cooking my books

Cooking and baking from my huge collection of cookery books and magazines.My favourites include Nigella Lawson, Donna Hay, Rachel Allen, Bill Granger, Nigel Slater and many others!

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Delia's very chocolatey mousse

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Slow cooked beef short ribs from What Katie Ate.

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Lamb shanks with lemon and mint with couscous. From Ricardo's new crockpot book.

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Hot cross buns

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Cauliflower & cashew nut curry from Nigella Lawson's new book Simply Nigella.

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Slow cooked beef ragu pasta by Donna Hay.

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Sticky toffee pudding made in the crockpot. Recipe from Ricardo.

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Fregola (orzo) salad with bacon, baby peas and preserved lemon.

As the mercury rises salads start to replace their more stodgy winter counterparts. But this is not always an easy feat when children are involved. She wasn’t always fussy, it started when she went to daycare. All the vegetables I had lovingly puréed during my maternity leave went from being guzzled to rejected in a matter of days. Anything green would get painstakingly fished out, however small and cunningly disguised. Then onions, mushrooms, chickpeas and other day to day ingredients got added to the no-no list. I wondered how two adventurous ‘foodies’ (can’t think of a better word although I hate it) could produce a fussy eater. My friend Gen’s son was eating oysters and mussels at 2 and mine was turning her little nose up in disgust at lasagna because there were onions in it! So imagine my pleasure when she not only asked for more of this salad but requested it for her lunch at school the next day. It probably helped that I served it with the aforementioned ribs, and there was bacon involved. I don’t think she even noticed the parsley and mint. The toasted almonds added some crunch and the refreshing/salty element came from the preserved lemons and feta. I used orzo instead of fregola as it was on hand but Israeli coucous could easily be used too. Win!

From 'what Katie ate at the weekend’

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Chipotle, lime and Jalapeño ribs

One of the advantages of restarting this project is that I plan ahead a bit more and buy everything I need for the weekend’s recipes instead of my usual random mid-week grocery shopping which is then followed by another trip to the store to get missing ingredients when I finally decide on a recipe. I’m also trying to waste less and use up the stash of food in the freezer that has been there far too long. The little one and her father put a request in for ribs. I’ve never been a big fan, too much gnawing for too little meat in my opinion but I was happy to try another recipe that had caught my eye in ‘What Katie ate at the weekend’. This dish would also conveniently take care of the nearly full can of chipotle sauce in the fridge. The ribs are boiled then smothered in the chipotle/lime/agave sauce and oven roasted for an hour and a half. I skipped the jalapeños as the chipotle sauce was already spicy and the child’s heat tolerance is a lot lower than ours. Verdict: 5/5 I will never make them any other way! I regretted not making more, they disappeared in a flash.

Here is the recipe: http://www.penguin.com.au/lantern/blog/weekend-ribs-katie-quinn-davies

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It's high time I dusted this blog off and got back to doing what I enjoy. I need to get back to making an effort. I need to get back to eating well, trying new dishes, and using all my lovely cookery books more. It's so easy to get in a rut and make the same 5/10/15 dishes as it's less time consuming, you often have the majority of ingredients and you know the success level it will receive. Here in Montreal we went from winter to summer in about 2 weeks. We have picnicked nearly every weekend to the past month and I'm trying to vary from the usual sandwiches. Last week it was coronation chicken drumsticks and cheese and pesto whirls both from the Good Food magazine. This weekend I got some use out of my Mother's Day gift, What Katie Ate at the Weekend. I made the O'Shocko's guacamole with pita chips which was fantastic, I even managed to find the chipotle sauce that gives it just the right amount of kick. The adults enjoyed, not so much the child. The caramelized onion, fennel and tomato focaccia was perfect picnic fare. I liked the onions folded through the dough, rather than on top where they often catch and burn. The fennel seeds were a nice addition although I'm glad I didn't use the whole 5 tbsps, as the flavour would have been overpowering. The sweet corn, black rice and chia salad was a refreshing change from our usual arugula mix. The rice has a lovely nutty flavour, and pairs well with the crunchy corn and zingy lime dressing. Here's to many more delicious meals and getting out of my rut!

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Roast pumpkin, spinach and ricotta lasagna

I haven’t been crushed by the mountain of boxes surrounding me yet, but it’s imminent! I can’t wait to get to the other side and unpack by beloved cookery books and take pleasure in preparing meals again. In the meantime here is a dish I made a few weeks ago, found on the Good Food website, by Diana Henry.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/67609/roast-pumpkin-and-spinach-lasagne

I added the ricotta as I had a tub in the fridge nearing it’s best by date. Delicious!

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Thai curry pumpkin soup with coriander swirl http://www.rachelseasons.tumblr.com On Sunday my daughter and I carved the pumpkin, leaving us with a huge bowl of pumpkin flesh. I've made many a pumpkin soup and if you're not careful they can be rather bland so I was looking for a recipe to spice things up a little. This is IT. Ginger, garlic, onion, red curry paste, coconut milk, broth and of course pumpkin are the ingredients and I doubled the pumpkin as I had so much and the consistency was perfect. Don't think the coriander swirl isn't necessary because it adds the punch. Lime juice, coconut milk, sesame oil and coriander are blended to a paste then drizzled onto the finished soup. The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/thai-curry-pumpkin-soup-with-a-coriander-swirl/12082/

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Chilli braised beef with cornbread dumplings http://www.rachelseasons.tumblr.com The temperature is in free fall, and winter is right around the corner. What could be more comforting than this dish. A long, slow 3 hour braise turns the beef into a meltingly tender stew with a rich gravy. The cornbread, coriander and aged cheddar dumplings make the dish even more consistent and soak up the smokey paprika and chipotle gravy perfectly. Click the photo for the recipe.

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Garlic prawn pasta This is a recipe I often turn to on a Friday night. I always have bags of frozen shrimp in the freezer so all that's missing is a lemon and parsley, or coriander in this case, as all the other ingredients are in my cupboard. Heat from the chilli flakes combined with the lemon zest and garlic makes this a very tasty end of the week meal when energy is low but you want to start the weekend with something special. Here is the recipe "http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/646232"

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Coconut and lime roasted chicken

http://www.rachelseasons.tumblr.com I love receiving my (digital) edition of the Donna Hay magazine every month. There is always one recipe that pops off the page and immediately onto my ‘to make’ list. This is it. I can’t describe the amazing flavour from the stuffing that infuses the whole chicken. Lemongrass, ginger, garlic, coconut, kaffir lime leaves and coriander mixed with rice makes the stuffing. The gravy also has a typical Thai touch, nam pla, palm sugar with a squeeze of lime juice at the end. This has knocked my regular roast chicken way out of the ball park. Change is GOOD! The recipe is here.

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Peach tarte tatin

I’m cheating a bit as this isn’t a Donna Hay recipe, but due to the hectic week it’s the only thing I’ve made that looked good enough for a photo! Last of the delicious juicy peaches, each with a raspberry hiding underneath, covered in puff pastry and baked then flipped. Bye bye summer, you will be sorely missed.

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Caramelized pork with five-spice broth

You may have noticed a change of pace here recently. I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to plan or cook many meals. We decided to move, so found a new house, found replacement tenants, had a garage sale, and now the fun of packing begins. Please cross your fingers that the snow arrives AFTER the 1st of December this year! But we still have to eat. This delicious dish really hit the spot after a busy day rushing about. The pork loin is brushed with hoisin sauce then oven roasted and added to the five spice, ginger, garlic flavoured broth.

I found the recipe online on the the Donna Hay website.