Notes about Recipes in this book

• Extra-bananery banana loaf

  • Ro_ on May 06, 2020

    This was a nice vegan banana bread. The mix seemed quite dry, it didn't pour into the tin so much as have to be spooned in. But the cake itself was nice and moist, if a tiny bit "rough" looking.

• Mixed berry & cinnamon muffins

  • Ro_ on May 11, 2020

    These have a nice texture and rose magnificently (plus held their shape even after coming out of the oven). However, I think they need more sugar/sweetness - I get that they're supposed to be a healthy recipe, but I think they'd be vastly improved by a bit more maple syrup or just plain sugar.

• Spring onion, thyme & sage rolls

  • Ro_ on November 07, 2021

    I had to make a few substitutions, namely dried sage and dried thyme. They were still tasty, but overall a bit dry (should have removed from oven sooner) and needed more salt.

• All-grain, nutty, seedy soda bread loaf

  • Ro_ on March 27, 2020

    Great recipe. I made 2/3rds of the overall quantity, and it fit my on-the-small-side silicon loaf mould perfectly. 35 minutes in the oven gave perfectly cooked soda bread with a lovely taste.

• Anchovy, olive, onion & rosemary focaccia

  • Ro_ on October 27, 2021

    Loved the salty flavours in the topping (I used capers instead of olives since I prefer them) but overall the bread was a little dry. I'm not sure if I over-proved it, or if it's because I used regular wholemeal flour instead of strong wholemeal bread flour, or just a fault with the recipe?

• Baked store-cupboard chicken with lime, honey & soy

  • Ro_ on December 14, 2020

    This has been on my to-make list for sooo long, and I finally got around to it! I really enjoyed it, a pretty simple dish (apart from faffing around doing the glaze in two stages, I'd probably just do it all together next time and live with slightly less glazy results) and tasted really nice. It's the kind of thing that is nice and tasty on its own, but will also pair well with lots of other side dishes that have their own flavour profiles going on. Note: I did find that my chicken pieces needed more like 30-35 minutes in the oven to cook through rather than the 25m in the recipe.

• Chicken, leek, bacon & tarragon pie

  • Ro_ on April 22, 2021

    This was an "only OK" recipe. The tarragon was a bit overwhelming, though maybe I added a little more than the required amount. The filo topping was a bit meh, neither here nor there, not really enough to call it a pie IMO.

• Baked salmon & thyme fish fingers & home-made tartare sauce

  • Ro_ on March 22, 2020

    These weren't really more than the sum of their parts. There are lots of other ways I'd prefer to cook salmon.

• Skinnier mac & cheese with thyme

  • Ro_ on August 27, 2021

    This was tastier than I expected - I was surprised how thick the sauce went with just milk and cornflower. However, looking at Lorraine's own calorie comparison, you don't actually save that many calories compared to making mac & cheese the normal way with a proper cheese sauce, and I did miss the buttery taste somewhat. So next time I'll probably just do it the normal way.

• Baked cauliflower cheese with a creamy gratin sauce

  • Ro_ on August 31, 2021

    This was really delicious for a low calorie version. It was also handy to pre-cook the cauliflower in the oven in the same dish is would be baked in.

• White chocolate & pistachio sponge blondies

  • Ro_ on January 17, 2021

    I was quite pleasantly surprised with these, texturally they were absolutely perfect and there were some nice flavours going on as well. I used raspberries instead of strawberries, which could have contributed to the fact that for me they weren't sweet enough - but I guess this is mostly because this is supposed to be a healthy recipe. I'd have liked a bit more sweetness, and to add some white chocolate chips as well as just the melted chocolate.

• Cheddar cheese scones with spring onions & paprika

  • Ro_ on September 25, 2021

    I didn't get much of a rise at all in these, don't know if I rolled them a bit too thin or something else. The taste was nice enough but didn't really pack a huge punch, I probably won't make again.

• Petite filo quiche Lorraine (Pascale) with red onion, bacon & thyme

  • Ro_ on August 21, 2020

    These were really nice, I enjoyed the bacon, thyme and cheese and the crunchy filo pastry was lovely. But I don't think they're so good cold, and therein lies the problem - they're kind of a funny sized thing to serve (too big and crumbly for a canape type snack) and the filo is all a bit fiddly to justify making these instead of one regular sized quiche with normal shortcrust pastry.