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?

Dr Rupy’s Haricot Bean Casserole - really enjoyed this! Super simple, full of veg, I don't think I'd necessarily bother with the potato on the top again, it didn't really add anything - and this coming from a big potato fan. I served it with garlic roasted green beans.

Chickpea noodle soup - Cookie and Kate
This was exactly what I expected it would be. Warming, nourishing and with a slight lift from the curry powder. I wasn’t sure I’d welcome the chickpeas in here, but they were delicious. I used orzo instead of fusilli which worked great.

Spinach & Chorizo Pasta Bake, Gousto
Basic ingredients, very little effort, really tasty - classic gousto really.

Lamb Kebabs with Cumin & Coriander, Meera Sodha, Made in India
Very simple marinade. No doubt it would be better over coals or on a proper grill, but cooked in my thick based frying pan it was still utterly delightful.

Chickpea Flour Chips, Meera Sodha, East
I choose to lightly drizzle in oil and roast rather than pan fry as I’m lazy. Really good for making a dent in the bag of gram flour I have.

Pecan Honey Miso Tart, Nicola Lamb, Kitchen Projects
I used up some standard sweet shortcrust I had frozen rather than make her coco crust - though to make up for the lack of chocolate I added some dark chocolate flakes in the filling. Amazing balance of sweet and salty, will have to have my next slice with some of the recommended espresso honey cream.

Cock a Leekie Traybake
Even though I had to pull my leeks out of the frozen ground for this one, it was worth it. A very tasty and easy meal. I'll be honest in that I didn't really like the orange slices in it (to eat), but they did add a lot of flavour.

Beef and Barley One Pot
I completely forgot to make and add the zesty gremolata with this, which is a shame, but that is exactly what it was lacking. DS hated it - he has a bit of a texture aversion and the pearl barley was just too much.

Recipe says to remove the carrots, but I left them in - I wasn't going to waste food.

Best meal this week was a Pork, Mushroom and Mustard dish with pork tenderloin that I had ripped out of a magazine a long time ago.

Shockingly I have never made a roast dinner. So I made the below three dishes today as my first tentative step into that area.

Crispy Roast Potatoes, J. Kenji López-Alt
I added a touch of marmite as a friend had assured me that is the secret ingredient, otherwise followed the recipe. These came out brilliant, fluffy inside and crispy outside.

Guava and Scotch Bonnet Glazed Ham
Ixta Belfrage posted about a guava and scotch bonnet ham she was making for a pop-up before Christmas and it captured my imagination. Sadly she didn’t share the recipe, so I adapted this one which seemed like a tasty and classic base. The star of the show, it was sweet, and spicy, and salty. So pleased I got a 2.5kg ham as I have loads of leftovers.

Shaved Sprout Salad w/ Brown Butter Apple Dressing, Ben Lippett, Kitchen Projects
Copied from @toastofthetown . I skipped the pancetta as I was serving alongside ham, and switched for cabbage which I needed to use up. This was a really nice fresh crunchy salad.

I’ve not made anything but a while as I’ve been away for a couple of weeks but it’s great to see what everyone else has been doing.
i made Creamy Chicken, Chorizo & Leek Pie, this was from Bored of Lunch and was so quick to put together. I bought the cream to add at the end but didn’t feel it actually needed it (after a couple of weeks eating and drinking I need to cut back). It was absolutely delicious, I served it with a pile of mash and green veg. Happy to make again.

i did also make Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies - my excuse was the desserts on holiday weren’t the best! These were just what I’ve wanted, easy to make and they hit the spot.

Yum so many things! @SummaLuvin I don't make a roast dinner often but we went to friends yesterday for one, and it really struck me how many different kinds of veg we had (potatoes, carrots, roast squash, spring greens, whole roast onions and garlic in with the carrots). I always think of it as a meat-heavy meal but in fact there is loads of veg!

A few new ones for me:

Mussels with white wine, tomato & basil - I needed something quick that my kids would like, and made this - we ate it with chips but it would have been equally lovely with pasta or foccacia. I can imagine amping it up with diced fennel as well. A nice change from the usual cream/garlic/wine mussels we all love!

Traybake of mackerel fillets with potatoes, lemon, bay leaves and salsa verde - this was a revelation! I ordered mackerel fillets from Pesky Fish and they were unbelieveably fresh, I don't think I've ever had mackerel that tasted anything like it. The recipe was super simple and the green parsley-mint-caper-anchovy-garlic slush set it all off perfectly. Highly recommend, especially if you're not sure how to cook fresh mackerel fillets.

