Kestrel's Reviews
229 recipes reviewed. Showing 151 to 200Sort by: Book Title 
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The New Vegetarian Epicure: Menus--with 325 all-new recipes--for family and friends
By Anna Thomas
Knopf - 1996
I really love this vegetable stew. It's another great way to use garden veggies late in the season. I use a light chicken stock and I often substitute some green beans for the kale. The amounts given can be adjusted according to what you have; I sometimes add a few more tomatoes. The white wine adds a lot to this recipe and I always include it. Don’t freeze as texture will suffer.
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Website: Nigella.com
A great recipe that uses store cupboard ingredients and is easy to make. A good way to use up overripe bananas and they freeze well too.
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Website: Orangette
These were nice scones. I used white whole wheat flour in mine along with organic apricots. I also added some coarse sugar on top. Very easy to make.
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Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook
By Yotam Ottolenghi
Ten Speed Press - 2018
Great way to use cherry tomatoes and basil from the garden. Truly a simple recipe of pasta, sauce, and cheese, and I'm sure the sauce would freeze well.
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Pizza, Focaccia, Flat and Filled Breads For Your Bread Machine: Perfect Every Time
By Lora Brody
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1995
I made a hybrid of this recipe with the stuffed rosemary focaccia and it made an absolutely delicious stuffed bread. I halved everything to make one 7” bread in a springform pan. I used the rosemary focaccia dough…started with 1/2 cup red fife flour and 1 cup all purpose. This dough needed extra flour to come together. I made the filling with greens from the garden with olives, garlic, and raisins, and threw in a few roasted cherry tomatoes for sharpness. Baked as directed for the dough recipe (20 min at 450 fan) then 3 minutes out of the tin. This bread would be great for company. Rating this as 5 stars despite having to add flour since it tasted so good, and the dough was lovely to work with. An excellent bread that I will definitely make again
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Very good. I ran out of mustard and used 1 cup of spelt flour so had to add a bit more water to compensate. I reduced the salt to 1.5 tsp and used fresh rosemary from the garden. Baked 425 fan 20 min then removed pan for 2 additional minutes.
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Plenty More
By Yotam Ottolenghi
Ebury Press - 2014
My first recipe from this book, and I found it really easy to make and delicious. I made quite a few changes; I mixed up the onion/garlic/pepper base the night before and soaked the beans. I used small red beans instead of chickpeas and also subbed my own Thai chilies from the garden for the red peppers. The next morning I cooked up the sauce and added everything to my crock pot on low. (I skipped the pre cooking of beans as red beans cook faster.) Then had time to head out to my allotment to do a few hours of work. After 5 hrs I turned up to high and propped open for about an hour to reduce liquid somewhat. Delicious on home made rosemary bread.
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Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London's Ottolenghi
By Yotam Ottolenghi
Ten Speed Press - 2014
My first recipe from this book, and I found it really easy to make and delicious. I made quite a few changes; I mixed up the onion/garlic/pepper base the night before and soaked the beans. I used small red beans instead of chickpeas and also subbed my own Thai chilies from the garden for the red peppers. The next morning I cooked up the sauce and added everything to my crock pot on low. (I skipped the pre cooking of beans as red beans cook faster.) Then had time to head out to my allotment to do a few hours of work. After 5 hrs I turned up to high and propped open for about an hour to reduce liquid somewhat. Delicious on home made rosemary bread.
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Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi
By Yotam Ottolenghi, Jonathan Lovekin
Chronicle Books - 2011
Like the other reviewers, I found this to be really good. It's very easy to make. I used a combo of potatoes and eggplant in mine along with the tomatoes, onions and cheese. I had to reduce the amount of cheese substantially since about 30 g was all I had. I imagine it would be very rich with all the cheese, but we found the reduced amount to be enough. Mine turned out of the pan perfectly, much to my surprise!
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Website: Recipezazz
Loved this technique of cooking potatoes. I did the prep the night before and then just oven roasted the next day. Very good result for very little work. I might play with the balance of flavours next time but otherwise liked it a lot. I used white potatoes and that worked fine.
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The River Cottage Cookbook
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Simon Wheeler
Ten Speed Press - 2008
This makes a really good tasting ketchup, and uses tomatoes and peppers from the garden. It's a fair bit of work, but very easy to make. I kept mine in jars in the freezer for longer term storage, but this could be processed in a water bath if needed. I found this excellent with roasted potatoes.
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River Cottage Everyday
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2009
This is a lovely cake and so easy to make. I love the addition of ground almonds with the chocolate. I made a half recipe and baked in a smaller tin at 350 convection for 25 minutes. It doesn't rise a lot; the final texture is more brownie like and less like a fluffy cake. Will definitely make this again and again.
