Kirstin: So we keep seeing this book everywhere, right?
Maureen: Right. We do. Resistance was futile, so eventually we thought we thought we should give it a go.
Kirstin: Some of the ingredients look a tad on trend.
Maureen: I know we’re going to be eating healthy, and that’s good for us and everything, but I also despair a little bit of another month of no gluten, dairy, sugar or other yummy ingredients. Let’s see how the month pans out.
Kirstin: We shall see!
This was a combination month.
Maureen took on “Plenty More” by Yotam Ottolenghi. I can say with authority that he is a charming, lovely man, as Kirstin and I were lucky enough to go to a demonstration and book signing of his in the autumn. In fact, that’s where I bought this copy of the book.
While lovely, his recipes take more time, effort and ingredients than average recipes. But in my opinion, putting more time, effort and ingredients in elevates these vegetarian recipes to absolute deliciousness. I plan on turning to this cookbook again and again, particularly for Meat Free Monday.
Others may disagree with me. As regular readers of this blog will know, Kirstin and Anna had a terrible experience with the predecessor of this book, “Plenty.” They liked the recipes, this just didn’t like the time and effort involved, and I can understand why they feel that way.
I would highly recommend “Plenty More”, but only if you know it’s not an easy or quick road to deliciousness.
I love Shoku-Iku and look forward to cooking more recipes in the summer from it. We already have a firm favourite that I shall be making on a regular basis. Simple, tasty Asian cuisine at its best.
“Plenty More” and “Shoku-Iku!”
Overall Grade (A- F): Maureen: A Kirstin: A
Best recipes: Maureen: I absolutely loved the Mixed Vegetables with Yogurt and Green Chilli. Indeed, I am getting hungry just typing that in again. The whole family gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to the Grilled Ziti with Feta. Kirstin: The pork recipe is a big hit in this house.
Grade for Photography (A-F): A (This is a beautiful-looking book, from the cover to the back page.
Any disasters? Yes! I had high hopes for the Brussels Sprout Risotto, but absolutely no one liked it. It was too much of a deviation from our usual risotto. I didn’t write it up because it was such an utter disaster and I didn’t have pictures. Kirstin: None yet!
Bookshelf or Charity Shop Donation? High-rotation vegetarian bookshelf for me. Kirstin: Definitely staying high rotation for me too.
Beautiful pie, right? I like to think so. It tastes even better than it looks.
The problem is I can’t look at this picture without thinking about the THREE HOURS, that’s right THREE HOURS [and yes, I am shouting] that it took to make them from start to finish.
In those three hours, I could have made six 30 minute meals from Jamie. I kid. Anyone who’s read this blog knows that we completed none of the 30 minute meals in 30 minutes, let alone cleaned up from them, so that’s an exaggeration. But still. Three hours is a long time to prepare one dish. I’ve done a three-course meal for eight people in less time than that.
I’m not sure what my problem was, or if that’s just how long it takes to make a decent pie. It’s a good thing I had set aside some time to make them, though as it was we didn’t sit down for dinner until 8 p.m.
I started at 5 p.m. to make the pastry, which was easy enough as you do it in the food processor. To be fair, I did get a call that took 15 minutes at 5.45 p.m. while I was chopping up the vegetables, so that set me back a bit. But it takes time to peel and chop (in uniform sizes no less) all of these root vegetables. It also took time to roll out and then cut the pie pastry (not to mention finding a pot top that was 14 cm in diameter, and another that was 8 cm in diameter.)
Don’t get me wrong. The pies were delicious. Good meals take time, attention and love. It’s just the next time I hope it’s quicker.
We are big fans of orzo. We are big fans of pasta bake. I figured putting them together would mean I’d have an automatic hit on my hands. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out that way.
To be fair, the family was divided: the adults liked it, the boys were ambivalent about it.
While it wasn’t at all like the baked ziti we love– there wasn’t enough tomato sauce– I still thought the unusual addition of aubergine, carrots and celery made it interesting.
The boys on the other hand, we’re willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. The verdict from both of them was “Meh.”
Would I make it again? Unlikely, given the mixed reception.
This is a delightful dish.
Is it a bit of a faff? Of course it is. Consider the source. But is it worth the effort? Absolutely.
To be fair, it is not the healthiest of dishes, with all the deep frying of the vegetables, which were aubergines, courgettes and red peppers. But perhaps this is why it was so delicious. Deep frying makes EVERYTHING better. Even Mars bars (especially when buried under a mountain of ice cream. But I digress.)
The minty yogurt and chilli and herb oil over the top elevated it to a new level of deliciousness.
Just writing about this again is making my mouth water. When I discovered at the end of the meal there was tiny bit left over, I can’t tell you how happy I was thinking about what my lunch the next day was going to be.
Yum. Highly recommended.
Kirstin: I have now made this twice and on both occasions failed to take any pictures of it.
Ella: Epic fail!
Tom: Why is that?
Kirstin: Because it smells so delicious, I need to eat it straight away!
Tom: It did smell good when you were cooking it.
Kirstin: This is such a fantastic way to cook pork. I will definitely put this on my high rotation of pork recipes. Once you have that white miso, you’re set with this recipe.
Miles: I love this. Can we have it again please?
Maureen: I’ve been intrigued by this recipe for as long as I’ve had the book. It’s cauliflower cake for Meat Free Monday today.
Nicholas (11): What? Cake made of cauliflower? That sounds strange.
Maureen: It’s not actually cake like we think of cake. It’s more of a frittata, with lots of eggs, cheese and some cauliflower thrown in for good measure. What do you think?
Andrew (15): The flavour combination is interesting.
Maureen: Is that good interesting? Or bad interesting?
Andrew (considering): It’s good interesting, actually. I like it.
Tim: I’m not so sure about the texture.
Maureen: What do you mean?
Tim: It seems a bit strange.
Maureen: Does that mean you don’t like it?
Tim: If you made it, I would eat it, but I wouldn’t ask for you to make it, if you see what I mean.
Maureen: Hardly a ringing endorsement. What do you think Nicholas?
Nicholas: I’m with Dad. I’m not so sure about it.
Maureen: I like it. I’m with Andrew. I think it’s interesting. But then again, I am a big cauliflower fan, so maybe that’s part of it. So it’s a mixed result tonight.
