Cookery Book Club May - French Brasserie and Delia's Summer Collection

[Pantah630]

Do you know I think it's been a year since we began our Cook Book Club. Feel free to join in, the more the merrier.

This month we have the French Brasserie cookbook, currently only £4.12 on kindle and Delia's Summer Collection, I've had this for years yet rarely cooked from it.

[LeonardoAcropolis]

skinmysunshine We had new potatoes dressed with olive oil and broccoli. Lovely.

[pregnantpause]

Finally got around to eating the Delia strawberry cheesecake ice cream I made on Sunday!
It is very very nice . I agree with her descriptive, it's a pudding ice cream, more pudding than ice cream really. It's also not too sweet, which is the main reason I usually claim not to like ice cream- I find most sickly.
The strawberry sauce made too much, if it was all added I think the ice cream would just have been pink, not rippled, but I stirred half through and poured the remainder over the ice cream which was lovely and the dc loved having a 'red' sauce like from the ice cream van

[ELR]

Made the pesto rice today but added orzo pasta, can't seem to make rice these days unless it's with orzo too!
I only had a little bit but enjoyed it. I made it for a change for kids packed lunches tomorrow that's if there's any left as kids enjoyed it for tea this evening too!

[skinmysunshine]

So did the salmon but I tried the sauce before I folded in the creme fraiche and preferred it. Had with griddled asparagus and balsamic roasted tomatoes

[Pantah630]

Guess which muppet didn't read the recipe quantities before slicing her cucumbers and onions last night?

Hoping the added 24hrs draining in fridge won't harm them, and that Aldi has white wine vinegar and soft brown sugar!!

[ScienceRocks]

Top Bananas is (are?) here! Thank you MNHQ!

[skinmysunshine]

Has anyone made the Sri Lankan Curry with Coconut Sambal from Summer? Thinking of trying that this weekend.

[Pantah630]

Just had the pesto rice (with orzo) thank you to whomever first added orzo in the mix...we had it with MN std slow cooker ham, delicious will definitely make again.

Also finally finished off the sweet pickled cucumbers, have to wait a month to test but a finger dipped in the pickle mix tastes promising.

[glorious]

Pork belly marinating for the FB 'confit' with apple. It's not confit in my book but looks tasty. It's too hot now really to have the oven on for 4 hours though!

Planning the bouillabaisse and raspberry creme brulee for DH's birthday tea on Friday.

[pregnantpause]

I made Delias rigatoni and asparagus au gratin today. The dc adored it. It's a creamy pasta bake- of course they adored it I thought it was very nice, if a bit heavy for such a beautiful day. I made it diary to finish in twenty minutes too which is great for a family meal! ( I didn't do everything step by step as she does, I can multitask- it must take her ages to make anything when she completes each step before starting a new one)

BBQ tomorrow, I'm making the halloumi kebabs and lamb and cashew kebabs. Looking forward to it.

[glorious]

Mmmmmmm the pork is super tasty. Very soft and tastes of apples, booze and a tiny hint of spice. Really top notch. Potatoes a hit too. We didn't do the greens as directed because we felt the heart attack would be inconvenient, just plain.

Mmmmm again. Hoping to eat leftovers in hog roast style sandwich tomorrow but suspect DH might beat me to it.

[pregnantpause]

Well the halloumi kebabs were a hit- though I felt the peppers could have done with longer - the cheese and onion was cooked before the peppers. I didn't do the lamb kebabs as guests arrived with mountains of meat.

[LeonardoAcropolis]

We had a barbecued chicked with the apricot glaze this weekend, except I used tinned peach Very good, thats my go to bbq glaze. I cookef the orange and meringue pie for dessert (but didnt pile it high). I even made the pastry, for once. Very good.

I forgot what a superb book this is, it really had a dish for every occasion. I want to do the chickrn with sherry vinegar and tarragon. I remember doing it years ago but i cant seem to find sherry vinegar. Would cider vinegar work in its place?

I cant remember if I have already suggested this, but can we do the Winter book later on this year?

[Pantah630]

I have some sherry vinegar leonardo how much do you need? If only a couple of tbsps I can send you some, save buying a bottle. Pretty sure they stock in Waitrose and larger Sainsburys/Tesco.

[LeonardoAcropolis]

That's very generous of you Pantah I will see if I can get some over the weekend and get back to you if I am unlucky

[LeslieJohnson]

I love bakery and always bake for myself and children on weekends.Will join you soon!!

[PennySillin]

I've just marked my place on the June thread after buying Top Banana's a few weeks ago and not used it yet and I seem to have bought a copy of The French Brasserie on my kindle so joining you here too!

[glorious]

Yay welcome both.

[pregnantpause]

I made french brasserie Suzanne cake today - I'm not a baker, ( in fact I'm a terrible cook- hence all the cook books) but I thought it seemed simple so gave it a go. It's nice, but, not sweet enough for me. Perhaps I did something wrong, but I could also taste the egg in it. A smear of jam would improve it. It'll get eaten- it's still cake after all, but I certainly won't make it again.

[glorious]

Bouillabaisse was nice enough, nothing special. I don't know why he doesn't suggest using all the fish frames in the stock. Creme brulee with raspberry was good. I overcooked it a bit but thar was my fault! My mum makes them with a bit of chestnut puree as well which is my favourite, and think my normal recipe is more reliable (Leith's) but I did like these all the same.

[Pantah630]

leonardo I had a go at the chicken in sherry and tarragon last night! still not sure about it to be honest. The sauce didn't reduce and was too acidic, my sherry vinegar was very old but didn't think vinegar went off. If I made it again I'd use less vinegar and sherry I think. Chicken and onions (didn't have any shallots) were tasty though. Unfortunately, or fortunately, there was only 140mls left off the vinegar so I ended I up using the lot, should have read the recipe beforehand, I'd envisioned sending you a few tablespoons in the post, sorry, hope you had some luck finding some.

[LeonardoAcropolis]

Pantah no worries, it was very kind of you to offer anyway. What a shame the dish didnt work out, I remember it being lovely, although it was probably back in 1999 and my tastes may have been different!

[pregnantpause]

Mmmm... French brasserie Sunday lunch at the pause house today. The pot roast pheasant, with braised cabbage and sautéed potatoes followed by the raspberry clafoutis (with custard because I'm uncouth like that)
The pheasant was amazing! The sauce was fantastic, as were the sautéed potatoes - Restaurant quality food ( I know it sounds like I'm blowing my own horn, but really as I am a terrible cook , it is entirely the recipe quality that has resulted in this success . ) the clafoutis was delicious too. I'm definitely making it all again, but with more witnesses- sorry guests- to revel in my cooking grandeur

[pregnantpause]

I made French brasserie rabbit casserole and fondant potatoes yesterday- delicious. The casserole sauce in particular was lovely.

As ever the month is over and there's loads I didn't get around to cooking. I always plan so much more than I manage still, their both good books and are certainly going to be used more. See everyone on The June thread then