Christmas has crept up without me noticing this year. It feels like only a moment ago it was October, and now all of a sudden its only a couple of weeks until Christmas Day. This means that I'm now into the busy evenings and weekends of Christmas concerts, Christmas meals, and the last few running events of the year. Because of this, my intention to cook the Daring Cooks December challenge recipes of Char Sui Pork, followed by steamed pork buns using some of the left-overs, fell off the timetable due to time pressure. A great shame as both dishes sounded delicious. I'll have to make an attempt at them when I have a little more spare time.
Instead, I used the pork tenderloin I had bought for those dishes to make two improvised Pork en Croute. I have to say, they were delicious, so I didn't miss the Char Sui too badly! Here's what I did:
Pork en Croute No. 1:
120g pork tenderloin
70g puff pastry (I used shop bought, ready rolled - I'm lazy!)
2 slices serrano ham
Some thin slices of courgette
Finely sliced rosemary and garlic
salt, white and black pepper
Fennel seeds
Unroll your puff pastry and lay the 2 slices of ham on it. Place the pork tenderloin on top of the ham and season. Sprinkle the garlic and rosemary on top before covering with slices of courgette, wrapping the ham over to encase the pork and courgette, then wrapping the puff pastry over and sealing the edges.
Brush with a little melted butter, beaten egg, milk, or olive oil, sprinkle with fennel seeds, and cook as below.
Pork en Croute No. 2:
140g pork tenderloin,
camembert slices
3 slices serrano ham
120g puff pastry
button mushrooms, sliced small
butter, olive oil
Finely sliced rosemary and garlic
salt, white and black pepper
Fennel seeds
Fry the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary in a mixture of butter and olive oil on a low heat. Once cooked remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Unroll the pastry, lay out the ham on the pastry and place the prok tenderloin on top. Season with salt and the peppers, then spoon the mushrooms onto the meat. Top with a few slices of camembert, fold the ham over to encase the meat and cheese, then fold the pastry over and seal the edges.
Brush with a little melted butter, beaten egg, milk, or olive oil, sprinkle with fennel seeds, and cook.
Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 15 minutes at 200C, then 10 minutes at 180-190C.
Serve with gravy, apple sauce, new potatoes, and runner beans for a hearty and warming winter dinner.
Showing posts with label Recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipe. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Jamie Oliver Great Britain
This is the time of year when TV executives seem to think we should all watch back-to-back cookery programmes; Professional Master Chef, Jamie's Great Britain, River Cottage Veg have all been on the box recently.
Well, what can I say? After a spring and summer of watching virtually no TV I've been a complete sucker and have been hunkering down every night to watch other people cook. I suppose its hibernation instinct - its December: give me a darkened room and too much food please!
And after all that watching, it seemed only fair to try and cook something from one of the series. I was taken by the idea of potato scones from Jamie Oliver's Great Britain. He made the scones in Scotland and served them with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs as a brunch dish. Dan and I both liked the look of them - they made our mouths water! - so I decided to make them for dinner on thursday night. I served the potato scones with cabbage, a poached egg and a piece of lightly smoked salmon fillet.
This was a very useful recipe. On Thursday nights I meet a friend for a run, so I get home late and hungry. I was able to make the scones the night before so that all that needed doing when I got in was lightly frying them for 10 minutes while the fish and cabbage cooked. Poach an egg, and hey presto! - a quick and tasty dinner with enough stodge to replenish my tired leg muscles. I went a bit wrong somehow as the scones didn't hold together very well, but the flavours were lovely. Definitely a 'do again' recipe.
Sadly, mine didn't look like this, but they give you the right idea!
Find recipes for this as well as ones from the rest of the Jamie O series here.
Well, what can I say? After a spring and summer of watching virtually no TV I've been a complete sucker and have been hunkering down every night to watch other people cook. I suppose its hibernation instinct - its December: give me a darkened room and too much food please!
And after all that watching, it seemed only fair to try and cook something from one of the series. I was taken by the idea of potato scones from Jamie Oliver's Great Britain. He made the scones in Scotland and served them with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs as a brunch dish. Dan and I both liked the look of them - they made our mouths water! - so I decided to make them for dinner on thursday night. I served the potato scones with cabbage, a poached egg and a piece of lightly smoked salmon fillet.
This was a very useful recipe. On Thursday nights I meet a friend for a run, so I get home late and hungry. I was able to make the scones the night before so that all that needed doing when I got in was lightly frying them for 10 minutes while the fish and cabbage cooked. Poach an egg, and hey presto! - a quick and tasty dinner with enough stodge to replenish my tired leg muscles. I went a bit wrong somehow as the scones didn't hold together very well, but the flavours were lovely. Definitely a 'do again' recipe.
Find recipes for this as well as ones from the rest of the Jamie O series here.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Daring Cooks November Challenge
First things first - an apology and excuses for lack of posting recently. Two reasons - I just ran a half marathon, so the last few weeks of training didn't leave much energy for cooking anything fancy, and also I've been sewing a lot. Nothing's finished and worth a post yet, but expect lots of sewing posts coming up.
Anyway, onto the Daring Cooks Challenge. This month's challenge was an intriguing one: cooking with tea.
I chose to make Chinese Tea Eggs - a recipe I have often flicked past in my Asian recipe book but never made. They turn out quite pretty with their marbeled whites.
The method was simple but it was quite a long process (although most of the time it doesn't really need any attention). The taste was interesting and less subtle than I had expected, but as you can see from the snap above one egg did split and that was the one I ate - so it may have been a little stronger flavoured than a perfect one would have been. Lightly flavoured with soy, tea, and star anise this was a novelty, and it was pretty good with the crab cakes and peas I paired it with. I'm not sure I'll be repeating this recipe to be honest - its an awfully long process for a hard boiled egg!
Here's the method if you fancy having a try:
Chinese Tea Eggs
2 or more eggs
30ml dark soy sauce
1/2 star anise
2 tea bags
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place the eggs in cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and leave in cold water until cold. Roll the eggs so that the shells crack but don't break.
Add the soy, salt, tea bags, and star anise to the water. Replace the eggs and bring to the boil again, cover the pan and turn the heat down. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours then remove from the heat and allow to cool in the cooking liquid.
Shell immediately before eating, which its best to do within 24 hours.
Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.
Anyway, onto the Daring Cooks Challenge. This month's challenge was an intriguing one: cooking with tea.
I chose to make Chinese Tea Eggs - a recipe I have often flicked past in my Asian recipe book but never made. They turn out quite pretty with their marbeled whites.
The method was simple but it was quite a long process (although most of the time it doesn't really need any attention). The taste was interesting and less subtle than I had expected, but as you can see from the snap above one egg did split and that was the one I ate - so it may have been a little stronger flavoured than a perfect one would have been. Lightly flavoured with soy, tea, and star anise this was a novelty, and it was pretty good with the crab cakes and peas I paired it with. I'm not sure I'll be repeating this recipe to be honest - its an awfully long process for a hard boiled egg!
Here's the method if you fancy having a try:
Chinese Tea Eggs
2 or more eggs
30ml dark soy sauce
1/2 star anise
2 tea bags
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place the eggs in cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and leave in cold water until cold. Roll the eggs so that the shells crack but don't break.
Add the soy, salt, tea bags, and star anise to the water. Replace the eggs and bring to the boil again, cover the pan and turn the heat down. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours then remove from the heat and allow to cool in the cooking liquid.
Shell immediately before eating, which its best to do within 24 hours.
Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Bakewell
Dan's a Yorkshire boy, and as such one of his favourite puddings is Bakewell Tart. Yet despite it being on the list for quite some time I had never made one.
This weekend I finally put that right. The boy was heading off for a week away for work, so a proper send-off dinner seemed appropriate. And you can't have a proper dinner without a proper pudding.
I took my Bakewell Tart reipe from Tamasin Day-Lewis's Cookery Bible, and it was delicious still warm from the oven, and also lovely cold with a cup of tea when visitors dropped round the next morning.
Here's the recipe:
Bakewell Tart - enough for 6-8 slices
For the filling:
110g Rasberry Jam (preferably homemade)
70g butter
70g ground almonds
70g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond essence
10g flaked almonds
For the pastry:
100g plain flour
50g butter
pinch salt
First make your pastry. Runb the cold butter into the flour and salt until it resembles the consistency of breadcrumbs. Mix to a stiff dough with a spoonful of cold water. Wrap in cligfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Grease a pie tin (approx 16-18cm diameter), roll out the pastry on a floured board and lay it in the tin, letting it slightly overhang the edges.
