friederike's Profile

From: Berlin,

Joined: September 25th, 2009

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Keralan Veggie Curry with Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt from Jamie's 15-Minute Meals

The dish itself, the flavours, at least how I made it, that's a solid four star rating - it was delicious! Everything else - the time management, the style of writing, the layout, - oh, and did I mention... read more >

recipe reviews (1113)
book reviews (121)
useful review votes (554)

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friederike's Reviews

16 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 16Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi

By Yotam Ottolenghi, Jonathan Lovekin
Chronicle Books - 2011

Such a shame of the artichokes! We used fresh ones, and it really wasn't worth it. The technique for cleaning them described in the book didn't work, especially the part cutting the hair. In the end, we tried a few other techniques we found on the internet. Whichever technique you use, you end up not using the leaves, which I think is a shame if you've already paid to get fresh artichokes. But the worst was that with all the work involved, you could hardly taste the artichokes. If you really want to give this recipe a try, use frozen artichokes (if you can get them), or try canned ones, and eat fresh ones the classical way.

I'm not a big fan of the ricotta lumps - I'm not a big fan of ricotta anyway, but blobs of ricotta throughout my dish is not what I expect.

useful (2)  

Very delicious, although difficult to judge as our lentils weren't cooked through properly. Again. Just don't trust any cooking instructions in cookbooks or on packages and keep cooking them until they are tender.
I really loved the celeriac, and I can see this working well with the lentils. We also used sesame oil instead of hazelnut oil

Served with Roasted Butternut Squash with Burnt Aubergine and Pomegranate Molasses

useful (0)  

Very delicious, a true Ottolenghi dish! We used spinach and rocket as we weren't able to get Swiss chard; canned chickpeas instead of dried ones, and normal yoghurt instead of Greek yoghurt. It was very easy to prepare and very tasteful. Personally, I would add just a bit more caraway, use less olive oil, and cook the carrots less so they end up having a bit more crunch. And don't forget the salt!

Serves two as a vegetarian main, or four as a side dish.

useful (1)  

I made these using frozen broad beans (fava beans) - yupp, still quite a bit of work (though I skinned the beans sitting on my balcony enjoying the sun, so actually I didn't even mind).

However, I'm afraid that I blew it - I thought I had to add 400g of breadcrumbs instead of the actually required 40g. I only added one pack (150g) before I realized my mistake, still that's more than 3x the required amount and made for quite a dry mass. I added an extra egg to make up, but I think it would have been a lot nicer without the excess of breadcrumbs. But even in spite of this, they still tasted very interesting.

I'm not a big fan of fennel seeds, so I substituted part of that for even more caraway seeds - the result was too much caraway, so next time I'd just use the amounts recommended.

Edited 8 January 2016:
This actually works really well for the LO's, if you cut back on the spices. Our little guy enjoyed them, I guess the real question is rather if I still have the time to make them...

useful (0)  

It was a very nice side dish, but it's hard to say it was a salad as it was a little too dry for that. Admittedly, I didn't measure out the three tablespoons of olive oil, and knowing how much oil Ottolenghi usually uses, I am pretty sure I used less, but even so, three tablespoons for roughly one kilo of different kinds of beans probably wouldn't have been enough.

The flavours were very nice and very interesting, though unfortunately they made the beans disappear a little. Not necessarily bad, just something you should take into account. We found out too late that we didn't have enough tarragon, so we added whatever we had (more or less 1/2 teaspoon) and replaced the rest with approximately 1 - 1/2 teaspoons of Herbes de Provence - luckily we realised just in time that in contrast to us, he probably used fresh tarragon, which is why we reduced the 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs to 2 teaspoons od dried herbs.

We served this with Lamb Chops with Anchovies and Thyme , a very good combination!

useful (1)  

First reviewed 10 May 2012: 2 stars
Also known as 'Death by Garlic'. Honestly, the first few spoonfuls were okay, but after that it just became inedible. Four cloves of raw garlic! It might be different if you serve the soup immediately - I prepared it yesterday and left it in the fridge overnight, but even then, one clove of garlic is probably just all you need.

Because I left it in the fridge, I didn't need the ice cubes; I also used only one cup of water, and the consistency of the soup was perfectly fine that way. I didn't use the walnuts, and I made my own croutons.

