We had a vegetarian dinner tonight and Dan didn't even complain. I'm getting there - I'll win him round eventually!
It was a Moroccan recipe of stuffed pancakes, but given that I amended every constituent of the recipe I'm not sure if I should be counting it. Still, it was rather tasty, and I think the filling could be used for other dinners too, maybe mixed with rice for a pilaf style dish.
The filling was 1/2 onion chopped and fried gently until soft, then I added 150g spinach and let it wilt. I then chopped that all up finely and mixed it with some mashed up chickpeas (a 200g can should do it), a good handful of coriander leaves, 1 grated courgette and 1 beaten egg. Season to taste and add a shake of ground cumin and ground coriander.
I used 4 gallettes (which I have posted about before) and spooned the mixture in, wrapped them up and put them in a baking dish. I spooned 100g sheeps milk yoghurt over the top and baked them for about 15 mins at 180C.
(The original recipe used a bechemal sauce rather than yoghurt, no spices in the mix, and normal pancakes instead of gallettes.)
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Daring Cooks Challenge No.1!
Ok, so I was rather excited to have a try at my first Daring Cooks challenge.
It was a great one to start on too - we both found it delicious and it was definitely something I wouldn't have thought of doing without it being suggested by someone else.
So, I am proud to present.......Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing
It was easy to do. I made the cashew butter and the sauce a couple of days ahead and it kept in the fridge perfectly well. The dinner was then the matter of about 15 minutes preparation - some light chopping and mixing and soaking of noodles. All quick and easy.
And here's the recipe if you fancy having a go yourself - I highly recommend it.
Yield: 4 servings
notes: You could add or substitute your favorite vegetables. Shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and slivered carrots would make nice additions. The dressing is equally as good with peanut butter rather than cashew butter.
Ingredients:
Cashew Butter:
240 ml cashews
Cashew Dressing:
1 cm slice of fresh ginger, chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped
120 ml cashew butter
60 ml soy sauce
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons vinegar - I used rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
75 ml water
Hot sauce to taste (optional) - I added a pinch of chilli flakes
Noodle Salad:
225g thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
225g small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used large prawns as that was what they had in the village shop, so I actually used slighty more in weight)
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
60 ml sliced spring onions
60 ml chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped cashews (optional garnish) - I omitted these
Lime wedges (optional)
Directions:
1.Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth.
2.Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker -- to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 360 ml dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
3.Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
4.Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
5.Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about 120 ml cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired.
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.
It was a great one to start on too - we both found it delicious and it was definitely something I wouldn't have thought of doing without it being suggested by someone else.
So, I am proud to present.......Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing
It was easy to do. I made the cashew butter and the sauce a couple of days ahead and it kept in the fridge perfectly well. The dinner was then the matter of about 15 minutes preparation - some light chopping and mixing and soaking of noodles. All quick and easy.
And here's the recipe if you fancy having a go yourself - I highly recommend it.
Yield: 4 servings
notes: You could add or substitute your favorite vegetables. Shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and slivered carrots would make nice additions. The dressing is equally as good with peanut butter rather than cashew butter.
Ingredients:
Cashew Butter:
240 ml cashews
Cashew Dressing:
1 cm slice of fresh ginger, chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped
120 ml cashew butter
60 ml soy sauce
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons vinegar - I used rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
75 ml water
Hot sauce to taste (optional) - I added a pinch of chilli flakes
Noodle Salad:
225g thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
225g small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used large prawns as that was what they had in the village shop, so I actually used slighty more in weight)
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
60 ml sliced spring onions
60 ml chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped cashews (optional garnish) - I omitted these
Lime wedges (optional)
Directions:
1.Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth.
2.Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker -- to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 360 ml dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
3.Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
4.Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
5.Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about 120 ml cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired.
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
And in other news
Last week I cancelled my Vegetable Box.
I feel terribly guilty.
But, for the last few weeks the selection has been distinctly uninspired, and frankly tired looking. The final straw was a box last week containing mushrooms and tomatoes that already had some very interesting looking mould cultures growing on them, and a lettuce that was brown and slimy inside. Yuergh!
So, no more veggie box fridays.
On a more positive note, I signed up to the Daring Cooks so will be getting a new recipe once a month from them. I can't wait for my first one. It'll be great having a go at other people's ideas and hopefully forcing myself out of my cooking comfort zone.
I feel terribly guilty.
But, for the last few weeks the selection has been distinctly uninspired, and frankly tired looking. The final straw was a box last week containing mushrooms and tomatoes that already had some very interesting looking mould cultures growing on them, and a lettuce that was brown and slimy inside. Yuergh!
So, no more veggie box fridays.
On a more positive note, I signed up to the Daring Cooks so will be getting a new recipe once a month from them. I can't wait for my first one. It'll be great having a go at other people's ideas and hopefully forcing myself out of my cooking comfort zone.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Eggs eggs eggs
Guess what I've been cooking this week?.....
Yep. Eggs indeed.
