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 both of us wants pie, we usually go for the fail-safe steak and ale, so for something a little different I remembered making a chicken and chorizo pie. After searching and searching, I found Curiously Delicious' Chicken and Chorizo Pie but couldn't find the original one I made way back before the blog. This version was the most similar to the original, bar the tomato sauce and peppers.
FYI: I used Jamie Oliver's shortcrust pastry recipe which I have reviewed here.
Yay or Nay: Yay
I've only added photos of the filling, mainly because everyone knows what a pie looks like!! The recipe straightforward and even though it wasn't like the dry original pie, this one I purposely reduced the tomato sauce down (in case of a soggy bottom!) and the chili paste (I used chili powder) gives it some heat. My only gripe is that I cannot for the life of me find real Spanish style chorizo, here in the States, it is more like a regular raw sausage.
TIP: The recipe says to use puff pastry, but I prefer shortcrust. I followed Jamie's recipe for cooking the whole pie, but I would increase the time to about 50mins as I like my pastry crispy and brown.
We wanted to make the most of the last good days of sunshine/summer, before the snowy, cold upstate winter settled in. Naturally, throwing some chicken on the grill/bbq was an easy decision for dinner this week. I had brought back from the UK some Nando's spicy rub and started thinking of some side options. Obviously, the Fino Sides are a complimentary accompaniment to the chicken and I love me some Spicy Rice so after some research on Pinterest I found Not Posh Food's recipe for Nandos Spicy Rice.
Yay or Nay: Undecided
It really should be either yay or nay but there were several reasons why this was a maybe. The taste was good, not dissimilar to jambalaya it was just the texture that wasn't right. Maybe it was because I used brown rice instead of white long grain/basmati or that I cooked the rice with the veggies but it was just too smushy compared to Not Poshs'. I would try this again but would cook the rice first and then add to the veggies.
Another day without the Hubby so another opportunity to make a dish I know he won't eat but I will! I figured I had to give another recipe a try from Amelia Freer's cookbook Cook. Nourish. Glow. even though the last recipe didn't fare so well.
Anything tastes good with an egg on top, so when the book naturally fell open to this recipe I knew it was one to try! Let's hope this recipe for Roasted Peppers with Baked Eggs will do better.
Yay or Nay: Undecided
I did make a few changes to this recipe; I added quinoa and replaced some veggies with what I had on hand so it is different from the original. On the plus side, it is a quick meal to throw togther and the egg adds a rich creaminess that you would otherwise expect by using cheese. Also, the harissa adds some welcome heat to an otherwise kind of bland meal. HOWEVER! Maybe it is down to technique and not overstuffing the peppers - but adding the egg on top was like mission impossible! The peppers kept toppling over so couldn't keep the egg on top, the filling didn't allow the egg to sit on top and the egg kept sliding all over the place so I ended up with pretty much half an egg.
Tip: Scoop out a hole/groove/pit to place the egg in or you'll end up with eggy mess!
