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).

Lemon ice cream in the freezer! Although a good amount of it was tested before it made it to the freezer!

We just had the open kibbeh from Jerusalem for dinner (thanks for the recommendation hunn1e). It was lovely! DD2 is 2 months old and tends to have breastfeeding marathons in the evening so there was no time to make tabbouleh to accompany it but it was still lovely with a Greek salad. Tesco do not sell tumac (I will try sainsbury's next time, as suggested) so lemon jest had to do instead.

I made the bolognese from KD's tonight.

It was very nice. DC said it tasted like one from the Italian restaurant which is high praise indeed

I did my Ottolenghi recipes tonight. As a main I had the chicken with caramelised onion and rice. I stuck fairly faithfully to the recipe (including jointing the chicken as per the challenge thread) but swapped brown basmati for white. Do not do this! It takes ages to cook! But it was very tasty. It does feel a bit though like a recipe that could be streamlined with practice (not the ingredients but rather the browning things and putting them to one side). Next time I will probably make the rice and barberries in the rice cooker, then the onion and chicken etc all in one pan, with a little bit of extra wine to compensate. However I would certainly make it again.

My other recipes were the chard with tahini / yoghurt sauce. It was quite nice but. .. it was still chard. I am not a fan. Very simple to make, pretty healthy ... I think I might make it with spinach leaves next time, but it's a personal preference. Then, purely because I had cucumbers on the veg box, I made the cucumber with yoghurt at the back of the book. This was the breakout hit of the evening and I couldn't be more surprised. I am really not keen on cucumber - I find it very insipid - but prepared in this way it was amazing, so fresh and cool-tasting and a real kick from the garlic and lemon. DH (who shares my views on cucumber) and I ate a portion that was nominally for four between us. I will definitely make it again,

Reporting back on the KD lemon ice cream, it was truly delicious if a little expensive to make at least £5-£6 but was super easy and the kids loved it too. I only used the juice of 1.5 lemons instead of two as tasted it and it seemed right. Loads left to enjoy over the weekend too,

The semolina, coconut and marmalade cake is nice but I think will not be to everyone's tastes. It was easy to make and I really enjoyed it. I would say its more like a pudding and it def needs something sharp alongside it I had creme fraiche but the recipe suggests Greek yogurt. The kids did not like it maybe the slight bitter taste from the marmalade not sure. I would make it again but not for a while unless you could just make one slice!!
kneedeep that's good to know about the bolognese was thinking about giving it a whirl as bored of my tried and tested recipe!
tiger I have a bag of spinach which needs using so will maybe make the tahini and yogurt sauce thing.

Recipes for tomorrow are the turkey and courgette burgers with sumac and sour cream sauce from Jerusalem and the lemon and celery salad from the ottolenghi website and will make some sesame flat breads to go with them.

Hello, can I join in? I have both books; will need to go back to KD to remember what I have made/try out something new.

From Jerusalem, I've made the turkey burgers (lovely), the cauli/hazelnut salad (surprisingly delicious), the lamb schwarma (yum), and chicken with clementines and arak (divine), chicken with Jerusalem artichoke and lemon (liked it but find those artichokes tricky to digest), carrot salad (nice). No fails so far!

I am so excited by these threads!

cabtdothisagain the more the merrier. I liked the look of the chicken with arak and clementines but was unsure if it was worth buying a bottle of arak or Pernod for. You've just made my mind up; what do you normally use? I quite like a pastis when i am in France, is it the same sort of thing?

Elr rather than faff about with frying the chard in batches I microwaved it for two minutes first and then added it to a pan with garlic and wine. I found that worked fine and that's what I'd do for spinach as well (I love microwaving vegetables, tons easier i think).

I used Pastis and it was really good. The flavours sort of burst through. Preferred this to the Jerusalem artichoke one (but have slight issues with J artichokes).

Am tempted by the clementine cake....

cantdothisagain have googled and answered my own question - it is! So will get it and then can make the Ottolenghi recipe and can live the Nigel life drinking aperitifs in my small messy patio sumptuous garden.

X post. Will let you know how I get on!

It's lovely. Really lovely. Do marinate it as per the recipe though.

I want to try a fish dish next (as well as the clementine cake) - the cod fishcakes/fish kebabs. Any recommendations?

tiger thanks for the tip. Just remembered a lovely recipe in the thomasina Miers book winter tacos with creamy greens I used chard in that and thought it was delish as like you not so keen on chard! Get a bottle of Perno!

cantdo I fancy the prawns, scallops and clams with tomato and feta on pg 233 of Jerusalem or the monkfish kebabs with samphire and garlic mayo in the August section of KD.
Do make the cake it's nice but halve the recipe as it make two big loaf cakes.

Thanks ELR.

Off to browse KD again... Have got Jerusalem on my knee- how interesting that seafood recipe looks! Feta with seafood/tomatoes. Do report back...

tiger if you aren't keen on cucumbers try slicing them very thin then sprinkle with salt and chopped dill truly Devine it will change your mind I promise

Bit off thread but the best fish / seafood dish EVER is the San Francisco red wine and fennel fish stew in kitchen by nigella. It is amazing. If you like fish and seafood you must try it!

Elr, I will try that (they're always in the veg box and normally I pickle th but it makes the kitchen smell awful!)

Thanks for the Nigella recommendation. I have that book too and will check it out.

I made the chicken with Jerusalem artichokes and lemon tonight but, em, couldn't find any Jerusalem artichokes so I used waxy baby tatties. It was lovely. Im sure it would be lovelier with artichokes but heigh-ho.

Has anyone tried the cauliflower and nut thing? I got a cauliflower in my veg box, DP is usually not keen at all but I was wondering if it was 'different' enough.

May I also make a humble suggestion that there's another thread for book choices? Had to wade through 8 pages and if I hadn't already signed into the thread I probably wouldn't have realised it was a cooking thread rather than a cook book thread. X

There's a cucumber, poppy seed And chillie thread in the firs Ottolenghi book that is fabby. Also my favourite Chinese restaurant serves cucumber with lots of garlic and salt, it weeps a bit on the plate but it's also lovely.

The cauliflower hazelnut salad is lovely, Wilson. Really good.

Cauliflower and hazelnut sounds interesting, and I have a cauliflower and hazelnuts in and waiting to be eaten. I've not yet tracked down a copy of Jerusalem, can anyone link to the recipe please? Or pm me? I can't see it on the website (but maybe being daft and overlooking it). Thanks

zj ta da!

wilson I know what you mean. I do quite like all the book chat though...

tiger who do you get your veg box from? I never get cucumbers!! I use able and cole, have used river ford and organic 5 too but find Abel and cole to be better for other staples. Will try the fish stew with fennel one of my fave fish recipes is a Jamie oliver seafood and tomato soup it was in a magazine years ago, can't remember the exact recipe but I just make it every now and again changing bits here and there.
Also quite like the sound of the cauliflower and hazelnut will look it up.

Ocado because there's no commitment, you can just have a box when you feel like it. I am thinking of trying Abel and coke or riverford though for a change. It's always cucumbers round here! Although I have found a good recipe for cucumber pickle as a result!