Join us on the 'Cook through a whole cookbook' challenge!

dumpling

Hi there, I had another go at a recipe from the Hairy Dieters second book. This time I made All-In-One Spicy Pork and Rice (p.71).

I wasn't sure about this as the proportion of meat to rice seemed off. In the end as it was just for me and my husband I cut the pork from 500g to 250g but kept the same amount of rice (150g). The original recipe was to serve 4 but even with the extra meat added I don't think it would have been enough food. As it was it was quite tasty but not at all spicy. There was only half a teaspoon of chilli in the recipe so next time I would add more or even better chuck in a fresh chilli. I would make it again and my husband liked it.

Verdict, we scored it at about a 7/10
I would make it again with more chilli/spices

jap200

VJsmum wrote: »

Ŵell, that was a non starter - literally.

The kids moaned before I even started (serves me right for telling them) so I abandoned and did hairy bikers chicken korma instead. It was lush - but the kids didnt eat that either :cool:

I often find that dishonesty is the best policy when it comes to food in my house! I try and avoid mentioning the names of any vegetables (except carrots and peas) or any unusual ingredients - until after they have tasted the food.

Shame the kids didn't eat the korma, I would have thought that would have gone down well as it is mild and a bit sweet.

Puddleglum

Hello, could I join in please?

I used to be vegetarian but in the past year I have discovered that I am gluten, grain, dairy and legume intolerant. Just this morning I was looking at my cookery books and thinking what a fat lot of use they were!

I'm not choosing a vegetarian or vegan cookbook as that would be a challenge too far but HFW River Cottage Every Day. I will cook every recipe but adapt them to suit my fussy body.

jap200

9 Down: 111 to go!

Save with Jamie: JFC (Jamie's Fried Chicken)

Jamie's (Left), Mine (Right)


Recipe feedback
As promised my 13 year old son cooked this - well, most of it at least. He ended up refusing to do the coleslaw as he wasn't planning on eating it.
I started by jointing the chicken following the instructions in the book. Now, I have never done this before, but the instructions were easy to follow and it turned out fine. We ended up with 2 each of breast, drumstick, thigh and wings. I boiled up the leftover carcas for stock to go in the freezer.
The whole meal (as in the recipe) consisted of the chicken in breadcrumbs, sweet potato wedges, corn on the cob and coleslaw.
We followed the recipe almost exactly, which involved coating the chicken in polenta and cajun seasoning and cooking for 20 minutes, then coating in garlicy breadcrumbs for a further 40 minutes.
The corn cobs are cooked from frozen on a hot griddle and the sweet potato wedges are cooked in the oven with a coating of polenta and olive oil. I made the coleslaw with red cabbage instead of white as I had some to use up.

Taste test
This chicken was absolutely delicious - the best thing we have cooked so far from this book. The only problem was there just wasn't enough of it. Everyone wanted the thighs or drumsticks as these were the juicy bits. The wings are a bit small and the breast meat was a little dry in comparison.
The sweet potato wedges were also very good - crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The corn was also surprisingly good considering it started out frozen.
Overall we gave this 9/10

Would I cook it again?
Absolutely - but would buy a pack of thighs and drumsticks rather than fiddle about with a whole chicken carcas.

I have also done two more recipes, but am too tired to post those now - will do tomorrow if I can.

jap200

Puddleglum wrote: »

Hello, could I join in please?

I used to be vegetarian but in the past year I have discovered that I am gluten, grain, dairy and legume intolerant. Just this morning I was looking at my cookery books and thinking what a fat lot of use they were!

I'm not choosing a vegetarian or vegan cookbook as that would be a challenge too far but HFW River Cottage Every Day. I will cook every recipe but adapt them to suit my fussy body.

That sounds like a fantastic idea, although quite a challenge!

Syman

dumpling wrote: »

Hi there, I had another go at a recipe from the Hairy Dieters second book. This time I made All-In-One Spicy Pork and Rice (p.71).

I wasn't sure about this as the proportion of meat to rice seemed off. In the end as it was just for me and my husband I cut the pork from 500g to 250g but kept the same amount of rice (150g). The original recipe was to serve 4 but even with the extra meat added I don't think it would have been enough food. As it was it was quite tasty but not at all spicy. There was only half a teaspoon of chilli in the recipe so next time I would add more or even better chuck in a fresh chilli. I would make it again and my husband liked it.

