My mother used to make this often in our childhood; she always called it "Pelau", although I am not at all sure this is the correct name. I called it risotto when I first made it, but then I learnt how to make "proper" risotto, so have reverted to its original name. And updated the seasoning a bit, too! You can also make this with chicken; and probably with any leftover cold meat, but I usually use lamb.
1 quantity cold cooked lamb (enough for two people - I can't be specific as to quantities), cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 quantity frozen peas (again, you know your family's appetite!)
1 quantity sultanas or raisins (I used a 70g tub)
1 quantity roasted peanuts
Leftover gravy
Seasoning (I used pepper - no salt, as the peanuts provided that - Worcester sauce and ras el hanout)
1/2 cup by volume uncooked rice (125 ml)
Cook the rice as you normally do, and while this is happening, sweat the onions and garlic in a little cooking oil. When they start to turn translucent, add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer until the rice is cooked. Mix together, and serve, with mango chutney if liked.
If you have leftover vegetables, by all means add them! And if you don't have any gravy, use a little water and perhaps a "Stock Pot" - I see they do them in lamb now.
25 October 2016
20 October 2016
Emergency chicken soup
This was made in rather a hurry as my daughter went down with tonsillitis. I put a great deal of immune-boosting foods in there, and the end result was really rather spicy.... not unpleasant, though, with a spoonful of cream in there to cut the spice!
For the stock:
1 chicken carcase (I bought a cooked chicken from Lidl, and removed all the meat from the bones; we used the meat in salads, sandwiches and suppers, so nothing was wasted)
1 onion
2 carrots
1 parsnip
2.5 litres water
1 chicken "stock pot"
1 chicken bouillon cube
Boil all this up together in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then drain, and discard solids.
For the soup itself
1/2 cup "soup mix"
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic (or more - why not?)
1 chilli pepper
1 cube frozen grated ginger (or use about 25g fresh ginger)
1 leek
1 sweet red pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
To serve: spoonful of creme fraiche or sour cream
Soak the "soup mix" (grains, beans and peas) in boiling water with 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda for at least 30 minutes.
Put the onion, garlic, chilli and fresh ginger (if using) into a food processor with a little water, and blitz until smooth. Put this mix in to a casserole dish to which you have added a little cooking oil. If you are using the frozen ginger, put that in, too. Cook gently with the turmeric until just not raw any more.
Add the stock to this mixture, and put the drained, rinsed soup mix into the empty pressure cooker with 1 litre fresh water and boil for 10 minutes. When it has come down from pressure, drain and add to the soup with the leek and sweet pepper, which you have chopped very finely. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning - I found this extremely spicy, so am serving it with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream in each bowl to "cut" it. But it is very good.
For the stock:
1 chicken carcase (I bought a cooked chicken from Lidl, and removed all the meat from the bones; we used the meat in salads, sandwiches and suppers, so nothing was wasted)
1 onion
2 carrots
1 parsnip
2.5 litres water
1 chicken "stock pot"
1 chicken bouillon cube
Boil all this up together in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then drain, and discard solids.
For the soup itself
1/2 cup "soup mix"
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic (or more - why not?)
1 chilli pepper
1 cube frozen grated ginger (or use about 25g fresh ginger)
1 leek
1 sweet red pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
To serve: spoonful of creme fraiche or sour cream
Soak the "soup mix" (grains, beans and peas) in boiling water with 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda for at least 30 minutes.
Put the onion, garlic, chilli and fresh ginger (if using) into a food processor with a little water, and blitz until smooth. Put this mix in to a casserole dish to which you have added a little cooking oil. If you are using the frozen ginger, put that in, too. Cook gently with the turmeric until just not raw any more.
Add the stock to this mixture, and put the drained, rinsed soup mix into the empty pressure cooker with 1 litre fresh water and boil for 10 minutes. When it has come down from pressure, drain and add to the soup with the leek and sweet pepper, which you have chopped very finely. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning - I found this extremely spicy, so am serving it with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream in each bowl to "cut" it. But it is very good.
18 October 2016
Oodles and Oodles of Vegetable Noodles!
I was feeling a bit silly this evening, and it is silly to leave the spiraliser in the cupboard doing nothing. So.....
The following vegetables were chopped, and they were all, except the peppers, peeled:
1 onion
1 clove garlic (actually, this was crushed, but same difference)
1 leek
1 chunk butternut (I would have spiralised this, but it wasn't the straight neck bit but the curvy bit that goes round the seeds, and it didn't want to)
2 tomatoes
1 pointed sweet red pepper
1 chilli pepper
The following were spiralised. If you don't have a spiraliser, of course, you may continue to chop, but I have to say I did like the difference in texture that the spiraliser gave.
1 courgette
2 carrots
1 parsnip
1/2 sweet potato.
For the baba ghanoush dressing:
1/2 aubergine, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 large tbs tahini
1 tbs lemon juice
A little boiling water, to slacken
Put everything into a large sauté pan or casserole dish into which you have put about a tablespoonful of cooking oil. Add the veg as they are ready, so prepare those that take longest to cook first, and stir the result every time you lift the lid. Season to taste - I used salt, pepper, soya sauce and a little chilli sherry. When all the vegetables have been added, leave to cook for a further 15 minutes or so, until everything is cooked to your taste.
Meanwhile, also peel and dice the 1/2 aubergine, and put this in a separate saucepan with the olive oil and crushed garlic. Allow to cook on a low heat until the aubergine is very soft. Transfer to a food processor and add the remaining ingredients, except the hot water. Process until it stiffens, then add hot water and continue to process until it reaches the desired texture - what I think in cake terms is called a "dropping batter" - it will drip off your spoon, but not too runny.
That is not a very good photo, sorry! I never pretended to be a food photographer....
When the vegetables are cooked to your liking (I like them more cooked than many people do), stir the baba ghanoush (it isn't quite that, because that requires roasted aubergine, but almost) through the stew, and serve. It makes enough for four, and I'm debating poaching an egg in the leftovers before I serve them....
One day I shall learn that my phone casts its own shadow when I photograph my plate!!!
The following vegetables were chopped, and they were all, except the peppers, peeled:
1 onion
1 clove garlic (actually, this was crushed, but same difference)
1 leek
1 chunk butternut (I would have spiralised this, but it wasn't the straight neck bit but the curvy bit that goes round the seeds, and it didn't want to)
2 tomatoes
1 pointed sweet red pepper
1 chilli pepper
The following were spiralised. If you don't have a spiraliser, of course, you may continue to chop, but I have to say I did like the difference in texture that the spiraliser gave.
1 courgette
2 carrots
1 parsnip
1/2 sweet potato.
For the baba ghanoush dressing:
1/2 aubergine, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 large tbs tahini
1 tbs lemon juice
A little boiling water, to slacken
Put everything into a large sauté pan or casserole dish into which you have put about a tablespoonful of cooking oil. Add the veg as they are ready, so prepare those that take longest to cook first, and stir the result every time you lift the lid. Season to taste - I used salt, pepper, soya sauce and a little chilli sherry. When all the vegetables have been added, leave to cook for a further 15 minutes or so, until everything is cooked to your taste.
When the vegetables are cooked to your liking (I like them more cooked than many people do), stir the baba ghanoush (it isn't quite that, because that requires roasted aubergine, but almost) through the stew, and serve. It makes enough for four, and I'm debating poaching an egg in the leftovers before I serve them....
One day I shall learn that my phone casts its own shadow when I photograph my plate!!!
17 August 2016
Stuffed vegetables
Returning from a weekend in Sussex, I was loaded down with produce from my mother's and my brother's gardens, including an overgrown courgette and a very large onion. Which both, obviously, lent themselves to stuffing. And after a bit of thought and research, I came up with this:
For the filling:
1/2 cup by volume bulghur wheat, soaked in 1 cup by volume boiling water
The inside of the onion, chopped (or, if you are stuffing a pepper, for instance, use a small onion or shallot, and peel and chop it)
A couple of tomatoes, peeled and chopped
A few olives, cut in half (either green or black, but I think black works best)
A sloosh of tomato paste
1/2 pack feta cheese, cubed
Vegetables to stuff - a large onion, cut in half, or vegetable marrow/overgrown courgette with the seeds removed, or a hollowed-out butternut squash (you stuff the hollow where the seeds were), or sweet peppers.... whatever, really.
Fry the chopped onions in a little oil until they are transparent, then add the tomatoes and allow to cook for another few minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients, and season to taste (I used pomegranate molasses, ras el hanout, sumac and dried parsley. But you can use whatever you like.
Transfer the stuffing into the hollow of the vegetables
and bake in a hottish oven for about an hour, until the base vegetables are cooked.
For the filling:
1/2 cup by volume bulghur wheat, soaked in 1 cup by volume boiling water
The inside of the onion, chopped (or, if you are stuffing a pepper, for instance, use a small onion or shallot, and peel and chop it)
A couple of tomatoes, peeled and chopped
A few olives, cut in half (either green or black, but I think black works best)
A sloosh of tomato paste
1/2 pack feta cheese, cubed
Vegetables to stuff - a large onion, cut in half, or vegetable marrow/overgrown courgette with the seeds removed, or a hollowed-out butternut squash (you stuff the hollow where the seeds were), or sweet peppers.... whatever, really.
Fry the chopped onions in a little oil until they are transparent, then add the tomatoes and allow to cook for another few minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients, and season to taste (I used pomegranate molasses, ras el hanout, sumac and dried parsley. But you can use whatever you like.
Transfer the stuffing into the hollow of the vegetables
12 July 2016
Noodles and - noodles!
I recently treated myself to a spiralizer - it was a special deal on Amazon, reduced to £10, rude not to, really. I've been wanting one for ages.
But you know me, I'm not one to eat chopped-up cauliflower and pretend it's rice, or chopped-up courgettes and pretend it's pasta, but what's wrong with mixing them? So, as I wanted to try to play with the spiralizer, I thought I'd make some vegetable "noodles" and then some home-made ones, and serve them with a bacon, mushroom, tomato and sweetcorn sauce.
Well, it took some experimenting, and I ended up "sharpening" one of the courgettes, but by the time I'd got to the butternut squash, I'd worked out what to do.
I was really rather impressed with myself!
So that was two small courgettes and a chunk of butternut, more-or-less successfully spiralised.
For the sauce:
1 packet lardons (bacon bits), ideally unsmoked
1/2 punnet mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 packet passata (or a tin of crushed tomatoes)
1 small tin sweetcorn
Season with pepper and maybe some chilli sherry - it doesn't need salt.
Fry the bacon until it renders, then add the sliced mushrooms and crushed garlic. When the mushrooms collapse, add the rest of the ingredients and leave to simmer while you prepare the various noodles.
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 egg
enough water to make a stiff paste
(if you add too much, add more flour)
Mix to a dough, then press through the larger holes of a potato ricer into a saucepan of boiling salted water.
In a wok, heat some oil and add the vegetable noodles, stirring all the time. When the flour noodles come to the boil, allow to cook for one minute and then drain, and add to the rest of the noodles.
Continue to stir-fry for another minute or two, then divide into two plates and put the sauce on top.
But you know me, I'm not one to eat chopped-up cauliflower and pretend it's rice, or chopped-up courgettes and pretend it's pasta, but what's wrong with mixing them? So, as I wanted to try to play with the spiralizer, I thought I'd make some vegetable "noodles" and then some home-made ones, and serve them with a bacon, mushroom, tomato and sweetcorn sauce.
Well, it took some experimenting, and I ended up "sharpening" one of the courgettes, but by the time I'd got to the butternut squash, I'd worked out what to do.
So that was two small courgettes and a chunk of butternut, more-or-less successfully spiralised.
For the sauce:
1 packet lardons (bacon bits), ideally unsmoked
1/2 punnet mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 packet passata (or a tin of crushed tomatoes)
1 small tin sweetcorn
Season with pepper and maybe some chilli sherry - it doesn't need salt.
Fry the bacon until it renders, then add the sliced mushrooms and crushed garlic. When the mushrooms collapse, add the rest of the ingredients and leave to simmer while you prepare the various noodles.
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 egg
enough water to make a stiff paste
Mix to a dough, then press through the larger holes of a potato ricer into a saucepan of boiling salted water.
In a wok, heat some oil and add the vegetable noodles, stirring all the time. When the flour noodles come to the boil, allow to cook for one minute and then drain, and add to the rest of the noodles.
07 July 2016
Oeufs Florentine
I am not at all sure this is the correct way to cook oeufs florentine. In fact, it probably isn't - but who cares, because it's very quick and very easy. I had planned to take a photograph when I had served it, but it flipped over and all you could see was an unpretty mound of spinach!
