December 28th - I needed something light and tasty after all the rich food of Christmas. Meat-free. I was also still feeling inspired by my new cookbook and surprisingly had every ingredient (must be a first) for Parmesan, Ricotta, Spinach and Eggplant Involtini. And no, I had never heard of those either. First I made a basic tomato sauce. The aubergine were sliced thinly, brushed with olive oil and baked for just 15 minutes until golden. The filling was some frozen spinach, which I steamed to defrost and cook, mixed with 400g of ricotta and half a cup of grated Parmesan. I also grated in a bit of lemon zest. This mixture was rolled into the aubergine slices to make kind of vegetable cannelloni. They were covered in the tomato sauce and some more Parmesan and baked for 15 minutes. Just the job!
Thursday, 31 December 2015
Thai Turkey
December 27th - Thankfully there was not too much turkey left and I'd planned a Leek and Turkey pie with a crunchy potato topping. However there were a couple of problems with my plan, namely there were no leeks or potatoes in the Coop. But I did have an aubergine and some green beans .... And a new recipe book; Easy Week Night Meals. Just my sort of book. So Thai Green Fish Curry with Beans, Capiscum and Eggplant it was. For fish read Turkey! I'd always used green Thai paste from a jar however I whizzed up onion, ground coriander, grated ginger, salt, fish sauce, garlic, coriander, green chillies, turmeric and some tomato paste to make my own curry paste. Then into the pan went sliced onion and garlic, followed by the curry paste and a tin of coconut milk. This was followed by the chopped aubergine and sliced red pepper, then a bit later the green beans and finally the turkey. A zap of lime juice finished it off.
Boiling Oranges
December 24th - By now I was on a mammoth cooking session. Pre-making gravy. Shortbread. Icing the Christmas cake. Florentines. Truffles. Well you do need a bit of a selection for the festive season. I'd been watching a Tom Kerridge Christmas cooking programme and seen what looked like a really easy gluten free cake - perfect for Mr Paleo. Spiced Orange Cake. The first part of this recipe was to boil 3 oranges for a couple of hours until they turned all squidgy. They were then put into the food processor and blitzed to make an orange pulp. To the processor you then add 300g each of ground almonds and caster sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and a teaspoon each of ground ginger and cinnamon then finally 7 eggs. The cake took about an hour to cook in my oven and it was lush. On TV it was served with a Christmas pudding ice cream but it tasted great on it's own too.
The Final Straight
December 22nd - My mum was coming for Christmas and arriving off the late ferry. I'd just finished work, had had a couple of glasses of bubbly and a few nibbles so would have been quite happy with the usual bagel...but mum phoned to say she would wait and have something to eat with us when she arrived! Aah! Rushed off down to the Co-op and bought some chicken. Creamy Pot-Roast Chicken seemed ideal....apart from the slow cooker for 6-7 hours! A couple of finely sliced onions were gently fried and then garlic and some bacon pieces added. I browned the chicken pieces and added them to the onions with a glass of wine, some thyme from the garden and some chopped parsley. I left that lot in the oven while I dashed off to pick mum off the ferry and then all I needed to do when I came back was added a bit of cream and cook some green beans. Not a bad dish for visiting mothers!
Ta Dah!
December 20th - As you have probably gathered by now, I am an avid Masterchef watcher. I have often wondered about chocolate fondants. Warm. Pudding. Oozing with Chocolate. Smidge of cream to go with it. Pudding heaven if you ask me. And yet the words of Greg linger in my head about "the road to Masterchef being littered with failed chocolate fondants...." Well as the end of my year is drawing to a close I decided that I needed to push the boat out and give a chocolate fondant a bash. Last week when I was away Christmas shopping I bought myself some of those professional looking moulds to make them with. I used a recipe that my son had got from the kitchen of Bridgend Hotel....scaling it down from 15 eggs to 3!! You need to whisk the eggs and sugar for 10 minutes until it is firm while melting the chocolate and butter together. Then the whole lot was folded together. My oven cooks things really quick so I put the temperature down and cooked for 6 minutes instead of 7. Just set....but no runny chocolate. Tasted great. But not quite right. Take 2. Five minutes in the oven. Fondant perfection. Nailed it! Felt very proud!
Monday, 28 December 2015
Noodly Soup Take 2
December 15th - I'm desperately trying to free up some space in my freezer by using up things that have been hanging around a while. I'd found a couple of steaks but really wanted something light and healthy. Another Jamie Oliver recipe for Rib Eye Stir Fry with Dan Dan Noodles looked like it could be adapted to suit making an Asian style broth type thing. I took some of the steak ingredients and noodle ingredients and combined them to make a broth - chilli, garlic, ginger, chilli oil, soy sauce, chicken stock, a squeeze of honey and lime juice. I flung in a bit of fish sauce and bit of sesame oil for good measure figuring that it would make things taste a bit authentic! Then noodles, mangetout, spring onion and coriander were added. The steak was rubbed with Chinese Five Spice and griddled. After it was cooked and rested I sliced it thinly and stuck it on top of the noodly broth. Tasted great.
Beyond the Call
December 9th - The pressure was on. I knew I needed to make a new recipe because I was going away for the weekend to get some Christmas shopping and I would be out at the panto for the next two nights. Having got to this stage in my resolution I was determined not to blow it now! But I was feeling awful and pretty much off food altogether. Decided on a soup. I'd been meaning to make a lakhsa for ages (had seen them on Masterchef!) so I found a recipe for Squash Laksa Soup by Jamie Oliver online. First I chopped up a butternut squash, drizzled it with olive oil and chilli flakes and put it in the oven. Then I whizzed a couple of red chillIt's, three cloves of garlic, some fresh ginger and a handful of coriander stalks in the food processor before adding some fish sauce, sesame oil, lime juice and zest. This paste was cooked in some oil in the pan before chicken stock and a tin of coconut milk was added, adjusting the seasoning to suit. The flavour was intense! Finally after 15-20 minutes of cooking I added some noodles and the cooked butternut squash. My other half was impressed...making new recipes while feeling poorly is definitely beyond the call. But I will try this again when I'm better.
Saturday, 26 December 2015
Fudging the Results!
