For the last couple of months, reviews of Tiffany Goodall’s student cookbook have been popping up everywhere - largely thanks to the good people at Quadrille shipping them out to pro-critics and bloggers alike. By now, you’ll probably already know the set-up - it’s a ‘comic-book style’ guide to university dinners, with no need for pricey gadgets or unusual ingredients. The easy-to-follow recipes cover everything from how to boil an egg to knocking up a Thai green curry or a few burgers for your new mates. Last weekend, we left it in the less-than-capable hands of an 18 year old who will be heading off to uni at the end of the month. Here’s how he got on…
First Impressions: “It looks pretty good actually. I like the way there are pictures for every step and it’s divided into chapters like Fast Food and Wasted Weekends. Some bits seem basic, like how to make a toasted sandwich, but I’ve seen people set toasters on fire making those so maybe it’s a good plan. The list of essential store cupboard ingredients and utensils when I was putting my going-away-to-uni box together.”
Recipe No. 1 - Moroccan coucous salad - "This was from the Food On The Move chapter so I made it in the morning and took it to work. Couscous basically makes itself and the rest was just chopping up veg and herbs - easy. There's no seasoning apart from salt, pepper and some lemon juice so it was a bit boring. Probably a lot cheaper than buying a pre-packaged supermarket version but I'd add some spices to make it more interesting."
Recipe No. 2 - Fajitas - “You have to make the Mexican salsa before starting the fajitas but this was just a bit of dicing so not too difficult. (Peeling tomatoes sucks though). Tiffany’s recipe uses stir-fried beef and garlic thrown in a tortilla with some lettuce and grated cheese. We substituted chicken and I’ve got to be honest, the first batch was bland - even with the salsa. I got my sister to help with the second lot and she threw in some jerk seasoning and paprika with the chicken. So much better. We made a side salad, left out the cheese and added a dollop of sour cream to each fajita. The whole lot took about half an hour and they were great - really tasty and surprisingly filling. Plenty of salsa left over too.”
Recipe No. 3 - Steak ciabattas - “I eat a lot of steak but this was the first time I’d cooked it by myself. This recipe was probably the easiest to follow and took about 20 minutes to make three. It was helpful to have some rough cooking times for the steak and rubbing the bread with garlic was a good tip. I feel more confident about cooking steak now and would definitely make them again - maybe with teriyaki sauce for a change. Big thumbs up.”
Final Verdict: “Even though I only had two days, I think I learnt a lot from Goodall’s book. She’s managed to write something that gives you all the facts but without being patronising. (Although I could do without her smug mates grinning at me from every page). There are some recipes I probably won’t bother with - (lasagne take too long and my sister makes great Asian food so I’ll come home for that) - but there are a lot I would try on my own or with a friend. I've already tried the chilli con carne and the Thai fishcakes which both worked pretty well."
Our Final Thoughts: Before the ‘From Pasta To Pancakes’ challenge, our student guinea pig could just about manage pasta and scrambled eggs. Now, he’s going off to uni with at least five recipes under his belt and some basic kitchen skills. Revolutionary? No. A good start for first-time cooks? Definitely.
'From Pasta To Pancakes' is available now in all good book shops at £9.99 and on Amazon for £5.99!
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