• TLouise on December 27, 2020

  My edition is 'What to Eat Now Spring and Summer'

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Sirloin with chimichurri sauce

  • Ro_ on May 18, 2020

    I didn't follow the steak method, I was really in this for the chimichurri sauce (which I've never tried before). I thought it complemented the steak very nicely. I only left mine to sit for about an hour and a half, will be interested to try some more tomorrow morning to see if there's a noticeable development of the flavours. I made a third of the recipe, which was more than enough for three people.

• Barbecued bavette steak with anchovies, red wine and garlic

  • Ro_ on April 18, 2020

    Very nice marinade for steak. Just be aware it needs cooking and cooling time before going onto the meat. Marinating time of 2-4 hrs is recommended. This was a hit with the family.

• Coconut lamb

  • Ro_ on May 31, 2020

    I made this marinade for lamb cutlets which we did on the barbecue, rather than lamb neck fillets as directed in the recipe. Sweet, curry, coconut notes were perfect with the lamb. This would definitely be a crowd pleaser at any barbecue, my partner and I both loved it.

• Roast guinea fowl with tarragon and lemon sauce

  • Ro_ on April 06, 2021

    Easy guinea fowl recipe which gave me a perfectly tender bird (one guinea fowl was enough for three people). The sauce was really nice, just needed balancing out with a bit of sugar. I didn't bother sieving it.

• Gravlax

  • Ro_ on May 21, 2020

    This was absolutely delicious. I had 500g salmon (two large fillets) so I made a quarter of the curing marinade. For simplicity, I made half the dill sauce. Obviously this is meant to be served with rye bread, but I just can't get good rye bread here so I served with bagels and cream cheese, the gravlax on top with a good squeeze of lemon and a generous drizzle of the dill sauce. Absolutely delicious, and my family went crazy for it. We ate this as brunch, but would also be great as a starter at a dinner party, or possibly as a canape (though the dill sauce might be a bit messy). Only thing I'd say is that I ended up skinning the salmon before slicing up, so not sure it was worth the effort of descaling it first?

• Mackerel tataki

  • Ro_ on June 02, 2020

    With some sushi rice and crudites this made for a very nice lunch dish. I had never attempted to fillet a mackerel before, I made a bit of a hash of it but I suppose this dish is quite forgiving in that you are going to cut it all up small anyway! I think I added a tad too much soy sauce for my quantity of mackerel which was a shame as it hid the taste of the fish a bit. Overall this was a very nice dish which I'd make again if I had fresh mackerel and a bit of time to spare filleting it!

• Red mullet with basil and potato purée

  • Ro_ on April 14, 2021

    I just made the basil potato purée - it was nice, but I think I should have used more basil as it didn't come through that strongly. Not sure I'll repeat.

• Bobby beans à la Grecque

  • Ro_ on April 18, 2020

    Not a fan of this one: the end dish wasn't that special considering the length of time to prepare.

• French beans with garlic and rosemary

  • Ro_ on November 23, 2020

    Found these a bit meh really, something about the balance of flavours was off, the various elements just didn't sing together. Maybe I should have played around with the seasoning more.

• Pea, salted yoghurt and mint salad

  • Ro_ on April 16, 2020

    I made this with fresh soft goat's cheese and frozen peas. It was a nice combination of flavours, but not totally outstanding - would undoubtedly have been nicer with fresh peas (though a faff for all the podding). The quantity was indeed about right for 2-3 people as a fairly modest side, if you were making it for more than that or as the only side dish, I'd increase the quantities of everything.

• Cucumber salad

  • Ro_ on April 18, 2020

    Delicious, and very pretty. Definitely needs to be left for a while to sit for the onion and garlic to soften and lose their edge. Squeezing water out of the cucumbers another essential step to avoid a watery sauce later on. Would take this to a BBQ or similar, would be a great contribution for a side dish if you doubled the quantities.

• Greek salad

  • Ro_ on May 19, 2020

    Very nice recipe. My other half complained about the green pepper (he doesn't like them) so I'd probably leave this out next time. I reduced the red onion slightly (it still came through very strongly) and crushed up the cumin seeds a bit after toasting them. Next time I'd probably add a bit more feta as well just because I love it. But the basic components of this salad, and the herby lemony oil dressing were really good.