December 4th - I've been doing a topic on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my class in school (note to self never to do that again....I am absolutely scunnered of sweets!) and we decided to sell homemade sweets at the Christmas Fair. I started to worry when I asked my colleague J, who is a fab cook, about recipes and she said that sweets are notoriously difficult to make!! I immediately rated my chances of success as pretty low. Anyway I got hold of a sweet recipe book for kids- all easy, no boiling required so decided to give that a go. Microwave fudge. Didn't set. Jazzies looked a bit like dogs dinners when the kids made them. Jellies looked lovely till we sprinkled them with sugar and they melted. Buying ingredients was costing me an arm and a leg and the Fair was looming. Eventually we ended up with some sellable sweets...but as yet no fudge or honeycomb. Needs must. Had to do it myself. After a great deal of sweat I ended up with some fudge and honeycomb to sell....it there were tears and tribulations along the way. Here are the final scores. Fudge attempts 3 Fudge success 1; Honeycomb attempts 3, Ruined baking trays 2, Edible honeycomb 1. However this tale has a silver lining- all this sweet making has quite put me off sweets.....very good for the diet!
Quick and Easy Treat
December 3rd - Mid week dinners have to be speedy, especially in the business of school life in December. I had been lucky enough to grab some duck breasts from the butcher at the weekend because I'd seen a recipe that I really wanted to try in a Delicious Magazine. Five-Spice Duck with Ginger, Onion and Orange Salad. What's not to like about that combo of ingredients....and a bonus when you don't need many ingredients in a recipe. The skin on the duck was slashed and rubbed with Chinese five-spice powder then cooked skin side down for 10 minutes first, then drained of fat and drizzled with honey and put in the oven for another 10 minutes. Easy. The red onion was finely sliced and covered in boiling water for 5 minutes while 3 oranges were sliced (or segmented). The salad was dressed with 4 pieces of crystallised stem ginger, 4 tablespoons of ginger syrup, a tablespoon of white wine vinegar that had been heated through then the whole lot garnished with coriander. Gorgeous.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Trial and Error
November 29th - My other half loves a tart! He's always bemoaning the fact that I don't cook apple or treacle tarts any longer. In fact, an apple tart was his first ever present from me......and I got a rolling pin in return! Those were the days. Anyhow I still had some filo in the fridge left over from the spinach pie and a quick search for 'healthy and quick pudding recipes' brought up a recipe for Apple and Pecan Strudel - assuredly quick and easy by Jamie Oliver. The lack of pecans didn't put me off. Apples were chopped and sliced and put in water and lemon juice to stop them going brown. In a separate bowl I mixed Demerara and caster sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg and then the apples were dried and tossed in this. I did not have much filo left...not as much as the recipe needed but I layered it up, brushing each sheet with butter as I went. I piled in the filling and rolled it all together. Not very neat, but hey! 20 minutes in a hot oven resulted in a crispy pie, filled with autumny goodness. Pie man was well impressed! And the error....well what the photo does not show is the gaping hole in the back of the strudel....as usual I did not read the recipe through to the end so didn't do the tea towel thing to roll the strudel without holes!
Saturday, 28 November 2015
One for the Queen of Spinach
November 26th - I cannot believe that I am here at the end of November, still going strong with the resolution..and only a month to go. Here's my latest offering. One for my daughter, who adds spinach to everything, especially smoothie type things (not my cup of tea...in fact I'd rather have a cup of tea!) It's another of Jamie Oliver's recipes. Spinach and Feta Filo Pie. The recipe called for 400g of fresh spinach but my bag was only 100g so I used some frozen spinach that I had in the freezer. I steamed that to defrost/cook it. In a separate bowl I added 3 eggs, about 100g of feta, some cheddar cheese, dried oregano, some lemon zest and olive oil. I'd never used filo pastry before so I layered it into a small baking tray, brushing the sheets with a bit of oil. Then the spinach was added to the egg mixture and the whole lot put into the tin and the filo sheets pulled over the top. It cooked in about 30 minutes in a hot oven and was really tasty.
Needs Must
November 19th - I hate wasting food and have been trying really hard to use everything in the fridge before going to the shops and using leftovers. Well I'd bought some hot smoked salmon, thinking of fish cakes, and a slightly out of date tub of ricotta cheese....and a need to finish them all off....and do a new recipe for the resolution since I'd be away at the weekend! Pressure. I had seen a recipe for Salmon Canelloni in a magazine that I thought I could adapt (massively) so decided to give it a go. Canelloni tubes were fashioned out of lasagne sheets that I cooked long enough for them to be rollable. The filling was ricotta, a handful of breadcrumbs, some lemon zest and juice, some grated Parmesan and the hot smoked salmon. In the absense of marscapone for the topping I substituted Greek yogurt and grated some cheese through it. I had some spinach that needed using so I steamed that a little and put it on the base of my dish, with the rolled pasta and the topping over it and baked in the oven. Not too shabby.
Halloween Leftovers
November 16th - I'd meant to try making a pumpkin pie this year for the first time because one of my colleagues at work makes an absolutely awesome pie with a gorgeous texture and a beautiful flavour of cinnamon. It's a delight. Anyway, you know what they say about the best laid schemes..... The pumpkin sat sad and lonely on the top of the fridge and Halloween and passed a fortnight before. Another Internet trawl yielded a recipe for Pumpkin Soup. A couple of onions were chopped and gently fried before adding the chopped pumpkin and sweating a bit more. Then some chicken stock (or water and veg. stock) added and the whole lot simmered until tender. Finally the soup was blitzed and double cream added. I even managed the croutons and a dash of chilli oil on the top to spice it up. Lush. And I promise to try the pumpkin pie next year.
Slow Cooking
November 15th - Slow food is not my normal M.O...it's more like Ready Steady Cook. However I'd bought some pork from the butcher and was looking for something to do with it. I never cooked a lot of pork because my daughter was not really keen so I trawled the Internet for inspiration. I thought a Jamie Oliver recipe for Slow Roasted Spiced Pork Loin with Black Eye Beans and Tomatoes sounded quite nice. First the meat was scored and rubbed with a mixture of salt, paprika, oil and lemon juice, them roasted for 30minutes in a hot oven. Then 3 sliced onions, a couple of whole chillies (recipe said 6-8!!), rosemary, paprika and chorizo added to a bit of the fat from the tin and fried before adding the chopped tomatoes, beans, a glass of water and garlic. The pork was added back and the dish returned to the oven...supposedly until the whole lot was 'meltingly tender'. Can't say mine was! How does he get meltingly tender meat without burning the rest? Who knows! And even with 2 chillies it was fairly hot. Perhaps a recipe that I won't bother trying another time. Anyway here's what it looked like..
