When I
bought this book (over the internet so with only a brief preview) I
was a little worried that the recipes might be a little too
easy and simplified since Bill Granger's books are generally always
filled with fairly straightforward, relaxed recipes, however, I
shouldn't have worried. What fills the pages are beautiful recipes
that aren't too complicated but still have a bit of oomph to them so
that I wasn't bored or had seen the recipes hundreds of times
already. It became obvious very quickly that this was a book that I
really wanted to cook from and with 100 recipes I had plenty to
choose from.
One of
the first things that I loved about this book was the fact that the
chapters are divided up by specific ingredient such as 'Piece of
Chicken', 'Slab of steak', 'Mince & Sausages' and 'Carton of
Eggs', (to name a few). I found this approach really helpful cause it
means you can go raid your fridge or freezer, decide what you want to
cook with and then just jump straight to the chapter for instant
inspiration. There were so many recipes that I wanted to try that I
literally gave up bookmarking them since it seemed I was putting a
sticky note on almost every page! In the end I managed to try 6
recipes but I still have quite a few that I want to try!
The
Tested Recipes:
Orange
and Oregano Marinated Pork
Marinated
Steak Rolls & Barbecue Sauce
Light
Butter Chicken
Spanish
Fish Stew
Individual
Baked Beans with Eggs
Chilli,
Sausage and Broccoli Pizza
First
up for a quick and super easy mid-week meal was the Orange and
Oregano Marinated Pork. The recipe was certainly very
straightforward and took no time at all. Hubby helped out by
barbecuing the pork when it was time to cook it but it is so easy
even the novice barbecuer would have no problems. Failing that though
you can cook the pork on a hot griddle pan instead. The finished pork
was light, fragrant and aromatic and served with a green salad (as
suggested) it was a perfect light meal.
Next
up was the Marinated Steak Rolls & Barbecue Sauce.
I started by making the Barbecue Sauce which is not your usual BBQ
sauce but rather an Asian inspired BBQ sauce with hoisin sauce being
the base of it. As with most BBQ sauces it was incredibly easy to
make – just a case of putting everything into a small pan then
simmering for 5 minutes so it definitely gets a star for the 'easy'
test. The only thing to note however is that it does make a lot of
sauce so unless you plan to use it for a variety of things I would be
tempted to half the quantities next time. It is also pretty sweet so
a little goes a long way. The marinade for the steak was also very
straightforward and just took a couple of minutes to prepare. As with
the Pork recipe above, this was another one for the barbecue but
again you could use a griddle pan instead. The finished Roll is
served with the Barbecue Sauce and then some long shreds of crispy
carrot and daikon and some fresh mint and coriander which finishes it
off perfectly with the sweet crunch and fragrant herbs. I like the
fact that for this recipe he suggests just serving all the
ingredients on a big platter and letting everyone help themselves to
whatever they want – definitely my kind of meal. This recipe
certainly got the thumbs up and I will make this again although next
time I think I would add a touch of chilli for a little heat! (And if
you want to give it a go I've included the recipe below.)
Recipe
number 3 and I made the Light Butter Chicken
for a lovely quick and easy Friday night curry. Now I absolutely love
a good curry and can never resist it if there is a recipe in a
cookbook, but what I particularly loved about this recipe was that
not only was it meant to be easy, it was a lighter, healthier version
– win win surely?! Well turns out it was just that..... quick and
easy, completely delicious and not a drop of butter in sight.
Admittedly despite drooling over many recipes for Butter Chicken I
have never actually made it so I can't say how authentic this is
(although my guess would be not so much) but it was a deliciously
mild family friendly curry that even Wee One loved. All I had to do
was slice up a hot chilli to add to mine at the end and we were all
happy. For the ease and good taste I will definitely make this again
especially since it has a lot less calories than your average Butter
Chicken.
