redjanet's Reviews
205 recipes reviewed. Showing 101 to 150Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
New York Cult Recipes
By Marc Grossman
Murdoch Books - 2013
This has the authentic taste of macaroni salad in a vinegary mayonnaisey dressing that I remember eating occasionally as a kid, so if you can't find it anywhere then this is a good recipe to follow. That said, I would only recommend making it as a side dish or for a buffet and not as a main lunch dish to eat during the week as it is a bit heavy and claggy.
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Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2007
This was a quick, shortcut way of making macaroni and cheese. The cheese sauce was made with Red Leicester (which I tried for the first time and quite liked), eggs, evaporated milk and grated nutmeg and then poured over cooked macaroni to bake off in a hot oven. The results weren't as bubbly and drippingly cheesy as I hoped it would be, but more set into the pan and a bit coagulated. It did taste nice, but was quite rich. I'm not sure if I'd make this again.
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Website: BBC recipes
I've been trying to find ways to roast chicken without the skin on and still have flavour, and I'm very glad I stumbled across this recipe. I only marinated the chicken for ten minutes in the fridge while my oven pre-heated, but this had plenty of flavour once ready. I made my oven slightly hotter than suggested so the potatoes would be cooked in time, but they still could have used a bit longer so next time I may rest the chicken on it's own while leaving the potatoes to crisp up a bit longer. Overall, though, I was very pleased with this dish.
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Nigella Bites
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2001
This is one of the simplest recipes ever, but it is satisfying to eat. All it consists of is roasting pancetta in garlic oil for ten minutes and then tossing with linguine and maybe adding some parsley at the end if you like. It's really tasty and perfect for a weeknight when you're too tired to make much of an effort.
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The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
By Ree Drummond
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2009
This was simple and straightforward to make and overall I quite liked it. I'd never eaten clams before so I thought I'd give it a go, even if they were only from a tin. The sauce was nice and creamy and the texture of the clams with the freshness of the parsley went very well with the linguine. It was a nice Saturday night meal with a glass of wine. My only complaint was that the clams didn't have a very strong flavour, so aside from the texture they gave the sauce, which I liked, they didn't add very much to the dish. Maybe a stronger, bolder seafood in here would be better. Still, not too bad at all.
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Every Day
By Bill Granger
Murdoch Books - 2009
This was an okay dish of juicy roasted chicken legs with Asian influenced flavourings. With such ingredients as garlic, ginger and honey added to the chicken stock that the meat was cooked in, I expected this to have a bigger, bolder flavour than it did. It was a bit bland, really, but overall still pleasant enough to eat.
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BBC Good Food
(February, 2012)
Although a slightly bit more of a faff on a weeknight than I would have preferred, this was pretty successful for a low-fat curry. The sauce was fairly thick and creamy and the ground almonds, sultanas and onions in the sauce gave it texture, though I did think it still tasted a bit yogurty. My husband loved it and asked me to make it again.
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Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2008
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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The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight
By Hairy Bikers
W&N - 2012
This is a very good, warming, hearty dish for a cold evening. I used fresh thyme and dried rosemary and there was lots of flavour. It smelled great while it was cooking in the oven and my potatoes didn't come out as crisp as in the photo, but that's because the smell was making me too hungry to wait any longer!
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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 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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Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2010
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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BBC Olive
(May, 2011)
I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth my time spending about 2 1/2 hours on a recipe that is only meant to feed two, but I'm glad that I did. This is a slow-cooked take on a Greek dish using lamb neck fillet, flavoured with tomatoes, lemon juice, cinnamon and oregano. I forgot to purchase the fresh oregano which the recipe called for and used dry instead, and the dish was still quite flavourful. The sauce had a softly sharp tang from the lemon, but this was offset nicely by the cool, salty feta cheese sprinkled on just before serving. The simple accompaniment of small roasted potatoes, tossed before serving with lemon zest and sea salt was very good and I'll definitely be keeping this one for future use.
