bunyip's Reviews
225 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen
By Stephanie Alexander
Penguin Global - 2004
Dead simple, better than plain mash to accompany braises.
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Good use for stale bread. Prepare it the night before and bake in the morning while the coffee machine is warming up.
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As Stephanie says, there are hundreds of recipices for spag bol sauce, but I find this one always works. It's a weekend job though, as you have to hang about for an hour stirring it from time to time.
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Made with a bacon bone stock and the addition of paprika, this has a lovely smokey taste.
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Dead easy if you use Charmaine Solomon's no roll pastry. Looks sensational.
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The magic ingredient is - Americans avert your eyes - Vegemite! No milk or cream, good if you're on a diet.
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If the vet puts your dishlicker on a chicken and rice diet this is cheaper than the fancy stuff they'll try to sell you. Makes heaps, which you freeze in portions.
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Made without egg, but with cream. More unctuous than the traditional PWMU Cookbook version.
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I've got lots of recipes for this, but Stephanie's is still the best. The recipe makes prodigious quantitiites of sauce, but can be halved. I make the sauce in the microwave, so instead of worrying about the bottom burning I worry about it overflowing! Watch closely!
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The inclusion of celery, bay leaf and thyme give this slightly more depth of flavour than Jane Grigson's version. Be careful when sweating the veggies that you don't let the leeks brown.
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This could not be easier - no browning, just bung everything into a suitable casserole and forget it for two hours.
Stephanie invites you to vary the ingredients. I used a 700ml bottle of tomato passata instead of the (pureed) tin of tomatoes and cup of wine, and I added bacon because I had some handy. But I did follow her instructions to use best quality paprika.
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Being very fond of parsnips I was intrigued by what amounts to a parsnip quiche.
You must use a deep quiche tin, as there is rather a lot of filling. It's very rich - 600ml of cream, 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Didn't have any chervil, but I think the recipe needs tweaking anyway. I used 2 parsnips as per the recipe, but they were not particularly large and perhaps I should have used three, and a wee bit more nutmeg.
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Cooking on the Bone: Recipes, History and Lore
By Jennifer McLagan
Grub Street - 2006
Fabulous, richly flavoured winter comfort food. Pieces of neck slow cooked in a suce of anchovies, garlic, rosemary, red wine and red wine vinegar. I make it in an Emile Henry braiser and serve with Stephanie's cauliflower and potato 'pie'.
Only drawback, if that's how you choose to look at it, is hanging about for two and a half hours, turning the pieces every half hour. Worth it, no question!
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Oxtail is always a bit of a bother because of the fat, but the method for this makes it easy to deal with. After an initial slow braise in wine and stock, remove the meat and discard the aromatics. You can then deal easily with the fat - I've got one of those nifty pouring jugs, but it will solidify in the refrigerator.
Next day simmer the jellied sauce with more red wine, pour over the meat, scatter blanched veggies on top and give it another hour uncovered in a moderate oven.
I was only making half quantity of the meat and veggies, but I have frozen the surplus sauce for use with steak or roast beef.
Absolutely delicious!
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You can't get Madeira round here for love nor money, it seems, so substituted dry sherry. Pan frying followed by finishing in the oven is definitely the way to go with veal chops.
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The sauce includes, among other things, soy sauce, ginger, star anise and orange juice. I would never have thought of using it for beef, but it was absolutely delicious. A complete change from the usual tomato based sauce.
As usual with oxtail you do the main cooking a day in advance.
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Cravat-a-licious: the Selected Works of the Master Chef Critic
By Matt Preston
Ebury Press - 2009
White chocolate, dark chocolate and condensed milk. Makes about 50. Don't mention these to your dentist!
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Decadent Desserts Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter
By Beverley Sutherland Smith
The File Mile Press - 1996
Lighter than the classic versions, more custard than pancake batter. I always stone the cherries, but.
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Now this one is decadent. It's a chocolate loaf, with a sort of firm truffle texture. Dark and milk chocolate, held together with eggs and ground almonds. Do not attempt unless you are using finest quality chocolate, in my case Haigh's.
