Peaches in rosé wine

Where is the recipe from?

[Good To Know Recipes]

Ingredients & any changes made?
rosé wine, golden caster sugar, Parings and juice of 1 lemon, vanilla pod, peaches, Greek yoghurt, pistachios.

No changes, I did as I was told. Though I didn't reduce the syrup enough, it was still really good, but next time I will make sure I reduce it much more than I did.

Verdict?
Absolutely gorgeous. I've wanted a really light, pretty and elegant summer dessert recipe for so long, and now I've found the perfect one. Which is surprising, as I always thought I wasn't a fan of cooked fruit.

This is so nice, sweet but not overly so, the yoghurt and the pistachios add creaminess and crunch. But most of all, it looks so pretty. It's just a very pretty looking plate of food and it tastes fantastic. It's incredibly easy to do, which is always a bonus. I also like that you can make it a day in advance. I will be making this again soon, making sure I reduce the syrup properly.

pastry

Where is the recipe from?
The current edition of [Food to Love] magazine.

I've only used part of the recipe 'Caramelised onion & goats' cheese tartlets'.
I'm not a fan of making pastry, but have been looking for a good basic one to have when needed. This looked like a good one to try.

Ingredients & any changes made?
plain flour, butter, 1 egg-yolk, cold water. I did make one little change, I added a scoop of dried parsley, for no other reason than to make it a little more interesting.

Verdict?
No bad. I didn't eat much because I'm not a huge fan of pastry, it's just something I wanted to be able to make myself when I needed to. This was pretty good, rich and crumbly. Also very simple to make, so I will be stashing it in my recipe box and making again.

Cheesy Gratin with Potato and Aubergine

Where is the recipe from?

Waitrose website. [link to recipe]




Ingredients & any changes made?

potatoes, onion, 1 clove garlic, ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional) 400g can Waitrose Chopped Italian Tomatoes with Herbs
2 aubergines, trimmed and cut lengthways into ½cm slices, 75g Castelli Vegetalia Italian hard cheese, grated
, 500g pot Waitrose Virtually Fat Free Natural Fromage Frais, 1 medium egg, beaten.

A few minor alterations, the cheese, fromage frais, and the tomatoes I used were different. Even though I did my shopping online with them, they didn't seem to have the exact same things needed for their recipe! But I don't think it made any difference really.

Verdict? It's a recipe that takes a bit of effort. Not a ridiculous amount, much the same if you were making a cottage pie, and needed to do separate prep before putting the dish together.
It turned out really well, and I liked it a lot.

If I were to make it again I would halve the ingredients. I am the only one who eats aubergine in this house, and after having a pretty large amount for lunch, felt a bit sick of it. But that's my own fault for being greedy. I'd also use less cinnamon. I'd say it's a vital addition to anything that remotely resembles moussaka, and this is obviously a vegetarian version. I wasn't keen on the use of fromage frais either, which I'd forgotten, tends to go a bit odd and wobbly. On the website someone suggested using a jar of sauce, so I'd swap the fromage frais for that too, but that's just my personal taste and I'd prefer the texture.

All in all, a nice recipe. I love anything with aubergine in it so this is a good one to have up your sleeve. That said, I'm not in any rush to make it again any time soon. But I'm glad to have tried it.