Wednesday 21 August 2013

Two Summer Dishes.



Eeek. I have 10 seconds to choose ONE cookbook.  Just one?  
I thought this would be easy.  I thought I would just choose the book I always say is my favourite - Appetite by Nigel Slater. However, I actually can make all the things I like best from that book without having to refer to it anymore.  When I have to refer to recipes for some of the dishes I make often, I realise there is one or two each in a whole load of different books. So, how do I choose just one book? 

Dom from Belleau Kitchen challenged us to make a Random Recipe from the book we would grab if we had to flee from the house. In the end, I chose one that I refer to frequently at the moment.  It gives me inspiration for the season and lots of ideas I can dip in and out of. I chose Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater.  Well, it had to be one of his books.  Even if I didn't make the recipes from it, just reading his thoughts on food will inspire.



I decided not to choose entirely randomly but to choose the recipe on the page for the date I would be making it.  That means it was still a mystery recipe to me but would be perfect for the season.
I made the meal on the 7th of August and the recipe on that date is for Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Spread.


This was a nice, easy throw-together recipe.  We had it for our tea but it would make a lovely lunch or a nice nibble with drinks.  Smoked salmon, cucumber, capers, cornichons and dill mixed with a lemony soured cream and then piled onto crispbreads.  Funnily enough, we happened to have a couple of packets of crispbreads from Ikea in the kitchen and these worked very well.



Now, I knew I had to get Steve involved in this one.  His favourite book is Moro and he does most of his cooking from it so I reckoned I would get a new Moro dish if I involved him.  It took his less than a milisecond to say the book he would grab would be Moro.  My husband is very predictable.


He opened it randomly and did indeed get a recipe he hasn't yet tried - Broad Bean and Dill Pilav.


It was served with a spiced yoghurt.  We had it as main meal like that and then had the leftovers the next day as part of a cold salad selection and it was great both ways.  Moro recommends serving it with lamb kibbeh.  They have a recipe for this later in the book and they describe it as "an oval outer casing of ground lamb and bulgar with a stuffing of spiced lamb and pinenuts inside". Sounds good to me - something new for Steve to try?  There are actually still loads of things in the book Steve hasn't tried yet.  Hope next month's random recipe theme will encourage him to do more.


12 comments:

  1. Two very fine choices of book and two fine dishes as well. I also admire your presence of mind in buying something useful at Ikea. The team of wild horses that's required to drag me to Ikea tend to distract me from buying anything edible.

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    1. :) Phil - I very rarely go to Ikea but the food bit is a favourite. I love those weird green marzipan cakes, and their cookies.

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  2. Great recipes - I haven't got any of Nigel Slater's books: I read them when I'm at my mum's though. I do have a Moro book - I love their stuff.

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    1. We have been to Moro once. If we lived in London, we would never be out of the place!!!

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  3. Lovely books and I love the idea of cooking "today's" recipe from the Nigel Slater book - maybe an idea for Dom to consider for a future challenge?

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    1. I do that a lot - look at the date - it means I don't have to think about what to make - the decision is made for me. :-)

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  4. Those look yummy, my Mum's still not made anything from the Kitchen Diaries II she says it's such a nice book she likes just looking at it!

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    1. It is a good read. Would be good if we could just be friends with Nigel Slater and get invited round to his for food rather than having to make the stuff ourselves. Mind you, your Mum is missing out in the meantime! How are things with you, Heather? Haven't spoken to you for years!!

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  5. oh my word, how lovely to have both of you this month (welcome back Steve!!) Two absolutely BRILLIANT books that I also own which is so nice... I know it's been hard to narrow it down for many people but i'm so glad you did... a great entry, thank you x

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  6. A great choice of book, I love Nigel Slater's books. I keep meaning to buy Moro, it's on my wish list but I never quite get to buying it. GG

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    1. The only problem with it is that everything has quite a long list of sometimes obscure ingredients. I have the best of both worlds - I get to eat the stuff without having to do the shopping or making - Steve does that. Yay. :)

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  7. This looks lovely but I would be nibbling all the time

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