The All New Bang on Trend Cookbook Challenge 2018

Pollycat

Mrs_Cheshire wrote: »

What sort of yogurt do you use?

Talking about yogurt, we can never recreate the fab taste of tzatziki with the yogurt we buy here. Probably also down to the quality of the cucumbers too.
Or - joy of joys - a shared dish of Greek yoghurt with local Greek honey and nuts to round off a wonderful meal in a taverna.

I was chatting to the wife of the owner of our favourite taverna (who also does the cooking) on Crete about it and she was looking at a Lidl (I think) leaflet.
She said you need high fat content. I think the one she buys is something like 10% fat. :eek:

I think the 'full fat' FAGE I buy is 4% fat.

caronc

Pollycat wrote: »

Talking about yogurt, we can never recreate the fab taste of tzatziki with the yogurt we buy here. Probably also down to the quality of the cucumbers too.
Or - joy of joys - a shared dish of Greek yoghurt with local Greek honey and nuts to round off a wonderful meal in a taverna.

I was chatting to the wife of the owner of our favourite taverna (who also does the cooking) on Crete about it and she was looking at a Lidl (I think) leaflet.
She said you need high fat content. I think the one she buys is something like 10% fat. :eek:

I think the 'full fat' FAGE I buy is 4% fat.

Pollycat, if it is any help my son's gf is Greek and makes fab tzatziki using SM own brand full fat greek yoghurt (The Tesco own brand on is 9.5% fat. She drains it through a j cloth over a sieve for an hour or so (and does the same with the grated cucumber) before making it. It is certainly scrummy:)

caronc

I have decided I'm going to make this when I get my shopping next week - https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2018/01/05/aubergine-and-kale-satay-30p-vg-v-df-gf/
I have everything bar the aubergine and kale so not too challenging ingredients wise.

Floss

Pollycat I've made amazing tzatziki using Lancashire Farms greek yogurt with h/g cucumber (30mins off the plant) and a little h/g mint from the back yard... it's worth looking for a tub of high-fat greek yogurt if you are ever offered h/g cucumber. In fact, if you live near me, you can have one or two of mine as we always grow more than we can eat!

debtfreeforlife

First new recipe tried! A pasta bake with tomato sauce and peas - not terribly exciting but as I'm a veggie who can't eat much hot cheese and my friend who I was cooking for doesn't like most vegetables (no courgettes, aubergines, pulses, squashes, spinach or peas as I discovered today), my choices were limited. I did do something with peas in today which she picked out - it just feels completely wrong to me to cook just pasta in a tomato sauce with no other vegetables in. I also bought some vegan cheese which melts well, so I'm going to try it again at some point (with more veggies) and try the vegan cheese. Will definitely do it again for this group of friends but remember to overcook the onions and blend them into the sauce (friend doesn't like them crunchy and I HATE soft onions) and leave out peas as neither she nor her sis like them. That said this friend is terribly understanding of my pseudo-vegan ways and is always happy to try and adapt stuff for me.

Need2bthrifty

So many nice sounding recipes being tried out, I will definitely try out the HD Salmon dish and Pollycats Dal next month. At the moment I am still trying to work through what I have in the freezer and because I had some mushrooms to use up and didn't fancy a curry, stroganoff or risotto I did a search on ingredients I have in and will be making https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/fish-recipes/baked-fish-fillets-with-mushroom-stuffing I'll be using haddock as that's what I have and I'll freeze what I don't need of the duxelles and use it to make tartlets at a later date.

Pollycat

Caronc & Floss:
thanks for the yogurt tips.
I do make a good tzatziki (according to OH) but in Greece the yogurt seems to have a tang and consistency that it doesn't have here.
Almost a cream cheese-y taste and consistency, it's very stiff.

I think the straining idea is good.
I do always squeeze out the cucumber after grating it but so far haven't had any offers of home-grown ones, which I think would make a big difference.

So - back to the thread:
new recipe for me today - Nigella's pasta risotto with peas and pancetta.

It uses orzo, the tiny rice-shaped pasta.

Nelski

Still on leftovers here and being a oneski will probably be a while using them up.

Trying to do different things with them where I can though rather than revert to type.

So i am into Jamies Christmas at the moment (its not all about the big day) and will be making this tonight

Jamies Turkey Sloppy Joes with slaw

Floss

Polly we use orzo quite often, it makes a nice change from pasta & rice.

Pollycat

Floss wrote: »

Polly we use orzo quite often, it makes a nice change from pasta & rice.

I think it's great.
Before Mr T started stocking it, we used to bring packets home from our Greek holidays.