I never used to like spinach when I was a child, but I think that, rather like kale, modern cultivars are milder in taste. But even though it must be fifteen years or so since I discovered that actually, it was edible, I was still a bit wary of it as it seemed to have a taste that overwhelmed everything else on the plate, rather like coriander can if you use too much. But the baby spinach, sold for use in salads, is also very mild when cooked - yes, it tastes like spinach, of course, and if you don't like that you won't like it, but it doesn't dominate or overpower. My brother, who has always liked spinach, says he just snips the corner of the bag and shoves the lot in the microwave! But don't do that if you aren't sure that the spinach has been washed, or it's a good way to get a mouthful of grit! And, of course, it is also lovely raw, in a salad or sandwich.
1 dollop of butter (about 20g - what Americans would call a teaspoonful, I suppose)
1 large handful baby spinach, washed if necessary
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a small saucepan - a milk saucepan is ideal - and put the spinach on the top. Allow it to cook for a minute or two, and stir vigorously to make sure all of it wilts and cooks. Now lower the heat and break and egg on the top, leaving this to cook (cover the pan, if possible) for several minutes until the white is firm and the yolk as firm as you like it.
Serve on (ideally) a toasted muffin or a slice of toast. Or not, if you're being low-carb and can digest an egg without bread....
I never used to like spinach when I was a child, but I think that, rather like kale, modern cultivars are milder in taste. But even though it must be fifteen years or so since I discovered that actually, it was edible, I was still a bit wary of it as it seemed to have a taste that overwhelmed everything else on the plate, rather like coriander can if you use too much. But the baby spinach, sold for use in salads, is also very mild when cooked - yes, it tastes like spinach, of course, and if you don't like that you won't like it, but it doesn't dominate or overpower. My brother, who has always liked spinach, says he just snips the corner of the bag and shoves the lot in the microwave! But don't do that if you aren't sure that the spinach has been washed, or it's a good way to get a mouthful of grit! And, of course, it is also lovely raw, in a salad or sandwich.
1 dollop of butter (about 20g - what Americans would call a teaspoonful, I suppose)
1 large handful baby spinach, washed if necessary
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a small saucepan - a milk saucepan is ideal - and put the spinach on the top. Allow it to cook for a minute or two, and stir vigorously to make sure all of it wilts and cooks. Now lower the heat and break and egg on the top, leaving this to cook (cover the pan, if possible) for several minutes until the white is firm and the yolk as firm as you like it.
Serve on (ideally) a toasted muffin or a slice of toast. Or not, if you're being low-carb and can digest an egg without bread....
05 July 2016
Cheese and onion flatbreads
This is still slightly a work in progress, so no photos - they didn't really work tonight! I know what I did wrong - I added all the water at once, as I would had I been going to make the dough in a bread machine, when really, I should have added it bit by bit.
1/2 packet (250 g) cheese and onion bread mix
up to 160 ml warm water
Put the bread mix into a bowl and add the water, working it all the time (a hand mixer with dough hooks is a plan, or use the dough hook on your food processor, if it has one, but you can do it by hand if you wish) until it is smooth and non-sticky. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, until it has risen a bit.
Knock it back, and roll it out as thin as possible on a floured board. Cut in half (or thirds, or quarters, but this amount is ideal for two) and heat a little sunflower oil in a frying pan. Add the flat bread and cook for a minute or two on each side, as hot as possible. Then cook the second/subsequent ones in the same way. Serve at once.
1/2 packet (250 g) cheese and onion bread mix
up to 160 ml warm water
Put the bread mix into a bowl and add the water, working it all the time (a hand mixer with dough hooks is a plan, or use the dough hook on your food processor, if it has one, but you can do it by hand if you wish) until it is smooth and non-sticky. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, until it has risen a bit.
Knock it back, and roll it out as thin as possible on a floured board. Cut in half (or thirds, or quarters, but this amount is ideal for two) and heat a little sunflower oil in a frying pan. Add the flat bread and cook for a minute or two on each side, as hot as possible. Then cook the second/subsequent ones in the same way. Serve at once.
09 May 2016
Fish'ash
Well, it's sort of a hash, and it contains fish, so.....
2 white fish fillets (if frozen, thawed as much as necessary to cut into bite-sized chunks)
Additional fish - shrimps or prawns, if liked, or crayfish tails, or, as here, squid rings (just a handful).
1 onion, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
A sensible amount of cabbage, chopped
I added 1/2 green pepper, as I had it in the fridge and it wanted using.
Seasoning, to taste
A little cooking oil
Put the cooking oil into a large sauté dish or casserole and add the vegetables. Season, and cook on a low heat, covered, until the potatoes are soft (the other veg will be cooked by then, too). Then add the fish, raise the heat slightly and cook for another couple of minutes until the fish is cooked through. Serves 2.
This might have been nice with sweet chilli sauce, but I couldn't be bothered to go and find any...
2 white fish fillets (if frozen, thawed as much as necessary to cut into bite-sized chunks)
Additional fish - shrimps or prawns, if liked, or crayfish tails, or, as here, squid rings (just a handful).
1 onion, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
A sensible amount of cabbage, chopped
I added 1/2 green pepper, as I had it in the fridge and it wanted using.
Seasoning, to taste
A little cooking oil
Put the cooking oil into a large sauté dish or casserole and add the vegetables. Season, and cook on a low heat, covered, until the potatoes are soft (the other veg will be cooked by then, too). Then add the fish, raise the heat slightly and cook for another couple of minutes until the fish is cooked through. Serves 2.
This might have been nice with sweet chilli sauce, but I couldn't be bothered to go and find any...
06 May 2016
Pasta au Nicholas
I do fail as a food blogger - I forgot, once again, to take a photo of my dinner before I ate it, and nor did I think to take a photo of that which inspired this meal.
My younger grandson and I were at the parent and toddler group we frequent most weeks, and he decided to "feed" me from the toy kitchen. With the selection of toy food he brought over, we decided that a meal of pasta, mushrooms, garlic and grated cheese would be delicious - and so it proved! So, in his honour, I have named this dish "Pasta au Nicholas". Serves 2.
100 g pasta (I used dischetti, the original "toy" pasta was farfalle)
A dollop of butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 punnet mushrooms, halved
1/2 tbs creme fraiche
Sprinkle dried parsley
2 tbs grated cheese (I used Emmenthal, but Parmesan or Cheddar would be fine, too).
Melt the butter, and add the crushed garlic and halved mushrooms. Stir, then cover, and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes, while you cook the pasta. When it is cooked, drain it and add the remaining ingredients. Season to taste, and eat at once.
My younger grandson and I were at the parent and toddler group we frequent most weeks, and he decided to "feed" me from the toy kitchen. With the selection of toy food he brought over, we decided that a meal of pasta, mushrooms, garlic and grated cheese would be delicious - and so it proved! So, in his honour, I have named this dish "Pasta au Nicholas". Serves 2.
100 g pasta (I used dischetti, the original "toy" pasta was farfalle)
A dollop of butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 punnet mushrooms, halved
1/2 tbs creme fraiche
Sprinkle dried parsley
2 tbs grated cheese (I used Emmenthal, but Parmesan or Cheddar would be fine, too).
Melt the butter, and add the crushed garlic and halved mushrooms. Stir, then cover, and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes, while you cook the pasta. When it is cooked, drain it and add the remaining ingredients. Season to taste, and eat at once.
17 March 2016
St Patrick's Day Casserole
Drat it, I keep forgetting to take photos of what I cook until all there is left is an empty plate....
The American-Irish may eat corned beef and cabbage on St Patrick's Day, but the Irish at home traditionally ate bacon - this turned out to be either unobtainable or desperately expensive when they arrived in New York, so they turned to beef as a good second-best, and now have forgotten they ever ate anything else!
But here it is bacon, and this is my take on the tradition. As I said to the Swan Whisperer, I could have just served grilled rashers alongside steamed potato and cabbage, but I thought this would be tastier - and it was! Enough for 2.
1 packet lardons
1 onion
5 small potatoes
¼ green Savoy-type cabbage
Cook the lardons gently until the juice and fat run, then add the rest of the vegetables which you have peeled, chopped and shredded, as appropriate (leave the potatoes in dice, chop the onions and shred the cabbage). Season with pepper - it does not need extra salt - and stir several times while you leave it to cook on a gentle heat for about 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.
The American-Irish may eat corned beef and cabbage on St Patrick's Day, but the Irish at home traditionally ate bacon - this turned out to be either unobtainable or desperately expensive when they arrived in New York, so they turned to beef as a good second-best, and now have forgotten they ever ate anything else!
But here it is bacon, and this is my take on the tradition. As I said to the Swan Whisperer, I could have just served grilled rashers alongside steamed potato and cabbage, but I thought this would be tastier - and it was! Enough for 2.
1 packet lardons
1 onion
5 small potatoes
¼ green Savoy-type cabbage
Cook the lardons gently until the juice and fat run, then add the rest of the vegetables which you have peeled, chopped and shredded, as appropriate (leave the potatoes in dice, chop the onions and shred the cabbage). Season with pepper - it does not need extra salt - and stir several times while you leave it to cook on a gentle heat for about 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.
15 March 2016
Mine-stew-ne
I had been going to make minestrone soup for lunch, but somehow the morning got away from me and it didn't happen. And I hadn't the least idea what to make for supper. And then I thought that a minestrone soup isn't that different to the large vegetable stews I so often make, and what if I made it more stew-like that soup-like..... so I did, and it was really rather delicious. Enough for 4 people.
1/2 cup dried cannelini beans (or 1 400g tin, drained and rinsed)
1 tbs olive oil
A few basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 chilli pepper
1 onion
1 carrot
1 small parsnip
A chunk of swede (rutabaga)
2 small potatoes
1 leek
1 courgette (zucchini)
½ punnet mushrooms
1 400g tin tomatoes + ½ tinful boiling water
Salt, pepper, marjoram, oregano, thyme, 1 vegetable "Stock pot"
100g small pasta
Parmesan cheese, to serve.
Soak the beans for several hours, then drain and rinse, and boil in fresh water for about 30 minutes, until cooked. Meanwhile, blitz the garlic, chilli and basil together in a food processor. Then grate the rest of the vegetables, except the mushrooms. As the drum of the food processor gets full (you didn't think I meant you should grate them by hand, did you?), empty it into a heavy-based casserole dish into which you have put the olive oil.
Slice the mushrooms and add them to the vegetables, and finally add the tomatoes, water and seasonings. Stir thoroughly, then bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Then add the beans and the pasta, and cook for a further 9-10 minutes, until the pasta is cooked.
Serve with masses of Parmesan or other grated cheese.
1/2 cup dried cannelini beans (or 1 400g tin, drained and rinsed)
1 tbs olive oil
A few basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 chilli pepper
1 onion
1 carrot
1 small parsnip
A chunk of swede (rutabaga)
2 small potatoes
1 leek
1 courgette (zucchini)
½ punnet mushrooms
1 400g tin tomatoes + ½ tinful boiling water
Salt, pepper, marjoram, oregano, thyme, 1 vegetable "Stock pot"
100g small pasta
Parmesan cheese, to serve.
Soak the beans for several hours, then drain and rinse, and boil in fresh water for about 30 minutes, until cooked. Meanwhile, blitz the garlic, chilli and basil together in a food processor. Then grate the rest of the vegetables, except the mushrooms. As the drum of the food processor gets full (you didn't think I meant you should grate them by hand, did you?), empty it into a heavy-based casserole dish into which you have put the olive oil.
Slice the mushrooms and add them to the vegetables, and finally add the tomatoes, water and seasonings. Stir thoroughly, then bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Then add the beans and the pasta, and cook for a further 9-10 minutes, until the pasta is cooked.
Serve with masses of Parmesan or other grated cheese.
04 March 2016
Shaksilla
This was going to be shakshuka, and then it sort of morphed into a tortilla. So Shaksilla, no?
1tsp coconut oil
1 onion
½ large red pepper
3 small potatoes
½ pack Lidl small sausages (Nurnberg bratwurst)
1 large tomato
4 eggs
Seasoning as you would season shakshuka - harissa or Lebanese seasoning or chilli or what you use.
Peel and chop the potatoes and onion, and cook gently in a covered pan in the coconut oil. Chop the peppers, and cut the sausages into 3 pieces each, and add to the pan. Season, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes. Chop the tomato and add that. Cook for a further few minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are cooked. Now whisk the eggs until they are all one texture, and then pour over the vegetable/sausage mix. Cover again and cook on a gentle heat for another 5 minutes, until the eggs are set.
1tsp coconut oil
1 onion
½ large red pepper
3 small potatoes
½ pack Lidl small sausages (Nurnberg bratwurst)
1 large tomato
4 eggs
Seasoning as you would season shakshuka - harissa or Lebanese seasoning or chilli or what you use.
Peel and chop the potatoes and onion, and cook gently in a covered pan in the coconut oil. Chop the peppers, and cut the sausages into 3 pieces each, and add to the pan. Season, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes. Chop the tomato and add that. Cook for a further few minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are cooked. Now whisk the eggs until they are all one texture, and then pour over the vegetable/sausage mix. Cover again and cook on a gentle heat for another 5 minutes, until the eggs are set.
