Notes about Recipes in this book

• Leek, potato and blue cheese soup

  • joneshayley on February 05, 2019

    I added 4 potatoes as two potatoes and two leeks, to feed four , just isn’t enough in my opinion- added an extra half litre of stock to compensate the extra potato . Made for a lovely homely soup, the blue cheese is delicious and makes it special. Great way to use leftover Christmas cheese.

• Rigatoni with courgettes, lemon and basil

  • Pamsy on July 14, 2024

    Made again and really didn't enjoy it! Several possible reasons; used a yellow courgette where aesthetically green would be better, used Rummo's short rigatoni which was too thick and chunky, sauce wasn't that exciting!! Probably won't be repeated.

• Creamy coconut prawns with spiced banana raita

  • Pamsy on January 10, 2025

    This note refers only to the spiced banana raita. I expected great things from this recipe as we like all the individual components. However, it was very unpleasant and most of it was binned. Usually, raita is a cool, fresh, light, herby, maybe citrusy, possibly chilli, taste. This was nothing like that and I think it was because of the addition of garam masala, which added a weird flavour and obliterated the banana, mint and lime. A rare fail from Rachel Allen.

• Polka-dot cookies

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 78

• Fillet steak with mushroom and brandy sauce and tomato fondue

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 98

• Blueberry and almond muffins

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 106

• Mum's roast chicken with lemony breadcrumb stuffing and gravy

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 109

• Chocolate and hazelnut caramel bars

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 137

• Chicken with lemon and honey

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 157

• Yoghurt, cardamom and orange panna cotta

  • Pamsy on December 30, 2020

    Made again, but, for the first time with soya milk and yoghurt. Tasted just as good although next time I'd increase the honey to 4 tbsps (60mls). Added a tbsp orange liqueur. Seemed to take slightly longer to set, not sure if that's a result of soya products. Served 100ml portions in IKEA champagne saucers topped with segmented oranges. This is such an easy and quick recipe.

• Fish cakes with lemon and pine nuts

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 179

• Chocolate amaretti cake

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 190

  • Pamsy on July 30, 2020

    Made as written. Good, easy to make, moist, chocolatey cake and we really liked the addition of Amaretti biscuits. However, I have only given it 4 stars because when turned out of the tin, it had 4 large craters on the bottom. I cannot think why this happened, as the mixture was very runny, when poured into the tin and would not have had air bubbles in it. One of life's mysteries! Well worth repeating.

• Stacked chocolate fudge squares with white chocolate and raspberries

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 134

  • Elnara on December 09, 2013

    I love these brownies. They always turn out great. Made them at least half a dozen times, if not more. The white chocolate chunks and raspberries make it such a lovely treat. Yum yum.

• Baked plaice with butter

  • herbietea on December 31, 2011

    Page 210

• Yoghurt and cucumber raita

  • Pamsy on December 30, 2021

    This was good with HFW's Cauliflower Pakoras. Halved the recipe but only used about 10cms cucumber deseeded and finely diced, I prefer this method as opposed to grating and then squeezing. Coriander sets it off nicely.

• Banana flapjacks

  • embk27 on October 14, 2018

    This recipe never fails - the mashed banana adds a really nice flavour. A lovely and crumbly flapjack.