Spicing it Up
November 11th - The weather has been colder and I'd been working late so was in need of a speedy supper which added a little heat. I had prawns in the fridge...and a recipe for Thai Red Prawn Curry, from Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals. Surprisingly, I managed to get some lemongrass from the Co-op.....but this proved a tad troublesome! Into the food processor went the red chilli, a couple of cloves of garlic, fresh coriander a couple of roasted red peppers from a jar, some tomato purée, a tablespoon of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a teaspoon of sesame oil...with the chopped lemongrass stalks and some fresh ginger. Well I whizzed and whizzed....but there were still bits of hard stalk lurking in the paste. By now, time was moving on and my hunger was growing....and my patience growing thinner by the minute so I just bashed on. A couple of tablespoons of the paste were fried in a little oil then a tin of coconut milk added. A handful of sugar snap peas were put into the sauce and prawns added at the last minute. I also made the suggested cucumber salad, using a peeler to make long strips of cucumber and dressing it with a mix of ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime and chilli. Hot and tasty...despite the stalk
s!
Sunday, 15 November 2015
Heaven on a Plate
November 8th - My daughter was home for 'reading week' - allegedly, though catching up on pals and watching programmes form Sky Planner was probably nearer the mark. Anyhow, a nice Sunday lunch....with luscious pud was in order. But what to make? What better than White Chocolate and Blueberry Cheesecake, another of Bill Granger's recipes. The base was just the usual crushed digestives mixed with melted butter. Confidently, I started on the topping, wildly beating together 250g of marscapone with 125g of cream cheese.....but then I got to the part that said 'chill overnight to set'....this was 2pm on the day of consumption! Note to self...read recipes to the end before starting. Undeterred, I got some cream, whipped it and folded that into the cheese mix....before adding the 250g of melted white chocolate, quickly spreading it on top of the base, slamming the lot in the fridge and keeping my fingers crossed. The blueberry topping was lush. 2 punnets of blueberries were added to a pan with 60ml of orange juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla paste. When the mixture began to boil and the berries begin to pop the pan was taken off the heat and another punnet added. At least I thought it would cover the collapse of the cheesecake which had not had enough time to set. But set it did....mmmmmm
Bejewelled.....as Nigella would Say
November 7th - Don't you just love Nigella's ways with words. Every time I see anything with pomegranate I think of her recipes and how she thinks the dishes look 'bejewelled'. I can't get pomegranate here but had brought some back from the mainland because I'd seen a recipe that I really wanted to try. I like aubergine and the flavours of Middle Eastern food so Baked Aubergine with Chickpeas and Green Chilli from Bill Granger sounded tempting. I dispensed with the sprinkling of aubergine with salt etc etc (life's too short) and I brushed the aubergine with oil and roasted the aubergine slices rather than fry them. The sauce was made from a chopped onion, a tablespoon of grated ginger, a finely chopped green chilli, 2 teaspoons of paprika and a teaspoon of cumin with a tin of tomatoes and tin of chickpeas. In the absense of pomegranate molasses a tablespoon of brown sugar was mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice and this was added too. The sauce was layered with the aubergine and the whole lot baked in the oven. It was served with crumbled feta cheese, chopped mint and pomegranate seeds. It was a dish of such unusual combinations of flavours and textures....but one I will definitely make again.
Winter Warmer
November 1st - It's definitely moving towards winter with darker nights now that the clocks have changed back. I don't know about you but it just makes me feel like stews and stodge! When I was away last week I'd picked up a recipe card for David's Lochay Venison Casserole from the Bridge of Lochay Hotel where we'd been for a lovely celebratory meal. It was just what was needed and I even got myself organised to get it prepared for the oven before I went out for a walk. (My mum would be impressed because she is always despairing when she phones on a Sunday evening and the dinner is not even in the oven!) The diced venison was seared until browned and then put into a casserole dish with onion, red wine and stock (I left out the potatoes) - this was simmered for 30 minutes. Then carrot, celery, turnip, chopped tomatoes, parsley and some tomato purée were added along with some salt and pepper. I chose to put the casserole in the oven at this point, although the recipe said simmer at a low heat. Just before serving a handful of frozen peas were added. I managed to resist the temptation to make the herby dumplings........but don't think I was too virtuous.....it was actually because I made a lemon sponge pudding for desert! Wintry weather? I say....get out your casseroles and bring it on!
Treasure from the Deep
October 27th - I just decided to call in on a friend after work for a bit of a catch up - resolving to make more time for my friends - and she gave me a bag of hand-dived scallops! What a treat! Definitely one of the benefits of living on an island off the west coast of Scotland. An ideal opportunity to try out something new, although it was very tempting to have scallops and black pudding, which is such a fab combination. So I turned to Annabel Langbein and there was a lovely recipe for Asparagus, Snow Pea (aka mangetout) and Scallop Salad. The asparagus and mangetout were lightly steamed. The scallops were mixed with lemon zest and seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of sugar. Apparently the sugar helps the scallops to caramelise without overcooking. The scallops were cooked in olive oil for less than a minute each side (they were quite large). The veg and scallops were arranged on a bed of rocket and avocado and the whole lot drizzled with a citrus chilli dressing (4 tablespoons each of orange, lime and lemon juice with a teaspoon of vinegar, a tablespoon of fish sauce, a tablespoon of sugar, pepper and a finely chopped red chilli) Wow - not your average midweek supper.....
One for You Son
October 26th - I got a new cookbook for my birthday from my son - Mr Palaeo- so decided to bite the bullet straight away and give one of the recipes a bash. Velvet Summer Quiche sounded nice....and well it was a bit of an Indian summer, with the temperatures unseasonably warm and the sun shining! Macadamia oil? You have to be joking. Onions and red pepper were gently fried in oil while the sweet potato roasted for 15 minutes in the oven. Then fresh thyme, garlic, basalmic vinegar and salt were added (all present and correct). Then eggs and cream were whisked and lemon zest and Parmesan added. The egg mixture was poured on top of the vegetable mix, which was on the base of a shallow dish. The result was a lot lighter than a quiche, having no pastry...so thumbs up to the new book. Hope you are impressed son!
