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.
Showing posts with label Vegetable box lottery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegetable box lottery. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
PSB
Purple Sprouting Broccoli.
It appeared in our veg box this week. I am finding my veg box educational!
This year I have had jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, purple kale, and now PSB only because they appeared in the box. I don't think I would have picked any of them up otherwise. Also, red cabbage with apple and sultanas has become a favourite, and I only tried making it because of a glut of red cabbage when it started appearing every week.
Successes? I find purple kale and purple sprouting very useful and yummy.
I'm less keen on celeriac and jerusalem artichokes. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I am heartily sick of them.
To celebrate the arrival of PSB, and my lovely egg selection from the farm shop, and the spring sunshine, we had a salad dinner on monday night; a tasty collection of semi-hard-boiled egg (just the yolk a little bit runny in the centre), chorizo, new potatoes, and purple sprouting.
The suggestion came from lovely Hugh's River Cottage Every Day cook book, and was a tasty, lively-flavoured little number, with just enough spice from the chorizo to keep it interesting.
The recipe is on the River Cottage website here. Enjoy!
Next season I am looking forward to? Asparagus!
It appeared in our veg box this week. I am finding my veg box educational!
This year I have had jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, purple kale, and now PSB only because they appeared in the box. I don't think I would have picked any of them up otherwise. Also, red cabbage with apple and sultanas has become a favourite, and I only tried making it because of a glut of red cabbage when it started appearing every week.
Successes? I find purple kale and purple sprouting very useful and yummy.
I'm less keen on celeriac and jerusalem artichokes. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I am heartily sick of them.
To celebrate the arrival of PSB, and my lovely egg selection from the farm shop, and the spring sunshine, we had a salad dinner on monday night; a tasty collection of semi-hard-boiled egg (just the yolk a little bit runny in the centre), chorizo, new potatoes, and purple sprouting.
The suggestion came from lovely Hugh's River Cottage Every Day cook book, and was a tasty, lively-flavoured little number, with just enough spice from the chorizo to keep it interesting.
The recipe is on the River Cottage website here. Enjoy!
Next season I am looking forward to? Asparagus!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Jamie O Italy
My little nephew has a border-line obssessive love of Jamie Oliver. Unusual for an 8 year-old, but there are many worse role-models he could have!
For Christmas I bought him the Jamie Oliver Italy cookbook. I know that the chances are he will only look at the pictures for now, but he'll enjoy doing that, and ocassionally we'll cook something from it together.
Because I am weak where recipe books are concerned, after flicking through it on the train home I decided that I really wanted a copy of my own, so went back to the shops and treated myself.
It is my first (and currently only) Jamie Oliver recipe book.
And since December I have had a guilty conscience about it as it has sat on the side unused.
I decided that THIS was the week to put an end to that. The vegetable box delivered us a cauliflower this week which I wasn't sure what to do with, so when I came across cauliflower risotto I thought it would be worth a go.
Now, I know what you're thinking because I thought it too: cauliflower risotto just doesn't sound very nice. But Jamie Oliver raved about it, so I decided to put my trust in his judgement and give it a try.
This had a secondary risk of being a vegetarian meal, which normally means that I'm onto a loser from the start as far as Dan's concerned.
However, the dinner was a revelation. We both really liked it. It was quick, easy, tasty and filling. Dan's even taken the leftovers for lunch.
Cauliflower risotto; who'd have thought it would be such a yummy dinner?!
For Christmas I bought him the Jamie Oliver Italy cookbook. I know that the chances are he will only look at the pictures for now, but he'll enjoy doing that, and ocassionally we'll cook something from it together.
Because I am weak where recipe books are concerned, after flicking through it on the train home I decided that I really wanted a copy of my own, so went back to the shops and treated myself.
It is my first (and currently only) Jamie Oliver recipe book.
And since December I have had a guilty conscience about it as it has sat on the side unused.
