Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Plenty of Inspiration

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!  Today, I want to share with you my latest cookbook find...



This is the book Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi - a famous London chef, restaurant owner, and food columnist for the Guardian newspaper in London, UK.

I first heard about Yotam Ottolenghi from my dear friend, Rachel, who lives in England.  I know how much she adores Ottolenghi and his recipes, so when I saw this book for sale in the reprinted American edition, I had to have it! 

This cookbook contains 120 vegetarian recipes.  Although I am not a vegetarian, I do enjoy vegetarian dishes, so there is much inspiration here, even for meat lovers! 

Let me share some of what I've experimented with thus far...



Sweet Potato Wedges, pg. 26


Okay, seriously, these are to die for!  I've tried sweet potatoes all sorts of ways - baked, fried, mashed, cubed, etc., but this recipe is my favourite.  It is melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  Ottolenghi provides a recipe for a dipping sauce to go with these...I didn't have all the ingredients, so I used plain old mayonnaise and served them with oven-roasted back ribs.  YUM!




This is me preparing to roast aubergine (eggplant) in the oven according to Ottolenghi's instructions on page 110.  The Maldon sea salt I used for this recipe was a gift from another dear friend of mine.



Aubergine with buttermilk sauce pg. 110
I served these as an appetizer - before our main course.
I must say, Nuno (my husband) and I have never been too fond of aubergine in the past. 
Ottolenghi's recipe turned out delicious!  I am a newly converted fan of the eggplant!



I decided to roast eggplant again another night using Ottolenghi's method, but this time I turned this vegetarian dish into a meat-lover's dream...



I made my meaty tomato sauce to go with it and grated some fresh parmesan cheese over top.




Vegetarian meets meat-lover!



I am looking forward to experimenting with many other recipes in this new cookbook!  It is filled with PLENTY of inspiration! 




I will leave you with this photo of my backyard early this morning...
It's Spring here, but it hardly looks that way.  I am crossing my fingers that the sun comes out and melts all of this away.  Sending warm thoughts to you.  I hope the sun is shining wherever you are!  Enjoy the rest of the week!  xoxo


6 comments:

  1. Oh, Rosinda! So happy that you love the cookbook & are finding plenty of inspiration! I think that Yotam would heartily approve of your adaptations...it's the idea that's sparked by a great recipe! All looks just lovely! And that snow....bbrrrr!!! Stay warm & cook some more deliciousness!! Love xoxox

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  2. I agree with Rachel- adaptations of recipes are what I do all the time. In fact, I rarely use a recipe 'as is,' unless it's from a friend who tells me that this is exactly the way to do it and she's already confirmed the trial and error of the recipe. These both look fantastic. I, too, have this book and love it, although I haven't tried very many of the recipes---he's quite adventurous in the kitchen!!

    GREAT post....and I can't believe your snow. This is the way COLORADO looks in April---it did last year!!

    But this year? It's going to be 86F today and sunny---a record high!!

    Love you!
    xo
    Joann

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  3. That looks truly beautiful Rosinda. Even the snow is nice even tho it's confused seasonally. I love the sweet potatoes--roasted with crisp edges are my fave for them. Vegs are the best! And so are you!!

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  4. Rosinda,
    Once again, you with your beautiful cooking... The sweet potatoes look so crispy and yummy. I wish I was closer:)
    I loved everything, even the picture of the trees covered in snow, but the my favorite stop was the one of your beautiful and loving, happy and loving smile!
    Thank you for sharing>

    XOXOXO

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  5. You're such a good cook, Rosinda! You always make me hungry :-). Oh goodness, I hope spring returns soon! xoxo

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  6. Yumm... The sweet potatoe wedges look delicious, and your back porch looks a little too chilly for me! Very pretty though, but I'm a South Florida girl ~ Brrrrr...XoXo

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