29 February 2016
Home made noodle bake
I thought that, as an experiment, I'd try using home-made noodles in my usual leek and broccoli pasta bake. They worked very well indeed.
The quickest and easiest way to make noodles is to use a potato ricer like this one, and use the disk with the fewest holes. However, if you don't have one, you can always rest the dough in the fridge for a bit, then roll it out as thinly as possible, flour it, roll it up gently and then cut the resulting cylinder into strips, as Becca does over at Amuse your Bouche. If I were making it that way, I'd use a strong flour, but in a ricer, any flour will do. I did once try making noodles with gram flour and binding them with tahini, but this was a dismal failure!
Anyway these ones were made with a mixture of buckwheat flour (which is gluten free, so if you needed to you could make them with 100% buckwheat) and ordinary plain flour.
So. To the recipe. Apologies for lack of photos, but it might not have worked well.....
Serves 2.
1 leek
1/2 head broccoli
250 ml milk
2 tsp plain flour
25 g butter
Salt, pepper and mustard powder to season
2 large handfuls grated cheese (probably about 100g each, but maybe less)
1 large tomato
125 ml (1/4 cup) buckwheat flour
125 ml (1/4 cup) plain flour
1 egg
A little water
Cut the broccoli into florets and steam them until al dente. Chop the leek very finely and cook gently in the butter until soft. It saves time if you can do this in an oven-proof dish that will also go on the hob.
Meanwhile, make the noodles by mixing the last 4 ingredients in the list together until a stiff dough is formed. I seasoned with salt, pepper and mustard, just as I did the sauce. Press through potato ricer into boiling water, and when the water comes back to the boil, drain and reserve.
Put the 2tsp flour and the seasoning into the milk and whisk well until combined. Pour this over the leeks and butter, and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. When the sauce thickens and boils, remove from heat and stir in half the cheese, and all the broccoli and noodles. If it's already in an oven-proof container, smooth it down, if it's not, transfer it into one (another pan to wash!) and smooth it down.
Top with thin slices of tomato and more grated cheese. Bake in a moderate oven for 35 minutes or so.
The quickest and easiest way to make noodles is to use a potato ricer like this one, and use the disk with the fewest holes. However, if you don't have one, you can always rest the dough in the fridge for a bit, then roll it out as thinly as possible, flour it, roll it up gently and then cut the resulting cylinder into strips, as Becca does over at Amuse your Bouche. If I were making it that way, I'd use a strong flour, but in a ricer, any flour will do. I did once try making noodles with gram flour and binding them with tahini, but this was a dismal failure!
Anyway these ones were made with a mixture of buckwheat flour (which is gluten free, so if you needed to you could make them with 100% buckwheat) and ordinary plain flour.
So. To the recipe. Apologies for lack of photos, but it might not have worked well.....
Serves 2.
1 leek
1/2 head broccoli
250 ml milk
2 tsp plain flour
25 g butter
Salt, pepper and mustard powder to season
2 large handfuls grated cheese (probably about 100g each, but maybe less)
1 large tomato
125 ml (1/4 cup) buckwheat flour
125 ml (1/4 cup) plain flour
1 egg
A little water
Cut the broccoli into florets and steam them until al dente. Chop the leek very finely and cook gently in the butter until soft. It saves time if you can do this in an oven-proof dish that will also go on the hob.
Meanwhile, make the noodles by mixing the last 4 ingredients in the list together until a stiff dough is formed. I seasoned with salt, pepper and mustard, just as I did the sauce. Press through potato ricer into boiling water, and when the water comes back to the boil, drain and reserve.
Put the 2tsp flour and the seasoning into the milk and whisk well until combined. Pour this over the leeks and butter, and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. When the sauce thickens and boils, remove from heat and stir in half the cheese, and all the broccoli and noodles. If it's already in an oven-proof container, smooth it down, if it's not, transfer it into one (another pan to wash!) and smooth it down.
Top with thin slices of tomato and more grated cheese. Bake in a moderate oven for 35 minutes or so.
01 February 2016
Kidney bean, cauliflower and peanut curry
When you have a meeting at 7:30 and need a quick supper..... I had been going to make ratatouille with beans, but had neither courgettes nor aubergine and hadn't got round to going to Lidl to get some! But the kidney beans had been soaking all afternoon, and needed to be used. So it was a matter of finding what to cook with what I had - and the end result was surprisingly delicious!
1/2 cup red kidney beans (or you can use a tin of)
1 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp curry powder
Additional spices if liked - I used asafoetida and turmeric and some dried garlic powder
1 onion, chopped
1/2 small cauliflower, chopped
1 tin tomatoes
1/2 tinful water
2 tbs salted peanuts
1 tbs sultanas
1 tbs coconut milk powder
Vegetable "Stock pot" (optional)
1/2 cup long-grain rice
To serve: mango chutney
Soak the beans in water with a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda for a few hours. Then drain and rinse, and cook in fresh water, making sure they boil hard for at least ten minutes before you turn the heat down. They'll probably take 30-45 minutes to cook, depending on how old they are.
Meanwhile, fry the spices in the coconut oil for a couple of minutes, then add the onions and stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the rice, but including the cooked beans), bring to the boil, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes while you cook the rice.
Serve with the cooked rice and with some mango chutney (spicy or not, as liked) on the top.
1/2 cup red kidney beans (or you can use a tin of)
1 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp curry powder
Additional spices if liked - I used asafoetida and turmeric and some dried garlic powder
1 onion, chopped
1/2 small cauliflower, chopped
1 tin tomatoes
1/2 tinful water
2 tbs salted peanuts
1 tbs sultanas
1 tbs coconut milk powder
Vegetable "Stock pot" (optional)
1/2 cup long-grain rice
To serve: mango chutney
Soak the beans in water with a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda for a few hours. Then drain and rinse, and cook in fresh water, making sure they boil hard for at least ten minutes before you turn the heat down. They'll probably take 30-45 minutes to cook, depending on how old they are.
Meanwhile, fry the spices in the coconut oil for a couple of minutes, then add the onions and stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the rice, but including the cooked beans), bring to the boil, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes while you cook the rice.
Serve with the cooked rice and with some mango chutney (spicy or not, as liked) on the top.
28 December 2015
Mum's cheese biscuits
Until this year, Mummy made these every week in the shooting season, and very good they are too. I have just found the recipe again, so thought I'd post it here where I can find it again!
This makes a baking trayful:
2 slices bread, and the same weight of flour, cheese and butter. Any kind of bread; plain flour (wholemeal is fine) and any kind of cheese, but the stronger-tasting the better.
Whizz in food processor until beginning to come together, knead lightly and roll out. Stamp out with cookie cutter, bake on greased baking tray at Mark 5, 180 (fan oven) or 190 (non fan) for 15 minutes.
Edited to add: Forgot to say you can season this with Tabasco and/or dried chilli flakes, 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder, and a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs. And, of course, you can scale up the quantities really easily - the idea is equal quantities of bread, flour, butter and cheese!
This makes a baking trayful:
2 slices bread, and the same weight of flour, cheese and butter. Any kind of bread; plain flour (wholemeal is fine) and any kind of cheese, but the stronger-tasting the better.
Whizz in food processor until beginning to come together, knead lightly and roll out. Stamp out with cookie cutter, bake on greased baking tray at Mark 5, 180 (fan oven) or 190 (non fan) for 15 minutes.
Edited to add: Forgot to say you can season this with Tabasco and/or dried chilli flakes, 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder, and a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs. And, of course, you can scale up the quantities really easily - the idea is equal quantities of bread, flour, butter and cheese!
20 November 2015
Douceur de courgettes au Vache qui Rit
I first came across this rather odd-sounding soup in a Tetrapak in a French supermarket, and liked it. These days they seem to do it with goats' cheese, instead, but when I wanted to make soup for our lunch the other day, I thought I'd have a go. And it is very good, although I used too much garlic (but we both have viruses, so I did that on purpose) - more than the recipe says.
1 tbs coconut oil
1 smallish onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
About 750g courgettes (zucchini, to my American friends), chopped
1 Knorr (or supermarket own brand) vegetable Stock Pot
1 litre boiling water
2 Vache qui Rit (Laughing Cow) triangles
1 tbs crème fraîche
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 small tin sweetcorn (optional, but if you like a bit of crunch in your soups, as I do....).
Place the oil, and all the chopped vegetables, in a heavy-based pan, and allow to sweat for a bout 10-15 minutes, stirring cocasionally. Then add the water and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes.
Blend until smooth, then return to pan and add the crème fraîche, cheese triangles and sweetcorn, if using. Bring back to the boil, stirring, until the cheese has melted. Serve at once.
You could, of course, use grated Emmenthal or Cheddar instead of the cheese triangles, in which case I would add them to the soup bowl, rather than to the main body of the soup. Or as well as.....
1 tbs coconut oil
1 smallish onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
About 750g courgettes (zucchini, to my American friends), chopped
1 Knorr (or supermarket own brand) vegetable Stock Pot
1 litre boiling water
2 Vache qui Rit (Laughing Cow) triangles
1 tbs crème fraîche
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 small tin sweetcorn (optional, but if you like a bit of crunch in your soups, as I do....).
Place the oil, and all the chopped vegetables, in a heavy-based pan, and allow to sweat for a bout 10-15 minutes, stirring cocasionally. Then add the water and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes.
Blend until smooth, then return to pan and add the crème fraîche, cheese triangles and sweetcorn, if using. Bring back to the boil, stirring, until the cheese has melted. Serve at once.
You could, of course, use grated Emmenthal or Cheddar instead of the cheese triangles, in which case I would add them to the soup bowl, rather than to the main body of the soup. Or as well as.....
01 November 2015
Mushroom, pepper and cream sauce
This goes with steak or magret de canard - it would probably also go with salmon, or anything you fancy, really....
1 small or 1/2 large onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 punnet (c 125 g) button mushrooms, or 2 large field mushrooms
1 large tablespoonful crème fraiche
1 tsp each black and Szechuan peppercorns
2 tsp cognac, armagnac or Calvados (optional, but does add to it!)
A little butter for frying
Chop the onion, crush the garlic, and halve the mushrooms if they are small; larger ones can be cut into relevant-sized pieces. Fry the onions and garlic gently in the butter until transparent, then add the mushrooms and continue to cook until they release their juices. Meanwhile, crush the peppercorns coarsely in a pestle and mortar. Now add them, and the remaining ingredients, to the sauce, bring to the boil, and serve at once.
1 small or 1/2 large onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 punnet (c 125 g) button mushrooms, or 2 large field mushrooms
1 large tablespoonful crème fraiche
1 tsp each black and Szechuan peppercorns
2 tsp cognac, armagnac or Calvados (optional, but does add to it!)
A little butter for frying
Chop the onion, crush the garlic, and halve the mushrooms if they are small; larger ones can be cut into relevant-sized pieces. Fry the onions and garlic gently in the butter until transparent, then add the mushrooms and continue to cook until they release their juices. Meanwhile, crush the peppercorns coarsely in a pestle and mortar. Now add them, and the remaining ingredients, to the sauce, bring to the boil, and serve at once.
18 August 2015
Courgette crumble
Missed a phone call from the Daughter last night, but she texted me this morning to say not to worry, she had just wanted my recipe for courgette crumble, which she then found in a bunch of recipes I'd typed up for her when she first left home in 1998. Quite why I included this one, when she was not, at the time, fond of courgettes I don't know, but I did. I've actually adapted the recipe over the years since then, mostly making it smaller, so I'll say this amount serves 4.... you could halve it, of course, for two, but obviously you can't halve an egg, so just use a whole one - or maybe use two if you use this amount!
1 cup (250 ml by volume) rice (uncooked)
4-5 small courgettes (zucchini)
3 slices wholemeal (wholewheat) bread
3-5 oz cheese, grated
1 egg
1 gill (about 1/2 cup) milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cook rice in the normal way. Slice courgettes very thinly. You can saute them briefly in a non-stick pan with a spray of olive oil, but I don't bother. Drain rice, and stir in the courgette slices, the egg, milk, seasoning and half the cheese. Put into ovenproof dish.
Make bread into crumbs and mix with remainder of cheese. Spread on top of rice mixture, and bake in moderate oven for about 30 minutes until crust is crisp.
We had an interesting variation on this this evening, as I had two leftover cooked sausages, so instead of putting cheese in the rice mixture, I put the sliced sausages. The topping still had cheese in it, though!
1 cup (250 ml by volume) rice (uncooked)
4-5 small courgettes (zucchini)
3 slices wholemeal (wholewheat) bread
3-5 oz cheese, grated
1 egg
1 gill (about 1/2 cup) milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cook rice in the normal way. Slice courgettes very thinly. You can saute them briefly in a non-stick pan with a spray of olive oil, but I don't bother. Drain rice, and stir in the courgette slices, the egg, milk, seasoning and half the cheese. Put into ovenproof dish.