This recipe is available online here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1285648/lamb-kleftiko-with-lemon-roast-potatoes
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Website: BBC Good Food
I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth my time spending about 2 1/2 hours on a recipe that is only meant to feed two, but I'm glad that I did. This is a slow-cooked take on a Greek dish using lamb neck fillet, flavoured with tomatoes, lemon juice, cinnamon and oregano. I forgot to purchase the fresh oregano which the recipe called for and used dry instead, and the dish was still quite flavourful. The sauce had a softly sharp tang from the lemon, but this was offset nicely by the cool, salty feta cheese sprinkled on just before serving. The simple accompaniment of small roasted potatoes, tossed before serving with lemon zest and sea salt was very good and I'll definitely be keeping this one for future use.
This recipe was also printed in the May 2011 issue of BBC Olive magazine.
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Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2008
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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Forever Summer
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2005
This was simple to prepare and the sauce had a good, delicate flavour and was not overpoweringly fishy. It was a very pretty dish with the strong yellow colour provided by the turmeric (today I look like a pack a day smoker after rubbing the turmeric onto the fish!) and the flacks of red chilli throughout. My OH and I both liked it, though it was a bit too hot for me. I would give it a higher score, only I had a terrible stomach-ache after eating it! Not sure if it was something I did wrong, but suspect not as my OH was fine.
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Leon Book 2, Naturally Fast Food
By Henry Dimbleby, John Vincent
Conran Octopus - 2010
This was a really good, easy way to jazz up some frozen broad beans. All you do is cook them in a saucepan with some simmered chopped tomatoes and garlic and a bit of oil for about 15 minutes and you're done. It made a terrific side dish for roast chicken and was really good cold the next day for lunch mixed in with some couscous and leftover roast chicken. I don't have kids, but I imagine that the flavour added to the beans by the other ingredients would make it a possibly easier way to get some greens down their gullet.
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Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2010
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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Nigella Christmas: Food Family Friends Festivities
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2009
I'll admit that I'm not overly keen on fruit cake, but having declared I would bring dessert to my in-laws for Christmas I decided on this. This was indeed quite easy to make in advance of the big day and it kept well wrapped in baking parchment and tin foil in a baking tin, as instructed by Nigella. The cake itself was very moist and although the chocolate flavour wasn't overwhelming, it left a nice aftertaste and added an extra dimension.
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Website: The Slimming Foodie
Easy to make and went well with a salad and new potatoes, though most vegetables would go well with this. I found the sauce slightly too sweet and will probably use less sweetener if I make it again (which is likely considering my OH really enjoyed it), but overall it was a pleasing combination of flavours. Note, I used bacon medallions which didn't wrap around the chicken, resulting in the sauce messily leaking out all over the baking tray.
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Complete Cookery Course: Classic Edition
By Delia Smith
BBC Books - 1992
I decided to make this yesterday while my OH was watching the Hungarian Grand Prix. It was a pretty easy, straightforward stew of diced beef, onions, paprika, peppers, tinned tomatoes and sour cream stirred in at the end. Before I added the sour cream (or crème fraiche in my case) I realised that the stew smelled and tasted *exactly* like my paternal grandmother's (Eastern European Jewish), "Swedish," meatballs. Heh! Now I know her secret. In any case, this was a nice tasty dish which went well with rice and will be good to have up my sleeve when winter comes.
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Easy Meals
By Rachel Allen
Collins - 2011
The author suggests this can be eaten as a meal any time of the day, but for my husband and me it is great as a late Sunday morning breakfast/brunch. I only used one big red onion instead of two, as suggested, and two small red peppers instead of one and the sauce had a nice fresh flavour which went very well with the eggs and cheese. I forgot to sprinkle on the cheese and replace the lid before serving, but the cheese melted just as easily by sprinkling straight onto the hot eggs on the plate once dished up. I also served with baked beans and toast.
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The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life
By Ellie Krieger
Taunton - 2008
I was quite surprised but I did not like this at all. There was way too big a ratio of mustard to mayonnaise for my taste and I normally like honey mustard sauce. I made this to go with the crispy chicken fingers on the same page but then ended up just using store-bought barbecue sauce as a dip instead.
