I have a slightly different approach to menu planning than the average person. To be honest I don't think I've ever opened a new cookery book and thought "yippee"...instead my thought process goes something along the lines of this.....
1. What ingredients are needed? Now I don't mind buying something different as I'm not a creature of habit when it comes to eating....I want to try all sorts. What I don't want is a one off thing which will sit at the back of the cupboard, forgotten and mouldering away, pricking my conscience every time I rediscover it.
2. Are the instructions easy and clear to follow....don't tell me half way down "to add the cooked chicken" when you have failed to mention at any point that something needs to be precooked/marinaded until I'm half way through....I could break the world discus record chucking a frying pan if I was riled enough believe you me💪
3. How expensive is it? I don't have Heston Blumethal's budget for the weird and wonderful...I'm going to eat it not wear it for heaven's sake!
4. How quick is it going to be to prepare? I have about a 25 minute window of patience before I start getting stroppy....I can't tell you how many times Mr GBT has magically appeared just in the nick of time to save both me and his dinner [he's a much better cook than me]
So, if a recipe passes all of the above plus doesn't produce too big a mountain of washing up and is not too heavy on the fuel use then I'm at least going to try it. If it then tastes good then it's a keeper and into my red notebook it goes.
Now I live with two confirmed carnivores who have, over time, got used to eating veggie at least 50% of the time. This dish has got past the bacon radar [the one when they say it's nice but could be improved by a bit of bacon!], I was able to put it all in the slow cooker at once without precooking anything and it was scrummy. The only tweaks I made was that I sliced the root vegetable as I have never known my slowcooker to get them beyond the al dente stage, I substituted sultanas and a dash of lemon juice for the apricots as Mr GBT really doesn't like them and I cooked the meal on high for the first few hours and then finished it off on medium. I might try it on low next time just out of interest. There is enough for us to blitz it and have it as soup for tonight's supper.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7742/fiveaday-tagine
Arilx
1. What ingredients are needed? Now I don't mind buying something different as I'm not a creature of habit when it comes to eating....I want to try all sorts. What I don't want is a one off thing which will sit at the back of the cupboard, forgotten and mouldering away, pricking my conscience every time I rediscover it.
2. Are the instructions easy and clear to follow....don't tell me half way down "to add the cooked chicken" when you have failed to mention at any point that something needs to be precooked/marinaded until I'm half way through....I could break the world discus record chucking a frying pan if I was riled enough believe you me💪
3. How expensive is it? I don't have Heston Blumethal's budget for the weird and wonderful...I'm going to eat it not wear it for heaven's sake!
4. How quick is it going to be to prepare? I have about a 25 minute window of patience before I start getting stroppy....I can't tell you how many times Mr GBT has magically appeared just in the nick of time to save both me and his dinner [he's a much better cook than me]
So, if a recipe passes all of the above plus doesn't produce too big a mountain of washing up and is not too heavy on the fuel use then I'm at least going to try it. If it then tastes good then it's a keeper and into my red notebook it goes.
Now I live with two confirmed carnivores who have, over time, got used to eating veggie at least 50% of the time. This dish has got past the bacon radar [the one when they say it's nice but could be improved by a bit of bacon!], I was able to put it all in the slow cooker at once without precooking anything and it was scrummy. The only tweaks I made was that I sliced the root vegetable as I have never known my slowcooker to get them beyond the al dente stage, I substituted sultanas and a dash of lemon juice for the apricots as Mr GBT really doesn't like them and I cooked the meal on high for the first few hours and then finished it off on medium. I might try it on low next time just out of interest. There is enough for us to blitz it and have it as soup for tonight's supper.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7742/fiveaday-tagine
Arilx
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Sounds lush mate and your attitude to recipes sounds similar to mine. xx
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