Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cock-a-leekie soup

  • joneshayley on June 12, 2020

    Brilliant recipe- the prunes add a real depth

• Chicken and dumpling stew

  • Beth891 on November 24, 2024

    I didn't follow the recipe for the stew exactly but I did for the dumplings - they were delicious! Really light and tasty and they just needed a minute or two longer than the stated time to brown properly. The additional baking powder definitely made a difference and I'd make these again.

• Portuguese chicken soup with mint and lime (Canja)

  • Ro_ on March 02, 2023

    This was a nice, light soup that was still filling thanks to the rice. I enjoyed the subtle flavours of the mint and lime. Definitely needs a good squeeze of lime at the end to make it sing.

• Vietnamese chicken salad

  • Ro_ on September 14, 2020

    A very nice and easy-to-do vietnamese chicken salad. Would make again.

• Coronation chicken

  • Ro_ on September 25, 2020

    This was lovely with a jacket potato and side salad. I made the coronation chicken the day before, and annoyingly forgot to sprinkle on the flaked almonds and coriander when serving, but still the taste was lovely - just the right side of "too sweet". Only criticism is it's a little bit faffy to make compared to some other coronation chicken recipes, but then you do get the pay-off in terms of the depth of flavour.

• Chicken, avocado and bean salad

  • Ro_ on May 20, 2020

    This was a nice combination of ingredients, but I think the dressing was lacking. I'd make this salad again, but I think a punchier, possibly sour-cream based dressing with a bit of a kick to it would work better. Also add some cheese.

• Tortilla

  • Ro_ on May 19, 2020

    This method, which I followed to the letter, gave me a lovely tortilla with just the right texture and a lovely taste. Will make again.

• Eggs Benedict

  • Ro_ on June 20, 2020

    My first time making non-cheat Hollondaise sauce, and apart from the first failed attempt at reducing the vinegar which ended up with no vinegar at all, it went well. Actually the vinegar came through quite strongly, I'd use less next time, and I think the quantity of sauce given is too much for 4 servings. But the sauce had the perfect texture, and I was pleased that I managed to not ruin the eggs given that I don't poach that often.

• Turkish eggs

  • joneshayley on January 24, 2020

    This was nice but textually lacking- runny soft egg, runny soft yogurt, melted butter- for me some toast fingers or a pitta would have made it more palatable

  • Ro_ on August 15, 2020

    My first time either eating or making Turkish eggs. After having read the comment about the texture and it needing something bready, I served this with a crusty loaf of bread. I definitely agree that without that it's a very mushy, soft dish and I'm not sure I'd have liked just eating it on its own with a spoon - on bread though, it was great. I loved the garlicky, spicy butter and yoghurt. I'm not sold on the method for poaching the eggs which was a bit fiddly. My partner enjoyed it and said it made a nice change for breakfast.

• Huevos rancheros

  • Ro_ on February 02, 2020

    Best huevos rancheros recipe I've tried yet, even if not the most authentic! I loved the warm salsa with lots of soft peppers in it. The quantity of salsa was a little too much for the whole recipe, so you can keep about a third of it back. I added some feta cheese too. Overall: delicious.

• Shakshuka

  • Ro_ on July 26, 2021

    I really liked this, especially with some creme fraichhe dolloped on, and toast on the side. It's possibly more of a lunch dish than a breakfast for me though. And sadly my partner isn't a fan of peppers, so this won't be on our regular rotation.

• Welsh rarebit with Welsh ale

  • Ro_ on June 05, 2020

    As you can see from my photo, I left these under the grill slightly too long and they ended up a tiny bit burnt! But they were still good. I used cider instead of ale as it's what I had, and I ended up using more than the recipe stated in order to get a cheese sauce constistency that seemed right. Using just mature cheddar meant this came out slightly on the salty-sharp side, I'd potentially use a mix of cheddar and a milder cheese next time.

• Classic roast chicken with sage and onion stuffing

  • Ro_ on September 11, 2021

    A solid roast chicken recipe, I made it with the sausage meat stuffing and it came out moist and flavourful.

• Beer can chicken

  • Ro_ on April 30, 2023

    This all just went wrong. The chicken wouldn't stay upright on the beer can in the oven and kept toppling over despite multiple efforts to put it right. I don't know if it was because it ended up getting cooked mostly horizontal or what, but the finished chicken was quite dried out. The one good thing was the crispy flavourful skin, with the paprika and other spices. But anyway, I won't make this again, too much of a faff.

• Chicken cordon bleu

  • Ro_ on July 10, 2023

    This was nice but I think I didn't bash the chicken out thin enough, because they came out a little dry and I thought I should have got more fillings in there. The cranberry sauce especially - don't skimp on this.

• Chicken Parmigiana

  • Ro_ on October 07, 2020

    This was a very rich dish - lots of mozzarella! I ended up with too much flour, egg and parmesan/breadcrumb mix than was needed to coat the chicken, so would reduce this next time. Overall a good dish, but I think there are other recipes for chicken parmigiana that I prefer.

• Chicken, ham and leek pie

  • peter_x160ws on June 15, 2026

    Love this recipe. Family favourite. Make it regularly

• Potato croquettes

  • Ro_ on March 07, 2021

    These looked great, but in the eating I found these quite underwhelming. Part of the fault was probably mine though for under-seasoning them, they really do need a good whack of salt. I went with the oven baking method, which I think in hindsight was never going to give beautifully golden and crunchy croquettes, if I make these again I'd try the frying method. Also I found that the suggested 50g of batter per croquette did make very huge croquettes, I'd make smaller ones next time I think.

