Cookery book club - July - Hugh F-W Veg and curries by Madhur Jaffrey and the Hairy Bikers (vroom vroom)

[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 June our books were:

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

And we posted here

For July our books are:

• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Veg Every Day
  
• Madhur Jaffrey Ultimate Curry Bible AND / OR madhur Jaffrey's Curry Easy AND / OR Hairy Bikers' Great Curries
  

For August, our books will be:

• Fuchsia Dunlop Every Grain of Rice (chopsticks at the ready ladies)
  
• Dan Lepard Short and Sweet
  

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 September's books this month.

[PeteCampbellsRecedingHairline]

I made HB Thai Chicken and Coconut curry last night.

It is technically a cheat because its from the HB diet book but it was yummy.

[PeteCampbellsRecedingHairline]

Talking of libraries, mine had Every Grain of Rice. I was quite shocked.

It looks brand new though which is a bit worrying after I splattered the brand new copy of Jerusalem.

[maniacbug]

Pantah kohlrabi salad in Jerusalem!

We had broad beans too, so the only thing I'm actually missing for the risotto is the white wine... worth a trip to the shops, methinks.

[maniacbug]

... or should I just raid the stash I have here for the bottle tombola at Saturday's school fair?

[Pantah630]

Thank you, thank you pregnant baby carrot and broad bean risotto a big hit here. Ds2 begged me to do it more often :)

maniac raid the stash, it's worth it and you can always pop another bottle in tomorrow.

[HuevosRancheros]

DH is not a risotto fan (weirdo), but I will google that carrot and broad bean risotto for when I am cooking for myself.

Made the HB Keralan King Prawn curry last night, served it with chapattis (not HB's). The curry was really lovely, very light, full of flavour. The corainder and lime at the end added a zing and kept it fresh tasting. Would work well with other meat/veg/fish instead of the prawns, as long as they didn't take a long time to cook in the sauce; I get the feeling it would lose some of its fresh flavour if it was overcooked

[catwithflowers]

Ooh will try the HB prawn curry at the weekend :-)

I have had the Jerusalem lamb shawarma marinating in the fridge overnight (wrong book, I know!) and serving with the fatoush salad. Am making a pavlova for pudding, flavoured with orange blossom water and with pomegranate and almonds. Not very authentic but might work. Need to think of another fruit to go with (not figs). Any ideas?

Love this thread

[ScienceRocks]

Cat, I think I'd add raspberries to that pavlova which sounds much lovelier than most things I cook especially as they are in season at the moment.

Attempting the chicken katsu curry tonight from HB. The children have requested nigel Slater's bolognaise (by name) so I will make a batch and freeze some for future quick dinners.

[maniacbug]

cat nice ripe mango? Would look beautiful with pomegranate. Or caramelised clementines?

Can I come to your house for tea?

[Pantah630]

YY to raspberries, with a side of very sweet, ripe watermelon. You've got me craving shwarma now.

I have a young cousin staying at the end of the month from the US. He's chosen to eat kosher only but not strict kitchen habits thankfully, his adopted Mum, my cousin, is Jewish through her Mum but was brought up Christian as my Great Uncle was a Welsh Baptist. He's exploring his roots which is great, I'm hoping that my Ottolenghi books will be getting a workout again for a fortnight. I hope I don't disappoint him, my memories of when he came over as a child visiting we're of eating McDonalds, thankfully he's moved on from there or he'll be very hungry . Any experts around to help would be good, I know no mixing dairy and meat, no shellfish or pork. No tzatziki with the shwarma is sad but we can still have it, maybe tabbouleh for him.

[Pantah630]

Huevos found this for you

[ELR]

pantah get soya yog to make the tzatziki, then he can have some.

[Pantah630]

Thanks elr will have a look in the chiller cabinet.

[catwithflowers]

Thanks all. I ended up buying some nice ripe apricots from the green grocers and am poaching them in a sugar syrup. I flattened out my pavlova too much so it looks a little odd but I'm hoping to rescue it with fruit and flaked almonds! and lots of wine

The lamb is in a very low oven and smells lovely.

Ps I have another mumsnetter coming to dinner to test it all

[glorious]

I'm off to France with my family, DH and DD and we'll be taking the books so I'll update in a week. Happy cooking everyone!