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The 30-minute Cook
By Nigel Slater
Penguin Books Ltd - 2006
This smelled delicious while cooking and tasted even better while eating. It's a fairly quick and easy stir-fry dish, but the mushrooms and walnuts give it a good heartiness and the hoisin sauce adds so much flavour. My spouse and I both loved it and I'll definitely be making it again. Goes very well with rice, though some greens with it would be nice as well just to add some freshness.
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BBC Good Food
(January, 2012)
This was adapted from Bill Granger's new "Everyday Asian," book and was simply delicious. I was looking for a way to use up some hoisin sauce and this recipe made a quick marinade and after just 15 minutes in the fridge and then 35 minutes in the oven, the chicken was juicy and with a flavourful, slightly crispy skin. I did not make the accompanying salad, but it does look like it would go very well with the chicken. I wasn't sure about buying this new book, but now I'm tempted.
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Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2013
Easy, tasty and healthy dish. Great flavours for summer or anytime. I wouldn't quite say it is "hit 'n' run" as between the chopping and cooking it takes over an hour, but it is easy to do and once you're finished prepping you can relax while it is cooking away in the oven and making your house smell nice.
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Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2007
edited on 27/08/12: I'm upgrading this to three stars as I decided to give this recipe another go in desperation for a quick, easy burger recipe that seemed relatively low in fat. This time I put the burgers in the fridge to firm up for about a half an hour before grilling them on my griddle pan. They still came out a bit soft for my liking, but the flavour was really good and my husband said he liked them and wouldn't mind having them again. So, for a quick burger recipe, it's not too bad. I served these on wholemeal rolls with cheese slices.
I was happy to see a burger recipe in a Nigella book as I normally don't have very good results when trying to make my own. Unfortunately, this recipe didn't really help me as, as usual for me, they came out a bit mushier than I was hoping for and the mixture was a bit too wet for my tastes. I didn't use a burger press as per Nigella's suggestion (I don't have one!), so maybe that's part of the problem.
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Good Mood Food: Simple Healthy Homecooking
By Donal Skehan
Mercier Press - 2010
I just made this for Sunday lunch and it was a very tasty way to serve chicken. You simply make a paste of garlic, thyme, basil, parsley and olive oil and spread it all over the bird (and under the skin of the breast), while also stuffing the cavity with lemon, thyme and rosemary. I served this with boiled new potatoes and a side of Italian broad beans (separate review forthcoming) and it all went very well together.
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Website: Foodie Fiasco
I was looking for a low-fat recipe for hummus to snack on with veg during the week and came across this. Glad I tried it as it has no oil added and a lot less tahini than in other recipes. It could still use a bit extra something else so I've added some paprika.
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BBC Good Food
(July, 2011)
This is a quick and easy meal that is perfect for a warm summer night. All it takes is grilling halved chicken breasts coated in Harissa paste and making a salad of chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, red onions, parsley and lemon juice, and that's it! Easy maybe, but the end result is a colourful and elegant looking dish. This was the first time I'd ever tried Harissa paste and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too hot after grilling (though I was careful and didn't go overboard to begin with).
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Nigella Bites
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2001
Incredibly easy, this was a great main dish to make on Christmas Eve. It felt rather strange pouring a whole bottle of coca cola into the pot to boil the ham in, but the result was delicious, especially after the ten minutes finished off in the oven with the treacle, English mustard powder and demerara sugar glaze. Very tasty indeed.
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Feast: Food That Celebrates Life
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2006
This isn't a casserole at all, but boiled green beans mixed in with butter, oil and lemon (which can be served in a casserole dish if you like!). This added some zingy, green freshness to an otherwise stodgy and meaty Thanksgiving feast. An easy, flavourful way of serving green beans which I'll definitely make again.
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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 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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Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2010
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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Good Mood Food: Simple Healthy Homecooking
By Donal Skehan
Mercier Press - 2010
This was surprisingly good and used only a few ingredients, making this a good midweek fairly heathy meal. I used asparagus instead of broccoli, as suggested, and boiled it in the same pan as the pasta (for the last five minutes) instead of steaming it to save some washing up. Very quick to pull together and the goat's cheese melts quickly and easily, so you don't need a lot of it for quite a bit of flavour.