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Ready, Steady, Cook
October 19th - Still ploughing my way through back issues of old foodie mags and here's a really quick recipe for those days when you don't have a lot of ingredients in or if you fancy ringing the changes with some mince! It's a Bill Granger recipe for Spicy Beef Koftas with onion salad. Or not! Omit the onion salad if you are in a rush because you need to set them aside for an hour. Well if you are anything like me and starting dinner at 7pm then you don't want to be waiting that long! The pack of mince was flung in a bowl with a teaspoon each of cumin seeds and coriander, a chopped green chilli, some freshly chopped coriander and a grated onion. I love squelching stuff like this with my hands...takes me back to all the mud pies long.....long...ago. Bill suggests 24 koftas...I got 16! They were fried for a couple of minutes to brown and then into a hot oven for about 6 minutes. Just long enough to make a quick salad and a cucumber yogurt dip. From start to finish in 2o minutes and none the worse for the lack of onion salad.
Saturday, 17 October 2015
Still Trucking
October 17th - I've been away for a week and not been doing a lot of cooking so the pressure was on to try out something new today. I realised that this is the first time in 50 plus years that I have kept a New Years resolultion for so long so I am determined not to blow it now. I've been trying to be good today, after a week of over indulgence so it had to be something delicious with vegetables. Caponata sounded nice. A couple of aubergines were chopped into chunks and salted for a while. Meanwhile I gently fried a sliced onion, a glove of garlic and added a tin of tomatoes, followed by 2 tablespoons of basalmic vinegar, a tablespoon of brown sugar, a couple of handfuls of sultanas, a couple of tablespoons of capers and some sliced green olives. This gave the sauce a real sweet and sour type taste. The aubergine was fried in a tablespoon of olive oil and then added to the tomato sauce. Easy.
Palaeo Treats
October 8th - The pressure was on. I was heading away to see the kids at uni...and nephew...so I needed to take them a wee edible treat. Out came the trusty digestives and I easily made a mallow log and some chocolate tiffin. But what to make for a son who follows a Palaeo diet. No grains. No sugar! Help! Then I remembered getting a scrumptious gift of Florentines from one of the children in my class and started investigating different recipes. There were lots of variations but here is my recipe for Florentines. I melted 50g of butter with 1/3 cup of maple syrup and boiled it a bit until it thickened. Then off the heat, I added a tablespoon of cream. To this mix I added flaked almonds, cranberries, chopped crystallised ginger, pistachios, some cinnamon, grated orange zest....anything goes! I did add a heaped teaspoon of flour just to bind the mixture. They did not take long to bake in the oven and then when they were cool I covered one side in dark chocolate. They were an early taste of Christmas!
Mashing it up....Mission Burger
September 30th - I'd been quite impressed with how easily Jamie Oliver made his tofu burger on the TV ..... And I was feeling like something healthy for tea..... So I headed off to the Co-op hopefully to find some tofu. Amazingly they did have some, but the packet was so big I thought that we'd be eating tofu for a month so I headed back home and decided to try and make something up. I found a recipe for Spicy Bean Burgers in a scrap book of recipes that I'd cut out of magazines years ago. A finely chopped onion was fried with garlic, cumin seeds and chilli. Meanwhile I bashed up a can of chickpeas (artistic licence) with the end of a rolling pin....felt very African! The mash and onion mix were combined with some breadcrumbs, chilli flakes and an egg yolk. I also added in a spoonful of tahini since I guessed these were going to taste a bit hummus like! I fried them and served with a salad and spicy yogurt. Not bad, if I don't say so myself!
Taste of Scandinavia
September 27th - I'm still trawling through back copies of Delicious magazines that I found in a drawer and I saw a recipe for Upside Down Blueberry and Elderflower cake - a recipe from Signe Johansen. I've always got blueberries in the fridge because I like them for breakfast with Greek yogurt and I also had some wild blaeberries in the freezer, which I'd picked a while back. Perfect! The cake tin needed to be lined first with foil and then the blueberries 400g and elderflower cordial put on the bottom. 4 eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 250g of caster sugar were whisked until pale and fluffy. Then a mixture of 125g each of flour and ground almonds were added, alternating with a mixture of 125g each of melted butter and Greek yogurt. The batter was stuck on top of the berries and the cake baked for about an hour. I was so impressed with myself when I managed to get the cake upside down and still look decent. It tasted gorgeous.
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
TV Dinners
September 27th - As you may have already guessed....I love cooking programmes! This week I caught a recipe from the new Jamie Oliver series on Superfoods which I fancied giving a go. Out came the iPad. Recipe seemed easy. Chicken and Garlic Bread Kebabs. No bread in but never mind! The diced chicken was marinated, very briefly, in a mixture of crushed garlic, olive oil and thyme (since I did not have the rosemary that the recipe needed) and some white wine vinegar. Then this was threaded onto skewers and fried for about 5 minutes on each side until golden. The salad is spinach and sliced orange, drizzled with lemon and olive oil. Feta cheese is crumbled on the top and the whole lot drizzled with a bit of basalmic vinegar. In keeping with the Greek theme I chucked on a few olives that were left over from the puttanesca pizza....and not scoffed with the glass of red wine while cooking! Definitely a recipe I'll a make again, whether or not it is a superfood, and it tasted great without the bread too.
P S ... Just for the record, we ate our meal at the table!
Blast from the Past
September 26th - While taking in a drawer I came across some old foodie magazines, the ones I used to buy and never make many of the recipes...so I was quite excited with my find and there was a recipe for Pizza Puttanesca. Well it really was a blast from the past as I used to make loads of homemade pizza for my kids and all their friends who came for tea...and one of my favourite recipes is is an old Delia Smith recipe for Pasta Puttanesca. I mean, what's not to like. So I made a small batch of bread dough, rolled it out after it had risen and topped with passage, olive oil mixed with crushed garlic, grated lemon zest (unusual addition), anchovies, olives, capers and finely chopped red chilli. 12 minutes in a hot oven and then chuck a bit of basil on the top. I'd forgotten how good homemade pizza tasted!
