Monday 29 January 2018

Cookbook of the Month January 2018: Super Food Family Classics.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

My first cookbook of the month for 2018!
This month, what with it being January and all, I chose to cook my way through Jamie Oliver's Super Food Family Classics. I've had this book for a while but this month was my first proper chance to cook lots of recipes from it.

Here's what I made:

Breakfast: Pineapple Pancake Mess with Yoghurt, Coconut, Cashews and Lime: I had a pineapple in the house so decided to use some of it in these pancakes.
The pineapple pieces were caramelised in a pan although I ended up burning a few. Oops!
To serve with the pancakes: yoghurt, honey, toasted cashew and coconut, lime zest.
Once the pancakes were cooked ...
... it was time to eat!

Quick Fixes: Grilled Beef Kebabs with Shredded Crunch Salad, Feta and Pitta: I cannot resist a kebab recipe and this one was no different.
The kebabs were made with beef mince, pistachios, dried cranberries and spices. I grilled them on skewers under our super-powerful electric grill.
To go with, a crunchy salad.
With purple cabbage, carrot, mint, onion and pomegranate.
We had the kebabs and salad for Sunday lunch with pickled chillies, wholemeal pitta flatbreads and tahini garlic yoghurt sauce.

Healthy Classics: Super Shepherd's Pie with Smashed Neeps and Tatties: We love a good shepherd's pie and this one sounded so good with a potato swede topping and meaty filling.
Along with the lamb mince, there was also mushrooms, white kidney beans and rosemary in there.
The pie was baked up until the filling was bubbling and the top was crisp. So good!

Salads: Tandoori Chicken Salad with Minty Yoghurt Dressing and Poppadoms: I loved the idea of making a salad with all the flavours of a tandoori chicken dinner.
The ingredients included were chicken breast, tandoori paste, carrots, lettuce, red onion, chillies, lemon, cherry tomatoes, poppadoms, black mustard seeds, yoghurt, white wine vinegar, rice and cumin seeds.
I used this tandoori paste to marinade my chicken.
Before cooking it in a pan with lemon.
The poppadoms were popped in the microwave!
The spiced yoghurt dressing was stirred into the boiled rice along with carrot ribbons and cherry tomatoes.
Served up!

Curries and Stews: Chicken Jalfrezi with Blackened Peppers and Tomato Rice: I hadn't made my chicken jalfrezi in ages so thought I would give this recipe a go.
The recipe started with a homemade jalfrezi curry paste. I love using this mini egg pan to toast up my seeds.
Jalfrezi usually has bell peppers in it. This recipe upped their flavour by roasting them beforehand. I roasted mine over a gas flame until charred then let them steam before removing the skin and chopping.
The charred peppers went into the curry ...
... and the whole thing simmered away until it was delicious and cooked.
The juice from the tinned tomatoes were added to the rice to make tomato rice.
On the side, charred green chillies which had been pickled in vinegar.

Traybakes: Mango Teriyaki Salmon with Brown Rice and Chilli Cucumber Pickle: This was our latest fish Friday dinner. I wasn't too sure if the mango would work with the salmon but it was lovely.
The salmon went into a marinade made with blended mango, ginger, garlic, lime and soy sauce among other things.
Cooked rice went onto the bottom of an oven. The recipe used brown rice but I had run out and so made do with white.
The salmon was placed over the salmon along with spring onions and broccoli.
The whole thing went under the grill. The salmon was perfect but the broccoli got a little burnt. Oops!
On the side, a pickled cucumber green chilli salad with toasted sesame seeds and fresh mint.

Pasta and Risotto: Spaghetti Rosso with Golden Chicken and Charred Green Veg: I hadn't had spaghetti in ages and liked the sound of this recipe so thought I would give it a go.
The vegetables were indeed charred - something I felt this book did a lot of. In this case, it was asparagus and spring onion in a dry pan.
The chicken was flavoured with garlic, lemon and thyme and cooked until golden.
A very simple sauce made from blended sun-dried tomatoes and roasted peppers among other things was stirred into the cooked wholemeal spaghetti. 
Served up with the chicken, vegetables and a little lemon. This was delicious but I just wished I had added a little more salt.

Pasta and Risotto: Pea and Spinach Risotto with Mint, Cottage Cheese and Parmesan: I loved the idea of this risotto. It was vegetarian and ticked all the comfort food boxes without being too heavy. 
The base was so colourful with all the vegetables and the stock was stirred in slowly making the rice creamier with every addition. At the end, a mixture of cottage cheese, peas and fresh mint was added for even more brightness and creaminess.

Soups: Alphabet Tomato Soup with Fresh Basil and Cheddar Cheese: I love tinned spaghetti hoops so to give this soup version of it a try was a must. I couldn't get hold of alphabet pasta so used shells instead.
The soup was nothing but vegetables and water. They included vine tomatoes, carrots, celery, fresh basil, red onion and garlic.
Even better was the fact that everything was cut up really chunky and just thrown in.
Even the tomatoes went in whole along with their vines for more flavour!
The broth bubbled away for 40 minutes before ...
... being strained really well through a sieve.
Until all that was left was a simple soup.
The pasta was cooked in it and served with a grating of Cheddar. So simple but so good!

Kitchen Hacks: Proper Chicken Nuggets with Sweet Paprika and Parmesan Crumb: These nuggets were the type where instead of breadcrumbs, wholemeal bread was used. I've seen quite a few of these recipes online so wanted to finally give it a go myself.
Chicken breast pieces were marinaded in spices and the bread was blitzed up to crumbs before cheese was added in.
The nuggets were baked on a wire rack to help keep them crispy all over. 
Served with fries and a huge salad!

Keep me in your duas please!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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