Friday 29 July 2016

Cook the Books - July






Week 1
Cooking anything new just didn't happen, with work, hikes, and other activities - luckily the school holidays start next week.

Week 2
The first week of the school holidays, and it was on Friday I finally felt like cooking something new and interesting.
I tried a new muffin recipe from pinterest for a lunch time treat, Tasty Corn Muffins.  I didn't have the chili paste, but chopped up 1 fresh red chili instead and added a smidgen of dried chili powder.

Verdict: They were nice, I felt they needed a little more salt, but possibly if I had used chili paste it may have given them a little more zing.  I think these would be really nice with a bowl of tomato soup.

Week 3
One of my library books, The Caker by Jordan Rondel provided the inspiration for this weeks baking. There were three  recipes I wanted to try, but settled on Nutella Banana Cake, because I had some ripe bananas that needed using up, and Chai Latte Cake with Condensed Milk Icing.

Verdict:  Both yummy  cakes, we especially liked that Nutella was spread over the top as icing. I was disappointed that the Chai Latte cake did not rise very much during cooking, still deliciously spicy, and I think should I ever make it again, I would make two cakes and use the icing in the middle as well. I would also recommend that the Chai Latte Cake was eaten the same day it was made, it seemed to go a little dry very quickly.

Week 4:  I like to serve vegetarian meals  at least once week to my family (The Scout has gotten used to this, but would probably still prefer a meal with meat).  This week it was Chickpea Tikka Masala from the Revive Cafe 5 cookbook - another library book.  This is a really easy curry to make, probably the most time consuming part, was peeling and chopping the kumara and dicing the onion.

Verdict:  A creamy, spicy but not hot tomato sauce filled with chickpeas and kumara,  made this a filling, warming winters meal.  Definitely a make again, and I just have to remember to serve it with poppadoms for Mr J.

Another month without using my Annabel Langbein books!! I must be due to dust them off again for August's recipes.


6 comments:

  1. All looks rather delicious but the Tasty Corn Muffins is one I definitely must try. Had a quick look online at the Revive 5 Book and it seems to have some interesting recipes in there.

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  2. The muffins look like my pick! I love that you share your cooking experiences.

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  3. I shouldn't read your 'cook the books' posts Julie before dinner! Your photos make everything delicious! Happy cooking!

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  4. Yummy - I made a Nutella Banana cake recently (twice actually!). It had the nutella swirled through it which was a delicious way to do it!

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  5. Loving your monthly updates on cooking... inspires me to be more adventurous & try out a few more new things!

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  6. Yum! I made a new muffin last week. Sweet Potato, Kale and Feta Cheese! I will have to share the recipe on the blog.

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