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...)

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl I've just checked, and so far the Time to Eat book has 27 recipes I like, to 16 that I don't. These are only the ones I've tried. The best things about the book can also be the worst, as the recipe often tells you to make up a huge batch of spice mix or curry paste, and obviously if you find you don't like it that's rather a waste. I've not fallen foul of this yet, but it's always a risk. The recipes range from really easy to too hard for me to even attempt. As a general rule I reduce the amount of salt and pepper by half. I omit the chilli (in everything) completely so can't comment on that.
Overall I'd recommend it, as it has some great batch cook and two for one type recipes. Also I absolutely adore her granola recipe

Oh, those croissants look lovely... how difficult were they to make? Im not overly keen on the nadiya book I have to be honest... but so far I have only tried one recipe. They always need too many odd ingredients that I don't have. Perhaps I should try again and order some ingredients.
We're just surviving here until the nursery reopens, but I did manage to make the sweet potato and kimchi cakes from here. Tasty, but too soft and squishy! We had them in pitta.
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/food/2021/jan/18/nigel-slater-10-winter-vegan-vegetarian-recipes

Imicola really easy actually. Two ingredients I bought just for this book are garlic and onion granules, but they are used in a lot of the recipes so it's been a decent investment.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl I agree about having a book or at least a printout from the web, I just can't cook from a screen.

I've just picked up the latest Ottolenghi from the library, very drooly.
Not sure if I'll make anything from it though. It's come from an Inner London authority, I don't think it's even been opened.

I've borrowed a Jack Monroe e-book from the library @Georgyporky - I really like the recipes but can't get to grips with reading it on a Kindle! I like the whole experience of the book and the lovely pictures

I'm taking antibiotics at the moment for an eye infection and have to eat stodge to stop feeling really sick when I have them. I had salmon, potatoes & green beans for dinner but have been shovelling in toast ever since

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl oh no, hope the antibiotics do their business quickly.
I made a cinnamon and cocoa swirl loaf yesterday from nadiya bakes. Used the bread machine to do the dough, then took it out to finish by hand. Came out well, but somehow it wasn't as good as I had imagined... maybe could do with being more sweet.

That looks awesome Imicola, shame it wasn't quite up to expectations.
I made the sausage and egg sliders from Time to Eat last night. They were ok, but would have been nicer with fried eggs than the baked omelette bit.
Clara hope you feel better soon. Toast is one of my all time favourite comfort foods, I'm sure it will help.

@Imicola that loaf looks beautiful, a pity it didn't taste as expected! Was it meant to be more savoury than sweet? I love cinnamon and cocoa but then I prefer dark chocolate to milk, maybe it's more for a bit of extra spice than as a sweet pudding type loaf?

(Incidentally would you recommend getting a bread maker? DS2 is very keen and thinks you just chuck all the ingredients in to make very delicious things but as we have a tiny kitchen, I'm reluctant to buy another gadget - even a second hand one - if it won't get used!)

No massively exciting cooking here but we did bake these cupcakes earlier, which had the seal of approval from both DC

I had a breadmaker when I had a big kitchen. I did use it, but not very often. Don't know why I bought it, we don't eat a lot of bread & home-made goes stale very quickly.
We moved over 10 years ago, much smaller kitchen,& I recently found it in the gloryhole. Now in the bag for the next charity collection when they resume.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl yeah, the loaf recipe was a standard bread, not sweet, but with cinnamon. Then the swirl was equal parts cocoa and sugar, and the top an odd paste including flour, yeast (not sure why as it was done at the end and so doesn't rise at all), cocoa, sugar, oil and water. I think I'd prefer it if it was more like brioche or sweet bread, but then I have a sweet tooth!
We've had the bread machine for quite a few years now and we go through phases or using it a lot or not at all! Its simple to make standard or flavoured loaves, but for more fancy things you obviously still need to take it out to shape or whatever. It makes a really good loaf, but as @Georgyporky said, they do tend to go stale faster, so it's best if your family get through a loaf every day or two. I have mine in the utility room as it's noisy when on. I also make pizza dough in it, and have made cake occasionally. I like to have it! I used to make bread by hand occasionally, but nowadays that seems like such an indulgence with time, I don't think I ever would! My next one to make is cinnamon buns.

... but yes, for most loaves you just chuck it all in in the correct order and switch it on! Most also have an automatic dispenser to add seeds, dried fruit etc at the appropriate time.

Bread maker is on my wish list, technically my kitchen should have enough space. At the moment it doesn't because we have a serious clutter problem, but if I get on top of that I might reward myself with one.
My parents have one, they just freeze half the loaf to get around the best before issue.
I love cinnamon buns! Not made them since having kids though as it's just too long a process.