Once you manage the garlic taste, I think the soup can actually be quite nice. It's very easy to assemble if you have a kitchen machine, it's no-cook and delicious when served cold, and therefore a bliss in summer. Making a green gazpacho instead of a red one felt a bit strange at first (which is strange as I enjoy green Watercress or Three Green Vegetable Soup), but I got used to it soon enough.

Edited 10 June 2013: 4 stars
Really, half a clove of garlic is all you need. Okay, it was quite a big clove, so you could just use one whole normal sized one, but definitely not more than that! I would also use a little less olive oil to make it a little lighter. The croutons are brilliant, can't get enough of those. It was much nicer this time, really presentable, except for the colour - red gazpacho just looks a little more appealing.

useful (2)  

Very delicious, but too salty. I only used half the amount of salt in the lime butter (and 1 out of 1 1/2 tsp lime juice), but the full amount of salt in the pancakes, and apparently that was too much. I'm also not sure if the pancakes really need the lime butter, or if they're not nicer without - their flavour is complex enough on it's own. I liked how crispy they were when we ate them straight out of the pan - once you wait, even if only 5 minutes while the other pancakes are being made, they loose their crispness.

The lime butter is really nice and seems very versatile; I can especially see it going well with fish, something we will probably try out later this week.

useful (0)  

Nope, I didn't like it at all. It rose beautifully, but flavourwise, it wasn't balanced at all - too sweet and too eggy. I think part of the problem is that both pumpkins and eggs are sweet by themselves, and that wasn't counteracted properly; furthermore, the flavours were too patchy, a little pumpkin here, just egg there. The pumpkin chunks were quite big, I think it would have worked better if the chunks were much smaller, perhaps even grated.

Edited after receiving feedback:
My husband actually made these souffles, and it turns out that he had crushed the pumpkin with a fork, but apparently missed the chunk that sat in my souffle. It's probably best to chop them in a kitchen machine anyway, as otherwise it'll be hard to cut the stringy pumpkin fibres. He thinks adding more cheese or perhaps something sour, like a little lemon juice or Worcestershire sauce, might to the trick to balance the flavour, and recommends seasoning the pumpkin well before adding it to the eggs.

Something else: his souffle dish wasn't greased properly at the edges, while mine was, and you could definitely see..

useful (2)  

I'm not yet really sure. Both the lentils and the carrots were still pretty... al dente, which made it difficult to concentrate on the flavour of the dish. I felt that it lacked flavour; perhaps it needed some extra salt, though according to DH it already contained quite some salt. It was also quite dry (which made the tomatoes stand out positively!) - maybe the solution is to add extra dressing? 4 stars, in benefit of doubt.

useful (0)  

Quite nice. Some of the beans we used (flat beans and sugar snaps) took quite a while to cook, and so we had to add water a few times to prevent them from burning. By the time they were cooked, the other beans (broad beans) were mushy - though that might have been our fault, as we used broad beans from a glass - I think that these are pre-cooked, not raw. We couldn't find lovage, so we tried using some celery leaves (hey, it said lovage tastes like of celery!), but in the end we didn't have the idea that it mattered. We served it with plain white rice and it made a lovely vegetarian meal.

useful (1)  

Very delicious! We substituted the broad beans for peas, and the black olives for green ones. The latter didn't work at all, green olives didn't meld well with the other ingredients, though I could see black olives working. The other substitution, broad beans for peas, would have worked well if I had warmed the peas up before adding them. As they didn't need to be shelled I thought that steeping them in hot water wasn't necessary - well, that's not true, but luckily in may case I didn't have to worry about a crust, so I just mixed in the peas and waited till everything was warmed through. Last, we used normal tinned artichokes as that's the only thing we get - grilled and conserved in oil is probably a lot better; you might want to use fewer artichokes if you don't get the nice ones (but don't omit them entirely).

As I used plain nameless risotto rice, I had to add about 100ml more liquid and let simmer for 7 extra minutes - just check before you add the last few ingredients and cover with aluminum foil.

I really enjoyed the flavours combining so well, but especially that accent provided by the cayenne pepper.

