maplessence's review
2.0
I haven't started my review of [b:Ottolenghi Simple|38358651|Ottolenghi Simple|Yotam Ottolenghi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1523357175l/38358651._SX50_.jpg|60025396] yet as so far I have tried four recipes and all of them have been excellent. There is a good chance that my review of Simple will be a 5★, but I want to try a couple more recipes to be sure.
I already know Simplicious isn't a 5★ cookbook for me.
Firstly I made Sustainable Sweet Fish Curry and it was - nice. And nice only because I ignored the directions to put the finely chopped Keffir lime leaves in near the end. Even finely chopped the leaves are quite coarse.* The recipe also said fish sauce or lime juice. I chose fish sauce, but it definitely needed both. Using a mild red chili was my own bad decision though and for the first time I found a recipe for Red Cod (one of the few cheap fish left in NZ now) that wasn't a pie that tasted good.
We are having the leftovers tonight & I will definitely be adding some zing. Edit: I improved the leftovers & created a far nicer dish. I added more turmeric root & lots of lime juice.
* Sarah does freeze her keffir leaves where I have a tree. But frozen keffir leaves wouldn't be much softer.
Sorry to be negative.
Well I was sorry!
Last night I tried Mum's Steak & Kidney Stew With Herby Dumplings - a crockpot meal. The stew itself was delicious but fortunately I didn't trust the amount of beef stock given & added extra. There was still barely enough sauce. (I did have to turn the meal to high though to cook the dumplings) I couldn't see how they would cook at such a low heat.
The dumplings themselves were a disaster. I made following the recipe religiously. I ended up with a bowl of flour & fresh herbs. 1.5 tbsp butter & 1tbsp milk weren't enough to mix this (which I thought when I read the recipe) so I added a little more butter & a lot more milk. My dumplings looked the same as the illustration but they tasted like balls of lead.
Either these recipes weren't thoroughly proofread or they weren't properly tested.
Here is the flour leftover from making approximately twelve inedible dumplings.
I am going to ring my daughter-in-law today. Hannah loves this book. I will try a recipe that Hannah has been successful with & see how that goes.
When I rang the girls, Hannah was busy but Chloe said she thought Hannah had made recipes mostly from the breakfast section. So I thought I would try the Bacon 'n Eggs Porridge - & that was absolutely delicious. I chose the quinoa option & I used leftover Chicken Laksa as I didn't have any chicken stock.
I spoke to Hannah a few days ago. She thought I was the wrong generation to enjoy this book! I guess that is telling me!
I already know Simplicious isn't a 5★ cookbook for me.
Firstly I made Sustainable Sweet Fish Curry and it was - nice. And nice only because I ignored the directions to put the finely chopped Keffir lime leaves in near the end. Even finely chopped the leaves are quite coarse.* The recipe also said fish sauce or lime juice. I chose fish sauce, but it definitely needed both. Using a mild red chili was my own bad decision though and for the first time I found a recipe for Red Cod (one of the few cheap fish left in NZ now) that wasn't a pie that tasted good.
We are having the leftovers tonight & I will definitely be adding some zing. Edit: I improved the leftovers & created a far nicer dish. I added more turmeric root & lots of lime juice.
* Sarah does freeze her keffir leaves where I have a tree. But frozen keffir leaves wouldn't be much softer.
Sorry to be negative.
Well I was sorry!
Last night I tried Mum's Steak & Kidney Stew With Herby Dumplings - a crockpot meal. The stew itself was delicious but fortunately I didn't trust the amount of beef stock given & added extra. There was still barely enough sauce. (I did have to turn the meal to high though to cook the dumplings) I couldn't see how they would cook at such a low heat.
The dumplings themselves were a disaster. I made following the recipe religiously. I ended up with a bowl of flour & fresh herbs. 1.5 tbsp butter & 1tbsp milk weren't enough to mix this (which I thought when I read the recipe) so I added a little more butter & a lot more milk. My dumplings looked the same as the illustration but they tasted like balls of lead.
Either these recipes weren't thoroughly proofread or they weren't properly tested.
Here is the flour leftover from making approximately twelve inedible dumplings.
I am going to ring my daughter-in-law today. Hannah loves this book. I will try a recipe that Hannah has been successful with & see how that goes.
When I rang the girls, Hannah was busy but Chloe said she thought Hannah had made recipes mostly from the breakfast section. So I thought I would try the Bacon 'n Eggs Porridge - & that was absolutely delicious. I chose the quinoa option & I used leftover Chicken Laksa as I didn't have any chicken stock.
I spoke to Hannah a few days ago. She thought I was the wrong generation to enjoy this book! I guess that is telling me!
estherjoybelle's review
3.0
I'm going to say that I've "finished" this book because I've read all the pages, though it's hard to say I'm finished with a recipe book without trying a significant chunk of recipes.
Of the recipes I've tried, some have been hits, some misses, and a few in between. I make the homemade jelly all the time for my son. I recently planted a pineapple top as per Sarah's suggestion. Sometimes the book seems to be a bit too self-referential to really be useful - "Make this easy lunch! With three of the recipes from elsewhere in the book, which you've made earlier and stored in handy reused jars around your kitchen!"
In general, I agree with Sarah's messages around sustainability and health - which is not to say I necessarily follow a similar diet or that I'm great at avoiding food waste.
I also find Sarah's breezy, casual, straight-shooting writing style really irritating. She's clearly poured a lot of herself into this book, which I respect, but I don't think I'd be friends with her. I think we'd bug each other.
Of the recipes I've tried, some have been hits, some misses, and a few in between. I make the homemade jelly all the time for my son. I recently planted a pineapple top as per Sarah's suggestion. Sometimes the book seems to be a bit too self-referential to really be useful - "Make this easy lunch! With three of the recipes from elsewhere in the book, which you've made earlier and stored in handy reused jars around your kitchen!"
In general, I agree with Sarah's messages around sustainability and health - which is not to say I necessarily follow a similar diet or that I'm great at avoiding food waste.
I also find Sarah's breezy, casual, straight-shooting writing style really irritating. She's clearly poured a lot of herself into this book, which I respect, but I don't think I'd be friends with her. I think we'd bug each other.
slenkic's review
4.0
Sarah Wilson's new book focuses more on cooking techniques and sustainability than health/being sugar free compared to her previous books. Simplicious is an encyclopedia in size, I've had to regularly used the index with this to find recipes I've wanted to try! There are some good tips for cutting food waste, like did you know that if you put lemons in a sealed plastic bag they will last up to a month? Or that carrots should be covered in water and kept in a sealed container? I'm particularly interested in reducing how much food I waste by not using it in time, I wish there was more information on food waste issue in the book - the recipes look good but don't appeal to me as much as her previous two books, still glad I bought it but there's a lot more recipes than content on sustainability/food waste.
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