I'm months late to this thread, but just spent a lovely half hour scrolling through.
2 of my 3 dd's are veggie so I'm always on the lookout for recipes that I can split to make one veggie and one that I can add meat to. Curries (Deliciously Ella ones are great) and ragu sauces are staple fare here.

Tonight's dinner was toad in the hole - always use Nigella's Yorkshire pudding recipe from Feast, but with burgers that needed using up and Quorn sausages.
Was alright, but missed the juicy-ness you get from a good banger.

Hello @Littlefiendsusan, welcome to the thread
I know exactly what you mean about veggie toad in the hole not being the same!

I made the NH Time to Eat coronation tuna yesterday. At first bite I was unconvinced, but made into a toasted sandwich it was lovely.
I was going to make the caramelized biscuit tray bake from the same book, but have put it hold while I panic about the scales creeping up again. Won't stop me from enjoying pancake day next week though...

@GlumyGloomer coronation tuna... sounds interesting, but not that tempting (but then I hate tuna, so perhaps that is why!).

I made chocolate cookies last night using this recipe www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/triple-chocolate-cookies#commentsFeed good example of why you should read the full recipe first, as I melted all the chocolate at once to add to the mix, not realising half was for going on top at the end! Anyway, I only had dark chocolate, so used that, and they are really nice. The dough was quite firm though and I think could have done with slightly longer in the oven, but better a bit softer rather than too crunchy in my opinion!

Happy Chinese new year!
This was one home school assignment I actually really enjoyed. We made this recipe:
dailycookingquest.com/chinese-pan-fried-fish-with-soy-sauce.html
With sea bass, and it was lovely. I never usually eat fish skin but this was crispy and delicious. I used puree ginger and garlic to make life easier.
The dumplings are from itsu, and the noodle soup is just chicken stock with 5 spice, but it was still tasty.

@Imicola those cookies look amazing!!

@GlumyGloomer it wasn't just us with the Chinese New Year stuff for school then I did wonder if they'd ask us to do something else (given that China isn't exactly a popular destination at the moment!) but I guess they already have all the worksheets etc to give out...

Made this Jamie Oliver squash soup last night (but without the parmesan croutons, as I am losing weight and they wouldn't help!). It was tasty and there was plenty left over to freeze, but next time I'd probably up the chilli/ spice content, as it was a little bit bland for me. It took ages to be soft enough to blend as well - far longer than in the recipe - but then I only have a stick blender, if you have a decent one it probably wouldn't take half as long!

@GlumyGloomer
Have I read this correctly? Your DD made that !

Ha ha, no, she's 4. She did measure out the ingredients for the sauce and mix them together. I then fried the fish and cooked the sauce.

I'm trying to encourage my DC to enjoy cooking more too @GlumyGloomer. DTS2 will try most things but DTS1 (borderline ASD) is very much a beige food eater! He'll often help to cook but not actually want to try any of the food. He does have a sweet tooth though so cakes and cookies always go down well

GG, "home school assignment" confused me.

@imicola Had the haggis mac & cheese yesterday. I used cheddar instead of parmesan, basic white sauce, & added wilted spinach to the mix.
It was OK, DH loved it, but it was a bit stodgy for me.
The other half is in the freezer, so I'll be looking for something else to do with it next time. Any ideas?

Georgy it's a fine example of primary homeschool. Basically 'do something with your child to celebrate Chinese new year'. Cooking was listed as a suggestion and it seemed easier than making a dragon puppet.

I made a qourn lasagna today:
www.google.com/amp/s/www.quorn.co.uk/amp/recipes/quorn-meat-free-lasagne
Not generally my favourite meat free mince but this actually worked really well. I used an easy cream cheese white sauce instead of the one in the recipe, also didn't have red pesto so I used sun dried tomato paste instead.

@GlumyGloomer the fish looks nice!
Tonight I thought I'd do a special meal ahead of valentine's day. Chicken arrabiata with parmesan dumplings and roast tatties, then self saucing sticky toffee chocolate pudding. Im not sure either really lived up to my expectations though. Perhaps my cooking is going downhill!

The chicken was too saucy and watery, which meant the dumplings partially dissolved in the sauce. Tasty, but I'd skip the stock if I made it again, and add some veg perhaps. The pudding was massive and overflowed my largest dish. Too big, particularly under lockdown! It also took about twice as long to cook as it said, then in the end it was tasty, but there didn't seem to be much sauce left! Ah well, everyone seemed to enjoy it regardless, but it was quite a lot of effort all together. Im exhausted now.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-arrabbiata-stew-parmesan-dumplings/amp

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/self-saucing-sticky-toffee-chocolate-pudding/amp