Initially, I was looking at a fritatta recipe but I couldn't find some of the seasonal ingredients, so after flicking through Melissa Clark's new cookbook Dinner: Changing the Game I switched to her recipe for Herbed Parmesan Dutch Baby.
Growing up in the UK, Yorkshire Puddings are a staple for Sunday Roasts, so any kind of puffy, crispy and larger scale version of it is going to catch my eye!
Yay or Nay: Yay
This was rich and flavourful yet being fluffy and light (in texture!) when it came out the oven. However, it did turn dense and deflated after leaving it out for a while. I would've left this in a little longer than on the recipe, only because I wanted the outsides to be more browned and crispy. Note, this will rise in the oven so make sure you have a pan/dish that is deep enough to handle that. - I had a lot of cleaning to do after this dish.
After having the most delectable rice pudding in NYC many years ago from Rice to Riches, I knew I had to try to replicate the recipe. They offer a multitude of flavours but every year I go back to NYC, I always go for classic chocolate.
I had opened a can of coconut cream for a satay recipe, so I had plenty left over, which meant some research for a healthy, vegan version of this pudding. This recipe for Coconut Brown Rice Pudding from Slow Cooker was my pick as it had the least amount of sugar added and I had all the ingredients on the list without leaving the house!
Yay or Nay: Yay
This was pretty easy to make, stick everything in the slow cooker and stir every now and then. I have to say, the timings were waaaaay off, the recipe said 2-3 hours on low but it was more like 5 hours on high in order to get all the liquid to go and for the rice to be tender. The taste was good, although I think the cardamon gives it a slightly chemical taste, so I would make this again without the spices and add depending on my mood.
The best recipes are the ones you don't expect to discover, like this one for Sambal Tofu Quinoa Bowl in James Beard award-winning food writer Carolynn Carreno. The idea behind her book are recipes for healthy whole grain meals that you can serve in a bowl. There is this huge popularity for meals in a bowl, such as the ones you can find in chains, Chipotle or CoreLife Eatery.
I have a recipe that I regularly use for tofu, but it is always worth trying something new. Let's see if it is any good!
Yay or Nay: Yay
Like I gave away in the beginning of this post, this was a surprisingly delicious recipe for marinated tofu. The extra sauce leftover, used as a dressing, was definitely a winner as quinoa can taste quite bland, even when you pep up all the other elements of the dish. I would make this again in a heartbeat - a perfect summery dish.
I've been holding on to this recipe for Raw Cookie Dough Bars from A Modern Way To Cook for a while, mainly because of the end of the school year/birthdays/Father's Day meant that there were plenty of sweet treats to go around.
I love energy balls, so this seemed like a different version of the same healthy-ish indulgences. The ingredients seem simple enough, I haven't worked with Brazil nuts so I'm intrigued to how it might taste.
Yay or Nay: Nay
Thoroughly disappointed in this, I really had high expectations for this recipe. I figured this would be a new version of energy ball/bar that I could put into rotation but it failed massively. Sure, it was simple to make, but the measurements seemed off and I'm sure it affected the taste. It was waaaaay too coconut oily for me, greasy to the touch and taste, and I love anything coconut. I'm just upset I wasted chocolate for this!
I LOVE bimbimbap. There, I said it. It's been one of the 'it' meals for a while and believe me it's worth the hype. BUT, I was eating this waaay before it because the hot thing. After living in Korea, I know what makes a good bimbimbap and so I'm reluctant to try a recipe from somewhere that isn't from Maangchi or learned from someone Korean.
I've been trying to entice The Hubby to try more veggies so I knew he would go for this, such is our love for the ricey, spicy goodness that is bibimbap! I found a recipe for bimbimbap from Alice Hart's book Good Veg. What attracted me to this recipe were the lack of ingredients, nothing more I hate than an endless list of ingredients - all of which I don't have at home!
Yay or Nay: Yay
I must say, I'm impressed. Mostly with the sauce - it is pretty identical to ones used in Korean Kimbap shops. The mushrooms were nice and savoury, the peppers added sweetness and the wilted spinach was subtly gingery! I
did sub some of the veggies for ones I had available or for preference,
but the beauty of this dish is that you can combine a whole bunch of
things and as long as you have the sauce - it's dynamite!
When you have a glut of leeks after making chicken stock for ramen, you know you have to use them up! I don't have a backup recipe so when I saw this recipe for Twice Cooked Leeks from New York Times' and UK Guardian's (from very quick research) foodie Alice Hart. I knew nothing about her, but grabbed a copy of her book Good Veg from the library.
I always need a side side to go with my mains, and naturally I want to increase my veg intake. If this works then I'll be putting it into the rotation.
Yay or Nay: Not sure
I can't make a decision either way as the recipe called for hazelnuts, also, mustard for the dressing. One, I was too lazy to go to the supermarket just to get hazelnuts. Two, I hate mustard, so that was out. It wouldn't be fair to judge it on that, so based on what I made, it was OK - just OK.
TIP: I don't usually cook with leeks so I'm not sure if you're supposed to cook the middle. I would get rid of it as it was a hard, chewy mess!
I can't actually claim that this is the actual recipe word for word from the cookbook Bangkok, although the element of it is there. There are a million (don't quote me on this!) recipes out there for satay but I figured this being a traditional Thai cookbook, it should be the real deal!
I wasn't overly enamoured by the beef tenderloin with Thai basil recipe but I wanted to give another recipe a try. I had left-over chicken from making stock, so I wanted to use the marinade as a salad dressing and combine it all together!
Yay or Nay: Yay
I'm glad I gave another recipe a chance, this was unexpectedly good and it worked really well as a salad. The cumin was a surprise element in Thai cooking, the sweetness of condensed milk with the nuttiness of coconut cream gave a deeper flavour, also, using real peanuts instead of peanut butter converted me!
