2015 Cookbook challenge

lindens

For those of you who say you cook something and family members moan or dont like it. How about they are only allowed to give constructive criticism? maybe there was too many nuts - next time make it with less nuts and see if they like it better.for example. its easy to tweak recipes - its just a confidence thing really.

S-Iam

I've been looking through the "Ginger Pig" cookbook this afternoon and have short listed 21 recipes I'd like to try, so I guess that's going to keep me quiet for a while The first two on the hit list for this week are Sausage and butterbean pot and slow roast belly of pork (both of which are very budget friendly) I'll report back with the verdict.

Effyb4

I have 40 cookery books, as well as a few recipe magazines and a folder full of bbc good food recipes. The good food recipes get used on a very regular basis, but the cookery books don't. I will give this a try, but will have to be careful about budget.

I started this week by using a couple of 'Food for Kids' magazines. Tonight we had chickpea burgers with potato wedges. I adapted the recipe a fair bit, but everyone enjoyed them.

I had a look through one of the Jamie Oliver books my mum gave me and there was nothing in there I fancied making. That one is going to the charity shop tomorrow.

KDF

Welcome to all the new joiners, it seems like a lot of us have been busy in the kitchen and it's interesting reading about all the new recipes and books.

I can report that the Jamie Oliver ice cream was a success although I only made the vanilla version but with essence rather than pod and there isn't a lot that can go wrong really. I'm halfway through the blackberry ice cream which is a recipe I found online on a blog. It's just chilling before going in the ice cream maker tomorrow. If anyone is interested in the recipe, let me know. This is only the second time I've made it and this time I'm using frozen blackberries but the basic mixture tastes good although I might use. Little less sugar for the custard mix next time as that is very sweet. We all really enjoyed it the first time I made it as it had a really strong blackberry flavour and great colour.

Happy cooking all
X

scholt

Hello
*waves*
I've tried a couple of new recipes but both from websites not books - arghhh. Don't want the husband to use as ammunition for culling the books haha so next ones will defintitely be from books! Glad the ice cream was good

http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/04/black-bean-sweet-potato-quinoa-stuffed-bell-peppers/ Was nice, I had loads of the quinoa mix let over so made that into a soup using miso stock today and it was better than the original!

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/baked-peach-almond-oatmeal/ I was a bit disapointed with this as I LOVE LOVE LOVE the apple and cinnamon baked oatmeal from the same website. Just a bit bland

Callie22

OK, so I've made a start Dinner tonight is coconut spiced soup with chicken from 'Kitchenella' by Rose Prince. I'm going to do some sesame noodles with it just because it looks quite 'light' and OH will moan if there aren't a few carbs in there - that will also enable me to use up the less-than-fresh spring onions in the fridge ... There's half a melon in the fridge too and I've got a nice ripe avocado, so I'm going to make this avocado, melon and mint salad to go with it (I've made this loads of times before, it sounds odd but it goes really well with spicy/Chinese/Thai food).

carlamarie_2

I have triedmy first recipe.... A slow cooker beef stroganoff

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/7191/slow-cooker-beef-stroganoff.aspx?o_is=LV

The recipe was very easy on paper (or website anyhoŵ) however, it was really runny so I stuck it on a high heat in the frying pan for twenty minutes to reduce it down (I know you can reduce on slow cooker by removing the lid and turning up high. However it takes far too long for my liking!)

The food it's self, I felt was a little bland IF I was to do it again, I would probaly add some Dijon mustard for a bit of taste.

So overall, I wasn't impressed!

S-Iam

Hi,
Hope everyone is ok.

Yeah! I've made my first , new, recipe this evening
"Slow roast belly of pork" from the "Ginger Pig" cookbook.
Basically it's a tray bake - slow roasted pork on top of a bed of roasted vegetables.

Well, it was lovely the vegetables were sticky and caramelised, the crackling was crispy and the pork tender. The mix of tastes and textures made this a winner. And, definitely something I'd make again.

I kept largely to the recipe. The only changes I made were substituting fresh sage for dried, and changing the beetroot for sweet potato, both substitutions were because that's what I already had in my cupboard. And they both worked, so Id make the same choices next time too.

As the recipe uses belly of pork, potatoes, onions and carrots it is budget friendly. You get the flavours of a roast without the huge price tag of a prime cut of meat. However, as it cooks in the oven for several hours, albeit on a low temperature, I'm not due how fuel friendly it is.

In essence all the recipe is, is a tray of vegetables roasted with a piece of meat on top. Because of that it is quick and easy to prepare, and although it takes hours to cook the hands on time is minimal. I tossed the vegetables a couple of times in the fat, but other than that the meal looked after itself.

I served it as is, with no extras. My only possible addition next time would be some greenery, so some green beans or a light green salad.
So, in summery a very tasty recipe that is very easy to prepare and budget friendly. And one that I'll be making again. Soon

FrugalWorker

Great idea! Must dig my books out. I went on a cookery book diet about 2 years ago and I've only bought one since (that was with a voucher for a bookshop!)

Can I suggest to help slow the increase of your collections that you try cookery books out from the library first. Iv'e found books that I thought I was going to love that I've cooked nothing from and others that I didn't hold out much hope for that I've cooked lots from and am considering buying ( or just taking out from the library again )

Alton_Towers

Can I join please? I have a lot of recipe books and I always return to the same ones, mostly for baking. So I will have a look through and pick one that I haven't made a thing from!

I love a good cook book, I'm like a magpie attracted to new books!