New Kitchen Basics: 10 Essential Ingredients, 120 Recipes: Revolutionize the Way You Cook, Every Day by Claire Thomson

    • Categories: Quick / easy; Main course
    • Ingredients: whole chicken; store-cupboard ingredients
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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Tomato, date & chickpea tagine

    • Emily Hope on April 25, 2019

      This was totally delicious! A delightful surprise--it would never have occurred to me to blend dates into tomato sauce, but it worked. I scaled back slightly (maybe by 20%) on the dates, and it was still pretty sweet, so if you don't like sweet mixed with savory this may not be for you. With salted lemon yogurt and Indian lime pickle on the side, the balance worked for us. My only other change was to blend all the tomatoes rather than set some aside (I'm not a big fan of the texture of diced canned tomatoes). Served with couscous that had been tossed with some salted butter, toasted chopped almonds, parsley, and cilantro. Fast enough for weeknights. Will definitely be a repeat for us!

  • Tomato, courgette & tarragon galette

    • Astrid5555 on June 29, 2021

      Using store-bought shortcrust pastry, this is a perfect no-fuss, summer weeknight dinner. Liked the fact that this galette is without the usual egg-custard, ricotta cheese, etc. addition, using only grated cheese (in my case Emmenthal) as a base.

  • Sri Lankan potato & aubergine curry

    • eeeve on March 03, 2021

      Halfway through cooking I realised I didn't have any coconut milk in, therefore used a can of tomatoes. And added a can of chickpeas for some protein. The curry came out okay, but I don't think I like the texture of aubergines in curries. Probably won't repeat, but that's really just personal preference.

  • Quinoa fritters with green goddess sauce

    • eeeve on February 17, 2021

      Made only the fritters from this recipe, which we thought were really nice. The lemon zest gave them a nice fresh taste. Subbed spinach for spring onions and dill for parsley and mint. Served with a leftover tomato/harissa sauce with a green salad on the side.

  • Leek, artichoke & feta filo pie

    • eeeve on June 05, 2019

      First recipe I made from this book; the pie (I would rather say it's a quiche/tart) tastes okay but I don't think it's great enough to be doing this specific recipe again. (Though the husband loved it!) I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese and a can of artichoke hearts in brine as opposed to the jarred oiled version. Which was fine I think - the oil type ones might impart a bit more flavour though. The filo surprisingly held the filling together nicely; it looks different from your regular tart.

  • Tomato fritters with butter beans & feta

    • sarahj22 on May 14, 2020

      My husband and I both really enjoyed these. I like how some ingredients do double duty in seasoning both the fritters and the beans. My first batch were slightly bland, but after adding more salt to the mixture the next batch was much tastier. So season generously.

  • Chicken salad with fried peach & bacon

    • Lepa on September 07, 2023

      This is a delicious and satisfying salad. I didn't want to wait for the chicken to bake so I grilled it after basting it with a mixture of soy sauce and honey (1:1). It went well with the flavors here and was much quicker.

  • Piri piri Mozambique-style

    • lou_weez on September 14, 2023

      I only added 3 chillies, but will add more next time. It was packed full of flavour and a real hit!! Can't wait to make this again.

  • Spiced Persian chicken skewers

    • lou_weez on January 17, 2021

      Tasty, simple dish. I didn't have saffron so my marinade was quite pink, which was a bit weird. I also marinated the chicken for longer than suggested (8 hours) and I don't think there were any adverse effects. Would definitely make these again.

  • Chocolate, rye & banana pancakes

    • lou_weez on January 08, 2021

      My teenagers loved these. They feel so decadent, but are somewhat healthier than a regular pancake. Made 6 12cm diameter pancakes, using 2 huge bananas.

  • Greens, pancetta, garlic & chilli [pasta]

    • Pamsy on November 26, 2020

      We really enjoyed this, much more than the sum of its parts. Used chipotle chilli flakes, serrano ham and the last of our home grown cherry tomatoes along with half a sweetheart cabbage. We both thought you could add black olives for colour and flavour. Would never have thought of combining these ingredients but as ever EYB came up trumps!

  • Prawn fideua

    • Pamsy on November 01, 2020

      We enjoyed this although it looked nothing like the photo in the book and I'm not sure why. Linguine was the thinnest pasta in the cupboard which admittedly is a lot thicker than vermicelli. I seemed to have more sauce in my dish and didn't get the crunchy effect the author mentions. I will make again after ordering fideos noodles from Brindisa.

  • Prawn & courgette [pasta]

    • Pamsy on October 29, 2021

      This was good and easy for a weeknight. One medium courgette and a dozen cherry tomatoes and a pack of large ready cooked prawns were the basis. Worth repeating.

  • Lamb ragù with green olives, peas & ‘nduja

    • Pamsy on November 21, 2021

      This was very good, albeit with a few omissions. No fresh herbs, 'nduja or peas. Subbed Waitrose black Moroccan olives for green. Otherwise made as written, served with fusilli. The next evening, the ragu was layered up with sliced potatoes and topped with a bechamel sprinkled with parmesan. A sort of aubergineless moussaka! This was also very tasty. Both dishes will definitely be repeated.

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  • ISBN 10 1787132544
  • ISBN 13 9781787132542
  • Published Mar 19 2019
  • Format Hardcover
  • Page Count 288
  • Language English
  • Countries United States, United Kingdom
  • Publisher Quadrille Publishing

Publishers Text

Most of us buy the same ingredients week in, week out, and cook the same old recipes. Cookery writer Claire Thomson wants to encourage people to ditch the boring chicken stir-fry and the all-too-predictable spaghetti, and enliven their cooking and eating.

Claire takes our 10 favorite ingredients and reinvents them as modern classics. With sections on chicken, tomatoes, eggs, ground meat, pasta, potatoes, salad, lemon and chocolate, each chapter covers the basics about that ingredient, then offers 12 recipes using each in ways that will brighten up mealtimes. Claire's cooking is simple yet imaginative, and her kitchen expertise and knowledge of flavor combinations means that these dishes will become your new standby meals.

This is the new essential cookbook, a modern-day solution to the eternal question: "What should I cook tonight?"


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