Roast vegetables with halloumi and chickpeas

This is from the Hairy Bikers' 'One Pot Wonders' cookbook which i was given for Christmas from my partner - I'm not really sure why he gave me this, and he didn't really have an explanation for it, but there are a few things in here I'd like to try and amazingly this dish contains none of the vegetables my fussy vegetarian daughter, who is home for CHristmas, won't eat. I subbed out rocket for pea shoots and put extra red peppers and halloumi in to bulk it out for dinner. i had to cook it for a good 20 minutes longer than the book says - but it was delicious even though I liked it much more than the 2 vegetarians in my life did

Vin Santo ice cream

I have been wanting to make this for a long time and so Christmas feels like a fitting time. we had this with sticky toffee pudding and the remaining Vin Santo as dessert wine. bloody lovely!

Leek and Reblochon risotto

in NIgel Slater's Real Food he suggests taleggio, which is relatively hard to come by round here, but I did find the previously impossible to find Reblochon and used that instead. Pure comfort food this and elicited a 'it's a triumph' from the rarely expressive boyf.

Easy peri peri chicken

I had a dinner dilemma tonight in that the key ingredient I had been promised by the boyf as fully grown in the garden and just needed harvesting, did not materialise. Leeks were needed but what looked like spring onions were brought forth, so i needed to scavenge about to see what else i had in, which basically was chicken thighs. Jamie Oliver's 7 ways had this recipe as a whole chicken but i used 5 thighs instead and roasted for a shorter time. this was outstanding - the chicken alone would get that accolade, but the sauce made from the onions and harrissa was seriously addictive. A definite winner and will make again.

Tagliarini with asparagus and herbs

 Another from my rediscovered River Cafe Cookbook, which has become one of favourites as everything is delicious from it - including this.  Easy to make, the sauce took just 10 minutes and got extremely positive noises out of the hungry boyf.  

Chickpeas in a sauce

 A strange title for what is essentially a chickpea curry, from Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy, which is another of my ‘must make something from that book’ books.  My boyf bought me this years ago but I don’t think I’ve ever used it.  This was indeed very easy to make and tasted lovely with just the right amount of spice - it attracted a ‘very good’ from the boyf, which is v unusual!

Pastel de nata

 I was challenged by someone at work to make these from scratch, including the puff pastry. I was really daunted but gave it a go and was surprised by how easy (albeit a lengthy process) puff pastry is.  The bake off makes it look trickier,  I think.  It was actually harder to make the filling as there were a couple of pans on the go and I had to redo my sugar syrup as I over boiled it first time round.  These were absolutely delicious and most definitely worth the effort.  

Orecchiette with a slow cooked sausage sauce

 Simplicity itself to make but packed with so much flavour this sauce was a complete winner.  I bought spicy pork sausages as I couldn’t get any Italian sausages, but it was perfect anyway.  From the seemingly consistently brilliant River Cafe Cookbook, making me want to cook everything in it.

Leeks, Parsnips, Pastry

 Or creamy leek, mushroom and parsnip pie!  From Nigel Slater’s Greenfeast Autumn/winter and one to please my boyf with, who walked in the kitchen tonight saying that he really needed the comfort of pie having been soaked twice walking the dog today.  It was really good.

Sweet and sour prawns

 I’ve been craving a takeaway all day but really want to cut calories down a bit so found a sweet and sour chicken recipe on the internet and subbed out the chicken for king prawns.  The batter didn’t quite work, hence the funny dark bits in the picture, but this really did taste like an authentic sweet and sour dish.  I subbed out the prawns for cauliflower so my boyf could join me and he also like it.  So it was a really successful Friday fakeaway.  

White chocolate and lemon blondies

 Watching the GBBO last night I wondered why I’d never made brownies and remembered that the answer is that I’m not all that keen on them (similarly muffins).  So I decided on blondies instead - I fear that it is just a delicious and moist tray bake with rubbish chocolate drizzling!  Recipe was from the internet - the lemoniness is bang on.