Make bread into crumbs and mix with remainder of cheese. Spread on top of rice mixture, and bake in moderate oven for about 30 minutes until crust is crisp.
We had an interesting variation on this this evening, as I had two leftover cooked sausages, so instead of putting cheese in the rice mixture, I put the sliced sausages. The topping still had cheese in it, though!
17 August 2015
Home-made lemonade
Two posts today! But I don't think I've posted this recipe yet, and it is so very good when one is poorly, as I have been the last few days. In an ideal world, you will possess a large plastic jug - holding maybe 2 litres. We have a lovely one that fits into the door of the fridge. But you can use a plastic measuring jug for the first bit, and then transfer into a non-heatproof jug when it has cooled a bit.
3 lemons
3 level tablespoons granulated sugar
Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler or zester or similar, being careful to get as little of the white pith as possible. Put the peel and the sugar into a heatproof container, and cover with boiling water. Stir vigorously until the sugar has dissolved. Now add the juice of the lemons, and about a litre of cold water, and then a tray of ice-cubes. You'll probably drink the first glass straight away, but put it in the fridge to chill right down. It will keep about 24 hours in the fridge, but may well not last that long!
3 lemons
3 level tablespoons granulated sugar
Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler or zester or similar, being careful to get as little of the white pith as possible. Put the peel and the sugar into a heatproof container, and cover with boiling water. Stir vigorously until the sugar has dissolved. Now add the juice of the lemons, and about a litre of cold water, and then a tray of ice-cubes. You'll probably drink the first glass straight away, but put it in the fridge to chill right down. It will keep about 24 hours in the fridge, but may well not last that long!
More inspiration
I was originally going to make this, from the Amuse Your Bouche
blog (I'm not, as readers will have gathered, vegetarian, but we do eat
quite a lot of vegetarian meals). But we had far more cherry tomatoes
that needed using, and I do like a bit of onion in my supper, and she
didn't say what, if anything, she served it with.... plus I only had
feta, not halloumi, which was going to make it a bit different anyway.
So I ended up with this, and very good it was, too. Serves 2.
½ aubergine
1 onion
1 pack cherry tomatoes, plus any you might have over from another pack
½ pack feta cheese
100g pasta - I used coquillettes, but use whatever you have.
Chop the aubergine and onion, and place them in a lidded pan with a tablespoonful of cooking oil - well, all right, maybe a bit more than that. Pierce the cherry tomatoes and add these. Cover, and cook for about 20 minutes on a lowish heat, stirring occasionally, and turn down the heat if it looks like catching. Season with salt, pepper, and what else you like - I used pomegranate molasses and za'atar:
Chop the cheese into cubes about the size of the cubes of aubergine.
Meanwhile boil the pasta for the length of time specified on the packet, drain it, and add it to what's in the pan, together with the chopped feta.
Cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly, until everything is mixed together and the cheese is hotted through - it doesn't really melt. Serve immediately.
½ aubergine
1 onion
1 pack cherry tomatoes, plus any you might have over from another pack
½ pack feta cheese
100g pasta - I used coquillettes, but use whatever you have.
Chop the aubergine and onion, and place them in a lidded pan with a tablespoonful of cooking oil - well, all right, maybe a bit more than that. Pierce the cherry tomatoes and add these. Cover, and cook for about 20 minutes on a lowish heat, stirring occasionally, and turn down the heat if it looks like catching. Season with salt, pepper, and what else you like - I used pomegranate molasses and za'atar:
Chop the cheese into cubes about the size of the cubes of aubergine.
Meanwhile boil the pasta for the length of time specified on the packet, drain it, and add it to what's in the pan, together with the chopped feta.
13 August 2015
Banana pancakes
You will have seen these online everywhere, I shouldn't wonder, with massive great headlines: she made these wonderful pancakes with just two ingredients, or similar.
But the point is, they are delicious, and they are easy, and you can make them for afternoon snack with your five-year-old grandson in a very few minutes.
You simply whisk 1 egg per small, or 2 eggs per large ripe banana together until everything is smooth - my daughter, at whose house I was making these, had small bananas, so we mashed them first and then whisked them until they were more-or-less smooth. Then I heated some oil in a frying pan - not a lot, only about a tablespoonful, if that, and when it was hot we ladled tablespoonfuls into the pan. You cook them like drop scones or Scotch pancakes, nice and thick. It looked disgusting in the frying pan. The Boy said it looked like custard, but actually, it looked like puke (it was not as smooth as it could be, and the bananas were somewhat over-ripe). Anyway, once they are dry-ish on top, you turn them over and cook the other side until golden, and serve immediately. A professional cook would probably dust these with icing sugar, but they are actually sweet enough as it is, and really don't need anything with them. And of course they tick all the boxes by being gluten-free, low carb and no added sugar! And vegetarian....
Well worth doing. Even my grandsons, who don't like eggs much, like these.
But the point is, they are delicious, and they are easy, and you can make them for afternoon snack with your five-year-old grandson in a very few minutes.
You simply whisk 1 egg per small, or 2 eggs per large ripe banana together until everything is smooth - my daughter, at whose house I was making these, had small bananas, so we mashed them first and then whisked them until they were more-or-less smooth. Then I heated some oil in a frying pan - not a lot, only about a tablespoonful, if that, and when it was hot we ladled tablespoonfuls into the pan. You cook them like drop scones or Scotch pancakes, nice and thick. It looked disgusting in the frying pan. The Boy said it looked like custard, but actually, it looked like puke (it was not as smooth as it could be, and the bananas were somewhat over-ripe). Anyway, once they are dry-ish on top, you turn them over and cook the other side until golden, and serve immediately. A professional cook would probably dust these with icing sugar, but they are actually sweet enough as it is, and really don't need anything with them. And of course they tick all the boxes by being gluten-free, low carb and no added sugar! And vegetarian....
Well worth doing. Even my grandsons, who don't like eggs much, like these.
10 August 2015
Fusion Trout
The Swan Whisperer wanted trout for his supper yesterday (Sunday), and I was wondering how to serve it, as there are so very many ways of cooking and serving trout. So yesterday and today (it was a large trout) we had it, first with a Chinese-style stir-fry and then with a Moroccan-style couscous. And I cooked the trout "à la Meunière", which is French.....
1) The Trout
1 large trout, defrosted if frozen
A little milk
2 tbs flour, seasoned to taste
Dip the trout in milk, and then in the flour. Fry in butter in a covered pan for about 7-8 minutes each side, or until cooked through.
2. The Stir-fry
½ cup (125 ml by volume) rice
1 cup (250 ml) boiling water, possibly with a Stock Pot. I wanted to use a fish one, but found I had none, so used a vegetable one instead.
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 courgette, chopped
1/3 pack beansprouts (which I happened to have)
(You can use whatever vegetables you like here - peas and broad beans work well. The onion is pretty much mandatory, but apart from that....)
1 egg
Soya sauce
Chinese stir-fries traditionally contain crushed ginger and garlic, and chopped chillis, and are seasoned with 5-spice, but I didn't what to overwhelm the trout, so left out the ginger and chillis, and didn't fancy the 5-spice, so used Lidl's "Stir-fry seasoning", which I'm not sure what it contains but is very nice.
Put the rice in the boiling water or stock, bring back to the boil, cover, turn the heat down to the bare minimum, and leave undisturbed for 15 minutes (40-45 minutes if it's brown rice). Meanwhile prepare the vegetables (and cook the trout), and stir-fry them for about 5 minutes. Add the cooked rice and soya sauce to taste, and then make a gap in the middle of the rice and add the egg, which you stir and stir through the rice until it's cooked. Serve with the trout on top.
3. The couscous
I actually had some of the vegetable stew left over from last week, which had spent the weekend in the freezer, but I make it like this:
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 leek (optional)
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large or 2 small courgettes, chopped
Either 1 tin chick peas, drained and rinsed, or 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight then boiled for about 30 minutes, drained.
About 12 dried apricots, cut in half
1 tin tomatoes, chopped or pureed.
Put all this in a frying pan or saucepan with some oil, and cook on a low heat until all the vegetables are cooked, probably about 30-35 minutes. Season with ras-el-hanout, if you have any, and/or Moroccan seasoning, and then make a hot sauce with some harissa paste diluted with the juices from the pan, or with boiling water if you haven't quite enough juices.
Meanwhile, put ½ cup (125 ml by volume) of couscous in a bowl or jug with some salt and 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water and allow to sit for 10 minutes; then stir with a fork to break up any lumps.
Serve the couscous at the bottom, the stew in the middle, and the trout (as this was leftover, I hotted it up in the microwave) on the top, and pour over the hot sauce to taste.
Sorry there aren't any photos.
1) The Trout
1 large trout, defrosted if frozen
A little milk
2 tbs flour, seasoned to taste
Dip the trout in milk, and then in the flour. Fry in butter in a covered pan for about 7-8 minutes each side, or until cooked through.
2. The Stir-fry
½ cup (125 ml by volume) rice
1 cup (250 ml) boiling water, possibly with a Stock Pot. I wanted to use a fish one, but found I had none, so used a vegetable one instead.
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 courgette, chopped
1/3 pack beansprouts (which I happened to have)
(You can use whatever vegetables you like here - peas and broad beans work well. The onion is pretty much mandatory, but apart from that....)
1 egg
Soya sauce
Chinese stir-fries traditionally contain crushed ginger and garlic, and chopped chillis, and are seasoned with 5-spice, but I didn't what to overwhelm the trout, so left out the ginger and chillis, and didn't fancy the 5-spice, so used Lidl's "Stir-fry seasoning", which I'm not sure what it contains but is very nice.
Put the rice in the boiling water or stock, bring back to the boil, cover, turn the heat down to the bare minimum, and leave undisturbed for 15 minutes (40-45 minutes if it's brown rice). Meanwhile prepare the vegetables (and cook the trout), and stir-fry them for about 5 minutes. Add the cooked rice and soya sauce to taste, and then make a gap in the middle of the rice and add the egg, which you stir and stir through the rice until it's cooked. Serve with the trout on top.
3. The couscous
I actually had some of the vegetable stew left over from last week, which had spent the weekend in the freezer, but I make it like this:
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 leek (optional)
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large or 2 small courgettes, chopped
Either 1 tin chick peas, drained and rinsed, or 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight then boiled for about 30 minutes, drained.
About 12 dried apricots, cut in half
1 tin tomatoes, chopped or pureed.
Put all this in a frying pan or saucepan with some oil, and cook on a low heat until all the vegetables are cooked, probably about 30-35 minutes. Season with ras-el-hanout, if you have any, and/or Moroccan seasoning, and then make a hot sauce with some harissa paste diluted with the juices from the pan, or with boiling water if you haven't quite enough juices.
Meanwhile, put ½ cup (125 ml by volume) of couscous in a bowl or jug with some salt and 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water and allow to sit for 10 minutes; then stir with a fork to break up any lumps.
Serve the couscous at the bottom, the stew in the middle, and the trout (as this was leftover, I hotted it up in the microwave) on the top, and pour over the hot sauce to taste.
Sorry there aren't any photos.
19 June 2015
Halloumi with chickpeas, mushrooms, tomatoes and noodles
On Monday, the Swan Whisperer and I went into Brixton to explore the new Pop Brixton that has opened where the ice-rink used to be, but as it was Monday, everything was firmly closed. So we got our lunch from a street stall called Pots of Brixton, which was a jacket potato place. The SW had a meat filling, but I chose the veggie one, which was halloumi, chickpeas, mushrooms and tomatoes. So, of course, I had to try to recreate it at home, only with noodles instead of potatoes.
½ packet halloumi cheese, sliced, and each slice cut in half.
½ punnet mushrooms, sliced
4-5 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or the equivalent amount of dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked (which is what I used, as they are nicer)
Seasonings to taste
100 g rice noodles (this was too much - 75g would have been better)
Place the vegetables in a lidded pan with a little oil, and allow to cook in their own steam for about 10-15 minutes. Do NOT do what I did and leave the heat too high so that it dries out - this would have been a lot nicer if I hadn't!
Add the cooked chickpeas, and heat through. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
Meanwhile fry the halloumi on both sides (it doesn't need any oil) until golden.
Mix everything together and serve.... as I said, it was lovely, but would have been nicer if it hadn't dried out a bit, and we really didn't need so many noodles.
½ packet halloumi cheese, sliced, and each slice cut in half.
½ punnet mushrooms, sliced
4-5 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or the equivalent amount of dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked (which is what I used, as they are nicer)
Seasonings to taste
100 g rice noodles (this was too much - 75g would have been better)
Place the vegetables in a lidded pan with a little oil, and allow to cook in their own steam for about 10-15 minutes. Do NOT do what I did and leave the heat too high so that it dries out - this would have been a lot nicer if I hadn't!
