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?

I had my first fail with Mezcla last week. I made the butternut squash tomato gratin lasagne. Rather than cook the filling as you would with a lasagne, you layer up lasagne sheets, butternut squash sliced v thinly tossed in with chopped cherry tomatoes, sage, oil, garlic etc and then add a splodge of double cream with parmesan. Repeat until done and then pour over stock, cover with foil and bake as a gratin.

For me it was a lot more fiddly than most of the other recipes and I got the sizing of lasagne dish wrong which meant my final layer was just peeking over the top. Once I covered with foil it then meant I had a conjoined foil/lasagne layer which burnt etc

The flavours were good - like a classic butternut filled ravioli but it was all a bit too stressful!

Malaysian Red Cooked Chicken, Nigella Lawson, Simply Nigella
I deviated slightly using poached chicken leg meat instead of raw thighs and tomato passata rather than canned chopped tomatoes, I had these ingredients along with some coconut milk in the freezer to use up. I also didn’t, as directed, cook this a day in advance and let the flavours mature in the fridge overnight then reheat, I served straight away, I was really pleased with the dish regardless of these changes. It was rich, punchy, tangy and I would certainly make again.

Leek Pea & Mint Samosa, Meera Sodha, Fresh India
These are a great veggie samosa for something lighter and fresher than the traditional potato and pea. However, they don’t beat the mushroom and walnut ones from the same book which are stonkingly good.

I also made a chicken dish - a really easy fix-it-and-forget-it recipe: Greek-style roast chicken I'm keeping an eye on my carb intake so I reduced the amount of potatoes and added some asparagus towards the end.

Autumn Pilau: www.theguardian.com/food/2022/oct/22/vegan-recipe-cauliflower-bhaji-chaat-meera-sodha - had this tonight with Quick Angry Chicken from 30 minute Mowgli as I had some chicken needing using today. So good!! I couldn't get any smoked garlic but used normal garlic & smoked salt instead. Butternut squash & a smalll culinary squash from M&S done on roast function in the air fryer & the same for the chicken. The pilau made loads - fed three of us & I think we have at least 2 portions left, maybe 3.

Thanks to whoever posted a link to this - @SummaLuvin may have been you?

Wrong link!!! Should have been this www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/oct/28/autumn-pilau-squash-cavolo-nero-smoked-garlic-recipe-vegan-meera-sodha - the cauli one is on the shortlist for later this month!!!

@LittleFriendSusan it was me!!! Glad you liked it. If you enjoy cauliflower then her winter pilau is worth checking out too, it also has swede and beetroot.

Congee with Crispy Garlic Chilli Pork, Ethan Chlebowski
Simple, warming, and comforting. This was lovely, I will be making this (and variants of this) again.

Street Cart Chicken & Yellow Rice, Ethan Chlebowski
Given the number of components I thought this might be a bit of an undertaking for a weekday, but it came together very easily, and I think that is largely due to minimal chopping, simple techniques, and things like sauces and marinades being able to be done ahead of time. I also cheated entirely on the red sauce and used Cholula hot sauce which I felt had similar characteristics. A really tasty and hearty meal, I loved this so much.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef & Beef stroganoff with the leftovers - both from the Effortless Foodie website. I used silverside as that's what they had at the butchers. Both were easy and very flavoursome - my previous attempts with a slow cooker have not been particularly successful so this was a great result! I used the slow cook function on the Instant Pot rather than a dedicated slow cooker so not sure if that made a difference, but I would definitely make both of these again.

Creamy baked orzo - another success, I think someone linked to this on here a few weeks back. I overcooked the cauliflower a bit (well actually I asked DP to listen out for the timer while I nipped out & he didn't hear it 🙄) so there was a little bit of bitterness in there, but we all really enjoyed it nonetheless and will definitely make again.

