There have been a few wild swings and misses, and at times I’ve considered retiring the bat, but today marks a century of #Supplementals. I reckon 7000 would be a conservative estimate for the number of recipes I’ve read in that time. Seven. Thousand. Kind of crazy, really.
Here are some links to another 70 or so more …
Family food
Ah. Yes. It was Mothering Sunday, wasn’t it. Awkward.* Well, for those of you who did the right thing and marked the occasion, did you pitch in with any of the following?
The Observer published 3 Mum inspired recipes from a selection of relatively unknown chefs – which was nice. Anna Tobias’ (Mum’s) stuffed cabbage leaves looked good. Also, Seamus Mullen’s kale yogurt and dill salad.
In The Sunday Times ‘The Dish’ supplement, we saw four recipes chefs had learnt from their Mums. Mrs [James] Lowe’s blood orange trifle would go down very nicely (Campari and sherry), and I love the sound of Vivek Singh’s Ma’s green moong lentil tadka. Also, interesting to see Angela Hartnett promoting her Mum’s shortcrust pastry recipe – which is half lard, half margarine (a fading tradition?).
The Telegraph’s increasingly voluminous online recipe bank now has a selection of recipes to suit the day. Largely sweet ones. Not least a Guinness, brown sugar and chocolate cake; baked apples (proper comfort food); and Josceline Dimbleby’s cooling cardamom and saffron creams.
If you missed out on making an effort on Sunday, perhaps the next family gathering (and opportunity to amend) will be Easter. In which case, Florence Knight has already provided Sunday Times readers with a menu: honey baked ham, rosemary potatoes and purple sprouting; followed by a really good sounding lemon and almond tart.
Emiko Davies’ Florentine recipes for the Sunday Telegraph were also family oriented and seem likely to satisfy. Things like ricotta and spinach gnudi, Florentine apple tart, fried chicken and stuff.
If in doubt, cook lasagne. Rowley Leigh’s leek and pancetta one in the FT Weekend might do.
Or chicken. Chicken always works at a family meal. So Jamie’s chicken thighs roasted on Indian spiced potatoes in The Sunday Times could be an option.
Or think outside the box and go with Jane Baxter and Henry Dimbleby’s final ‘feast’ for the Guardian’s ‘Cook’ supplement. This one was Thai themed, with pad thai, braised sprouts and a banana and coconut ice cream. All good things come to an end. But it’s worth saying: cheers, you two, for a consistently good series – a rare balance of recipes that are achievable without being patronising, interesting but not unrealistic.
Cauliflower rice
Saturday’s Times Magazine got Hemsley and Hemsley’d — the sisters have a new book out. I thought the better of the clutch of recipes were a sesame kale salad; and cauliflower rice, halloumi and tahini dressing.
There was some gluten free baking stuff in The Telegraph.
And This Dish had a bunch of recipes from Madeleine Shaw. Where cauliflower ‘rice’ was now ‘cous cous’ to go with chicken tagine or aubergine stew. Also miso salmon and radishes; and lamb with salsa verde. All fine.
But, you know, there were some really hearty recipes this weekend that my attention was more eagerly drawn to.
Like Ben Tish’s slow roast lamb shoulder recipes in Cook. Here was a rich lamb pasanda with dal; shoulder with pickled fennel and flatbreads; and a rich casserole with potato gnocchi. Whether there really would be any leftovers from a Moorish spiced lamb shoulder with buttermilk and coriander dressing is debatable, though.
Summaya Usmani’s Pakistani dishes using Scottish ingredients also appealed (also Cook). Think spiced winter squash parathas and venison and beetroot curry. Then try to stop drooling at the thought of apricot, cardamom and heather honey cranachan.
Mind you, Saturday’s Graun readers were pretty spoiled all round. Thomasina Miers’ Seville orange and anise braised duck looked seriously good, and her put reminded me that I must get some kamut flour and have a play around – her kamut and pecan shortbread cookies were the second time this grain has peaked an interest over recent months (previously thanks to Claire Ptak, who this week suggested rather ace sounding halva (baked tahini) brownies.)
Advanced cooking?
On the same pages, Yotam Ottolenghi suggested a few ways to get into bread baking. His potato focaccia is really tempting, and I also find myself contemplating braiding a challah (though that will probably pass).
If you too are considering a bout of pro-level Bake Off style challenge, have a go at the Creme de la Creme hazelnut chocolate dacquoise. Or maybe just chill out and muddle together Nigel’s very Nigel-esque cakes in yesterday’s Observer: poached pear, chocolate and hazelnut; or spiced quince.
The Independent’s chef, Mark Hix, looked into alliums. Recipes included leeks in a Welsh rarebit and allium broth with dumplings. Decent, though none were quite as interesting or inviting as Nick Balfe’s on the same theme a month ago.
Finally, Robin Gill of The Dairy is the current (and final – sad) guest cookery writer for the Independent on Sunday. He presented three raw snacks to begin an evening – raw beef with oyster emulsion and onions, and cured mackerel mooli ‘tacos’ will be awesome bites. Though they’re towards the restaurant end of the recipe spectrum, they’re still achievable.
On the Internet
This Jajangmyeon Korean noodle recipe on Food52 arguably knocks the socks of anything in our broadsheets this weekend.
#Supplemental Cooking
I’ll get back to the testing a weekend recipe thing at some point soon. Promise. Bit keen on throwing chive oil on everything I eat at the moment, though.
Had I been cooking from the papers, Thomasina’s duck might well have been put through its paces.
* Obvs I remembered.
Weekend Menu, 5 and 6 March 2016
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Cured mackerel and seaweed mooli ‘tacos’
Robin Gill, The Independent on Sunday
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Moorish spiced lamb shoulder with buttermilk, coriander dressing
Ben Tish, The Guardian, ‘Cook’
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Apricot, cardamom, honey cranachan
Summaya Usmani, The Guardian, ‘Cook’
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