Going to try Rick Stein’s chicken enchiladas tonight, from his new book Simple Suppers.

In case anyone else is interested Alexina Anatoles (Masterchef 2021) cook book Bitter is 99p on the kindle daily deal today. I've had my eye on it for a while and heard some really good things.

Watercress and Jalapeno Soup from Mob 6.
This was super simple and really delicious, the heat from the jalapeno seemed light but then it kicked in and was so warming. Will be making again!

Leek Pasta Bake, Nigella Lawson, Simply Nigella
Really solid meal and exactly what I expected from reading it.

The Perfect Marmite Spaghetti, Felicity Cloake
Didn’t bother with the optional breadcrumbs or chives to keep it super simple and easy. I really liked this, brillant for a lazy lunch.

Thanks for the recommendation @Robin60

Funfetti Cookies, Janes Patisserie
I made a little kit for a friend who was going through a tough time before Christmas with all ingredients but the egg and butter, she told me they were great. I finally got around to making a batch for myself this weekend and they are brilliant.

Thanks Summa, I picked that up. I’d been curious but grapefruit and liquorice are hard nos from me so had been unsure. And now I have a plan to use the half cabbage at the bottom of my fridge!

Chicken/meat free pies - Nicola Lamb, Kitchen Projects
I’ve been obsessed with pies recently and the version is this link is ultimate comfort food.

Ram-don noodles - Meera Sodha
Predictably delicious and so fast to make. I could get black garlic paste, so roasted garlic and added that instead.

I've been lacking motivation for new recipes recipes recently but decided to make a moussaka this weekend and a new paneer recipe which I'll have to add as a separate post as everytime I leave MN it reboots me to the home page and I lose my post.

So, moussaka - I love this dish but have never made it. I liked Meliz Berg's recipe (not online - but in her book Meliz's Kitchen) but it involved taking aubergines and courgettes on and off the potato layer at various points which seemed very hassle-y to me.. I was also just cooking for two so knew the meat layer was going to be very thin if I went down the layered route. Then I came across this via Jamie's Food Tube and pretty much followed it. The exceptions were, I added a swirling of passata in the bottom of the tray as per Meliz and also followed her way of intensifying the ragu with reducing it down via stock.
The layering of potato, aubergine, courgette and then meat worked better for me as was cooking a smaller portion. The egg into bechamel was perfect as it gave the bechamel a light custardy heft.

all in all - this worked well despite mashing up two recipes and would make again!

Second new recipe - Chilli Paneer.

I had a block of paneer in the fridge that needed using. My go to paneer recipes tend to be muttar paneer or kale, tomato, paneer but I was feeling a bit meh about both. I knew Maunika had a chilli paneer recipe that she described as indo-chinese (I hadn't realised how much of a crossover there is). This was brilliantly easy to do and super delicious. The batter recipe calls for rice flour and corn flour - I had none of the former so doubled the latter which worked well. I'm intrigued as to the difference the rice flour would have made, but not enough to seek it out! Definitely pleased to have a new paneer recipe on rotation!

https://maunikagowardhan.co.uk/cook-in-a-curry/chilli-paneer-fry-indian-chinese-style/

Hellimli Zeytinli Kibris Çöreği - Haloumi & Black Olive Cypriot Seeded Loaf
Blog post - https://melizskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/01/hellimli-zeytinli-kbrs-coregi-haloumi.html

Absolutely delicious!! Quite easy to pull together, really helpful to have video instructions. Mine didn't rise that much however the structure was fine and really springy. Served it with the recipe below, houmous and olives - a great starter. Whilst not a new recipe I made Meliz's One Pot Turkish Lamb Pasta for mains, also did a veggie version which is great with good veg mince.

- I've made tzatziki multiple times before but this was a new recipe for me and I don't think I'll make it any other way again, straining the yogurt and grating the cucumber finely made such a huge difference.

@Pompoms88 thanks for posting the loaf review - I had noted that as one to make from her book so glad to hear it was delicious- I'll make it this week! I was surprised how much of a difference the straining the yoghurt makes - we buy fage and thought it was quite thick already but am too a convert!

DH and I were invited to dinner on Saturday and I offered to make the desserts. The theme was loosely French - so my desserts were also very loosely French! I made Calvados Poached pears with cardamom custard & sesame brittle - this was totally delicious and went down a storm, something different but full of flavours you might not associate with pears. It was light but still felt a treat. Would absolutely make again, the custard and brittle can be made the day before.

