. Make yourself good happy food the Happy Chef way.

Jan Henrik Syversen runs the Happy Chef blog and is a sought-after course tutor. He has taken part in MasterChef Norway, has cooked up a storm on Norwegian breakfast TV, has been a tasting judge on several TV2 programmes and is great at creating a buzz around his projects.