2020 recipe resolution: April
sneak peak: I'm following 52 new recipes in the 52 weeks of 2020, and April included lots of vegan cheese, lots of beetroot, and an incredible mushroom pasta
To catch up on previous instalments of the 2020 recipe resolution series, click here for January, February, and March.
If March was the month of Fearne Cotton and Happy Vegan, April was the month when Fearne was joined by Rukmini Iyer and The Green Roasting Tin, and when the general cooking and baking activity levels in our house went straight through the roof. Without further ado, the recipes.
18 of 52: clementine upside-down cake
What do you do when you have a lot of oranges or orange variants, and not a lot of desire to eat 15 of them in a row before they go off? You find a recipe to put them in a cake. The Willamette Transplant blog did not disappoint - this cake is a much more exciting way to get (and, let's face it, offset) your five a day. 7/10
19 of 52: apple cider beetroot soup
Oh wait, my new obsession with Fearne Cotton's Happy Vegan didn't stop at the end of March. Beyond just chucking them in the oven and hoping for the best, we had very little in the way of ideas for using up beetroot. Lo and behold, this soup! I'm not the world's most enormous fan of beetroot, but this was a very good way to have it. 6/10
20 of 52: vegan halloumi
I was given The Big Vegan Cheese-Making Kit for my birthday last year, and have been very excited to actually do some big vegan cheese making ever since. It requires a high-speed blender, so I have been making the most of being at home to use it as much as possible. THIS CHEESE WAS SO COOL. It wouldn't fool a dairy-head (casein contains opioid-receptor-triggering morphine-like addictive chemicals so how could it, huh?) but it was reeeaaaal good in its own right. 8.5/10
21 of 52: no buttermilk soda bread
We raced through this loaf from Easy Peasy Foodie in double time, partly because it was freshly baked, and partly because it was just very moreish. Lighter than our usual bread recipe and with the addition of oats, it's a very quick and easy go-to. 7/10
22 of 52: vegetable rendang
There is a whole stack of Simply Cook recipe spice kits in the cupboard from a free trial I had far too long ago. Every so often we remember about them and resolve to use them up, and this was one of those times. They are reliably delicious with complex flavours and interesting spices, but because the spice blends are pre-mixed, it's impossible to recreate them (which is probably an intentional business move let's be real). 7/10
23 of 52: daily dal
I love lentils, I love dal, I love Meera Sodha's Fresh India. Easy and reliable and very yummy. 7.5/10
24 of 52: perfect basmati rice
I LOVE RICE. But this could be stickier, the stickier the better for me. Also, none of that 'easy cook' rubbish. Real rice only please (and white rice is far superior too, while I'm at it). Meera Sodha strikes again with Fresh India. 9/10
25 of 52: vegan mozzarella
Another one from The Big Vegan Cheese-Making Kit, we had this on tortilla 'pizzas' and enjoyed it a lot. Who knew cashews could wear so many disguises? 8/10
26 of 52: dalgona coffee
I don't get along very well with coffee (yes I mean you, caffeine jitters) but Mum definitely does. So much so that she had the entire quantity of dalgona coffee I made for her, despite the fact that I made the equivalent of eight (EIGHT) cups of instant coffee in one go. Apparently it was a 10/10 but the effort involved and the substantial sugar content (sugar + caffeine hello this is hyper waiting to happen) brings it down. (Recipe: 2 tbsp each instant coffee, sugar, hot water; whisk with electric whisk until meringue texture; serve over cold milk of choice.) 7/10
27 of 52: cookie dough balls
Oh you mean these cookie dough balls? The recipe is from my lovely friend Nicola delightful treats for anyone who may need (not all heroes wear capes, right?). I made these twice, trying out two different versions of ingredients quantities, and let me tell you they did not hang around for long. Excellent flavour, perfect texture, and peak snackability. 10/10
28 of 52: one-pot creamy mushroom pasta
I made this because I saw someone else make it and love it, then I loved it and Mum loved it, then more people made it and also loved it, and I think you might love it too. It's an instant regular. Make it now, thank me later (actually don't thank me, thank Pick Up Limes). 10/10
29 of 52: pickled onion
There's a lot of pickling going on in Scandinavia, so it follows that The Scandi Cook's recipe for pickled onion should be fantastic. Can confirm: it is. I could eat an entire red onion's worth of pickled onion, where I could (obviously) not eat an entire one raw or, probably, caramelised. It's good with absolutely everything (including peanut butter, not kidding). 9/10
