redjanet's Reviews
205 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date 
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Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2008
This is a very easy to make version of stroganoff using chicken instead of beef. The result is a quite creamy, tasty dish. It might be a little bit too creamy for some, but with some added squirts of lemon at the end it is more refreshing than you would imagine.
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Using a lot of easy to find store cupboard ingredients, this is a simple recipe that provides delicious results. Though I wouldn't say that it tastes quite like a korma you would get from a takeaway, it is still a fulfilling hearty meal, which also reheats very well for lunch the next day.
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This is a lovely simple salad dressing which can be made quickly and easily by simply shaking the ingredients together in a small jar. It is delicious on salads and goes well with chicken and fish dishes.
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A simple soup recipe using fresh ingredients that makes a whole lot of soup. Great for saving and re-heating for lunch. Some might find it a little on the bland side but with lots of added black pepper it is very good.
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As soon as I saw this recipe listed I knew that I had to try it out. Chorizo is one of my favourite ingredients as it always brings great flavour to whatever recipe it is in and this soup is no exception. The combination of the salty chorizo with the sweet potato is delicious. This is a hearty, warming soup that tastes even better re-heated the next day and also well from frozen.
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As an expat American living abroad I am always on the lookout for meatloaf recipes and of the few that I have tried, this is by far the best. The loaf itself comes out really juicy and flavourful and the tomato sauce with smoked paprika, chili and chick peas gives an interesting twist on an old classic. I made this recently for my in-laws and my mother-in-law said it was the best meal she'd had made for her in ages. High praise indeed!
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This is the first lasagne recipe I've tried and for a start it was pretty good. Be warned that, especially if you're not that experienced, it does take quite a while to prepare all the ingredients and go through all of the steps to complete the recipe. The end results were very good, though the only criticism I would make is that the sauce made it all a little too wet for my liking and I would probably add half a tin of water to the bolognese sauce instead of the whole tin as Jamie recommends. The use of creme fraiche instead of a white sauce does make the whole thing that bit easier however.
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This is a good easy hearty dish using a mix of fresh and store-cupboard ingredients. Good for feeding a few people, the use of kidney beans and chickpeas really helps bulk it up, keeping it fairly healthy and low in fat. Of course it is really good with added shredded cheese and sour cream! As with the lasagne recipe from the same book, I tend to add less water to the mix than Jamie recommends as I prefer the final results to be a bit less wet.
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On a page in the book with other stew recipes, this is a very flavourful, rich stew that is is simple to make. I'd recommend giving it a stir occasionally as quite a bit stuck to the bottom of my pan, but it was still very tasty.
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A simple easy stew taken from a page of basic stew recipes from this book. I used ale when making this, though you could also use Guiness or stout, which I might eventually try as well. This came out a bit sharp tasting for me, though still good, but I suppose that depends on what type of booze you use.
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A quick easy way to prepare new potatoes. The addition of lemon, mint and butter adds terrific flavour and this is a great side dish for most chicken, lamb or fish main courses.
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A good mid-week meal, this is basically breaded chicken with lots of flavour thanks to the inclusion of garlic, parsley, lemon zest and butter in the breadcrumb mixture. I prefer to bake instead of pan-frying as I find the crumbs stick better to the chicken that way, but you could do it either way.
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A delicious take on the classic chicken wrapped in bacon, this dish is quick and fairly easy to make. The end results are very flavourful thanks to the use of prosciutto, parmesan, lemon zest and thyme. This goes really well with salad and new potatoes for a satisfying weekday meal.
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This is a simple and delicious way to cook salmon together with green beans. Covering the salmon in pesto and wrapping it in foil keeps it moist and juicy. I find that I don't need to add as much olive oil as Jamie does (in general!) to keep it moist. The combination cooking of the greens with the fish also helps save on the washing up.
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Quick and extremely easy to make, this is a simple way to serve trout. It almost seems too simple, but sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. This goes well with new potatoes.
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An easy midweek meal, the use of fresh herbs adds a lot of flavour, as does the smoked streaky bacon that the fish is wrapped in before being baked in the oven. This goes well with any type of green vegetable or salad and/or potatoes.
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This is the only recipe I've tried so far from this book that I didn't like. This may be due to my using a curry power that was too spicy for my tastebuds, but I found the actual cooking of the cod in the pan to be a bit messy and really did not enjoy the end results. Oh well!
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An easy no-cook cheesecake which everyone I served to seemed to love. I didn't actually make the raspberry topping but just served it with fresh raspberries on the side, which worked quite well.
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Jamie's 30-Minute Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2010
I had never made a meat pie before and this was a good recipe to start with. It is quick and easy (if a bit messy) to assemble and once the initial prep is done and it's in the oven it only takes 15-20 minutes to cook. I've made it twice; the second time I realised I'd run out of eggs and used milk to glaze the puff pastry instead and it came out almost as well, though not as golden brown and crispy as with the egg.