I decided that THIS was the week to put an end to that. The vegetable box delivered us a cauliflower this week which I wasn't sure what to do with, so when I came across cauliflower risotto I thought it would be worth a go.
Now, I know what you're thinking because I thought it too: cauliflower risotto just doesn't sound very nice. But Jamie Oliver raved about it, so I decided to put my trust in his judgement and give it a try.
This had a secondary risk of being a vegetarian meal, which normally means that I'm onto a loser from the start as far as Dan's concerned.
However, the dinner was a revelation. We both really liked it. It was quick, easy, tasty and filling. Dan's even taken the leftovers for lunch.
Cauliflower risotto; who'd have thought it would be such a yummy dinner?!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Cooking with yoghurt
Dairy products and me do not get along well.
Particularly cheese, cream, and yoghurt. Not a fan, and they always seem to make my stomach hurt. (Although occasionally its worth the risk for a nice bowl of icecream or a slice of cheesecake!)
However, I have been gradually trying to introduce small quantities of milk based products into my diet. With the amount of running I do each week I think my bones probably need a little extra help from the increased calcium.
I've found that goat and sheep products don't give me the same problems as cows' milk, so have been using small amounts of sheeps yoghurt, goats milk, and sheep and goat cheeses.
Although I still wouldn't eat a bowl of yoghurt, not being keen on the taste, I do find it a very good cooking ingredient, particularly with fish. I've been using this fairly regularly of late:
This week I came over all ambitious with a smoked fish lasagne from my 'Nearly Vegetarian' cook book (really old-fashioned but fantastic recipes) - using yoghurt, milk AND cheese in the sauce. Goodness me. Tempting fate.
But hurrah - no tummy ache!
I aquired the cheese at the Chipping Norton Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago - a lovely smooth and creamy cheese. Not too strong flavoured for a cheese novice like me, but nonetheless not mass-produced and flavourless.
I followed this minor miracle with an improvised fish pie along the same lines a few days later (we still had the pot of yoghurt & it needed using!). Again, no problem...
The yoghurt gave the pie a nice tang, and it was lighter than using a traditional white sauce or cream. The cauliflower is in there because we had a load in our vegetable box, but it was a good addition.
Prawn and Cauliflower Pie
enough for 2 fairly generous portions
250g raw king prawns
50g smoked salmon (Dan filched some fom his parents' fridge when he went home for a visit so I threw it in)
100g chopped leek
175g cauliflower
2 cloves garlic - crushed
150g yogurt
25g hard sheeps cheese - grated or finely sliced
Small handful chopped parsley
Sprinkle of chopped dill
Squeeze of lemon
Salt and pepper
300g potatoes
Peel the potatoes. Cook in salted water then mash. Use a little of the yoghurt sauce from the fish mix (see below) to moisten the mash so that it binds together rather than adding extra butter. (You can use butter & milk if you prefer, but this makes it slightly lighter on the calories.)
Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and cook in salted boiling water. Drain and put to one side to cool slightly.
Chop the leeks and poach for a few minutes in boiling water until softened. Drain and put to one side.
Chop the smoked salmon into strips.
Mix the yoghurt, garlic, herbs, raw prawns, smoked salmon together in a bowl. Add the leek, cauliflower and a squeeze of lemon. Mix again, then add the cheese, season and stir.
Put the fish mixture in the bottom of an oven proof dish. Top with an even coating of mashed potato.
Bake in a preheated oven 180C for half an hour.
I served it with green beans, but peas would be nice too.
Particularly cheese, cream, and yoghurt. Not a fan, and they always seem to make my stomach hurt. (Although occasionally its worth the risk for a nice bowl of icecream or a slice of cheesecake!)
However, I have been gradually trying to introduce small quantities of milk based products into my diet. With the amount of running I do each week I think my bones probably need a little extra help from the increased calcium.
I've found that goat and sheep products don't give me the same problems as cows' milk, so have been using small amounts of sheeps yoghurt, goats milk, and sheep and goat cheeses.
