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!

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 stalks!

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!