So with three successes things were certainly looking very good for this book so I happily marched on to recipe number 4 which was the Spanish Fish Stew. After dinner plans for the weekend were cancelled I quickly scoured the book for a recipe that I had bookmarked that didn't require a trip to the supermarket and the Spanish Fish Stew was perfect. I had fish in the freezer and with the exception of the pepper and some herbs everything else was taken from the pantry. As with the first 3 recipes this proved to be another easy and straightforward recipe that didn't take too long to prepare and cook. Unfortunately though this recipe did not deliver in the taste department. It was pretty bland and it wasn't until we had added a good pinch of chilli, some extra salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice that made it okay. I made some garlic bread to go with it (the recipe doesn't suggest any sides) and to be perfectly honest that was the best part of the meal. Super disappointing for a Saturday night meal, especially as we were so looking forward to it but I guess it happens. It was easy and straightforward but lacked flavour (I think there was just too much liquid that diluted the flavours too much) so I definitely wouldn't make this again without some serious adjustments and extra additions to up the flavour.
Determined
not to end the testing on a low note I carried on and made myself the
Individual Baked Beans with Eggs
for a lazy, late breakfast (although it would be great for lunch or
dinner as well). I deviated slightly from the recipe by using a
rasher of streaky bacon instead of pancetta, and Navy beans instead
of Cannellini since I couldn't find any, but nothing too major. There
were definitely some interesting smells as I was cooking it and it
was only then that I realised that perhaps the idea of including
anchovies and curry powder seemed quite unusual, but I carried on
ever the optimist! I had halved the recipe since hubby was out of
town but even then there was a lot and I could have split what I had
into 3 portions quite happily. That being said I still managed to
demolish the portion I made for myself (keeping the remaining beans
for the next day) and thoroughly enjoyed it although in my attempts
to make sure the egg whites were cooked, I overcooked the yolk –
big disappointment (looked lovely and runny from the top but the heat
underneath had completely cooked it). Regardless though it was
delicious and I can't wait to make it again.
Finally
I made the Chilli, Sausage and Broccoli Pizza
for a midweek meal. I'm a huge lover of pizza and have my own pizza
recipe which we all love and never fails so this was going to be a
big test to see if it was as good as my own recipe.....or better!
Since the accompanying photograph looked so good I had high hopes.
The dough recipe was easy enough to make although it was a little
ambiguous since it said to pour in 250-300ml of water. I'm not sure
why it wasn't specific but in the end I went for 275ml and I guess it
was too much as the dough was far too wet so I did have to add some
extra flour, but after that it was fine and it did end up being a
wonderful, soft and pliable dough to work with and the most fantastic
pizza base once cooked. It bubbled up and was crispy at the edges but
soft and chewy in the middle – my perfect pizza. Unfortunately
though despite the base being so good I did find it to be a little
bland. This pizza has no tomato sauce on it – just the
toppings of mozzarella, broccoli, sausage and chilli and
it needed something else – perhaps just a little tomato sauce on
the base. I think I would give it a go again but try it with some
sauce to see how it tastes. For the the base alone though I am so
glad I tried this and will definitely make it again....in fact it
might just become my new go-to for pizza bases!
As
mentioned above there are a lot of recipes that I want to make but
haven't had a chance to. I had really hoped to make the Chorizo,
Cumin and Tomato Rice to test as part of the review however the night
I was due to make it I was so full I couldn't eat a thing! It's on
the menu for this week though so I'll let you know after how it turns
out! As for the remaining bookmarked recipe I've managed to narrow it
down a bit and so here are a few of the recipes that I plan to make
in the future....
