May Cookery Book Club - Middle Eastern month

[HuevosRancheros]

This month we are having a vague Middle Eastern theme - Jerusalem (Ottolenghi) and Persiana (Sabrina Ghayour) have grabbed our imagination, but other books can definitely be shared - let us know what you like cooking
give us more books to buy

It's no longer Indian month but I finally made the mums curry in made in India. It's really good!

Lol Two, that was the month before last!!

Was a great book though :)

And JamNan you're very welcome, sorry the OP wasn't the usual Cookery Book Club intro, but it was needed in a hurry as we were well into May, and still posting on the April thread!

Hope you enjoy cooking with us and discover some exciting new flavours :)

Oh, and for newcomers to Jerusalem, it wasn't my thing, not veggie, but the lamb schwarma got people very excited!

Hellooo, off to browse Amazon to see which ME takes my fancy. Although I'm not a huge fan of apricots, dates and prunes etc in main dishes

Ok. Amazon too much choice....plenty, plenty more, Persiana or Jerusalem?!!

I adore Plenty, and Plenty More looks very promising, but they are not technically ME books. Just a mixture of veggie delights.

Jerusalem is fantastic, you cannot go wrong - great recipes, great writing, great photos :)
Don't have Persiana to compare.....

Date salad was very nice supposed to feed four, DS2 and I split it between us

Yay!

It wouldn't have kept anyway

My library had Veggiestan in, so I've brought it home. I've gone from not really fancying much in it (didn't seem that much more to offer than Jerusalem), to being really annoyed at her writing style ("slotty spoon", "natch", "chilli wuss", all drive me mad), to wanting to make quite a lot of it actually, now!

Oh, I quite liked the writing style. I agree it's not as 'in your face I want to make THAT now!' as Persiana (amazing photography) but the recipes are quite interesting.

It was a lot of effort but I really really really liked the no meat meatballs with barbaries inside. And I made the afghan carrot stew thing last week which was very good wholesome post-hike food but I felt was a tad under spiced. Lovely combination with yog and the salad and hit flat bread though. Also the smokey aubergine dip (omg omg!) and herb frittata are tasty. To be fair, if you eat meat, the no meat meatballs would probably be good with meat!

Oh the spinache balls were lovely and v easy to make.

I want Jerusalem but my cook book shelf is full and j hardly ever cook at the moment so can't justify it.

Ah, I am very pernickety about writing style in books! In previous months I have complained about writers overusing unnecessary words as well!

Her writing style would be fine for a blog, I'm guessing that's where it started? And I guess if you've bought the book on the back of the blog you'll get what you're expecting and be very happy with that. But as a newcomer, it just grates a little. Too jocular and chatty for me. I'll get over it, don't worry

I'm actually quite excited about the soups, and I don't generally like soup much, as a rule. But I guess that's because I find them a bit bland, yet the spices here are so tempting! The Armenian one with garlic, lentils, spinach and walnuts sounds great, think I'll do that next week.
And maybe have a go at some flat breads :)

Oh my god never read Deliciously Ella then. She is agonising with every single recipe being 'literally the scrummiest thing ever'.

Last Saturday I made (all from Jerusalem):
Roasted cauliflower and Hazelnut salad (p.62) - really loved this, although I had to substitute Pine nuts for the hazelnuts. Definitely will make this again
Spicy Carrot Salad p.65 I misread this and grated the carrots rather than briefly cooking and then slicing. It also involved a complicated spice paste (I haven't got the book in front of me), so I made a quick approximation of it. I might experiment with making my own Harissa at the weekend.
Tabbouleh (made this before, so lovely) p.85 Loved this - will make this again at the weekend.
and Zucchini cakes - a Nigel Slater recipe. Not sure these were authentically Middle Eastern but they were lovely.

Will try some more recipes at the weekend and the harissa.

And maybe have a go at some flat breads

We have a 24 hour Turkish grocery shop across the road. I buy my flat breads from there. Massively cheating but very tasty.

The books are at the library so I'll go get them today.

Persiana is my favourite :)

I have vouched to try one new recipe at least once a month and I am gradually making my way through Persiana.
So far, we've given up buying humus from the shops, we make our own and is amazing (both taste and speed/cost). Been combining flavours: some with harissa, pesto, lime, paprika etc.

I also made the rice with lentils and caramelised onions. Loved it, I made a big batch, tastes even nicer reheated.

The lentil soup with caramelised onions and chickpeas was also very tasty and loved by all.
So were the meat balls and falafels.
I am planning to try another one this weekend, I'll let you know how it went :)

Quick and off topic question: has anyone made their own tortillas? I have a press but am trying to work out if I really do need to line it with a plastic bag or if I oil it instead? And if I go for the plastic bag route, will cling film do the trick and do I need to replace it in between presses?

Having a Wahaca themed evening

I forgot the library now shuts at 2 on a Saturday

Can I put forward a nomination for a future months book? I've bought smashing plates ( Greek) and am absolutely inspired. I love it, such a lovely summery book

I'm continuing my trend for being a month behind. Today I had the Persian saffron and mint chicken with spring couscous for lunch. (Or I'm just combining the two months as Persian is definitely Middle Eastern)! It's lovely and light. Really perfect for spring. It will work as a picnic lunch too. Here is an online recipe. aspoonfulofsugarblog.com/tag/diana-henry/

As for Greek food. I actually don't have any book on the cuisine. Maybe I need to rectify this? I always buy the ebook version if available so shelf space isn't a problem :)

It's from Diana Henry's a change of appetite. Forgot to say in the previous post.

Two I'm two months behind as have just bought Made in India and secrets of indian Kitchen...! I love Jersualem- recommend the herb pie, the chicken and clementine roast, pretty much every salad in there and the lamb with eggs poached in it. On the Persiana front, also really like this one. The tomato, eggs, feta brunch dish was lovely and the slow cooked lamb with tumeric potatoes was fab with radish based side salad....

You lot are tempting me with persiana!

pregnantpause

can I tempt you here - it's only £6.99

Right now I have to shout loud and clear to DH.

'J E R U S A L E M (the book) Jam's birthday hint hint.'

Poor love thought I wanted us to go on hols to Israel.

PS I am am catching up on Diana Henry from last month. I like her recipes.