Loaded Root Veg Wedges with Mojo Verde and Tahini Yoghurt, Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
An unexpected extra new recipe this week as I had a last minute change to my food plan. This was a wonderful dish I will make again and again. I did feel the tahini yogurt could be a little more tahini forward so would make that adjustment next time, and it was really thick so I would thin it out slightly to make it more drizzelable.

Also as an extra note I have already made the chicken from earlier this week again as I loved it so much. Absolutely sky-high on the taste to effort scale.

Chickpeas with kale, red onion, tamarind and ginger from India Express, served with naan & yoghurt.

Split vote on this one - DP loved it, I thought it was ok & DS not keen (to be fair with kale & chickpeas he was never going to be a big fan). It was far too sweet for me - I used some tamarind sauce I had rather than the paste & it already had added sugar so that would explain it - I would make again but with paste as per recipe & maybe half the sugar to start with.

Gnocchi with peppers & ricotta from the Green Roasting Tin - loved this although it took 5 minutes or so longer to cook than the recipe stated. I'm a big fan of roast gnocchi traybakes & this is another to add to the list.

I've recently invested in some more (Kindle) recipe books and am hoping to use more of them!! It's time to make our annual Delia Christmas cake soon too, but I went to the supermarket today and there was no dried fruit, mixed peel or almonds... hoping it was just a blip

Delia also has some good collections like What to eat this month and Quick and Easy which I hadn't spotted before!

If anyone has a good recipe for something to do with tons of oranges, I'd be really grateful (not marmalade as I'm the only one in the house that likes it!) - my fruit & veg box has had loads in for some reason!

We've made both of these and I'm of the opposite view 😁. I loved the chickpea dish and found I needed to swirl a bit tiny bit of pesto into the gnocchi dish to make it a bit more flavoursome and less dry.

I made Warming Sweet Potato, Mushrooms with Polenta from the Green Roasting Tin last night. I do use this book a lot as it gives me some great ideas, but always find I have to add a lot of herbs and seasoning to give them more depth.

I added some sautéed onions with dried cumin and coriander and fresh coriander stalks, plus white wine to the stock and this was definitely something we'd make and eat again with the same addition.

www.annabelandgrace.com/warming-sweet-potato/

Fresh Matar Paneer - Meera Sodha, Fresh India
A really delicious dish - far tastier than I expected when reading the recipe. As promised it was a fresh and vibrant take on a classic matar paneer, with a scant sauce and lots of fresh vegetables and came together so quickly. Will definitely be making this again, it’s a great weeknight recipe.

Creamy Mushroom Pie With Balsamic Roasted Sprouts And Mash
I enjoyed the mushrooms and the balsamic sprouts (though the balsamic didn’t come through as strongly as I’d hoped), but the carrot and potato mash was a miss for me. I’ve made mash by mixing potatoes with butternut or sweet potatoes before and enjoyed it, but I really didn’t enjoy the texture with carrot. I caramelised the onions separately at the start for 20-30 minutes and I think that made a huge difference. Also subbed crème fraîche for greek yoghurt as that’s what we keep in. I wouldn’t rush to make this again, but If I had had some mushrooms left over I’d consider it, as it was tasty, low effort and it uses things I have around.

@MissVeronicaSpeedwell a few ideas:

Wine braised chicken with orange and olives - Melissa Clark (www.news-herald.com/2022/04/16/recipes-these-chicken-dinners-are-all-winners/)

Turkish chicken with oranges and warm spices - Diana Henry (joannasfood.blogspot.com/2008/01/spiced-chicken-with-orange.html)

Carrot-orange-cardamom cake: www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/carrot-orange-cardamom-cake

Moro Pork in Almond Sauce - oh my, this was just as good as I imagined it would be. I've had it bookmarked for a while after someone posted it on here but only just got round to making it. Served with crispy potato cubes and green veg - a definite winner.

