Cookery book club - June - Mexican Food Made Easy (Thomasina Miers) and Thirty Minute Meals (Jamie Oliver)

[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!

For May, our books were:

• Jerusalem by Ottolenghi
  
• Kitchen Diaries
  

And we posted here

For June our books are:

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

For July our books will be:

• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Veg Every Day
  
• Madhur Jaffrey Ultimate Curry Bible
  

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. We pick books three months ahead so will be choosing August's books this month.

[pregnantpause]

I made the spicy bird tacos last night. They were spicy! I loved the sauce, spicy and smoky, but halved it and froze half, as two tablespoon of chipotle paste (substituted for abode) is a lot! I made burritos with it, and I think I can confidently say it will be a go to recipe for leftover chicken! I'm very enthused after making this!

[snoworneahva]

puffle I'm Paleo too - maybe a bit primal....I have lots of things ear marked as suitable with a small amount of adapting.

Shortlisted to Coconut ceviche, chilled avocado soup, minty courgette soup, hot chorizo salad - without the beans, chicken & chorizo in an almond mole, tamarind and chilli infused belly of pork.

[ScienceRocks]

Pregnant, I definitely dial down the chilli for most of the recipes. I literally can't take the heat!

[ScienceRocks]

Sorry for being dense, but what is a paleo or primal diet?

[ELR]

Science think it is when you only eat food that is caught or grown. So fish, veg, grains.

[Pufflemum]

You also eat meat on Paleo, another name for it is the primal diet. It's basically low carb with limited grains and dairy. I've been doing it 6 weeks and it's reduced my body fat from 28% to 22% and I've lost 5lbs ( which was my aim). It's very easy usually, but clearly not so compatible with a mexicanway of eating. Especially combined with my dislike of chorizo!

[Pantah630]

I have beans cooking, to make the refried beans and steak marinating for the burritos. Beans take a while to cook so the steak gets extra marinating time.

[ScienceRocks]

Thanks Puffle. Sounds interesting (though I could never do it as I love my carbs).

I made the oozy mushroom risotto with spinach salad this evening. I wasn't convinced the DDs would go for it, particularly as the salad was dressed, but they loved it! Clean plates all round. It's being added to the family dinner repertoire

I am planning to do the TM beans next week. Maybe I should start now?! What cut of beef are you using for the steak burritos?

[pregnantpause]

I did the Jo fish tray bake. It was hit and miss with the family, but that's expected as they all dislike fish. I thought the salsa verde was delicious as was the salmon with asparagus, but, taking other reviews into account, I baked the fish, adding the accompaniments after 10 mins. This worked perfectly, in about 35 mins. The salad too was a hit, very much ebjoyed by dh, but I chose to halve the balsamic and it was tangy but but not overpowering. The potatoes are potatoes. Lovely at this time of year.

I didn't do a desert, as time was of the essence and I was scrambling a bit to get it done in 40 minutes, but this could be due to my kitchen being a dumping ground atm, and nothing being ready. I always smirk at the first instruction- get your equipment ready and ingredients prepared. This step is clearly not taken into any timings given, but in reality takes 10 minutes before you start (and even then I don't have every thing ready, I'm still left with a full processor screeching cornichons? where are the bloody cornichons? Wasting a vital few minutes in which I should have processed and finished the whole step and moved on to the oven!)

[ScienceRocks]

I'm doing the fish tray bake later this week so will bear these comments in mind!

Unsurprisingly, the risotto didn't cook in 30 minutes. If it had, it would have been the first risotto I have ever made that cooked in that time. I reckon it was an hour, end to end, but most of that was adding stock and giving it the odd stir. Probably only the first 20 minutes were busy, but then I didn't do the pudding.

Need to give some to tigerlily for starting this cook book club. It is definitely motivating me to plan from the two cookbooks and shop accordingly, making lots of lovely discoveries along the way

[pregnantpause]

I second the thank you to tiger, I haven't been as motivated to cook or enjoyed my cookbooks as much for a long time. Thanks tiger

[maniacbug]

Ah yes, pregnant, indeed! And not only that, but the clearing up time. Our kitchen was total carnage after DH did the tray bake meal. In his time-pressure panic he must have used every single implement, every single utensil and every single surface. Not the first time, mind. Maybe it's just DH?
Think I would rather take my time and clear up as I go.

