After an operation this summer, which meant that the family had to take over cooking duties for a while as I was unable to, I have sadly been unable to update my blog at all since I returned to the kitchen a couple of months ago. I have been unable to sit down for prolonged periods with any degree of comfort and so recreational computing has been out, as I have had to devote my energies to necessary computing for work.
However, I have now reached the point where I can sit down for a while and type without wincing, so normal service should be resumed shortly. Hurrah!
I've made a Christmas cake which is sitting in a tin maturing at the moment. I have the family for Christmas - my husband and sons will be spending it with me this year rather than going and sliding down mountains as they have for the last two years (it's amazing what a threat to change the locks while they are away if they go away for Christmas for the third year in a row will achieve), and my parents are joining us, so there will be six of us. So what will we be eating?
Turkey, of course, along with chestnut, apple and sausagemeat stuffing, plus my great-grandmother's recipe for sage and onion stuffing, which is a thing of absolute joy. Sprouts by the bucketful, buttered carrots with basil, and mashed potato. (The mashed potato and sprouts will be cooked in enormous quantities so as to provide plenty of leftovers for the traditional Boxing Day bubble and squeak.) And, of course, Christmas pudding and white nutmeggy custard, with a generous splosh of rum poured over the pud before applying the custard. Although, having had Christmas pudding served with advocaat last year, rather than rum and custard, I am torn...
And, of course, mince pies will be prepared... quite possibly some scones too (pronounced to rhyme with "bones" and "cones" rather than "Johns") to serve with raspberry jam and clotted cream for Christmas Day tea... if I get myself organised, too, I can make some Christmas biscuits to my old schoolfriend Sabine's recipe, which are rather delicious. I can feel a plan coming on.
Thursday 13 December 2012
Saturday 9 June 2012
Roast socks - delicious...
So, the older son has been in Paris this week, and he returned home clutching a whole Reblochon cheese, which the wrapper says is the cheese for Tartiflette.
This is something I've heard of but have never tried, so I did a bit of research on the interwebs and every recipe I found for it was different. There were the common threads of Reblochon, potatoes, onion and bacon, but otherwise just about every aspect of the recipe varied profoundly.
Garlic, or not garlic? (Duh - it's French, so it really ought to.)
Mushrooms?
Cream, or not? And if yes - single, double or creme fraiche? And how much? 6tbsp up to 300ml...
Boil old potatoes and then peel and slice them, or boil new potatoes in their skins and then slice them, or slice them and boil them? And do you fry the potatoes before putting them in the dish? Or not?
Butter the cooking dish, or not?
Lardons or regular bacon? Smoked or not?
White wine? If yes - do you pour a glass over the whole thing before it goes in the oven, or deglaze the pan with it? Or just drink it?
In the end I stopped reading the recipes, as it was all getting too confusing, added new potatoes and cream to the shopping list (I had bacon and onions in stock already) and then older son and I set to this evening to assemble it. We found some rather lovely Apache potatoes (left) in Tesco today so they were an obvious choice, and decided to make it in a large oval Pyrex dish (below).
This is what we did.
Take 1.2kg Apache potatoes, wash them, then slice (5mm slices) into a pan of cold water. Add salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 7 mins (according to one recipe, the potatoes should be "tender when pocked with a knife"). We gave them a quick pocking and determined that they were sufficiently done, so drained them and kept them warm.
While the potatoes are cooking, chop a pack of sliced smoked bacon into 1cm slices and fry gently in 15g butter and 15ml olive oil. (I used a 6-rasher pack of back bacon as I had one lurking in the fridge.) Put the oven on - 200degC.
Peel and slice 2 med/large onions and add to the frying pan. Peel and chop 3 cloves of garlic and add those to the pan as well. Cook gently until the onion and garlic are soft but not coloured. Add a bit of pepper and salt.
Put 15g butter into the dish and microwave it until it melts, then cover the inside of the dish with butter using a pastry brush.
Put half of the potatoes in the bottom of the dish in an even layer, then half of the onion and bacon mixture, then 75ml cream (we used a mixture of single and double). Repeat the layers, then unwrap the Reblochon cheese, and, cursing freely, attempt to cut it into two rounds. Give up on that idea, and cut it in half first into two semicircles, then attempt to cut each half into two thinner semicircles. (It's evil stuff, Reblochon - as the knife passes through it it has a magical self-healing property, so it sticks itself back together again. Son and I both tried with a semicircle, with varying degrees of success.)