Lemon drizzle traybake

 A sunny Saturday afternoon and in the book I’m reading one of the characters has just referenced making a lemon drizzle cake, so I sprang up to do the same.  This recipe is from the ever reliable Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and did not disappoint- the boyf declared it a triumph.

Braised beef brisket with pickled walnuts

 Simon Hopkinson, you had me at pickled walnuts!  This is from another of those books that I’ve bought but never cooked from and I had promised myself I would return to little cooked from books.  Simon’s ‘The Good Cook’ contains a few of my go to recipes so I knew this would be good when I saw it in Gammon & Spinach.  Anchovy essence (?) and mushroom ketchup were not to be found so I replaced them with some anchovies, a few porcini mushrooms and Worcestershire Sauce.  And this is really good - those pickled walnuts make it amazing.  I’ll definitely make this again and my leftovers may become a pie 🥧

Fried chicken and salad

 From Jamie’s America came forth these beauties and my first time making buttermilk chicken to boot.  I don’t have a deep fryer so fried the chicken until brown in a shallow pan and then put them in the oven for half an hour, and it was delicious anyway.  I had been thinking about getting a takeaway but wanted fried chicken so much and as my boyf is vegetarian I felt it wouldn’t be fair on him to give him something from the feeezer whilst I had takeaway.  Very good and I’ll make again but with smaller pieces.  Salad was also nice - I left out the tomatoes from Jamie’s recipe though.

Mushroom cannelloni

 Another from Jamie’s 7 ways and a recipe he made on the tv series of the book last week.  I had asked the boyf earlier for a request for dinner, as long as it isn’t risotto, which is what he usually says, and unexpectedly he requested cannelloni.  Jamie uses packet dried cannelloni but I wanted to make my own which possibly was a bit foolish, because all told this dish took 3 hours to make.  The flavour was lovely but next time I’ll make it as a lasagne I think.

A very British Bolognese

 This is from my (And his) new book Jamie’s 7 ways.  I’m always looking for new sauces to complement my homemade pasta obsession and love Bolognese, so tried this.  What makes this a British bolognese is the substitution of pale ale for red wine.  It works, that’s for sure, and was very nice, but will not be my go to bolognese - that crown belongs to Nigel and the recipe  from the first kitchen diaries, which I don’t follow slavishly but adapt to my own tastes,

Luigia’s manate with chickpeas

This is from my inspired birthday present from my boyf - the pasta grannies cookbook.  I regularly watch the you tube videos of the pasta grannies and so was delighted when I unwrapped this.  I was also delighted tonight that this recipe used stuff that was in my cupboards already.  The manate in the name of the dish is described as short tagliatelle, so rather than follow the book‘a quite lengthy  instructions on how to achieve the manate, I just cut short tagliatelle by hand once my pasta was rolled.  It was delicioso - much tastier than it looks!

Proper baked beans

 This from Jamie’s Veg in the one pot wonder section and what a wonder it is - the flavours are fantastic and pleased all 3 of us tonight.  Really lovely and extremely comforting.  Thanks Jamie!  

Mushroom Pappardelle

 Yes. I know that there has been a distinct theme recently, but when you get a Kitchen Aid attachment you need to make good use of it!  My vegetarian friend came over for dinner tonight and when we have been in Italy together (quite frequently as it happens) she could eat this every night and dreams about it when she is back.  I used The Silver Spoon recipe for the mushroom sauce and adapted it slightly, adding a few fresh Chopped mushrooms to the porcini and omitting tomato purée as that didn’t feel like her Tuscan favourite.  She loved it. 

Pumpkin Risotto

 Another from the River Cafe Cookbook - this is an absolute winner!  The flavours are beautiful and both the boyf and his son were waxing lyrical about it. I am going to make as much as I can from this book because so far it’s been a provider of quite wonderful food.

