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?

Sesame Crusted Feta with Black Lime Honey Syrup, OTK Shelf Love
I am not a fan of feta and this didn’t change my opinion, but my feta eating guests said it was brilliant, and it wasn’t too much work.

Butternut Squash with Orange Oil and Burnt Honey, OTK Shelf Love
I love roasted squash and these accompaniments really lifted it, adding complexity and vibrancy. There are a number of elements that come together so not exactly low effort, but as it can be done largely in advance and is serve room temperature it feels much lower pressure than something where serving time is more important.

Chaat Masala Chickpea and Polenta Chips, OTK Shelf Love
I was a little apprehensive as I felt like these would be easy to mess up and the mixture difficult to work with. I found I had to work relatively fast spreading in the pan as polenta sets up fast, but other than that it was pretty easy. I found these were better upon reheating, so maybe I should have given them an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven to crisp on the initial cook. (I didn’t bother with his chickpea mayo)

@toastofthetown the parmigiana sounds amazing, did you manage to find the pastry he uses or did you use filo pastry?

Looks like it was an Ottolenghi food fest this weekend!
I made two new desserts both absolutely delicious.
The first one was Yogurt and Orange semi freddo. This was perfect as I was able to make the entire dish in advance as we had guests the day after arriving home from holiday. I was unable to get cherries in kirsch so I bought some frozen black cherries and added icing sugar and kirsch, brought up to the boil and froze.
The second dessert was Clementine and Orange syrup cake again another winner. I did add the optional chocolate coating which was definitely the right thing to do and really not difficult. I felt it elevated it to another level, it looked pretty impressive. Next time, I would offer some ice cream or whipped cream (maybe with amaretto through it).
Both desserts were full of flavour and very well received.

@SummaLuvin thank you for the jollof recipe! I used it tonight - found crayfish powder in the most amazing international food shop in the small NE of England city I work in (no tail pepper that I could find!). It was delicious - I had an eek moment when I realised the recipe you'd shared was using US 'can' sizes so a half is actually a full tin for me in the UK - I then tried to add some extra tomato to the dish when I should have just chilled. But even my inadvertent sabotage didn't reduce the deliciousness of the rice - will make again and often!

Similar thanks to @toastofthetown as the same shop yielded some Kataifi pastry so I shall make the pie at the weekend. If anyone is in striking distance of Newcastle then head to Ahmeds in South Shields for the pastry!

I bought it online, though the shipping was extortionate. I justified it as some people would spend that amount on a steak and I knew I was going to love it! He does suggest finely slicing filo as an alternative and I think that would be delicious too. I wouldn’t let lack of kataifi pastry put me off.

Thank you, I will see if I can find it online, I'm not in the UK though. I can't wait to try it.

Thank you so much for the Tandoori chickpeas - honestly one of the nicest things I've tried in ages. Mine weren't crunchy at all, just deliciously smooth.

We served in on toast, beans on toast style. Simply delicious.

Piri piri tofu over crispy orzo - Ixta Belfrage, Mezcla
Not as spectacular as some of the other recipes in this book, but one of the lowest effort Mezcla recipes I’ve made and still very good.I might leave it for longer on the heat next time, as the orzo didn’t go properly crispy. I can see myself making this again because it was simple to put together and requires mostly store cupboard ingredients.

Perfect marmite spaghetti - Felicity Cloake
Buttery, savoury, and salty, this was a real hit for me. I didn’t include the breadcrumb topping and I don’t think it needed it. With marmite on toast, in pasta and in risotto, I think I need to start looking for how to eat marmite with my favourite carb: potatoes!

Marmite roast potatoes - parboiled, drain, and air dry for a couple of minutes.
Add about a teaspoon of marmite to the still warm pan you cooked the potatoes in, add potatoes.
Put lid on pan and shake gently which both roughs up the potato edges (more crispy) but also lightly coats them in marmite for added umami flavour. Even my marmite loathing relatives love these.