My chipotles arrived yesterday, and I can confirm that 1kg = a shedload of chillis. Am making two double batches of chipotles in adobo (one blended, one not), to use and give away, but still have 200g of the actual chillis left over. If anyone can give them a good home, let me know! I think I have enough to last me for the rest of my lifetime. Planning to start making inroads with peanut mole, tamarind + chilli-infused pork belly and chicken adobado at some point in the next week.

Made the banana ice cream from JO for kids + friends tonight (using Greek yoghurt + without coconut or biscuits) and it was a big hit, even though our freezer's a bit rubbish so it the banana chunks weren't properly frozen and it was more like a smoothie. They had it with grated chocolate and strawberries and all asked for seconds. Our default pudding option is 'fruit or yoghurt', so it was nice to be able to offer both in the form of a treat. He uses the same technique for the mango dessert and the berry ice cream, and I have a feeling we might adopt it.

from me too, tigerlily, I am really enjoying exploring individual books in depth, rather than just haphazardly browsing. I have been banging on about Jerusalem to anyone who'll listen. Not sure why, but it has never occurred to me to borrow cookbooks from the library before. Will be doing this a lot more in the future rather than wantonly adding yet another book to my collection unless I'm sure I'm going to use it.

[Pantah630]

Yum, yum, burritos were lovely but very time consuming doing it all at once. I put the beans to soak this morning so they only took an hour to cook plus the extra 15mins after salt was added, then you have to do the refried bit, another 20 odd mins. The steak cooks in minutes, I used leg of mutton cut steak, ask your butcher, it's melt in the mouth tender after marinating for an hour and a half. My butcher rarely gets skirt as it very expensive as you only get a little amount on each beef carcass. The LMC was a fiver for 600g, 3 good sized steaks. Was a better steak than rump in my humble opinion.
Also made the roast chipotle salsa, halving the one chipotle :) and lots of lime. Forgot to add creme fraiche or rice when assembling but it wasn't missing anything iykwim, DS2 loved them, we had two each and couldn't eat another thing. They're messy and drippy but that adds to the fun. Unfortunately DH at the farm tonight so he has the steak an beans but not in a burrito to heat up with some chips when he gets in much later.
Third or fourthing to tiger it was/is a fab idea, I'm having a ball cooking lots of new foods

[glorious]

Ooh bug I'd love some chillies, I could send you what they're worth plus postage?

I did the jerk chicken meal tonight. Despite my best efforts it took more like 45mins (the shame ). But I hate a messy kitchen so no bombsite involved.

It was really good, better than I expected, though I think it would be even better if the chicken was marinated and barbecued.

The thing I found a bit annoying is that there are no timings so you're on your own if you get behind. Obviously it's not hard to guess when you might check the corn or whatever but I think it would be helpful. Also I wish there was a list of equipment at the beginning.

On another note I made my first thing from Short and Sweet today, which someone on here suggested. Butterscotch banana cake. Mmmmmmm! Thanks whoever it was (pantah?).

And I agree, thanks tigerlily We always do two new recipes a week anyway but this has got me trying things I wouldn't have like my first Jamie. And it's all been great.

[snoworneahva]

Made JO mustard chicken - took me longer than 30mins as i cant bring myself to buy chicken breasts and ended up chopping up a whole chicken. I kept the sauce separate from the chicken as dd is not keen on cream, so the chicken was just coated in mustard, rosemary and oil - it was very tender and juicy - went down well with all. The sauce was lovely too. I made spring greens and dressed them with lemon juice and olive oil - mixed response from kids but I thought it was a very tasty change from butter. And finally I didn't do the dauphinois, as I eat Paleo - I had hoped to swap the potatoes for turnip but failed in my quest to find any. So served it with roasted Butternut squash, cauliflower and Jersey Royals.

Will definitely be making this again. Also would like to thank Tigerlily we always try out a few new things a week too but the kids seem more into it because it's a club thing so it's having a really positive impact.

[ZuleikaJambiere]

I've planned my first JO meal, I'm going to do the summer veg lasagne, Tuscan tomato salad and quick mango frozen yogurt at the weekend. I've chosen a meal as I want to time myself and see how close I get to 30 minutes, or not.