Although I still wouldn't eat a bowl of yoghurt, not being keen on the taste, I do find it a very good cooking ingredient, particularly with fish. I've been using this fairly regularly of late:
This week I came over all ambitious with a smoked fish lasagne from my 'Nearly Vegetarian' cook book (really old-fashioned but fantastic recipes) - using yoghurt, milk AND cheese in the sauce. Goodness me. Tempting fate.
But hurrah - no tummy ache!
I aquired the cheese at the Chipping Norton Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago - a lovely smooth and creamy cheese. Not too strong flavoured for a cheese novice like me, but nonetheless not mass-produced and flavourless.
I followed this minor miracle with an improvised fish pie along the same lines a few days later (we still had the pot of yoghurt & it needed using!). Again, no problem...
The yoghurt gave the pie a nice tang, and it was lighter than using a traditional white sauce or cream. The cauliflower is in there because we had a load in our vegetable box, but it was a good addition.
Prawn and Cauliflower Pie
enough for 2 fairly generous portions
250g raw king prawns
50g smoked salmon (Dan filched some fom his parents' fridge when he went home for a visit so I threw it in)
100g chopped leek
175g cauliflower
2 cloves garlic - crushed
150g yogurt
25g hard sheeps cheese - grated or finely sliced
Small handful chopped parsley
Sprinkle of chopped dill
Squeeze of lemon
Salt and pepper
300g potatoes
Peel the potatoes. Cook in salted water then mash. Use a little of the yoghurt sauce from the fish mix (see below) to moisten the mash so that it binds together rather than adding extra butter. (You can use butter & milk if you prefer, but this makes it slightly lighter on the calories.)
Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and cook in salted boiling water. Drain and put to one side to cool slightly.
Chop the leeks and poach for a few minutes in boiling water until softened. Drain and put to one side.
Chop the smoked salmon into strips.
Mix the yoghurt, garlic, herbs, raw prawns, smoked salmon together in a bowl. Add the leek, cauliflower and a squeeze of lemon. Mix again, then add the cheese, season and stir.
Put the fish mixture in the bottom of an oven proof dish. Top with an even coating of mashed potato.
Bake in a preheated oven 180C for half an hour.
I served it with green beans, but peas would be nice too.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Paris, snow, and the best laid plans...
Back in October I booked a couple of train tickets to Paris for my Mum's birthday. We headed off on our jaunt on the first week of the new year, had a lovely time being culture-vultures in the biting cold, hoping from museum to cafe to museum. Then we tried to get on our train home.
It was cancelled.
The queue for the 3 previous departures went all the way round the Gare du Nord. There was no way we were getting back to London that night. But, you know, Paris isn't such a bad place to be stranded for a day longer than anticipated! We sauntered back to our hotel, which fortunately still had a room available, had a lovely meal of houmous, olives, tapenade and fresh crusty french bread, a couple of glasses of red wine in the cafe round the corner, and resolved to try again the next day.
I was convinced we would spend all day queueing for a train, so we fortified ourselves with coffee and croissants, bought quiche and biscuits from the bakery on the corner, and headed back to face the Eurostar.
Finally arriving home through the snow at 8pm (not too late considering the circumstances), after a magical mystery tour of northern France I realised we had virtually no vegetables and because of the thick snow no vegetable box had been delivered. That left us with a cooking apple and some red cabbage until I next felt ready to tackle the snowy roads. Still, the red cabbage looked like a nice one, and I'd been meaning to try out a braised/pickled red cabbage recipe for a while. Recipe of the week was decided by default.
Dan was really enthusiastic about how this turned out. It was delicately spiced, fruity, with enough sharpness to keep it interesting. Often when I've had red cabbage cooked in this way the fruit and spice have overwhelmed the flavour of the cabbage, but the quantities in this recipe didn't do that.