30 of 52: gado gado
OHHHHHH THIS PEANUT SAUCE. This recipe marks the start of the obsession with Rukmini Iyer's The Green Roasting Tin, and if you make it you will understand why. Roasted baby new potatoes (what's not to love) with roasted green beans (ditto) and the most delicious sauce you ever did eat. I finished it out of the bowl with a spoon, because it really was that good. Sauce 10/10, dish 8.5/10
31 of 52: beetroot, chickpea and coconut curry
Lo and behold, another brilliant way to use that pesky beetroot, courtesy of (guess who) Rukmini Iyer and The Green Roasting Tin. I preferred this to the beetroot soup, and we had the leftovers on the second night with pasta instead of rice. It may sound weird, yes, but it worked and it also dyed the pasta hot pink which was pretty funky too. 9/10
32 of 52: quick no-yeast focaccia
Our first no-yeast focaccia was a massive flop. It didn't rise (despite self-raising flour), it didn't look like focaccia, it didn't taste like focaccia, it was edible but it was really not our best effort. 1/10. However, we then found a new recipe, this time from Saucepan Kids blog, and polished off our third go of it for lunch today. This one gets better every time we make it, and with some rosemary from the garden to garnish, it's perfect for a quick sunny-weather picky lunch. 7/10
33 of 52: feelgood flapjacks
Like everyone else in the entire world, we have been making and consuming a not insignificant amount of banana bread lately. This is not new - Mum has been making a banana bread weekly for honestly probably about my whole life (it's the best), but we were starting to feel a bit groundhog day-ish about it. Enter: BBC Good Food's feelgood flapjacks! Bound together by ooey gooey banana and packed full of seeds and dried fruit, plus a hefty dollop of peanut butter and maple syrup, these are fabulous. 8/10
There you go! Please let me know if you make any of these recipes and also if you have any to recommend - I'm always looking for more to try.
You can catch up on January, February, and March's posts here, and follow me on Instagram @imogenfin to keep up with the new recipes of May!
To catch up on previous instalments of the 2020 recipe resolution series, click here for January, February, and March.
If March was the month of Fearne Cotton and Happy Vegan, April was the month when Fearne was joined by Rukmini Iyer and The Green Roasting Tin, and when the general cooking and baking activity levels in our house went straight through the roof. Without further ado, the recipes.
 |
| guess which recipe this is? (alas no prizes) |
18 of 52: clementine upside-down cake
What do you do when you have a lot of oranges or orange variants, and not a lot of desire to eat 15 of them in a row before they go off? You find a recipe to put them in a cake. The Willamette Transplant blog did not disappoint - this cake is a much more exciting way to get (and, let's face it, offset) your five a day. 7/10
19 of 52: apple cider beetroot soup
Oh wait, my new obsession with Fearne Cotton's Happy Vegan didn't stop at the end of March. Beyond just chucking them in the oven and hoping for the best, we had very little in the way of ideas for using up beetroot. Lo and behold, this soup! I'm not the world's most enormous fan of beetroot, but this was a very good way to have it. 6/10
20 of 52: vegan halloumi
I was given The Big Vegan Cheese-Making Kit for my birthday last year, and have been very excited to actually do some big vegan cheese making ever since. It requires a high-speed blender, so I have been making the most of being at home to use it as much as possible. THIS CHEESE WAS SO COOL. It wouldn't fool a dairy-head (casein contains opioid-receptor-triggering morphine-like addictive chemicals so how could it, huh?) but it was reeeaaaal good in its own right. 8.5/10
21 of 52: no buttermilk soda bread
We raced through this loaf from Easy Peasy Foodie in double time, partly because it was freshly baked, and partly because it was just very moreish. Lighter than our usual bread recipe and with the addition of oats, it's a very quick and easy go-to. 7/10
22 of 52: vegetable rendang
There is a whole stack of Simply Cook recipe spice kits in the cupboard from a free trial I had far too long ago. Every so often we remember about them and resolve to use them up, and this was one of those times. They are reliably delicious with complex flavours and interesting spices, but because the spice blends are pre-mixed, it's impossible to recreate them (which is probably an intentional business move let's be real). 7/10
23 of 52: daily dal
I love lentils, I love dal, I love Meera Sodha's Fresh India. Easy and reliable and very yummy. 7.5/10
