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?

Lamb Saag ,* *The Curry Guy
Supposedly a "one pan" meal, but only if you use the same one and clean it, and I had to use my food processor twice. Anyway, it was quite a lot of cooking but worth it - a beautiful saag.

Served it with* *Bombay Potatoes recipe from Sainsburys website. Very easy.

Creamy ham, leek & mushroom spaghetti (BBC Good Food) which is almost too simple to need a recipe. I used a garlic and herb goats cheese from Lidl in place of the soft cheese. Again another really easy recipe.

I feel on the fence about the Dishoom Prawn Moilee. I suspect it was because I converted the recipe down to one portion but probably didn't get the ratios quite right. It probably had a little too much coconut milk for me.

Finally I made the Butter basted sage pork chops with beetroot puree and garlic chard from the February Sainsburys magazine (can't find recipe online). It was beautiful. The beetroot puree was just cooked beetroot blended up with a tablespoon of horseradish cream but was a real hit. I used spinach instead of chard.

Ham Risotto, thegreedyginger
I subbed in my leftover over ham from a few weeks ago and cheeses I prefer. Really good, like the PP so simple it didn’t really need the recipe, but good inspiration.

Milk Chocolate Caramel Sheet Cake, Edd Kimber, One Tin Bakes
The sponge was very easy. I had a little trouble with the topping, I thought I had chopped my chocolate fine, maybe not fine enough or maybe not a good brand for melting, but I had to put over a bain Marie as there were still small chocolate chunky when it should have been smooth. Regardless it tasted delicious in the end.

Paratha - while this was a very good recipe and easy to pull together with store cupboard ingredients I must admit I do love the shop bought frozen parathas. This time I didn’t have any in the freezer so this worked well, these are still better than ship bought naan breads.

Minced Beef and mushroom Pie- Took Kerridge Pub Kitchen

This is the sort of meal needed in the cold winter weather. It can be served for a fabulous midweek meal or part of a casual dinner with close friends. Lots of great flavours and will freeze well. I was unable to find a link so I’ve taken a photo of the page.

Chilli broccoli salad - Dishoom
Feels a bit of a cheat having this here, because I’ve eaten this plenty of times, at Dishoom and mode by friends, but I’d never made it myself until this week. Not sure why as it’s so easy and so delicious.

Mushroom, Guinness and pearl barley stew - Meera Sodha
Perfect for a cold day like today. Simple flavours, easy to make. A bit of pain as now I’ve got Guinness left over I won’t drink, but a good recipe. If anyone has a way to use up 2/3 of a bottle of Guinness, let me know!

Dumplings - BBC Good Food
Ridiculously easy, and great. I love dumplings in almost every form, and this was no exception.

I've been playing with Mezcla....

Chiles Rellenos with Salsa Roja Risotto - absolutely loved this, really simple to make and so tasty. Forgot to take the habernero before blitzing the sauce (oops) so the sauce had quite the kick but it balanced nicely with the cheese.

Cheesy polenta with curried onions - I've never cooked polenta before, this was really good comfort food. I served with sausages and it was essentially a fancy cheesey mash and bangers. delicious.

I now have a lot of polenta left so if anyone has any other recommendations then do shout!

One of my favourites: Baked polenta with feta, béchamel and za’atar tomatoes

But also keen on this: Olive and Polenta Bites with Rose Harissa Mayo

The brown butter curried corn bread (also from Mezcla) is amazing and uses a fair bit of polenta.

Guinness you could just freeze and use again if you want to make the stew again. Otherwise substitute in for ale in a steak and ale pie or use in baking for chocolate Guinness muffins.

Turkish inspired braised lamb
I made this last night from YO in the Guardian. His recipe has subbed out the Turkish pepper paste for jarred red peppers, however, as I'm a fan of Meliz Berg's hair food, I had already acquired the pepper paste. I wasn't entirely sure if it was a weight for weight replacement but I guesstimated and it was all good!

This is a delicious dish - the lamb and vegetables are slowly cooked in a pepper paste/fennel/cumin/cinammon blanket with a touch of spice coming from paprika and a chilli. The lamb was falling apart at the end of the three hour cook and the preserved lemon/coriander salsa was fantastically bright green and tangy in flavour to contrast with the richness of the lamb/vegetables.

Will no doubt be making the other two dishes soon too - a newly opened Turkish shop near me stocks amba and proper baby aubergines so that one could be hitting my plate very soon!

