Cookbook of the Month May 2017: Cooking for Jeffrey.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
It's another cookbook of the month!

This month, I pulled down a book by Ina Garten from my shelf. It's called Cooking for Jeffrey and here is what I cooked from each chapter.

Cocktails - Perfect Potato Pancakes: As soon as I first got this book and was doing the obligatory flip through, the potato pancakes were something that I knew we would definitely make. We started by grating potatoes ... ... before mixing them with mashed potatoes, fresh chives and grated onion. I love those flecks of green from the chives. I used two pans to get the pancakes cooked quicker. They were cooked in a mixture of butter and oil until ... ... golden brown and crispy! Sprinkled with more fresh chives, the pancakes were perfect for a simple dinner.

Soups, Salads and Lunch - Anna's Tomato Tart: A tomato glut in the last few weeks got us in the mood to make this tart. The tomatoes were marinaded in the most delicious mixture including fresh basil, parsley, garlic and thyme.

I made a shortcrust pastry case which I blind-baked to ensure no soggy bottom. Then, I spread it with Dijon mustard and sprinkled with a mix of Mozzarella and Cheddar.

On went the marinaded tomatoes and a few dollops of their herb marinade.

The tart was baked until golden and really juicy.

It was delicious both hot and cold.

Dinner - Orecchiette with Farm Stand Pasta Sauce: More tomatoes! This time, from the freezer. Last year, we had lots of tomatoes during the summer and so froze them whole.

For the pasta sauce, I blanched the tomatoes in boiling water.

Then, they went into a bowl of cold water and this made removing their skins so much easier.

The fresh tomatoes were diced up and cooked with red onions, celery, carrots, garlic, fresh basil, fresh parsley and red chilli flakes.

Once the sauce had simmered down, I blended it until smooth.

It was such a good dinner tossed with hot pasta and sprinkled with more fresh basil. I froze the rest of the sauce for when needed.

Vegetables and Sides - Tuscan Roasted Potatoes and Lemon: This is one of the easiest side dishes ever. All you do is roast potatoes with garlic, fresh rosemary, lemons, olive oil, salt and pepper. The potatoes get really crispy and the lemon gives a lovely flavour to them. I served them with Moroccan grilled lamb chops (also a recipe from this book) and a homemade coleslaw which needs a slight tweak before it's ready to share with you all.

Bread and Cheese - Spiced Pecans: So, these were a last minute decision. I was supposed to make the challah bread but Ramadan was near and I had no time. I decided to make these spiced nuts instead. The original recipe used pecans but I used almonds, walnuts and cashews because that's what I had in the cupboard.

The nuts were tossed with egg whites, brown sugar and spices. They went onto a tray and were baked until crispy.

And, they were so good! Both sweet and spicy in one bite and a really good way to use up all those nuts in the back of the cupboard.
Dessert - Frozen Hot Chocolate: The book had quite a big dessert section but from all the cakes and pies, it was the frozen hot chocolate that jumped out at me. It's one of those recipes that I had wanted to try out for ages but never got round to it. I'm not going to say too much about it except that it is one of the best drinks I've ever made. I shot a full recipe for it for the blog so keep an eye out for it soon.
I hope your Ramadan is going well! Keep me in your duas please!
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!