blue_dolphin

I hope you like the cauliflower cake, @Anna N! I thought it tasted better the next day, slightly warm or at RT, after the flavors had a chance to meld. @ElsieD - it's not really a quiche, since there is no milk, cream and it doesn't form a custard of any sort. Edited to add: the recipe is widely available online, here is one link.

I have been cooking from Ottolenghi books recently, including a few cocktails from his book, NOPI. I found them all interesting to drink. Recipes for the first 5 are available online here. Coriander and Ginger Martini - Georgie Thorp This one calls for ginger syrup, vodka, lime juice, lightly toasted coriander seeds and fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves. I'm not a big fan of vodka drinks so I made this with a reposado tequila. I'd call it a Coriander & Ginger Margarita. The freshly made ginger syrup was quite potent. Chile Fino Old Fashioned - Georgie Thorp Chile-infused Añejo Sotol (I used a reposado sotol and infused with de árbol chiles), fino sherry, hazelnut liqueur and Angostura bitters. I dialed back a little on the hazelnut liqueur so it just enhanced the nutty flavors of the sherry. This is my favorite of the bunch. Banana and Cardamom - Lukasz Rafacz Muddled banana slices, a LOT of cardamom (10 pods/serving), Bob’s cardamom bitters (I used the option of extra cardamom), Flor de Caña white rum, Velvet Falernum liqueur (I used homemade falernum), cardamom honey, unfiltered apple juice (I substituted pineapple juice) and lime juice. I thought this would be terribly sweet and it was indeed sweet but still pleasant. My homemade falernum contributed a lot of spicy flavors which helped out. Saffron Chase - Niall Downey This calls for Chase gin & elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, saffron syrup and champagne. I used Sipsmith gin, Bertina elderflower liqueur and a California brut sparkling wine. This would be a good brunch cocktail. The saffron threads look pretty and the drink is a beautiful deep golden color. Sumac Martini - Lukasz Rafacz The recipe calls for sumac-infused vodka, Velvet Falernum (I subbed homemade falernum), lime juice, pomegranate juice and garnishes with a pinch of sumac. I tried this as written and it was pleasant. Then I used white rum for the sumac-infusion and liked it much better. Pineapple & Sage Martini - Niall Downey (recipe available online here) I found this to be the fussiest of these recipes with a roasted pineapple purée made by roasting a whole pineapple in the oven for 3 hours. Also a cardamom & sage-infused gin, clove syrup and lemon juice. The roasted pineapple flavor was interesting with the earthy cardamom, sage and clove.

Inspired by a large but lonely potato and a big bunch of basil, I made a smaller, 3-egg version of the potato, feta and basil tortilla from David Lebovitz's My Paris Kitchen Served with spicy tomato chutney.

Understood! I'll say that the Taleggio really added a ton of flavor to this recipe so I would choose the most strongly flavored cheese you can access, or a mix of a strong stinky and a soft melty. It's also quite salty so you'll probably want more salt in the stuffing if you go with a different cheese.

Well, if you can find a slightly stinky, semi-soft, washed rind cheese that would be closest. I might try some of that smoky blue cheese you had earlier.

I had some marshmallows hanging around but had to toss them because they got hard and dried out!

I read this: And saw all the booze photos and concluded that @Anna N had immediately decided to hit the sauce!

Another Ottolenghi salad, Orange & Date Salad from Plenty More. I wasn't quite sure about the dressing, which contains lemon juice, garlic, orange blossom water, cinnamon, toasted fennel seed, olive oil, salt & pepper but it works very well with all the greens & herbs (arugula, red lettuce, cilantro, parsley & mint). I'll make this one again.

Stuffed Portobello with Melting Taleggio from Plenty p 56. The ingredient list is online here. I used some bigger cremini instead of portobellos and used a little less sun dried tomatoes than called for but otherwise followed the recipe. Stuffing contains onion, celery, sundried tomato, garlic, Parmesan, tarragon & basil. I have had some tasty stuffed mushrooms in the past but I've never tasted a better melty cheese than Taleggio - so, so good!

A lime-ginger version of the Semolina, Coconut & Marmalade cake from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. My deviations: lime juice & zest instead of orange, homemade lime-ginger marmalade instead of orange marmalade. I (over)baked it in 4 little loaf pans and made a lime-ginger syrup to brush on after baking instead of the orange flower syrup specified. Served with yogurt and candied lime peel. I wouldn't say that syrup-soaked cakes are my most favorite thing but this one has nice texture from the coconut, ground almonds and semolina and I really liked the way the slightly tart yogurt complements the sweetness of the cake.

Just in time for the weekend festivities!

I love to use this service from my library, especially when traveling. Before I leave home, I download an assortment of current issues to my iPad so I can browse through them on the plane or otherwise away from WiFi. Saves me the $$$ I would spend buying them at the airport gift shop!

Focaccia with parsley & olives from Ottolenghi I took advantage of a cool-down in the local weather to turn on the oven and this popped out!