24 of 52: perfect basmati rice
I LOVE RICE. But this could be stickier, the stickier the better for me. Also, none of that 'easy cook' rubbish. Real rice only please (and white rice is far superior too, while I'm at it). Meera Sodha strikes again with Fresh India. 9/10
25 of 52: vegan mozzarella
Another one from The Big Vegan Cheese-Making Kit, we had this on tortilla 'pizzas' and enjoyed it a lot. Who knew cashews could wear so many disguises? 8/10
26 of 52: dalgona coffee
I don't get along very well with coffee (yes I mean you, caffeine jitters) but Mum definitely does. So much so that she had the entire quantity of dalgona coffee I made for her, despite the fact that I made the equivalent of eight (EIGHT) cups of instant coffee in one go. Apparently it was a 10/10 but the effort involved and the substantial sugar content (sugar + caffeine hello this is hyper waiting to happen) brings it down. (Recipe: 2 tbsp each instant coffee, sugar, hot water; whisk with electric whisk until meringue texture; serve over cold milk of choice.) 7/10
27 of 52: cookie dough balls
Oh you mean these cookie dough balls? The recipe is from my lovely friend Nicola delightful treats for anyone who may need (not all heroes wear capes, right?). I made these twice, trying out two different versions of ingredients quantities, and let me tell you they did not hang around for long. Excellent flavour, perfect texture, and peak snackability. 10/10
28 of 52: one-pot creamy mushroom pasta
I made this because I saw someone else make it and love it, then I loved it and Mum loved it, then more people made it and also loved it, and I think you might love it too. It's an instant regular. Make it now, thank me later (actually don't thank me, thank Pick Up Limes). 10/10
29 of 52: pickled onion
There's a lot of pickling going on in Scandinavia, so it follows that The Scandi Cook's recipe for pickled onion should be fantastic. Can confirm: it is. I could eat an entire red onion's worth of pickled onion, where I could (obviously) not eat an entire one raw or, probably, caramelised. It's good with absolutely everything (including peanut butter, not kidding). 9/10
30 of 52: gado gado
OHHHHHH THIS PEANUT SAUCE. This recipe marks the start of the obsession with Rukmini Iyer's The Green Roasting Tin, and if you make it you will understand why. Roasted baby new potatoes (what's not to love) with roasted green beans (ditto) and the most delicious sauce you ever did eat. I finished it out of the bowl with a spoon, because it really was that good. Sauce 10/10, dish 8.5/10
31 of 52: beetroot, chickpea and coconut curry
Lo and behold, another brilliant way to use that pesky beetroot, courtesy of (guess who) Rukmini Iyer and The Green Roasting Tin. I preferred this to the beetroot soup, and we had the leftovers on the second night with pasta instead of rice. It may sound weird, yes, but it worked and it also dyed the pasta hot pink which was pretty funky too. 9/10
32 of 52: quick no-yeast focaccia
Our first no-yeast focaccia was a massive flop. It didn't rise (despite self-raising flour), it didn't look like focaccia, it didn't taste like focaccia, it was edible but it was really not our best effort. 1/10. However, we then found a new recipe, this time from Saucepan Kids blog, and polished off our third go of it for lunch today. This one gets better every time we make it, and with some rosemary from the garden to garnish, it's perfect for a quick sunny-weather picky lunch. 7/10
33 of 52: feelgood flapjacks
Like everyone else in the entire world, we have been making and consuming a not insignificant amount of banana bread lately. This is not new - Mum has been making a banana bread weekly for honestly probably about my whole life (it's the best), but we were starting to feel a bit groundhog day-ish about it. Enter: BBC Good Food's feelgood flapjacks! Bound together by ooey gooey banana and packed full of seeds and dried fruit, plus a hefty dollop of peanut butter and maple syrup, these are fabulous. 8/10
There you go! Please let me know if you make any of these recipes and also if you have any to recommend - I'm always looking for more to try.
You can catch up on January, February, and March's posts here, and follow me on Instagram @imogenfin to keep up with the new recipes of May!
Wow, all of these recipes are amazing. I am surely going to try them – if not all, at least some of them. Once I outsource my dissertation, I am heading to the kitchen. I already have "write my dissertation - Dissertationproposal.co.uk" open in the next tab. I will place my order and go straight to the kitchen. I hope I have the ingredients, though.
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