Having read through the book several times now I agree with the person who said it all seems like cooking as much as possible in 30 minutes. Rice pudding seems a very odd dessert to have with duck salad, and if you've only got 30 minutes why on earth would you make your own butter, and how many different chicory salad recipes do you need? I also don't agree with his claims that it fits with family life and saves money - many of the meals would need me to spend a lot on ingredients, and with 4-5pm being the witching hour for my tired and hungry DDs there's no way I could ignore them for 30 minutes while I rustle up tea, maybe if you have older DCs who can entertain themselves or are cooking for adults after work, but we only get a cooked from scratch meal if I can prepare it earlier in the day, at nap time.

Unfortunately I'm at least second on the waiting list for TM at the library, so may have to make do with online recipes again this month (I'm still waiting for Jerusalem). Given that guacamole is one of my favourite things to eat, ever, I'm going to start with that. Is this the right recipe from the book?

Another for tigerlily, for all of these reasons given by others. Thank you

[greensnail]

We had the jools pregnant pasta this evening. Not a huge success with my family. Dh and I thought it was ok but the girls refused to eat the sauce and just picked out plain pasta to eat.

On the plus side I managed it in under 30 minutes despite numerous interruptions and without turning the kitchen into a complete bombsite. I've cooked from the 15 minute meals before and always manage to trash the kitchen with them so I was expecting the worst. I think the small amounts of decluttering I've managed recently have helped with that.

Am fasting tomorrow, then will be doing the mustard chicken on friday :)

[maniacbug]

glorious don't worry about reimbursing - as I bulk-ordered, the 800g I'm using cost less than they would have done if I'd ordered in a smaller quantity. Just happy to know they're going to be used. I have to go to the PO tomorrow anyway, so PM me your address and I'll send them on.
I'm another one who hates a messy kitchen, by the way. I could feel myself getting twitchy while DH was in action and had to go outside and take some deep breaths. He hates it when I interfere try to help.

snow we got turnips in our veg box today and I had been wondering what to do with them, so thanks for dauphinoise suggestion!

greensnail I'm fasting tomorrow too. Weirdly, I have found that I quite enjoy reading through this thread and menu planning on fast days.

Just wondering, could we possibly consider a baking book for August, or maybe later in the year?

[pregnantpause]

Zul- the lasagne easily feeds 6 IMO and doesn't reheat well. If I were making it for two adults and two toddlers again I would halve it. If the adults were greedy. I really liked it though.

I agree about the chicory, I wonder if he has shares in the chicory market he pushes it so much (and chicory is never sold in cheaper supermarkets) I am ashamed to admit that I often just use a pre washed pre bagged chicory salad as that's what I have access to. I dress it myself of course

[maniacbug]

Flaming Nora, I have just tasted my chipotles in adobo and even for a chilli addict like me, it is HOT. Amazingly delicious, though. Blows Discovery chipotle paste (of which I am a big fan) right out of the water!

[maniacbug]

Ow. My lips are still hurting.

[glorious]

Wow thanks bug , you have a PM Quite funny picturing you, DH and the kitchen mayhem! I'll be careful not to try too much of the chipotles in adobo then...

Definitely up for some baking in August. And/or one of my favourite books following a trip to China is Fuschia Dunlop's Sichuan Cookery, though her latest book Every Grain of Rice is a bit prettier and the recipes are simpler. Some recipes here: uktv.co.uk/food/search/searchArea/566&q=fuchsia+dunlop

[glorious]

//uktv.co.uk/food/search/searchArea/566&q=fuchsia+dunlop

[snoworneahva]

I would like a good Chinese cookbook as the book of the month...it's something I'd like to explore a bit more, can't recommend any...but I neeeeeed to buy one. Really!!!

Looks like the perfect weekend to try out some of the BBQ recipes from Mexican made Simple- any recommendations?

[Pantah630]

I've got Chinese made Simple by Ching-He Huang from the BBC series a couple of years ago. I'm ashamed to say I think I flicked through it once but haven't cooked from it. I expect libraries may have copies as it was a TV series and lots of her recipes are on the BBC site.