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...)

@Lonelynow that looks lovely, it took me a minute to decide if it was your photo or a recipe pic. I'll try to give that one a go.

I never remember to take a photo at the start of a meal, but here is a pic of the leftovers 😅
I made Nadiya's paneer koftas with vermicelli rice. There is a sauce too, but it was on the opersit page and I didn't spot it when doing the shopping. It was a little plain without, and I burned the rice a bit. The koftas took ages but were pretty nice, and I have a batch for the freezer.

My pic won't post. Oh well, it wasn't that ex

...citing. stupid phone.

Hello @LionLily, that sounds impressive, I've certainly never blanched an almond before.
What book does the recipe come from, or is it online?
I've made regular pesto once but mostly we use jars mixed with chopped tomatoes as it's my quick fix dinner.

Recipe is online, it was part of his Italy series.
Very simple, quick dish.

I like the sound of the Rick Stein one, but I’m not sure that you can buy almonds in their skins round my way!

@The GhostofGlumy... yeah I didn't have the guts to do that either, especially as we're moving soon so really don't want to make a mess of the oven! I put it on a seperate wire rack above a roasting tray with onions/chilli in the tray, then put the potatoes directly underneath when I took the veg out to make the sauce.

Good to hear it @Lonelynow!

For lunch I made grilled tuna in breadcrumbs, from the Two Greedy Italians book. It's becoming a favourite and is really simple. You mix fresh white breadcrumbs with garlic, parsley and enough olive oil to get a damp texture, stick the fish in it (I find I have to sort of squash it on) and then grill. Works quite well with salmon too.

Hello all, just back from holiday & catching up on the posts.
I've seen some really interesting things to try.
I do like to cook the cuisine of the country I've just visited, but as it was England our dinners were Mexican, Lebanese, Thai ......

DH really loved a duck dish with tamarind sauce, so I'll try to recreate that for him as I'm an obedient little wifey . I've got a bottle of tamarind sauce in the cupboard, so shouldn't be too difficult !!

Anyway, looks like a t/a curry tonight as I CBA to cook anything.

Decided to try the veg goulash recipe with parsley dumplings from a pp. Advance cooking for tomorrow, so hopefully it will reheat ok. Looks nice, but im not convinced smoked paprika is right, surely it should just be paprika for a goulash! Still, it tastes good, you can really taste the caraway, but it's a bit thin so might need bread to mop it up.

Hello @Georgyporky, hope you had a nice holiday.
The only holiday dish I've tried to recreate at home is greek stuffed tomatoes, but it's never as good as the ones I remember. Tamarind duck sounds lovely.
Looks good @Imicola, so another vote for veggie goulash. I have to confess I always use smoked paprika .
Going back to my smoked is better theory I tried smoked tomato paste today. It was nice enough, but you couldn't really tell once it was incorporated into a sauce. My hypothesis really isn't testing out, lol. I think I might revise it to all cheese is improved by smoking. That sounds safe...

Still the food being smoked, not me smoking while I eat my cheese

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/4845/chicken-jalfrezi.aspx

Eating this right now 👍

Hi @Fluffycloudland77, sounds nice

So on the goulash, I don't think I'd make it again. Somehow the flavours didn't work for me and the recipe wad also a bit strange. The caraway was the main flavour, which I really like, but the dijon in the dumplings was odd. The dumplings in general weren't thay great, but perhaps that's because it was a vegan recipe? I normally make them with butter. I think with improved dumplings, minus the mustard, I would have rated it more highly.

Currently got www.tastesoflizzyt.com/beefy-mexican-rice-soup on the hob as recommended by a PP

I made this tonight www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/turkey-bolognese-pasta-bake
Although I did the slow cooker version (from the bbc ultimate slow cooker book) with bbq sauce instead of chipotle. I also subbed turkey strips for mince, and creme fraish for mascapone. It was lovely

Imicola thanks for the report, shame about the dumplings.

Mexican rice soup was tasty, but I got the liquid quantities wrong, still tasty though

@Imicola,it looks good but I must say I’m not a fan of smoked paprika. I like sweet paprika but smoked os a bit meh to me and I have quite a lot of spices in my cupboard.

I love tweaking recipes but seasoning is like “less is more”

@TheGhostofGlumy that sounds great but it’s too similar to my turkey meatballs in tomato sauce so will skip it.
Love your plate 🙂

Off to check chicken jalfrezi.
Very unimaginative fish and chips tomorrow,will try to conoct something new towards the weekend

@TheGhostofGlumy ,thanks. We should have been in Turkey, but Wilts & S'set were OK.

I love Chinese dumplings - light, fluffy & filled with interesting things.
'nuff said.

Post-holiday, I'm £s lighter & lbs heavier, so chicken & seafood meals for a while, & no cream or wine. (Sob).

Paella tonight, no recipe - just lots of veg & a little bomba.

I do plan to make something Turkish in lieu of our cancelled holiday.
Chickpeas are soaking, lamb & aubergine in the 'fridge, so has anyone got any suggestions, please?

@Georgyporky imam byaldi delicious

Having discovered some marinated firm tofu which was about to expire I decided to make this for lunch
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crispy-tofu
Looks good (if way less healthy that tofu should be). I'll report back after we eat it. The real test will be dd1...

Forgot the photo

Well, it was a little bit bland, and after being kept warm in the oven not very crispy either. Nice enough dipped in chilli sauce though. Dd1 did not approve. Apparently the 'usual tofu' is better. I'm mystified as to what that is though