November 2023 Favourites List

Hello my foodie friends! It’s time for the November favourites list.

This month’s pictures are from a lovely meal I had with some friends at Gunpowder restaurant, Soho, London.

As we near the end of November, thoughts turn to the festive season, and preparations for Christmas and New Year. Whether you make everything for Christmas yourself, or whether Christmas arrives in a van for you, I hope your plans and preparations are creating anticipation and excitement for the festivities. 

 

Food articles

Kavey Eats blog has some of the most useful cookbook reviews you will ever read. Too many cookbook reviews either concentrate on the “big names” or they only look at the photos and feel of a cookbook. Kavey and her team of reviewers actually try out the recipes and look at the usefulness and accuracy of the books along with their covetability. This month she shared a review of Uyen Luu’s latest book on Vietnamese vegetarian food: https://www.kaveyeats.com/vietnamese-vegetarian-uyen-luu

Just take a look at these photos! Some of the most gorgeous handcrafted pasta tools (ravioli presses and other shaping implements) I have ever seen! https://tastecooking.com/were-living-in-a-golden-age-of-pasta-tools

 

London’s best vegetarian restaurants, as selected by Vogue: https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/best-vegetarian-restaurants-london

London’s best Christmas markets: https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/attractions/best-christmas-markets-london-2023-b1119912.html

Kitchen tips and know how

How to add heat to your food without scorching your tastebuds: https://lifehacker.com/how-to-add-heat-to-your-food-without-scorching-your-tas-1850870708

 

Not all chillis are created equal, heat wise. Here’s a guide to chilli heat, as ranked by the Scoville scale: https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/lifestyle/peppers-ranked-by-scoville-heat-units/

Beginner’s guide to making your own salad dressing. Keep a clean, washed out old jar to make it in: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-make-homemade-salad-dressing-from-basic-to-fancy-article

Recipes

Three prawn recipes: Sri Lankan devilled prawns, tiger prawn spaghetti and Bengali prawn malai curry: https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/25/these-three-prawn-recipes-have-been-passed-through-the-generations-19712276

 

Sanjana Modha shares her Indian sweet recipes and advice on how to make the ultimate Diwali sweet box. Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights is on 12 November in 2023. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/diwali_gift_box

Akara are Nigerian Black-Eyed Pea Fritters, a healthy and protein rich lunch dish: https://www.seriouseats.com/akara-5537111

Nigella Lawson shares Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi’s recipe for Venetian Bacon, chestnut and barley soup, with a sofrito base: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/guests/bacon-chestnut-and-barley-soup

 

This pear, fig, Roquefort and honey crouton salad from Nigel Slater is just the kind of salad with cooked elements for late autumn; https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/oct/24/nigel-slater-recipe-for-pears-with-figs-roquefort-and-honey-croutons

Mussels are in season. Here is Jack Stein’s (son of seafood cookery guru Rick Stein) recipe for mussels with spinach and cider. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/how-to-cook-mussels-rick-stein-b2433101.html

Easy Mul Naengmyeon (Korean Cold Noodle Soup) recipe from Aaron and Claire: https://aaronandclaire.com/easy-mul-naengmyeon-korean-cold-noodle-soup/

Delia Smith’s classic mincemeat recipe dates back from 1974, an oldie but a goodie. Happy cooking and baking, my friends! https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/books/delias-happy-christmas/home-made-christmas-mincemeat

Having seen an online friend’s photo of Dishoom’s chilli broccoli salad, I simply had to make it. It’s fab with grilled meat. (There are 2 other recipes here for Kachumber salad and Gunpowder potatoes: https://www.dishoom.com/journal/dishoom-barbecue-box-sides-recipes/

Naturally to complement the chilli broccoli salad, I made the double marinated Spicy lamb chop recipe from Dishoom: https://thecaterer.com/products/recipes/recipe-spicy-lamb-chops-dishoom

 

Cost of living

ASDA is bringing back the £1 winter warmer offer for over 60s. £1 for soup, bread and unlimited tea and coffee. Available at 205 ASDA cafes until Feb 2024. https://metro.co.uk/2023/11/06/supermarket-brings-back-1-meal-deal-to-help-over-60s-stay-warm-19779480

 

What you might have missed at Snig’s Kitchen

My Tumblr site is a food diary where I share my latest cooking experiments.

I made Waitrose’s sticky date and soy beef stew, It’s very brown on the plate, but also very delicious: https://www.tumblr.com/snigskitchen/734268175860039680/sticky-date-and-soy-beef-stew-on-a-recent-trip-to

Here is the Dishoom Spicy broccoli salad referred to above: https://www.tumblr.com/snigskitchen/733821358835957760/made-dishooms-spicy-broccoli-salad-it-packs

A leek, pea and spinach soup with croutons I made recently (my soup recipes are either very planned, or like here, devised to use something I already had in the house, which this time was leeks and spinach): https://www.tumblr.com/snigskitchen/733188460042665984/leek-pea-and-spinach-soup-sometimes-only-soup

David Chang’s famous bacony, buttery miso butter corn: https://www.tumblr.com/snigskitchen/732183804490465280/roasted-summer-corn-with-miso-butter

My take on a BBC Good Food recipe for Chorizo, orzo & sweetcorn summer stew: https://www.tumblr.com/snigskitchen/731731519070191616/chorizo-orzo-sweetcorn-summer-stew-recipe-bbc

Please note: as with every monthly Favourites List, all of these items have been selected by me simply because I love them. I do not receive any money, benefits in kind or other incentive for posting these links or recommendations.