Spaghetti al Limone

 This from my rediscovered River Cafe Cookbook.  I’m really enjoying cooking from this and it does massively help that I always make fresh pasta now. It’s boiling today and tonight and the summer flavours of lemon and basil hit the spot perfectly - mine was accompanied by a courgette and bean salad and followed by Jamie’s stewed fruit.  Perfect!

Ravioli with Pumpkin

 Determined to return to my underused books I found this recipe in the River Cafe Cookbook.  It was delicious and as seen here was with a blue cheese sauce.  Tomorrow will be with a tomato sauce as there was loads of filling left - I’ll make more than we can eat and freeze them.

Scruffy aubergine lasagne

Now lockdown is being lifted I have finally been able to get all my family together for a meal, which coincided with my mum’s 85th birthday this week.  There were 9 of us and for the first time the vegetarians outnumbered the carnivores! I was also wanting to show off my pasta skills and so went for lasagnes, a standard meat one, and this stunning looking vegetarian one.  I didn’t taste it but it went down well with them and I’m sure it’ll be one to make again.  From Jamie’s Veg book. Also - it looked ridiculously like the one in the book!

Pappardelle with butternut and blue cheese

I took this to the table very sceptically, as initially it really looked bland - I must say here that mine was missing pine nuts and sage (I’ve been subbing out the shopping during lockdown to the boyf’s son, who I suspect does a ‘boy’s look’ for the less obvious ingredients) and it may have looked more promising with them.  I veered off Nigella’s recipe (Nigella’s Kitchen) to make my own pappardelle which was so silky and delicious that when this sauce hit the pasta it was a marriage made in heaven.  So good and very moreish.  I’d definitely make again.

Stewed fruit

Well, Jamie instantly redeemed himself with this beauty of a pudding, every mouthful a delight and one for the repertoire without a doubt.  I would have called it baked plums though - but that’s just me.  This is from Jamie’s 30 minute meals - there are a lot of lovely, simple things in there.

Cauliflower tikka masala

From Jamie’s Veg book.  This should be my night off cooking when the boyf’s son tries something new and he chose this, but then went away for a couple of days, thereby rescinding my day off.  As the cauliflower was not far off going past its best I decided to make this anyway.  It’s not often I say this but Jamie really let me down on the flavours and it was just alright. Not one to make again.

Ravioli two ways

Oh wow. Oh wow! This is a new world and there’s no going back.  Just as I don’t think I’d ever buy ice cream again, I can’t see why I’d need to buy ready made pasta when the real thing is this good!  I freestyled on the flavours - one was roasted butternut squash and one mushroom, they were both delicious.  I also watched a couple of you tube videos on how to actually make the ravioli which was extremely helpful.  A simple creamy tomato sauce to complement them just made this perfect.  A true winner!

Rhubarb crumble ice cream

Last week in the lovely weather an old friend on Facebook said she’d dug our her old copy of Delia’s Summer Collection and asked if anyone else had it and had any tips on something to make.  I pulled out my copy and realised it is yet another cookbook that I’ve bought and not discarded exactly, but just paid it no regard.  Looking at it, I realised that I probably bought it at the time for it’s interesting ice-cream section.  I’ve been given more rhubarb from my friend’s allotment so that has given me the opportunity to amend my error of ignoring this book.  As you’d expect from the title, this is pure deliciousness, the crumble elevating the experience  and also so easy to make.

Fettuccine

Another new lockdown skill learnt!  One of my friends and someone at work had both got themselves pasta machines and I had terrible cooking envy!  So I jumped in and bought the pasta attachments for my KitchenAid, the cost of which I am having to justify as ‘paying for itself if we have pasta twice a week for the next year’!  Anyway, we will be having pasta twice a week for the next year because this was so a deeply, smug inducing, satisfying process and end result that I couldn’t not keep doing it again and again.

Rich bread and butter pudding

So, we saved the innards of the crusty cob that held our goulash last week and so bread and butter pudding needed making.  Again, not a recipe that the more recent darlings (Nigella, Jamie, Nigel etc) seem to have in their repertoire and so when that happens who to go to but trusty old Delia and her complete cookery course (incidentally this is the first cook book I ever owned and was a housewarming present from my sister when I bought my first house is 1992)?  We had this with cream and I really enjoyed it, particularly the lemon tones coming through.

