Cookery bookclub - May - Jerusalem by Ottolenghi and Kitchen Diaries I by Nigel Slater

[Curioustiger]

Come join the Mumsnet cookery bookclub! Each month we choose two cookery books - one popular, like Nigella / Jamie / Delia, so you probably already have it / can borrow it and one a bit more unusual. We cook a minimum of two recipes each - you choose the recipe, they just have to be ones you have never cooked before- which works out at four new recipes each month.Then we chat about them!

To see our April thread about Feast by Nigella and the Smitten Kitchen blog / cookbook, click here ... This thread is still live as we're quite taken with these books and are keeping on going!

For May, our books are:

• Jerusalem by Ottolenghi
• Kitchen Diaries

and we'll post on this thread.

For June our books will be

• Mexican Food Made Easy by Thomasina Miers
• Thirty Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

We will always try to pick at least one book with recipes available on the Internet, and local libraries are great for cookbooks if you can order in advance, so don't be put off if your cookbook collection isn't threatening the foundations of your house extensive.

We have veggies, low carbers and 5:2ers on the thread so this is very diet compatible! Although I refuse to take any responsibility for cake-induced weight gain (even my own).

Picked up Jerusalem from the library. It's huge. Not sure what to cook from it yet. Looks interesting.

Hello, may I join you? I don't have Jerusalem but am a big fan of Nige.

I've just made (and eaten!) the Vietnamese beef salad from KD1 (June) and it was utterly delicious. I didn't use lime leaves (Waitrose let me down) but it didn't seem to matter. If I make it again, I'll get the salad ingredients out of the fridge earlier as they made the beef cool down too quickly, but otherwise it was pretty perfect.

Florence DH is just finishing the beef salad off now! I did all the prep but DTS is being a pain so am feeding him into submission and leaving DH to cook the steak. I also have struggled with lime leaves - is there a national shortage?!?

Will report back later also

Ooh, great minds!

I expect Nigel lives in the sort of neighbourhood that has posh delis on every corner and lime leaves growing in the window boxes...

It's weird as I often using them in Thai curries and have never had an issue finding them before but this week - nada!

It was really lovely actually. I added half a pepper ad some scallions finely shredded too to bulk up the salad and you could probably add some noodles too agai. For a bit of bulk. But it was a great summer recipe for steak and DH really liked it too. Was good for curre t stage of mat leave as I did all the prep early in the evening and then DH just had to stick the steaks on and slice and serve it all whilst I was dealing with babies.

A rare fail for nigel slater this morning. Made the ricotta and range pancakes, which tasted nice but were a very odd texture. When they went in the pan, they didn't flatten out so were really gooey in the middle. This made them tricky to turn and the DDs were put off.

The Smitten Kitchen yogurt pancakes were much better!

I have given up on Nigel. I trawled through KD again this morning but there really is absolutely nothing I want to cook in there. :(

Just made the pork and lemon polpettine for lunch. I baked the in the oven at 180*fan for about 20-30 mins as advised upthread. With all the fritters we've had recently I needed to step away from the frying pan :)
They were delicious, will make again for sure. Served with taglietelle with peas and mushrooms.

I picked up some salmon in Waitrose earlier for the fish cakes and almost had a heart attac when I realised 500g from £9. I got the nice lad on the fish counter to skin it for me, all the while hyperventilating that three nice pan fried fillets would have been scrumptious, those fish cakes better be fabulous. Will up the dill content as advised as well when I make them tomorrow.

On the plus size I did get three lemon sole fillets for half price

I know what you mean remus compared with Ottelenghi he lags far behind.

I made my first recipe from this month's books yesterday - the onion soup from KD (January). I figured that onions are pretty much seasonal year round (I think?) and our current weather calls for January recipes more than May

It was ok. Nothing really wrong with it, but it didn't excite me and I doubt I'll make it again. I've made much nicer onion soups in the past.

Pantah The dill issue maybe because I didn't follow the serving suggestion because I didn't actually read that bit

I also find Nigel a bit ... Meh. First of all you have to wade through all the waxing lyrical before you get the recipe. Then there aren't that many pictures (as previously noticed I am extremely shallow when it comes to cookbooks). Then a lot of the recipes, while perfectly nice, are just not very exciting. I've bookmarked spaghetti bolognaise and the brownies as my two to cook... They both look like good recipes and the brownies have got rave reviews up thread, but they're such classic recipes I could make adequate versions without a recipe so am just not excited about them... Whereas with Ottolenghi it's so fresh and different, I'm really reading the recipes not just flicking through.

Definitely since the cookbook club threads started Nigel has divided opinion the most though as there are tons of people that love him.

tiger I agree with everything you said. I'm already bored with KD, but as I write this, I have Jerusalem open on my lap, lapping up every page. It's from the library but I think I'll buy it.

I've earmarked the meatballs with broad beans & lemon to make next week (p 196), and I thought we'd have it with the basmati & orzo rice, as recommended. The picture looks so scrumptious!

Not sure if its the same in the book version but it really winds me up that there is no contents page of recipes. You have to trawl through the months trying to find the recipes you like the sound of. Then remember to bookmark them so you can locate again.

