I don’t actually own an Air Fryer, but I’ve had my T-Fal ActiFry for years. I recently got the new ‘snacking grill’ basket for the gadget so I’m excited to try new recipes in it. One of the downfalls of the ActiFry compared to an Air Fryer is that there is a paddle that turns the food in the fryer, preventing it from sticking and ensuring an even cook; however, you can’t cook anything in the ActiFry that has a batter or breading on it because it would all fall off and/or it would turn into a goopy mess. So, the ‘snacking grill’ basket gets rid of the issues associated with the paddle and allows you to cook more fragile foods. The basket also spins around, ensuring an even cook and tasty browning.
So, this brings me to the cookbook at hand… I saw it on sale at Costco for $18.99 and I thought it would give me some new ideas for things to cook in my new ActiFry basket. Alas, this cookbook is SO MUCH MORE! There are so many delicious looking recipes, I’m very much impressed. You can make all of the recipes in your regular oven so it doesn’t even matter if you have an Air Fryer or not. Once you have the ingredients, many of these recipes are easy to make and would be full of flavour.
Can you see how many sticky notes I have in this book? Sooooo many! I’ve only had the book for 24 hours and I’ve already made 2 recipes!
Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini
I may not have used the 5 cups of cauliflower the recipe called for (probably 4?), but I followed the rest of the directions (for once!). The dish is awesome but I found it very salty. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t use as much cauliflower as I was supposed to, but I also only drizzled 2/3 of the sauce on the cauliflower. So… I recommend you make the dish (it was great), but cut back on the salt a lot. I baked the cauliflower in my oven at 400F using the conventional roast setting to ensure good air flow. I will definitely make this again just with less salt.
Baked Shrimp Curry
I didn’t have a pound of shrimp in the freezer – I just used whatever was left in the bag! The curry sauce was delicious on basmati rice… I am pretty sure I’m going to add this dish to my regular rotation because I ate way too much of it the first time. It’s definitely company worthy and super easy to make. I put all the ingredients in the pan I cooked the shrimp in, mixed it all together and added the shrimp (no extra dishes to clean!). I baked it in the oven at the same time as the cauliflower (after letting the cauliflower cook for 10 mins or so), at 400F using the conventional roast setting. Super delicious!
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
I had a dinner party for 6 people and two of my friends are celiac. I had previously flagged this recipe for a gluten free chocolate cake to be cooked in an air fryer, just because it sounded good. I love the fact that air fryers (but not the ActiFry) have temperature settings, so when I cook any of the recipes from this cookbook in my traditional oven I know what temperature to set it at. I doubled the recipe and used two 8 inch cake pans (instead of one 7 inch as per the recipe). I still covered the pans with aluminum foil and used the convection bake setting in my oven, to make the environment more consistent with what the recipe was made for.
I found a recipe on Pinterest for a peanut butter whipped cream to use as an icing. OMG. The combination of the almond flour and walnuts in this super moist and dense cake along with the peanut butter icing was to die for. This was seriously the best dessert I’ve ever made and the best I’ve had in a long time! I think this should be my go-to dessert for when company comes! I made a double batch of the icing which was probably unnecessary because I had quite a bit left over, but some of us plopped more of the whipped cream icing on top of our piece of cake when we ate it… it was just that good 🙂
Paneer Tikka Bites
So, this was the first recipe in the cookbook that I actually cooked in my ActiFry! It was also the first time that I used my new basket accessory (instead of the paddle). However, I didn’t accurately follow the recipe – I added the lemon juice to the marinade instead of leaving it to be drizzled at the end; sometimes I just get on a roll and don’t pay attention to what I’m doing (and this is why I love to cook rather than bake!). I marinated the paneer for 24 hours in a ziplock bag in the fridge. I have to say, they turned out awesome. Full of flavour, each little bite was hot and soft but still firm. They little flavourful bites are something different to add to any appetizer options at a dinner party. The only thing I noted is that as they cooled, they got firm again; you kind of have to eat them when they’re warm for the full delicious experience. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture!
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