Weekly new recipe thread

[SarahJessicaParkin]

I've decided to try out a brand new recipe every week this year. I seem to make the same things on rotation all the time, so hope this will drag me out of my recipe rut and improve my not great cooking skills!

Would anyone like to join me?

Made this last night, I think I've made it before, once.

It's was lovely. I added garlic and a smidge of red wine, and a herb stock cube. Served with roast vegetables and wedges rather than mash. Used rosemary as I didn't have parsley. Small changes really,

Couple of recipe books arriving today, so more new meals to try, East and India Express.

Sorry, link

www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/black-bean-mushroom-ginger-stew

Made Thai Green Curry with aubergine, courgettes and mangetout last night, from Meera Sodha's book East. I followed the recipe to the letter and it was absolutely delicious, so much 'fresher' than the shop bought Thai curry paste. Served with lemon rice. I'd probably double up on the paste recipe and freeze for convenience mid week next time, as I'll definitely make this one again.

I can't link as it's not online sadly. But the book is most definitely worth it.

Had some fresh spinach to use up so made this: www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/lamb-recipes/lamb-keema-saag-nigella-rice-naan

It was ok but it felt a bit too "let's make it healthy" - wedges of fresh tomato, no whole spices, added broth, didn't tell me to blend the spinach, just roughly chop - and there was no yoghurt or cream added at the end so it wasn't quite the kind of saag like you'd expect in a curry house! I think next time I might try this one instead: www.whiskaffair.com/saag-paneer-recipe/

This is quick and easy, a sort of 'risotto'.

Poach some haddock fillets in milk for 10 min or so. Meanwhile, fry up leeks, mushrooms, garlic. Add creme fraiche, pepper, smoked paprika, anything else you fancy. Add the cooked flaked haddock. Then chuck in two pouches of cooked microwave rice - the vegetable one is nice with this. Mix up and voila!

Tonight I made Vietnamese Chicken by Diana Henry (recipe available via the Telegraph here: www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/vietnamese-chicken-ginger-turmeric-recipe/).

The dish was really tasty, had that great sour/salty/sweet balance that South East Asian food is brilliant for! It was pretty simple and quick to prepare with easy to find ingredients, most of which I would usually have in so extra points there. We had this with sticky coconut rice, really delicious.

I love Diana Henry’s recipes so have taken a free trial at the Telegraph to try some more out.

Tandoori chickpeas and chunky bread.

Did you post a recipe link for that one @needastrongoneagain It sounds very nice

@whatapity - I bet it's the toprecipe in this article:

amp.theguardian.com/food/2020/jul/11/yotam-ottolenghi-chickpea-recipes-confit-tandoori-polenta-chips-parmesan-braise?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true

It's dead easy and absolutely delicious, we have it regularly.

Thank you! @InsertPunHere

@whatapity - I cannot recommend it highly enough - we absolutely adore it.

www.bigoven.com/recipe/chicken-with-feta-spinach-sauce/193088

Made this tonight and it was delicious, I added orzo.

Smooshed Carrots with Coriander-Pistachio Pesto and Pickled Onions, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen
This was a major disappointment. I followed the recipe accurately but after 55 minutes in the oven my carrots were still hard, I ended up having to tip them into a small saucepan with a dash of extra water, lid on, and let them boil/steam for a further 15 minutes until they were soft enough to crush. Extra washing up, stress while figuring out how to soften rock hard carrots in the shortest time possible, and it messed up timings for the other components of dinner. It tasted good in the end but not worth the effort and serious amount of washing up this dish results in when you consider it’s just a vegetable side dish.

Sake-Sticky Drumsticks, Nigella Lawson, Simply Nigella
Not a big fan of this. It uses fish sauce which I often don’t like the taste of and it came through a bit strong for me here, otherwise it it was fine but I just don’t think was amazing enough to try again with adjustments.

Butternut Ricotta Tart with Rocket Salad, BBC Good Food
I made some minor changes to suit personal preferences and I really liked this, not groundbreaking, but a nice easy reliable meal which was needed after a couple of let downs earlier in the week.

