We’re always adding fresh recipes to our ever-expanding collection. But which ones proved to be the most popular with loveFOOD readers last year? Here are our most-viewed dishes of 2013.
Anjali Pathak’s simple chicken biryani always impresses, and is done in under an hour. Recipe comments include “I made this last night for supper and it was delicious. Thank you!” and “[you have] inspired me, a bacon and egg man, to try the chicken biryani recipe…”
The Hairy Biker's tasty roast belly of pork is cooked with sage and apple for extra flavour. You’ll also need onions, thyme and plenty of cider for this recipe, which takes about two-and-a-half hours to cook. Well worth the wait, in our opinion, and a great Sunday dinner main.
Jamie Oliver’s rib-eye stir-fry with dan dan noodles is a mish-mash of all kinds of exciting ingredients: Sichuan pepper, Chinese five spice, fresh ginger, chilli, sugar snap peas, honey, hibiscus tea bags, clementines and fresh mint, to name a few. “The flavours are absolutely divine,” reads one recipe comment.
Rachel Allen's biscuity bars are chock-a-block with mini marshmallows, ginger nut chunks, honeycomb and chocolate. It’s a great recipe to make with the kids, because it doesn’t involve the oven, but does necessitate lots of chocolate. Cut into fingers and serve alongside a glass of milk.
“I used to make these doughballs with my grandmother in Italy,” says recipe author Lawrence Dallaglio. “Now it’s my son Enzo’s turn, and he loves making them. They’re dead easy to make and ready for the oven as soon as the dough is shaped into balls. Plus, they cook really fast.”
Although Gordon Ramsay’s chicken satay dish is quite quick to prepare, marinating is key; the meat needs to be left for at least 12 hours for a more developed flavour. To achieve the best flavour you should only use meat off the bone. You can substitute the chicken for pork, beef or prawns.
The Genoise is a traditional Italian cake from Genoa, with a very light, buttery texture, and which uses no chemical raising agent. Needless to say, for this cake to work it needs the living daylights whisked out of it. You’ll also need loads of limes, and a plethora of pecans for Lorraine Pascale’s recipe.
This orange and almond cake recipe was first featured in 'A Book of Middle Eastern Food' published in 1968. In those days there were no food processors and you had to rub the cooked oranges through a sieve. It is a very moist cake that can be served as a dessert. It’s got 18 comments and counting!
Andy Bates' old-fashioned Bedfordshire clanger wraps chopped beef skirt up in one end, and ripe pears in the other. It's a main and a pudding in one! You’ll also need onions, beef consommé, Worcestershire sauce, and some homemade suet pastry for this recipe. Well worth the effort.
Beef and beer – a classic. No shandy drinkers in sight for this great steak and ale pie from The Hairy Bikers, which is more British than Vera Lynn. Make sure you use steak that's well marbled with fat for flavour. You’ll also need smoked streaky bacon and plenty of fresh herbs for flavour.
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