Pork Meatballs with Whipped Ricotta and Roasted Datterini, Ixta Belfrage
Recommend by @myrtleWilson upthread. I found the meatball mixture very wet, when forming them I squeezed out a fair bit of liquid, and they were quite soft and delicate when I was frying them off, though they did hold together, perhaps I grated my onion too small? The meal was really lovely, however, not my absolute favourite. I wouldn’t buy in the ingredients specially to make it, but if at the end of the week I had tomatoes, mince, and herbs to use up I would definitely turn to this as it was tasty and quite flexible.

That sounds like my dreams come true! Getting it past my marmite hating husband is another matter - telling him that other people who hate marmite love them didn't work.

You're too nice. I just didn't tell them! 😁

Thank you Toast for the parmigiana pie link - I made it last night- delicious!

Meera Sodha's Fresh India is 99p on kindle today via Happy Foodie

Shawarma-inspired cauliflower and sweet potato bowls - Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
This was exactly what I thought it would be: nourishing, comforting, but still interesting. I can can see this being a winter staple, as it’s endlessly adaptable.

Loaded root veg wedges with mojo verde and tahini yoghurt - Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
Delicious and simple. I’d cut the potatoes into much thinner wedges next time, but another recipe that will be on the regular rotation.

"Chicken Adobo with Green Beans"
By Melissa Helmsley in Eat Green.
I can't seem to do links on my phone app so the recipe is in pictures.
This is the best Adobo recipe I've tried and so easy to make, as it's all in a one pot dish. We lived in HK for years with Filipinos & used to have Adobo cooked for us regularly, but never like this with coconut milk in it.

Oyster Mushrooms in Tomato Chipotle Sauce, Ixta Belfrage
I axed the polenta in favour of serving with ravioli (below). This was so lovely. I will make time and time again. While I loved it with the ravioli, polenta, (as Ixta suggests) would be wonderful too.

Ricotta Ravioli, Emilie Pullar
Simple and delicious. There’s isn’t really much to say, solid basic ravioli.

Carrot Soup with Tahini & Rosemary, Anna Jones, One Pot One Planet
I didn’t get around to making this last winter when it was recommended by @needastrongoneagain and @LittleFriendSusan, but soup weather is back! I thoroughly enjoyed this, though next time I would just roast the chickpeas in the oven rather than fry on the hob as it’s more hands off for pretty much the same result.

Not really a new dish-yesterday I made Meera Sodha's Sweet Potato Vindaloo but I used the Philippino sugar cane vinegar that I bought ages ago to do the chicken in adobo from Ed Smith's Crave instead of the white wine vinegar she suggests and I have used up till now. I thought (maybe confirmation bias at play) that the new vinegar packed more of a punch and gave the dish a new edge - I think I'll stick with that vinegar now.

Thoughts and prayers tonight please as have found random recipe to make a Greek cheese pie to use up the kataifi pastry, added jeopardy that it involves converting American cups to UK measurements - something which always seems to trigger an eye twitch! I found a conversion site which listed it out by specific food items. For the love of all things Nigella, North America can we agree to weigh rather than cup....!!!

Anyway, @toastofthetown or anyone else who now has a stock of kataifi - I also found this site from a filo/kataifi producer with sweet and savoury recipes (I'm trying to blank out the need to engage in a cup to grams/mils conversion from an Australian viewpoint!) https://antonioufillo.com.au/

Oh my! I take it all back about the random website. This was so good! I was anxious that scaling it down may end up in a situation which meant there wasn't enough cheese. Readers, I was wrong

This was giving me quiche vibes, soufflé vibes and worked perfectly with an astringent salad..

https://thegreekfoodie.com/easy-cheese-pie-with-kataifi-pastry-roquefort/

Quiche, soufflé, cheese vibes sounds like my sort of meal!

I make a similar pie with filo pastry. Where can I get the shredded filo in this recipe?

@MonsoonMadness am not aware of any of the main supermarkets selling it but you can order frozen on line. I was able to find some (chilled rather than frozen) in an amazing international food store here in the NE (also got crayfish powder for the jollof and should I need any, I can rely on them for camel milk too!) Maybe worth a browse in similar shops near to you?

I'm cooking this today
https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk/chicken-lasagne/

Did you add all the pepper it calls for? I think I'd injure my wrist!