We had it with roast chicken, and the next week I reheated it to have with pheasant casserole. I've had it with turkey in the past, and Dan tells me it goes well with beef too. I think it would also be tasty served cold, so all in all quite a versatile recipe.
Apple and spice Red Cabbage
1 dessertspoon olive oil
1/2 a red cabbage, finely sliced
1 medium sized cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
3 tablespoon apple juice
Dark brown muscovado sugar
Cider Vinegar
Cinnamon
6 cloves
1/2 handful of raisins or sultanas
salt & pepper
Put the olive oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan and swirl it around until it coats the whole base. Put 1/3 of the red cabbage into the pan and spread it out to form an even layer. Put 1/3 of the apple in a layer on top of this, add about 2 teaspoons of sugar, then pour over 1 tablespoon of apple juice, drizzle over a small amount of cider vinegar, scatter on a couple of cloves and a shake of cinnamon, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat for 2 more layers, then sprinkle the raisins over the top and add a good slosh of cold water.
Bring to the boil over a low heat, then cover and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. It doesn't need any attention to speak of during this time. I actually went out for a run and left it for a good 45 mins, but it might be a good idea to check it every half an hour or so and give it a good stir so that it doesn't dry out on top.
Enjoy.
PS look what a beautiful cake display we spotted in the Saint-Germain district of Paris! Pretty pretty....
It was cancelled.
The queue for the 3 previous departures went all the way round the Gare du Nord. There was no way we were getting back to London that night. But, you know, Paris isn't such a bad place to be stranded for a day longer than anticipated! We sauntered back to our hotel, which fortunately still had a room available, had a lovely meal of houmous, olives, tapenade and fresh crusty french bread, a couple of glasses of red wine in the cafe round the corner, and resolved to try again the next day.
I was convinced we would spend all day queueing for a train, so we fortified ourselves with coffee and croissants, bought quiche and biscuits from the bakery on the corner, and headed back to face the Eurostar.
Finally arriving home through the snow at 8pm (not too late considering the circumstances), after a magical mystery tour of northern France I realised we had virtually no vegetables and because of the thick snow no vegetable box had been delivered. That left us with a cooking apple and some red cabbage until I next felt ready to tackle the snowy roads. Still, the red cabbage looked like a nice one, and I'd been meaning to try out a braised/pickled red cabbage recipe for a while. Recipe of the week was decided by default.
Dan was really enthusiastic about how this turned out. It was delicately spiced, fruity, with enough sharpness to keep it interesting. Often when I've had red cabbage cooked in this way the fruit and spice have overwhelmed the flavour of the cabbage, but the quantities in this recipe didn't do that.
We had it with roast chicken, and the next week I reheated it to have with pheasant casserole. I've had it with turkey in the past, and Dan tells me it goes well with beef too. I think it would also be tasty served cold, so all in all quite a versatile recipe.
Apple and spice Red Cabbage
1 dessertspoon olive oil
1/2 a red cabbage, finely sliced
1 medium sized cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
3 tablespoon apple juice
Dark brown muscovado sugar
Cider Vinegar
Cinnamon
6 cloves
1/2 handful of raisins or sultanas
salt & pepper
Put the olive oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan and swirl it around until it coats the whole base. Put 1/3 of the red cabbage into the pan and spread it out to form an even layer. Put 1/3 of the apple in a layer on top of this, add about 2 teaspoons of sugar, then pour over 1 tablespoon of apple juice, drizzle over a small amount of cider vinegar, scatter on a couple of cloves and a shake of cinnamon, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat for 2 more layers, then sprinkle the raisins over the top and add a good slosh of cold water.
Bring to the boil over a low heat, then cover and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. It doesn't need any attention to speak of during this time. I actually went out for a run and left it for a good 45 mins, but it might be a good idea to check it every half an hour or so and give it a good stir so that it doesn't dry out on top.
Enjoy.