Autumn Pilau with Squash, Cavolo Nero, and Smoked Garlic, Meera Sodha, East
Hearty and warming and lovely, the spritz of lemon at the end adds real vibrancy, I wasn’t able to get smoked garlic so I roasted some to mimic the flavour in a small way. The East seasonal pilau series has been a real highlight for me this year.

Continuing my Mezcla love - I made chicken, pineapple and ndjua this week - was very good and very easy. I don't think I've ever 'gelled' with a cookery book quite in the way I have with this one!

Crispy Oven Fries, Ethan Chlebowski
Similar to Toast, I had already tried and loved his crispy oven sweet potato fries, so not sure why I took so long to try his normal potato oven fries. These were super crisp, and not more difficult than the method I normally use. They use a lot of oil, so not much healthier than deep frying, but more hands-off and less intimidating to me. I will make these again for certain.

Pumpkin Malai Kari, Meera Sodha, East
I sort of knew what to expect from reading it, this was lovely and right up my street, not the most showstopping of dishes, but perfect for this time of year.

Spicy Short Rib Noodle Soup, Pinch of Yum
Suggested up thread by @ThatPirateLady. I did a stovetop-to-oven version a day in advance as I wanted to ensure the meat had all the time it needed to become tender. On the day of serving I just reheated, cooked the noodles, and dropped in pak choi. Making it in advance and refrigerating also meant the fat rose to the top and solidified so I could easily remove most of it and have put in the freezer and will use it to add flavour to things like roast potatoes.

Salted Miso Brownies, Meera Sodha, East
Really nice brownies, but doesn’t beat my all time favourite recipe. Also, any chai haters should avoid, not an issue for me but they had that signature bouncy chai texture despite the seeds being ground.

French Onion Soup Galette, Sue Li, New York Times
This has been put behind a paywall since I first bookmarked it, but it is on YouTube and if you scroll someone has commented with the written method and quantities. This was as amazing as I thought it would be, highly recommend.

Have realised I forgot to post the last few weeks. This week I've made Kung pao pork pinchofnom.com/recipes/kung-po-pork/ (using the air fryer for the pork), and a tried a different steak pie recipe pinchofnom.com/recipes/steak-and-chips-pie/ . The Kung Pao pork was good, airfrying the pork worked well, and went down well with the kids, they even ate the bamboo shoots. The steak pie was nothing special and I wouldn't make again.

I also had another go at doughnuts. This time I baked them on the oven as normal until just done, they took them out. I brushed with butter and airfried them to brown the outsides, and then rolled in sugar. It worked really well, I got a better rise baking them initially in the oven and the outsides then crispened up wonderfully in the air fryer.

I missed last week because I was on holiday, and now being at home has just made me want comfort food!

Baked banana porridge - BBC Good Food
I thought this was a good recipe, especially as I generally prefer the eggless baked oatmeal. I substituted the cinnamon for leftover pumpkin pie spice (which was mostly cinnamon/cassia anyway) but I think it would have been good with more spice.

Hummus - Ottolenghi, Jerusalem
I tried to make hummus in my first year at university and it was truly dreadful and I’ve been wary of making hummus since. I was a big fan of this recipe.. I felt it needed more lemon juice than the recipe suggested, and I used canned chickpeas instead of dried (I boiled them for 15 minutes to make sure they were soft enough, and removed the skins which came off easily). The texture was light and airy, and I loved taste of all the tahini as the recipe is more tahini heavy than most other hummus recipes I've seen. I'd definitely make it again.

Pickled cucumbers- Sarson’s
This was a true wildcard as I usually really dislike cucumbers and anything pickled, but I tried something similar to this at a friends house on holiday and surprised myself by liking it. Not as keen on this one as the one I tried, maybe it needs a little more sugar and time but my husband was a fan

Perfect chilli con carne - Felicity Cloake
The vegetarian version of this is my ultimate chilli recipe, and DH fancied beef chilli so we gave this one a go. I did go a bit off piste, sharing the chilli paste from the veggie version which I was making alongside. DH was a big fan and would make it again.