Return the tin to the fridge for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Spread a generous layer of rasberry jam over the pastry base. In a bowl mix together the ground almonds, sugar, vanilla essence and almond essence. Beat in the eggs, mixing well. Then melt the butter over a low heat until it smells slightly nutty and add it to the cakey mixture. Mix well before spooning it into the pastry case on top of the jam.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes then sprinkle the flakes almonds on top and return it to the oven for a further 5 minutes - until the almonds are toasted and the cakey mixture is lightly browned and just set.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes, and serve warm with cream or icecream.
This weekend I finally put that right. The boy was heading off for a week away for work, so a proper send-off dinner seemed appropriate. And you can't have a proper dinner without a proper pudding.
I took my Bakewell Tart reipe from Tamasin Day-Lewis's Cookery Bible, and it was delicious still warm from the oven, and also lovely cold with a cup of tea when visitors dropped round the next morning.
Here's the recipe:
Bakewell Tart - enough for 6-8 slices
For the filling:
110g Rasberry Jam (preferably homemade)
70g butter
70g ground almonds
70g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond essence
10g flaked almonds
For the pastry:
100g plain flour
50g butter
pinch salt
First make your pastry. Runb the cold butter into the flour and salt until it resembles the consistency of breadcrumbs. Mix to a stiff dough with a spoonful of cold water. Wrap in cligfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Grease a pie tin (approx 16-18cm diameter), roll out the pastry on a floured board and lay it in the tin, letting it slightly overhang the edges.
Return the tin to the fridge for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Spread a generous layer of rasberry jam over the pastry base. In a bowl mix together the ground almonds, sugar, vanilla essence and almond essence. Beat in the eggs, mixing well. Then melt the butter over a low heat until it smells slightly nutty and add it to the cakey mixture. Mix well before spooning it into the pastry case on top of the jam.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes then sprinkle the flakes almonds on top and return it to the oven for a further 5 minutes - until the almonds are toasted and the cakey mixture is lightly browned and just set.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes, and serve warm with cream or icecream.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sugar and Spice and all things nice
Autumn is a brilliant season in so many ways. Sure, its sad to see the end to the summer, but isn't that bitter pill easier to swallow with the abundance of tasty morsels in the hedgerows and woodlands?
This week I received a gift of hazelnuts from our neighbour and picked up a load of sweet chestnuts in the woods round my parents's place.
So, what to do with them all?
Why not combine my two favourite things - cooking and crafts? I found a yummy-sounding recipe in my Alice in Wonderland craft book. It was described as Sugar and Spice Comfits; a combination of nuts, seeds, spices, and dried fruit. I used roasted sweet chestnuts and hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, blanched almonds, toasted caraway, fennel, and coriander seeds, some crystallised ginger, dried cranberries, sultanas, sunflower seeds, pinenuts and sesame seeds. Go mad - throw in whatever you have to hand (you'll want about 100g nuts, 50g dried fruit, 1 tablespoon spice seeds, 25g other seeds)!
Once I'd chosen my ingredients I made a small amount of sugar syrup by heating 50g caster sugar in a heavy pan over a gentle heat until it melted and turned into a syrup. I then removed the pan from the heat, mixed in the fruit and nuts, then spread it out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and left it to cool.
These are meant to be brilliant on icecream, or you you can just snack on them as they are (which is what I've been doing). Yummy.
And for my next trick I collected up a load of sloes from the hedgerow, bought a bottle of gin and mixed up some sloe gin (700 ml gin, 450g sloes, 150g sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond essence).
It won't be ready to drink until the end of January so I'll have to report back then. Between now and deepest-darkest winter I'll be shaking the kilner jar regularly, at least until the sugar dissolves. It'll be ready with perfect timing to see us through the harshness of coming back from a warm holiday to the cold British winter!
This week I received a gift of hazelnuts from our neighbour and picked up a load of sweet chestnuts in the woods round my parents's place.
So, what to do with them all?
Why not combine my two favourite things - cooking and crafts? I found a yummy-sounding recipe in my Alice in Wonderland craft book. It was described as Sugar and Spice Comfits; a combination of nuts, seeds, spices, and dried fruit. I used roasted sweet chestnuts and hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, blanched almonds, toasted caraway, fennel, and coriander seeds, some crystallised ginger, dried cranberries, sultanas, sunflower seeds, pinenuts and sesame seeds. Go mad - throw in whatever you have to hand (you'll want about 100g nuts, 50g dried fruit, 1 tablespoon spice seeds, 25g other seeds)!
Once I'd chosen my ingredients I made a small amount of sugar syrup by heating 50g caster sugar in a heavy pan over a gentle heat until it melted and turned into a syrup. I then removed the pan from the heat, mixed in the fruit and nuts, then spread it out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and left it to cool.
These are meant to be brilliant on icecream, or you you can just snack on them as they are (which is what I've been doing). Yummy.
And for my next trick I collected up a load of sloes from the hedgerow, bought a bottle of gin and mixed up some sloe gin (700 ml gin, 450g sloes, 150g sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond essence).
It won't be ready to drink until the end of January so I'll have to report back then. Between now and deepest-darkest winter I'll be shaking the kilner jar regularly, at least until the sugar dissolves. It'll be ready with perfect timing to see us through the harshness of coming back from a warm holiday to the cold British winter!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Two ways with beetroot
Leafing through my Riverford Farm cookbook the other day it struck me that I don't think I've ever eaten a beetroot. The strong smell and psychadelic colour of the pickled variety have always put me off, and I'd never really considered it as a stand-alone vegetable. Still, I'm all for trying to challenge my taste buds these days, so I resolved to cook beetroot next time I found it for sale. Funny how as soon as I decided that, I spotted it in the farmshop.
The recipe I chose was a beetroot gratin, from the Riverford cookbook. I wasn't sure I was ready for cooking the beetroot and eating it whole and unadulterated, so a slight dilution with cream, garlic and summer savoury from the garden seemed a good beginners beetroot choice. I did also cheat a little by using 350g beetroot and 200g potato rather than all beetroot.
I have to say, I was worried. The thought of dinner potentially being disgusting when you are really hungry is not funny. I should have trusted in Riverford though. Afterall, they haven't let me down before.
Despite the dish coming out of the oven looking distinctly alarming:
And staining both the smoked haddock and cabbage which I served with it a vibrant shade of pink:
It was actually a really lovely dish. Subtle flavoured, creamy, and a lighter and less stodgy version of a dauphinoise. If I feel like staining the kitchen and my fingers bright pink again I'll make this for dinner. Very tasty.
As the beetroot was sold by the bunch I was left with a couple of beetroot globes to use up. I keep reading how good beetroot is in cake - like carrots it helps fruit or chocolate cakes stay wonderfully moist. Further on in the Riverford book I discovered a recipe for a carrot/beetroot cake. Dan had requested cake for work as he's leaving for a new job, so I figured I had to live up to my reputation for providing unusual foodstuffs. No standard Victoria sponge for the office then: they were going to get a beetroot and carrot cake. And if they decided it was too wierd to eat then all the more for me!
The batter was a truly alarming bright pink colour, but I'm pleased to say that once it was baked it had only a subtle pink tinge, which was much more appealing!
Apparently some people did turn their noses up at the cake. Wierd how the thought of beetroot in a cake is repulsive to some people, but eating food stuffed full of chemicals is just fine with them! Those that did try the cake did like it, and Dan even had a request for the recipe.
My assessment of the recipe is that it either needs the addition of some spices, like nutmeg or cinnamon, or it needs a cream cheese icing. So, some tweaking required, but a fairly decent cake.
The recipe can be found here.
The recipe I chose was a beetroot gratin, from the Riverford cookbook. I wasn't sure I was ready for cooking the beetroot and eating it whole and unadulterated, so a slight dilution with cream, garlic and summer savoury from the garden seemed a good beginners beetroot choice. I did also cheat a little by using 350g beetroot and 200g potato rather than all beetroot.
I have to say, I was worried. The thought of dinner potentially being disgusting when you are really hungry is not funny. I should have trusted in Riverford though. Afterall, they haven't let me down before.
Despite the dish coming out of the oven looking distinctly alarming:
And staining both the smoked haddock and cabbage which I served with it a vibrant shade of pink:
It was actually a really lovely dish. Subtle flavoured, creamy, and a lighter and less stodgy version of a dauphinoise. If I feel like staining the kitchen and my fingers bright pink again I'll make this for dinner. Very tasty.
As the beetroot was sold by the bunch I was left with a couple of beetroot globes to use up. I keep reading how good beetroot is in cake - like carrots it helps fruit or chocolate cakes stay wonderfully moist. Further on in the Riverford book I discovered a recipe for a carrot/beetroot cake. Dan had requested cake for work as he's leaving for a new job, so I figured I had to live up to my reputation for providing unusual foodstuffs. No standard Victoria sponge for the office then: they were going to get a beetroot and carrot cake. And if they decided it was too wierd to eat then all the more for me!