PS look what a beautiful cake display we spotted in the Saint-Germain district of Paris! Pretty pretty....
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Christmas catchup
Apologies for the rather long Christmas break between posts. I won't bore you with a super long post but here's a brief run down of my new recipes over the Christmas period:
1. Christmas cake!
I was really pleased with this. I made it from Nigel Slater's fruit cake recipe and it turned out with just the right amount of citrus and fruit. Lovely.
I'd made fruit cakes before but never one that was such a high proportion of fruit to flour. The recipe was quite free and easy with the fruits you should use which made it easy to tailor to your own tastes. I used my new favourite dried fruit - figs! I had dried figs for the first time this past spring when we went to Croatia. They were served with coffee and schnapps absolutely everywhere and I liked the sticky grainy texture of them. We bought a bag from the market - you can just about see them for sale in the picture, bagged up with bay leaves.
They appeared in Sainsburys just in time for my Christmas cake. Marvellous!
I also made the marzipan (a bit fiddly to get onto the cake) and the royal icing (took longer to set than I'd anticipated). I felt I had make both in order to keep in the spirit of the recipe challenge; shop bought would have seemed like cheating.
2. Mulled white wine
I think the recipe for this needs a little tweaking as it tasted more like mulled cider, and I would definitely have preferred a winey-er taste. I think next time I'll put a lot less apple juice and less sugar too (the quantity here is half the recipe quantity and it was still a bit sweet for my tastes). Don't get me wrong, the flavours were nice and it was a lovely warming drink, but it seemed a shame not to taste the wine much. Didn't stop us drinking it all of course!
Here's the recipe:
Apple & spice white wine
1 * 750ml bottle white wine (I used Riesling)
400ml apple juice
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
50g demerera sugar
a few strips of orange rind
Put all the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Heat gently for about 10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse, but don't allow the mixture to boil or you will lose all the alcohol content.
Serve.
Easy peasy.
3. Pickled pears
I made these a couple of weeks ago after catching a bit of the Hairy Bikers Christmas cookery special. They need about 10 days pickling time before you can eat the pears, so we had our first taste of them shortly after Christmas with cold meats, oatcakes and cheese.
Yes, you read correctly - I did eat cheese. I bought some Manchego cheese to have when we had my younger sister and my Dad up for lunch, and I discovered I actually liked it. In very small quantities.
Anyway, I digress - the pears were tasty, although my sister thought it was distinctly wierd that I would pickle pears.
She may have a point.
4. To go with the Manchego cheese - hazlenut and black pepper cookies.
I came across the recipe for these on a blog called Chocolate and Zuccini. Its written by a French lady (in English although there is a French version). They sounded interesting and she mentions that they go well with figs. Since I had a few figs left over from the Christmas cake it seemed the ideal time to make these biscuits.
They turned out to be a semi-sweet biscuit, and did go well with the dried fruit. The black pepper added a pleasant zing but I think I would use cinnamon instead in future, just because I prefer the warmth of cinnamon.
5. Brussel sprouts
I know these are a love-them or hate-them vegetable, but I definitely fall into the love-them category. Which is just as well as we've had them in our vegetable box quite a lot recently.
A colleague at work suggested baking them in the oven in a parmesan cream sauce. I liked the general idea, but thought all that cream and cheese would probably disagree with my stomach. Instead I found a recipe that suggested baking the sprouts in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was a good way to do them. I would imagine that a scattering of grated parmesan and a sprinkle of pinenuts would be a tasty addition.
Here's the method:
Balsamic Brussels
Mix 1 dessertspoon of olive oil with 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Peel and quater your sprouts then toss them in the oil mixture until well coated.
arrange in a single layer on a baking tray or roastig tin and cook for about 20 mins at 180-190C.
1. Christmas cake!
I was really pleased with this. I made it from Nigel Slater's fruit cake recipe and it turned out with just the right amount of citrus and fruit. Lovely.