• Braised chicken with mushrooms

  • Ro_ on July 03, 2023

    I ended up taking the chicken off the bone after cooking, and serving with pasta. This was a perfectly nice dish but nothing amazing - I've had better chicken and mushroom dishes.

• Chicken Normandy (Chicken à la Normande)

  • Bessp on July 02, 2023

    Absolutely delicious. A tiny bit fussy, but well worth the effort. Will definitely make again when I want to impress someone. I subbed regular cream for creme fraiche, because I didn't have any, I don't think it made a huge difference. Could also have used sour cream. I reduced the recipe to a single portion and ate it with roasted green beans.

• Chicken paprika

  • Ro_ on November 12, 2019

    This was a nice weeknight meal, easy to make and the sauce was very tasty. Two chicken thighs per person was fine. I served with Alsace wide noodles. Will make again.

• Brunswick stew

  • Ro_ on August 01, 2023

    This is very much a comfort food type recipe - it really doesn't look like much, but if you're in the mood for something hot, tomatoey, stew-y, soft and a bit spicy then it could hit the spot. For me it lacked zing and it's not my personal favourite type of comfort food so I doubt I'll make it again, even though it was nice enough.

• Chicken shwarma with Israeli couscous

  • joneshayley on April 05, 2020

    Brilliant recipe! Full of flavour and easy to prepare

• Southern fried chicken

  • Ro_ on December 08, 2020

    A great fried chicken recipe - it came out perfectly crispy and crunchy on the outside, but moist and tender on the inside. The coating was flavourful and delicious. It was a bit of a faff jointing a whole chicken (and it left me with a carcass I had to find a use for), next time I might make it with ready jointed chicken pieces. I served with a spicy mayo - delicious!

• Spicy Korean fried chicken

  • Ro_ on January 16, 2021

    We loved this dish! The batter on the chicken was absolutely perfect. Potentially next time I'd use bone-in thighs for a chunkier piece of chicken and a better chicken-to-batter ratio. In terms of the sweet soy sauce which I brushed onto the chicken: it wasn't that sweet, and actually I think next time I'd prefer to brush on a ready made sweet chilli sauce. The chilli sauce for dipping was nice. Overall, this is definitely a recipe to repeat.

• Tandoori chicken

  • Ro_ on September 04, 2023

    I used this marinade for chicken breasts, and baked them in the oven as suggested just shortening the cooking time a bit. They did not char the way I wanted to, I think they should be finished under the grill because just turning up the heat for 5-10 minutes didn't do much. The marinade was nice but not exceptional.

• Piri piri chicken

  • Sophph on July 27, 2022

    I've cooked this umpteen times as it's so tasty and a real doddle to make.

• Pan-fried chicken thighs with bacon and red wine

  • Ro_ on April 13, 2023

    I found this extremely salty, even though I didn't add any salt beyond seasoning the chicken before cooking as instructed. Possibly because the sauce reduced too much: I did add more water towards the end though. Overall this was nice enough (or would have been if less salty) but not the sort of dish I'd go out of my way to make again.

• Chicken almondine

  • Ro_ on November 09, 2020

    I wasn't expecting much but this was SO good. Almonds, butter, capers, lemon, parsley and chicken all come together to create something simple, elegant and delicious. I will definitely be making this again. The chicken was so moist! Not sure the buttermilk is necessary, you could probably substitute with something else. Also, to coat my chicken I found I needed less of the buttermilk (ended up with loads left just to be thrown out) but slightly more of the flour/almond mix.

• Chicken pilau

  • Ro_ on May 16, 2023

    My partner liked this but I didn't think it was that special. My rice was on the clumpy/gluey side, despite extra steaming time, and I'd have liked something to give another level of texture and a bit more zing (maybe extra lemon at the end).

• Chicken and spelt risotto

  • Ro_ on September 20, 2021

    I made this with buckwheat instead of spelt, it was great! Wasn't sure what to expect, but the flavours and textures were lovely. I used a sweet wine instead of dry Marsala which made it a little too sweet overall, next time I'd probably stick to normal dry white wine.

• Chicken vindaloo

  • etcjm on April 24, 2023

    Very good, easy recipe. It says overnight marinade, but was still great after 2 hours. Used tinned cherry tomatoes and finished in the oven for ease. Yes it was hot, but it had great flavour and I'm looking forward to the leftovers.

• Chicken burgers

  • Ro_ on April 24, 2020

    These were good, but chopping the meat very finely takes quite a bit of time. I added a fair whack of tarragon and it gave a nice flavour. I think overall the texture of these was not quite what I'd ideally want from a chicken burger so might try a different recipe next time.

• Pulled chicken with coleslaw

  • Ro_ on April 22, 2021

    These were perfectly OK, but didn't raise any kind of "OMG this is really good" comments from my family or from me. The pulled chicken felt like it was missing something to take it to the next level, I think maybe it needed some more acidity and some more sweetness?

• Japanese chicken meatballs

  • Ro_ on December 07, 2021

    These looked pretty, but didn't quite pack the punch of flavour I was hoping for. They were very salty, and I felt like they needed more sweetness.

• Spicy chicken on lettuce

  • Ro_ on September 22, 2021

    Didn't love this. I felt like it needed a sauce or dressing drizzled over it. Also it really needs sweet, crunchy leaves - mine turned out to be a bit limp and bitter which didn't help and was my own fault.

• Mayonnaise

  • Ro_ on April 24, 2020

    Would never normally make my own mayo, but we ran out of ready made so I gave this recipe a try rather than going out to the shop just for that. It was simpler than I thought, just time consuming! Added a good bit of lemon and mustard at the end.