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I first made this recipe after seeing it on the program, and it is excellent with different meats including pork, my own salted beef, and even leftover deli meats. The fennel, potatoes, and meat make for a great tasting combo. I don't usually add the mint. Very quick and easy to make.
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These worked well, although I used a different pastry that I had in the fridge. The quality of this dish depends on how good your leftover stew is...I added some peas to mine and really liked them in the finished product. I froze the leftovers and I'm pretty sure they will reheat well. Will definitely repeat these.
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Really good. I reduce the cumin due to personal taste. Freezes well and tastes great.
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I really liked these brownies. Very rich despite the beetroot. I make sure the beetroot is cut fine, put in a little less and spread a bit thinner.
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Absolutely loved this dish! I used about 1/3 of the butter and it was still good, and used large portobello mushrooms. Took a little longer to cook the large mushrooms. We had these on my sourdough seedy rolls with buttermilk cheese sauce and salad. Definitely a repeat.
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River Cottage Fruit Every Day!
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2013
This is a really nice cake. I used butter instead of coconut fat; the resulting cake was tasty and moist. Will definitely make this again.
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I loved this cake; I did make a lot of changes, however. I made this cake to use up some leftover mincemeat and substituted that for the marmalade and the sultanas by weight. I also made a half recipe. I loved the chunks of apple in the finished cake. I found it was fully cooked in less time than stated; 25 minutes at 350 fan for my half recipe. Mine was a little on the sweet side since my mincemeat was probably sweeter than marmalade. Froze well.
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River Cottage Light & Easy: Healthy Recipes for Every Day
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2014
Excellent soup! Made from frozen roasted garden tomatoes from last fall and my own chicken stock, this was very quick to make and tasted great. I used some sunflower butter instead of the cashews, and added the optional pinch of sugar. Tastes like a blast of summer.
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River Cottage Love Your Leftovers: Recipes for the Resourceful Cook
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2015
I made a combination of this recipe and the chili beef noodles on the following page. I made the sauce from this recipe, then toasted nuts and cooked noodles from the other recipe. Then combined leftover beef, shaved carrots, and chopped parsley. Sprinkled some dukkah on the finished dish. Very good.
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I'm really enjoying this book and its collection of adaptable recipes. I changed a lot in this dish, but kept the aromatics and seasonings the same. I used rice noodles, leftover beef and changed the vegetables. I used Tuscan kale in place of the spinach and garlic scapes for the beans. I omitted the nuts entirely, but I'm sure they would be delicious. The result was easy to make and very tasty. Will definitely make again.
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This recipe is a variation of a previous recipe in the river cottage fish book, and it"s a really nice combination of flavours and textures. I omitted the onion from mine, and added capers. This recipe is available on the river cottage website. Very simple to make and delicious.
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I used whipping cream and the jam jar method. It takes about 30 minutes of shaking the jar to make butter since you are basically whipping the cream and then taking it too far until the butter separates. A pretty fun project, and an interesting way to use up some extra cream.
Larger amounts of cream can be whipped in the food processor. The resulting butter tastes great.
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The River Cottage Preserves Handbook
By Pam Corbin, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Ten Speed Press - 2010
Great jam and very easy to make. I will omit the pits next time as I don't think they added anything. Could add a bit of almond extract as desired.
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If you have a lot of apple cores and peels, or a crop of crab apples, this is a nice way to use them. I go a bit lighter on the citrus peel, resulting in a milder flavour.
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This is one of my favourite pickles. I started making it when I had a glut of fennel from the garden and now I grow fennel specially for this recipe. It's mild in flavour with hints of the lemon and black pepper. Very easy to make, keeps forever in the fridge.
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Really great recipe for piccalilli. It tastes good when first made, but improves and mellows after a few weeks. A good way to use cauliflower and beans for the garden. I usually make a bit less than 1 kg of veg and keep the sauce at the same amount and it's just right.
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I grew a lot of garlic this year, so I decided to try this pickle with a few heads. I made a half recipe; note that the liquid portion wasn’t enough to cover, possibly due to the jars I used and the size of the cloves. Used bay and fennel seed from the garden too. Will update this in a few weeks when it’s had time to mature.
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River Cottage Veg: 200 Inspired Vegetable Recipes
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Appetite by Random House - 2013
I made an adaptation of this with carrots and spinach substituted for the leeks and kale, and I also used my own chicken stock. The result was a very good speltotto although the texture is different from a traditional risotto. Very easy to make and I'll definitely make again.
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A great way to eat beets. I make a selection of different hummus of various colours to have with homemade crackers. This one freezes well. If you don't like cumin, reduce the amount by half.
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This is a very simple recipe and is very tasty. I kept the garlic whole and kept an eye on it as the veggies roasted, since others have commented that it can burn. I used my preserved salted herbs on this after roasting which added a nice herby flavour.
