Weekend Cooking: What I Baked In My Kitchen in May

The first Saturday of the month is when I share all the things that I baked in the previous month. I might need to rethink after my recent hospital stay. I need to be more mindful of what I make. This doesn't mean that I can't make anything but I definitely can't make something sweet every week. Baking is something that I enjoy, so I don't want to give it up completely.

An example of how I have had to think differently is I wanted to make something for my husband's birthday. Normally I would have made a full cake and we would have eaten it for a few days, but instead I tried a new Chocolate Mug Cake which we then shared. You might not quite be able to notice that it is in a Mr Perfect mug!

I did decide that I wanted to try making something tasty for Sunday night dinner, so I decided to try making this Apple and Berry Crumble. This was a bit of a conconction really. The topping in the actual recipe was using muesli cluster cereal which I didn't have so I kind of adapted a different topping.

I acquired two new cookbooks this month

The first was Norteña by Karla Zazueta which features the food of Northern Mexico. We tried one new recipe out of the book, and I think we will try another one tomorrow. I have a number of other recipes picked out to try at some point too.

The second is Easy Wins by Anna Jones. This book was actually chosen in both of the cookbook clubs I am a member of, and yet, I haven't yet made anything out of it. Maybe this week.

New recipes

A few months ago I decided that I was going to share all the new recipes that we try each month, and then we proceeded to not try very many new recipes at all. This month, we tried a couple of new recipes

Singhoalese Chicken - comes from the book Norteña by Karla Zazueta. It was notable because I had to spatchcock my own chicken We will make the marinade again, but probably just do it on chicken pieces going forward.

Apple Berry Crumble - the recipe said use blackberries and currants. I used raspberries and sultanas. Still good!

Chocolate Mug Cake - This is a dangerous recipe to know. All done in 5 minutes and it was very tasty!

Chicken Saag - Wasn't sure what to expect from this recipe but it was good!

Boeuf Bourgignon - I posted about trying this Julia Child recipe here

Chicken and Vegetable stir fry - It's not like we've never had a chicken stir fry before, but this was the first time we made it using Nagi Maehashi's Charlie sauce. We have some sauce left over so I suspect we might see this on next week's menu too.

My Weekend Cooking posts over the last month:

What I Baked in my Kitchen in April

Around the World

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Bonnie Garmus

Weekly meals

Saturday -Meatballs
Sunday - Bacon Vegetable and Risoni Soup
Monday -Chicken stir fry and rice
Tuesday - Creamy mustard pork, mash and steamed vegies
Wednesday -
Thursday -
Friday -

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Around the World

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Meliz's Kitchen by Meliz Berg and I mentioned I really like books that talk about specific places and cultures. I love reading the introductions where they talk about going fishing with their grandfather, or cooking with their favourite auntie or whatever the story is. So today I thought I would talk a little about some of those books that I have in my cookbook collection.

Now, not all of them are written by people who come from the country or region, but the ones that aren't are written by people who have grown to love that particular culture.

The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden - I have had this book on my shelves for years, and I am not sure I have ever cooked anything from it, but I do distinctly remember looking through this and loving it! Time to take a stroll through the pages and the regions of Spain!

Norteña by Karla Zazueta - This is my latest addition, and features the cuisine of Northern Mexico. I find it interesting that this is so specifically about just the north, but I guess that Mexico is a big country with lots of different specialities across the country.

Trullo by Tim Siadatan - This is an Italian cookbook, and I must confess that I haven't spent a lot of time in the pages of this one!

Yiayia: Time Perfected Recipes from Greek Grandmothers by Anastasia Miari - So many delicious sounding dishes in this one. I was surprised though that there are not recipes for Moussaka or Pasticcio in this book! I will keep on the search for the perfect recipe.

Rice Table: Korean Recipes and Stories to Feed the Soul by Su Scott - Moving away from Europe temporarily, this is obviously Korean food. We have made a few things out of this including Kimchi fried rice, and some really delicious roasted baby potatoes. I must make them again!

The Italian Pantry by Theo Randall - This  book contains one of our favourite meatball recipes. We made it again this week and it is so good.

Meliz's Kitchen by Meliz Berg - Somehow I managed to not include this book in the photo even though this is where my pondering started today. Never mind. This book is all Turkish-Cypriot recipes and we have cooked quite a few things from this book.

Do you have a favourite cookbook about other parts of the world?

Weekly meals

Saturday - Chorizo and Potato Soup Stew
Sunday -
Monday -
Tuesday - Out for dinner
Wednesday - Butter chicken
Thursday - Baked Ratatouille and Beans
Friday - Out for dinner

You might notice that I have a new button for Weekend Cooking. I actually have a couple of different versions which is nice! I really like them. I did however want to give Melynda from Scratch Made Food who made the button that I was using for a few years. Thanks again!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page