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Best made with blood plums. You press the fruit into the wonderfully buttery batter, which rises over it. Serve with cream and hang the cholesterol!
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Strawberries are suggested for the mix, which is unusual. What is really unusual is adding gelatine to the syrup, but it makes the pudding foolproof. Regular recipes always make me nervous at the point of turning out.
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Dead easy and looks gorgeous. Just yellow peaches poached in a sauterne syrup. Steep a punnet of raspberries in the syrup while you slip the skins off the peaches - sticky but delicious work! (Unless of course you've lucked it for the dreaded unskinnable variety.)
There is a minor problem that when this book was published cheap sauterne was still readily available. Changing tastes have put an end to that - $40 they wanted the other day when I thought I'd give this a go! Use whatever light dessert wine you can get hold of.
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Luscious variation of bread and butter pudding.
Even easier if somebody has given you a jar of lemon butter (curd). You can actually make lemon butter in the microwave if you take care to go very gently so you don't end up with lemon scrambled eggs.
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Eat - The Little Book of Fast Food
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate - 2013
I originally used pearl barley because spelt was unobtainable and I substituted some brussels sprouts for the cabbage leaves. Well, Nigel is always encouraging you to tinker with his recipes, isn't he?
I have now made it with spelt. Still delicious, but a lot more expensive.
Delicious no-fuss Friday night food. Definitely going into the repertoire.
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I will definitely make this again. It used up the offcuts of lasagne sheets that were in the freezer (what I buy is too long for my dish) and cherry tomatoes and snags that I happened to have handy. As usual with Slater's recipes I varied the quantities of ingredients without any ill effects.
Needs to be covered with tinfoil for at least half the cooking time so the top doesn't burn.
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Sort of a slow stir fry. Pan fry the steak briefly then set it aside while you get the halved salad onions browned, ad the halved tomatoes and cook covered until soft. Thickly slice steak and return to pan for a few minutes.
That's all. I served it with polenta for lack of any better ideas, crusty bread would have gone well. And I was using a very tender piece of steak.
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Hardly a recipe at all, in the finest Slater tradition. I used 350g diced chicken thigh meat for two people and 1 teaspoon paprika. Bear in mind that the mushrooms will shrink - better to use what looks like too many.
Fast and delicious. I serve with rice, which takes longer to cook than the chicken!
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Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By Marcella Hazan
Knopf - 1992
Unquestionably the best way to roast a chicken, with a lemon up its bum. I've never had small enough lemons to use two, and I encourage the flow of juice with a quick zap in the microwave before puncturing.
Turning the chook over in the middle of cooking is a lot easier if you put a strip of baking paper under it.
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We are inordinately fond of veal chops chez bunyip. The sauce is simple but tasty if you are frying rather than grilling.
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Quick, no fuss, depends on top quality ingredients. I made this a lot when we had a bottle of rather good Madeira which sounds extravagant, but we were not particularly interested in drinking it. Oh, my ears and whiskers, it was good!
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The Flavour Thesaurus
By Niki Segnit
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2010
You can't rush the cooking of this. I have made this with a tin of cherry tomatoes as per the recipe, and with a tin of chopped tomatoes. I prefer the latter, the resulting stew is thicker.
Anything to use some rosemary, the one herb we really grow successfully!
NB I cannot give the page number, I'm using the Kindle edition.
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The French Kitchen
By Diane Hokuigue
Methuen (Australia) - 1983
Somehow one doesn't expect to find this in a French cookbook, but Holuige includes it to illustrate the technigue of putting meat into a pastry case.
Particularly helpful is her advice about whether to pan-fry or roast the meat beforehand. The assembly diagram is invaluable.
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An interesting variation on osso buco, with lentils cooked with the meat. Hearty fare.
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Really a lunch dish. Preceded by advice about creamed spinach (you have to use bechamel, just cream won't hold it together). A bit fiddly - you've got to separate the eggs and whip the whites - but you can get away with using frozen chopped spinach.
