Notes about Recipes in this book

• Roasted tomato soup with ham & cheese soldiers

  • Emily Hope on July 09, 2013

    This soup was a very nice way to use up some tomatoes from our overflowing counter--you just chuck them in a roasting pan with some onions, garlic, and thyme, drizzle over olive oil, brown sugar (I cut this to 1/2 tbsp) and balsamic, and roast until browned and tasty-looking (this took about twice as long as she said, though--an hour instead of half an hour). Simmer with chicken stock (or don't, I put it straight in the Vitamix) and blend. I used much less chicken stock than called for--maybe 1 cup?--as my tomatoes were very juicy. Warming, sweet, and tangy, the soup was great with toasted cheese on seedy bread. I also swirled in some leftover cilantro pesto on top--a nice addition. Also served with slow-cooked zucchini and garlic from Food From Plenty.

• Miso-glazed tuna with shiitake mushroom broth

  • seherhussain on May 23, 2019

    This was delicious! A nice healthy dinner and I upped the amount of mushrooms and bok choy. I also added a drizzle of sesame oil and shichimi togarashi on top. Would make again!

• Leek, potato & bacon soup

  • Melanie on February 22, 2012

    p72. I used bacon instead of the pancetta as I had some lying around in the fridge. I also skipped the nutmeg as it sounded like a slightly odd addition for my tastes. I sauteed the leeks in a little butter as well as the bacon fat. Very good - comforting - althought not velvet smooth due to the bacon/leek. Serves about 5.

• French martini jelly & ice cream

  • Melanie on February 22, 2012

    p254. Tastes lovely. Small tip - the recipe seemed to be written a bit unclearly... you need to make sure that the softened gelatine is stirred into warm sugar syrup for it to dissolve properly.

• Hot sausage roast with sweet & sour shallot gravy

  • Melanie on February 22, 2012

    p274. So good! I used beef and onion sausages. Very nice, sticky and comforting. I used dried thyme but fresh would be lovely. This would taste great served with mashed potato.

• Sweet potato salad with lime, coriander & sweet chilli dressing

  • Melanie on February 22, 2012

    p22. Tasted very healthy and fresh. Kept well in the fridge too (three days), therefore great for work lunches. I probably only used about half of the sweet chilli as I wanted to cut the sugar. I upped the coriander to keep the fresh taste, might try adding some fresh chillies as well next time.

  • Ro_ on June 24, 2020

    This looked really beautiful with the orange sweet potatoes, pink onions, red sauce and green coriander. It tasted nice too, but for me not totally outstanding. I think I might have preferred it with a more complex dressing, eg the sweet chilli sauce forming the base with maybe some sesame oil, soy sauce etc.

• Afternoon tea pudding

  • Melanie on February 22, 2012

    p91. Yum. I used Bonne Maman strawberry jam and some excess scones left over from an earlier afternoon tea. This was quite rich - I skipped the clotted cream and think that I tried with the recipe's raspberry jam next time.

• The best-ever hot chocolate

  • Melanie on February 22, 2012

    p.97. Sooooo good. Utterly rich and delicious thick hot chocolate. I added an extra 100 mL milk and an extra dash of cream but maintain the other quanitities for a rich yet milky hot chocolate. I didn't bother with the double boiler, stirring the chocolate straight in.

• Double-chocolate orange brownies

  • Ro_ on June 02, 2020

    A really nice twist on a traditional brownie, with the orange flavour. The orange is quite subtle, which was great because it meant my partner (who isn't a chocolate orange lover) actually really enjoyed these too, which I wasn't expecting! I made a half batch and cooked for 35 minutes - with hindsight I'd have taken them out after about 30 minutes to get them just a tad squidgier.

• Banana & chocolate chip loaf

  • Ro_ on June 08, 2020

    The suggested cooking time of 1 hour was clearly too much for my oven, this came out a little bit too browned and definitely on the dry side.

• Thai coconut chicken soup

  • Ro_ on October 19, 2020

    Delicious soup and very quick/easy to whip up. I more or less doubled the ingredients but only used one chilli, it gave it a very subtle kick but not that spicy (I'm never sure how hot any given chilli pepper is going to be) so I added a drizzle of chilli oil at the end. Also added a kaffir lime leaf during the simmer.

• Maple mustard pork chop with chilli, lemon & garlic-fried curly kale

  • Ro_ on February 26, 2020

    Really nice recipe, even though I skimped on the cooking time and my pork came out a little pink (as you can see from the photo, luckily we don't mind eating it like that). I'd definitely make this again, the flavours were great. The marinade would also be good for a bigger piece of pork destined for the barbecue.

• Thai curry mussels

  • Ro_ on November 09, 2020

    Absolutely loved this recipe. I used a yellow thai curry paste that I had leftover from a Nadiya Hussein recipe. Overall the flavours were delicious, and this was very simple to do.

