Cookbook Challenge Week 42 - Chloe's Kitchen

This week I have been cooking from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli:

I got this book a few months ago on the recommendation of a few friends and all I can say is I'm glad I did:

Thyme for creamy scalloped potatoes - This was my least favourite dish, not because there was anything wrong with the recipe but it didn't taste brilliant because of a 45 minute delay getting home thanks to a certain train company so it was a bit over done. It was potatoes layered with a cashew garlic & thyme cream sauce, it was still tasty despite the condition but I would like to make it again and cook it for the appropriate time. On a plus note it was wheat and soya free:

Best ever baked macaroni & cheese  - This is where things started picking up, the recipe for this is really simple but has a few ingredients in that I haven't put in mac & cheese before that really added something extra (such as tomato paste). It was full of flavour and very filling:

Easy Peasy Pasta Salad - This recipe was excellent, a homemade tomato sauce made using potato (it adds a great texture), flavouring and oil (I used carrot oil to add extra red). I made the sauce on Sunday, refrigerated it, made some pasta on Monday and chilled that for when I got home late on Tuesday. The sauce lasted well and the whole dish was great. I served it with salad & some chicken style seitan:

 

Barley Bliss Casserole - I put this together the night before & got a family member to shove it in the oven as I was on my way home, when I first tasted it I though it was a bit tasteless. However I went to check my emails, came back and after it had cooled a little it was delicious. It reminded me of the mushroom barley from Happy Herbivore Abroad but was not quite as nice, still a great winter casserole for cold nights though:

Pancakes for dinner - This recipe is divine. It has surpassed Happy Herbivores pancake recipe, it even contains no oil and is sweetened with maple syrup. Just brilliant:

Cheesey Broccoli Soup - Fantastic recipe! I left out the sour dough bowls its supposed to be served it, preferring a standard bowl. The soup itself was full of flavour, very cheesey (mostly from the nooch) and very filling. Definitely one to make again:

Sea salt toffee bars - I made these as a last ditch attempt at making a dessert after screwing up 2 other recipes (Brownies and blondies from different cookbooks), I didn't think the recipe was going to work but it came together well (and rather quickly) and made a delicious bar thats a bit like a salty millionaires shortbread. The only change I would make is to remove the cinnamon from the base, I think it detracts from the flavour. Whats also great about this recipe is that they freeze really well:

Overall this is a great book, some of the recipes are really innovative, I enjoyed all the dishes I made and I have a long list of others that I want to try (there is a burger recipe thats crying out to be tried).