The batter was a truly alarming bright pink colour, but I'm pleased to say that once it was baked it had only a subtle pink tinge, which was much more appealing!
Apparently some people did turn their noses up at the cake. Wierd how the thought of beetroot in a cake is repulsive to some people, but eating food stuffed full of chemicals is just fine with them! Those that did try the cake did like it, and Dan even had a request for the recipe.
My assessment of the recipe is that it either needs the addition of some spices, like nutmeg or cinnamon, or it needs a cream cheese icing. So, some tweaking required, but a fairly decent cake.
The recipe can be found here.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Steamed pudding
There are a number of items that have been sitting on my 'to do' list for quite some time. One of these was steamed syrup sponge - a childhood favourite of Dan's. I tried it once last year, but my recipe turned out more like sticky toffee pudding. Nice, but not what I was after.
Given that Dan had spent 2 weekends and every evening last week under my car trying to get it roadworthy I felt that he definitely deserved a treat, so on saturday I made a second attempt at the pudding.
This time is was declared a winner: better than his mum's version! So all credit to Delia Smith, who's recipe I used. It gained me major brownie points and a boyfriend who was no longer in a stinking bad mood.
We were super-indulgent and served the recipe with double cream, although I think that custard is the more traditional choice. I did adapt the recipe slightly and cut down the quantities, so here's the method I ended up with:
Steamed Syrup Sponge
Serves 5-6
20g black treacle
50g golden syrup
115g self-raising flour
2/3 teaspoon baking powder
115g butter (softened)
2 eggs
115g soft light brown sugar
Grease an 800ml capacity pudding basin. Spoon the golden syrup into the bottom of the basin.
Sift the flour and baking powder. Add all the other ingredients and beat well for several minutes.
Spoon the batter into the pudding basin and level the top.
Place a sheet of foil over a sheet of greaseproof paper, make a pleat in the centre, and place this foil-side uppermost on top of the pudding basin. Pull it down the sides and tie round the basin with string. Make a string handle for lifting the basin.
Steam for 1 1/2 hours, checking the water level half way through to ensure it doesn't boil dry.
To serve, loosen the pudding all round using a palette knife, invert it on to a plate. Delia suggests spooning more golden syrup over the top at this stage, but I didn't do that and it was plenty sticky and sweet anough as it was.
Serve warm with cream, custard, creme fraiche, or vanilla icecream.
Do expect to have to go on a diet after eating just a single helping, but it will be completely worth it!
Given that Dan had spent 2 weekends and every evening last week under my car trying to get it roadworthy I felt that he definitely deserved a treat, so on saturday I made a second attempt at the pudding.
This time is was declared a winner: better than his mum's version! So all credit to Delia Smith, who's recipe I used. It gained me major brownie points and a boyfriend who was no longer in a stinking bad mood.
We were super-indulgent and served the recipe with double cream, although I think that custard is the more traditional choice. I did adapt the recipe slightly and cut down the quantities, so here's the method I ended up with:
Steamed Syrup Sponge
Serves 5-6
20g black treacle
50g golden syrup
115g self-raising flour
2/3 teaspoon baking powder
115g butter (softened)
2 eggs
115g soft light brown sugar
Grease an 800ml capacity pudding basin. Spoon the golden syrup into the bottom of the basin.
Sift the flour and baking powder. Add all the other ingredients and beat well for several minutes.
Spoon the batter into the pudding basin and level the top.
Place a sheet of foil over a sheet of greaseproof paper, make a pleat in the centre, and place this foil-side uppermost on top of the pudding basin. Pull it down the sides and tie round the basin with string. Make a string handle for lifting the basin.
Steam for 1 1/2 hours, checking the water level half way through to ensure it doesn't boil dry.
To serve, loosen the pudding all round using a palette knife, invert it on to a plate. Delia suggests spooning more golden syrup over the top at this stage, but I didn't do that and it was plenty sticky and sweet anough as it was.
Serve warm with cream, custard, creme fraiche, or vanilla icecream.
Do expect to have to go on a diet after eating just a single helping, but it will be completely worth it!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Veggie comfort food dinner
I have had a few weeks recently when I haven't been feeling very inspired as far as cooking is concerned. I have excuses: a cold followed by a chest infection does rather rain on the cookery parade. Next week I hope to be getting my mojo back, but for tonight comfort food was in order.
I made an Ottolenghi recipe which I had bookmarked from his column in The Guardian - Mejadra. Its a Levantine recipe which can be eaten hot or cold. It reminded me a little bit of kedgeree; warmly spiced, and a good combination of soft texture and crunch. Tasty. Also easy. Ideal for a "can't be bothered" evening.
Here's where to find the recipe.
PS I hope to meet Ottolenghi - I'm off to Alex James's Harvest festival in a couple of weeks' time and he will be there on the same day. Could be interesting - I hope to garner some top tips.
I made an Ottolenghi recipe which I had bookmarked from his column in The Guardian - Mejadra. Its a Levantine recipe which can be eaten hot or cold. It reminded me a little bit of kedgeree; warmly spiced, and a good combination of soft texture and crunch. Tasty. Also easy. Ideal for a "can't be bothered" evening.
Here's where to find the recipe.
PS I hope to meet Ottolenghi - I'm off to Alex James's Harvest festival in a couple of weeks' time and he will be there on the same day. Could be interesting - I hope to garner some top tips.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Getting my 5 a day
Recently I've been feeling like eating super-healthily: Lots of vegetables, salads, vegetarian dishes. This week's new recipes were excellent examples of the kind of food I've been craving.
A Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus soup made a delicious lunch (even though it doesn't look that great!)
It was quite unusual in that it had a beaten egg stirred through to form thin eggy strands. That really enriched the soup and made it taste quite indulgent. The recipe was extremely easy to make. I battled with my 'food miles' conscience since asparagus isn't in season in the UK anymore, but in the end greed won out! Here's the recipe:
Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus soup for 2
1 tin crab (or 120g cooked fresh crab meat)
200g asparagus spears
500g chicken stock
3 shallots (finely sliced)
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 egg
salt and pepper
chives
Warm the stock in a saucepan, add the shallots and simmer for a few minutes to soften.
Meanwhile chop the asparagus spears into bite sized pieces and cook in simmering water for 4-5 minutes until tender.
Add the asparagus, crab, fish sauce and seasoning to the stock mixture. Mix the cornflour to a paste with a little water, add it to the soup mixture and stir until the soup thickens a little. Beat the egg lightly, add to the soup and stir briskly to form strands of egg. Sprinkle with some snipped chives and serve.
For dinner the same day I threw together an Ottolenghi salad recipe of broad beans and radishes, which was excellent served with a piece of haddock and pitta breads, with a tahini sauce for dipping.
See: It looks like the book's picture!
I never used to like radishes, but thought it was high time I revisited them to see if I like them now. This combination of salad ingredients was lovely and the radishes gave a great textural contrast with their crunchiness, as well as being a wonderful colour against the grean of the beans. I actually used half and half broad beans and peas as I didn't have enough broad beans for the recipe. That seemed to work just fine.
One revelation is that I don't know why I never thought to pop broadbeans out of their skins before. I have always hated those tough outer skins that they have, but they're very easily peeled off!
Fresh and healthy summery dishes feel exactly right just now.
A Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus soup made a delicious lunch (even though it doesn't look that great!)
It was quite unusual in that it had a beaten egg stirred through to form thin eggy strands. That really enriched the soup and made it taste quite indulgent. The recipe was extremely easy to make. I battled with my 'food miles' conscience since asparagus isn't in season in the UK anymore, but in the end greed won out! Here's the recipe:
Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus soup for 2
1 tin crab (or 120g cooked fresh crab meat)
200g asparagus spears
500g chicken stock
3 shallots (finely sliced)
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 egg
salt and pepper
chives
Warm the stock in a saucepan, add the shallots and simmer for a few minutes to soften.
Meanwhile chop the asparagus spears into bite sized pieces and cook in simmering water for 4-5 minutes until tender.
Add the asparagus, crab, fish sauce and seasoning to the stock mixture. Mix the cornflour to a paste with a little water, add it to the soup mixture and stir until the soup thickens a little. Beat the egg lightly, add to the soup and stir briskly to form strands of egg. Sprinkle with some snipped chives and serve.
For dinner the same day I threw together an Ottolenghi salad recipe of broad beans and radishes, which was excellent served with a piece of haddock and pitta breads, with a tahini sauce for dipping.
See: It looks like the book's picture!
