Recipes
Simply a list of recommended recipes that I've tried to cook complimented with links to the instructions and books they are from. If you've got any recommendations for recipes I should mess up then please send me a an email or message. I’m always looking for an excuse to destroy the kitchen.
2015
Mexican chicken and bean pizza
This is the best recipe from the whole bunch and has fast become one of our favorites. We made a bulk amount of spice mix and used it with the cajun spiced chicken. We found the tortillas would sometimes get a bit soggy which led us to double up. This gave us the opportunity to put ketchup or Sriracha sauce & cheese in between which was amazing. It created a kind of quesadilla pizza. The spring onions, avocadoes & cream go really well together. Super tasty and easily customisable!
Recommendation from Chris Grice.
Website: Everyday Gourmet ~ Recipe
Moroccan Baked Fish
This was really tasty for a fish recipe! A great way to cook fish. Simply wrap in some foil with some tomatoes and bake away. It comes out really moist & tender. The recipe doesn’t seem to be on the web so I’ve linked to something similar.
Chef: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ~ Book: Light & Easy (p 210) ~ Recipe
Chickpea and potato curry
Pretty tasty but quite mild so it’s worth adding a tablespoon of curry paste. Chickpeas always seem to have a weird kind of texture. Good with some kind of pita bread or naan bread and yogurt. We made enough to reheat the next day.
Chef: Nigel Slater ~ Book: Kitchen Diaries (p 102) ~ Recipe
Spiced beef stir fry
This is really tasty if you let the meat rest a little. It’s worth adding some peppers into the mix too. Other than that it’s nothing fancy. It does make a great seasoning for a steak though.
Chef: Ching-He Huang ~ Book: Chinese Food Made Easy (p 113) ~ Recipe
Cajun spiced chicken
I recommend getting some chicken fillets from the butcher as they’re usually bigger than what you get from a supermarket and they lasted us a fair while. This is really succulent and the spices go great with the potato wedges and chive dip.
Hairy Bikers ~ The Hairy Dieters (p 67) ~ Recipe
Parsnips, Chorizo, Kale & Lentils
A quick, tasty meal especially when the juices from the chorizo cover everything. It can be tricky getting the parsnips to be a suitable texture. Sometimes they were too tough or soggy. We made a newbie mistake of trying to cook lentils which hadn’t been soaked which was a disaster so we used ready to eat lentils after that.
Chef: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ~ Book: Light & Easy (p 245) ~ Recipe
Japanese Pancakes
Never have I found a recipe which can make tons of vegetables so tasty. Especially when complemented with a nice sauce. You’ll probably have mixture leftover too. They didn’t stick together as well as they look in the picture on the website though!
Website: Smitten Kitchen ~ Recipe
Spaghetti Bolognese
We’re used to quite tomatoey bolognese so using milk was quite unexpected for us. The final product was meaty with a silky texture, probably from the milk, but not too tasty. Either way I somehow missed the 1 and a half hours simmering time required when picking this recipe so probably won’t be using this one again...
Chef: Nigel Slater ~ Book: Kitchen Diaries (p 21) ~ Recipe
Parsnip Soup
Soup. Enough said.
Chef: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ~ Book: Veg (p 157) ~ Recipe
Pork Skewers with Red Cabbage
It was nice to have pork for a change and the ingredients really complimented each other well. We used little cocktail sticks to make the skewers which were a little fiddly. It’s a great way to eat cabbage but we never realised cabbage was such a pain in the arse to cook. It took ages to boil. Maybe the timings were a little off.
Book: 101 Low Fat Feasts (p 142) ~ Recipe
2014
Minted Pea & Feta Omelette
The peas & feta sometimes congealed together but it was quick to make & really tasty.
Chef: The Hairy Bikers ~ Book: The Hairy Dieters (p 31) ~ Recipe
Boeuf Bourguignon
Worth setting a portion of the day aside for this one. I had trouble with it drying out the first time round as we had quite a shallow dish so remember to keep an eye on it. The quantity is good for leftovers. The dumplings were pretty good too but we often didn’t have any old bread to make them with.
Chef: Rachel Khoo ~ Book: Little Paris Kitchen (p 192) ~ Recipe
Twice Baked Potatoes
Another straight forward recipe. I sometimes find the cheese, cream & onion combination a bit rich but it does compliment the crispy baked potatoes pretty well.
Chef: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ~ Book: Veg (p 226) ~ Recipe
Salmon Tikka
A way to wedge fish onto our menu. Simple to make but couldn’t help thinking that it would taste so much better with chicken.
Chef: Jamie Oliver ~ Book: Ministry of Food (p 28) ~ Recipe
Herb Ricotta Cakes
I only made this once. The avocado relish was really nice but the ricotta cakes were a bit stodgy.