Monday, 21 September 2015
More Ideas for Salmon
September 21st - The lady from the fish van had left salmon in the fridge for me (I'm on a mission to eat more fish and this is a great new arrangement!) but I've exhausted all the salmon recipes in my recipe books since I need to be trying new ones for the blog. So I had a look on the internet and found a recipe for Salmon and Couscous from Jamie Oliver. 20 minutes. Super Easy. Dandy. The couscous was covered in boiling water (I added a bit of powdered stock Jamie) and set aside. Small courgette batons, some baby asparagus, shredded mangetout (not in the recipe) and a finely chopped red chilli were gently fried in olive oil. A couple of tomatoes were chopped and added to the couscous with some chopped coriander and lemon juice, then the barely cooked veg stirred in. I pan fried the salmon (still perfecting the crispy skin technique) and put it on top of the couscous mix. Some yogurt was spooned over to serve. Quick and tasty - just as Jamie said.
A First Chilli Con Carne
September 13th - There has not been much of a summer this year and the weather was cold and wet when I found myself in the butcher's shop on Saturday. I could not think beyond steak pie with a great dob of puff pastry and lots of creamy mash. Nothing better. But Sunday dawned fair and warm. Plan B required. Where to turn in times of crisis? Delia. Even if it is the Winter Collection. I've never made a Chilli Con Carne before - mince has nearly always been made into bolognese or lasagne - but here was a recipe for Black Bean Chilli with Avocado Salsa that needed braising steak. 2 chopped onions, a crushed garlic clove, chopped coriander stalks and 2 chopped green chillies were cooked gently in olive oil then removed from the pan. The beef was chopped up into small pieces then browned before adding a spoon of flour, the onions and a 2 tins of tomatoes to the pan. This was cooked slowly for 1 1/2 hours then a chopped pepper and black beans added (kidney beans had to do!) and the casserole was returned to the oven for another half an hour. The salsa was made with chopped tomatoes (skinned...!...well, if you must), avocado, red onion, coriander and lime juice. I served the chilli and salsa with tortilla wraps and natural yogurt.
Needs No Excuse
September 6th - My son had returned from a summer in Madrid and was only home for a few days and I was longing for a sit-round-the-table-family-dinner. Lamb was on the menu (one of my new recipes) and there on the front cover of my summer Delicious magazine was the recipe I had been waiting to make - Raspberry Ripple and Pistachio Parfait. I'd never made a parfait before but the list of ingredients was small so how difficult could it be? Honestly - there should be a warning put on recipes - 'hundreds of bowls required', 'kitchen porter needed for mass dish wash'! Was it worth it? I hear you ask. Definitely. So here goes. The first pot is for the raspberry sauce. 100g of sugar is put in a pot with a little water and boiled and bubbled until reduced and then the raspberries added. This is then pushed through a seive into a bowl to cool with some cling film on the top. Or in my case, via another pot to reduce it a bit more (Pot count 2, Bowls 1). 2 egg yolks were put in another bowl and whisked together with a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste and 50g caster sugar until thick and pale. (Pots 2, Bowls 2) The cream was then whipped until it formed soft peaks. (Pots 2, bowls 3). In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until very stiff. (Pots 2, bowls 4). The egg yolk/cream/egg whites were all mixed together and a handful of chopped pistachios added. Then this mixture was layered with the raspberry sauce in a loaf tin which had been lined with two layers of cling film. The parfait was then frozen for around 8 hours. When ready to serve it was sliced, topped with raspberries, some of the leftover sauce and cruched Crunchie bar. This is to die for......
Three Good Things Mark 2
August 31st - I've noticed a change in my cooking since starting this resolution. I sort of know what kinds of flavours go together and am pretty confident at chucking various things into a pot to get something quick and tasty but using recipes has pared my cooking back to more basic flavours so you can taste the different ingredients more. I like that! So here's another of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Three Good Things - Chicken, Plum and Soy. Chicken thighs were seasoned and trickled with oil then roasted in the oven for 30 minutes then sliced red chillies (1-4....I used 2), 4 garlic cloves and grated ginger added to the baking tray with 8 halved and stoned plums and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. The plums went a bit mushy but this was so spicy and aromatic...and cheap! Give it a try!
Veg Rule
August 21st - The magazines were still sitting out and being thumbed through, mostly when I was hungry! But here's another one I tried. Summer Vegetable Stew with Parsley Pesto. I'd never made pesto before and this involved finely chopping parsley and mixing with extra virgin olive oil, grated lemon zest and lemon juice and parmesan. To be honest I had to play around with the recipe until I got a consistency I though looked OK. The stew involved gently cooking onion, leek, carrots and garlic in butter then adding white wine and reducing. Stock was added before adding cannelini beans, quartered little gem lettuces, spring onions and spinach. The recipe is supposed to have fresh artichokes in it but I have never seen one of these in our Co-op so a few artichoke hearts were added. Wholesome. Healthy. And I did not feel so bad having some chocolate for pudding!
Looks Can Be Deceiving!
August 17th - As you have probably guessed I'm no food photographer. I was trying to get a more arty shot but this looks naff....the sauce was not nearly as pink! I'd been given some lythe (pollack) that had been freshly caught and guessed that it might be a bit similar to gurnard (Is it?). Rick Stein's Seafood Lovers' Guide had a recipe for Gurnard fillets with a Potato, Garlic and Saffron Broth. Sounded nice. Oregano and a head of unpeeled garlic cloves were cooked gently in oil, then wine added and reduced. A sliced leek and sliced potatoes were added with stock and saffron strands. The whole lot was simmered for about 20 minutes. The lythe had already been skinned and filleted so I grilled mine (Rick fries his gurnard, skin side down). The pink sludge is a failed rouille...but remember FAIL - First Attempt Is Learning - my super-quick-after-work-mode did not allow be time to roast off red peppers....so the result is pink and speckled as opposed to .....well who knows because Rick never put his rouille in his picture so between you and me...maybe his looked just as naff.