Add the cooked chickpeas, and heat through. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
08 June 2015
Not-bubble-and-squeak
Traditionally, of course, bubble and squeak is made with left over mashed potatoes and cabbage, maybe seasoned with onion, and fried. But I didn't have any left-over vegetables - well, I do, actually, but neither potatoes nor cabbage - and I wanted this particularly to eat with Nurnberg sausages, which I thought it would complement nicely. It did.
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3 medium potatoes, cut into small pieces
1/2 green cabbage (or less - the amount you would prepare for two of you, basically)
1 tbs cooking oil
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
Put everything into a large frying-pan and stir. Cover, and reduce the heat. Allow to cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with sausages or bacon and eggs or something delicious like that.....
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3 medium potatoes, cut into small pieces
1/2 green cabbage (or less - the amount you would prepare for two of you, basically)
1 tbs cooking oil
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
Put everything into a large frying-pan and stir. Cover, and reduce the heat. Allow to cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with sausages or bacon and eggs or something delicious like that.....
02 June 2015
Quick tomato and red pepper soup
1 onion
1 sweet red pepper
1 400g tin tomatoes
A few cherry tomatoes, if you have spare ones
1 small tin sweetcorn (optional)
Sweat the chopped onion, pepper and cherry tomatoes in a little cooking oil. Add the tin of tomatoes and a full tin of water. Season - I used salt, pepper, herbs, chilli sherry and a vegetable "stock pot". Bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes.
Blend to the desired consistency and then, if liked, add a tin of sweetcorn.
This is nicest with a dollop of creme fraiche in it, but I didn't have any.... Tomorrow, perhaps....
1 sweet red pepper
1 400g tin tomatoes
A few cherry tomatoes, if you have spare ones
1 small tin sweetcorn (optional)
Sweat the chopped onion, pepper and cherry tomatoes in a little cooking oil. Add the tin of tomatoes and a full tin of water. Season - I used salt, pepper, herbs, chilli sherry and a vegetable "stock pot". Bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes.
Blend to the desired consistency and then, if liked, add a tin of sweetcorn.
This is nicest with a dollop of creme fraiche in it, but I didn't have any.... Tomorrow, perhaps....
29 May 2015
Gran's extra-special macaroni cheese
My Boy ended up coming to tea today, so a quick change of plans - I had been going to make a butternut squash and mushroom risotto, but I know his favourite food ever is macaroni cheese. So I thought I would introduce him to the version that his mother adored when she was a little girl, as I could make enough for 3 and then just pop his share under the grill while the cheese melted. His verdict? "I do like it, but it's not my absolute favourite. That's the one they make at school!"
1 small onion, chopped
1 packet lardons
1 small tin sweet corn
1 tin tomatoes
1 heaped tsp flour
Pepper to taste
A little dry mustard powder, to taste (about ¼ tsp)
About 100 g Cheddar cheese, grated.
100-125 g macaroni-type pasta (depending on how many are eating it)
Put the onions and lardons into a pan, and allow to cook until the onion has softened. Meanwhile, put the pasta on to boil according to the instructions on the packet. Place the tin of tomatoes, the flour and the seasonings into a jug, and whizz with a stick blender until smooth (or use a regular blender). Pour this mixture on to the top of the onions and lardons, and bring to the boil, stirring all the time, until it thickens. Add the sweetcorn at some stage. When it is boiling, turn off the heat and add half the grated cheese*, stirring until it melts. Stir in the cooked pasta, top with the remaining grated cheese, and either put under the grill until the cheese bubbles, or, if you have let it sit for any length of time, shove it in a moderate oven for half an hour.
* My daughter's absolute favourite was if I topped it with a slice of bread made into breadcrumbs and mixed with the grated cheese, but the Boy is on record as saying he didn't think he'd like that. And anyway, that really does need to be cooked in the oven, and time was slightly of the essence here!
1 small onion, chopped
1 packet lardons
1 small tin sweet corn
1 tin tomatoes
1 heaped tsp flour
Pepper to taste
A little dry mustard powder, to taste (about ¼ tsp)
About 100 g Cheddar cheese, grated.
100-125 g macaroni-type pasta (depending on how many are eating it)
Put the onions and lardons into a pan, and allow to cook until the onion has softened. Meanwhile, put the pasta on to boil according to the instructions on the packet. Place the tin of tomatoes, the flour and the seasonings into a jug, and whizz with a stick blender until smooth (or use a regular blender). Pour this mixture on to the top of the onions and lardons, and bring to the boil, stirring all the time, until it thickens. Add the sweetcorn at some stage. When it is boiling, turn off the heat and add half the grated cheese*, stirring until it melts. Stir in the cooked pasta, top with the remaining grated cheese, and either put under the grill until the cheese bubbles, or, if you have let it sit for any length of time, shove it in a moderate oven for half an hour.
* My daughter's absolute favourite was if I topped it with a slice of bread made into breadcrumbs and mixed with the grated cheese, but the Boy is on record as saying he didn't think he'd like that. And anyway, that really does need to be cooked in the oven, and time was slightly of the essence here!
14 April 2015
Salmon Fried Rice
I forgot to take a photo of this before eating it, and I don't think a photo of my empty plate would quite have the same effect! It was excellent.
2 salmon fillets
½ cup uncooked white or brown rice (125 ml by volume)
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 block frozen ginger (or similar amount of grated, fresh ginger, or even ½ tsp dried powder)
1 piece turmeric root (optional, but I had some to use up)
1 fresh chilli (if you don't have one, use dried or powder)
A large amount (I can't be more specific - a soup mugful?) of frozen peas, sweetcorn and broad beans. You could, of course, substitute other vegetables - broccoli would be nice, or mangetout, or whatever you fancy.
2 eggs
Chinese seasonings of your choice (soya sauce, 5-spice powder, whatever else)
Cook your rice as you usually do. Meanwhile, stir-fry the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and turmeric root, if using, fresh vegetables if you're using them, and the frozen veg. You can either fry the salmon in a separate pan, or cut it into chunks and stir-fry it with everything else, up to you.
Beat up the eggs with the seasoning, and add the cooked rice (you can cook this in advance, if you like - isn't it supposed to reduce the carb content? - but if you do, make very, very, very sure you chill it thoroughly and quickly) and eggs. Stir until the eggs are cooked and everything is piping hot. Serve at once, with chopsticks.
2 salmon fillets
½ cup uncooked white or brown rice (125 ml by volume)
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 block frozen ginger (or similar amount of grated, fresh ginger, or even ½ tsp dried powder)
1 piece turmeric root (optional, but I had some to use up)
1 fresh chilli (if you don't have one, use dried or powder)
A large amount (I can't be more specific - a soup mugful?) of frozen peas, sweetcorn and broad beans. You could, of course, substitute other vegetables - broccoli would be nice, or mangetout, or whatever you fancy.
2 eggs
Chinese seasonings of your choice (soya sauce, 5-spice powder, whatever else)
Cook your rice as you usually do. Meanwhile, stir-fry the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and turmeric root, if using, fresh vegetables if you're using them, and the frozen veg. You can either fry the salmon in a separate pan, or cut it into chunks and stir-fry it with everything else, up to you.
Beat up the eggs with the seasoning, and add the cooked rice (you can cook this in advance, if you like - isn't it supposed to reduce the carb content? - but if you do, make very, very, very sure you chill it thoroughly and quickly) and eggs. Stir until the eggs are cooked and everything is piping hot. Serve at once, with chopsticks.
11 March 2015
Inspired by......
For me, part of the point of recipes is that they can be a jumping-off point for your own dishes. Unless I am seriously trying to re-create a dish, I tend not to follow recipes too slavishly, especially when it's something like stew or a curry that can, and should, be modified to suit your own tastes.
So, anyway, the other day I read this recipe, for leek and feta croquettes. I thought they sounded lovely, but I know from past, bitter experience, that if I try to roll things in breadcrumbs and fry them, they go all over the place and seriously don't look like what they are supposed to look like. Probably because I rush them, but anyway.
And I had some butternut squash that wanted using up, and one of my favourite things to do with butternut squash is to mix it with feta and couscous in a tomato sauce. And I had far too many leeks.... and found a packet of udon noodles in the cupboard. And this was the result:
½ butternut squash, cut into chunks.
1 large leek, finely chopped
1 400 g tin tomatoes
2 tsp plain flour
1 tbs cooking oil
1 oz butter
½ packet feta cheese, crumbled
1 packed udon noodles
Put the squash, the leeks and the cooking oil into a frying-pan with a lid, and cook on a low heat, stirring fairly frequently, until the squash is soft and beginning to caramelise around the edges. Whizz the tomatoes with the flour with a stick blender until smooth; season to taste. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter, then add the tomato mixture and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Stir in the crumbled feta and pour over the leeks and squash. Adjust seasoning. Serve with the noodles which you have prepared according to the instructions on the packet (you can, of course, use another sort of noodles, or pasta, or whatever).
So, anyway, the other day I read this recipe, for leek and feta croquettes. I thought they sounded lovely, but I know from past, bitter experience, that if I try to roll things in breadcrumbs and fry them, they go all over the place and seriously don't look like what they are supposed to look like. Probably because I rush them, but anyway.
And I had some butternut squash that wanted using up, and one of my favourite things to do with butternut squash is to mix it with feta and couscous in a tomato sauce. And I had far too many leeks.... and found a packet of udon noodles in the cupboard. And this was the result:
½ butternut squash, cut into chunks.
1 large leek, finely chopped
1 400 g tin tomatoes
2 tsp plain flour
1 tbs cooking oil
1 oz butter
½ packet feta cheese, crumbled
1 packed udon noodles
Put the squash, the leeks and the cooking oil into a frying-pan with a lid, and cook on a low heat, stirring fairly frequently, until the squash is soft and beginning to caramelise around the edges. Whizz the tomatoes with the flour with a stick blender until smooth; season to taste. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter, then add the tomato mixture and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Stir in the crumbled feta and pour over the leeks and squash. Adjust seasoning. Serve with the noodles which you have prepared according to the instructions on the packet (you can, of course, use another sort of noodles, or pasta, or whatever).
17 January 2015
Seville Orange Marmalade
You can scale this up, as you wish. Each batch makes about 2½ kg, c. 5lbs of marmalade. There are a couple of different ways of doing it, both a hassle, but worth it in the end.
Ingredients:
1 1kg bag Seville oranges
1 kg preserving or granulated sugar
1 lemon
1 litre water (or less, depending which method you use).
First Method:
Place the whole fruit and the water in a pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Allow to cool. When fruit is cool enough to handle (you can leave it overnight, of course), cut each piece in half, scoop out the insides and return them to the pan, and chop the peels very finely. Boil the insides in the pan for 5 minutes, then strain to remove the pips. Add the chopped peel and sugar, and proceed as below.
Second Method:
Cut fruit in half and juice it. Measure the juice, and make up to 1 litre with water. Boil the pips with some of this liquid (about 150 ml) for 5 minutes, and make up the jug to 1 litre again. Strain the pips. Meanwhile, you have been chopping the peels, which is a lot harder when they are not cooked, but you save time by not having to wait for it to cool once the pressure cooker has lost pressure. Boil the chopped peel in the juice at high pressure for 20 minutes, allow to cool at room temperature, and then proceed.
Both Methods:
Put the sugar into a large pan and add the cooked fruit/water/juice mix. Stirring all the time, heat gently until it comes to the boil, then allow to boil, stirring frequently, until setting point is reached, which you test on a plate you had previously put in the freezer. "When it gels, it's jam" to quote Elizabeth Goudge. Allow to sit for ten minutes, then stir, pot in glass jars which you have sterilised in a warm oven while all this has been going on, and seal.
This is two batches. I'm wondering if it would be a best or worst of both worlds to cook the oranges after halving and juicing them, but before chopping. One would still have to wait until they were cool enough to handle, though, which is a nuisance unless you cook them before you go to bed and finish off next day. Still undecided about which method I prefer.....
For Susan Gerules.
Oh bum, just discovered I already posted this recipe back in 2012.... oh well. I could delete this, I suppose, but I've written it now....
Ingredients:
1 1kg bag Seville oranges
1 kg preserving or granulated sugar
1 lemon
1 litre water (or less, depending which method you use).
First Method:
Place the whole fruit and the water in a pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Allow to cool. When fruit is cool enough to handle (you can leave it overnight, of course), cut each piece in half, scoop out the insides and return them to the pan, and chop the peels very finely. Boil the insides in the pan for 5 minutes, then strain to remove the pips. Add the chopped peel and sugar, and proceed as below.
Second Method:
Cut fruit in half and juice it. Measure the juice, and make up to 1 litre with water. Boil the pips with some of this liquid (about 150 ml) for 5 minutes, and make up the jug to 1 litre again. Strain the pips. Meanwhile, you have been chopping the peels, which is a lot harder when they are not cooked, but you save time by not having to wait for it to cool once the pressure cooker has lost pressure. Boil the chopped peel in the juice at high pressure for 20 minutes, allow to cool at room temperature, and then proceed.