Mushroom & lentil bourguignon - kind of a cobbled together mix of the BBC food recipe & the recipe in the Higgledy cookbook. Used a mix of 'exotic' & chestnut mushrooms. I tripled the recipe as was serving 6 - it was a lot of wine! I made the evening before & wasn't sure if it would lose texture on reheating but it was fine. Served with a mustard root veg mash with vegan cheese topping & green veg with gremolata - my friends seemed to enjoy it & I made pies with the leftovers yesterday in my new pie maker 😋

And finally, not really a recipe as such, more a food combination, but blue cheese & pear crostini - these were demolished! I used stilton & some olive & herb ciabattas for the base, chopped walnuts on top, so simple and very moreish.

I'd tried this recipe a while ago Need and definitely was not a fan. Bland, soggy, dull

@LittleFriendSusan am not sure if I posted about the pork in almond sauce but I do make it a lot and like you love it! It is such a good recipe isn't it?

@Xiaoxiong that carrot & orange cake looks amazing, thank you!!

I've lined up this slow cooker chicken satay to make for tomorrow - hopefully it will be tasty!

That pork in almond sauce sounds amazing, I am bookmarking and will probably make in the next few weeks. Thank you @LittleFriendSusan and @Cloud9isnowclosed!

Chickpea & Onion Puree with Yoghurt Flatbreads and Harissa Roast Cauliflower, Rosie Birkett, The Times
This was really nice. The chickpea and onion puree was essentially a warm hummus with onions through it, while it was very tasty I think I would just go with a basic hummus next time, and I would allow more time to deepen the colour on the cauliflower. That being said this was a lovely, simple, and hearty meal that I can see myself making again.

Gochujang noodles - Ethan Chlebowski
A miss for me. I can’t pin exactly what was wrong here, but the flavours weren't balanced at all.

Tofu banh mi - Meera Sodha
Loved this. There was so much flavour, it was spicy, salty, fresh from the herbs and pickle. Will definitely make again.

This isn't new to us, but I made it this week with butternut squash and some frozen tomatoes that needed using. It makes a lot, six good portions, and is worth the effort for the extra depth of flavour.

www.bosh.tv/recipes/roast-sweet-potato-dahl

Thai Roasted Cauliflower and Potatoes, Tony Turnbull, The Times
I liked both elements of this dish immensely but didn’t feel they worked well together. I will do both again, but as part of separate meals.

Roasted Cauliflower & Mustard from India Express - used the chopped cauliflower leaves & savoy cabbage & served with chapatti. This was surprisingly good although took longer than the suggested 25 minutes for the cauliflower to brown.

Spiced roasted paneer and peppers, also from India Express - I may have posted this already, can't remember! Also very simple and went down well with sweet potato dahl. I'd never soaked paneer before cooking but I will be doing this again as the texture was much better than previous oven-baked attempts.

Lime pickle rice with butternut squash - Meera Sodha, Fresh India
This was a bold choice, and while it’s not my favourite recipe, it was well balanced.

Coconut and tamarind chicken turkey/chickpea curry- Meera Sodha, Made in India
This was simple to make, warming and comforting. The version with chickpeas is from storecupboard items, so while this isn’t my favourite creamy curry recipe, I can see this being a good midweek meal when I haven’t been to the supermarket yet. I made this to use up the remainder of the thanksgiving turkey and while DH said while he would have preferred it with chicken if making from scratch, the version with turkey worked very well.

Tamarind Aubergine & Nut Butter Curry, Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
This was really delicious, quite unusual, and very hearty. Melissa seems to have gone to the same school of vegetables as Meera Sodha suggesting an almost obscene amount so I reduced these quantities. Will make again.

Hummus, Yotam Ottolenghi, Jerusalem
Absolutely fantastic recommendation from @toastofthetown upthread. I don’t have space for a food processor so used a stick blender, and while it will never be as good with that method I was delighted with the results.

Broccoli Coconut Curry Soup, Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
This was ok, not the best soup I’ve had, but perfectly fine and low effort. Can’t see myself making it again as I have other soups I like more.