Sovay's Profile

From: Northern England,

Joined: October 7th, 2012

About me: I've embarked on a mission to cook something new from every cookery book I own - currently 260 - and am planning to use my account here to keep track (thanks to rfb from Librarything for tipping me off to the existence of this site). I've made a couple of rules for myself: to cook the recipe as given, with no substitution or variation unless suggested by the author; and to try to pick a genuinely new dish from each book - in other words, as I've cooked many Leek and Potato Soups in my time, I don't get to count Leek and Potato Soup as a new dish just because I haven't used this specific recipe before (unless it has really significant differences from the usual versions).


Latest review:

June 10th, 2019

Hodge Podge from Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book

Beef and vegetable soup with beer - turned out disappointingly bland. The recipe had no seasoning other than salt and pepper - having tried it, I added a stock cube and some Worcester sauce, which helped... read more >


recipe reviews (241)
book reviews (5)
useful review votes (43)

Sovay's Reviews


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3 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 3Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

The 30-minute Cook: The Best of the World's Quick Cooking (Penguin cookery books)

By Nigel Slater, Juliet Dallas-Conte, Kevin Summers
Penguin Books Ltd - 1996

5th May 2013 (edited: 5th May 2013)

An Indian Way with a Fish Fillet : page 125

The only slight problem I had with this was that the herb and garlic paste was a bit watery - I had to let it drain a little so that it wouldn't dilute the yoghurt. Having consulted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for advice on suitable seasonal fish, I used pouting fillets and they were (as he warns) a bit on the soft side - would have benefited from brief salting if I'd had time.

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30th May 2019

Cannellini Bean Croquettes : page 226

Nice flavour and texture once cooked, but Nigel's not kidding when he says the mixture is "quite soft". Getting the croquettes shaped, egged, crumbed and into a pan is a challenge (though they do firm up pretty quickly once they start frying). Next time I may add a bit of flour or a few breadcrumbs to the mixture though this may dilute the flavour which is quite subtle.

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30th May 2019

Chicken with Lemon and Olives : page 157

Possibly my favourite recipe in this book - simple but powerful. I have made a few adjustments over the years, viz.

I take the skin off the chicken and use about half the amount of oil - just a little in the marinade and the rest to brown the chicken and onions.

Preserved lemons are easier to find these days than they were in 1994 - I use a small one plus the zest and juice of one fresh lemon. The pulp of the preserved lemon goes in the marinade, with a little of the fresh lemon juice if needed to make a paste (since there is less oil).

I don't add the saffron - it is ridiculously expensive so I generally save it for dishes where it's the principal or even the only spice. I sometimes add powdered ginger - about half a tsp.

I scrape the marinade off the chicken before browning as otherwise it tends to catch. I add it back in with the turmeric and olives and preserved lemon rind.

I sometimes add veg for more of a tagine-style result - carrot and fennel work well.

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