Cookery Book Club September - Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros and any River Cafe book

[Pantah630]

Think Tiger must be away so thought I'd better get this up, ready and waiting as August is disappearing fast.

I vow to be more productive in September, I have Falling Cloudberries and a River Cafe book Easy, though not enamoured of it so will check out the library for Red or Blue book. Any recommendations from either book please.

The souvlaki recipe from FC is very good.

Pantah try dunking them in a really milky coffee mid-morning... mmmm...

I was in Tesco earlier and asked a very nice man at the in-store bakery if I could buy some fresh yeast. He came back with a small block for me gratis ?????????? he was indeed a very, very nice man, with an Italian accent too!!

Will attempt more Cinnamon and cardamon buns later.

What's on the stocks for October?

Yay pantah . I'll try tesco next time I need some.

Next month is a food mag and blog. Can't remember if we decided which blog but think it might have been Good Food plus whichever supermarket mag we want?

I just bought the October edition of Good Food magazine and was like this: when I read the recipe for the cover photo cake. I mean, I bake regularly and am perfectly happy with the idea of spending hours in the kitchen, but seriously... it involves making 7 different sponges! Using 21 eggs! For just ONE cake! I am making a 3-tier chocolate wedding cake in October and I anticipate it being less effort than that. I wonder if it was some kind of editorial joke to see if any readers would really be mad brave enough to attempt it? I was pleased with the one-pot recipes booklet, though. I do like a good one-pot.

Also, and the main reason I am posting, does anyone have any suggestions for beetroot recipes from any of the books done to date? Did anyone make DL's cherry beet cake? I have Jerusalem open at the pureed beetroot with yoghurt + za'atar but just wondered if there was anything else I should be doing with my vegbox beet this week... can't find anything in Cloudberries, or EGoR. Hmm, I don't think I've ever seen a Chinese dish involving beetroot. Does it grow in that part of the world?

And have also been meaning to ask, are there any MN food bloggers? There must be. Can anyone direct me to a couple please? Thanks!

Maniac- a beetroot and walnut recipe went down well from hfw veg if I remember correctly. (I like neither ingredients, but considered making it because of the enthusiasm of others )

Beet root and feta salad in jamie oliver 15 min meals.
But a lovely use is to make a mixture of cooked cubed beet root with chopped parsley feta and a little cream cheese then season with pepper and use filo pastry to make little samosa pasty type things really yummy.

Hi maniac - try the Riverford website for beetroot recipes, they have lots. I've made choc beetroot brownies a couple of times, they're lovely. But I prefer beetroot in a salad...

I've made 2 new things from Cloudberries. First the Oven Roasted Tomatoes, which are wonderful and really really easy. I had a glut from my veg box and will be doing this with future gluts. We had them with bread and cheese and on pasta. Then last week I made the Finnish meatballs. The meatballs themselves are great - quick and easy to make and really tasty. The sauce was a bit dodgy though - it looked thin and didn't really taste of much. Has anyone else tried it? Or got a good recipe for a scandinavian sauce - I think they are normally sour cream based? We had them with cranberry jelly instead of lingonberry and the DS's loved it despite the dodgy sauce. Also the meatball quantity was huge - I made a half quantity of the recipe and have still ended up with loads in the freezer (no bad thing)

Re October, there is an autumn recipe supplement with the Waitrose mag this month and I'm tempted by loads of them. There are lots of veggie ones.

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven't been posting (don't have this months's books) but i have been reading with interest.

Have the books for next month been decided?

Someone asked about MN food bloggers. I have set up my blog but not used it yet, but my twitter is food obsessed if anyone wants to look. It's @todayicooked.

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven't been posting (don't have this months's books) but i have been reading with interest.

Have the books for next month been decided?

Someone asked about MN food bloggers. I have set up my blog but not used it yet, but my twitter is food obsessed if anyone wants to look. It's @todayicooked.

Oh dear, I don't post for ages and then I post twice

What the hell, I may as well make it four times

Thanks, great ideas! I remember really liking the sound of HFW's beetroot/walnut + the positive reviews at the time but not getting round to it, so I think I'll give that a try. ELR I wholeheartedly agree that beetroot + feta = v. good together, but I sent Jamie back to the library so have just looked online... do you mean the one from the steak sarnie meal? minimuffin the beetroot is from Riverford! It didn't occur to me to check their website so thanks for reminding me. Have just looked and there are enough beetroot ideas on there to keep me going all winter. (I did the beetroot haters' soup a couple of years ago to try and win DH over, but found it too sweet and the orange overpowering. Love the brownies though: I have marked the recipe with a big star!)
Science I've never used twitter, can you browse without actually signing up for an account?

Yes it is the one from the steak sarnie recipe, this is prob the meal I do most out of there at least once every 6 weeks.

Just made the chicken and cardamom curry from Madhur jaffrey, just can't seem to get motivated for this months books so just making things I enjoyed from other months.

Maniac, there is a lovely halloumi, beetroot and lime recipe in nigella kitchen. Very simple, but delicious. I blimmin' love beetroot.

Oh, and I think yes to being able to browse twitter without an account.

I don't have that book, but halloumi, beetroot + lime combined sounds like heaven. My usual beetroot dishes are: Nigella's Christmas coleslaw (goes down v. well with a BBQ or as she suggests with the chilli) or a massive pot of borsch, with lots of dill and sour cream and black bread to dunk in it. Mmm. I am going to have to buy more beetroot this weekend, I think.

Back to this month, and I am determined to make the toffee/apple cake from Cloudberries, maybe tomorrow. Those Finnish meatballs sound good too, the sort of thing DCs would hoover up, though I might go off piste with the sauce.

maniac try the meatballs in the jamie oliver 15 minute meal book they are pretty good. I don't have the recipe book but I googled it after watching it on tv and it was delish.

Trying again with the cinnamon buns and I have FC lamb with oregano and lemon in the oven for lunch, I'm using shoulder rather than leg. I'm a bit dubious as it's missing the garlic that you'd normally use with this Greek recipe but we'll see.

Much better with the fresh yeast and the lamb was good too, potatoes were lovely and lemony.

pantah where did you get ground cardamom can't seem to find it anywhere.

I didn't, ground it myself. I have a spice grinder/coffee mill, this time I did it the lazy way and just chucked a load of pods in the grinder. Last time I bashed them in a pestle and mortar, got the seeds out, then ground them....in the words of the immortal Severus Snape "I see no difference"

Thanks will do that but 2 tsp worth is loads!

Konnichiwa! Signing out for this month from Tokyo See you in October.