Ottolenghi is coming to town next week. Tickets here, in case you didn't see the thread today in Events.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-legen ... andingpage

The book continues to be a winner: roasted butternut squash and red onions with tahini and za'atar was a winner for Thanksgiving. I wad skeptical about leaving the skin on the squash, so I peeled it, and cut the squash a little smaller (more appropriate for a side dish) but otherwise stuck to the recipe as written.
Lots of nutty flavors between the browned squash, pine nuts and tahini, and the lemon juice cuts the sweetness of the squash and onions. Definitely a dish I'll make again.

JoelF wrote:The book continues to be a winner: roasted butternut squash and red onions with tahini and za'atar was a winner for Thanksgiving. I wad skeptical about leaving the skin on the squash, so I peeled it, and cut the squash a little smaller (more appropriate for a side dish) but otherwise stuck to the recipe as written.
Lots of nutty flavors between the browned squash, pine nuts and tahini, and the lemon juice cuts the sweetness of the squash and onions. Definitely a dish I'll make again.

By coincidence (or because it's squash season), I made this for dinner last night and completely agree-- a definite winner. I was too lazy to peel the squash, so we nibbled the flesh off the skin at the table. Peeling was a better idea! I also didn't have any pine nuts, but it was delicious without.

Anyone cooking from Plenty More? It's an interesting cookbook-- same poofy cover, but subdivided by technique instead of ingredient. The recipes seem like more of the same, but who can complain when "the same" is so good. I note that he finally includes recipes for my nemesis, kale. I will have to try them-- if anyone can make kale palatable, it's Ottolenghi.

I made the celery root and apple salad from the "Tossed" section and it was excellent-- bright, fresh flavors that were perfect to go with a roast chicken on a cold winter's day and also made good leftovers. I liked the addition of quinoa. I didn't have cilantro, so I used parsley and enjoyed the slight bitterness. The leftovers were good at lunch with a bit of feta and some smoked almonds.

Jen

I was just on Amazon looking at the best seller list under natural food cooibook, and I noticed that Ottolenghi and Jerusalem are $2.99 right now on kindle, and Plenty is $9.90. Hope this helps, Nancy

Has anybody purchased Ottolenghi's newest book Flavor? Is it as good as his other books? Amazon has it on sale right now for $14.99. I know I should support local bookstores, but I have a ton of Amazon GC to use up.

NFriday wrote:Has anybody purchased Ottolenghi's newest book Flavor? Is it as good as his other books? Amazon has it on sale right now for $14.99. I know I should support local bookstores, but I have a ton of Amazon GC to use up.

I bought it but other than looking through it briefly, I haven’t used it yet. But all of his books are great and very usable (and beautiful to look at). I don’t think you can go wrong with anything he does.

NFriday wrote:Has anybody purchased Ottolenghi's newest book Flavor? Is it as good as his other books? Amazon has it on sale right now for $14.99. I know I should support local bookstores, but I have a ton of Amazon GC to use up.

I purchased it at Costco for $21,99 and later that same day saw it at the Amazon Store in Oak Brook for $14.99 (so I returned the one to Costco). It's a Christmas present, so wrapped and unused as of yet. Maybe I'll switch it to a Hanukah gist and then I can open it earlier.

Hi- They have an Amazon 4 star store at Old Orchard. I have a ton of money in my Amazon account. Does anybody know if I can use that to purchase anything at the Amazon store? Thanks, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Hi- They have an Amazon 4 star store at Old Orchard. I have a ton of money in my Amazon account. Does anybody know if I can use that to purchase anything at the Amazon store? Thanks, Nancy

From their website = How do I pay for items? What’s the checkout experience?
After you discover products you love, you visit our checkout registers toward the front of the store. We accept a variety of payment methods, including Amazon Pay via our mobile shopping app, Amazon gift cards, Amazon Cash, as well as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

Hi,

Yesterday's lunch evolved around a 10-ounce Japanese eggplant and 14-ounces of firm tofu. I googled the ingredients to find a blog post by smitten kitchen for black pepper tofu and eggplant. I did not read the preamble, I went straight over to the recipe and proceeded to make it.

While eating lunch, my Dad inquired what was this meal's inspiration country-of-origin. Never having read the preamble, I speculated our meal may have Chinese roots.

Remembering our conversation just now, I found it was an Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty adapted by Smitten Kitchen. Now reading the preamble, it had some interesting commentary:

However, rather than making it and then still feeling a loose obligation to make a vegetable side dish or salad, I decided to add eggplant. From there, everything went south. I don’t have three types of soy sauce. I can get them, theoretically, but I was feeling lazy about it. I was pretty sure five tablespoons of crushed peppercorns and eight thinly sliced red chiles would make my children run screaming from the room; 11 tablespoons of butter was a bit rich for my tastes. But here’s the thing with this and, I think, all recipes. Much ado is made about “internet recipe commenters” and their “I changed eight ingredients and it didn’t work, zero stars”-type presence on websites. I’m often asked how I don’t “lose patience” with these types of comments and here comes an opinion, you just know I had one brewing:

For the love of absolutely nothing holy, because this an internet recipe blog and not the 11th commandment, you are allowed to make every single recipe you come across any way you wish. Modify for the ingredients you have. Modify for the schedule you have or the free time you want. Modify for the nutrients you need.

If there is any unrelenting theme for my cooking in 2020, it has been modifying recipes for the ingredients I have available in my home right now.

To the newly minted cookbook club I attend, I highly recommended Ottolenghi's books. They accommodated me with a book selection, which seemed to nearly deride this group. Too many ingredients not everyone has available to them was a popular response.

After that, I kept my suggestions to myself and just work with whatever they suggest. You know what? They have come up with selections I might have dismissed and later found quite interesting. Better they work with their filter and not mine!

Anyway, I think I would have completely overlooked the Ottolenghi recipe with all the chili heat and Szechuan peppercorns. The adapted version by Smitten Kitchen was just right with the slimmed down ingredient list with black peppery accents working out fine.

I think I should challenge myself sometime to rework a recipe I find unapproachable and weave it into something I might like.

Regards,
Cathy2

We have a lot of carrots from the CSA. The spicy Moroccan carrot salad from Plenty used a few of them. There were a nice side to some baked panko-crusted black bass from Sitka.

I got Flavor as a Christmas gift. Last night, I let my two bubble companions each pick a recipe for dinner.

I can’t comment on the lime and coconut black beans—I had to make too many substations.

But the broccoli two ways was a major winner. Basically you pickle the stems and do a quick pickle with some chili peppers and deep fry the florets and toss in a sauce.

In the introduction, he says he feels he’s hitting his stride. A lot of recipes do seem easier than his earlier books. I glad to add it to my cookbook collection.