bunyip's Reviews
225 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
A Year of Good Eating: The Kitchen Diaries III
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate - 2015
As Nigel says, you don't have to use focaccia so long as you have something to soak up the pan juices. I used polenta.
Very tasty although my juniper berries were rather ancient. I have bought a fresh packet and will definitely make it again.
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Dill, bacon and pasta? It works a treat.
Results in something like carbonara, but thickened with cream and quite a lot of parmesan instead of eggs. Would be a good substitute dish for anyone who can't eat eggs, so long as you don't use egg pasta as I did.
I did the usual thing of adding a little of the cooking water, without which I think the sauce might have been too thick.
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Quick and easy, provided you've got fresh shiitake mushrooms and Chinese sausage.
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Asparagus and blue cheese - who would have thought?
Thin asparagus seemed more suitable, and of course I used Charmain Solomon's no-roll pastry, which doesn't need blind baking. Very rich!
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I do like freekeh, it tastes better than either burghul or brown rice. I cook it in the microwave as if it were brown rice.
Used this dish as a side this time, but it would do well as a light lunch. It's quite colourful with yellow peppers and green herbs.
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As often happens with Nigel Slater, his recipe does not need to be followed slavishly. Thus I used small porterhouse steaks, and frozen spinach (Jamie Oliver has convinced me that frozen is better value and less faffing around).
The final result was very a very good complete meal. Next time i will do it with chump chops.
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You can have too much cooking lamb shanks in tomato. Using wheat beer makes a change. I ran into trouble with the pan boiling dry - and of course hubby had drunk the left over beer. Rescued with water, the final sauce was good.
I will make this again, but adapt it to the pressure cooker which should get the meat tender without losing too much liquid.
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Smoked mackerel, like elderflower cordial, appears frequently in British cookbooks but is not readily available in this country. I substituted poached smoked cod with a satisfactory result.
The quantity is supposed to be enough for 2, but does not specify that they should both be men with hearty appetites. No matter, our dogs are used to gourmet leftovers!
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Simple but delicious. Poaching the fish in 600 ml of cream (that's two bottles), which is then poured over the fish and pasta, sounds richer than it is. This is partly due to the dill in the crumb topping.
I served with a salad of asparagus and tomato for a light Sunday night meal.
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Virginia Hill's Learn to Microwave
By Virginia Hill
Viking - 1994
Yes really! It's not any qucker than the conventional method, but there are timees when it's more convenient.
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Very Simple Food
By Jill Dupleix
Hardie Grant Publishing - 2000
An inspired combination.
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If you don't deep-fry, try these which are baked in a muffin tray. The quantity (12) can be halved. Great for picnics.
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The original recipe is for stuffing pushed between deep cuts in a leg of lamb. On impulse I bought a boned shoulder and used the stuffing - anchovies, capers, lemon rind, garlic, parsley and EVO. Not bad at all.
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Finding myself with a rindless lemon that had to be used I tried this ridiculously simple dessert. Cream, caster sugar and lemon juice, for goodness sake! Very rich. Only warning is that it needs at least three hours in the fridge to set.
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From time to time I knock up something like this to use up left-over chicken, but I have to say that the sauce, which includes Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard, makes this very tasty.
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I've made this a few times and it tastes OK, but I just don't seem to be able to achieve the promised golden crunch.
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Vegetables
By Beverley Sutherland Smith
Viking Australia - 1994
So called because the recipe originated at the Russian Tea Room in New York! This is eggplant in a creamy, rich sauce, baked with cheese on top. Good lunch dish.
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This is Beverley's Parsnip Puff (q.v.) and a very similar carrot puree, assembled in a shallow casserole in a checkerboard pattern, covered in buttered breadcrumbs and baked until just set.
Looks very impressive, but a bit fiddly for everyday meals. Of course it tastes delicious.
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Unlike Jane Grigson's version which uses bacon, this relies on curry powder to give it a lift. I dunno, I always wonder whether jerusalem artichokes are worth the bother - you expend so much energy peeling the damn things you've already burned up the calories you get from eating them.
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Tender
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate - 2011
Not difficult, if you remember to marinade the chops at least an hour ahead of time. Caramelize the apple pieces, fry the chops with their oil, deglase the pan with cider and finish with cream.
Delicious, though there is a lot of sauce, which makes me think that mash might be better than the suggested plain boiled potatoes.
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Hardly cooking at all, more assembly really. I had trouble finding a dish big enough to take four apples and a quince (chopped up of course) in a single layer.
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This is another of Slater's basically uncomplicated recipes, but you've got to have confidence in your pastry-handling abilities! The pastry is very, very short and needs to be rolled out between two sheets of baking paper.
I used little pie tins, not having small enough tins with removable bottoms. The pies turned out of the tins without any problems, notwiithstanding the anticipated breakout of juice from the filling.
That said, the pies were delicious and well worth the effort.
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The method was (to me anyway) a bit unusual. Melt the butter with the sugar, honey and golden syrup - I know, but it's not as sweet as you expect - and mix into the flour. Then add the milk and egg and stir till you get a sloppy batter.
It all just fitted in my lamington pan, and the batter rose magnificently over the plums. The result was slightly sticky like gingerbread. "Is it a cake or a dessert?" asks hubby. As the title suggests, it's both.
