I spent the weekend yomping around Notlondon, so there’s been no cooking from journo recipes over the last few days. Which was actually a bit of relief. However, like the weirdo I am, I scanned over pretty much all of the weekend press on Sunday evening, just so you get this. Enjoy.
Oh OFM (& co)
The best thing I read was not a recipe column, but the ‘Seven ages of a chef’ feature in the Observer Food Monthly. Enjoyable and honest interviews with a clutch of affable chefs.
Also in the OFM were baking recipes from Justin Gellatly’s new book ‘Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding’. Justin was head baker at St John and now co-runs Borough Market bakery Bread Ahead. I received an advance copy of this book and I’m happy to say it’s absolutely stonking; a must buy and a future classic. In the meantime, use (at least) the ginger cake, doughnut and rye and malt sourdough recipes in this weekend’s extract.
I’m a radish fan, so I enjoyed fairly Nigel Slater’s ideas for the red and white root: baked with fish and tarragon; and in a kinda gazpacho. Two ways with radish I probably wouldn’t have thought of myself.
Karam Sethi’s third Saturday Guardian column completes my Indian feast meal plan. This week it was snacks. The spring roll wrappers filled with spiced mutton and potatoes look awesome. Potato chaat will be a very necessary side dish.
If you’re on the lookout for multi course meal plans, you could easily use The Guardian ‘Cook’ supplement’s 10 best Spanish recipes to cook up a feast/fiesta.
Oh great
Hixy was rocking the broths this weekend. I feel like I’ve been overeating, of late. So his four ideas appear well timed indeed … and interesing, too: cuttlefish, green tomato and chilli broth and prawn okra and coriander broth stood out.
There were a couple of recipes from Nuno Mendes in the Torygraph at some point this weekend. Possibly in Stella. Nuno and his cooking are great and, happily, Strawberry sundae looks achievable at home. Milk ice cream (the man loves milk) and coriander crumb make this particularly interesting. Confit cod with dill oil, squid ink romesco, leek and ratte potatoes is one for adventurous date night cooks.
Stevie Parle proposed a bunch of different pea recipes. I like peas. (This is the kind of insightful comment you expect, right?)
On the blogs this week, I thought that this Turkish meatballs with rhubarb recipe by Helen Graves was ace.
Oh dear
They’ve been OK for the last few weekends, but I’ve fallen out out of love (again) with News Corp’s food pages.
Saturday’s Times had about eight recipes for chips and four for coleslaw. I can’t even bring myself to copy and paste any links.
The Sunday Times was still on the wealth theme. There’s nothing wrong with Gizzi’s recipes for tagliatelle with white truffles; wagyu beef tataki; and caviar belinis. I just doubt I’ll ever buy the principal ingredients within them.
The group’s saving grace (as far as I’m concerned) came through the inclusion of Nigella’s chocolate raspberry pavlova recipe as the ‘classic dish’ – cocoa powder, balsamic vinegar and dark chocolate in the meringue base … and both Coren and Gill were on excellent form.
Oh, for completeness
Bill Granger presented some weekend lunch/snack suggestions in The Independent on Sunday. Poached egg, spinach, chorizo, spiced yoghurt appealed most to me.
There’s a simple squid, celery and tomato recipe from Rowley Leigh in the FT.
And three chargrilled recipes by Ottolenghi in the Guardian (quite like the chicken thighs marinated in fenugreek, ginger and cream one).
Supplemental cooking
Like I said, none from me. But my friend brought along some cracking breakfast bars. They were killer (literally: sugar, syrup, butter, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, dried fruit), so I’ll get the recipe (Nigella?) and add a link shortly.
Weekend Menu, 17 & 18 May 2014
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Cuttlefish, green tomato and chilli broth
Mark Hix, The Independent (Saturday)
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Seafood paella
Claudia Roden, ‘Cook’ supplement, The Guardian (Saturday)
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Strawberry sundae
Nuno Mendes, The Sunday Telegraph, ‘Stella’ magazine
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