Edited one day later:
Yesterday, I prepared the paella in a pan with a heavy bottom, and the rice cooked evenly; today, I used a different (read: cheaper) pan. In the centre, the rice was cooked, but because you're not supposed to stir and the pan didn't conduct the heat well, it remained uncooked at the edges.

Also, I had forgot to buy extra tomatoes and artichokes and used dried tomatoes and an extra quantity of peas instead - it was nice as well, but I do prefer fresh tomatoes.

Edited 2 October 2013:
We made it again, and this time we had too much liquid, making the rice slightly overcooked and the paella a bit watery and not as flavourful. I suspect that this is due to the pan we used in combination with the quantity made. Last time, both pans we used were wide and flat. This time, we used our Le Creuset which has a wonderful heavy bottom, and the same surface area as each of the other two pans - only that this time we made a double portion, so we would have needed double the surface area as well. For this reason it's probably worth it to stick to the quantities given in the recipe, or use two pans if you need a four servings size (or a huge paella pan if you have that).

Edited 19 October 2014:
I made this again last night and tonight. Yesterday, I was watching it closely, and moved the pan around a lot, as I have a gas stove with a very small ring of fire, and the pan I was using was a cheap one that doesn't spread the heat particularly well. Tonight, I was slightly distracted as I was also talking on the phone while cooking, so I didn't move the pan as much, and lo and behold, the rice in the middle was cooked while the rice at the edges wasn't.

useful (0)  

It was nice, but I'm not that sure it was worth all the extra work compared to a simple tomato salad. Then again it had to compete against a European Chamionship football game I was missing while preparing the salad, so the initial situation wasn't exactly favourable :)

As usual, I love the combination of tomato and coriander - you can never go wrong on that. I do think that the combination of bread and grain is a little too much. I used both couscous and bulgur as I didn't have any quinoa - the latter might be a lot lighter than couscous, and certainly so compared to bulgur, but yet I just don't see the need to add both - use either bread or grain, both choices will be fine.

useful (1)  

Very delicious! It hasn't quite reached the glorious heights of Mark Bittman's Roasted Cauliflower with Raisins and Vinaigrette, but still it's really good, and I will definitely be making this again.

The photo was actually misleading - it must have been taken before the cauliflower baked as there is no way that the red onion could look so crisp after being in the oven for 45 minutes. That said, I am actually glad for it, as I can't stand raw onions.

I was also slightly worried the green olives would be too strong and too sour against the cauliflower - baking lessened and blended the intensive flavours favourably.

We served this as part of a mezze platter together with Chicken Wings with Cumin, Lemon and Garlic, Beetroot with Yoghurt, Coconut Prawn Skewers and some Turkish flatbread, and it was great! Plus extra bonus points for the fact that you can easily prepare this in advance and then serve at room temperature!

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I made this specifically because DB enjoys the Shakshuka from Smitten Kitchen, but I don't - I thought this might be a version both of us enjoyed. Unfortunately, while I liked it, DB didn't. I'm not sure why he didn't like it; perhaps the fact that the onions and the peppers add a slightly sweet flavour? I definitely enjoyed the fresh tomatoes in it (as opposed to canned tomatoes) and the omittance of Feta.

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We had this at my MIL and FIL's place tonight, at it was brilliant! Slightly sweet, sunny tomatoes in between, then the goat's cheese and the puff pastry - very delicious, and beautiful to look at as well.

They used less sugar than required as the last time they made it they thought that it was slightly too sweet, but I think that is because they use no salt. Either way, it works brilliantly with less sugar and no salt, and probably just as well with salt and the normal amount of sugar. They said it made the caramel more difficult to handle, turning it into a sort of toffee, but you didn't notice any of that in the result.

Serves four on its own as a light meal, or as a full dinner if accompanied by a green salad. Absolutely recommended!

useful (1)  

I'm afraid these just didn't work for us. Flavourwise, they were a little dull. I think a clove of garlic and a little pepper, maybe also mint instead of coriander, would have worked wonders for the sauce. The potato cakes also could benefit from spices, or at the very least serve them alongside something else.

The biggest problem however was frying them. Either the heat was too low and nothing would happen for ages, but making the flame (we cook on gas) just a tiny bit larger made them get burnt nearly immediately!

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