Both Methods:
Put the sugar into a large pan and add the cooked fruit/water/juice mix. Stirring all the time, heat gently until it comes to the boil, then allow to boil, stirring frequently, until setting point is reached, which you test on a plate you had previously put in the freezer. "When it gels, it's jam" to quote Elizabeth Goudge. Allow to sit for ten minutes, then stir, pot in glass jars which you have sterilised in a warm oven while all this has been going on, and seal.
For Susan Gerules.
Oh bum, just discovered I already posted this recipe back in 2012.... oh well. I could delete this, I suppose, but I've written it now....
10 January 2015
Crayfish curry
I don't like prawns, and have been made sick by them in the past, so I don't eat them. But I do like crayfish, and Lidl sells crayfish tails alongside prawns. So use whichever you like.
And what was left of the curry/rice mixture was even nicer next day!
1 tbs cooking oil
1 tsp each coriander seeds, cumin seeds (crushed in a pestle and mortar if necessary), black mustard seeds, turmeric, garam marsala, and dried crushed chillis
1 lump frozen ginger (or grate your own - I'm lazy!)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion
1 smallish sweet potato
1/3 vegetable marrow (or 1 smallish courgette)
1 tin tomatoes
Tinful of water (fill the unrinsed tin, to get the most juice)
1 tbs coconut milk powder (or use a tin of coconut milk instead of the water)
1 fish Stockpot (or stock cube, whatever)
1/2 cup (125 ml by volume) long grain rice
Packet cooked prawn or crayfish
Fry all the spices, the garlic and the ginger in the oil, stirring all the time. Then add the vegetables which you have peeled and chopped (and removed the seeds if you use a chunk of marrow). Cook these with the lid on over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, water, coconut powder and rice. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently, then lower the heat, cover, and leave to cook for 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked.
Divide the crayfish or prawns into two plates and spoon the curry over the top.
As I said, there was a little bit much for two, so we had the rest of it next day and it was even nicer!
And what was left of the curry/rice mixture was even nicer next day!
1 tbs cooking oil
1 tsp each coriander seeds, cumin seeds (crushed in a pestle and mortar if necessary), black mustard seeds, turmeric, garam marsala, and dried crushed chillis
1 lump frozen ginger (or grate your own - I'm lazy!)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion
1 smallish sweet potato
1/3 vegetable marrow (or 1 smallish courgette)
1 tin tomatoes
Tinful of water (fill the unrinsed tin, to get the most juice)
1 tbs coconut milk powder (or use a tin of coconut milk instead of the water)
1 fish Stockpot (or stock cube, whatever)
1/2 cup (125 ml by volume) long grain rice
Packet cooked prawn or crayfish
Fry all the spices, the garlic and the ginger in the oil, stirring all the time. Then add the vegetables which you have peeled and chopped (and removed the seeds if you use a chunk of marrow). Cook these with the lid on over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, water, coconut powder and rice. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently, then lower the heat, cover, and leave to cook for 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked.
Divide the crayfish or prawns into two plates and spoon the curry over the top.
As I said, there was a little bit much for two, so we had the rest of it next day and it was even nicer!
09 January 2015
Cheesy Eggy Bread
Warning: do not read this if you are being healthy for January. I was in need of comfort food today, and this was it!
Eggy Bread was a staple of school breakfasts, and very good it was, too. It wasn't quite the same as French toast, as I understand the latter to be sweet and served with fruit, while this was definitely savoury and could well be served with bacon.
So I decided to make an American-style "grilled cheese sandwich", but to soak the bread in beaten egg first.... yes, I know, heart attack on a plate, but there are times....
2 slices Tesco cornbread (which I have a craze on just now, but of course, any other bread will do just fine)
Cheddar cheese (or other melty cheese of your choice)
1 egg
Butter
Butter the bread and make a cheese sandwich with it. Beat the egg, and season with salt and pepper, then turn the sandwich over in it several times until the bread is soaked. Fry in butter on both sides, pouring any excess egg over the top of the bread..... Lovely! But really, not to be eaten too often!
Eggy Bread was a staple of school breakfasts, and very good it was, too. It wasn't quite the same as French toast, as I understand the latter to be sweet and served with fruit, while this was definitely savoury and could well be served with bacon.
So I decided to make an American-style "grilled cheese sandwich", but to soak the bread in beaten egg first.... yes, I know, heart attack on a plate, but there are times....
2 slices Tesco cornbread (which I have a craze on just now, but of course, any other bread will do just fine)
Cheddar cheese (or other melty cheese of your choice)
1 egg
Butter
Butter the bread and make a cheese sandwich with it. Beat the egg, and season with salt and pepper, then turn the sandwich over in it several times until the bread is soaked. Fry in butter on both sides, pouring any excess egg over the top of the bread..... Lovely! But really, not to be eaten too often!
16 December 2014
Chocolate-cranberry cake
I think this is only the third birthday cake I've made for the Swan Whisperer in all the years we've been married! And the other two were fruitcakes.
For the cake:
4 eggs
The same weight (c. 240 g) of butter/baking fat and sugar.
2 tbs cocoa powder, made up to 240 g with self-raising flour and a pinch of salt
2 tbs very strong black coffee
Cream fat and sugar together; add the eggs one at a time and beat in, add the coffee, and finally fold in the flour/cocoa powder mixture. Divide into 2 21-cm sponge tins and bake in a moderate oven (Mark 4) for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
For the cranberry filling:
About 75 g fresh cranberries (you don't need a huge amount)
Juice of 2 oranges (1 if it has made plenty - you want about 4-6 tbs)
2-3 tbs sugar (make it slightly sweeter than if you were making cranberry sauce for the Christmas table)
Put all of the above in a saucepan, put a lid on and cook until all the cranberries have gone "phut" (which is the noise they make as they cook). Allow to cool.
For the ganache topping:
1 bar Green and Black's Organic dark chocolate
1 large tbs crème fraiche
Any surplus juice from the cranberries
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water (or in a double saucepan, if you have such a thing); stir in cream and juice.
To assemble:
Have the nicer cake, if there is one, on the top. Spread the other one with the cranberries, then put the second cake on the top, and spread it with the ganache. Allow to cool thoroughly and keep refrigerated. Decorate as liked.....
For the cake:
4 eggs
The same weight (c. 240 g) of butter/baking fat and sugar.
2 tbs cocoa powder, made up to 240 g with self-raising flour and a pinch of salt
2 tbs very strong black coffee
Cream fat and sugar together; add the eggs one at a time and beat in, add the coffee, and finally fold in the flour/cocoa powder mixture. Divide into 2 21-cm sponge tins and bake in a moderate oven (Mark 4) for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
For the cranberry filling:
About 75 g fresh cranberries (you don't need a huge amount)
Juice of 2 oranges (1 if it has made plenty - you want about 4-6 tbs)
2-3 tbs sugar (make it slightly sweeter than if you were making cranberry sauce for the Christmas table)
Put all of the above in a saucepan, put a lid on and cook until all the cranberries have gone "phut" (which is the noise they make as they cook). Allow to cool.
For the ganache topping:
1 bar Green and Black's Organic dark chocolate
1 large tbs crème fraiche
Any surplus juice from the cranberries
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water (or in a double saucepan, if you have such a thing); stir in cream and juice.
To assemble:
Have the nicer cake, if there is one, on the top. Spread the other one with the cranberries, then put the second cake on the top, and spread it with the ganache. Allow to cool thoroughly and keep refrigerated. Decorate as liked.....
24 November 2014
Chicken Hash
I don't quite know what else to call this; I had been going to stir-fry my leftover chicken but then didn't go out so had no stir-fry vegetables (I do like beansprouts and water chestnuts in my stir-fries). So rethink time.....
1 tbs cooking oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 small swede
1 parsnip
1 sweet potato
2 small white potatoes
1/4 butternut squash
1/2 leek
3 cherry tomatoes (obviously you can add more, but this was the end of a punnet) A bit of cabbage 1/2 green pepper
A quantity of cooked chicken
A quantity of left-over gravy
Peel and chop all the vegetables into small pieces, and add the first 7 to a frying pan along with the oil and curry powder. Stir, cover, and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.
Now add the rest of the vegetables and cook for another 15-20 minutes,
and finally add the chopped chicken and gravy, and cook for 10 minutes or until it's piping hot. Make sure the pan is covered all the time except when you are stirring
it or adding more veg, so that they cook in their own steam. Adjust seasoning, and serve.
Of course, you can use whatever vegetables you like, and you don't have to use quite so many! But it was very good, and there is enough left for another meal later in the week. Meanwhile, I was making stock in the slow cooker!
1 tbs cooking oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 small swede
1 parsnip
1 sweet potato
2 small white potatoes
1/4 butternut squash
1/2 leek
3 cherry tomatoes (obviously you can add more, but this was the end of a punnet) A bit of cabbage 1/2 green pepper
A quantity of cooked chicken
A quantity of left-over gravy
Peel and chop all the vegetables into small pieces, and add the first 7 to a frying pan along with the oil and curry powder. Stir, cover, and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.
Now add the rest of the vegetables and cook for another 15-20 minutes,
Of course, you can use whatever vegetables you like, and you don't have to use quite so many! But it was very good, and there is enough left for another meal later in the week. Meanwhile, I was making stock in the slow cooker!
16 November 2014
Victoria Sandwich
I very seldom make sponge cakes. My old oven wouldn't, and although my new one does quite beautifully, we have managed for over 35 years without eating sponge cake regularly, and I fail to see why we can't go on doing so, or rather, not doing so. But when asked to contribute a cake for the ice dance club's post-RIDL buffet, I happily volunteered.
I grew up eating these sponge cakes, and have always known how to make them (although I did have to check with my mother, both about flavouring this particular cake with orange, and about how you make butter icing, although in the end I went with the recipe on the side of the packet of icing sugar, using orange juice instead of milk or cream). They are actually very easy to make, and it was only that they would not rise in my old oven but came out flat and miserable.
I have 21 cm diameter sponge tins, so made this cake with 4 eggs. If your sponge tins are smaller, use 3 eggs, or even 2. My grandmother used to make just one layer, so used only one egg.
Weigh your eggs, and then accumulate the same amount of butter (or baking margarine), sugar and self-raising flour. For 4 eggs, which is what I used, it was 240g, which meant the last 10g of baking marg got used to grease the tin.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (an electric mixer is the easiest thing to use for this). Add in the eggs one at a time, and continue to whisk until they are incorporated. Now fold in the flour, into which you have added a tiny pinch of salt. Divide the mixture among your sponge tins, and bake in a moderately hot oven (c gas 5, or 200 C - 180 in a fan oven) until it is cooked, which will take around 25 minutes or so. If you bake the sponge in one tin, it will take longer, of course. When it is cooked - when a skewer or very thin knife inserted into the top comes out clean - remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
That's your basic Victoria sandwich. Mine - pictured - was an orange cake so I added the zest of an orange to the cake mixture, and substituted orange juice for milk in the icing (according to Tate & Lyle's recipe, which was beat 75 g butter until light and fluffy, slowly incorporate 175 g icing sugar, and then as much milk or cream - or orange or lemon juice - as you need). You can, of course, substitute unsweetened cocoa powder for 25g or so of the flour, and also for some of the icing sugar to make a chocolate cake. Or for a delicious cake that can be used as pudding, sandwich it together with jam and whipped cream, or fresh fruit and whipped cream.... and sprinkle a little icing sugar on the top through a tea-strainer if you want to make it look "finished".
You can also use this mixture to make a hot pudding, putting jam or cooked fruit in the bottom of the dish and the cake mixture on top, then turn it out and serve hot with cream or custard. Or both. You can cook this in the microwave, as, indeed, you can the cake itself, but the texture is Not the Same.
I grew up eating these sponge cakes, and have always known how to make them (although I did have to check with my mother, both about flavouring this particular cake with orange, and about how you make butter icing, although in the end I went with the recipe on the side of the packet of icing sugar, using orange juice instead of milk or cream). They are actually very easy to make, and it was only that they would not rise in my old oven but came out flat and miserable.
I have 21 cm diameter sponge tins, so made this cake with 4 eggs. If your sponge tins are smaller, use 3 eggs, or even 2. My grandmother used to make just one layer, so used only one egg.
Weigh your eggs, and then accumulate the same amount of butter (or baking margarine), sugar and self-raising flour. For 4 eggs, which is what I used, it was 240g, which meant the last 10g of baking marg got used to grease the tin.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (an electric mixer is the easiest thing to use for this). Add in the eggs one at a time, and continue to whisk until they are incorporated. Now fold in the flour, into which you have added a tiny pinch of salt. Divide the mixture among your sponge tins, and bake in a moderately hot oven (c gas 5, or 200 C - 180 in a fan oven) until it is cooked, which will take around 25 minutes or so. If you bake the sponge in one tin, it will take longer, of course. When it is cooked - when a skewer or very thin knife inserted into the top comes out clean - remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
That's your basic Victoria sandwich. Mine - pictured - was an orange cake so I added the zest of an orange to the cake mixture, and substituted orange juice for milk in the icing (according to Tate & Lyle's recipe, which was beat 75 g butter until light and fluffy, slowly incorporate 175 g icing sugar, and then as much milk or cream - or orange or lemon juice - as you need). You can, of course, substitute unsweetened cocoa powder for 25g or so of the flour, and also for some of the icing sugar to make a chocolate cake. Or for a delicious cake that can be used as pudding, sandwich it together with jam and whipped cream, or fresh fruit and whipped cream.... and sprinkle a little icing sugar on the top through a tea-strainer if you want to make it look "finished".