• Falafel

  • Ro_ on June 15, 2020

    There were some confusing things about this recipe: it didn't specify but I assumed the bulgar wheat should be cooked before adding (unless it's meant to act as a flour substitute?), and I made a half quantity which only gave me 8 ping-pong ball sized falafels when I was expecting 15. Another issue was that my mixture was way too dry and crumbly to form into balls for deep frying, I had to keep adding dashes of cold water and tablespoons of flour until I got a consistency that held together. All that said, these came out really nicely - the flavours were good and the texture was perfect, exactly what I wanted from a falafel. I don't think you can beat deep frying for falafels really, shallow frying and/or oven baking never gives me the right texture.

• Tabbouleh

  • Ro_ on June 15, 2020

    A nice, standard tabbouleh recipe. I made half the quantity, which gave me 2-3 servings as the main side dish. Used regular cucumber instead of Lebanese. Need to play around with the lemon juice and seasoning at the end to get the balance of flavours right. My partner said he really liked this.

• No-cook prawn & noodle spring rolls with easy chilli & peanut sauce

  • Ro_ on May 23, 2020

    My first time making fresh spring rolls, and once I got the measure of the rice paper wrappers it went pretty well. The main thing I learned is that it's best to only soak them 5-10 seconds and take them out when they're not fully softened, because if you wait until they're all the way saturated they become very difficult to manipulate. In any case, they'll keep softening once out of the water. The combination of flavours was delicious. I used cucumber strips instead of red pepper strips because my OH doesn't like the latter, and I also didn't bother cutting up the rolls but served them whole.

• Thai aubergine salad

  • Ro_ on June 13, 2020

    I left out the cucumbers, as the idea of serving cucumbers in a warm salad full of otherwise soft things was a bit weird to me. I loved the flavours of this, and I'd make it again. I have leftovers, which I think will be nice cold. Unfortunately my partner found it just "meh", he doesn't love aubergines as much as I do.

• Smoked salmon croque

  • Ro_ on May 31, 2020

    This was a nice change for a breakfast/brunch. However, I found that overall it was a little salty - maybe it was my smoked salmon. It lacked a creamy element, the gruyere wasn't enough to balance it out.

• Warm beetroot, bean & feta salad

  • Ro_ on March 09, 2020

    I can almost never get my hands on fresh, raw beetroot so had to use pre-cooked. Maybe that was the reason this salad was a bit 'meh'. I think it might have been nicer if the balsamic and olive oil were properly emulsified and made into a dressing, rather than drizzled over separately.

• Smoked salmon, beetroot & horseradish bagel

  • Ro_ on June 26, 2020

    This made a nice change to a cream cheese & smoked salmon bagel, and was handy because I had horseradish that needed using up. But to be honest I probably wouldn't rush to make it again, I prefer the traditional creamed cheese overall.

• Goan sausage burgers with chilli pineapple salsa & masala chips

  • Ro_ on July 06, 2020

    I was really excited by the idea of this dish, but I ended up finding it a bit underwhelming. I overcooked my pork burger, which may have been part of the problem, but even so it wasn't bursting with flavour the way I had hoped. The pineapple salsa was just OK. The chips were the best element, quite unusual to have them sticky and sweet like this but at the same time I wouldn't really rush to repeat them either.

• Sweet potato cakes with tamarind chickpea relish

  • Ro_ on January 27, 2021

    Flavour-wise these were absolutely delicious: I loved the sweet spiciness of the sweet potato cakes and the combination with the tamarind chickpeas. My only issue was that these potato cakes tended towards disintegration during deep frying, but to be fair I think this could be because I didn't use a high enough heat and I overcrowded the pan. Also, it's all a smidge faffy for a weeknight. My sweet potato mix was still warm after 30m in the fridge: I think it would be better to form these into cakes and refrigerate them like that.

• Lemon & spinach lentil soup

  • Ro_ on November 04, 2020

    This was a "nice enough" soup, but it needed TONS of seasoning (especially bearing in mind it's made with water instead of stock) and it wasn't really special enough to be a recipe I'd repeat. If you make it in advance, the spinach will go very grey and sludgy, so be warned! The best thing about this soup was that the lemon came through well, I enjoyed that note a lot.

• Tuna & chickpea salad with preserved lemon & harissa dressing

  • Ro_ on February 25, 2020

    This was an "only OK" recipe. I'd probably bump up all of the flavourings and spicings if I made it again (more preserved lemon, more harissa etc).

• Tuna sashimi with avocado salad

  • Ro_ on August 15, 2020

    I ended up making this with salmon instead of tuna, so reduced the quantity of the dressing since salmon is a bit more delicate. Overall I thought this dish was nice but not outstanding.

• Soy sesame chicken sticks with nutty coleslaw

  • Ro_ on June 17, 2020

    This was a meal of two halves: I found the soy chicken sticks a bit underwhelming in terms of flavour, and also the quantity of 200g chicken for 2 people doesn't give much of a portion size. I did end up griddle-panning the chicken instead of grilling it, which may have added a bitter note to be fair. On the other hand however, the peanut butter coleslaw was absolutely delicious and something I would definitely repeat. I used 400g cabbage (half a white cabbage) and scaled everything up accordingly. It's not the prettiest coleslaw, and I don't know how well it would keep, but it tasted fantastic.