I never used to like radishes, but thought it was high time I revisited them to see if I like them now. This combination of salad ingredients was lovely and the radishes gave a great textural contrast with their crunchiness, as well as being a wonderful colour against the grean of the beans. I actually used half and half broad beans and peas as I didn't have enough broad beans for the recipe. That seemed to work just fine.
One revelation is that I don't know why I never thought to pop broadbeans out of their skins before. I have always hated those tough outer skins that they have, but they're very easily peeled off!
Fresh and healthy summery dishes feel exactly right just now.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Buffalo Ricotta
I think I've documented reasonably often on these pages my prolems with dairy products. I can't seem to get along with cow cheese and other milk products at all. I have however been gradually exploring the non-cow options out there. In the last year or so I have discovered a number of soft cheeses which I like and don't make my tummy hurt - buffalo mozzarella, halloumi, feta. I can cope with one or two hard cheeses (manchego mostly), although I still wouldn't eat them in chunks - just grated into other food. And, surprisingly, I have overcome my childhood hatred of yoghurt. I'm sure my bones and joints are grateful for the extra calcium!
Last week I was in London so I paid a visit to the Whole Foods Supermarket on Kensington High Street (they do the best olives of anywhere I've found in the UK). I was interested to spot Buffalo Ricotta in their fridge, and I couldn't resist buying some to try.
I didn't have a plan for it, but when I got home I flicked through my books and decided on Fennel and Ricotta Risotto from the Jamie's Italy cookbook.
The recipe can be found here.
I was a little worried that the fennel flavour would be overwhelming, but the risotto turned out really well - creamy with nicely balanced flavours. It was pretty simple and quick to make, so I would definitely recommend it for an easy week night dinner.
PS I also discovered that you can mix ricotta with a little honey, berries, lemon juice and zest for a creamy but surprisingly low calorie dessert.
Last week I was in London so I paid a visit to the Whole Foods Supermarket on Kensington High Street (they do the best olives of anywhere I've found in the UK). I was interested to spot Buffalo Ricotta in their fridge, and I couldn't resist buying some to try.
I didn't have a plan for it, but when I got home I flicked through my books and decided on Fennel and Ricotta Risotto from the Jamie's Italy cookbook.
The recipe can be found here.
I was a little worried that the fennel flavour would be overwhelming, but the risotto turned out really well - creamy with nicely balanced flavours. It was pretty simple and quick to make, so I would definitely recommend it for an easy week night dinner.
PS I also discovered that you can mix ricotta with a little honey, berries, lemon juice and zest for a creamy but surprisingly low calorie dessert.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Breakfast
Once in a while I like to mix things up a bit at breakfast time. I don't eat the same breakfast everyday anyway, but I do have quite a narrow repertoire - muesli, yoghurt and fruit, eggs on toast, porridge (in the winter), or toast and jam. It seems to work just fine, requires mininimal thought when half asleep and fuels me through the morning.
However, every now and then I get bored. This was one of those weeks, so summoning some Scottish inspiration I made oatcakes to have for breakfast.
Boiled eggs, smoked salmon (well, trout), and homemade oatcakes. I must grow some chives - they would be good with this.
I know that this is not going to set the world on fire with its inventiveness, but it was enough to satisfy my need for something new!
The oatcakes were a little less crisp than the ones you buy in shops, and I imagine they will be very well suited to jams and honeys as well as the savoury accompaniments.
Here's how to make them:
Oatcakes
Mix together 50g fine oatmeal with 50g plain flour (white, wholemeal or a mixture) and a pinch of salt.
Rub in 30g chilled butter.
Mix to a dough consistency with water.
Roll out and cut into shapes, or do as I did and form golf ball sized lumps and flatten them with a rolling pin. I added a scrunch of black pepper to the top at this stage.
Heat a heavy frying pan and dry-fry the coatcakes until starting to go golddn at the edges, flip over and bake the other side. Set aside to cool as you cook the rest.
However, every now and then I get bored. This was one of those weeks, so summoning some Scottish inspiration I made oatcakes to have for breakfast.
Boiled eggs, smoked salmon (well, trout), and homemade oatcakes. I must grow some chives - they would be good with this.
I know that this is not going to set the world on fire with its inventiveness, but it was enough to satisfy my need for something new!
The oatcakes were a little less crisp than the ones you buy in shops, and I imagine they will be very well suited to jams and honeys as well as the savoury accompaniments.
Here's how to make them:
Oatcakes
Mix together 50g fine oatmeal with 50g plain flour (white, wholemeal or a mixture) and a pinch of salt.
Rub in 30g chilled butter.
Mix to a dough consistency with water.
Roll out and cut into shapes, or do as I did and form golf ball sized lumps and flatten them with a rolling pin. I added a scrunch of black pepper to the top at this stage.
Heat a heavy frying pan and dry-fry the coatcakes until starting to go golddn at the edges, flip over and bake the other side. Set aside to cool as you cook the rest.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Being foolish
This week I meandered out to the Pick Your Own farm again during my lunch break. This time I picked enough strawberries to have some to gobble straight away and a load to make jam. I made strawberry and mint jam using leaves from the chocolate mint in my garden. (I'd never heard of choclate mint, but came across it on a plant stall at a craft show: It has a richer flavour than normal garden mint - much more pudding-y.)
Gooseberries were also ready for picking at the farm.
When I was a child we had a gooseberry bush in the garden. They were my mum's favourite, but I never liked them. It could have been a reaction to getting prickled fingers when picking them I suppose but ever since I have assumed that I don't like gooseberries. Since they were ripe for picking I thought I would challenge myself to try one.
Revelatory moment: they're really nice!
I made Dan eat one when I got home: He was very dubious about the idea as he swore they were the kind of sharp fruit that could only be eaten stewed with lots of sugar. The look on his face when he realised how nice these ones were was priceless.
So, preconceptions squashed...what to do with 350g of gooseberries?
Last week I made a Rhubarb, Strawberry and Orange Flower Water Fool based on the recipe in Silvana Franco's Hi-Lo Cook Book. Dan and I both enjoyed it as a light, refreshing pudding, so I decided to try something similar with my gooseberries. I decided to go for a classic flavour combination of gooseberries and elderflowers, so I stewed 200g of gooseberries in 2 tablespoons of the elderflower cordial I made a couple of weeks ago, and used this to make a Gooseberry Fool.
The following recipe is mainly based on the Silvano Franco Rhubarb Fool recipe, but also takes elements from various other recipes that I found in the Riverford Cook Book, on BBC Good Food, and in Tamasin Day Lewis's Kitchen Bible.
Gooseberry and Elderflower Fool (for 2)
200g gooseberries
2 tablespoons elderflower cordial
60g double cream
60g thick yoghurt
Icing sugar to taste
Top and tail the gooseberries and place them in a pan with the elderflower cordial. Heat over a low-medium heat until the gooseberries soften (probably about 10-15 minutes in total). Set aside to cool.
Mix together the double cream and yoghurt with a whisk. Spoon alternate layers of yogurt-cream mixture and stewed gooseberries into a tall glass (sprinkle the gooseberry layers with a little icing sugar if you prefer your desserts on the sweet-side). Put in the fridge to chill over night.
Such an easy dessert, and not that bad for you really. It feels creamy and indulgent enough to be a treat whilst not being a heart-attack in a glass! It could handle a little more elderflower flavour if you like the taste of elderflowers, as the gooseberries are very dominant in the proportions above.
PS Its entirely irrelevant, but gooseberries really remind me of Chinese lanterns. I love that.
Gooseberries were also ready for picking at the farm.
When I was a child we had a gooseberry bush in the garden. They were my mum's favourite, but I never liked them. It could have been a reaction to getting prickled fingers when picking them I suppose but ever since I have assumed that I don't like gooseberries. Since they were ripe for picking I thought I would challenge myself to try one.
Revelatory moment: they're really nice!
I made Dan eat one when I got home: He was very dubious about the idea as he swore they were the kind of sharp fruit that could only be eaten stewed with lots of sugar. The look on his face when he realised how nice these ones were was priceless.
So, preconceptions squashed...what to do with 350g of gooseberries?
Last week I made a Rhubarb, Strawberry and Orange Flower Water Fool based on the recipe in Silvana Franco's Hi-Lo Cook Book. Dan and I both enjoyed it as a light, refreshing pudding, so I decided to try something similar with my gooseberries. I decided to go for a classic flavour combination of gooseberries and elderflowers, so I stewed 200g of gooseberries in 2 tablespoons of the elderflower cordial I made a couple of weeks ago, and used this to make a Gooseberry Fool.
The following recipe is mainly based on the Silvano Franco Rhubarb Fool recipe, but also takes elements from various other recipes that I found in the Riverford Cook Book, on BBC Good Food, and in Tamasin Day Lewis's Kitchen Bible.