Also, hugs to @SummaLuvin for the tear inducing nostalgia recipe - that really touched me.

Mixed Berry Dutch Baby, Edd Kimber, One Tin Bakes
I find pancakes an exercise in frustration so was going to skip them this year, then I remembered Dutch Babies are a thing, given I can do Yorkshire pudding had a lot more faith in my skills here. This was so so nice! Already planning to serve this for brunch with guests in March.

I am place marking - our kitchen will e finished soon and I am dying to get stuck in on some of these.

Thank you so much op.

Tahini tantanmen ramen with crispy shiitakes - Alexina Anatole, Bitter
Bitter continues to impress! Simple enough for a midweek meal, so tasty. I wish I’d planned ahead and made a soy egg for it. I’ll definitely do that next time (and there will be next time!).

Tomato sauce - Marcella Hazan
This has been on my list of recipes to make for so long, and I finally made it for the baked ziti below. Beautiful in its simplicity and s easy to make. Not sure what I can add that hasn’t already been said on this one.

Baked fusilli with roasted vegetables - Cookie and Kate
For some reason I got it into my head I wanted to make a baked ziti (even though I ended up using fusilli). I also really wanted to add roasted sprouts (maybe partly inspired by a sprout pasta dish in Bitter) and I added a tin of green lentils to make it more substantial. It’s exactly how I thought it would be. Real comfort food. I used the ricotta instead of cottage cheese - I’ve never quite got over being forced to eat cottage cheese at Brownie camp.

Rarebit mac and cheese - Alexina Anatole, Bitter
I had an unexpected night where I had to cook, and an open bottle of Guinness so this fit the bill. The extra savoury notes from the beer, and Hendersons/Worcestershire make it extra delicious. Incredibly rich!

I bought Bitter when it was the kindle daily deal, but as I meal plan 2 weeks in advance this is my first week cooking from it and it was worth the wait!

<a class="break-all" href="https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/tahini-tantanmen-ramen-with-crispy-shiitakes/thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/tahini-tantanmen-ramen-with-crispy-shiitakes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tahini Tantanmen Ramen with Crispy Shiitakes, Alexina Anatole, Bitter
Snap Toast! Delicious, I adored the leek and mushroom topping which I will be tempted to use on other ramens. I think next time I will loosen my tahini before adding it into the pot of broth to make it easier as mine is very thick, otherwise no notes, great ramen for the time and effort.

Bavette Steak with Chicory, Soy + Orange, Alexina Anatole, Bitter
Utterly fabulous! Works well for a really light meal, but I can see it being fantastic in a large spread.

Watercress and Walnut Linguine, Alexina Anatole, Bitter
Pesto pasta is hardly revolutionary, which Alexina notes, but this was a really tasty version of it, I was surprised by how well the flavour of the walnuts came through considering only 20g were used.

Green Chilli Con Carne, Ottolenghi
I really tried to get jalapeños, but had to settle for mixed chillies (only one of which was green). This was amazing, when I was making this I noted the parallels to Meera’s coriander chutney curry however the end dish is entirely different - hers maximises lighter zingy characteristics, this chilli develops a very deep and savoury flavour. It paired brilliantly with Ixtas curried brown butter cornbread which I made in favour of the Ottlenghi one in the same link.

DH is off meat till Easter, and we're only eating fish 2-3 times a week so that means a lot of vegetarian exploration over here...

Roast trio of cheeses, Nadiya's Fast Flavours - we had friends coming for Sunday lunch and I would usually do a roast - this was a fantastic alternative that everyone loved, including all the kids. I doubled the feta and halloumi and in the end forgot to add the burrata but it was none the worse for that. With a crunchy, herb-heavy green salad this was a perfect veggie Sunday lunch.

Beans, burrata, tomatoes, Nigel Slater Greenfeast - excellent way to use up that burrata. I cooked beans from dry with aromatics and that definitely added to the depth of flavour.

From the ckbk app I found a book called "Whole Bowls" by Allison Day and made saffron, butternut and bean stew with harissa yoghurt - nothing massively groundbreaking but a gentle tagine inspired bowl of veg - the harissa certainly helped lift it by adding lactic acidity and a bit of heat. Next time I'd eat it with some flatbread or couscous though.

Am going to have to check out "Bitter" aren't I?!

