My current favourite overnight oats

We all have our favourite versions of muesli, or overnight oats, or whatever.  I do like my recipe for bircher muesli, but this version is my current favourite and is quicker to make.

1/2 cup muesli (we use Lidl's Deluxe version)

1 apple

Frozen fruit, to taste (raspberries, or berry mix)

1 cup oat milk or kefir.  Oat milk is nicer; kefir is probably better for you.  

Grate your apple into a bowl, then stir in the rest of the ingredients.  The fruit should thaw overnight in the fridge.  

It isn't very photogenic, so here is a pack of frozen fruit which might be in one of our freezers.  Or something similar.

Ninoo Smoothie

No, I don't know who Ninoo is or was, but I suspect he is/was employed at the café across the road where I first came across this delicious drink.  It is lovely, but at £5 a go, rather expensive for every day, so I thought I would have a go at making my own, and it seems to be very successful!

Blend together in a blender or smoothie maker:

1 banana

1 shot espresso (if you don't have an espresso maker, just make very strong coffee!  You need about the amount you would have in an espresso)

1 heaped tsp drinking chocolate

About 200 ml oat milk.

I didn't know I liked oat milk until I tried this - certainly a great deal nicer than cows' milk, which I am not fond of.

Inspired by Five Guys veggie cheese sandwich

 

The Five Guys veggie cheese sandwich is one of the best vegetarian (or vegan, you can have it without the cheese) options that I've ever had at a burger bar.  Their burgers are okay, but this - basically, all the toppings without the burger - is delicious.  Anyway, Becca at Easy Cheesy Vegetarian has a recipe for a copycat version, and I thought I would make it this evening, but I didn't have any burger buns, so I thought I would put it on a jacket potato.  And then I added some extra veggies.....

Butter

Olive oil

2 medium/large potatoes

1 medium onion

1 yellow pepper

Chunk of butternut squash

1/2 punnet mushrooms

1/2 medium (or 1 small) courgette

Chunk butternut squash

1 chilli pepper

Squoosh of garlic paste, or a couple of cloves of crushed garlic

2 spoonfuls Greek yoghurt (or butter, or non-dairy spread)

2-3 slices cracked black pepper cheese (or Mexican, or grated cheese, or whatever), omit if vegan

Rub the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt - rosemary salt is brilliant if you have any.  Stick a skewer in them, and cook at mark 6 for about an hour.  Or pierce several times and microwave for about 10-12 minutes, but you won't get the crispy skin that way.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop the vegetables (peeling the onion and the squash), and place in a pan with a knob of butter and the olive oil.

 Cook on a medium/low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Season with herbal salt.

When cooked, open the potatoes and add the yoghurt, butter, or whatever you are using.  Pile the vegetables on top, and top with the cheese.  I love that stuff, but do find it sticks together rather, so I ended up tearing it roughly.  

It was delicious, and I am full!

Butternut squash fritatta with bacon, potatoes and spinach

 This time of year it's all about the squashes!  Or pumpkins.  I had a lovely white squash which we had half of roasted with a sachet of pre-cooked curried chickpeas, which we had on its own, and the second half with jollof rice which we had acquired from church lunch, and which was served with sea bass and a roasted pepper. All very good, and we had the jollof rice twice more, stretched with mushrooms, onions and lardons, served once with roast vegetables (including butternut squash) and once as egg fried rice!  

However, that was the end of the rice, and tonight's meal was inspired by something I saw on Facebook this morning.  It will do us twice, as it was very filling!

3 potatoes, thinly sliced

Chunk of butternut squash, cubed

Packet pre-washed spinach

Packet lardons (smoked or unsmoked, as you prefer)

A couple of spoonfuls of grated cheese

4 eggs, beaten

Seasoning - apart from salt (it doesn't need much because bacon) and pepper, I used a little dried sage and rosemary.

Spritz of neutral cooking oil

Take a large sauté pan with a lid and add a spritz or so of cooking oil into it.  Heat over medium heat, and then add the sliced potatoes. 

Cover, and allow to cook in their own steam while you peel and chop the butternut.  When the potatoes are nearly done (about 5-10 minutes) add the cubed butternut and the herbs,

if using, stir, cover again and continue to cook for several more minutes. Then add the lardons, and cook them, stirring all the time, and then the spinach (I did it in two lots) and stir until it is completely wilted down.

Finally, sprinkle with grated cheese, and then pour over the beaten eggs. 

Leave it to cook, covered, for a few minutes until the cheese has melted, and then put under a pre-heated grill for about 5 minutes until it is all brown and gorgeous!   

To make vegetarian: Omit the bacon, and perhaps use veggie Parmesan or a stronger cheese to make up the lack.

To make vegan: Omit the bacon and cheese, and instead of the eggs, use a gram flour batter, as in this recipe.  I think I might try this.....

"Yelm", or home-made lemon squash. Updated 10 September 2021 and again 12 August 2022

It was my father, I think, who first called it "Yelm",  as a way of distinguishing it from other kinds of lemon drink.  Certainly my family have been making it for well over 50 years - I remember taking a supply to school in empty whisky bottles, which slightly disconcerted the House Mistress and Matron - it would have been a lot worse had I been bringing in whisky or gin in empty lemon squash bottles, of course.... Yelm, by the way, is very nice mixed with gin if you like gin.

Measurements are in Imperial, as that's what we used back in the day.  I'll put rough metric equivalents in brackets.