Spinach salad

I know a spinach salad doesn’t sound like much but as it is from Jamie’s 30 minute meals you know it’s going to be good - and it is full of sun dried tomato, fresh mint, pine nutty deliciousness.  You never know, I may start liking salads!  I made this because the weather is stunning and we are having a barbecue, so it’s a pretence at healthy eating.

Rhubarb, ginger, cream

I have been gifted rhubarb from my friends allotment and didn’t fancy the delicious but bogstandard crumble that I usually make so went hunting through the lesser used books and found this recipe for what is essentially a rhubarb fool in ‘Hugh’s Three Good Things’ by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  I’ve missed out 250g yoghurt because I haven’t got any in and during lockdown we don’t go to the shops more than once a week so I made do with double cream that I had in plus a little vanilla essence.  I love rhubarb so this is a winner for me. It was very rich though so a reasonably small portion was enough - with homemade gingernuts.

Yorkshire gingernuts

I have deviated from my usual (Delia) recipe today in order to try something new and have made these from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, to go with the rhubarb fool.  They are so good, even though they felt exceptionally dry and unpromising when they were going in the oven.  This is the only recipe I will use from now on - plus I made them on my lunch break in order to sneak one (or five) with my afternoon cup of tea.  Mary says this quantity makes 50 biscuits, but hers must be very small as I only turned out 30 - but 30 buttery, gingery beauties!

Hungarian goulash

Another suggestion from the boyf’s son. I have the feeling that goulash is really out of fashion and I went through all my Jamie, Nigella and Nigel books for it, to no avail.  I knew Delia would come good for me and so she did in her Complete Cookery Course.  Rather than do it it in oven though I put this in the slow cooker. And I ignored her advice to serve with rice and instead dumped it it a bread bowl.  It was absolutely fantastic!  The flavour was gorgeous- I can’t believe I’ve not made this before,  but I’ll definitely be making it again.

Gingerbread ice cream

This is from an American book I have called The Homemade Ice Cream Recipe Book.  My boyf’s son, who is half American had suggested gingerbread as a flavour when I said that we had to stop just having the white chocolate ice cream, which is our favourite.  I was extremely sceptical when he said it but when I saw the recipe I could see that it would probably work really well.  And it did - the ginger was not overpowering but just hit the right note.  Lovely - can imagine this working well with a sponge pudding.

Pears baked with Marsala and cinnamon

I have reorganised my cookbooks and decided to try, over the next 12 months, to cook at least 1 recipe from each book.  Starting on my top shelf I took out The River Cafe Cook Book which I don’t believe I’ve cooked anything from previously.  I had all the ingredients in for this and it was incredible - like a posh toffee apple!  But a pear!  I had mine with homemade white chocolate and dulce de leche ice cream.  So good!

Lamb kofta flatbreads, pickled red cabbage

Oh Jamie, Jamie, Jamie!  I think that I may love you, now that you have introduced this into my life!  I saw him make this on his lockdown programme Keep cooking and carry on and found that it is also in his 5 ingredients book.  Each element was so simple to make but the flavours are completely divine.  Mine had added feta.  And homemade flatbreads - who knew?

Red cabbage and crispy bacon

I am really in a baking mood today (even though I’m on one of my two fasting days and so wouldn’t eat a freshly baked item anyway) and was looking for cake inspiration in Jamie’s Great Britain, home of one of my daughter’s all time fave cakes, the St Clement’s cake, when I came across this recipe and remembered that the boyf’s son had used a quarter of a red cabbage nearly 2 weeks ago and it has been languishing in the fridge since.  All the other ingredients are store cupboard essentials so I got cracking on this instead.  It’s really good, but I expect it will be even better tomorrow, which is when I can eat it, so I’m going to save it till then.