Taking Liberties
August 16th - Pudding required....but time short. But I had an idea. On the way back from holiday we had stopped for a meal and shared a gorgeously delicious lemon and lime cheesecake. How difficult could that be? I trawled the internet and came up with a Mary Berry recipe for Lemon and Lime Cheesecake.....but chilling overnight? I could not wait that long. Now I know that Mary Berry is a cooking goddess but I'm afraid I took massive liberties with her recipe. Sorry Mary! I crushed ginger biscuits for the base and mixed with melted butter. To get the topping to set quick I whipped a pack of cream cheese with half a tin of condensed milk and added the zest of 2 lemons and a lime. Then I used more cream, whipping it before mixing with the cream cheese mixture. Result! A bit denser than the cheesecake we had eaten out but none the worse for that. And it did set in a few hours.
You have probably noticed the improvement in photography - I did not take it!
You have probably noticed the improvement in photography - I did not take it!
Summer on a Plate
August 16th - With student children coming and going I miss the family meals and Sunday dinners, so I wanted to do something really nice for a treat. Food pictures do it for me - I was inspired bu Grilled Leg of Lamb with Goats Cheese and Herb Salad. All things I love! I have watched enough Masterchef programmes to now have a go at boning and butterflying out a leg of lamb (though I wouldn't show anyone the results!) but it really makes for quick cooking, although my mum still thinks a leg of lamb needs hours! The marinade for the lamb was 5 garlic cloves, thyme (oregano in the recipe), zest of 2 lemons and 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Again you can marinade this for up to 24 hours....!! The lamb was grilled for 15 minutes on each side and left to rest for 10. The salad over the top was made with rocket and herbs dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. And the whole lot was topped with crumbled goats cheese. Mmmm.
D.I.Y Nandos Peri Peri Chicken
August 14th - I treated myself to a Delicious magazine for my holiday reading - alongside the Scandi crimes that I'm into. I was drawn to a recipe for Peri-peri chicken with Red Cabbage Slaw. My other half loves red cabbage coldslaw and here was a new variation for him to try. The recipe was from Dean Edwards, a former Masterchef contestant but the list of ingredients was short and straightforward. The marinade for the chicken was easy - 2 red chillies (I wimped out and used only 1!), a chopped red pepper, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, 4 crushed garlic cloves, a tablespoon of grated ginger, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 10ml of olive oil. You can marinade the chicken overnight - but honestly, who has time for that! The coleslaw expert made the slaw - red cabbage, red onion, carrot, red apple, chopped parsley coated in a mixture of Greek yogurt and grainy mustard. The chicken was pan-fried for about 5 minutes and then transferred to the oven for about 12 minutes. I've done this recipe 3 times since August - it is fab!
Friday, 7 August 2015
Too Much Choice
August 6th - Sometimes there are just too many recipes! And they can all leave me a bit confused at times. Take Crab Linguine. I'd seen a really nice picture in a magazine and had just treated myself to a pot of fresh crabmeat ....... east, I thought. But wait.... recipe said I needed fresh tomatoes and I didn't have any since I was about to go on holiday so I started looking on the internet. There were so may variations - with or without tomatoes, with rocket, with creme fraiche. In the end I made it all up, but in keeping with the spirit of the dish! Gently fried thinly sliced spring onion and garlic in olive oil with some chilli flakes, added a splash of white wine then the crabmeat, finally tossing it all through some cooked linguine with chopped parsley. Lovely and light.
Thursday, 6 August 2015
If it's good enough for Tony......
August 5th - Today's trip to the fish van yielded four thick sea bass fillets. But what to do with them? I still had mushrooms left over from earlier in the week so when I saw a Jamie Oliver recipe for....wait for it......Roasted Slashed Fillet of Seabass stuffed with Herbs, baked on Mushroom Potatoes with Salsa Verde - a la Tony Blair.....(overkill on the title Jamie!) I knew this was for me. Sliced potatoes were tossed in a little oil, seasoned, garlic added and then cooked for about 15 minutes in a hot oven. Meanwhile I dry-fried the mushrooms, adding a bit of butter and garlic, stirring in some extra butter and juice from a lemon when taken off the heat. The sea-bass fillets were slashed and chopped herbs stuffed in the cut flesh. Finally the mushrooms were added to the potatoes and the fish layered on top and the whole lot returned to the oven for about 12 minutes. Mmmm.
I love salsa verde. I don't worry too much about quantities but combine gherkins, capers, anchovies, whatever herbs I have to hand, a little mustard, decent vinegar and olive oil until I like the taste! Great with lamb, roast veg, grilled halloumi - Lush.
On a roll!
August 4th - I am on a roll new-recipe-wise! This new book suits me well - I can usually find three things in the fridge....even with a bit of adaption. Today's offering was a dish of Aubergine, Tomatoes and Chickpeas. It could not have been easier. Chunks of aubergine were roasted in the oven for about 30 minutes with seasoning and a cinnamon stick. Then chilli flakes and halved cherry tomatoes were added for another 20 minutes before chickpeas and garlic added for the last 10 minutes. I have a really hot oven, so it did not take as long, and I also added some fried onions. When the dish came out of the oven I grated over some lemon zest and served it with a garlicky yogurt dip. Light and luscious! Healthy too! [I know the photo is awful....but give it a go!]
Three Good Things
August 3rd - My loft raid yielded another cook book belonging to my son. Fair game. A fridge full of mushrooms and cold, wet weather put me in the mood for a combo of Mushrooms, Scone and Soured Cream. I followed the spirit of the recipe rather than to the letter, dictated by the contents of the fridge. I sweated off some thinly sliced onions and garlic in a casserole dish while dry-frying heaps of mushrooms in a pan, adding butter as the cooking went on. These were then combined with some red wine, vegetable stock, thyme from the garden and left to simmer away. The scone topping was 175g of self raising flour, salt, 75g butter, a teaspoon of mustard powder rubbed together before adding 75g of cheese and then bringing the lot together with a mixture of egg and milk. Dollops of the scone mixture were put on top of the earthy mushroom base and then baked in a hot oven. To be honest I can cope with naff cold weather if I can eat this. Autumn? Bring it on!
P.S. I've had many scone crises over the years, tried lots of recipes - all taste fine, but never rise....but this scone topping was fab!