You can also use this mixture to make a hot pudding, putting jam or cooked fruit in the bottom of the dish and the cake mixture on top, then turn it out and serve hot with cream or custard. Or both. You can cook this in the microwave, as, indeed, you can the cake itself, but the texture is Not the Same.
25 October 2014
Udon with butternut squash, tomato and feta
Sorry there aren't any photos - wasn't thinking! But this was seriously delicious.
2 tbsp oil
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 tsp za'atar or rosemary or something similar
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1 large clove garlic
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tsp home-made pesto (if you happen to have any!)
1 packet udon noodles
1/2 packet feta cheese
Put the squash into a lidded frying pan with 1 tbsp of the oil (I used stir-fry oil on this one) and the herbs, and cook gently until really soft and squishy and beginning to caramelise. This takes up to 45 minutes, so if you're in a hurry, do it in the microwave for 5 minutes before transferring to the frying pan.
Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce by putting the remaining tbsp of oil (I used rapeseed, but olive is also vg), vinegar, crushed garlic and pierced tomatoes into a saucepan, cover, and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes, until the juices run. Put this into a food processor with the pesto, if you have any, or some fresh basil or, if all else fails, some dried marjoram or thyme, and work until smooth.
Cube the feta cheese, and prepare the udon according to the instructions on the packet.
Once the squash is cooked, combine everything in the frying-pan and make sure it is all piping hot. Serve at once - we weren't sure whether to eat it with chopsticks or a spoon and fork!
2 tbsp oil
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 tsp za'atar or rosemary or something similar
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1 large clove garlic
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tsp home-made pesto (if you happen to have any!)
1 packet udon noodles
1/2 packet feta cheese
Put the squash into a lidded frying pan with 1 tbsp of the oil (I used stir-fry oil on this one) and the herbs, and cook gently until really soft and squishy and beginning to caramelise. This takes up to 45 minutes, so if you're in a hurry, do it in the microwave for 5 minutes before transferring to the frying pan.
Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce by putting the remaining tbsp of oil (I used rapeseed, but olive is also vg), vinegar, crushed garlic and pierced tomatoes into a saucepan, cover, and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes, until the juices run. Put this into a food processor with the pesto, if you have any, or some fresh basil or, if all else fails, some dried marjoram or thyme, and work until smooth.
Cube the feta cheese, and prepare the udon according to the instructions on the packet.
Once the squash is cooked, combine everything in the frying-pan and make sure it is all piping hot. Serve at once - we weren't sure whether to eat it with chopsticks or a spoon and fork!
07 October 2014
Bacon and sweetcorn chowder
I had a couple of corns-on-the-cob that wanted eating, and not very much else in the house. And the Swan Whisperer has a cold, and I'm recovering from one and now have a bad cough, which is leaving me very drained. So this was rather comfort food!
1 ½ corns-on-the-cob (it was going to be 2, but there was a Nasty on one of them, so I had to throw half of it out)
1 small tin sweetcorn
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 packet lardons
4 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
About 300 ml milk and the same of water (I didn't really measure)
Pepper, and a dash of chilli sherry (use any chilli sauce, or even powdered chilli, but not too much)
Cook the corns-on-the-cob however you usually do - I usually use my microwave steamer. Let them cool a bit. Put the lardons in a heavy-based pan, and cook gently. Add the onions, garlic and potatoes, cover, and let them cook in their own steam for a few minutes. Meanwhile, put the contents of the tin of sweetcorn into a blender and process with a little milk until smooth. Cut the corn kernels off the cob with a sharp knife, and add these to the saucepan. Add the creamed sweetcorn and the rest of the milk. Top up to a nice amount with water. Season. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. I actually did this in two lots, letting it stand for about an hour as I was busy. This may or may not have improved the flavour!
1 ½ corns-on-the-cob (it was going to be 2, but there was a Nasty on one of them, so I had to throw half of it out)
1 small tin sweetcorn
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 packet lardons
4 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
About 300 ml milk and the same of water (I didn't really measure)
Pepper, and a dash of chilli sherry (use any chilli sauce, or even powdered chilli, but not too much)
Cook the corns-on-the-cob however you usually do - I usually use my microwave steamer. Let them cool a bit. Put the lardons in a heavy-based pan, and cook gently. Add the onions, garlic and potatoes, cover, and let them cook in their own steam for a few minutes. Meanwhile, put the contents of the tin of sweetcorn into a blender and process with a little milk until smooth. Cut the corn kernels off the cob with a sharp knife, and add these to the saucepan. Add the creamed sweetcorn and the rest of the milk. Top up to a nice amount with water. Season. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. I actually did this in two lots, letting it stand for about an hour as I was busy. This may or may not have improved the flavour!
29 September 2014
Minestrone
I have a new cooker! This is a cause for wild excitement, as I have not had one before in all our married life - we started off with a new one (the cooker, the fridge and the bed were the only things we bought new, all those years ago when we were just starting out and money was tight), and had never replaced it. It was still serviceable, although the electronic starter had long since demised, the oven door was difficult to shut and the numbers had all rubbed off the knobs.
But we have bought a new one, and transformed our kitchen, as we had room to put the microwave above it, which has made more room than anybody would think possible.
Another cause for wild excitement is that the oven appears to make sponge cakes! My old oven never did - it made wonderful Dundee cakes, but ask it to cook a sponge and it would produce something like a flat biscuit. I am still experimenting, as it appears that the oven is very cool and sponge cakes take about twice as long to cook as one would expect, but There Will Be Recipes when I am more confident!
Meanwhile, it seems early in the year for soup, but I have a bad cough, legacy of last week's cold, and wanted something comforting, and as I had seen "soup pasta" in Tesco, I reckoned minestrone was the way to go. So I googled various recipes, mostly from the BBC Good Food website, looked at what was in the fridge, and came up with this:
Just under 1/2 cup cannellini beans
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion
1 leek
1 parsnip
3 small carrots
½ small swede
3-4 small new potatoes (ordinary ones are fine)
The end of a marrow (substitute a medium courgette)
A few mushrooms, sliced
1 chilli pepper
1 large clove garlic
Some basil leaves
Sloosh tomato paste
1 tin chopped tomatoes
About 75 g small pasta
Vegetable "Stock pot"
2 litres water
Soak the beans overnight, then bring to the boil in fresh water to which you may or may not have added a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Boil hard for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Or use a tin, but I personally prefer the texture of fresh-cooked ones.
Meanwhile chop the vegetables very finely. You might want to use your food processor - I blitzed the chilli, garlic and basil together, then used the coarse grater on everything else except the potatoes, which I chipped, and the mushrooms, which I sliced.
Put the result into a heavy-based large casserole dish with 2 tbs olive oil, stir, cover, and leave to "sweat" on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, tin of tomatoes, 2 litres of water, stock cube, seasonings of whatever takes your fancy (I had some Lebanese spice mix which wanted finished, so I added that), and finally the beans and pasta.
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with loads of grated cheese, ideally Parmesan but whatever....
This makes masses, but it will keep for several days in the fridge.
Meanwhile, it seems early in the year for soup, but I have a bad cough, legacy of last week's cold, and wanted something comforting, and as I had seen "soup pasta" in Tesco, I reckoned minestrone was the way to go. So I googled various recipes, mostly from the BBC Good Food website, looked at what was in the fridge, and came up with this:
Just under 1/2 cup cannellini beans
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion
1 leek
1 parsnip
3 small carrots
½ small swede
3-4 small new potatoes (ordinary ones are fine)
The end of a marrow (substitute a medium courgette)
A few mushrooms, sliced
1 chilli pepper
1 large clove garlic
Some basil leaves
Sloosh tomato paste
1 tin chopped tomatoes
About 75 g small pasta
Vegetable "Stock pot"
2 litres water
Soak the beans overnight, then bring to the boil in fresh water to which you may or may not have added a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Boil hard for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Or use a tin, but I personally prefer the texture of fresh-cooked ones.
Meanwhile chop the vegetables very finely. You might want to use your food processor - I blitzed the chilli, garlic and basil together, then used the coarse grater on everything else except the potatoes, which I chipped, and the mushrooms, which I sliced.
Put the result into a heavy-based large casserole dish with 2 tbs olive oil, stir, cover, and leave to "sweat" on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, tin of tomatoes, 2 litres of water, stock cube, seasonings of whatever takes your fancy (I had some Lebanese spice mix which wanted finished, so I added that), and finally the beans and pasta.
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with loads of grated cheese, ideally Parmesan but whatever....
This makes masses, but it will keep for several days in the fridge.
12 September 2014
Gluten-free cheese scones
An unexpected - and very, very welcome - visit from my sister-in-law and her husband this evening. And no cake or anything in the house. So I thought I'd make cheese scones, which are quick and easy - but just as I was standing on the stool looking for the flour, I remembered that my sister-in-law has coeliac disease and wouldn't be able to eat normal scones. But, of course, neither gram flour nor buckwheat flour has gluten in it.... this might work....
125 g gram flour (besan, chick pea flour)
125 g buckwheat flour
Pinch dry mustard powder or cayenne pepper
50 g butter
125 g strong Cheddar, grated
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp lemon juice
About 120 ml milk
Rub the butter into the combined flours and baking soda, then stir in the cheese. Add the lemon juice, and then gradually add the milk until it comes together in a ball (I was using a food processor, as time was off the essence). Squish it all together, then flatten into a rough disk and bake in a hot oven (Mark 7) for 15 minutes. Serve at once, with butter.
No, they weren't as good as normal cheese scones would have been, but they were eminently edible!
125 g gram flour (besan, chick pea flour)
125 g buckwheat flour
Pinch dry mustard powder or cayenne pepper
50 g butter
125 g strong Cheddar, grated
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp lemon juice
About 120 ml milk
Rub the butter into the combined flours and baking soda, then stir in the cheese. Add the lemon juice, and then gradually add the milk until it comes together in a ball (I was using a food processor, as time was off the essence). Squish it all together, then flatten into a rough disk and bake in a hot oven (Mark 7) for 15 minutes. Serve at once, with butter.
11 September 2014
Mung bean and cauliflower risotto
This was inspired by Clothilde's photo on Facebook from a new restaurant. I'm sure this wasn't as good as what she was served, but it was nevertheless delicious!
1/2 cup mung beans
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion
About 1/4-1/3 of a large cauliflower
1/2 cup risotto rice
250 ml white wine
500 ml vegetable or chicken stock (if you have home-made chicken stock, use that; if not, use a vegetable Knorr Stock Pot, or Tesco's own brand equivalent which I think is nicer)
About 60g Parmesan cheese
Soak the mung beans for several hours, then change the water, bring to the boil, and boil hard for 10 minutes. While this is happening, chop the onion and cauliflower, and sweat in the olive oil. Add the rice, and stir thoroughly. Add the drained mung beans, and then the wine. Season, and bring to the boil, stirring all the time, and then allow to simmer for 7-10 minutes. Add the stock, bring back to the boil, again stirring all the time, and simmer for a further 10 minutes, perhaps a little longer if it is still very liquid. Stir in the Parmesan and serve at once.
1/2 cup mung beans
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion
About 1/4-1/3 of a large cauliflower
1/2 cup risotto rice
250 ml white wine
500 ml vegetable or chicken stock (if you have home-made chicken stock, use that; if not, use a vegetable Knorr Stock Pot, or Tesco's own brand equivalent which I think is nicer)
About 60g Parmesan cheese
Soak the mung beans for several hours, then change the water, bring to the boil, and boil hard for 10 minutes. While this is happening, chop the onion and cauliflower, and sweat in the olive oil. Add the rice, and stir thoroughly. Add the drained mung beans, and then the wine. Season, and bring to the boil, stirring all the time, and then allow to simmer for 7-10 minutes. Add the stock, bring back to the boil, again stirring all the time, and simmer for a further 10 minutes, perhaps a little longer if it is still very liquid. Stir in the Parmesan and serve at once.
01 September 2014
Sandwich fillings and lunchboxes
This post was inspired by a conversation I was having in a group on Facebook, plus the fact that schools in England and Wales are poised to go back this week. Mind you, Reception and Year 1 get free school dinners now, so the youngest probably won't be taking their own lunches, but still. Adults like to take sandwiches and wraps, too - and one's own are so much nicer than bought, even if it's nice to buy them occasionally. Who has time to make their own BLT of a morning?