I also made Salted Caramel Torte, to be honest I have made this before and it’s very decadent and rich. It looks pretty impressive yet it’s easy to put together, a little goes a long way. The French element here was to add champagne truffles on the top!

I had some pigs cheeks in the freezer that needed using up so this recipe really appealed. Pigs cheeks in cider. Another winner, so very tasty and it can be left for 4-5 hours to ensure the cheeks become tender. As there was a lot of liquid I precooked some mini potatoes and added them to the casserole 45 minutes before serving.

I made this last night, minus the olives as I love olives but am not a fan of them cooked unless in a tagine Anna Jones Paprika Baked Pasta.
It was good but not amazing, there was a good smokiness to the pasta and it was super easy to do. I'd probably make again if I wanted a low effort/solid return but to be honest I think there are other pasta dishes that require a bit more effort but deliver more bang for the buck - Esther Clark's tograshi mac n cheese springs to mind. However, I may have just been in a meh mood and it migrated to food too, so I should probably give it another go!

Charred savoy cabbage with cranberries and walnuts - Alexina Anatole, Bitter
My first venture into Bitter was a delight. Well balanced, simple enough to make as a weeknight side dish. Very excited to check out the rest of the book now.

Cauliflower and cannellini traybake - Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
So simple to make, especially served with bakes sweet potato, and tasty, though I did wish I had more coriander left in the packet for the yogurt sauce. An easy one to add to the midweek meal repertoire.

Chicken with Caramelised Onion and Cardamom Rice, Ottolenghi
Recommended on the best Ottolenghi recipes thread, this was lovely as expected. I could have done with more cardamom, but when don’t I think that? And as the chicken is steamed with the rice the skin didn’t get lovely and crispy which is how I like it, I wonder about doing this in my cast iron pot, moving to the oven once the lid is on, then for the last 10 minutes removing the lid?

Hearty Spiced Veg Stew, Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
I’ve always struggled to get vegetables like sweet potato to soften in this sort of stove top stew, so I allowed plenty of extra time, which was needed. This was so tasty and felt really healthy as well as filling.

Farinata, Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
Served with the above, which Melissa suggests. Never made or eaten Farinata before, so I don’t know if mine turned out how it should be, but I really liked it and will be making again.

@SummaLuvin that's what I always do - I make it in a shallow cast iron casserole and finish it off under the grill to crisp the skin. One of the few times I wish I had a kitchen blowtorch!!

I made this yesterday https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/crispy-sesame-chicken-sticky-asian-sauce/ I found the sauce not to be enough, so if you try it, add a tbs of each ingredient.

I’ll apologise now for another post on Ottolenghi’s recipes, but given the wide range of books and recipes it’s difficult to resist. This time I’ve selected three recipes from Extra Good Things.
Butternut Squash Pie - this was really delicious and had some lovely textures. The pickled chillies I made a few days in advance - they made a lovely addition. Another time, I might add some fresh chillies to the feta and parsley element.
Chicken pie with cinnamon almonds - to be honest I really wasn’t sure the flavours would work but they absolutely did. One point to note, the recipe states to roll the pastry to 28x28. Personally, I would do a maximum of 20x20. There isn’t enough filling to cover the larger area. The pastry was delicious but I did forget to put the eggs on! The cinnamon almonds added such a lovely crunch to the dish it elevated it considerably. All in all this was another winner.
Two scalloped potatoes with chimichurri - this took a lot more cooking than stated in the book, I gave it another 30-40 minutes. I really don’t like undercooked potatoes and despite these being sliced thinly the extra time was definitely needed. I did enjoy this dish but unlike the first two it didn’t wow me.

Jam Roly-Poly, BBC Good Food
For some reason I got fixated on having a jam roly-poly, which I don’t remember ever eating before. For a little extra flavour I infused the milk with cardamom and bay and sprinkled over flaked almonds, I also used a delicious redcurrant and raspberry jam made by a neighbour. Very simple and was a great hearty pud.

The Perfect Meat & Potato Pie, Felicity Cloake
The actual perfect meat and potato was made by a woman no longer here and I never asked for her recipe (I doubt she needed one anyway) there are definitely adjustments to make to try and get closer to her version but this was still very good. A meal full of nostalgia, I might have cried after making this.