[ZuleikaJambiere]

Just marking my spot for July. I'm only cooking from Hugh this month as (I think I mentioned) I am lucky enough to work near the best curry shop ever so have no need to try any recipes. If I ever get a new job I'll be right back to you guys to find out which is voted the best book. One book suits me though, as we're going away for a week, and I'm hoping that my Thomasina Miers finally arrives, and there's still a few Jamie recipes I've got my eye. Which reminds me I need to head back to the old thread to add some more to that

Anyways, looking forward to this month. My first HFW recipe is going to be the much recommended beetroot and walnut hummus, as I roasted several beetroots last night and I need to use them. I hope it's as good as you all say

[ScienceRocks]

Chicken katsu curry from HB tonight. Much better than the recipe in the wagamama / yo sushi book oh dear, I'm not sure which it was as they were disappointing so I traded them in in amazon despite having been given them as presents. I didn't deep fry the chicken, instead frying it in a non-stick pan with a spray of oil and it was fine. I also did some steamed green beans as a side dish so it was less sloppy and had a bit more texture.

Easy too, I'd do it again

[catwithflowers]

Apricots were a disaster. I forgot about them and they turned to mush so quickly sent my lovely daughter to Sainsburys for raspberries as suggested. Lamb was nice and the salad dressing unusual but made a nice change from the usual vinagrette.

Best of all was the lovely company Happy weekend cooking everyone. I am back to Hugh tomorrow and hoping for inspiration. Maybe a side dish to go with some fish

[Pantah630]

DS2 and I had the courgette and French bean salad with tahini dressing as a side to steak, chips and mushrooms. Was very nice and we have enough left for tomorrow as DH decided only peas go with steak arse so not in my good books this evening.
I also have the HB frozen rhubarb and vanilla thingy on its first freeze as had loads of rhubarb to use up.
Planning HFW spinach pasties for our picnic tomorrow and possibly the potato and boiled egg salad.

[AlohaMama]

Made patatas bravas from Veg for a 4th July BBQ. It was delicious in flavour, unfortunately by the time it was eaten the potatoes had kind of steamed in the sauce so had lost their crispness. I'd make again but think it would definitely be nicer served fresh.

[Pantah630]

Oh yum the rhubarb and vanilla ice tastes like an intense Rhubarb a d Custard sweet :)

I had a couple of ripe avocados lurking so have made Hugh's Lemony Guacamole, I used half and half lime and lemon juice and just half a deseeded red chilli. I must say I prefer this to TM, hers was a tad too fiery for me although the smokiness of the chipotle gave a lovely flavour.

Tomatoes now scooped and draining ready for oven drying.

Guess who fell asleep on the sofa and woke before six?

[greensnail]

Did curry bible fish in red curry sauce yesterday. Was nice, although a bit too salty even though I didn't salt the fish as the recipe said to. Was quick, easy and tasty so a thumbs up from me although not nice enough to replace my favourite take away!

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'm so going to try the katsu curry, love katsu curry.

[maniacbug]

What a beautiful day! Have just looked through HB to see what we can possibly make on the BBQ and decided on chicken tikka + seekh kebabs with Afghan aubergine (will grill the aubergine on BBQ too) + sag aloo. Yum.

DH made HFW's summer veg frittata last night with chorizo and cheddar instead of goat's cheese; looked good, tasted delicious and he said he liked the way the recipe 'flowed'.

Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

[Pantah630]

Yesterday I also made HFW potato and egg salad, spinach and thyme pasties and the oven dried tomatoes. Potato salad is good, better than the shop bought I'd normally buy, can't remember the last time I made my own. It went down well on our picnic a Dancing Ledge, not as well as the pasties though. They're delicious, I used feta and the flavour was authentically Greek, my only complaint was the pastry. Very easy to make but I can't roll out a rectangle thinly for toffee and I ended up with six and half the filling left over. Both boys liked the pastry but I will use up the filling with filo instead and then compare. The tomatoes are lovely and now sat in the empty Waitrose jar with the left over oil from my shop bought ones. These are much, much better //😍

I have a shwarma marinating in the fridge for tomorrow as there was a knock down priced lamb shoulder in the supermarket. Roast pork, roast veggies and left over courgette and bean salad for lunch.

Think I've done far more than two new recipes from each book this month already, loving both I must say, on a par with Jerusalem and surprisingly KD has found a place in my heart too, the pork polpettine are on the menu this week.