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The 30-minute Cook
By Nigel Slater
Penguin Books Ltd - 2006
This is a very quick and easy way to make Thai green curry. Nigel doesn't specify if he uses fresh or dried kaffir lime leaves (though I suspect he means fresh from the wording), but I've used dried and it's always come out just fine. The basil leaves give an interesting depth of flavour and the coconut milk makes it very cream, if a bit fattening.
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Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking
By Delia Smith
Ebury Press - 2008
This is one of my OH's favourite dishes which I regularly make. It's a very easy way to make flavourful sausages by frying them in a pan and adding red wine, red wine vinegar, thyme, seasoning and caramelised onions from a jar and it comes out well every time no matter what type of sausage I have used. Delia gives instructions on how to make mash using frozen mashed potato, but I just make my own.
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Website: Ocado
This is a quick and easy, but also elegant way to serve pasta mid-week. The lemon and parsley gives the dish a fresh flavour and using half fat creme fraiche keeps the calories down. I used spaghetti instead of linguine as it was what I had in the cupboard, and I also just used cooked prawns instead of a seafood mix and it was absolutely fine. I'll definitely be making this one again.
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101 One-pot Dishes: Tried-and-tested Recipes (Good Food 101)
By B.B.C. "Good Food Magazine"
BBC Books - 2006
A simple way to roast chicken thighs with potato wedges in one tray. This is very similar to another dish I regularly do with rosemary or herbes de Provence, but the use of tarragon in this recipe gives a different, interesting flavour. The potatoes weren't quite cooked enough to my liking with the timing provided, but that's my fault for not testing them thoroughly enough before serving.
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Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2007
This was the first recipe I ever made from this book and it was a great introduction. It is very easy, especially with the gnocchi as a side dish. The uses of cider and mustard, along with the cream gives this a rich, creamy flavour.
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The preparation for this dish couldn't be simpler and the results are really delicious. Unlike in the photo in the book, I roasted the sweet potatoes and the poussins in separate trays in the oven (which is how Nigella instructs in the actual recipe). Although I find poussin a bit fiddly to eat, this was very juicy. I absolutely love the flavour of the sweet potatoes which is roasted in garlic oil and cumin (my favourite spice). This has become a regular way of preparing sweet potatoes even with other dishes.
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These are easy to make and come out chewy and delicious. The last time I made them I stored them in the "throwaway" foil tin I baked them in, a la Nigella, but as I was the only one in the house eating them they turned a bit hard and crumbly rather quickly. The next time I make them I'll store them in a more airtight container and see if they last any longer, as they're really worth making for a get up and go portable breakfast.
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This is Nigella's different take on the classic coq au vin, using a whole bottle of Riesling wine instead. This came out well but I have to admit it was a bit bland for my tastebuds.
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Not having an ice-cream maker, I was excited to try this way of making one of my favourite dessers, using only pomegranates, lime juice, icing sugar and double cream. This makes a very creamy ice-cream, which is simply mixed together and stored in the freezer in an air-tight container. I think the fruit flavourings could be a bit stronger here as I still tasted mostly cream, but if like me, you don't have and don't really want an ice-cream maker, it's an easy alternative.
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This recipe is exactly as described and is very easy. It is simply a combination of quickly-fried minute steaks with an accompanying mashed bean side. My OH and I weren't so keen on the mashed beans as we found them a bit bland and oily in texture.
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This is a quick and flavourful way to prepare chicken in the middle of the week. This recipe requires chicken escalopes, streaky bacon, garlic oil and white wine and goes very well with a green salad.
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This is a very quick way to make a tasty midweek meal. Gammon has a lot of flavour on its own but Nigella adds even more with garlic oil white wine vinegar, pepper, honey and parsley. This is ridiculously easy and goes well with potato and vegetable sides of your choice.
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I really wanted to like this as salmon is one of my favourite foods and the idea of a sticky glaze with it sounded great. Unfortunately I actually found the mirin glaze a bit too sickly sweet and was disappointed both times I attempted this recipe.
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This is a different twist on the traditional stir-fry, using cannellini beans as the starch base rather than rice or noodles. It is easy to make and very filling, but unfortunately I found it to be a bit bland.
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This is a fun dessert to make and bring to parties. It is rich and very filling and it's really delicious. I didn't bother adding the icing sugar to the top as I think the bars are sugary enough without them. These are very satisfying and I would only recommend if you have plenty of room in your tummy for them.
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I really liked these. The ingredients gave the chicken a nice, gentle flavour. These can be eaten hot or cold and I can imagine them being a good thing to take to a picnic, as Nigella did in the episode of the show in which she made them. In fact, that's probably what they're perfect for.
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A quick way of making hunter's chicken as a mid-week meal. This is hearty, comfort food that goes down well in the winter. Although the recipe uses cannellini beans as an option, after the first attempt I took Nigella's advice and served it with rice instead as a personal preference, which absorbed the sauce well and proved to be comforting and satisfying.