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Really good simple coleslaw. I used red cabbage and more cilantro in addition to the carrots. I also added some black rice vinegar to the dressing and scattered some seeds on top. Peanuts would be a nice addition. Keeps well in the fridge, I will definitely repeat this.
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This makes a tasty and nutritious soup, and it’s easy to put together. I used small red beans instead of the cannellini beans (soaked overnight in lightly salted water, then added to soup and simmered 40 minutes). I made my own chilli oil and also added a whole bunch of fresh spinach at the end. I used chicken stock for my soup, since I’m not a fan of veg stock.
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A delicious easy tart that makes good use of heirloom tomatoes. My only change is to bake the tart much longer than stated. Perhaps there are differences in puff pastry, but mine takes at least 40 min to be fully cooked. I increase the initial bake time accordingly to about 30 min, and the second to about 15 min.
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River Cottage Veg Every Day! (River Cottage Every Day)
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2011
Really good simple coleslaw. I used red cabbage and more cilantro in addition to the carrots. I also added some black rice vinegar to the dressing and scattered some seeds on top. Peanuts would be a nice addition. Keeps well in the fridge, I will definitely repeat this.
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This makes a tasty and nutritious soup, and it’s easy to put together. I used small red beans instead of the cannellini beans (soaked overnight in lightly salted water, then added to soup and simmered 40 minutes). I made my own chilli oil and also added a whole bunch of fresh spinach at the end. I used my homemade chicken stock for my soup, since I’m not a fan of veg stock.
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Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More
By Cory Schreiber, Julie Richardson
Ten Speed Press - 2009
One of my favourite desserts! The ginger and rhubarb work very well together, and the resulting cake is moist and delicious.
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Website: Sally's Baking Addiction
A lovely summer cake. I used peaches and some fresh blueberries and split the batter between 2 cakes. (One 7” and one 6” cake). My smaller cake was a bit less deep but that was fine. Small took 45 min, larger took 50 min tented for the last 5 minutes. This cake was delicious and very easy. Will definitely repeat this one. Slices froze very well.
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Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
By Samin Nosrat, Wendy MacNaughton
Simon & Schuster - 2017
Really enjoyed this salad. I have fennel, parsley, celery etc from the garden, and also added a bit of dill. Used almonds as the nuts. As the previous reviewer said, the currants and nuts go very well together. Excellent salad, a definite repeat for me.
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Website: Seasons and Suppers
Very quick and good. I have used udon or other Asian noodles. Veggies can be adapted depending on what you have.
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Website: Simply Recipes
Very nice use of cucumbers and chili crisp. The recipe gives several choices for the noodles so I used rice noodles. Really delicious summer recipe.
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Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables
By Joshua McFadden, Martha Holmberg
Artisan - 2017
Delicious way to cook up broccoli and potatoes from the garden. I used lime juice instead of lemon which worked well. Will definitely repeat.
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I really loved this simple salad. I subbed prunes for the dates which worked fine. Easy way to eat a substantial amount of celery.
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Website: Skinny Taste
I only made the cheesecake (no crust or topping) and cooked sous vide at 80* C for 60 min in jars. The recipe made 5 medium jars (probably would be about 8 4oz jars). I did sub regular cream cheese, and used 1 whole egg instead of egg white. The result was a very nice cheesecake that had a nice tang due to the yogurt. I will top these with crumble and fruit for a reverse cheesecake. Will make again.
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Website: Skinny Taste
Really good, very easy recipe that uses cucumbers from the late summer garden. I also adjusted the sriracha to taste and used a bit more cucumber.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I also love this recipe. It's convenient since it uses no dairy products (helpful if you've run out of them). I use olive oil for the butter and switch the add-ins depending on what I have, and I also use the lower amount of sugar. It freezes well.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I made these in my new instant pot (meat setting 5 minutes pressure then 10 minute natural release) as suggested in one of the comments. I found these to be fine and very easy to make, however the flavour was a bit bland. The next day they tasted better. I might make again and would try sautéing the meatballs first. In the IP they took only about 25 minutes after chilling. Second time around I garnished with some grated cheese, avocado, and arugula and that improved things.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This is a snap to make and can be very good, depending on the chocolate used and the amount of sugar. Be sure to read the notes that precede the recipe. For me, semi sweet chocolate and 1/2 cup sugar is just a bit too sweet, although the kids liked it. Grated orange zest is a nice addition. I found the instructions accurate as to timing. Serving size is huge; a half recipe gives 6 small servings, which is fine since it's pretty rich with all that chocolate. A definite repeat.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This is more of a bread than a cake as it's not too sweet. Mine rose well, tasted good, and had a nice texture. The spices could probably be increased although I'd keep the cinnamon the same. Very easy to make and uses pantry staples that I always have on hand. Definitely will make again. Took 60 minutes at 350 convection.
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