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.

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!

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 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!