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101 One-pot Dishes: Tried-and-tested Recipes (Good Food 101)
By B.B.C. "Good Food Magazine"
BBC Books - 2006
I figured I'd try this as I usually like dishes with meatballs (heck, I pretty much like anything with ground meat) and as this calls for turkey mince it is fairly low in fat. As friederike mentioned that it seemed a bit like kids' food I took that to mean she thought it was kind of bland, so I used smoked paprika instead of normal paprika. Unfortunately I added a bit too much by accident and the dish came out a bit spicier than I intended. Oops! Thankfully I had some half fat creme fraiche in the fridge which my OH and I added to our plates to cool things down a bit. This was simple to make, though I think the, "quick," in the recipe title is a bit misleading, as it's quick once it's bubbling away on the stove, but you still have to spend a fair amount of time chopping the veggies and preparing the meatballs before they all get to the pan.
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The Philadelphia Cookbook: Heavenly Recipes Using Philadelphia
By Philadelphia UK
Ebury Press - 2008
This is an easy way to incorporate salmon into weekday cooking. You basically spread garlic and herb philly onto salmon fillets and top with breadcrumbs that have been mixed with lemon zest and chives and just bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes. It comes out juicy and flavourful and goes well with new potatoes and veg of your choice.
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Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2010
This is a good, easy recipe for entertaining as it only takes a few minutes to actually assemble and then stays in the oven for an hour. The red onion, chorizo and orange zest add lovely flavours and it's a great all-in-one dish with maybe a salad on the side.
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Baking Made Easy
By Lorraine Pascale
HarperCollins - 2011
As soon as i saw the title of this recipe I knew I had to try it. This is a no-bake cheesecake that sets in the refrigerator once assembled. The mascarpone, white chocolate, cream and amaretto flavours work well together, though I did find it to be a bit too sweet. It is also very rich so it's best eaten in small portions.
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BBC Olive
(May, 2011)
I was attracted to this recipe for it's simplicity and for the pretty colours in the photo, which are basically due to the flecks of green parsley and red chili amongst the pasta and crab. This is very simple to assemble once all the ingredients are prepped, though for a quick dish I did find it annoying to have to peel and slice five shallots, which is one of my least favourite things to do when cooking. In any case, the flavours worked fairly well together, though the lemon could have been stronger and maybe next time I'll just use half a chilli instead of a whole one as the OH and I found it a bit hot for our tastes. Still, it's a good, fairly healthy mid-week dish that I may play around with again.
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Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2010
A slightly healthier recipe for meatballs, using turkey instead of pork or beef. This is easy to make, though it takes a bit of time to roll all of the 50 tiny meatballs Nigella says you can eke out of the ingredients. I find this to be slightly on the bland side, but it's comfort food which I usually eat with rice, which soaks up the tomato sauce well.
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I don't normally make any sauce or gravy to go with lamb steaks, but as I had some port on hand I thought I'd give this a try. I'm glad I did as the simple sauce adds excellent flavour and made the lamb even more enjoyable.
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This is a quick way of frying up turkey or pork escalopes. The flavour is maximised with spices, garlic and lemon and is a really good mid-week meal accompanied by salad and potatoes of your choice.
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This is a quick cheat's way to small roast potatoes using, of all things, gnocchi. Having watched Nigella enthusiastically rave about this revelation of hers on her programme I figured I had to try it. Maybe it was because I baked mine (which is an option) instead of pan-frying them, but these came out way too crunchy and hard for me. I think I'll stick to new potatoes or small roast potatoes from now on, thanks.
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I'm never very successful at frying up breaded meat or fish in general, but this is one of the worst recipes for such a dish that I've tried. The recipe calls for instant polenta instead of the usual breadcrumbs. I found that it all fell right off straight out of the pan and the texture was just too gritty for my liking.
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This is a very easy and wonderfully flavourful way to serve up lamb. The recipe calls for chops, but I'm not a fan of gnawing on bones so I usually use lamb leg steaks, which works just fine. The most time consuming part of preparing this is lining up all of the spices this calls for, but once that's done all it takes is mixing the spices together, rubbing them onto the lamb and then frying the lamb in garlic oil. This tastes beautiful and is one of my OH's favourite dishes that I've made.
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As this cake is flour-free, it has more of a brownie, gooey consistency. The lime gives it an interesting twist of flavour and it is very easy to eat, though at the same time quite rich. It reminded my in-laws of the chocolate lime sweets of their childhood. I quite liked it and didn't bother with the accompanying recipe for margarita cream to be served with it, but I can imagine how it would work well if you like cream with your cake.
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There are plenty of recipes for this classic French dish out there, but being a fan of Nigella's easy to follow recipes, I figured I'd try this one. If you fear the overpowering sound of so much garlic, don't worry. Garlic gets much sweeter when roasted for a long time, as it is in this dish. This is easy to put together, and tasted very nice, but it didn't have the wow factor that I thought it would, considering it's such a well-known classic.
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This is a simple Sunday supper for two. It's as simple as it gets really as all you do is sear the duck legs first and then place them in a small tin surrounded by potatoes which is left in oven to cook for a couple of hours. Very nice.
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