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 hope you don't mind me following along, this all looks great. I'm aiming for two a month rather than one a week, but I've been through my rather large collection of cookbooks and selected at random a recipe from each, which I've then put into a spreadsheet. I picked a second time if it was something one of us would obviously dislike, not a full meal (ie a bread) or if it was too similar to dishes I already make, but otherwise went with my first random selection (opening book at will). I'm quite pleased with my list!
But there have been some great things in this thread so I will follow and use this for additional meal options!

This thread is definitely a source of ideas and inspiration!

Anna Jones Saag Aloo Shepherd's Pie. From One Pot, Pan, Planet.

Stuck exactly to the recipe apart from adding fresh coriander that needed using.

Absolutely delicious. Spicy but not ridiculously hot. It says serves 4, I would say 6 with fresh vegetables as an accompaniment. We will be eating this tomorrow too.

playmearecipe.food52.com/episodes/anna-jones-makes-saag-aloo-shepherds-pie

Great idea @Maraudingmarauders! Am pleased you posted the recipe @needastrongoneagain as I was very interested in this when you mentioned it - also had no idea about food52 podcasts so off for a browse!

Had this really easy fix and forget recipe last night - will definitely make again. It could just as easily have been made in the oven if you don't have a slow cooker - just add a bit more stock.

Slow cooker Spanish chicken

So I did my first new recipe tonight - Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall's Refried Beans on flatbread from his Everyday Veg book.
We did homemade tortilla instead of flatbread (I'm terrible at anything that rises, plus we didn't have the time).
We added slightly more garlic and a bit of cumin (as I find HFW tends towards bland) but we both really enjoyed this meal especially with additional sides of pickled jalepenos, avocado and red onion.
Could be a really quick week night tea if you buy ready made flat breads or tortilla. Still didn't take very long but made more of a mess making my own!

Link: www.rivercottage.net/recipes/refried-beans-foldover

www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/sausage-and-gnocchi-one-pot

Made this tonight but added broccoli for extra veg. Really easy, quick and delicious! Ate it with a garlic baguette.

Love HFW recipes! Much More Veg was my favourite recipe book for a good while.

My favourite at present is Anna Jones One Pot, Pan, Planet.

I can't find a link to the recipe but I made carrot, tahini and rosemary soup with roasted rosemary chickpeas from said book above. I'll try to find a link, honestly it but it was bloody lovely, and very filling. There's a tin of tomatoes and juice of an orange in the recipe so it's incredibly healthy after the Christmas excess too!

Roasted Paneer Aloo Gobi, Meera Sodha, East
I have really struggled to recover from a bad cold this week, so choose this recipe as it was low effort and hands off. It was nice and I would do it again, however, I can’t help but compare it to her Roasted Aloo Gobi Salad from Made in India which I think results in a better and more interesting dish. That being said, I wouldn’t have felt up to doing that more involved recipe this week.

Did the saag aloo shepherds pie and the aubergine curry last week. Enjoyed both so 🙏 Thanks

ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/spicy-mushroom-lasagne-flavour-pg-228

Made this last night - despite it appearing to have the usual Ottolenghi lengthy ingredients list, it was very straightforward to make (praise be for food processors though!) and it was nice not to have to make a béchamel. Really tasty - there were two of us eating so I halved the recipe but we still have enough for another portion each this evening.

I've borrowed One Pot One Planet from the library (E-book). I'm finding the search facility a bit rubbish but like the look of the recipes so I could see this being a future purchase. I think Im going to try the soup & saag aloo shepherds pie in the next week or so.

I have also bookmarked that Ottolenghi mushroom lasagne, looks fab.

It's been pretty basic cooking here this week, struggled to shift a horrible fluey cold virus & had no appetite or real motivation to cook. On the mend now so hopefully this week will be better!

Sprout nasi goreng - Meera Sodha, East
Really tasty and I liked the contrast of the raw marinated sprouts with the cooked rice. I was still feeling a little unwell and off food when I made this, so would like to try it again when I’m feeling well.

Creamy baked orzo with cauliflower, onions and mustard - Meera Sodha
@LittleFriendSusan made this a few weeks ago and the recipe looked great and it didn’t disappoint. I only had double cream rather than single but still worked fine, though took an extra splash of water and another ten minutes for the pasta to fully soften. A simple to make and well balanced weekend meal and o e I'll definitely make again.

sprout nasi goreng is a favourite in our house, although the last time we made it ( a couple of weeks ago) I think for me it was a bit too salty - maybe we were a bit heavy handed with the soy! Love tamarind though - which reminds me I should do Diana Henry's Goan fish curry again soon. But any other tamarind recommendations, do share!