Rind and juice of 3 lemons
2 oz citric acid (approx 50g)
2 lbs sugar (a little less than 1 kg) (see note)

3 pints boiling water (1.75 litres)
Optionally, you could add elderflower blossoms or crushed mint (I love mint in lemon drinks so I used the latter).
Empty bottles - to take at least 2.25 litres

You can also use limes as well as, or instead of, lemons; if you use just limes, then use 4 as they are apt to be smaller.  Oranges work if mixed with lemons or limes, but render the finished drink too sweet on their own.   Today (September 2021) I am going to make lime and mint.

PLEASE NOTE: You really don't need 2 lbs of sugar - I'm now using 500g, and my mother just uses 1 lb.  So if you wish to cut down on sugar.... it's really "to taste".  Ordinary squash seems vilely sweet in comparison!

Mix everything together in a large jug or bowl and stir until the sugar and acid have dissolved.  Strain, and pour into bottles (if you don't strain, it doesn't last so long as the citrus peel is apt to go mouldy); keep in the fridge and dilute to taste.  I imagine that if you wanted lemon barley water, you could use this as a base instead of making from scratch......

Not quite....

This was not quite a croque-monsieur and not quite a Welsh rabbit!  I don't know what to call it, but it was very good except that the sauce had too much mustard in it for my taste!  Also, I didn't really measure....

Large handful grated cheddar (50-100 grammes)

Dollop of butter (25 g?)

2 tsp plain flour (again, this was a dollop, as it was the end of my little jar I decant it into)

1 tsp Dijon mustard (N.B. this was too much for my taste; if I do this again, it will be half the amount)

1 tbs white wine (or beer, but we had none in the fridge)

1 tsp Worcester sauce

About 25 grinds of black pepper

4 slices sourdough bread (or ordinary bread)

2 cooked sausages, sliced lengthwise

Extra grated cheese, for sprinkling

Lettuce and tomato to garnish

Grill the bread on one side only.  Put the first 7 ingredients into a saucepan and cook, stirring all the time, until it is pretty much boiling, the cheese has melted and the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan.

Spread two of the slices of toast on the untoasted side with a small amount of the sauce, and then stick the sausages on it.  Top with the other slices, toasted side down, and cover them with the rest of the sauce.  Sprinkle with grated cheese, and put under the grill again until it melts.  Serve with a side salad.

Tortelloni bake

This was inspired by Easy Cheesy Vegetarian's recent post, and also by my original macaroni cheese recipe.

1 packet fresh tortelloni (your choice of filling)

2 small onions

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tbs sunflower oil or similar

1 tin tomatoes

1 tbs plain flour 

Seasoning: salt, pepper, dry mustard powder, herbs or spices as liked

Handful grated Cheddar (didn't measure, probably around 50g)

1 tin sweetcorn

1/2 packet halloumi cheese

Chop your onions and garlic and fry gently in the oil in an oven-proof dish (cast iron is ideal).  While this is happening, boil your tortelloni for 3 minutes.  Drain into a sieve.

Meanwhile, put the tinned tomatoes, flour, seasonings and the liquid from the tin of sweetcorn (if there is any - some brands are more-or-less vacuum-packed) and blend until smooth.  

When the tortelloni have finished cooking, put the blended tomato mixture on top of the onions, raise the heat and stir vigorously until it comes to the boil and thickens.  At which point, turn off the heat and add the grated cheese and the sweetcorn,

stir, and then add the tortelloni and stir in, flattening off the top. 

Now cover the top with sliced halloumi,

and bake at mark 6 for about 30 minutes.  

Very lazy fish pie

The only way this could be lazier is if you bought it as a ready-meal!

1 packet fish pie mix (mixed fish - salmon, cod and smoked haddock), thawed and drained

1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and chopped (I even bought these ready-boiled in Germany!)

1 tsp fish seasoning (I used Dunn's River, but other seasoning mixes are available)

A couple of tablespoonsful of frozen peas or broad beans

1 packet pre-made parsley sauce

1 packet gnocchi

Put the first five ingredients in an oven-proof dish and stir.  Top with the gnocchi.  Put in in an oven you have pre-heated to Mark 6, and leave to cook for about 50 minutes.  So easy it couldn't be easier.

Fennel, onion and red pepper sauce

 This was fantastic with sea bass, but not very photogenic, so this is a generic picture of fennel that I found on the web: 

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 bulb fennel

1 red sweet (bell) pepper

1 onion

Salt, pepper, other seasonings to taste - I used za'ataar and Dunn's River fish seasoning

Chop the vegetables, removing the white ribs and seeds from the pepper.  Cook in the olive oil over a medium heat until they are cooked, stirring fairly frequently.  This will take about 15-20 minutes.  Transfer to a food processor and blitz until smooth, adding a bit of lemon juice if it is too dry.  Serve with fish.  

Poireaux vinaigrette

This is a traditional French starter, perfect for St. David's Day.

1 leek per person, cut into small pieces 

1 heaped tsp. Dijon mustard (or any other kind; I do prefer the kind with seeds in it, but you could even use mustard powder instead, although arguably not so much!)

C 2 tbs wine vinegar 

C 4 tbs olive oil

Steam the leeks until they are cooked. Meanwhile, put the mustard and vinegar into a blender and add the oil in a steady stream while it is running. The mustard with emulsify the mixture, which is what you want. Season as liked - I didn't think it needed any more, but you might.

Pour a judicious quantity of the dressing on to the hot leeks and stir well. You want to coat them, not give them a bath, so you may have some dressing left over, depending on how many leeks you have. Allow to cool, and refrigerate before eating. They are meant to be eaten cold.