wester's Reviews
12 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 12Sort by: Title 
| Date | Rating
The Abel & Cole Cookbook: Easy, Seasonal, Organic
By Keith Abel
HarperCollins UK - 2008
Balsamic Carrot Salad : page 148
A good basic salad. I will make this again.
useful (0)
Cori-flower : page 59
Not my thing at all. There are so many better things to do with these ingredients.
useful (0)
Fruity Rooty : page 213
I can definitely think of worse ways to get your vitamins in winter than by this drink. Very sweet and still quite fresh. The colour is beautiful too, a creamy orange.
I would like the parsnip to be a bit more noticeable, I'll use a big one next time. The carrots and clementines, other other hand, were a bit too noticeable. I might halve the amount of them next time.
useful (0)
Kiss Me Baby (or Maybe Not) : page 213
A very corny name and a quite pleasant juice. Slightly sweet, slightly creamy, with a hint of garlic (which will stay on your breath, yes). Beautiful pale green color, although I fear it might discolor easily if left too long.
useful (0)
Michele's Magic : page 162
Sweet and spicy. Don't overdo the ginger on this one - a subtle effect is much nicer than a hard hit.
useful (1)
Roasted Beetroot Penne : page 188
Surprisingly good. It looks spectacular - the penne turns PINK, the beetroot is dark red and the parsley adds a lovely green contrast. The walnut adds some crunch and combines well with the other earthy flavors. It's sweet, creamy and crunchy in the right combination.
To me, the parsley (or basil or dill) is not optional, but the Parmesan is. And be careful not to add too much cream, as I fear that would upset the balance.
useful (1)
Salad of Chicory and Celeriac : page 207
A nice combination of ingredients.
The gherkins actually taste sweet here, which is good - it must be some kind of contrast effect. There was a sharp edge to the flavor which I didn't like that much - I will go easier on the garlic next time, I might even leave it out altogether.
useful (0)
Shredded Brussels and Bacon : page 200
This was quite good, but it probably would have been better if the book wasn't so vague about the amounts. How much is a small bag of sprouts? A pack of bacon? I estimate an optimal ratio would be about bacon:carrots:sprouts = 1:2:4. On my first attempt I had too much carrot. And the "glug" of olive oil can be quite small, as the bacon and the butter will provide more fat.
useful (0)
Slow-Braised Chicory : page 194
Nice way of preparing chicory. Sweet and bitter balancing nicely with just a hint of acidity. And the fennel seeds are good here.
Next time I will take more fennel seeds and more sugar - I thought a pinch and a sprinkle were quite small amounts, but the book clearly disagrees on that.
In the photo, I used red onions, so that's the red stuff you see there.
useful (0)
Swede Chips with a Mug of Mustard Mayo : page 147
I'm happy with any recipe that makes swede palatable, but it still doesn't make me smile to find one in my CSA box (groententas).
Be careful not to put too much yogurt in the mayonnaise and not to overmix, else the sauce gets very runny.
useful (0)
Swedeaphobia Cure : page 206
I think this is the best swede recipe I've found so far - as it says, creamy and slightly spicy. I'm still not exactly enthusiastic about the vegetable, but I won't mind getting one next time. Even the children were OK with it.
Three potatoes were not enough to line even a small baking dish for me, so the potatoes he means must be quite large. But actually, I think the recipe doesn't need them at all and I might make it without them next time.
useful (0)
Vanilla Swede Purée : page 205
This was OK, but not as good as the swedeophobia cure. And it still seems weird to put vanilla with something I don't like all that much anyway.
useful (1)