Gooseberry and Elderflower Fool (for 2)
200g gooseberries
2 tablespoons elderflower cordial
60g double cream
60g thick yoghurt
Icing sugar to taste
Top and tail the gooseberries and place them in a pan with the elderflower cordial. Heat over a low-medium heat until the gooseberries soften (probably about 10-15 minutes in total). Set aside to cool.
Mix together the double cream and yoghurt with a whisk. Spoon alternate layers of yogurt-cream mixture and stewed gooseberries into a tall glass (sprinkle the gooseberry layers with a little icing sugar if you prefer your desserts on the sweet-side). Put in the fridge to chill over night.
Such an easy dessert, and not that bad for you really. It feels creamy and indulgent enough to be a treat whilst not being a heart-attack in a glass! It could handle a little more elderflower flavour if you like the taste of elderflowers, as the gooseberries are very dominant in the proportions above.
PS Its entirely irrelevant, but gooseberries really remind me of Chinese lanterns. I love that.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Three ways with Potato Salad - Daring Cooks
The June Daring Cooks Challenge was to make a delicious, healthy potato salad.
This is a challenge which really suits me as I like to make myself varied lunches to take to the office rather than always having a soggy sandwich. Potato salad falls into this system rather well, and expanding my lunchtime menu is always a good thing.
I decided to take this challenge seriously and do some decent experimentation rather than just making one version of the dish.
First up; Lemony potato salad with asparagus
A lunchtime outing took me to a farm which was selling fresh asparagus. It seemed a crime to walk away without some while its in-season and fresh from the field. This was the starting point for my potato salad. What goes with asparagus and potatoes? Lemon seemed like a good, tangy choice.
Also in the fridge that morning; spring onions, half a red chilli, some yellow pepper, parsley, and a packet of ham, so I chopped them all up and added them to my tupperware tub. Some mint from the garden too.
The dressing was a dessertspoon of olive oil, a couple of dessertspoons of lemon juice, a squeeze of lime and 1/2 teaspoon of sumac whisked together.
The resulting salad was colourful, flavourful and tangy. I suppose it might be pushing it to describe it as potato salad since it had lots of other things in it too!
At the weekend I was back home for my sister's wedding. I needed a decent lunch on saturday before the ceremony - filling but not bloating. Potatoes were perfect for this.
On this occasion I decided to go with a more Oriental flavour combination, so I ended up with:
Potato, plum sauce and sesame seed Salad
This is how I made it:
Steam the potatoes, add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a splash of light soy sauce. Make a dressing from a dash of plum sauce, about a dessertspoon of rice wine vinegar, a squeeze of lime, some chopped coriander leaves and a sprinkle of chilli flakes.
I served the potato salad with a sliced smoked chicken breast, some lettuce leaves, and a handful of fresh mint leaves. The weather was appropriately warm and sunny to eat in the garden, close the eyes, and pretend I was really in Asia.
And finally....a bit of a wild card. I came across a recipe on the BBC website which intrigued me, Potato, green bean and rhubarb salad with almond pesto. Find the recipe here.
Raw rhubarb? I'd never thought to have rhubarb any way but stewed. I like it when my preconceptions are challenged so I resolved to make this one. I kept it for a day at home though, just in case it was nasty and I had to make a different lunch!
I should have had more faith. The salad was beautiful. Colourful and a fantastic balance of flavours. The raw rhubarb was tart and crunchy but not sour, the warmth from the chilli flakes enlivened the potatoes, and the almond and parsley pesto tied the whole dish together. I highly recommend this!
I amended the BBC dish slightly, so here's my final version:
Potato, Rhubarb and Green Bean Salad with Almond and Parsley Pesto (for 1 person)
150g new potatoes (I used Cornish Royals as they're in season here and delicious)
pinch of chilli flakes
salt and pepper
50g green beans (trimmed)
2 spring onions - white part only, sliced
1/2 stick of rhubarb (approx 35-40g) finely sliced
Squeeze lemon juice
For the pesto
20g blanched almonds
1 clove fresh garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
Handful of fresh parsley
Scrub the potatoes, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, then steam them over simmering water for 20 minutes, or until cooked.
Add the green beans for the last 5 minutes in the steamer so that they are lightly cooked but retain a slight crunch.
Meanwhile make the pesto by blending all the ingredients together. Add more olive oil if you aren't eating the salad that day.
Remove the potatoes and beans from the heat, sprinkle with a pinch of chilli flakes and some freshly ground black pepper. Put aside to cool.
Chop the spring onions and rhubarb and arrange potatoes, beans, rhubarb and spring onion on a plate. Dab the pesto round the plate and squeeze a little lemon juice over the top.
Serve and enjoy.
Thank you to the Daring Cooks for helping me to expand my lunchtime salad options!
Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!
This is a challenge which really suits me as I like to make myself varied lunches to take to the office rather than always having a soggy sandwich. Potato salad falls into this system rather well, and expanding my lunchtime menu is always a good thing.
I decided to take this challenge seriously and do some decent experimentation rather than just making one version of the dish.
First up; Lemony potato salad with asparagus
A lunchtime outing took me to a farm which was selling fresh asparagus. It seemed a crime to walk away without some while its in-season and fresh from the field. This was the starting point for my potato salad. What goes with asparagus and potatoes? Lemon seemed like a good, tangy choice.
Also in the fridge that morning; spring onions, half a red chilli, some yellow pepper, parsley, and a packet of ham, so I chopped them all up and added them to my tupperware tub. Some mint from the garden too.
The dressing was a dessertspoon of olive oil, a couple of dessertspoons of lemon juice, a squeeze of lime and 1/2 teaspoon of sumac whisked together.
The resulting salad was colourful, flavourful and tangy. I suppose it might be pushing it to describe it as potato salad since it had lots of other things in it too!
At the weekend I was back home for my sister's wedding. I needed a decent lunch on saturday before the ceremony - filling but not bloating. Potatoes were perfect for this.
On this occasion I decided to go with a more Oriental flavour combination, so I ended up with:
Potato, plum sauce and sesame seed Salad
This is how I made it:
Steam the potatoes, add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a splash of light soy sauce. Make a dressing from a dash of plum sauce, about a dessertspoon of rice wine vinegar, a squeeze of lime, some chopped coriander leaves and a sprinkle of chilli flakes.
I served the potato salad with a sliced smoked chicken breast, some lettuce leaves, and a handful of fresh mint leaves. The weather was appropriately warm and sunny to eat in the garden, close the eyes, and pretend I was really in Asia.
And finally....a bit of a wild card. I came across a recipe on the BBC website which intrigued me, Potato, green bean and rhubarb salad with almond pesto. Find the recipe here.
Raw rhubarb? I'd never thought to have rhubarb any way but stewed. I like it when my preconceptions are challenged so I resolved to make this one. I kept it for a day at home though, just in case it was nasty and I had to make a different lunch!
I should have had more faith. The salad was beautiful. Colourful and a fantastic balance of flavours. The raw rhubarb was tart and crunchy but not sour, the warmth from the chilli flakes enlivened the potatoes, and the almond and parsley pesto tied the whole dish together. I highly recommend this!
I amended the BBC dish slightly, so here's my final version:
Potato, Rhubarb and Green Bean Salad with Almond and Parsley Pesto (for 1 person)
150g new potatoes (I used Cornish Royals as they're in season here and delicious)
pinch of chilli flakes
salt and pepper
50g green beans (trimmed)
2 spring onions - white part only, sliced
1/2 stick of rhubarb (approx 35-40g) finely sliced
Squeeze lemon juice
For the pesto
20g blanched almonds
1 clove fresh garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
Handful of fresh parsley
Scrub the potatoes, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, then steam them over simmering water for 20 minutes, or until cooked.
Add the green beans for the last 5 minutes in the steamer so that they are lightly cooked but retain a slight crunch.
Meanwhile make the pesto by blending all the ingredients together. Add more olive oil if you aren't eating the salad that day.
Remove the potatoes and beans from the heat, sprinkle with a pinch of chilli flakes and some freshly ground black pepper. Put aside to cool.
Chop the spring onions and rhubarb and arrange potatoes, beans, rhubarb and spring onion on a plate. Dab the pesto round the plate and squeeze a little lemon juice over the top.
Serve and enjoy.
Thank you to the Daring Cooks for helping me to expand my lunchtime salad options!
Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
from the garden
Don't the roses in my garden look lovely?
It's purely by chance - I have the ungreenest of thumbs, but these appear to have thrived on a diet of neglect.
I have recently been reading Josceline Dimbleby's memoir Orchards in the Oasis, which talks of her time in Damascus as a child and the wonderful scents of orange blossom and rosewater in the sweets.
