Cookbook Challenge 2013 - Week 6

Right, now that I’m up-to-date I can relax – the last few entries may have been a bit sparse but it’s hard recalling things weeks after they happened. For some reason this week has been a mammoth week of cooking, five new recipes have made it onto our plates – albeit one a cake, and another a side dish – but still pretty darn impressive by anyone standards!

With my Dad’s birthday approaching I thought I’d better enquire as to the baking arrangements, I mean, there’s nothing more disappointing than a birthday without a cake. So I pulled all my baking books off the shelf and settled down. Now my Dad is not into anything too fancy, he’s quite happy with a custard cream with his tea (or a pork pie with his pint) – and so I found myself coming back to the Chocolate Guinness Cake from Nigella’s Feast. It turned out to be a sound choice, not only was it easy to transport (believe me, there’s nothing fun about driving when there’s a cake at risk of destruction), it was deliciously moist and the topping was not at all too sweet even though it was piled on top like the head on a pint of the aforementioned black stuff. And the main thing was that the birthday boy enjoyed it (I’ve since heard that it disappeared fairly quickly so it can’t have been bad!).

Rummaging around in the freezer I found a couple of chicken thighs, now one thigh per person is a bit miserly, but luckily I discovered a couple of sausages as I delved further and I knew I’d seen a recipe in Nigellissima that would be perfect. Cue a Monday evening Italian Traybake, which I served with Insalata di Zucchine con Menta e Rucola (Courgette Salad with Mint and Rocket) from Two Greedy Italians. It was a particularly fortuitous decision as my husband came home from a stressful day at the office (the beginning of the month is always a busy time in finance), but his little face lit up when he saw what we were having (the fact that he’s easily pleased is a real bonus!). The dish itself was a cinch to put together, place all the ingredients in a roasting tray and pop into the oven – I don’t think there’s anyone that could mess that up! While the oven was working its magic I whipped up the courgette salad, and arranged it artistically on a platter – ok, so I flung it on and spent a good ten minutes bemoaning my lack of finesse.  But artistic flair aside it was a pretty awesome meal, hubby even went back for more of the green stuff, I’d say that was a roaring success!

Pasta is always a good option for a cheap week night meal, and while the Italians might prefer a primo course of pasta before the main event, I’m only little and a bowl of pasta is more than enough for me. Add to that the fact that my cupboards are bulging with all manner of different pasta shapes and you’ll agree that it’s the way forward. Therefore I chose Linguine alla Amatriciana from Gino’s Pasta, though I may have adapted the recipe slightly by dicing up a spare gammon steak instead of using the specified pancetta…this is not laziness, it's frugality! I knew it was going to be a good dish when I saw the crushed chillies, and they certainly gave the dish a zing, just how I like it…and the husband too of course!

My final recipe for the week was one that had been postponed several times so there was a lot of expectation for it to deliver something special. Now my fondness for aubergine is no secret, I absolutely love them, so when I saw that the recipe for Roast Aubergine Parmigiana in a recent BBC Good Food magazine I knew I had to give it a whirl. I have said before that there’s nothing worse than an undercooked aubergine so I was somewhat sceptical about them cooking thoroughly in the time specified, but I had no need to worry as they were perfect – the softness of the aubergine flesh was complemented wonderfully by the crispy breadcrumb and parmesan topping. A lot of baked aubergine dishes require slices of the vegetable to be griddled first which, while not exactly difficult, takes time and creates more washing up, so to be able to just stick this in the oven and sit back was lovely. Served with crusty bread this was a fabulous end to an exciting week in the kitchen!

Recipe Count: 18

Target: 52