Having acheived the roaring success that was Eggs Benedict (with a little help from Mr Oliver) it this week seemed like it was time to go beyond the omelette/fried/scrambled egg options once more.
So after a trawl through the recipe shelf two interesting options presented themselves. Although both billed themselves as breakfast dishes I thought they would do very well for week-night dinners.
And so, we have had Rick Stein's pithily titled Mildly spiced potato curry with cumin, black mustard seeds and coriander, topped with a poached egg, which was what it said really. A pretty good, quick, mild curry. I added a couple of handfuls of spinach (got to get in those 5-a-day somehow!) and I think it would be better with chopped boiled egg rather than poached.
And also Silvana Franco's Saucy Eggs and tomatoes.
Both were pretty good options for Veggie dinners, but I did prefer the Tomato Eggs.
And see - it even looked like the picture in the book!
Here's the method for the tomato eggs (for 1 as a dinner)
Take 1/2 can tomatoes and put in a heavy saucepan or deep frying pan
Add 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Also add about 100ml boiling water, salt and papper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Heat through stirring frequently until the tomatoes start to break down a bit.
Then add about 3/4 of a red bell pepper, cut into strips.
Allow to heat through on a gentle heat for about 15 mins, or until the peppers start to soften (the recipe directs you to grill the peppers then peel off the skin - I couldn't be bothered).
Make to hollows in the sauce mixture and break in the eggs. Leave on the medium heat until the eggs are cooked. I had the oven on anyway, so just finished off the eggs for 5 mins at 180C which sped things up a little.
Serve with bread or toast.
Yep. Eggs indeed.
Having acheived the roaring success that was Eggs Benedict (with a little help from Mr Oliver) it this week seemed like it was time to go beyond the omelette/fried/scrambled egg options once more.
So after a trawl through the recipe shelf two interesting options presented themselves. Although both billed themselves as breakfast dishes I thought they would do very well for week-night dinners.
And so, we have had Rick Stein's pithily titled Mildly spiced potato curry with cumin, black mustard seeds and coriander, topped with a poached egg, which was what it said really. A pretty good, quick, mild curry. I added a couple of handfuls of spinach (got to get in those 5-a-day somehow!) and I think it would be better with chopped boiled egg rather than poached.
And also Silvana Franco's Saucy Eggs and tomatoes.
Both were pretty good options for Veggie dinners, but I did prefer the Tomato Eggs.
And see - it even looked like the picture in the book!
Here's the method for the tomato eggs (for 1 as a dinner)
Take 1/2 can tomatoes and put in a heavy saucepan or deep frying pan
Add 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Also add about 100ml boiling water, salt and papper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Heat through stirring frequently until the tomatoes start to break down a bit.
Then add about 3/4 of a red bell pepper, cut into strips.
Allow to heat through on a gentle heat for about 15 mins, or until the peppers start to soften (the recipe directs you to grill the peppers then peel off the skin - I couldn't be bothered).
Make to hollows in the sauce mixture and break in the eggs. Leave on the medium heat until the eggs are cooked. I had the oven on anyway, so just finished off the eggs for 5 mins at 180C which sped things up a little.
Serve with bread or toast.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Summer berry madness
I love the time of year when summer berries come in season. I could happily gorge myself on strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, lunch, and tea when they're juicy, sweet and super-fresh. And here we are at last....proper summer time, with sunshine for days and days (hope I'm not jinxing it!) and berries everywhere.
So what's a girl to do when she's got over excited and bought too many rasberries in the market? Make jam of course!
I'm no jam-making virgin, but rasberry jam is one I've never made. I just prefer strawberry so I tend to make that. However, Dan's a rasberry man, and he's been resorting to stealing rasberry jam from his parents everytime he goes to visit. It was time to make him a stash of his own.
Its very simple to make, just as most jams are. The only tricky bit is gauging the right point to take it off the heat. I highly recommend a jam thermometer for this. It makes it a lot easier, and you will probably find that you use it more than you initially expect to. (Mine has been useful for making fudge and cheese too.)
Rasberry Jam
Use equal weight of rasberries and granulated sugar
Make sure you use a large saucepan as once the jam is boiling it will rise up alot.
Warm the rasberries through slightly until the juices start to bleed out.
Add the sugar and stir through. Turn the heat up and clamp your thermometer on the side of the pan.
Bring the jam to the boil, stirring occasionally to ensure bits don't stick to the bottom and burn.
Keep it on a fairly high heat until the jam setting point temperature is reached (it should be marked on the thermometer).
Remove pan from heat and pour into sterilised jars.
Allow to cool without the lids on for about an hour, then loosely screw on the lids and leave the jam to cool and set completely before tightening the tops.
But that still left some yellow rasberries and blueberries (I told you I got over-enthusiastic with my berry purchases!).
I bought a copy of Red Magazine to read on the train the other day. (Should I admit to that? Its hardly the most cutting-edge reading material!) Anyway, quite apart from whiling away my journey to and from London quite satisfactorarily, it also had a section on berry recipes. Whilst most were cream and sugar filled, of which I am not a fan (I like to keep my berries fruity), there was a suggestion for Wine Jelly with berries. I haven't done the taste test yet, but they were easy to make and seem to have set quickly.
