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?

As it's Chinese New Year I made this tofu kung pao and it was ok. Not the biggest hit, but the tofu was good (and I have always struggled with tofu at home, and the textural contrast with the peanuts was nice.

Back to Meera this week with her take on a pho. It was lovely and fresh and the crispy leeks were wonderful.

Tried a few new recipes this week, all successful, and all Indian.

Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke and Chickpea Chaat, Meera Sodha, East
Amazing! I had to substitute the Jerusalem artichoke for sweet potato as I couldn't find any, but it was really amazing, one of the best new things I've made in ages. Truly reminiscent of chaats I have had at Indian restaurants. I highly recommend this recipe worth the effort into making all the elements, next time I would double the toppings, keep the extra in the fridge, and have it another day in the same week.

Tandoori Broccoli, Meera Sodha, East
Really really good, great flavour and low effort - what I like in my side dishes

Chicken Thokku
So the original recipe is for prawn, but I prefer chicken and it also means I can make double, freeze, and have an easy meal waiting to reheat.

@SummaLuvin those sound delightful, something to try another week. Substituting with sweet potato is appealing because I’m not the biggest lover of Jerusalem artichoke.

Just keeping up with this thread to keep me motivated. I just tried one new recipe this week and it was this pasta alla Norma from Ottolenghi’s Simple. As promised it was simple and delicious. I had doubts that the aubergine would break down as promised as once it really was quite crisp but it really melted into the sauce and made it rich and silky. I’ll definitely be making it again, though I was probably a bit too heavy handed with the chilli flakes.

no such thing as too heavy handed with chilli flakes if you ask me @toastofthetown! That sounds like a great recipe, I will have to bookmark it, I love aubergine but don't cook with it enough.

I have been boring this week and stuck to old favourites - even the instant noodles I have planned for tomorrows lunch is a brand/flavour I have tried before (Nongshim Shin Ramyun, Gourmet Spicy).

I will be back on it next week, I will be attempting Joshua Weissmans Kung Pao Chicken for the first time.

@Xiaoxiong that eatyourbooks is a genius website, thank you!!

I have so many recipe books and magazines to go through it's ridiculous, love getting them but then don't find the time to use them

Tried a sweet & sour chicken recipe today for the DC but they loathed it. Oh well!

Keep forgetting to post on here but more Meera Sodha love from me... Working through the cabbage glut, this week I've made Filipino style winter greens amp.theguardian.com/food/2022/jan/15/meera-sodhas-vegan-recipe-miso-coconut-winter-greens-laing - I really enjoyed but DP & DS not overly keen (too cabbagey!) & Leek, cabbage & spinach pie amp.theguardian.com/food/2022/jan/15/meera-sodhas-vegan-recipe-miso-coconut-winter-greens-laing. I added a bit of vegan feta-style cheese & some yeast flakes to the filing and it was so good. Served with beetroot sour cream & dill salad - definitely one for the 'keep' list.

Swede Laksa - amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/27/meera-sodhas-vegan-swede-laksa-recipe

• This was ok but I tried cooking the swede in my new air fryer & it wasn't a great success!

Moving away from Meera, we had Crispy Mongolian Tofu as shared on here - chejorge.com/2020/07/06/crispy-mongolian-tofu/ - big success and I will definitely be using the twice frozen method again.

Then Friday night I did the Mowgli Chicken Dhansak - not technically a new recipe as I made it for the first time a couple of weeks back, but worth a mention as it went down so well! And the Hairy Bikers Cauliflower Tikka Masala - had to improvise a bit as had no double cream or passata but this was also a success.

Stepping away from Meera Sodha this week!! I tried Joshua Weissmans Kung Pao Chicken. It was really nice, and very quick and easy, but not sure if I would make it again - I just don't gravitate towards and love Chinese food the way I love other cuisines.

A traybake type recipe for me last night, which was really delicious, although I added the kale way too early and it cooked down to almost nothing. www.delicious.com.au/recipes/chicken-braised-white-wine-bay-mustard-recipe/snyq8xpx

That traybake sounds lovely, I might have to save that recipe.

I tried this Korean Style Bacon Egg Noodles recipe for brunch today. I was really excited when I planned it a few days ago, then I started feeling doubtful, but I made them anyway and they were so good and tasty. Will make them again for sure, quick, easy, simple ingredients, packed with flavour.

Broccoli quiche from the Green Roasting Tin the other day - used stilton instead of gorgonzola & a mix of tenderstem & 'normal' broccoli & chucked some baby plum tomatoes on top. Very tasty! thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/the-most-indulgent-quick-cook-quiche-broccoli-gorgonzola-chilli-and-walnut/

Yesterday we tried a couple of recipes from Dishing out health - Buffalo cauliflower mac n cheese dishingouthealth.com/buffalo-cauliflower-mac-and-cheese/ & miso sprouts dishingouthealth.com/miso-sesame-glazed-brussels-sprouts/. Both went down well - loved the sprouts!

@LittleFriendSusan I love the idea of sesame miso sprouts!

Forgot to post last week, I tried butternut squash, aubergine and red lentil sambhar from Fresh India. It was ok, I'd make it again to use up leftover Ingredients but wouldn't go out of my way to remake it.

Also had this lentil cottage pie which was nice, though I served with cabbage rather than broccoli.

I had two recipes from East today - the tandoori broccoli mentioned upthread and the blueberry dorayaki to celebrate pancake day. Both delicious and very simple.

I also tried a Meera Sodha, East, pancake recipe, the Vietnamese Coconut Pancakes. They were really tasty, but I somehow forget every year that I don't really enjoy making pancakes, and these were more challenging than normal as the rice flour makes them more brittle. So I probably won't make again.

