broadbean's Reviews
55 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
Website: 101 Cookbooks
I bought the wrong kind of tofu for this recipe, and I don't like courgettes, so this ended up being a three-ingredient dish: onions, chickpeas, and greens. Even so, it was really delicious - I was a bit worried when I was cooking it, thinking of other seasoning that I could put in, but fortunately my other half talked me down. Also very quick and easy to make - fine to use tinned chickpeas. Jan 2011.
useful (2)
Website: 101 Cookbooks
Tasty basic lentil soup recipe. I added in handfuls of fresh herbs as I have some around.
useful (2)
Website: 101 Cookbooks
There's nothing wrong with this recipe - after all, it has several of my favourite things in it - but it is a little on the bland side. I know this is what I always say, but a bit of extra spice - perhaps cumin or garam masala - would pep it up and make it much nicer.
useful (3)
Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon
By Claudia Roden
Knopf - 2006
This is a nice dip/starter, which is fairly easy to make, if a little time-consuming (roasting the aubergine and stewing the tomatoes). But it can be made in advance. The coriander makes it very fresh-tasting.
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This is a delicious salad (I used pumpkin oil because I didn't have argan, I think any nutty oil would do the trick). If you are making a Middle Eastern meal it's a good counterpoint to the other dishes, since it's lighter and has quite different flavours.
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Another good pre-cookable side dish to go with a Middle Eastern style meal. I needed to add more water to the potatoes several times. But it doesn't matter if they burn a little as it adds to the sweetness of the dish. Quite simple to prepare.
useful (1)
This is a very simple recipe which turns out extremely delicious! I added some bouquet garni while the liquid cooked down, which worked well.
useful (2)
Asian Noodles: Deliciously Simple Dishes To Twirl, Slurp, And Savor
By Nina Simonds
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1997
This recipe made a perfectly tasty bowl of noodles, but it seems like one of those dishes which is so simple, you don't really need a recipe. I will certainly remember the idea of putting some minced-up ginger into noodle soups - that gave it a lovely freshness.
Changes: I used a ready-make Japanese stock instead of making the broth myself, and pine nuts instead of walnuts.
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Garlicky and easy to cook. But too salty - if I made it again I would reduce the amount of soy sauce.
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The main element of this dish is chicken strips, marinated overnight in chopped lemongrass and fish sauce, then seared. The texture of the seared chicken is lovely, but the overnight marination in fish sauce makes it inedibly salty.
It also uses a satay sauce recipe which appears separately in the book, so I will review it separately.
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I wonder if the fish sauce in my cupboard is a lot saltier than the fish sauce which Nina Simonds uses. I can't imagine that anyone would actually want to eat the sauce that I made from this recipe. I hate waste, but I have had to throw the lot away.
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This dish (zaru soba) is one of my favourite things to order in a Japanese restaurant. Until now, I have never been able to recreate it at home.
Very simple, as long as you have the right ingredients (dashi and wasabi).
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Bowl Food: Comfort Food for People on the Move (Laurel Glen Little Food Series)
By Editors of Laurel Glen
Laurel Glen - 2002
Tasty and quick pasta dish.
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A very tasty, quick and easy version of a Thai chicken salad.
useful (1)
YUM! Very quick and tasty, largely storecupboard based.
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A Celebration of Soup: With Classic Recipes from Around the World (Cookery Library)
By Lindsey Bareham
Penguin Books Ltd - 2001
This is a very good basic minestrone recipe. I usually end up adapting it to suit whatever I have in the fridge (and adding a slice of preserved lemon, which adds a lovely tang when boiled soft).
useful (3)
Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India
By Chandra Padmanabhan
Periplus Editions - 1999
Good, quick basic rasam recipe. When it says 'a lemon-sized piece of tamarind pulp'... think small lemons!
useful (1)
Website: Gourmette NYC
Quick and tasty - pasta with a sauce of yogurt, mint, lemon zest, peas. A good storecupboard staple.
useful (1)
Website: Herbivoracious
When the spices were frying off, the kitchen smelt fantastic. When I first started eating the soup I was a bit disappointed as it wasn't that strongly flavoured, but as it got a bit cooler the subtlety started to come through. I still found it a little bit too sweet and not hot (chilli) enough, but it was good - and also good the next day.
useful (1)
Website: Hungry Cravings
Tasty, but not quite as advertised.
There's only a few ingredients in this dish, but it came out very tasty. It doesn't look anything like the photo though, and I wouldn't really call it a pilaf - when I made this, it took so long for the quinoa to be cooked that the squash had cooked right down, so it was more of a thick porridge consistency. I put some toasted pine nuts on the top for a bit of variety in the texture, and that worked well.
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Website: Keep It Skinny
This is so simple it almost doesn't count as a recipe. But it's a delicious, herby brunch idea. I tend to use whatever herbs are growing particularly well from my windowbox. Lemon balm is particularly good!
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Ken Hom Travels with a Hot Wok
By Ken Hom
BBC Books - 2002
This is a recipe for a delicious aubergine paste for crostini. I actually make it in huge quantities and serve it as a side - people always love it!
