November’s Eat Your Books Cookbook Club Summary

It’s time for the monthly roundup of the Eat Your Books Cookbook Club, our online cooking group. November’s books were Half Baked Harvest or any of Diana Henry’s cookbooks or online recipes that we have indexed here at Eat Your Books. As a reminder, in December we will be cooking from Six Seasons or Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat, plus we will share our favorite holiday cookies and treats. Please be sure to tag all your social media posts with the hashtag #EYBCC. Special thanks to Darcie for helping me set up this month’s cookbook club roundup.

We’ll begin November’s roundup with dishes from Half Baked Harvest.

Becky L. tried the Bubble-up cheddar and tomato version of the Fancy toast, eight ways recipe. She said that it “used up some spiced potato bread I bought to go with soup and some white English cheddar left over from another recipe. And we like fancy toast for breakfast – so it was a win all around!”

 

Jessica J. chose the Garlic and herb mascarpone roasted chicken. Jessica thought the chicken was fantastic, but rated the pilaf as only “so-so”, finding it a tad greasy and bland.

Nan K made the Earl Grey blueberry muffins with cinnamon streusel.: “Oh my! I don’t know what was better, the wonderful smell in the house while they were baking, or the yummy flavor of the warm muffins. This is a winner!”

 

Elizabeth D made the Crispy quinoa bake: “I doubled the recipe and used only grape tomatoes, and I sprinkled freshly grated Parmesan on top instead of mozzarella. It was a hit for Meatless Monday (I served it with sautéed butternut squash and kale).”

Mona L made the Healthier slow cooker butter chicken: “Based on recent post, I added more salt, a thinly sliced jalepeno and also stopped at 3 hours on high. I think it can go even shorter maybe even 2-2 1/2. The chicken breast cooks quickly. Today, it was just shy of mealy. Definitely stir once or twice so butter is incorporated. I like the flavor! Just have to adjust cooking time.”

Now for some highlights from Diana Henry books and online recipes.

Paula C created the Japanese garlic and ginger chicken with smashed cucumbers, pickled ginger and mint from Simple

Maree R made the Sichuan eggplant from Simple

Louise A made the Chicken and toasted bread salad from Plenty. She declares, “This was easy and delicious!”

Lisa S made the Moroccan-spiced chicken with dates & eggplant from Simple “A very easy dish to put together, and everything was done perfectly at the given time. My Harissa is on the spicier side which was welcome to us, it complimented nicely with the sweet dates, orange and earthy cumin. A little crunch from the pistachios (which would have added a nice pop of color to this pic). I served with a vinegary cucumber salad on the side for additional crunch and brightness.”

Jenny H (that’s me!) made a few dishes from Simple the Korean chicken, gochujang mayo & sweet-sour cucumber was killer good. The  Parmesan roast chicken with cauliflower & thyme was great as well.

Alicia F made the Beluga lentil, roast grape and red chicory salad, from A Change of Appetite: “We had it as a side with a steak and it was a gorgeous combination.”

Leslie Anne F made the Tomatoes, soft herbs & feta with pomegranate from Simple: “This salad was so simple, fresh- divine! My local market was out of flat leaf parsley so I had to grab the curly; I thought it would downgrade the salad’s appeal but my husband and I actually agreed that we may have actually preferred it after we dined. Looking forward to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!”

 

Eat Your Books Sweet Ottolenghi Cookbook Club

An announcement: We are also working our way through Ottolenghi’s Sweet over at the Eat Your Books Sweet Ottolenghi Cookbook Club and I will highlight a few of the beautiful creations our talented members are sharing.

Corinna K made the Baked ricotta and hazelnut cheese cake and states “quite a bit of work but worth it”

Mehdi L made the Louise cake.

 

Tessa C made the Lemon-blackberry striped cake and says “It was much easier to make than I thought it would be. Love the flavours and the look.”

Our Darcie B made Chai brulee tarts. “I thought there was a bit too much ginger, but I only had a fine grater so that may have contributed to the flavor being so strong (directions say coarsely grate – I think slices would work fine). Otherwise they were good. I like the crust a lot – I didn’t have the recommended tart size, so I used mini brioche molds.”

Tom M made the Lime meringue cheesecake.

Annelies L made the Teacakes with blueberry

 

 

There are many more beautiful photos and creations in both groups be sure to visit them to join the fun Eat Your Books Cookbook Club and Eat Your Books Sweet Ottolenghi Cookbook Club. 

Find more information on the EYB Cookbook Club in our introduction post. Please remember when you post in our group – to also upload a photo and notes to your bookshelf here at Eat Your Books – learn more.

See you next month!