Its a wonderful book.
I felt inspired to try making my own rosewater for use in my cooking. Since there were so many roses climbing up the side of the house I thought they wouldn't come to any harm if I pinched a few of the petals. Rosewater can only be made with petals that haven't been sprayed with anything nasty (like pesticides), and I know my own haven't (that would be a result of the neglect).
So here's what I did:
Step 1 - Pick half a pint of rose petals
Step 2 - put in a saucepan (ceramic not metal) with 1 teaspoon of honey
Step 3 - Pour a pint of boiling water over the petals
Step 4 - Simmer until the colour of the petals bleaches out into the water (10-15 minutes)
Step 5 - Cover and leave to infuse overnight
Step 6 - Strain the liquid into a sterilised jar and refridgerate.
I'm hoping that this will keep for a couple of weeks, but I plan to try using it soon as I'm VERY curious about what it will be like. I confess I have no frame of reference as I don't think I've tasted rosewater before. I shall be blissfully ignorant if mine doesn't taste right!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Fishy Otti
By chance rather than by design I ended up cooking a lot of fishy meals this week. The star meal of the week was definitely Tuna with a Pistachio Crust and papaya salsa, taken from the Ottolenghi cookbook. I used tuna chunks instead of a loin piece simply because it was cheaper! Instead of coating the piece of tuna with a crust of pistachio and mustard I scattered the crust over the top of the chunks. It seemed to work just fine that way.
The salsa was really very pretty, and tasted just as lovely as it looked.
I served this dish on steamed new potatoes with peashoots. It was a good dinner, but the salsa does take quite a while to prepare because of all the peeling, chopping and mixing. On the otherhand, you could make it a day or two ahead. Next time I may swap the mustard in the crust for wasabi which I have a hunch may work a little better with the salsa.
A close runner up in the week's favourites was fillets of fish served with green tahini sauce and pomegranate seeds. I dished this one up with roasted aubergines and couscous. Another Ottolenghi special. It seems I'm cooking my way through the book! Again I used a cheaper piece of fish than was recommended; haddock worked perfectly OK so who need sea bream?!
Papaya Salsa
1/3 Papaya, diced
1/3 Mango, diced
1/3 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3g fresh ginger, grated
1/3 red onion, finely chopped
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
2 tspn thai fish sauce
2 tspn olive oil
1 tspn caster sugar
Mix everything together, season with salt and pepper, then chill for at least an hour before serving.
Super quick post this week. My sister's getting married on saturday and we're catering it ourselves so there's not a whole lot of time to spare for blogging!
The salsa was really very pretty, and tasted just as lovely as it looked.
I served this dish on steamed new potatoes with peashoots. It was a good dinner, but the salsa does take quite a while to prepare because of all the peeling, chopping and mixing. On the otherhand, you could make it a day or two ahead. Next time I may swap the mustard in the crust for wasabi which I have a hunch may work a little better with the salsa.
A close runner up in the week's favourites was fillets of fish served with green tahini sauce and pomegranate seeds. I dished this one up with roasted aubergines and couscous. Another Ottolenghi special. It seems I'm cooking my way through the book! Again I used a cheaper piece of fish than was recommended; haddock worked perfectly OK so who need sea bream?!
Papaya Salsa
1/3 Papaya, diced
1/3 Mango, diced
1/3 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3g fresh ginger, grated
1/3 red onion, finely chopped
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
2 tspn thai fish sauce
2 tspn olive oil
1 tspn caster sugar
Mix everything together, season with salt and pepper, then chill for at least an hour before serving.
Super quick post this week. My sister's getting married on saturday and we're catering it ourselves so there's not a whole lot of time to spare for blogging!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Foraging
One of the great joys of country living is stumbling across delicious foods for free. Everyone knows about the joys of blackberry-ing in the autumn, but I have recently been discovering other treats in our hedgerows and woodlands.
Last year my Dad pointed out some wild garlic growing on the riverbank at the end of our garden, and I discovered that the leaves could be used to make a lightly garlicy pesto. This year I found that the old railway line a few minutes walk from our house is absolutely covered in the herb. I ventured up there a few weeks ago with a large carrier bag and picked lots and lots of wild garlic leaves. The majority of them went into a lemon, almond and wild garlic pesto (last year I used walnuts instead of almonds), which I have been stirring into pasta sauces, spreading on pizza bases, and toasting on bruschetta. It does need a bit of cooking or it can be a little bitter, but once warmed through it makes a lovely pesto.
This week I have started to notice elderflowers in bloom around my area. When I was a child we had an elder tree in the garden and I remember my parents making elderflower and elderberry wine. I was too young to try any at the time, but I am reliably informed that when it was good it was GOOD. (But when it was bad it was awful?)
So, trusty carrier bag in hand, I hit the hedgerows to pick elderflower heads one morning. It said online that they should be picked in the morning if you want a slight banana-y flavour. That sounded better than the slight cat-wee flavour they said you get if you pick them in the evening! Also, you have to pick and use quickly or they loose their lovely floral scent.
I had in mind to make elderflower cordial, so I got online to find a recipe. An article by Tom Parker Bowles yielded a method, I bought citric acid from the chemist (and was cross-questioned about how I planned to use it - apparently heroin-users need it), and was good to get going.
300g sugar, 15 heads of elderflowers, 3 quartered lemons, plus 1oz citric acid:
Then add 1 1/2 pints boiling water. Stir until the sugar is all dissolved. Leave for 24 hours, stirring regularly.
Strain through muslin. Serve ice cold diluted with sparkling water, garnished with a couple of mint leaves. You could use it with cava too for an alcoholic treat.
The drink has a dry taste on the palate; like the dryness of unsweetened lemonade. Very refreshing, and floral, but if you have a sweet tooth then you'll probably want more sugar and less lemon.
Using elderflowers got me thinking about other culinary uses for flowers. Why not make use of violets, lavender, roses, and other beauties? Watch this space....
Last year my Dad pointed out some wild garlic growing on the riverbank at the end of our garden, and I discovered that the leaves could be used to make a lightly garlicy pesto. This year I found that the old railway line a few minutes walk from our house is absolutely covered in the herb. I ventured up there a few weeks ago with a large carrier bag and picked lots and lots of wild garlic leaves. The majority of them went into a lemon, almond and wild garlic pesto (last year I used walnuts instead of almonds), which I have been stirring into pasta sauces, spreading on pizza bases, and toasting on bruschetta. It does need a bit of cooking or it can be a little bitter, but once warmed through it makes a lovely pesto.
This week I have started to notice elderflowers in bloom around my area. When I was a child we had an elder tree in the garden and I remember my parents making elderflower and elderberry wine. I was too young to try any at the time, but I am reliably informed that when it was good it was GOOD. (But when it was bad it was awful?)
So, trusty carrier bag in hand, I hit the hedgerows to pick elderflower heads one morning. It said online that they should be picked in the morning if you want a slight banana-y flavour. That sounded better than the slight cat-wee flavour they said you get if you pick them in the evening! Also, you have to pick and use quickly or they loose their lovely floral scent.
I had in mind to make elderflower cordial, so I got online to find a recipe. An article by Tom Parker Bowles yielded a method, I bought citric acid from the chemist (and was cross-questioned about how I planned to use it - apparently heroin-users need it), and was good to get going.
300g sugar, 15 heads of elderflowers, 3 quartered lemons, plus 1oz citric acid:
Then add 1 1/2 pints boiling water. Stir until the sugar is all dissolved. Leave for 24 hours, stirring regularly.
Strain through muslin. Serve ice cold diluted with sparkling water, garnished with a couple of mint leaves. You could use it with cava too for an alcoholic treat.
The drink has a dry taste on the palate; like the dryness of unsweetened lemonade. Very refreshing, and floral, but if you have a sweet tooth then you'll probably want more sugar and less lemon.
Using elderflowers got me thinking about other culinary uses for flowers. Why not make use of violets, lavender, roses, and other beauties? Watch this space....
Saturday, May 14, 2011
California dreaming
A few months back Dan applied for a job in sunny San Francisco. Even though it was a long shot I got a little dreamy about the idea of moving to SF.
Sunshine, sushi and outdoor pursuits all figured in my day dreams. Sadly, the job didn't happen, but in my general musing on the lifestyle possibilities I did come across Fish Tacos; a speciality of Baja in California. A flour tortilla is liberally filled with grilled or fried white fish, guacamole and tomato salsa, and topped with a dollop of sour cream. Friday night called for a light supper, so I made an attempt.
First the tomato salsa: Skin 3 tomatoes, deseed, chop finely, mix with half a tablespoon of white wine vinegar, a finely diced (small) red onion and seasoning. Put to one side for the flavours to mingle.