Bookmarked
Recipes:
Spiced
Chicken Wraps & Mango Chutney
Hoisin
Marinated Salmon & Chilli Soy Tenderstem Broccoli
Vietnamese
Beef Curry
Spiced
Steak Fajitas with Pineapple Salsa
Manchego
Crusted Pork & Romesco Sauce
Lamb
Kofta Meatballs in Curry Sauce
Quinoa
Fritters
Chorizo,
Cumin & Tomato Rice
Indian
Spiced Potatoes with Fried Egg
Potato,
Courgette and Mozzarella Fritters
Baked
Aubergine, Chickpeas and Green Chilli
Feta
and Gruyere Pastries & Spicy Tomato Relish
Blackberry
and Plum Streusel Cake
Chocolate
and Cherry Tart
Hot
Marshmallow Fudge Sundaes
After
testing so many recipes and getting a proper feel for this book I
think it's a cookbook that would appeal to quite a wide audience as
the recipes are straightforward and easy enough for the beginner
cook, but equally not too boring or simplified for those that are
more experienced. To me it is a book that is for cooking easy meals that you can enjoy any night of the week without getting into a flap. Some recipes might be pretty simple and certainly not gastronomic delights perhaps, but they are all tasty enough and with the exception of the Spanish Fish Stew I
enjoyed all of the other recipes, certainly some more than others though.
Interestingly enough however,
after the disappointment of the Fish Stew my husband admitted that
although he had also enjoyed the recipes he didn't think they were
anything especially wonderful and in his opinion seemed to be lacking
'something', so it's worth baring that in mind. That being said there
is a great variety of recipes within this book, taking inspiration
from all over the world so I think you are guaranteed to find
something that will appeal and you will enjoy, and although my
husband didn't love the recipes I certainly enjoyed them enough (both
in cooking and eating!) to give this book my stamp of approval!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marinated
Steak Rolls & Barbecue Sauce
Juicy
barbecued steak topped with an Asian inspired BBQ Sauce and finished
with crisp, sweet vegetables and fragrant herbs all on a chewy
baguette, this is a total winner and perfect for enjoying while
watching your favourite sporting game on TV.
(Serves
6)
BBQ
Sauce:
100ml
hoisin sauce
3
tbsp rice wine vinegar
1
tbsp fish sauce
3
tbsp soy sauce
1
tbsp honey
4
garlic cloves, crushed
2
tsp grated ginger
¼
tsp five spice powder
110g
granulated sugar
4
tbsp soy sauce
1
tbsp soft brown sugar
2
garlic cloves, crushed
1
tsp sesame oil
1
tsp grated ginger
3
sirloin steaks, 2.5cm thick (about 350g each)
handful
fine strips carrot & daikon, cut on a mandolin
handful
coriander and mint leaves
3
baguettes, cut into 10cm lengths
To
make the BBQ Sauce place all of the ingredients into a small pan and
heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Once dissolved simmer the
sauce for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the
heat and allow to cool.
To
make the marinade combine the soy sauce, 1 tbsp water, sugar, garlic,
sesame oil, ginger and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper into a
shallow dish (big enough for all of the steaks) and stir well to
combine. Put the steaks into the dish and rub the marinade all over
and set aside for 15 minutes (or longer if you can). {At this point
the recipe suggests putting the steaks in the fridge to marinate
however, I let it marinade on my counter instead. I'm not sure if
there are benefits to putting it into the fridge that I'm unaware of,
but I normally work on the principal to have your meat at room
temperature and not fridge cold before cooking. Anyway only a slight
deviation and not anything that changes the recipe! You do as you
normally would but obviously if you are leaving the steaks to
marinate for a long time I would pop them in the fridge.}
Slice
up your carrots and daikon using either a julienne peeler or mandolin
and set aside in a bowl along with the herbs.
Preheat
a barbecue or griddle/chargrill pan to high heat the sear the steaks
for 3 minutes on each side (for medium-rare). Once cooked to your
liking remove from the BBQ then cover and set aside to rest in a warm
place for 5 minutes.
To
serve, slice the steak and serve on a platter with the barbecue
sauce, a bowl of the mixed carrot and daikon with the herbs and the
baguettes, so that everyone can make their own steak rolls.
Alternatively you could make up the rolls and serve on a large
platter.
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