So you start with the bread. I tend to always use bought bread for a sandwich, but if you can slice your home-baked loaves thin enough, go for it! My personal preference is a seeded wholegrain loaf. Pitta bread or tortilla wraps are nice for a change, too. Also, now that Lidl do such delicious rolls, baked fresh each day, I'll often go out and buy one specially (Lidl is all of 50 yards away!). But then, I tend to make my sandwiches when I want them; for lunchboxes, I would find a roll difficult to manage.
If whatever you are using for a filling doesn't spread readily, you might want to use a little butter (or equivalent, if you're vegan), but if it's something like cream cheese, it doesn't need it.
I divide sandwiches into two - the main event, as it were, and the garnish. The garnish is something vegetable - tomatoes, cucumber, sliced peppers, avocado, lettuce, grapes, any or all of the above! Even banana can be nice, especially with peanut butter (although that is a combination I prefer in a breakfast sandwich). If you're making your sandwich to take to work, avoid sliced tomatoes and cucumber, as they can make it soggy; use cherry tomatoes instead, and take a hunk of cucumber to eat separately. Oh, and don't forget pickle (or chutney) with a strong cheese.
The main event can be all sorts of things - hummus or peanut butter if you want a vegan sandwich, or all sorts of different kinds of cheese, including cream cheese (with or without Marmite) and cottage cheese. Or egg mayonnaise - I always put chopped spring onions in mine; my mother uses chives to the same effect. Grated cheese and carrot, bound with a scrap of mayonnaise, works well, too.
I was thinking in the supermarket that you could sprinkle sunflower seeds into your sandwich for extra crunch - Lidl sells them at the checkouts, which I find far, far more tempting than the sweets they've replaced! Ah well.
For omnivores, of course, there is pate, there is ham, there are all sorts of proprietary sliced meats, or you could use some cold chicken (for instance) if you have some. Bacon is good, but nicest when eaten freshly cooked, so we save our bacon and avocado sandwiches for the weekend. Cold sausages work well, too. And don't forget smoked salmon, which can be bought very cheaply nowadays - with cream cheese and avocado, it is a feast! Or, if you like tinned fish, you could always mash some up; not sure how well they would travel, though.
If you get sick of sandwiches, as we all do sometimes, there's plenty of other things to take. Salad is always good - what works best is to put the "nice bits" (chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, scallions, avocados, sunflower seeds, etc) with the dressing into one container and keep the greenery - lettuce, Chinese leaves, baby spinach, rocket, etc - separate, combining them all at the last minute. You can buy - or make, if you're that way inclined - all sorts of nice bits for protein: falafel, pork pies, quiches, even a Cornish pasty (nicest hotted up, so I hope work has a microwave - if it does, you can take a mug of soup, too; they sell special mugs to take soup in these days. And if you have a shaming taste, as I do, for ramen noodles.... sometimes I cook those in the microwave and then poach an egg in them, which is lovely! Not very good for you, mind, but still lovely!
Then there are all sorts of rice salads or couscous salads you can make or buy to eat. Home-made is often nicer, but I do rather like bought couscous salad! And sometimes I like a box of (preferably veggie) sushi as part of my lunch!
All very vague and off the top of my head.
So you start with the bread. I tend to always use bought bread for a sandwich, but if you can slice your home-baked loaves thin enough, go for it! My personal preference is a seeded wholegrain loaf. Pitta bread or tortilla wraps are nice for a change, too. Also, now that Lidl do such delicious rolls, baked fresh each day, I'll often go out and buy one specially (Lidl is all of 50 yards away!). But then, I tend to make my sandwiches when I want them; for lunchboxes, I would find a roll difficult to manage.
If whatever you are using for a filling doesn't spread readily, you might want to use a little butter (or equivalent, if you're vegan), but if it's something like cream cheese, it doesn't need it.
I divide sandwiches into two - the main event, as it were, and the garnish. The garnish is something vegetable - tomatoes, cucumber, sliced peppers, avocado, lettuce, grapes, any or all of the above! Even banana can be nice, especially with peanut butter (although that is a combination I prefer in a breakfast sandwich). If you're making your sandwich to take to work, avoid sliced tomatoes and cucumber, as they can make it soggy; use cherry tomatoes instead, and take a hunk of cucumber to eat separately. Oh, and don't forget pickle (or chutney) with a strong cheese.
The main event can be all sorts of things - hummus or peanut butter if you want a vegan sandwich, or all sorts of different kinds of cheese, including cream cheese (with or without Marmite) and cottage cheese. Or egg mayonnaise - I always put chopped spring onions in mine; my mother uses chives to the same effect. Grated cheese and carrot, bound with a scrap of mayonnaise, works well, too.
I was thinking in the supermarket that you could sprinkle sunflower seeds into your sandwich for extra crunch - Lidl sells them at the checkouts, which I find far, far more tempting than the sweets they've replaced! Ah well.
For omnivores, of course, there is pate, there is ham, there are all sorts of proprietary sliced meats, or you could use some cold chicken (for instance) if you have some. Bacon is good, but nicest when eaten freshly cooked, so we save our bacon and avocado sandwiches for the weekend. Cold sausages work well, too. And don't forget smoked salmon, which can be bought very cheaply nowadays - with cream cheese and avocado, it is a feast! Or, if you like tinned fish, you could always mash some up; not sure how well they would travel, though.
If you get sick of sandwiches, as we all do sometimes, there's plenty of other things to take. Salad is always good - what works best is to put the "nice bits" (chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, scallions, avocados, sunflower seeds, etc) with the dressing into one container and keep the greenery - lettuce, Chinese leaves, baby spinach, rocket, etc - separate, combining them all at the last minute. You can buy - or make, if you're that way inclined - all sorts of nice bits for protein: falafel, pork pies, quiches, even a Cornish pasty (nicest hotted up, so I hope work has a microwave - if it does, you can take a mug of soup, too; they sell special mugs to take soup in these days. And if you have a shaming taste, as I do, for ramen noodles.... sometimes I cook those in the microwave and then poach an egg in them, which is lovely! Not very good for you, mind, but still lovely!
Then there are all sorts of rice salads or couscous salads you can make or buy to eat. Home-made is often nicer, but I do rather like bought couscous salad! And sometimes I like a box of (preferably veggie) sushi as part of my lunch!
All very vague and off the top of my head.
23 August 2014
Gran's Peach and Orange Conserve
I was making apricot and nectarine jam the other day - the nectarine was to make up the weight, as Someone (who had better be nameless, but wasn't me) had been eating the apricots - when I remembered that my grandmother had made a very delicious peach and orange conserve. So I emailed my mother to ask for the recipe. She says that it was her recipe, not Gran's, but either Gran used to make it, or she took ownership of it (she was that kind of person), as I think of it as Gran's.
So this was Mummy's recipe, which I have made today (I did think of taking photos, but no matter how careful you are, making jam is a sticky business and I really don't want a sticky phone), and is delicious:
8 peaches
5 oranges
100 g blanched almonds
3 lbs sugar (1.36 kg) sugar. I used 1 kg preserving sugar, then made it up with ordinary granulated.
Peel the peaches (the easiest way to do this is to pour boiling water on them and leave for 1 minute, after which the skins should slip off easily) and then cut into chunks, discarding the stones.
Cut the oranges in half and discard any stones; then puree the whole thing (skin, pith, pulp and all) in a food processor.
Roast the almonds (I used a dry frying pan) and cut into smallish pieces (you can do this while the jam is boiling)
Put fruit and sugar into a preserving pan, and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, and allow to boil until setting-point is reached. Stir in the almonds, pot, seal and enjoy!
(For Dorian E Gray)
So this was Mummy's recipe, which I have made today (I did think of taking photos, but no matter how careful you are, making jam is a sticky business and I really don't want a sticky phone), and is delicious:
8 peaches
5 oranges
100 g blanched almonds
3 lbs sugar (1.36 kg) sugar. I used 1 kg preserving sugar, then made it up with ordinary granulated.
Peel the peaches (the easiest way to do this is to pour boiling water on them and leave for 1 minute, after which the skins should slip off easily) and then cut into chunks, discarding the stones.
Cut the oranges in half and discard any stones; then puree the whole thing (skin, pith, pulp and all) in a food processor.
Roast the almonds (I used a dry frying pan) and cut into smallish pieces (you can do this while the jam is boiling)
Put fruit and sugar into a preserving pan, and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, and allow to boil until setting-point is reached. Stir in the almonds, pot, seal and enjoy!
(For Dorian E Gray)
18 August 2014
Chicken Stock
I always feel it is a fearful waste of a chicken not to make stock from the bones. And yesterday we had a chicken, so today:
Bones of a roast or otherwise cooked chicken - remove as much of the meat as you can, and save that to eat another time.
1-2 onions, peeled and quartered
1-2 large carrots, ditto
The green parts (the bits you usually discard) of a leek or two
A stick of celery is traditional, but we don't like the flavour of cooked celery, so we don't use that.
Lots of seasoning - salt, pepper, a couple of cloves, some mushroom ketchup, Worcestershire sauce.... whatever. I usually add a chicken "Stock pot" gel.
Up to 2 litres boiling water
Put everything in either a slow cooker and cook on auto for about 8 hours (which is what I did) or a pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Strain the liquid, and discard all the solids. Use in soups, risottos, etc - or you could poach another chicken in it.....
Bones of a roast or otherwise cooked chicken - remove as much of the meat as you can, and save that to eat another time.
1-2 onions, peeled and quartered
1-2 large carrots, ditto
The green parts (the bits you usually discard) of a leek or two
A stick of celery is traditional, but we don't like the flavour of cooked celery, so we don't use that.
Lots of seasoning - salt, pepper, a couple of cloves, some mushroom ketchup, Worcestershire sauce.... whatever. I usually add a chicken "Stock pot" gel.
Up to 2 litres boiling water
Put everything in either a slow cooker and cook on auto for about 8 hours (which is what I did) or a pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Strain the liquid, and discard all the solids. Use in soups, risottos, etc - or you could poach another chicken in it.....
17 August 2014
Nachos
Haven't taken any photos, I'm afraid, but nachos aren't terribly photogenic. They are, however, delicious. Quantities are approximate.
1 large packet tortilla chips
60 g cheese - I like the kind with chillies in it for this, but plain is fine, too
1 tbs milk
Melt the cheese and milk together in a saucepan, stirring all the time, and then pour over the chips.
That's basically it, but to make it a proper meal, serve with any or all of the following:
Guacamole, either bought or home-made*
Sour cream dip
Fresh salsa, again, either bought or home-made. I made a nectarine/tomato salsa, as follows:
2 large tomatoes
1 red onion
1 nectarine (or peach, of course)
1 chilli pepper
Bunch of coriander (cilantro)
1 tbs lime juice
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper
Peel and chop all the vegetables and mix together with the rest of the ingredients. This is nicer if you make it an hour or so before the meal, to give the flavours a chance to mix.
* Or you could chop the avocado into the fresh salsa, which is what I was going to do, only my avocados weren't ripe, so I popped out and bought some guacamole.
1 large packet tortilla chips
60 g cheese - I like the kind with chillies in it for this, but plain is fine, too
1 tbs milk
Melt the cheese and milk together in a saucepan, stirring all the time, and then pour over the chips.
That's basically it, but to make it a proper meal, serve with any or all of the following:
Guacamole, either bought or home-made*
Sour cream dip
Fresh salsa, again, either bought or home-made. I made a nectarine/tomato salsa, as follows:
2 large tomatoes
1 red onion
1 nectarine (or peach, of course)
1 chilli pepper
Bunch of coriander (cilantro)
1 tbs lime juice
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper
Peel and chop all the vegetables and mix together with the rest of the ingredients. This is nicer if you make it an hour or so before the meal, to give the flavours a chance to mix.
* Or you could chop the avocado into the fresh salsa, which is what I was going to do, only my avocados weren't ripe, so I popped out and bought some guacamole.
12 August 2014
Simple tomato sauce
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes (or quantity to suit you)
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
1 tbs each olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper, possibly a little oregano or marjoram.
Pierce the cherry tomatoes and put in a saucepan with the other ingredients.
Cover, and cook gently until the juices run.
Transfer to a blender or food processor and work until smooth.
Bring back to the boil.
Delicious with fresh pasta, and a dollop of pesto on top.
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
1 tbs each olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper, possibly a little oregano or marjoram.
Pierce the cherry tomatoes and put in a saucepan with the other ingredients.
Delicious with fresh pasta, and a dollop of pesto on top.
25 July 2014
Cucumber Slush
Half fill a blender goblet with ice, add a chunk (about 3 cm) of cucumber, cut slightly smaller, and a sprig of mint if you have it (I didn't). Cover with chilled water and process until slushy.
If you don't like cucumber, or don't find this sweet enough, why not try melon? Or even mango or peach?
If you don't like cucumber, or don't find this sweet enough, why not try melon? Or even mango or peach?
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