Recipes to Try

Earlier this year I read that food writer Ruth Reichl keeps a manila folder labelled 'Recipes to Try'. I love the idea of a physical folder but aside from bookmarks I've stashed in cookbooks, most of my to-make recipes are online. Here's what's high on my list:

Molly Yeh's scallion challah because I'm back into bread making in a big way.

Smitten Kitchen's five cheese pasta bake for the next time I have friends coming round for dinner and red wine.

Osso bucco with braised cabbage and apple relish, which I'm hoping to get to this Sunday while the weather's still cool.

Rice and zucchini noodles with sundried tomato pesto for days where I'm trying to give pasta a break but can't.

This apple and hazelnut cake because it looks so rustic and pretty.

Plus a recipe I've only just remembered - my favourite peanut butter and honey granola.

P.S I have a tahini sheet cake in the oven right now. It was really quick to make and smells delicious!

The best bolognese

I made it to Sydney and have had my first full day looking after my two-year-old niece and helping my sister around the house. Tomorrow I plan to get cooking and while I thought I'd pack at least one cookbook, instead I'll be relying on tried and true recipes that can be found online.

I made this 'easy' spaghetti bolognese on Saturday night and it was delicious. It's from Ruth Reichl's book My Kitchen Year, a cookbook that I've been reading before bed. It follows former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl in the year after she loses her job, when the iconic American food magazine Gourmet is shut down at short notice.

I made a mental note of this recipe early on and instead of having to look it up in the index when I wanted to make it, I remembered that she'd made it for friends who had come to help her pack up her office early on in the book.

I'd make this bolognese on a wintry Sunday night, if I was having friends round for dinner, or if I happened to get home early from work and wanted something a bit more special for dinner. It's slow cooked and buttery and has just the right amount of topping. Spaghetti bolognese is one of my favourite dishes and I also really love Donna Hay's summer bolognese (it's got a great chilli kick) and Rachel Khoo's version too, where it's all about the bacon.