In conclusion I think it's a lovely reading book that contains recipes, not all of which inspire but are ones those of us, quite competent when faced with a fridge/cupboard of ingredients, rustle up on a daily basis without needing a recipe, with a few gems pork and lemon polpettineadded in for good measure.

aka the meatballs are to die for! It was the first recipe I made from the book. I too have it from the library but am going to buy it. I made it with just plain basmati and also I made the green pepper, celery and lemon salad on the ottolenghi website someone linked to up thread.
For those struggling with KD make the lemon ice cream it is very nice.

I have to admit I have all Nigel's books and would say he's one of my fave cooks however this thread has made me realise its just the reading and watching as I rarely cook anything from his books! This thread has been an eye opener.

And I love love love Jerusalem!

elr yes, I love watching him, too. He's so calm and relaxing when he cooks. It's nice to watch, and of course his meals look delicious at the end. The sort of stuff you plan to rustle up that night and will taste great. But, I've never even looked at one of his books I until a few days ago, and I am a little disappointed.

Can't wait to make the meatballs now.

Oh, and I'm so excited I've found this thread that allows me to warble on about food, cookbooks, and recipes, without getting bored with me and telling me to give it a rest!

it's a lovely reading book that contains recipes - great description pantah.

Also on contents pages. This is a particular bugbear of mine. Why oh why oh why do cookery writers not insist on a proper contents page listing all the recipes? Don't they want to encourage their readers? I also find the index is often done quite badly as well with recipes only listed under the main ingredient, rather than listed multiple times under all the major ingredients.

Sorry I appear to have gone all victor meldrew all of a sudden!

For dinner tonight, from Jerusalem I'm tossing up the stuffed aubergine, the lamb meatballs or the lamb and egg thing, with yoghurt and sumac (sorry the book is downstairs can't remember the proper names) when a decision is made I will report back.

I have to say I am a lover of Nigel. I don't think the books and authors are comparable as they're so different. But as I said up thread, Nigel is about ideas IMO and usually lunch time ideas. it's not strictly a recipe book though is it? It's a diary of food.

I cooked the roast chicken with cheese mash and garlic gravy tonight as the library still don't have Jerusalem.

It was pleasant but nothing spectacular. I agree that KD is a lovely book to read but everything I've cooked so far I could have cooked without the recipe.

I have to be a voice of dissent and say that I love Nigel Slater and all his books, but don't like watching him at all! I don't mind the absence of pictures (a complete absence in the case of Real Fast Food!) and feel it gives me the freedom to make the dish look how I want. I find him inspiring on a day to day level, and adore his writing style. His presenting style, however, annoys me intensely. I think I envy the fact that he can apparently potter to the shops and in the kitchen and garden, with no bills to pay or children to tend

I'm a bit of a fan, and have been since he started out many years ago. It probably shows

Science, I don't like watching him either. He's too wet on TV IMO. But as I said below, I love his books

Thought I would give a list of what I've made from each book. So from Jerusalem I've made:
Beef meatballs With broad beans and lemonpg 196 10/10 fantastic and can't wait to make again.
Semolina, coconut and marmalade cakepg 264 9/10 delicious but I think an acquired taste due to the marmalade which is a little bitter.
Mejadra pg 120 7/10 good will make again at some point.
Swiss chard with tahini yogurt sauce pg 88 7/10 good.
Chicken Sofrito pg 190 8/10 very nice will make again.
Chermoula baked aubergine pg 59 7/10 good, nice lunch.
Turkey & courgette burgers pg 200 10/10 will def make again.

From KD
Lemon ice cream May 10/10 delicious will make again.

My first kitchen diaries recipe this evening was creamy chicken with vermouth and tarragon (probably not the exact title, I don't have the book to hand). It was an absolute hit with my family, they all wolfed it down (including the four year old who had been telling me she only likes chicken nuggets while I was cooking it). Will definitely be making it again.

While everyone is having a moan about cookery book indexes, can I add my two pence worth please. I made the Harissa from Jerusalem this weekend and wanted to check which recipes I could use it for. Like a fool I looked in the index and of course there's no proper list of recipes using Harissa. Luckily I've signed up to eatyourbooks so used the website to pick a few things out but otherwise would have the pain of going through the book page by page.

And because I had the Harissa I also made the sea bass with Harissa and rose. I have to say I was a bit meh about it but DH loved it so jury's out. It was a very pretty dish though.

As much as I'm loving Jerusalem I don't think it's a book I'll actaually cook from much long term. It's only because I'm on maternity leave that I have time to shop for all the random ingredients and most of the recipes I've made so far take a while to cook so are very much weekend dishes so I'm not expecting to use it much when I'm back at work. I'll still buy it but mainly to drool over rather than to cook from regularly.

On the other hand Nigel's books are practical and full of ideas for quick weekday suppers. So for example, we had the orzo with courgette and pancetta from KD2 the other night. Not a particularly remarkable recipe but tasty, easy and quick and all the bowls were licked clean.

I did the goat's cheese puddings from KD tonight. They were very good, nice and light (as flourless soufflés tend to be) and the goat's cheese added a nice sharpness/tang. Totally evil though - soft goat's cheese, parmesan and double cream....

I'm impressed by Jerusalem too and will probably seek out some more recipes (just googling). Less appeals from KD so I'm yet to pick a second recipe. Possibly the marmalade cake or something simple like the five spice quail.