This is our 12th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. I knew the lucky streak had to end at some point! This was was a DUD. I was feeling cocky so we decided to go for another “challenging” meal: Liver & Bacon, Onion Gravy, Smashed Potato, Dressed Greens, and Berry & Custard Ripple. Unfortunately we ran into a lot of problems. We didn’t have the matching TV episode (as far as I can tell, it hasn’t aired yet anywhere), so we were working from just the recipe. It wasn’t til after we bought all the ingredients that we realised it was going to require FOUR stove burners… and we only have three. So we had to get creative. I’d like to say it was all worth it in the end, but to be honest, I found this one pretty underwhelming.

Substitutions and changes: We used the potatoes we had on hand, rather than the red-skinned called for in the recipe. We couldn’t find calves’ liver and had to settle for lambs’ liver. For the “seasonal greens,” we went with silverbeet. Our fresh berries were raspberries, and the tinned fruit was peaches.

Quick verdict: Meh. It was liver. I haven’t had it very often, and I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan. We tried to cook it to specification but it was still a bit tough and dry. (The Snook thinks it was overcooked.) The mash, greens, and gravy were all fine, if a bit ordinary. The dessert was kind of a mess. There wasn’t really a good photo in the book, so we had to just follow the instructions. Total elapsed time was 46:11, but given our cooktop limitations, you can’t really go by that. I rated it a 7 out of 10, while the Snook gave it an 8.

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This is our 11th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. This week’s meal was “Grilled Sardines, Crispy Halloumi, Watercress Salad & Figs, Thick Chocolate Mousse.” Frankly, this is the recipe in the book that scared me the most. I was a “pescaphobe” for most of my life, and it’s only in the last five years or so that I’ve come to enjoy seafood. Whole fish with bones and heads are basically my Everest. I knew we’d have to get to this one eventually though, so I thought it was time to meet my fears head on. Luckily it was easy to make and DELICIOUS! I ate every bit. (I’m as shocked as you are!)

Substitutions and changes: We were able to get everything. We even went with the suggested chilled rosé as an accompaniment! The only change was making a half recipe each of the sardines and the mousse, just because it was only the two of us eating it.

Quick verdict: As a meal, this all went together extremely well and the flavours of the components all complemented each other. (Better so than many of the other recipes.) The sardines were brilliant and the strong aromatics with them masked any potential “fishiness.” Elapsed time was 39:29, but that included about 5 annoying minutes of faffing about with pomegranates. This was a pretty quick one! We’re both rating it as our first official 10/10. If you make this meal for someone, they will be impressed!

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This is our 10th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. Hey, we’re 20% of the way through! We picked this particular recipe because we had the TV episode recorded and because we had several of the ingredients in the pantry already. The hash itself also seemed fairly low-carb and we knew it would freeze well for lunches. Lucky for us, it turned out to be tasty too!

Substitutions and changes: We decided to make a DOUBLE batch of the hash since we had a kilo of mince in the freezer. We couldn’t find any watercress in the shops, so we left that out of the salad. Other than that, no changes at all!

Quick verdict: Such a filling and warming dish! Simple and hearty and perfect for a chilly night. We were both surprised how great the potatoes turned out given the unorthodox “microwave + grill” method of cooking. Elapsed cooking time was 42:55, but we did do a double batch of the hash so that used some extra time. I rated it 9.5, and the Snook rated it 9 (out of 10). Honestly, the salad and beans are a bit extraneous. If I were going to make this one on a work night, I’d just do the hash and potatoes.

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This is our 9th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. We picked this recipe for a few reasons: We had the episode saved on our DVR. (It’s always nice to watch him prepare it rather than rely on the book solely.) This one doesn’t have a dessert, and it also looked like one that could be fairly low-carb, as long as you didn’t eat the noodles. (I indulged a fair bit at my birthday last week, so I’m trying to make up for it.) And also, we LOVE green curry. 🙂

Substitutions: Not a single one. However, we didn’t bother with the “garnishes” of prawn crackers, chili sauce, and a cos lettuce. That just seemed like overkill for two people!

Quick verdict: Pretty good! The chicken was very good and the skin crisped up nicely. Snook thought overall the flavours of the meal were very tasty. We both liked the curry a lot, but we felt the kimchee slaw probably had a bit too much chili. We both felt it rated between 8.5-9/10. Not a homerun, but pretty darn good. Elapsed time was 39:09, but I can’t think of many ways to speed it up (beyond having the recipe memorised). There are just a LOT of ingredients to handle with this one!

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This is our 8th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. We decided this week to move our “Jamie meal” to Saturday nights which gives me a lot more time to put the post up on Sunday. The goal for this particular meal was to CARB-LOAD in preparation for today’s long run. With that in mind, we picked out “Pregnant Jools’s Pasta, Crunchy Chicory & Watercress Salad, and Little Frangipane Tarts.” We saw the corresponding TV episode a couple months ago, so we had a good idea of the preparations.

Substitutions: We couldn’t find red chicory in any of the shops – it must not be in season – but we did find a bag of mixed salad at the farmers’ market that had red chicory in it. We only made a half-recipe of the dessert. It was supposed to use “golden” caster sugar, but we couldn’t be arsed buying it specially so we just used plain. The Snook ground his own almonds (just because he objected to the price of pre-ground at the grocery store) and we used cherry preserves instead of raspberry jam. Everything else was as-written.

Quick verdict: Yum! This is the quickest and easiest recipe in the whole book, I bet. The frangipane tarts are really impressive considering how quick they are to make. The sausage pasta is just good, filling comfort food that would please any picky-eater. The Snook found the simple salad a little too bitter for his taste, but I thought it was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the pasta. We both rated it 9/10. Our elapsed time was 35:23, but the last 5 minutes were just standing around waiting for the tarts to finish baking. If we’d have been quicker getting them in the oven, we’d have easily made the 30 minute mark. This is a great recipe for any beginners who aren’t super confident in their cooking ability!

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