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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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Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2007
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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Easy Meals
By Rachel Allen
Collins - 2011
This was very quick and easy to prepare within ten minutes, but I did find it overall a bit bland. It's a good store-cupboard recipe to have up your sleeve, though, so I think if I try it again I may add a squeeze of lemon juice and zest.
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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 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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Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
By Nigella Lawson
Chatto & Windus - 2010
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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Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2007
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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Ching's Chinese Food Made Easy: 100 Simple, Healthy Recipes from Easy-to-find Ingredients
By Ching-He Huang
Harper - 2010
A very nice, tasty way of roasting some chicken legs. The five-spice powder gave a good earthiness which complemented the other ingredients in the marinade, such as soy sauce, garlic and honey. I roasted my chicken a bit longer, and at a slightly higher temperature than the author suggested so I would get a more crispy skin and that worked well and the chicken stayed juicy inside. This went very well with rice on the side.
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Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year
By Del Sroufe, Julieanna Hever MS RD CPT, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Darshana Thacker, Judy Micklewright
The Experiment - 2012
Another good, quick week-night dinner using the Chinese brown sauce from page 35. As long as all of your veggies are prepped before you start, this is a very quick dish to make.
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Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2008
Very good fish pie recipe which is not too heavy and creamy like some. Full of vegetables and easy to make. The leftovers also tastes good cold, which is a good thing as I brought the remains to work for lunch and didn't want to make my office smell of fish by reheating in the microwave. My only small complaint is that celery is a bit awkward to grate (or maybe it's just me?) so I would recommend using a food processor to grate the vegetables and cheese.
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Website: So Vegan
I have to admit straight up here, I ended up not making 'fishcakes' out of this as the mix didn't bind enough for me to be able to form any semblance of patties without it falling apart. HOWEVER, I am still giving the recipe four stars as when I mixed it with vegan mayonnaise (using the recipe from Forks Over Knives - see separate review), it made the perfect chickpea tuna! I actually found it hard to stop eating and it was perfect for lunch on a bagel. I only used one nori sheet instead of the four the recipe specified, mainly because my hands were getting tired from snipping it, but in my opinion, one sheet was enough. Really delicious!
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The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
By Ree Drummond
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2009
This couldn't be simpler. I love fried bread and I love eggs, so this is a perfect quick cooked breakfast for me.
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Website: Melissa's Bargains
I was a bit unsure while I was making this how well it would turn out as I used a bit too much flour and the sauce seemed rather thin when poured over the chicken, but I needn't have worried. The end result was a rich, flavourful dish with juicy pieces of chicken which really did taste like a dish one might get from a Chinese takeaway, only a lot healthier. I may substitute different stir-fry vegetables next time, though the snow peas worked well, but I definitely will make this again.
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The 20-minute Cookbook: 200 Fuss Free Recipes - Quick and Easy Cooking for Every Kind of Occasion, with Over 800 Photographs and Step by Step Instructions to Guarantee Success
By Jenni Fleetwood
Lorenz Books - 2006
This was okay, but not terribly exciting. What with there being garlic, sesame oil, fish oil, a pinch of chilli flakes and soy sauce added to the mix, I expected there to be a lot more flavour, but ultimately it was rather bland. The duck was soft and tender and I used tenderstem broccoli instead of normal broccoli as I generally prefer it, but this didn't feel like it was something I particularly needed a recipe for, or at least not this one. I served it with basmati rice and added more soy sauce once cooked for extra flavour.
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Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2008
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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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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Jamie's 15-Minute Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Michael Joseph - 2012
This was nice, but nothing very exciting. The chilli and mint gave a nice kick of flavour to the courgettes and the pork was easy to prepare. I didn't bother with the pre-cooked brown rice and just steamed some plain white basmati rice on the side as I already had some in the house and it is also cheaper and even more less steps to do!
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