I'd made fruit cakes before but never one that was such a high proportion of fruit to flour. The recipe was quite free and easy with the fruits you should use which made it easy to tailor to your own tastes. I used my new favourite dried fruit - figs! I had dried figs for the first time this past spring when we went to Croatia. They were served with coffee and schnapps absolutely everywhere and I liked the sticky grainy texture of them. We bought a bag from the market - you can just about see them for sale in the picture, bagged up with bay leaves.
They appeared in Sainsburys just in time for my Christmas cake. Marvellous!
I also made the marzipan (a bit fiddly to get onto the cake) and the royal icing (took longer to set than I'd anticipated). I felt I had make both in order to keep in the spirit of the recipe challenge; shop bought would have seemed like cheating.
2. Mulled white wine
I think the recipe for this needs a little tweaking as it tasted more like mulled cider, and I would definitely have preferred a winey-er taste. I think next time I'll put a lot less apple juice and less sugar too (the quantity here is half the recipe quantity and it was still a bit sweet for my tastes). Don't get me wrong, the flavours were nice and it was a lovely warming drink, but it seemed a shame not to taste the wine much. Didn't stop us drinking it all of course!
Here's the recipe:
Apple & spice white wine
1 * 750ml bottle white wine (I used Riesling)
400ml apple juice
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
50g demerera sugar
a few strips of orange rind
Put all the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Heat gently for about 10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse, but don't allow the mixture to boil or you will lose all the alcohol content.
Serve.
Easy peasy.
3. Pickled pears
I made these a couple of weeks ago after catching a bit of the Hairy Bikers Christmas cookery special. They need about 10 days pickling time before you can eat the pears, so we had our first taste of them shortly after Christmas with cold meats, oatcakes and cheese.
Yes, you read correctly - I did eat cheese. I bought some Manchego cheese to have when we had my younger sister and my Dad up for lunch, and I discovered I actually liked it. In very small quantities.
Anyway, I digress - the pears were tasty, although my sister thought it was distinctly wierd that I would pickle pears.
She may have a point.
4. To go with the Manchego cheese - hazlenut and black pepper cookies.
I came across the recipe for these on a blog called Chocolate and Zuccini. Its written by a French lady (in English although there is a French version). They sounded interesting and she mentions that they go well with figs. Since I had a few figs left over from the Christmas cake it seemed the ideal time to make these biscuits.
They turned out to be a semi-sweet biscuit, and did go well with the dried fruit. The black pepper added a pleasant zing but I think I would use cinnamon instead in future, just because I prefer the warmth of cinnamon.
5. Brussel sprouts
I know these are a love-them or hate-them vegetable, but I definitely fall into the love-them category. Which is just as well as we've had them in our vegetable box quite a lot recently.
A colleague at work suggested baking them in the oven in a parmesan cream sauce. I liked the general idea, but thought all that cream and cheese would probably disagree with my stomach. Instead I found a recipe that suggested baking the sprouts in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was a good way to do them. I would imagine that a scattering of grated parmesan and a sprinkle of pinenuts would be a tasty addition.
Here's the method:
Balsamic Brussels
Mix 1 dessertspoon of olive oil with 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Peel and quater your sprouts then toss them in the oil mixture until well coated.
arrange in a single layer on a baking tray or roastig tin and cook for about 20 mins at 180-190C.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Further forays into Latin American cooking
....Guacamole. Not technically cooking, just lots of chopping, mashing and mixing.
I don't like avocado. Not at all. So I should probably explain why I bothered to make this.
Firstly our vegetable box yielded an avocado this week.
Secondly it was a busy week so the thought of a no-cook recipe was distinctly appealing.
Thirdly, in homage to Carisa's love of Mexican food.
And fourthly, I wondered if I might like avocado this time.
I think that's enough reasons. My guacamole recipe, taken from a cook book stolen from my mum (sorry Mum) turned out nothing like the green goo you buy in the shops.