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Roll Up, Roll Up - Showtime
July 29th - You'll have probably gathered by now that I am not a flash cook and I'm also pretty easy to impress. Bake Off, Masterchef...those guys are good! But imagine my surprise when my daughter arrived home from work and announced that they had made a berry roulade. I mean..... what.....well, if they can do it, so can I!! I'd already cleared out the loft and found one of my son's cookbooks with a recipe for Lemon Meringue Roulade so I was definitely up for the challenge. First, I beat 4 egg whites until stiff then gradually added in 250g of caster sugar. This mixture was spread onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and then sprinkled with flaked almonds. It was first baked for 10 minutes at 160 then for a further 20 minutes at 140. When it came out of the oven I left it to sit for 5 minutes and then turned it out onto another piece of parchment and left to cool completely. I mixed whipped cream (creme fraiche in the recipe...but the Coop.....as you know by now...) with lemon curd for the filling and spread the mixture on top of the meringue. It was now or never. Count to 10. Roll. Actually I need not have stressed - it rolled up a treat - and tasted even better.
In fact I was so impressed with this I did a bit of experimentation and made a banoffee roulade! The filling was a tin of caramel, carton of whipped double cream and a token banana! So go on, get a bit flash....especially if you need a pud to impress!
In fact I was so impressed with this I did a bit of experimentation and made a banoffee roulade! The filling was a tin of caramel, carton of whipped double cream and a token banana! So go on, get a bit flash....especially if you need a pud to impress!
In Need of Some Heat
July 23rd - The summer weather here is awful - wet and very cold. No wonder I'm resorting to custard tarts! All thoughts of salad have been abandoned and the recipe books are being scoured for new stewing adventures. Moroccan Fish Stew in Bill Granger's Every Day sounded light but warming. Win, win. A thinly sliced onion was gently heated in olive oil before adding crushed garlic clove, 2 teaspoons of grated ginger, a teaspoon each of cumin and turmeric and a cinnamon stick. These were fried for a couple of minutes and then a tin of chopped tomatoes, some crushed chilli flakes, a tin of chickpeas and a couple of teaspoons of honey added. Ten minutes later the fish was gently laid in the stew and simmered for about 5 minutes. Easy and delicious....though I didn't have the almonds and coriander to finish it off. A real nice contrast to the Spanish fish stews with the taste of pimento.
Welcome Home
July 19th - The wanderer had returned from his adventures in Peru...and I was still in Spanish holiday mode......so it seemed like a good excuse to make some holiday-inspired dishes. I tried a Gazpacho to start. OK...but the pud was much more successful! I try to eat pretty healthily most of the time but if I'm ever in Paperchase for a coffee I can't resist one of their Portugese Custard Tarts. I'd had similar in Spain so I was determined to have a go at making my own. I used Bill Granger's recipe. 3 egg yolks were whisked with 115g of caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of cornflour, then a mixture of milk and cream gradually added (170ml;250ml) over a medium heat until thick. Then this was removed from the heat and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract added. This was left to cool covered in cling film (have to confess that quite a bit of the mixture never made it much further - mmmmmmm). A sheet of puff pastry was cut into two and one piece placed on top of the other. This was then rolled into a log and cut into 12 rounds. Each round was then rolled into a 10cm disk and put into a muffin tin, filled with the cooled custard (what's left!) and then cooked until golden in a hot oven. Thank goodness these are not more simple to make - I'd have to ditch the digestives and live on custard tarts!
Holiday - Reviving the Spirits
Had a great sunny holiday enjoying the ripe goodness of all the Mediterranean fruits and veg, scoffing olives and enjoying all the cured meats and new cheeses. To keep my resolution going I made new fish stews with all the lovely seafood but my new best recipe is for Tinto de Verano - a 'taste of summer' and just what you need to relax and remind you of days in the sun. Use equal measures of red wine and sprite/7-Up with a good squeeze of lemon then serve in a tall glass over ice with a slice of lemon. Perhaps a bit of a cop-out on the recipe front but hey.........cheers!
A New Take on Cheese
July 3rd - More food gifts...and what to do with them!? My daughter came back from work with some gorgeously juicy pears.....and it just so happened that I was looking at more inspired salad dishes. Perfect timing. Pear, Walnut and Haloumi Salad looked tempting and quick. Walnut pieces were lightly browned in oil, then the pears cored and cut into wedges and tossed in lemon juice. I grilled the haloumi and then the whole lot were assembled with some salad leaves and avocado pieces and dressed with the oil, salt and pepper. Give it a go....such a nice combo of flavours and textures.
Treats for Teachers
Well hello again.....I'm seriously behind with the blogging....but not with the cooking challenge! So here's an update....
June 27th - End of term goodies are definitely a nice treat when you are absolutely knackered at the end of a long year. Relaxing baths full of bubbles, followed by a nice glass of wine and a few chocolates courtesy of the children are the norm....but this year I was given a bag of cooked crab claws. To be honest I'd never had any before but I was assured that I just had to bash them open and scoop out the lovely crabmeat. So after a few of the chocs and sustained by the wine I set to with my rolling pin. Bits of crab shell were flying all over the kitchen but at the end I had a bowl of crabmeat. I used the recipe for Crab Cakes in River Cottage Everyday, mixing crabmeat with grated lemon zest, chopped chives and a tablespoon of creme fraiche forming the mixture into cakes then chilling. When cool the crab cakes were coated with flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs then fried in a mixture of butter and olive oil. They were a real treat....and even tasted good cold the next day!
June 27th - End of term goodies are definitely a nice treat when you are absolutely knackered at the end of a long year. Relaxing baths full of bubbles, followed by a nice glass of wine and a few chocolates courtesy of the children are the norm....but this year I was given a bag of cooked crab claws. To be honest I'd never had any before but I was assured that I just had to bash them open and scoop out the lovely crabmeat. So after a few of the chocs and sustained by the wine I set to with my rolling pin. Bits of crab shell were flying all over the kitchen but at the end I had a bowl of crabmeat. I used the recipe for Crab Cakes in River Cottage Everyday, mixing crabmeat with grated lemon zest, chopped chives and a tablespoon of creme fraiche forming the mixture into cakes then chilling. When cool the crab cakes were coated with flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs then fried in a mixture of butter and olive oil. They were a real treat....and even tasted good cold the next day!