Another two new recipes from me this week.

Marions Kitchen Korean Style Beef Fried Rice this was really tasty and really simple. The idea was to help me get through my tub of gochujang, and the rest of the ingredients are staples for me, so I can see myself doing this in future if my meal planning fails or I want whip up something quickly. Not my favourite of all time, I think I prefer her Chinese style fried rice which I posted up thread, but still a tasty meal.

Meera Sodha, East Winter Pilau with beetroot, cauliflower, and coriander chutney the love affair with this book continues and this was sensational. Out of all the meals I had planned for this week, I felt least excited about this one - the Korean fried rice and Vietnamese pancakes seemed more interesting - this was a new recipe, but one I thought would be safe, maybe even a little dull. However, it turned out to be my favourite and am really looking forward to having it again next week. Highly recommend and will try her other seasonal pilaus throughout the year.

I must be on a similar wavelength to @SummaLuvin because I had the Spring Pilau with asparagus, fennel and pea from East as well this week. Just a season ahead! This was good, very simple, fresh and herby (though I skipped the fennel because I'm not a fennel lover). Not mind-blowing but I'll make it again.

@toastofthetown interesting to hear about the spring pilau. I'm not really a fennel lover, so am tossing up whether I should make it to the recipe to try it again in a new dish to see if I get on with it, or to exclude it entirely as you did.

I tried a new bake this weekend, John Whaites Slutty Rolo Brownies these were a huge hit, highly reccomend. I cut into 16 pieces, but they were so rich and dense 20 probably would have been better.

I forgot to check in last week, but I tried two recipes this week and last.

Kung Pao Cauliflower- East (Meera Sodha)
This was ok, I think the vinegar in it was a touch much for me, and the sweetness also didn’t work for me, and I had a feeling that would be the case. I liked the roasted cauliflower base and the idea of that with ginger/garlic/chilli/soy, but won’t make it again as it was in the recipe.

Daily Dal - Made in India (Meera Sodha)
Maybe a bit of a cheat as new recipe as I’m pretty sure my sister made it for me a few years ago and I doubt the handful of spinach I added changed it drastically, but it was new to me making it. Really nice recipe, the tomatoes make it different from my other staple dal (here). I’d definitely make this again. Dal is one of my favourite comfort foods.

Tried a few new recipes since I last posted.

Brussel Sprout Thoran, Meera Sodha, Fresh India
I substituted cabbage as that’s what I had in, it was a nice dish, might make again if I had sprouts or cabbage to use up, but wouldn’t go out of my way to have it.

Thai Salad with Grapefruit and Cashews, Meera Sodha, East
This is nice, and light and refreshing. However, I have salad recipes I like more, so can’t see myself making this much. Probably a good dish for a hot summers day where you want to eat light and not switch the oven on or use heat. I think toast said upthread they weren’t keen on grapefruit? If you are ok with other citrus fruit I think this would work with orange, though maybe reduce the sugar in the dressing and increase red cabbage to get the balance of bitterness.

Miso White Chocolate Cookies, The Anna Edit
Really delicious. Will make again for sure. If I had a bigger freezer I would always keep a couple of these balls in there so I could have them whenever I wanted. I have heard the most popular cookie at the Levain bakery in NYC is milk chocolate and walnut, so I might even try with those additions instead of white chocolate, but keeping the miso.

I have gotten my hands on some rhubarb so will try a couple of bakes with that this weekend!

Some yummy sounding recipes on here!

Tried a pork mince recipe in this week's Gousto box, similar to this one - DP enjoyed it and was thoroughly confused to find it was pork mince as he'd sworn blind beforehand that he hated pork

Also made this pear cake to use up a load of squishy pears left over from my fruit & veg box - I didn't bother with the glaze and probably should have, as it wasn't quite sweet enough without it!

Beef keema here this evening, for DP not me. He enjoyed it, it was good from my point of view as it was easy to prep for and only required one pan

My two rhubarb bakes, recommend both.

Custard Yo-Yo Biscuits with Roasted Rhubarb Icing, Sweet - Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh
Really delicious and very simple. The biscuit stayed a lovely crumbly texture even after having the buttercream in for a couple of days, I had expected they might go soft so was pleasantly surprised.

Rhubarb and Pistachio Frangipane, John Whaite
Another success! This was really nice and looked so pretty with relatively little effort and few ingredients. It worked well alongside the biscuits as a more sophisticated option. I don’t have the tin he uses (though it is beautiful and I am now coveting it) so I halved the recipe and used a 6” cake tin and that was fine. I feel this is a recipe that might be fun to play around with seasonally - maybe in winter use walnuts instead of pistachios, apples instead of rhubarb, and glazing with a caramel not the poaching liquid reduced to a syrup. In summer, maybe berries and elderflower...

I love rhubarb @SummaLuvin, will have to remember those recipes!

Made red cabbage today but didn't have any cider vinegar, so used red wine vinegar. DP thought it tasted a bit funny but I didn't enlighten him

I had red cabbage too today @ClaraTheImpossibleGirl, but in the Burmese Mango salad with peanut and lime mentioned upthread from East (Meera Sodha). I added rice sticks and ended up having to substitute the cabbage for red cabbage because that’s what was in the shop. It was delicious (if plentiful) and I’ll be making it again for sure.

Yours sounds waaaaay more exciting than mine @toastofthetown! I went to the supermarket late this evening and found reduced chicken and some casserole veg, so I'll be making a couple of chicken casseroles tomorrow and freezing a few portions

So on this!

It's an old favourite but one I hadn't made for ages and did again this weekend. Reminds me soooo much of holidays.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/halloumisaganakii_92664