Make the tortillas (or you could use bought ones, which would be a bit thicker and floppier): Mix 150g flour with a pinch of salt. Add just enough water to bring it together to a soft, but not sticky, dough (probably about 100ml). Kneed for a few minutes until soft, then divide into 4 golf-ball sized portions. Roll each of these into as smooth a ball as you can manage then roll them out to thin circles about the size of a dinner plate. Heat a heavy-based frying pan until hot, but not smoking. Dry fry the tortillas one at a time, for a couple of minutes on each side until bubbled and lightly coloured.
Mine weren't exactly round, but never mind!
Cover the cooked tortillas with foil and keep them warm in a low oven (120C).
Season the fish: Using about 350g white fish, cut it into bite sized chunks. If you plan to fry the fish lightly dust it with well-seasoned flour, then shallow-fry in vegetable oil. If you are grilling the fish just season the fish, but don't use flour.
While the fish cooks make guacamole by mashing an avocado, add lime juice to taste and half a finely chopped green or red chilli.
Place everything on the table, including some sour cream (or thick yoghurt), and help yourselves.
Expect to get your hands mucky!
These quantities were good for 2 people for dinner, or would make a light lunch for 4. We slightly ruined the healthiness of it all by having chocolate icecream for pudding.
Sunshine, sushi and outdoor pursuits all figured in my day dreams. Sadly, the job didn't happen, but in my general musing on the lifestyle possibilities I did come across Fish Tacos; a speciality of Baja in California. A flour tortilla is liberally filled with grilled or fried white fish, guacamole and tomato salsa, and topped with a dollop of sour cream. Friday night called for a light supper, so I made an attempt.
First the tomato salsa: Skin 3 tomatoes, deseed, chop finely, mix with half a tablespoon of white wine vinegar, a finely diced (small) red onion and seasoning. Put to one side for the flavours to mingle.
Make the tortillas (or you could use bought ones, which would be a bit thicker and floppier): Mix 150g flour with a pinch of salt. Add just enough water to bring it together to a soft, but not sticky, dough (probably about 100ml). Kneed for a few minutes until soft, then divide into 4 golf-ball sized portions. Roll each of these into as smooth a ball as you can manage then roll them out to thin circles about the size of a dinner plate. Heat a heavy-based frying pan until hot, but not smoking. Dry fry the tortillas one at a time, for a couple of minutes on each side until bubbled and lightly coloured.
Mine weren't exactly round, but never mind!
Cover the cooked tortillas with foil and keep them warm in a low oven (120C).
Season the fish: Using about 350g white fish, cut it into bite sized chunks. If you plan to fry the fish lightly dust it with well-seasoned flour, then shallow-fry in vegetable oil. If you are grilling the fish just season the fish, but don't use flour.
While the fish cooks make guacamole by mashing an avocado, add lime juice to taste and half a finely chopped green or red chilli.
Place everything on the table, including some sour cream (or thick yoghurt), and help yourselves.
Expect to get your hands mucky!
These quantities were good for 2 people for dinner, or would make a light lunch for 4. We slightly ruined the healthiness of it all by having chocolate icecream for pudding.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Three ways with chicken
This month we are feeling poor (buying all the bits for a new bathroom will do that to you), so we're eating thriftily. Chicken fillets were on special offer at the butcher's this week, so that's what we've had for three dinners in the last five days. I'm not keen on eating the same thing over-again on successive days, so here are three ways with chicken pieces.
1. Chicken with sumac, za'aatar and lemon
This recipe came from the Ottolenghi recipe book. I marinated the chicken pieces in a mix of middle eastern spices (cinnamon, allspice, sumac) and lemon, then baked it in the oven with an approximation of za'aatar (I used a mix of sesame seeds, dried thyme and sea salt) and lemon slices on top. The lemon went soft and gave a delicious tang to the dish. I served this with couscous and some toasted pinenuts. It was a lot like a tagine: Perhaps not one of the most unusual-tasting recipes in the Ottolanghi recipe book, but easy, filling and certainly a very pleasant dinner.
2. Chicken and bacon burgers
I used the recipe for chicken and bacon sausage rolls from the Bourke Street Bakery book for these burgers. Instead of encasing them in puff pastry I grilled them up and served them in pitta breads with salad, potatoes and fried apple wedges. 'Junk' food but certainly no junk in them. Two chicken fillets and 3 rashers of smokey bacon made 4 burgers, so it was quite a thrifty dinner. The only other ingredients were a few breadcrumbs, a quarter of an onion, and a few spring onions. These burgers weren't quite as fantastic as the pork and fennel sausage roll mix that I adapted into burgers a couple of weeks ago, but they were meaty whilst feeling light on the calorie load.
3. Chicken rolls stuffed with orange, anchovies and chicory
I have a cook book which I've had for years - since my teens I think. It is one that my Mum bought us all as a job-lot for stocking fillers around the time she was trying to encourage us all to cook and fend for ourselves. The book's by Josceline Dimbleby and is called The Nearly Vegetarian Cookbook. It truely is a treasure trove of achieveable, delicious dinners.
We had left-over oranges still sitting in the fruit bowl from making Dan's birthday cake last week, and flicking through the book I spotted this recipe, which had the advantage that it would use the last of my special-offer chicken, some of the oranges, and the recipe described it as a 'delightful' dish. I decided to put my scepticism to one side (orange and anchovies didn't seem like natural partners) and give it a try.
I should have had more faith - it was lovely!
None of the individual flavours dominated the dish, which was subtle but well flavoured, and delicious served with wild rice and baby corn-on-the-cob. Dan liked it so much he licked the plate. Bad manners, but a ringing endorsement!
A first for me on this dish - I'd never used chicory in cooking before.
Here's the recipe:
Chicken rolls stuffed with orange, anchovies and chicory
Serves 2
2 Chicken breast fillets, skin removed
3 anchovy fillets (in oil or salt - drained and/or rinsed), finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1cm ginger root, finely chopped
1 medium chicory
Juice and zest of half an orange
150ml milk
5g cornflour, mixed to a paste with a little water
Parsley
Salt (go easy - the anchovies are salty) and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the chicken pieces (one at a time) in a plastic sandwich bag and bash them flat with a rolling pin. You need to get them to a thickness of about 1/2cm-1cm. Very theraputic!
Mix together the chicory, garlic, orange, ginger, anchovies and orange zest. Spoon this over the flattened chicken fillets and roll them up to encase the chicory mixture. Secure with a cocktail stick if necessary. Place the chicken rolls in an ovenproof dish and pour the orange juice around them. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked drain the liquid from the oven dish into a heavy based saucepan and keep the chicken warm while you make the sauce. Add the milk and cornflour paste to the cooking liquid from the chicken and bring it slowly to the boil, stirring all the time so that it doesn't catch. Once the sauce has thickened slightly add the parsley, pepper, and a small amount of salt.
Serve the chicken rolls with fried mushrooms (I loathe them so I left them off my plate), wild rice, lightly steamed baby corn, and spoon the sauce over the top.
1. Chicken with sumac, za'aatar and lemon
This recipe came from the Ottolenghi recipe book. I marinated the chicken pieces in a mix of middle eastern spices (cinnamon, allspice, sumac) and lemon, then baked it in the oven with an approximation of za'aatar (I used a mix of sesame seeds, dried thyme and sea salt) and lemon slices on top. The lemon went soft and gave a delicious tang to the dish. I served this with couscous and some toasted pinenuts. It was a lot like a tagine: Perhaps not one of the most unusual-tasting recipes in the Ottolanghi recipe book, but easy, filling and certainly a very pleasant dinner.
2. Chicken and bacon burgers
I used the recipe for chicken and bacon sausage rolls from the Bourke Street Bakery book for these burgers. Instead of encasing them in puff pastry I grilled them up and served them in pitta breads with salad, potatoes and fried apple wedges. 'Junk' food but certainly no junk in them. Two chicken fillets and 3 rashers of smokey bacon made 4 burgers, so it was quite a thrifty dinner. The only other ingredients were a few breadcrumbs, a quarter of an onion, and a few spring onions. These burgers weren't quite as fantastic as the pork and fennel sausage roll mix that I adapted into burgers a couple of weeks ago, but they were meaty whilst feeling light on the calorie load.
3. Chicken rolls stuffed with orange, anchovies and chicory
I have a cook book which I've had for years - since my teens I think. It is one that my Mum bought us all as a job-lot for stocking fillers around the time she was trying to encourage us all to cook and fend for ourselves. The book's by Josceline Dimbleby and is called The Nearly Vegetarian Cookbook. It truely is a treasure trove of achieveable, delicious dinners.