Friday, 3 July 2015
Not a Bagel in Sight
June 21st - Home alone again - husband en route to Peru, son in Spain, daughter in Salcombe.....even my mother is off on the razzle! Usually I resort to bagels and cream cheese at this point but I had some fish in the fridge and fancied something tasty. Over the years I've bought a load of cooking magazines and a while back I started keeping cuttings in a old fashioned book. One of the recipes I'd always wanted to make was Cod with Tomato Salsa. The salsa was a mix of decent tomatoes (holidays abroad make you long for ripe, juicy tomatoes that actually taste of tomatoes don't they?), finely chopped red onion, corainder and olives mixed together with some like juice. The cod was simple brushed with oil, seasoned and grilled. Light and lovely!
Midsummer day.....half way through the year....and this is the resolution that I've kept the longest.
A Daube of Tuna
June 19th - The hunter-gatherer returned....from the fish van....with fresh tuna. What to do with it? Usually I just grill it and have it with salad but here was an opportunity to try something new. I found a recipe for Tuna Daube in Bill Granger Every Day. I gently fried thinly sliced onions in some olive oil until they were soft, then I added 4 anchovies, a small chopped red chilli, 4 chopped garlic cloves, some parsley and a tin of tomatoes. This was simmered for about 25 minutes then I seared the tuna steak for a minute each side before placing it in the sauce, removing it from the heat. The dish was sprinkled with basil before serving. I had worried that the fish would dry out but it was beautifully tender, just cooked through gently and there was a nice background heat with the chilli. You could imagine eating this by the Mediterranean!
Thursday, 2 July 2015
Getting a bit Flash!
June 19th - Well, the back story to this bit of flashiness is that my husband is off to Peru for a month and so I wanted to make a nice meal before he left...and my daughter is still telling me about all food Greek.......so here is a Kos inspired starter, just because the Co-op had some fresh figs in. I got the recipe off the internet. Fresh figs were split open, stuffed with a creamy, mild goats cheese and then wrapped in Parma ham. They were then drizzled with olive oil, and grilled! Mmmmmmm!
A Little bit of Greece
June 14th - Well, my daughter has just returned from Kos full of chat about lovely meals she has eaten....so here is a bit of a Greek inspired meal from Bill Granger - Couscous with Feta and Cumin. Lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, paprika and chilli were combined in a bowl and mixed with salt and pepper. This was then used to dress the couscous, with added cooked carrots and parsley. The feta was diced and mixed with half a finely sliced red onion, toasted pinenuts and sumac (a new ingredient for me) I added some grilled chicken...and we scoffed it so fast I completely forgot to take a picture!
Viva Espana!
June 7th - My son has gone off to Spain with 300 euros and a backpack to look for a summer job and improve his Spanish. Wish it was me......but good on him having to he confidence to just get up and go! I miss having him at home to cook for though because he is always so appreciative of home cooking. So it was a bit of a coincidence to see a recipe for Andalucian-style Chicken in a magazine.....'spicy, sweet and fragrant, bursting with Moorish flavours' sounded just what was needed in unseasonably cold Scotland! A large pich of saffron was soaked in 100ml of boiling water with some chicken stock powder added. Then a small onion was fried and chopped chicken added and browned. A large pinch of cinnamon and a chopped red chillie was added with 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar (or your alternative!!), a tablespoon of clear honey, cherry tomatoes and a tablespoon of raisins then the golden, saffron infused stock. When the chicken was cooked, chopped coriander and toasted pinenuts finished the dish.
Birthday Pud
May 29th - My mum has been on Islay for the past week partaking of a variety of whiskies at the whisky festival, which happily coincides with her birthday. Naturally I made a bit of a birthday tea.....and she likes a bit of a pudding so I decided to try out something new. One of my favourite recipe books is The Freerange Cook by Annabel Langbein, which I got for Christams one year from my brother in New Zealand. I use her recipes a lot, but sadly not in this blog since the whole deal is trying out new recipes! Shame. However I had never tried the Honey Lemon Cream Puddings which looked a bit like lemon posset which I love but have never made...and my mum is a bit of a honey fiend. 600ml of cream, 8 tablespoons of honey, 50g of sugar were put in a pan over a medium heat and brought to the boil until the sugar dissolved. Then the mixture was simmered for 3 minutes. Once off the heat, 100ml of lemon juice was added and the lemon cream strained through a sieve into glasses. They need about 4 hours to set. I really wish I had some of the lovely old fashioned tea cups to serve it in! It was divine! Do try it.
Even More Chicken!
May 20th - The chicken thighs are definitely in vogue in my house just now....and I'm getting back into new recipe mode. I found another recipe using chicken thighs that was prefect for an easy weeknight tea, especially as we are getting fresh eggs from the school! Bill Granger's Roast Chicken Salad with Chive Mayonnaise was on the menu.....though I decided that I would leave my first attempt at making my own mayo for another day! The chicken thighs were seasoned and sprinkled with lemon juice before putting in the oven for 45 minutes. The salad of iceberg lettuce, celery batons and boiled eggs was easy, as was mixing chives from the garden into the mayonnaise. The recipe had chunks of toasted ciabatta, which I left out. The result was nice, but a bit dry...could have done with more of a dressing on the leaves. However this picture looks remarkably like the one in the recipe book so I was pretty chuffed!
Cheap and Cheerful Chinese Chicken
May 17th - Having come back from our holiday in Canada, I'm trying to watch the
pennies so I bought a packet of chicken thighs from the Co-op. Not that I have anything against them, actually they are often more tasty that chicken breast. I found a recipe for Spicy Chicken Thighs with Cucumber and Cashew Salad that looked straightforward. The chicken thighs were marinated in a mixture of fish sauce, black pepper, crushed garlic, finely chopped red chillie and a little sugar. They were then fried in a little oil. Cucumber, mint, shredded spring onion and mangetout were dressed with a lime and sugar dressing. The recipe in the book used vermicelli noodles blut I am trying to cut down on the carbs so I left them out. Finally crushed cashew nuts were sprinkled on top. Very simple, very tasty!
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