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Complete with basic instructions. You cannot go wrong with this, unless I suppose you use an unsuitable cut of meat.
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Agree with The Ducks Guts, thiis recipe is really a template. When I acquired my first stick blender I realised that you could make cream-of-anything soup, and here we have the basic principles.
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A Gourmet Harvest: A Guide to Growing and Preparing the Exotic, the Delicate and the Simply Delicious
By Gail Thomas
The Five Mile Press - 1986
The real thing, including instructions for making your own plant. The author warns about the possibility of explosions - doesn't that bring back memories of when my teenaged brother and his mates got the ginger beer craze! My brother's didn't explode but was undrinkable because he'd overdone the ginger. His best friend's exploded, under their house...
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Grains
By Molly Brown
Hardie Grant Books - 2014
I bought black lentils to see what they were like. They are smaller than regular brown lentils but don't hold shape quite as well as puy lentils.
The recipe assumes you are familiar with cooking quinoa, doesn't mention the need to rinse well beforehand. The end result looks really pretty and is quite filling.
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Substituted 1/4 cup dark muscovado sugar for the molasses. The result was OK, but just a bit sweet for our taste.
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Never mind the duck, the point of the recipe is the freekeh, which would go equally well with lamb or chicken.
The dried figs turned out to be nicer than expected.
BTW, I cook freekeh in my microwave rice cooker, timing it as for brown rice. Quicker than boiling it.
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Why is this dish described as Breton? Who knows. But it is a wonderful no fuss substitute for macaroni cheese. I mean, tinned tuna in a sauce of pureed tinned beans onion and garlic (and a little cream and milk).
What's not to like?
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Greene on Greens
By Bert Greene
Doubleday Australia - 1985
Definitely not a dessert. Carrots cooked in chicken stock, pureed with cream, combined with cooked rice and baked. Fabulous with roast lamb or chicken.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall must be the world's leading exponent of cooking with cider! Being very fond of parsnips I thought I'd give it a try, especially since it's ridiculously easy.
I used a fairly dry cider. The apple flavour sits on the back of the palate - a sweeter cider might make it more dominant. Don't think the optional cream is necessary.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
This tasted fine, in the manner of old-fashioned vinegar cakes, but it didn't rise much and was a bit soggy. I'm wondering if the quantity of flour given is insufficient.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
This would do as a vegetarian dish in its own right. It also includes red capsicums, black olives, mushrooms and onion. We had it with roast lamb and there was no need for any other vegetable.
The recipe is very vague about quantities, but next time I'll have a clear idea of how much mushrooms I need. Whatever, you do need a deep baking dish to accommodate the layers.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
Really easy, the sauce cooks while you boil the spuds. Then add a firm fleshed white fish for just two minutes. The whole thing is ready in less than half an hour.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
This is one of those recipes that is very adaptable. I don't much like chorizo but find that a couple of teaspoons of smoked paprika gives the same flavour. Likewise I substitute a shake of tabasco for the chiili.
Too easy, and only one pot to wash!
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
A Dan Lepard recipe. Actually it was the pastry I was keen to try. Strong white flour and spelt flour, butter, cream cheese, egg and grated cheddar. I had to work the cream cheese into the flour and butter by hand - the quantity (450g of flour) is too much for a standard food processor.
However, after much effort (very therapeutic as I had just had a phone call from somebody I loathe) the pastry turned out very well. Ideal for pasties, easy to handle producing a crisp but not crumbly crust.
I made four pasties (only needed two sausages) and froze the remaining half of the pastry. It would work well with any savoury filling.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
More interesting than your regular cheese scone since they contain rolled oats. Not heavy, but not exactly light either on account of the oats and the considerable quantity of cheese. Dan specifies a large bunch of parsley but I managed very well with half a small bunch.
Made 12 standard scones. The finished product looks and smells very appetising and tastes delicious.
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Website: Guardian Recipes
www.guardian.co.uk/tone/recipes
Definitely hearty winter food. Needed extra liquid. Quite tasty in an earthy sort of way but not very exciting.
I used pearl barley.
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