Adapted, as we had mozzarella and no ricotta and a small teaspoon of pesto to add 'juice'. Very easy and tasty. I'd say you'd have to be completely vegetarian to get the full flavour with no adapting.

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/crispy-gnocchi-with-roasted-peppers-chilli-rosemary-and-ricotta/

Made this last night:
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/28/nigel-slater-chicken-peppers-with-mint-lemon-recipe

Bit too much juice in the tin! I suspect I didn't use a big enough tin, as the chicken was sitting on top of the veg instead of in amongst it all. Was tasty though with focaccia and a green salad.

Mushroom bourguignon - BBC Food
This was a hit as @Wolfcub suggested. Rich, warming and comforting, and went down well with my slightly mushroom sceptical husband. Delicious with potato and butternut mash, and garlicky greens.

The mushroom bourguignon recipe is a staple here, we love it!

I made this the other day, I had to sub ricotta for mozzarella and will admit to swirling in a wee bit of pesto just for a bit of extra juice, but it was super simple, quick and healthy for a Monday evening.

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/crispy-gnocchi-with-roasted-peppers-chilli-rosemary-and-ricotta/

Chicken Soup, Felicity Cloake, The Guardian
Really nice classic soup, mine was nowhere near as clear as hers, but it tasted great. I choose the option of dumplings rather than pearl barley, which in the end I could take or leave so would probably just go for the pearl barley or nice bread next time.

Thai Green Curry Fried Rice, Marion’s Kitchen
This was ok. I used my own selection of vegetables rather than the suggested ones and prawns and it was nice enough but not a dish I adored and can’t see myself making it again.

Chickpeas with kale, red onion, tamarind and ginger. Really tasty, quick, cheap and easy one from The Green Roasting Tin (which I don't always reach for as much as others do). It was also delicious! I didn't have kale, so used spinach and I added extra chilli (we love spice) and fresh coriander as I had loads to use up. I'd make this again. We had it with baked potatoes as, again, we have loads to use but it would be just as nice with rice or flatbreads.

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/articles/10-recipes-youll-discover-in-india-express/

Another one from The Green Roasting Tin. Sticky coconut rice with squash, broccoli, ginger. I found this completely underwhelming and lacked any depth of flavour. The dish took far longer to cook than suggested too. The leftovers will be be okay cold for lunch today but I certainly won't be rushing to make this one again!

www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/rukmini-iyer-the-queen-of-the-roasting-tin

Echoing the praise for the mushroom bourguignon linked to above - made this last night with portobello & chestnut mushrooms & it was really tasty (and relatively quick!).

I keep forgetting to post on here but other recent successes were Mary Berry's salmon & dill burgers thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berry-salmon-and-dill-burger/ (DS made these & they were tasty & surprisingly filling. I couldn't get any fennel so we just had with lettuce - i think the fennel would have worked really well with the salmon though).

glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk/2022/01/20/spinach-and-ricotta-pasta-bake-recipe/ - we all loved this and will definitely make again.

www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/sticky-soy-and-sesame-tofu-with-broccoli-rice - I liked this but DS not keen. He's not a big tofu fan so no surprises there. My tofu wasn't as crispy as I would have liked but I think I was probably a bit impatient with the cooking times!

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/one-pot-kerala-prawn-curry/#recipe-method
Made this with prawns & basa fillets as not enough prawns & on the hob not in the oven but it was good & used up the last of my tomatoes! A nice simple weeknight meal, would make again.

Marmite risotto with tomato and crispy chilli butter - Meera Sodha

I really enjoyed this, though I found the dish tasted more overtly of marmite than the recipe suggests which wasn’t a problem for me. But it was simple to make with mostly store cupboard ingredients and was warming and tasty. I think if I made it again I’d just cook the tomatoes in a pan with the butter and chilli crisp rather than bother with washing up an oven dish.