We had left-over oranges still sitting in the fruit bowl from making Dan's birthday cake last week, and flicking through the book I spotted this recipe, which had the advantage that it would use the last of my special-offer chicken, some of the oranges, and the recipe described it as a 'delightful' dish. I decided to put my scepticism to one side (orange and anchovies didn't seem like natural partners) and give it a try.
I should have had more faith - it was lovely!
None of the individual flavours dominated the dish, which was subtle but well flavoured, and delicious served with wild rice and baby corn-on-the-cob. Dan liked it so much he licked the plate. Bad manners, but a ringing endorsement!
A first for me on this dish - I'd never used chicory in cooking before.
Here's the recipe:
Chicken rolls stuffed with orange, anchovies and chicory
Serves 2
2 Chicken breast fillets, skin removed
3 anchovy fillets (in oil or salt - drained and/or rinsed), finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1cm ginger root, finely chopped
1 medium chicory
Juice and zest of half an orange
150ml milk
5g cornflour, mixed to a paste with a little water
Parsley
Salt (go easy - the anchovies are salty) and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the chicken pieces (one at a time) in a plastic sandwich bag and bash them flat with a rolling pin. You need to get them to a thickness of about 1/2cm-1cm. Very theraputic!
Mix together the chicory, garlic, orange, ginger, anchovies and orange zest. Spoon this over the flattened chicken fillets and roll them up to encase the chicory mixture. Secure with a cocktail stick if necessary. Place the chicken rolls in an ovenproof dish and pour the orange juice around them. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked drain the liquid from the oven dish into a heavy based saucepan and keep the chicken warm while you make the sauce. Add the milk and cornflour paste to the cooking liquid from the chicken and bring it slowly to the boil, stirring all the time so that it doesn't catch. Once the sauce has thickened slightly add the parsley, pepper, and a small amount of salt.
Serve the chicken rolls with fried mushrooms (I loathe them so I left them off my plate), wild rice, lightly steamed baby corn, and spoon the sauce over the top.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Omelette
A brief word on eggs. They're brilliant. Any way you cook them.
So here's a recipe for a tortilla-esque omelette. Its a Russian/Eastern European recipe called Drachena. Its dead-easy, quick and healthy. It takes about the same time to make as it takes to boil up some new potatoes. Serve the omelette with the afore-mentioned potatoes, green salad or veg. I fried up some chorizo for Dan and scattered it over the top which he liked.
Drachena (slightly adapted, as ever)
Serves 3-4 as a light meal
2 tspns olive oil
6 spring onions - white parts sliced
1 garlic clove
100g tomatoes - diced
50g rye flour
4 tablespoons water
150g yoghurt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of pesto
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
10g butter
Fry the spring onions in olive oil over a moderate heat for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and fry for a further minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for a couple more minutes. Remove from the heat.
Mix the rye flour to a paste with the water. Add the yoghurt and pesto (I used my wild garlic pesto) and mix it thoroughly together. Break the eggs into another bowl, beat them, then add them to the flour and yoghurt mixture. Mix well, season, and add the parsley.
Heat the grill to a medium heat.
Put the tomatoes and spring onions back on a medium heat, add the butter. When the butter has melted add the egg mixture. Leave it on the heat until the bottom starts to set, then place it under the grill until it starts to colour on the top and is set. It should puff up slightly.
Cut into 3 or 4 wedges and serve warm or cold.
NOTE: If you have more time you could put the mixture into a lightly greased oven-proof dish and bake the omelette for about 45 minutes at 180C instead of fryinging and grilling it.
So here's a recipe for a tortilla-esque omelette. Its a Russian/Eastern European recipe called Drachena. Its dead-easy, quick and healthy. It takes about the same time to make as it takes to boil up some new potatoes. Serve the omelette with the afore-mentioned potatoes, green salad or veg. I fried up some chorizo for Dan and scattered it over the top which he liked.
Drachena (slightly adapted, as ever)
Serves 3-4 as a light meal
2 tspns olive oil
6 spring onions - white parts sliced
1 garlic clove
100g tomatoes - diced
50g rye flour
4 tablespoons water
150g yoghurt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of pesto
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
10g butter
Fry the spring onions in olive oil over a moderate heat for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and fry for a further minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for a couple more minutes. Remove from the heat.
Mix the rye flour to a paste with the water. Add the yoghurt and pesto (I used my wild garlic pesto) and mix it thoroughly together. Break the eggs into another bowl, beat them, then add them to the flour and yoghurt mixture. Mix well, season, and add the parsley.
Heat the grill to a medium heat.
Put the tomatoes and spring onions back on a medium heat, add the butter. When the butter has melted add the egg mixture. Leave it on the heat until the bottom starts to set, then place it under the grill until it starts to colour on the top and is set. It should puff up slightly.
Cut into 3 or 4 wedges and serve warm or cold.
NOTE: If you have more time you could put the mixture into a lightly greased oven-proof dish and bake the omelette for about 45 minutes at 180C instead of fryinging and grilling it.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
lunch boxes
It felt like high time to expand my lunch options. I've been having the same sort of soups and salads for lunch for weeks, with only minor variations. Time to shake things up a little and make the work day just a little more interesting.
My Seattle-dwelling friend Carisa is a Mexican food fiend, so when she recommended this Mexican soup recipe I figured it must be a good one. Monday was not a good day at work, and it didn't seem like Tuesday was likely to be much better, so a burst of Mexican sunshine in a bowl seemed like the thing to lift my spirits.
I made a few changes to the recipe due to the contents of my cupboards and to adapt it to my taste buds - I didn't have quite enough chickpeas, I used pheasant instead of chicken (we had roast pheasant on sunday and there was just enough left over for this recipe), and added a sprinkle of chilli flakes for heat, and a handful of spinach. Also, we were out of oregano so I used thyme. The measurements in cups instead of grams added a little complication to the process, but I think I got the quantities about right.
I made a rookie-error and under-seasoned the dish, but that was easily rectified at the eating stage. I think if I made this again I'd add a bit more spice - it could do with being a little punchier flavoured for my tastes.
Overall? Sopa Ranchera was tasty, easy to make, with one or two minor adjustments it will make a good spring or autumn lunch.
My second lunchbox experiment was Ottolenghi's Aubergine Cheesecake. I ordered the Ottolenghi cookbook the other day, so while I waited for it to arrive I figured I would browse his recipes from The Guardian newspaper and get some practice in!
I do love it when something looks this colourful and enticing before its even finished:
I adapted the recipe again to suit my fridge contents, using a mild soft goats cheese instead of cream cheese and yoghurt instead of double cream, so my version is probably a bit sharper flavoured than the recipe intended.
It is like a pastry-less quiche. I can completely see why Ottolenghi describes it as a savoury cheesecake as it has a similar texture to it.
It travelled well to work and made a more interesting lunch box than usual, so I'll definitely make this again. Creamy and delicious.
Find the recipe here.
My Seattle-dwelling friend Carisa is a Mexican food fiend, so when she recommended this Mexican soup recipe I figured it must be a good one. Monday was not a good day at work, and it didn't seem like Tuesday was likely to be much better, so a burst of Mexican sunshine in a bowl seemed like the thing to lift my spirits.
I made a few changes to the recipe due to the contents of my cupboards and to adapt it to my taste buds - I didn't have quite enough chickpeas, I used pheasant instead of chicken (we had roast pheasant on sunday and there was just enough left over for this recipe), and added a sprinkle of chilli flakes for heat, and a handful of spinach. Also, we were out of oregano so I used thyme. The measurements in cups instead of grams added a little complication to the process, but I think I got the quantities about right.
I made a rookie-error and under-seasoned the dish, but that was easily rectified at the eating stage. I think if I made this again I'd add a bit more spice - it could do with being a little punchier flavoured for my tastes.
Overall? Sopa Ranchera was tasty, easy to make, with one or two minor adjustments it will make a good spring or autumn lunch.
My second lunchbox experiment was Ottolenghi's Aubergine Cheesecake. I ordered the Ottolenghi cookbook the other day, so while I waited for it to arrive I figured I would browse his recipes from The Guardian newspaper and get some practice in!
I do love it when something looks this colourful and enticing before its even finished:
I adapted the recipe again to suit my fridge contents, using a mild soft goats cheese instead of cream cheese and yoghurt instead of double cream, so my version is probably a bit sharper flavoured than the recipe intended.
It is like a pastry-less quiche. I can completely see why Ottolenghi describes it as a savoury cheesecake as it has a similar texture to it.
It travelled well to work and made a more interesting lunch box than usual, so I'll definitely make this again. Creamy and delicious.
Find the recipe here.
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