Cooking the Books: Anjum Anand’s ‘Indian Vegetarian Feast’

Having just returned from our holiday in Goa, it was inevitable that we were going to choose an Indian cookery book!  And Anjum’s Indian Vegetarian Feast felt like a good opportunity to try and keep things light and healthy.

Favourites

1. Chickpea burgers with Indian purple coleslaw.  The creamy, lemony sour coleslaw did it for me!
2. Cannellini bean, spring greens and quinoa pilaf. An unexpected favourite.  I thought it might taste bland and worthy but I was very wrong.  Garlicky, lemony, salt, cuminy and somehow earthy and meaty.
3. Spice-crusted halloumi with fig and pistachio chutney.  Jamie’s verdict was ‘that chutney’s summit else’ which I think is quite an endorsement.

Chickpea burgers with Indian purple coleslaw

Cannellini bean, spring greens and quinoa pilaf

Spiced crusted halloumi with fig and pistachio chutney

Also Very Goods

1. Rogan Mushrooms and wild basmati rice and spinach raita – I particularly liked the raita.
2. Smoky spiced aubergines – the aubergines gave this curry a nice meaty feel.
3. Lemony vegetable and spinach hotpot –  just a good fresh, wholesome, warming curry.
4. Squash, butter bean and mushroom curry – the double cream gave this dish an indulgent feel.
5. Elegant vegetable biriyani – I really loved the crispy fried sweet potato slices onion sprinkled on top.

Rogan mushrooms and wild basmati rice

Smoky spiced aubergines

Lemony spinach and vegetable hotpot

Squash, butter bean and mushroom curry

We loved cooking from Anjum’s Indian Vegetarian Feast – I was a bit daunted by the long lists of ingredients for each dish, but actually most of them were very commonplace and nearly all of the spices were in our cupboards already.  The recipes themselves were extremely straightforward and Jamie and myself were surprised at how much we enjoyed being vegetarians for eight days.  The dishes were not only delicious, but each curry was so different from the last, so kept our interest. And I loved that everything was fresh and healthy – I did feel very virtuous throughout.  I’d really recommend buying this book and giving it a whirl.

Sunday Afternoon Quickie: Hanging Gate, Sutton

After a busy, knackering week I fancied a really peaceful, calming Sunday, which is why we chose to go to Hanging Gate in the hills near Macclesfield.  The scenery is stunning and the views from the pub are tremendous.  And I’d heard very good things about the food.

Stunning views of the hills

Sunday lunch absolutely lived up to expectation – I ordered haddock with new potatoes and Jamie went for a roast dinner of aged rib of beef.  Both dishes were excellent, fresh tasting and just very good quality.

Baked haddock and new potatoes

Aged rib of beef

But it was the pudding that really got me! A blueberry, lemon and white chocolate rice pudding with honeycomb.  Jamie and I regrettably ordered to share.  When it arrived I wanted it all. It basically tasted like rice pudding and lemon curd – tart, warm and comforting with the honeycomb adding crunch and excitement.

Blueberry Rice Pudding

I’m definitely coming back to the Hanging Gate in Spring for an evening meal – I can’t wait to see the sunset from their terrace.  Everything about our experience today was top notch – the staff were lovely, the food was great and you can’t beat those views.

Cooking The Books: Felicity Cloake’s ‘Perfect Too’

Guardian food writer Felicity Cloake has written a lovely cookbook called ‘Perfect Too’ which is a compilation of her weekly Guardian feature/recipe where she seeks to the make the perfect XXXX – this could be a croque monsieur, a jam doughnut, gingerbread.  Generally some kind of classic or well known dish.

My main obstacle with navigating this book was Felicity’s tendency towards red meat, heavy carbs and puddings.  I wasn’t sure how I’d survive the eight dishes we planned to test without my waistline and energy levels suffering.

However I managed to do a reasonable job of finding the most healthy numbers in the book including – dal, spaghetti vongole and nut roast.

I’ll talk you through my favourites and my ‘also goods’, as there were no failures here – everything turned out well, although there were four clear triumphs for me:

Favourites

1. Macaroni cheese.  Definitely at the top of my list. I’m not a massive fan of mac n’ cheese, but nutmeg in the sauce and a crunchy breadcrumb and parmesan topping breathed new life into this dish.  Sweet, creamy comfort food.
2. Spaghetti alla vongole.  Easy peasy to make – ready in just ten mins (apart from soaking the clams for two hours to get the dirt off them).  A superb dish – salty, lemony and it tasted of the seaside.  It felt sophisticated and looked rather rustic and beautiful.
3. Nut roast.  Another unexpected hit.  I choose this more for nutrition reasons than from real interest in the dish. But it was quite spectacular. The sage, chestnuts and parsnips gave it a lovely earthy flavour and the stilton was a lovely tangy creamy twist.
4. Potato salad.  I didn’t realise potato salad could taste this good. Felicity’s version included capers, anchovies, fresh chives, mint and parsley, dijon and wholegrain mustard, spring onions and lashings of mayonnaise. Creamy herby, salty heaven!

Macaroni cheese

Spaghetti alla vongole

Nut Roast

Potato salad

The Also Goods

1. Aubergine parmigiana. This nearly fell into ‘favourites’ as it was gorgeous.  It didn’t make it because it wasn’t as much of a revelation as the top four dishes.  It was smoky, meaty (yet vegetarian), moist and delicious. The inclusion of two balls of mozzarella gave the dish a lovely creaminess and chewiness. Warning: pretty laborious to make and involved boiling a lot of aubergines!
2. Meatballs. Made from pork and mince beef molded together with onions, fennel seeds and breadcrumbs soaked in milk.  Felicity used the pork to make them more juicy, fatty and flavoursome – and it paid off – they were much more interesting than normal meatballs and the fennel seeds were a tasty, fragrant flavour addition.
3. Dal.  A very virtuous dinner – this must have had hardly any calories in it and was full of healthy lentils.  It was tasty but I think eating it with a couple of curries would have been the ideal way to eat it – it was a bit uninspiring just by itself.
4. Cullen skink.  A creamy smoked haddock and potato soup.  A hearty, tasty and again healthy dinner.

Whilst Felicity’s recipes were a bit stodgy for me and this might not end up being my go to cook book, I ate some great meals.  And there is something magical about the way Felicity takes classic recipes – be it macaroni cheese, meatballs or parmigiana, amalgamates the best techniques from a variety of chefs and makes them REALLY REALLY  well.  Sometimes it involved a bit of extra faff and effort, but it was worth it for the excellent outcomes.