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I used dried apricots and cooked it in a moderate oven with a piece of baking paper over the top (under the lid). Served with rice. Could have done with a larger quantity of carrot, I think.
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Taste of Class
By Beverley Smith
Lansdowne Press - 2000
Not vegetarian, there's bacon in it. The author is right, it looks a bit ordinary, but it's delcious. And it's not bad as an omlette filling.
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Taste in Time: 60 Minute Menus
By Beverly Sutherland Smith
Horizon Book Promotions - 1986
The book falls open at this stained page. I made it a lot in the 1980s and discovered years later that it was really a version of marchand de vin sauce.
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The hamburgers are reliably moist because there's cream in the mix, apparently a a James Beard trick.
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A Taste for All Seasons
By Beverley Sutherland Smith
Penguin Books Australia - 1991
Horseradish and mustard gives it a bit of a bite. Don't bother unmoulding it.
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Dead simple if you can get freestone peaches. A bit messy if they're clingstones, but still worth the effort.
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One of my regulars, I can make it without the recipe. All the ingredients of cauliflower with cheese sauce mashed up together. Use the food processor (not invented when the recipe was written).
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Festive looking for Christmas if the cherries are in early enough. Cherries cooked in red wine and brandy, then a lemon yoghurt layer. Make it in a glass bowl and don't bother trying to unmould it.
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A regular in my repertoire, a doddle with the stick blender.
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Make sure the leeks are cooked until really tender.
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Website: Taste
I used shoulder lamb instead of shanks. This is one of those dishes which involves a bit of preliminary chopping up but then you just bung it in the oven and go about your business. Plating up is a doddle.
Next time I would double the amount of tomato paste and possibly add a little bit of salt.
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Website: Taste
There's fennel in there as well, but it got a bit overwhelmed. As usual the first time, I followed the recipe faithfully. However the end result seemed a bit bland. And I think that three hours might have been maybe half an hour longer than necessary for pork neck.
I must report that the leftovers make excellent sandwiches.
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Website: Taste
This is really a sort of risotto. I used it to stretch two pork sausages and the result was hearty and tasty but not palate challenging. Would probably appeal to kids.
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Stephanie's Menus for Food Lovers
By Stephanie Alexander
Methuen Haynes - 1986
Absolutely the best tomato soup, made with frozen tomatoes in the winter, and frozen chicken stock, thickened with potato flour. A food processor or stick blender will not do, you must use a mouli to trap the skins and seeds.
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Soup: A Global History (Reaktion Books - Edible)
By Janet Clarkson
Reaktion Books - 2010
From How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption by the famous early twentieth century American scientist George Washington Carver.
Unusual but sounds worth trying.
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I agree with the author that it's probably not as weird as it sounds. Spiced butter cake with dates and walnuts, held together with a tin of tomato soup.
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Simple Food
By Jill Dupleix
Hardie Grant Books - 2002
Tinned white beans, tuna in oil, anchovy fillets, lemon juice and black pepper, all whizzed in a blender, though I use the stick blender. Served on toast smeared with garlic and olive oil it makes a tasty (and nutritionally sound) lunch. I am reliably informed that kids love it.
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Boned chicken thighs filled with garlic, parsley and lemon rind, rolled and wrapped in pancetta and baked.
I have my own adaptation using preserved lemon, served on polenta instead of the suggested buttered sweetcorn, and I usually wrap in very thin streaky bacon.
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The Seasonal Kitchen
By Beverley Sutherland Smith
Hardie Grant Books - 2001
Slices of bread rolled around a filling of spring onions (scallions), cheese, minced ham and egg yolk, dipped in melted butter and baked for about 15 minutes. Fiddly but nobody ever stops at just one!
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Balsamic vinegar gives it depth. You've got to watch it to be sure it doesn't burn. Keeps for ages in the fridge.
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The amount of curry powder may need adjusting depending on how mild it is. I find half a teaspoon is enough.
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I've been making this forever, it's in some of her earlier books. Great with roast lamb.
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Roasting the pumpkin till it goes brown at the edges gives a very intense flavour. I think using stock is a waste - seasoning with that Swiss herb salt gives depth of flavour, and there's lots of thyme in it anyway.
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I wanted a moist veggie to go with roast lamb, and this certainly would go with most roasts or grills.
It's not as rich as you expect. Beverley says to peel the zucchini, but I didn't - I'm sure the pale green colour was much more appetising looking than the beige shade it would have been otherwise.
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River Cottage Veg Every Day! (River Cottage Every Day)
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2011
More a suggestion for using up what's to hand than a recipe! I used kipfler potatoes, butternut squash, shallots, garlic and carrots, cooked in my Spanish terracotta dish. Very tasty result.
It takes longer than a regular frittata but certainly makes a satisfying meatless meal of roast veggies. However I question Hugh's claim that it would feed 4 to 6 people unless it was only an entree - the two of us demolished the lot.
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Ridiculously easy, so long as you've got a lime handy. I only had 650g of sweet potato, but it worked perfectly with a full quantity of the other ingredients (except the chilli flakes which I reduced as a matter of personal taste).
We had it as a side dish with roast lamb, and I will heat up the leftovers for lunch with a salad.
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