Cookery Book Club July - Ottolenghi's Plenty and Bill Granger's Asian Everyday

[HuevosRancheros]

July is imminent, so let's start thinking about new recipes :)
Hopefully the sun will shine and the food will match!

Lots of the Plenty recipes are on the Guardian website.

I will come back later this evening to tell you what I've made before and what I plan to make in the near future

[ELR]

Ooh great thanks, will check out the guardian before I buy the book!
And yes recommendations would be good.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Can't remember if it is in, 'Plenty' or another of his but the Black Pepper Tofu is fantastic.

[Pantah630]

Signing in, I still have some watermelon left, always have feta in the fridge and by chance some Greek basil on the patio......guess what we're having tomorrow?

[HuevosRancheros]

Remus, yes, it is in Plenty, and was one of the ones I was going to suggest :)

Feeling a bit rough tonight, will post tomorrow about other things I have made

Pantah enjoy!!

[Cantdothisagain]

Ok - I've made a start - Bill's mirin glazed salmon with cucumber salad - very nice. Not different from endless other recipes for salmon but good none the less.

[glorious]

Checking in. Hope you're feeling better huevos.

[glorious]

[cough] may have bought both books

[Pantah630]

[OhTheHugeManatee]

The paella from Plenty is delicious, it's one of our summer staples whenever I can get fresh broad beans

[Cantdothisagain]

Ooh I've got fresh broad beans... Off to check the paella out!

[Pantah630]

Can't find paella in Plenty, I've got kindle version. Can anyone link to it please?

[Pantah630]

Scratch that, found it

[pregnantpause]

Hope your better huevos.

I've made a dish from each book , from plenty I made the roasted squash with sweet spices, lime and green chilli. It was nice, but too heavy on the lime for me- but dh really liked it. The yoghurt sauce was lovely.

From everyday Asian I made the sticky pork chops with peach chutney- I loved this,easy weekday food, dc enjoyed and a lovely unusual chutney .

[HuevosRancheros]

Thanks, I am fine, just got a bit tired, needed early nights!

I made the aubergine, soba and mango from Plenty last night, very good, he seemed to get the flavour balance right - sweet, savoury, tangy, spicy
Also did the burnt aubergine with tahini (I have too many aubergines in my fridge!!), again very good :)

I also have broad beans, so the paella is tempting, but I don't have paella rice, will risotto rice work? Or should I wait til the shopping delivery on Tuesday?

I would really recommend the stuffed onions, one of my favourite recipes :)
The black pepper tofu, as Remus mentioned, is also very tasty.
Brussels sprouts and tofu is also very good, maybe more of a winter thing?

The egg, pecorino and spinach pizza was good, but very salty, because of the cheese.

Avocado, quinoa and broad bean salad is lovely, easy to tweak to what you have in. Was my first intro to quinoa!

The courgette and pasta salad is good, but I'm not a fan of cold pasta, so I served it warm.

Watermelon and feta salad - already mentioned it on previous thread, love it!

[OhTheHugeManatee]

Yes, risotto rice works beautifully - apologies to any Spaniards or Italians reading!

[HuevosRancheros]

Brilliant, thank you, I shall make it tonight!!

[OhTheHugeManatee]

I'm making it tonight too. I'll try a new one from Plenty though, in the spirit of the thing! I've ordered the other book from the library.

I hope it's ok to just join in?

[HuevosRancheros]

Manatee, of course it's fine to join in, the more the merrier :)

Well, I then looked at the list of ingredients I needed for the paella..... also needed peppers, fennel, sherry..... so I have abandoned it for now, am doing another Ottolenghi thing from Jerusalem (beetroot, walnut and leek salad)

So, Ocado will deliver those ingredients on Tuesday - while I'm at it, should I order paella rice (I doubt I will use it again for a good few months), or should I just stick with arborio?

[HuevosRancheros]

Wow, does Ottolenghi ever fail to deliver?

I know it's Jerusalem not Plenty, but wow, that beetroot, walnut and leek salad was fantastic! Just so so much better than it sounds like it's going to be

Another favourite

[OhTheHugeManatee]

I do love him. Haven't tried that salad but will definitely give it a go.

I use paella and risotto rice interchangeably.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

How funny, I've fallen off these threads but havr just been given a copy of Plenty. Had a BBQ today and made the butternut squash with lime - agree with pp, one lime is plenty for a small/med squash. The green bean, mange tout salad was lovely, really fresh and I also did the cucumber with smashed garlic and ginger which was more Chinese-y than normal Ottolenghi flavours but I absolutely loved it.

[madamecake]

Had the tamarind glazed meatballs with steamed Asian greens last night from Everyday Asian. The meatballs were nice enough, but the glaze was overpowered by the honey, if I made again I'd definitely reduce the amount, or up the tamarind. The greens were delicious, I used tenderstem broccoli.

I've not made it in a few months but I can recommend the stir fried chicken with chilli and basil from EA, tastes just as good as our local Thai takeaway.

[ScienceRocks]

Plenty fell into my amazon basket and now I'm waiting impatiently for it to arrive! Couldn't justify everyday Asian too, but may be persuaded if this thread is favourable

[Pantah630]

We had the paella for dinner, scrumptious. DS2 has requested it for dinner on weds too, when his first girlfriend comes for tea. We are die hard carnivores so had it with our slow cooked ham. I might add some prawns, squid or chicken when I do it again. Was definitely worth finding a fennel bulb, market didn't have any but had some lovely fresh broad beans and Waitrose had sold out. Have bought some peaches to make the pork hops and peach chutney from EA.

[ScienceRocks]

Plenty is in the house! Let the riffling begin...