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Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery
By Ken Hom
Harpercollins - 1986
This is one of my favourite dishes - the rich, flavourful sauce with the smooth, fresh beancurd. It's easy to make, too. But ignore the bit where Ken Hom says that the Sichuan peppercorns are optional - they're essential!
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A quick, simple stir-fried pork dish. Not bad.
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Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking
By Yamuna Devi
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust - 1987
Tasty panir recipe. But I would add the peas from frozen and closer to the end. Not very authentically Indian, but personal preference.
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Dryish potato curry with a tomato sauce. Simple to make (although the recipe told you to make a spice mix and then didn't tell you when to add it to the rest of the recipe...). It was pretty good but I don't think I would cook it again, mainly because I know nicer dry potato curry recipes! (one on the previous page to this one).
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Potatoes marinated in seasoned yogurt, then fried off until the yogurt makes a nice crust. The flavour of the seasoned yogurt is delicious.
I actually ate this with some yogurt on the side - not yoghurt overkill, as this dish is pretty dry by the time it's finished cooking.
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Website: The Messy Cook
Sigh. My search for a reliable pho recipe goes on. I enjoyed preparing the broth for this, but I don't understand how something with so many delicious ingredients in it can be so bland! It was lovely after I'd mixed in all the toppings and sauces - but then, pretty much anything would be.
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Website: The New Vegetarian - Ottolenghi (Guardian)
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/series/thenewvegetarian
This is basically like a hummous, but made from squash rather than chickpeas. It's a good idea, but I found it a little bland, and not worth the hassle of roasting the squash. I might try it again using one of my favourite hummous recipes (eg Nigella Lawson's) and just substitute roast squash for the chickpeas in that.
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Nigel Slater's Real Food
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate - 2000
As the title says, very simple and tasty. My local supermarket only sells boneless chicken pieces so I cooked it for much less time, so it was very juicy and succulent. I also tossed in some Thai basil instead of parsley, which was tasty too.
Next time, will try with capers and thyme instead of parsley and lemon.
useful (1)
Website: Orangette
This is one of my favourite recipes - a pasta sauce made with five different kinds of alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, spring onions, and chives). It might sound a bit strange, but it's fantastic - and also an amazing demonstration of the magic of cooking, as the caramelising onion loses its sharpness and turns warming and sweet...
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Website: Orangette
Thick, gloppy tomato soup - perfect for when the weather is turning cold.
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Website: Orangette
Simple, quick, delicious and healthy! Next time I might add cracked coriander seed.
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Relax, it's Only Food
By John Torode, Sheila Keating, David Loftus
Quadrille Publishing Ltd - 2000
Very nice. Next time try adding coriander. Also, I used a hotter oven, for less time.
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Delicious - especially the garlic, which comes out the most lovely, sticky, crunchy, caramelised thing.
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I found this quite a lot of hassle to make, but if you like to make potato cakes you're used to that, and the flavours are very interesting.
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I love this recipe. However, I skip the last stage (adding the creme fraiche) and I prefer to make it early (even a day early) and leave it for the flavours to steep. Can be served warm or room temp.
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The Return of the Naked Chef
This is a favourite recipe of mine, and (like most of Jamie Oliver's recipes) very easy to do. The lentils are also fantastic on their own.
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Roast Chicken and Other Stories: Second Helpings
By Simon Hopkinson, Flo Bayley
Macmillan - 2001
Delicious, and very simple to make.
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Unusual risotto using pea shoots. I would recommend adding them about halfway through the cooking, rather than from the very start as suggested in the recipe. I liked this, but it seems a shame to have peashoots (which are not easy to buy in the UK) and not to stir-fry them!
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An unusual but delicious sauce (for pasta) made with sausagemeat and chicken livers. Nicer if you leave the meat a little coarse.
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Good. Could try the gingery sponge on its own?
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(I couldn't find smoked haddock in the supermarket so used smoked mackerel.) Very nice! The last 5 ingredients are probably optional.
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This is a delicious spicy soup, very simple to cook. I added a handful of red lentils and some cooked rice to make it a bit more substantial.
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Good way to use up fresh herbs. Vegetarian.
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Next to this recipe in the book, I have written 'yum, yum, yum'. Simple, quick and delicious!
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Tasty. Not sure how braising veg with white pepper and wine always ends up with a parmesan-y taste...
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Coconut milk is NOT a good addition to a dhal recipe - much too rich. I liked the fresh mint added at the end, though.
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Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook
By Sarah Raven, Jonathan Buckley
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2007
Fennel and prawn - a classic combination. This is a good recipe, but when I tried it at the end of cooking the taste was a little thin, so I added in some spearmint and parmesan, which really brought out the flavour of the fennel. It would also be possible to add in spring veg like asparagus, peas.
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This is basically a Thai soup-lite. Tasty enough (well, it's got all of my favourite things in it), and a good basic storecupboard recipe - I think you could use it to use up any greens that you had in the fridge. Also, the coconut milk is optional.
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