Like you, I started this month owning Plenty. I bought it back in 2011 but had only cooked a handful of recipes. I have the other 4 Ottolenghi books on loan from the local library and have been enjoying all of them. Plenty and Plenty More are neck and neck as far as favorite recipes go at this point, which makes sense as they're both vegetarian and I don't cook a ton of meat. Plenty seems to be the most plagued by measurement discrepancies where a few incorrect US measures replaced metric in the US editions (for example a 2 mm dough thickness converted to 1 inch). Annoying but not terribly problematic if you pay attention. The other books (at least the editions I have) have both sets of measurements. I like the stories connected with the recipes in Jerusalem so that one would be my favorite to curl up with for some reading time. Ottolenghi has a nice little section on savory pastries and may have the best variety of recipe types - meat, fish, veg, breads, desserts. I have a few meat or chicken dishes from each of those books on my list but haven't tried them. NOPI is my least favorite so far. The recipes are sometimes unnecessarily fussy but, on the other hand, I've also gotten some good ideas there and the cocktails have been fun. For another comparison, here's a link to a piece on Food52: How to Navigate Ottolenghi's Suite of Books

Very late lunch: Tagliatelle with walnuts & lemon from Ottolenghi's Plenty More. Essentially the same as this online recipe for tagliolini with walnuts & lemon. Deviations: I used Trader Joe's lemon pepper pappardelle instead of tagliatelle and added some sugar snap peas and yellow bell pepper. I like the way the browned butter and sage work with the walnuts. It reminded me a little of the linguine all'amalfitana from Diana Henry's Simple, which I prefer because ... garlic, red chile and anchovies

I was looking through old posts to see how else I've used this sauce - it's great on polenta! I also found some photos I'd posted earlier and thought I'd repeat them here. Everything ready to go into the oven: All roasted: On pasta with zucchini: On pasta with broccoli, kalamata olives and sous vide chicken breast: On toasted bread with white beans On polenta:

Shakshuka from Ottolenghi's Plenty. I enjoyed the flavors of the peppers, onions, herbs and spices here but am missing the earthy spice from the pilpelchuma or harissa in his Jerusalem version of the dish that I made earlier this month.

Grilled, rustic bread, rubbed with garlic and topped with some of this sauce (give it a rough chop if a lot of the tomatoes are still intact) - Mmmmm!

Put them in the fridge then cut with a sharp bread knife Freeze them solid then cut with a bandsaw Make smaller donuts...

I have raved about the Green Chile Adobo from Rick Bayless' More Mexican Everyday before but haven't officially nominated it in this category so I'm doing so now. The recipe may also be in other Bayless and appears on his website here. It's a condiment, not a dish in and of itself. Just fresh parsley & cilantro, pan-roasted garlic & serrano chiles, olive oil and salt blitzed together in a blender or processor. It has a brilliant jewel-like green color and maintains that color and it's fresh flavors in the fridge for months, under olive oil. Last year, I must have mentioned it a dozen times, putting it in dishes from that cookbook like the risotto-style rice & beans and skillet tacos to everything else I could think of - eggs, sandwiches, chicken and fish. This year, cooking from Diana Henry's Simple and Ottolenghi's books, I realized I could use it as a shortcut to so many of their sauces by adding a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice, chopped mint leaves, minced preserved lemon, freshly toasted and ground cumin, coriander, cardamom or cloves - not all at once, of course, but it made it so easy for me to make small amounts of various green sauces. I will not be without it!

Sweet broccolini with tofu, sesame and cilantro from Ottolenghi, recipe available online here. I added some uncalled for sugar snap peas. The recipe describes this as a salad and says to cool it down to room temp for serving. I was getting hangry so I ate it warm, over brown basmati rice.

Sprout Salad, Part Two from Ottolenghi's Plenty More, the ingredients and quantities are available online here. Not really much to look at but with plenty of nuts, avocado edamame and a mix of other vegetables in an interesting dressing flavored with umeboshi paste, it's a refreshing and satisfying salad.

Super French Toast from Ottolenghi's Plenty More, online here (scroll down, it's the last one) and sausage. I skipped the sour cream. This recipe first bakes the bread in the custard, re-dips it and fries it in butter. In contrast to the NOPI recipe where the toast gets a quick fry in butter and then bakes in the oven. The NOPI method makes sense for a group as everything comes out at the same time. I like the NOPI method and the star anise sugar it uses but I also like the way this recipe heats the milk/cream with orange rind, cinnamon and vanilla to flavor it. No reason I can't combine them both. Sausages are these, purchased from a vendor at my local farmer's market. I've been trying their various offerings and the name on this one made me laugh

Yes, the recipe calls for boiling all but one beet and slicing the raw beet paper thin. I went with the program but next time, I would cut the raw candy beet into thin matchstick so they look like little peppermint sticks!

Another Ottolenghi salad. Candy beets with lentils and yuzu from Plenty More, recipe available online here. I love the combination of beets and citrus. Yuzu is one I hadn't tried with beets but I enjoyed it here. I roasted (instead of boiled) regular red beets and used a raw candy beet.