I had a yearning to make something mexican this week and whilst I found loads of great ideas in Diana Kennedy's book, I turned to Thomasina Miers and her Tlayudas - Oaxacan Pizzas

These were great - I had some Turkish flatbreads that needed using (in hindsight these were perhaps a day or two too old as they crisped up very easily and so were prone to cracking rather than the nice neat foldover in the photo - but this just resulted in messier tlayudas than any impact on flavour...

I followed the recipe but used some chorizo instead of poached chicken and I roasted some pointed red peppers and some spring onions to add (said spring onions are visible in photo but not mentioned in recipe, but I was vibing calcots!)

I didn't make her habanero sauce just because was short of time so I bought some Cholula sauce and some spicy green jalapeño sauce as a short cut.

So filling and delicious - will bear in mind for left over chicken and try slightly fresher bread..

Piri piri tofu over crispy orzo - this was really tasty and straightforward to make, but I pushed it a bit far in terms of crispy-ness and went over into a bit burnt (cooking on a gas hob). Would try again and not cook it for as long.

reckon it might be up your street @myrtleWilson this has 3 sample recipes and explains the concept (10 chapters each focused around a different bitter ingredient).

Mushroom + Three Cheese Quesadillas, Alexina Anatole, Bitter
Another hit from Bitter - I couldn’t resist serving these with the habanero oil from the Mezcla cheese tacos (still need to make those) which added an extra layer of tastiness.

I made the Mob Lemony 'Nduja & Mascarpone Risotto (which I think I've mentioned before...?) with vegan nduja - it's a regular feature in our house but annoyingly only needs 1.5 tbsp of mascarpone - and it definitely makes a difference.

I've been keeping a list on my phone of recipes to make with leftover mascarpone, creme fraiche, cream cheese, sour cream etc so whenever I have some left I can make a plan for the remainder so it doesn't go to waste. This week the leftovers resulted in this beauty...

Leek and Gorgonzola Pasta from Sophie Wyburd, creamy delicious comfort food, a hug in a bowl. Hardly anything groundbreaking but a combo I've never made before, would make again! A super easy weeknight meal.

I made Confit leeks with puy lentils and leek cream and served it with marinated roasted portobello mushrooms. (surprisingly short ingredient list for Ottolenghi). It was super delicious and I will definitely make it again but I did find I had too much of the leek cream so would probably half the amounts next time.

Bean bites - Melissa Hemsley, Feel Good
I enjoyed these and would make again, as it’s quick and healthy, but falafel type things are never something I really love, even though they should be right up my street.

Oven cooked chicken shawarma - Nigella Lawson
Made this for DH who really enjoyed it. So easy to make.

Burnt aubergine dip (moutabel) - Alexina Anatole, Bitter
Really great dip. I was worried about the length of grilling (and my grill is pretty powerful), and the kitchen ended up pretty smoky, but the result was fantastic - though I’m not sure that mixing aubergine and tahini can really go wrong.

Duck/oyster mushrooms with mexicorn sauce and spring onion salsa - Ixta Belfrage, Mezcla
I messed up, and the green peppercorns didn’t arrive in time, so just used back instead. I served with mashed potatoes, as someone (sorry can’t remember who) suggested upthread. It was wonderful, all the flavours balanced beautifully, and the cooking instructions for the duck worked brilliantly. The oyster mushrooms I had were also great, slightly crispy from being baked. I’d recommend them as a side alongside duck. I really want to try it with green peppercorns now!

@Pompoms88 That leek pasta looks gorgeous. I'm going to try to remember to add that to my list for next week.

Fresh matar paneer - Meera Sodha, Fresh India
A new weeknight staple. Easy to make, really tasty and seems the perfect base for adding in what in languishing in fridge at the end of the week.

Rosie Birkett Cacio e pepe gratin and a banging chicory salad

I made this last night - I'd bought some red chicory and was browsing what to do with it - almost went for a braised dish but then found this. A delight!
I did wonder if the gratin would carry the pepper but toasting and pestle/mortaring the pepper corns gave a nice oomph to each layer of the gratin.
The salad was amazing - down to a super punchy dressing of anchovies, basil, parsley, garlic and more. Took leftovers of both to work today and luncheoned like a Queen!

Pineapple Pizza Salsa, Ixta Belfrage, Mezcla
I took her recommendation of adding crisped pancetta cubes, and half of her serving suggestion of flatbreads and padron peppers. I absolutely adored this, it was classic Ixta, and DH declared (with no prompting) it was the best meal of the week and I agree.