Following my posting for Chianti Baked Meatballs by Jo Pratt from her book In The Mood For Food, I dipped further into her book and have cooked a small selection of recipes.
Unfortunately, I am not able to put the recipes on, because it would take forever. I have only been able to find a link to one recipe, which is a shame.
Marshmallow Meringues with Mango and Passion Fruit.
These meringues were possibly the best I have ever made, we loved the crisp outside and the marshmallow centre. For the mango and passion fruit cream, I simply pureed a mango and swirled this into some sweetened Greek Yoghurt along with the passion fruit. This simple dessert was delicious and I loved the scented yoghurt.
Cherry & Almond Cake
It is National Baking Week from the 20th to the 26th October 2008 here in the UK and this is the recipe I have chosen, to celebrate everything that is so wonderful about baking.
Orange Caramel Yoghurt
A definite hit, but the oranges need to be segmented and not cut across into thin slices. If you get any horrible membrane from the orange then this will ruin the dessert.
Ginger & Banana Trifle
Wonderful - anything made with ginger cake is a hit with me! Just an assembly job using Grand Marnier to soak the ginger cake, stem ginger and bananas. I topped the trifle with whipping cream but I think the sharpness of creme fraiche would be better.
Sticky Maple Pears
I didn't have any maple syrup and so used a good honey instead. The recipe says to crumble amaretti biscuits over the pears, but if you do this then the presentation gets very messy.
Honey-Seared Salmon with Sesame Noodles
I confess to cheating on this one - I bought a bag of stir fry vegetables instead of the spinach, bean sprouts and springs onions - it still tasted great. Also, I added to this a sweet chilli and ginger sauce bought from Marks and Spencer! I have made this twice now and it's fabulous. The recipe is here.
Cheese, Onion & Potato Pie
Oh dear! The potato was very sloppy due to the amount of milk required in the recipe. Also, for us there was far too much cheese. I used Red Leicester, which is a cheese I would always add to cheese and potato pie, purely for colour. I'll go back to this another time and adapt the recipe.
Extremely Simple Beef & Ale Casserole with Horseradish Dumplings
After the casserole had finished cooking, I tried the sauce but it really wasn't to my taste and so I added a few mushrooms, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of English Mustard. Also, the dumplings didn't have any suet in them, I'm sorry but suet dumplings always win hands down for me!
I also made Parmesan-crusted Chicken with Avocado Salad, but unfortunately no photograph for this one! This one was another great recipe.
On my 'to do' list from the book Roast Sea Bass with White Wine Potatoes and Vine Tomatoes and also Roast Chicken for Two In One Pan.
All of the recipes have turned out well in this book, and I know that I will return to some of them time and time again.
Unfortunately, I am not able to put the recipes on, because it would take forever. I have only been able to find a link to one recipe, which is a shame.
Marshmallow Meringues with Mango and Passion Fruit.
These meringues were possibly the best I have ever made, we loved the crisp outside and the marshmallow centre. For the mango and passion fruit cream, I simply pureed a mango and swirled this into some sweetened Greek Yoghurt along with the passion fruit. This simple dessert was delicious and I loved the scented yoghurt.
Cherry & Almond Cake
It is National Baking Week from the 20th to the 26th October 2008 here in the UK and this is the recipe I have chosen, to celebrate everything that is so wonderful about baking.
Orange Caramel Yoghurt
A definite hit, but the oranges need to be segmented and not cut across into thin slices. If you get any horrible membrane from the orange then this will ruin the dessert.
Ginger & Banana Trifle
Wonderful - anything made with ginger cake is a hit with me! Just an assembly job using Grand Marnier to soak the ginger cake, stem ginger and bananas. I topped the trifle with whipping cream but I think the sharpness of creme fraiche would be better.
Sticky Maple Pears
I didn't have any maple syrup and so used a good honey instead. The recipe says to crumble amaretti biscuits over the pears, but if you do this then the presentation gets very messy.
Honey-Seared Salmon with Sesame Noodles
I confess to cheating on this one - I bought a bag of stir fry vegetables instead of the spinach, bean sprouts and springs onions - it still tasted great. Also, I added to this a sweet chilli and ginger sauce bought from Marks and Spencer! I have made this twice now and it's fabulous. The recipe is here.
Cheese, Onion & Potato Pie
Oh dear! The potato was very sloppy due to the amount of milk required in the recipe. Also, for us there was far too much cheese. I used Red Leicester, which is a cheese I would always add to cheese and potato pie, purely for colour. I'll go back to this another time and adapt the recipe.
Extremely Simple Beef & Ale Casserole with Horseradish Dumplings
After the casserole had finished cooking, I tried the sauce but it really wasn't to my taste and so I added a few mushrooms, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of English Mustard. Also, the dumplings didn't have any suet in them, I'm sorry but suet dumplings always win hands down for me!
I also made Parmesan-crusted Chicken with Avocado Salad, but unfortunately no photograph for this one! This one was another great recipe.
On my 'to do' list from the book Roast Sea Bass with White Wine Potatoes and Vine Tomatoes and also Roast Chicken for Two In One Pan.
All of the recipes have turned out well in this book, and I know that I will return to some of them time and time again.