I reduced the recipe sugar amount slightly and upped the fruit quantity.
Berry Jellies (for 2)
160ml white or rose wine
5g fine leaf gelatine
60ml water
50g sugar
150g mixed berries
Divide the berries between 2 glasses or teacups.
Put the gelatine to soak in a bowl of cold water & leave for 5 mins.
Meanwhile gently heat the wine water and sugar together, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. The liquid should get not hotter than hand warm.
Take the softened gelatin out of its water. Squeeze any excess water out of it and add to the wine mixture. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.
Pour the wine mixture over the berries and put in the frisge to set overnight.
Serve with more berries on the side, or cream of you are a berries+cream person.
Hope you're enjoying summer!
So what's a girl to do when she's got over excited and bought too many rasberries in the market? Make jam of course!
I'm no jam-making virgin, but rasberry jam is one I've never made. I just prefer strawberry so I tend to make that. However, Dan's a rasberry man, and he's been resorting to stealing rasberry jam from his parents everytime he goes to visit. It was time to make him a stash of his own.
Its very simple to make, just as most jams are. The only tricky bit is gauging the right point to take it off the heat. I highly recommend a jam thermometer for this. It makes it a lot easier, and you will probably find that you use it more than you initially expect to. (Mine has been useful for making fudge and cheese too.)
Rasberry Jam
Use equal weight of rasberries and granulated sugar
Make sure you use a large saucepan as once the jam is boiling it will rise up alot.
Warm the rasberries through slightly until the juices start to bleed out.
Add the sugar and stir through. Turn the heat up and clamp your thermometer on the side of the pan.
Bring the jam to the boil, stirring occasionally to ensure bits don't stick to the bottom and burn.
Keep it on a fairly high heat until the jam setting point temperature is reached (it should be marked on the thermometer).
Remove pan from heat and pour into sterilised jars.
Allow to cool without the lids on for about an hour, then loosely screw on the lids and leave the jam to cool and set completely before tightening the tops.
But that still left some yellow rasberries and blueberries (I told you I got over-enthusiastic with my berry purchases!).
I bought a copy of Red Magazine to read on the train the other day. (Should I admit to that? Its hardly the most cutting-edge reading material!) Anyway, quite apart from whiling away my journey to and from London quite satisfactorarily, it also had a section on berry recipes. Whilst most were cream and sugar filled, of which I am not a fan (I like to keep my berries fruity), there was a suggestion for Wine Jelly with berries. I haven't done the taste test yet, but they were easy to make and seem to have set quickly.
I reduced the recipe sugar amount slightly and upped the fruit quantity.
Berry Jellies (for 2)
160ml white or rose wine
5g fine leaf gelatine
60ml water
50g sugar
150g mixed berries
Divide the berries between 2 glasses or teacups.
Put the gelatine to soak in a bowl of cold water & leave for 5 mins.
Meanwhile gently heat the wine water and sugar together, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. The liquid should get not hotter than hand warm.
Take the softened gelatin out of its water. Squeeze any excess water out of it and add to the wine mixture. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.
Pour the wine mixture over the berries and put in the frisge to set overnight.
Serve with more berries on the side, or cream of you are a berries+cream person.
Hope you're enjoying summer!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Pao de Queijo
hurrah....I made the Pao de Queijo (Brazilian cheese breads).
They were a bit chewy and doughy, not overly cheesy but enough to taste, and very nice warm with a salad of scallops and chorizo.
They definitely wouldn't be any good cold, but you can freeze them cooked or uncooked and just bake or heat them up when you're ready for them (just as well because even just 1/2 the recipe quantities made 15!).
They breads weren't all that bready - I guess there was less flour and more cheese in this recipe than in the ones I had before in London. I imagine a breadier version would keep better for selling in a shop, but I don't think I'll bother trying to amend the recipe as I liked them as they turned out.
I think these would be good with tomato soup, salads, pasta dishes (as an alternative to garlic bread). Quite versatile really. And quick too as there's no rising involved in the bread making.
The recipe came from by Cuban recipe book, but there are versions to be found all over the internet.
They were a bit chewy and doughy, not overly cheesy but enough to taste, and very nice warm with a salad of scallops and chorizo.
They definitely wouldn't be any good cold, but you can freeze them cooked or uncooked and just bake or heat them up when you're ready for them (just as well because even just 1/2 the recipe quantities made 15!).
They breads weren't all that bready - I guess there was less flour and more cheese in this recipe than in the ones I had before in London. I imagine a breadier version would keep better for selling in a shop, but I don't think I'll bother trying to amend the recipe as I liked them as they turned out.
I think these would be good with tomato soup, salads, pasta dishes (as an alternative to garlic bread). Quite versatile really. And quick too as there's no rising involved in the bread making.
The recipe came from by Cuban recipe book, but there are versions to be found all over the internet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)