Recipe review club

[GlumyGloomer]

I love trying out new recipes, and thought it would be fun to have a thread where we try stuff out and report back. Source must be cited and link provided if online. Photos encouraged.

Tonight I'll be making asian aubergine wedges, from Nadiya Hussain's Time to Eat book.
I like the taste of aubergine but have grave doubts about the texture. Still, I'm being brave and giving this a go.
Worth noting that I leave the chilli out of everything so that the dd's can eat it (I add at the table).

Anyone fancy joining me? (Waits for tumbleweed...)

I like the idea, but I don't think it would be very practical, we'd all want to try different things.

There's a Chinese supermarket near me, & they sell frozen pigs' uteruses. Would you believe there are recipes online?

Think I'll give that a miss - but I wish I could find lambs' brains & sweetbreads in the shops.

Tonight I made pad thai from "sour" recipe book. I ran out of fish sauce though, and didn't put in kimchi (which I thought a slightly odd addition, but perhaps that would elevate it to something amazing?!). It was pretty tasty, even the toddler seemed to like it, also nice and easy. No photo, sorry, but it looked like a proper pad thai.

Yay, people!
@Georgyporky I didn't mean that we'd all make the same, you're right that would be impractical. Just a space to share what we're up to and maybe discover which books /recipes work well. Pig uterus is definitely too much for me. I've never even tried chicken feet, dispite having a friend who loves them.
@Imicola love a phad thai, never made one though. I did try kimchi recently, and it was super hot.
The aubergine wedges (cooked in the microwave) did not go mushy, so that was good. The whole meal was rather ruined by dd2's overtired screaming though, so I can't say I enjoyed it much.
My favourite aubergine recipe so far is still the aubergine dumplings from the Two Greedy Italians book (Antonio Carlucchio and Gennaro Contaldo).

Dumplings sound good. I have aubergines in the fridge.. I'monot a total conver to aubergines and was planning to make baba ganoush, or some other dip, but I might be tempted by dumplings!

Chickens feet I have tried, and the sauce on them was nice, but the feet themselves... mostly skin. Pigs uterus doesn't sound nice. I might avoid that!

I find the easiest way to make them is to cut the aubergines in half, cut around next to the skin and roast them at 220 for 20 minutes, then scoop out the flesh, put it in a food processor with fresh breadcrumbs, egg, parmesan and basil if you have it, then roll into balls and fry. They're good with tomato pasta sauce.

I made this for lunch:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-mushroom-pasta
Mushrooms are another veg I'm only just getting into, and this was pretty good, although very lemony. Mine came out rather more brown than the recipe picture...

I had chicken feet in China. They were on the breakfast buffet, cold & served in a vinegary sauce. I was surprised to be told the whole thing is eaten.
Not unpleasant, but I won't be asking on here for a recipe.

@GlumyGloomer Those dumplings look good, deffo going to try them.

BTW, I sometimes use courgettes instead of aubergines & vice versa, I've got some elderly courgettes in the fridge so might try it on them.

This is a family favourite.

SLOW COOKER PEANUT BUTTER CHICKEN

I've recently been given dishoom as a birthday gift and have cooked lots from it. It's a phenomenal cookbook, and has overtaken my previous favourite Indian recipe book. Though it is a book for those who are willing to commit a lot of time to a recipe- it's not quick easy weeknight stuff for the most part.

I've made the rajma (a kidney bean curry which is delicious and costs about 20p a head) the chicken ruby, the mataar paneer, kachumber, chilli cheese toast, Parsi omelette, tomato chilli jam and bacon naan. All wonderful and seem truely authentic. Just brilliant.

I have the greedy Italians book and will look up the aubergine recipe.

@iklboo
That looks good, but the timing starts at 8 hours then changes to 3/4 - which seems more likely.
How long do you do it for?

Oh, I forgot to say I usually roll the aubergine balls in extra bread crumbs before I fry them. @waitingforadulthood I deviated from the recipe a bit with the food processor to improve the odds of the DC eating them. The other recipe we really like from that book is the sea bream in white wine with tomatoes. It also works well with bass.
I love a good curry. I'm currently working through the Three Sisters Quick and Easy Indian cook book, but after that I shall be in the market for a new one.
@iklboo we'll definitely give that a go, any tips?

@Georgyporky - I tend to do it for 4-5 hours max. I think it'd burn otherwise.

@GlumyGloomer - add more spice if you like it hotter - it can definitely take a bit more chilli than the recipe as the peanut butter cools it down quite a bit. We prefer ours thicker rather than runnier but you can adjust to your own tastes by adding more liquid / stock in.

@GlumyGloomer
Just had a good laugh. There's a zombie thread asking about the recipe for the yogurt/mint sauce from curry houses, & someone has suggested a pasta sauce.
I'm quite new here, can you report a post for stupidity?

@Georgyporky if you check the mushroom pasta link I posted be sure to read the comments, one of them is hilarious

@GlumyGloomer And another good laugh!
It always tickles me how some people don't know when someone is "'aving a larf" - I see it regularly on MN.

I often visit that site , as well as the BBC food site, never looked at the comments before.

In a similar vein, I've looked at @iklboo 's peanut butter chicken.
It's on the menu tomorrow, but I'm using PB fit powder (less fat as I'm a sort-of weight-watcher), chicken thighs as they need using (OK, not that much of a WW), & cooking on the hob.

@Georgyporky I always check the comments as people tend to rate what they have made, including adjustments, rather than the exact recipe. That one did make me laugh though.
Tbf it is a lot harder to tell through text when someone is being serious or not.
I think I'll try the peanut chicken next week (I plan weekly). Let me know how it goes.

I've not done much exciting cooking last few days because dd2 has been teething. I have some sea bass which needs using up today, probably with a lemon and caper dressing.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/baked-sea-bass-lemon-caper-dressing

Yeah, the comments always help, especially for baking recipes! I made a huge vat of slow cooker chilli last night... looks a bit watery!

@Imicola so easily done with a slow cooker! I know it kind of defeats the object but maybe finish it on the hob?
I'm trying to make better use of my slow cooker, but I've not cracked it yet.

Yes, I probably will do that. In retrospect I wish I had made a bolognese and then tinkered each evening on the hob. I ended up filling it so full that it overflowed all over the worktop! So at least that got rid of some of the liquid!

@iklboo peanut chicken sound interesting,will try it soon.

Anybody finds BBC Good Food website a bit slow?

I’m slowly switching(back) to BBC Food but miss the pictures.

@frenchBoule I do find it a bit slow, but I thought that was just my phone. I had a quick look at bbc food before but didn't like the interface as much.
For online recipes I pretty much only use good food but I'm hoping to make some new discoveries via this thread.

I had the PB chicken last night - made with thighs, PBfit powder & cooked on the hob. I increased the chilli, & we enjoyed it.
The only negative comment is I could taste the fish sauce, so there was too much.

@frenchBoule I get pictures with BBC food, could it be your browser that's the problem?

@Georgyporky did you use the oyster sauce or nam pla? I have nam pla already so was planning to use that.

I'm making rye bread tomorrow from the Nordic Bakery book. It makes 3 loaves, so I'm currently assessing my freezer space to decide if I should make the whole lot or not. I've not made much bread but I really do enjoy it and hope to do more in the future.