Aubergine Dhansak - Meat Free Mowgli.

I've tried to find a link to the recipe but it's not easy!

Absolutely bloody delicious. DS said it was the nicest recipe involving lentils for months!

We'd all eat this again and the recipe makes lots. Easy too.

app.ckbk.com/recipe/meat94119c03s001r007/aubergine-dhansak

Two favourite tamarind recipes in my house: Tamarind and tomato braised chickpeas and pork belly tacos with chipotle and tamarind relish

Samosa Tart from Meat Free Mowgli by Nisha Katona. Absolutely delicious, simple and an easy way to use up any veg lurking in the fridge.

So far I've made aubergine dhansak, mushroom masala and this recipe and have not been disappointed by any. I think this is my favourite though.

www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/nishas-delicious-samosa-tart

That looks delicious @needastrongoneagain - I have the book too and am due to do angry cauliflower sometime this week...

Haven't tried the angry cauliflower but I fancy that one too @myrtleWilson! I'm liking everything I cook from the book so far.

Ultimate Chicken Pie, Nicola Lamb, Kitchen Projects
Aside from being unable to find tarragon, which was a shame, I followed this recipe exactly and was delighted with the delicious and traditional chicken pie I ended up with. DH adored it - good news as this made an extra 4 portions which are waiting in the freezer! It’s made me realise I somewhat ignore traditional British recipes in favour of bolder flavours.

Shiitake Pho with Crispy Leeks, Meera Sodha, East
A wonderful vegan meal improved by the addition of a seared rump steak thinly sliced and used as an additional topping, the resting juices added to the broth. While I think this would work, as is written, without the steak for me it really added some pizazz and going forward I would always include it.

Spicy paneer hakka noodles - Monica Halder, Shikshak
Simple with great bold flavours. I made with rice sticks as my husband doesn’t eat gluten and still worked really one. Definitely one to make again.

Aubergine larb with sticky rice and shallot salad- Meera Sodha, East
Whenever my husband is away I eat aubergine, which is one of the foods he truly hates! I loved the baked aubergine and the salad with the peanuts, coriander and fried shallots was delicious, but I felt the sauce was missing something. Maybe because I didn’t have palm sugar, but it didn’t thicken up the way it looked in the picture (so I just added some cornflour). I’d make it again as I love the concept, but look for some other way to make the sauce.

Porcini ragu - Inta Belfrage, Mezcla
As @myrtleWilson said upthread, this is really good. Comes together really quickly, great flavours, and Ixta’s 50 twists of black pepper is one of my favourite instructions. One I would definitely make again. I always find that quantities of pasta water in recipes are way too much for me. Not sure if I cook pasta wrong somehow, or if its a factor with scaling down a recipe, as I mostly cook pasta for one.

Yes! The 50 twists is something I've adopted too

re aubergine - do you like Chinese food? If so I'd recommend Fuschia Dunlops "fish fragrant aubergines" sooo good
www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/28/fuchsia-dunlops-fish-fragrant-aubergines

Blackened Chicken Salad w/ Green Goddess Dressing, Ethan Chlebowski
This is an amazing salad that I can’t wait to have again, I used the recipe as a framework with adaptions for personal preference. A change I can’t recommend highly enough is to roast the chickpeas in oil, salt, and pepper until crispy, this added a really lovely dimension of texture. The two key components were the blackened chicken and the green goddess dressing.

Chicken - I used the technique but switched the spices, not really ground breaking, but it is delicious.

Dressing - I hate mayo so did 100% greek yogurt base, was a little heavy handed with the coriander, and I felt it needed a touch of sweetness so added sugar. Next time I would dial back the dill in favour of more coriander and basil which are herbs I prefer, but this was a great basis for a dressing which I used across multiple dishes in the week.

Panda Express Chow Mein, Joshua Weissman
I used the last of my rice stick noodles rather than proper chow mein ones. When reading the recipe I thought there was a pretty hefty amount of white pepper, and while the dish was really tasty, it definitely overpowered, I would reduce by at least half next time. I was pleasantly surprised that the celery flavour didn’t come through too strong, which had been a concern of mine.

that salad sounds lovely @SummaLuvin - if you like roasted chickpeas I can recommend a Sabrina Ghayour kaffir lime roasted chickpeas - can't see a recipe online but I'll take a photo of mine if you're interested..