I don't think I will be eating avocado on its own anytime soon, but I'm not averse to making this guacamole again. The combination of crunchy red onion, zingy lime and the softness of the avocado was quite pleasant. It made a good addition to what I very loosely describe as prawn fajitas (really just stirfried prawns, peppers and onion with a bit of tomato sauce and some mexican-inspired spices wrapped in a soft tortilla).
I wouldn't go out and buy avocado, but if it makes an appearance in my veg box again I will not be completely disgusted. Progress of a sort I suppose!
Guacamole
1 avocado
1/2 red onion - finely sliced
1/2 red or green chilli - deseeded and finely sliced
1/2 garlic clove - crushed
grated zest 1/2 small lime
juice of 1 small lime
100g fresh tomatoes - deseeded and diced
1 tbspn chopped fresh coriander
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
salt + black pepper to taste
Cut the avocado in half and prise out the stone from the middle.
Scrape the flesh out of 1/2 of the avocado and mash it with a fork. Add the onion, chilli, garlic, lime zest, tomato and coriander and mix it all together.
Next add the cumin and seasoning and stir through before drizzling the olive oil over the mixture.
Peel the rind off the remaining half of the avocado, dice the flesh and mix in with the other ingredients. Squeeze the lime juice over.
Leave to stand for 15 minutes to let the flavour develop before serving.
I think my next Latin recipe will have to be Brazilian cheesy bread. I remember Yu Chen getting me some from a Brazilian cafe at the end of the Oxford Road in London when they were still warm from the oven. Although not usually a major fan of cheese I did enjoy these. I spotted the recipe in my Cuban book last week, so watch this space. I need to find Tapioca flour first though - anyone got any ideas where that can be bought?
I don't like avocado. Not at all. So I should probably explain why I bothered to make this.
Firstly our vegetable box yielded an avocado this week.
Secondly it was a busy week so the thought of a no-cook recipe was distinctly appealing.
Thirdly, in homage to Carisa's love of Mexican food.
And fourthly, I wondered if I might like avocado this time.
I think that's enough reasons. My guacamole recipe, taken from a cook book stolen from my mum (sorry Mum) turned out nothing like the green goo you buy in the shops.
I don't think I will be eating avocado on its own anytime soon, but I'm not averse to making this guacamole again. The combination of crunchy red onion, zingy lime and the softness of the avocado was quite pleasant. It made a good addition to what I very loosely describe as prawn fajitas (really just stirfried prawns, peppers and onion with a bit of tomato sauce and some mexican-inspired spices wrapped in a soft tortilla).
I wouldn't go out and buy avocado, but if it makes an appearance in my veg box again I will not be completely disgusted. Progress of a sort I suppose!
Guacamole
1 avocado
1/2 red onion - finely sliced
1/2 red or green chilli - deseeded and finely sliced
1/2 garlic clove - crushed
grated zest 1/2 small lime
juice of 1 small lime
100g fresh tomatoes - deseeded and diced
1 tbspn chopped fresh coriander
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
salt + black pepper to taste
Cut the avocado in half and prise out the stone from the middle.
Scrape the flesh out of 1/2 of the avocado and mash it with a fork. Add the onion, chilli, garlic, lime zest, tomato and coriander and mix it all together.
Next add the cumin and seasoning and stir through before drizzling the olive oil over the mixture.
Peel the rind off the remaining half of the avocado, dice the flesh and mix in with the other ingredients. Squeeze the lime juice over.
Leave to stand for 15 minutes to let the flavour develop before serving.
I think my next Latin recipe will have to be Brazilian cheesy bread. I remember Yu Chen getting me some from a Brazilian cafe at the end of the Oxford Road in London when they were still warm from the oven. Although not usually a major fan of cheese I did enjoy these. I spotted the recipe in my Cuban book last week, so watch this space. I need to find Tapioca flour first though - anyone got any ideas where that can be bought?
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