• Crispy five-spice duck breasts & pak choi with chilli & garlic confetti

  • Ro_ on July 08, 2020

    I only made the duck element of this dish (not the pak choi). I don't usually oven-roast duck breasts, but I would definitely use this method again, with this marinade. I had very big duck breasts, so I gave them an extra couple of minutes in the oven and they came out perfectly.

• Wild mushroom arancini

  • Ro_ on June 04, 2020

    I liked this recipe, but didn't find it totally outstanding. I also made the classical error of being too impatient to wait until the risotto was fully cooled to start making the arancini, which made them a bit hard to form into balls and work with generally. I used a ready made romesco sauce on the side. I liked the cooking method of pan frying the arancini first and then finishing in the oven: this allowed me to cook them all in two batches, so when the first lot went into the oven I started on pan-frying the next lot.

• Toffee apple tart with almond crumble

  • Ro_ on December 24, 2020

    I really liked the flavours of this tart, the apple, toffee and almond came together really well. However I think there was too much sugar in the crumble topping, and too much of the crumble topping generally, making it a smidge dry. If I made again I'd probably use two thirds of the amount of crumble, or even less.

• Chocolate-&-liqueur-dipped strawberries

  • Ro_ on May 31, 2020

    So simple and so delicious. I didn't have Grand Marnier, I replaced with some ginger liqueur instead. I made these ahead of time and left in the fridge for most of the day - would be great for a dinner party or similar.

• Seven-spice pork chops with apple, mint & mango chutney

  • Ro_ on August 16, 2020

    We cooked these on the barbecue, and enjoyed them very much. The flavouring of the marinade was very nice, and I think the apple mango chutney was a perfect compliment to them - however, the chutney packs a punch of flavour so you really don't need very much else you risk overwhelming the pork. I'd probably halve the chutney recipe next time, although I am looking forward to trying it in a cheese sandwich as she suggests.

• Chinese chicken noodle soup

  • Ro_ on March 12, 2020

    Made this with half normal chicken stock and half pho stock. Lovely flavours, with the spice balanced out by the sweetness of the chicken marinade. Use of chicken thigh instead of breast meant the meat was juicy and not dried out.

• Indian fishcakes

  • Ro_ on June 14, 2020

    I made these to use up various frozen fish that I had. I wasn't a huge fan of the result - the fishcakes didn't pack a massive punch of flavour, and I think that generally I prefer breaded fishcakes that are crispy on the outside. The texture was a little bit rubbery too - though to be fair I think these probably suffered from not being served immediately (I held them in a low oven for about 30 minutes after pan frying).

• Soy & ginger crispy-skin salmon

  • Ro_ on June 16, 2020

    I loved the flavours of this salmon. However, the crispy skin part, in my opinion, is more hassle than it's worth - descaling already-filleted fish can be tricky and is definitely messy. I did get crispy skin out of it all, which I enjoyed, but next time to be honest I'd probably just take the skin off and use the marinade all over the salmon. I served this with sushi rice and pickled cucumber, delicious.

• Roasted paprika quails with romesco sauce

  • Ro_ on January 04, 2021

    The paprika quails were really nice, and I think texture-wise the romesco sauce works much better with them than a jus or gravy, because as the recipe points out these ultimately need to be eaten mostly with your fingers, so something dippable works well. On the other hand, I didn't love this specific romesco recipe (a tad bitter) and I found it a bit overwhelming for the delicate flavour of the quail.

• Cauliflower & broccoli cheese with tomato sauce & Parmesan breadcrumbs

  • Ro_ on November 05, 2020

    Delicious recipe, it felt very creamy and luxurious. I must admit I just eyeballed the quantities of everything for the cheese sauce, mine ended up quite thick (and yummy) but maybe it was intended to be thinner, not sure. I liked the addition of the tomato sauce, I'm not sure it was intended to be spread over the top of the whole dish, but that's what I did when it came out of the oven. I had already sprinkled pre-made breadcrumbs and parmesan over the top of the cheese, in hindsight I should have gone with the breadcrumb method in the recipe so that I could have sprinkled them on right at the end over the tomato sauce.

• Mozzarella & basil-stuffed meatballs in tomato & Chianti sauce

  • Ro_ on June 22, 2020

    Best meatball recipe I've found yet. It's a bit fiddly doing the mozarella and basil leaf in the centre of each, but gives a nice touch. I think pork mince is definitely the way to go with meatballs (rather than beef mince) and the sauce was rich and tasty.

• Oreo cookie cheesecake

  • Ro_ on June 08, 2020

    This is a very-much-baked cheesecake, and for me it came out very cakey in texture and definitely on the dry side. I'd try cooking for less time if I made it again. On the plus side, it held together really well coming out of the cake tin.