Verdict, we scored it at about a 7/10
I would make it again with more chilli/spices

Planning on cooking this today!!

will bear in mind your tip about not being spicy enough.

PenguinOfDeath

Syman wrote: »

Planning on cooking this today!!

will bear in mind your tip about not being spicy enough.

Argh, spooky! Was just about to post to say I'm planning to make this recipe this week too! Best dig a chilli out

jap200

10 down: 110 to go!

Save with Jamie: Portuguese fish stew

Jamie's (left) Mine (right)


Recipe feedback
This is basically a bake made by layering onions (sweated in a pan first) with thinly sliced tomatoes, peppers and white fish with a few herbs and a little chilli.
It was very easy to make although the recipe says "frozen fish works really well in this recipe" - which is whayt I used, but it doesn't tell you if you need to defrost it first. Many of the recipes in this book seem to use frozen ingredients without defrosting first, so I just went ahead and put the fish in frozen.
Mine is not as brown on top as the one in the book as we were all hungry and I couldn't wait any longer for it to brown under the grill (the final step).
No stock or liquid is added so I thought that this would have a firm consistency when cooked - but perhaps I should have taken note of the name of the dish as I was suprised how much liquid there was, so needed to serve it in shallow bowls.
It is supposed to serve 4-6, but the quantity was barely adequate for the 5 of us. The recipe calls for 2 medium potatoes - for 4-6 people - surely this is a mistake!

Taste test
This tasted good with a lovely fresh taste. The chilli really didn't come through at all, so I would add more if you like it spicy.
Overall rating 7/10 - a bit wet and not very generous

Would I cook it again?
Yes, but would up the quantity of potatoes by about 4-fold and also increase the flavourings a little. I would also take note of the suggestion and serve with crusty bread.

joedenise

I made the kedgeree from the SW Family Feasts on a Budget and it was more or less the same as when I've made it before. Would add extra Garam Masala next time as didn't have enough in it this time.

Would I make it again - yes, although it's not something I would make very often but nice for a change occasionally.

Score this at 9/10 again, but only because it wasn't spicy enough.

Denise

aliama

I'd like to join in too, please, although I'm afraid I can't do pictures at the moment. I'm also doing Nigella's Kitchen, and have done two recipes as part of this challenge so far (although I've also made the baked egg custard before and can recommend it).

Rapid Roastini

Recipe Feedback: This really is a ridiculously simple recipe, although my husband cooked it rather than me. It's basically shop-bought gnocchi masquerading as roast potatoes, and can be either shallow-fried or roasted. We roasted them and they were delicious, although I'm not sure how similar they really were to proper roasties -- wonder what they'd be like with goosefat instead of olive oil?

Would I make it again?: Yep, definitely. They were so quick and simple, no peeling of spuds or parboiling, and would be perfect with an Italian-flavoured roast.

Score: For convenience and ease, 9/10

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe Feedback: Where on earth does Nigella get her chocolate chips from? She calls for a 396g pack, which... was not available in my local Waitrose. When I went to pick up the ingredients for this (actually I only needed eggs and choc chips), I stood in horror staring at the prices and mentally calculating how much it would cost to buy almost 400g of chocolate. Yikes. I ended up buying 200g of choc chips, and that, frankly, was PLENTY.

The recipe itself was simple. I ended up with slightly fewer cookies than Nigella: 11 rather than 14, but rather than using a quarter cup measure, I could only find a third cup measure, which might have had something to do with it.

Taste test: Moist and crumbly, and pretty tasty, although (and this is probably a good thing, actually) they're not moreish in the same way that some cookies are. To my great shame, I made a Rachel Allen peanut butter cookie recipe once, baked some and stuck the rest ready rolled in the freezer and and they were so delicious I was scarfing them straight from the freezer, frozen and still raw. :eek: I wouldn't do that with these -- I have one and that's plenty. Sooo, let's say 7/10

Would I make it again: Yes, but I'd have to find a cheaper supply of chocolate chips.

Overall thoughts about Kitchen: One thing I do appreciate are the detailed notes about freezing food and using up leftovers. It's things like this which make a cookery book genuinely useful, and it's a pity that more books don't follow suit.