Use the somewhat ragged semicircles, rind-side up, to thatch the top of the Tartiflette, then pour a glass of wine over the top (using a pastry brush to make sure the cheese rind is thoroughly wine-y).
Put in the oven, and listen to the howls of horror from younger son as the house fills with the delicious aroma of roasting socks. Once the top starts going crisp and brown, and it's bubbling vigorously, it's done.
Serve with a green salad.
This is something I've heard of but have never tried, so I did a bit of research on the interwebs and every recipe I found for it was different. There were the common threads of Reblochon, potatoes, onion and bacon, but otherwise just about every aspect of the recipe varied profoundly.
Garlic, or not garlic? (Duh - it's French, so it really ought to.)
Mushrooms?
Cream, or not? And if yes - single, double or creme fraiche? And how much? 6tbsp up to 300ml...
Boil old potatoes and then peel and slice them, or boil new potatoes in their skins and then slice them, or slice them and boil them? And do you fry the potatoes before putting them in the dish? Or not?
Butter the cooking dish, or not?
Lardons or regular bacon? Smoked or not?
White wine? If yes - do you pour a glass over the whole thing before it goes in the oven, or deglaze the pan with it? Or just drink it?
 |
| Apache potatoes |
 |
| Oval Pyrex dish |
This is what we did.
Take 1.2kg Apache potatoes, wash them, then slice (5mm slices) into a pan of cold water. Add salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 7 mins (according to one recipe, the potatoes should be "tender when pocked with a knife"). We gave them a quick pocking and determined that they were sufficiently done, so drained them and kept them warm.
While the potatoes are cooking, chop a pack of sliced smoked bacon into 1cm slices and fry gently in 15g butter and 15ml olive oil. (I used a 6-rasher pack of back bacon as I had one lurking in the fridge.) Put the oven on - 200degC.
Peel and slice 2 med/large onions and add to the frying pan. Peel and chop 3 cloves of garlic and add those to the pan as well. Cook gently until the onion and garlic are soft but not coloured. Add a bit of pepper and salt.
Put 15g butter into the dish and microwave it until it melts, then cover the inside of the dish with butter using a pastry brush.
Put half of the potatoes in the bottom of the dish in an even layer, then half of the onion and bacon mixture, then 75ml cream (we used a mixture of single and double). Repeat the layers, then unwrap the Reblochon cheese, and, cursing freely, attempt to cut it into two rounds. Give up on that idea, and cut it in half first into two semicircles, then attempt to cut each half into two thinner semicircles. (It's evil stuff, Reblochon - as the knife passes through it it has a magical self-healing property, so it sticks itself back together again. Son and I both tried with a semicircle, with varying degrees of success.)
Use the somewhat ragged semicircles, rind-side up, to thatch the top of the Tartiflette, then pour a glass of wine over the top (using a pastry brush to make sure the cheese rind is thoroughly wine-y).
Put in the oven, and listen to the howls of horror from younger son as the house fills with the delicious aroma of roasting socks. Once the top starts going crisp and brown, and it's bubbling vigorously, it's done.
Serve with a green salad.
Thursday 10 May 2012
Cheesy leeky mash
Take 1kg potatoes, cut into even sized pieces, and put into a pan of cold water. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Turn the heat on.
Wash and slice 500g leeks (including the green bits) and add to the pan. Bring to the boil.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain, add 150 ml milk, 20g butter and about 100g grated cheese, plus a good sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper to the pan, and mash roughly.
Good with oven-ready fish in breadcrumbs/batter portions, and takes about the same length of time to cook.
Feeds two starving teenage boys and two adults with normal appetites.
I gave up peeling potatoes that I was going to mash some years ago. It's much quicker, tastes good, and gives a dish an appealingly rustic look. Extra fibre too. What's not to like?
Sunday 29 April 2012
Upside-down cake
So, in order to get through the rhubarb in the garden without repeating myself too often, I spent some time today looking at recipes and decided to attempt my own variant of a rhubarb and custard cake.
I started off by roasting about 800g of rhubarb, chopped in 2cm lengths and sprinkled with 150g of sugar, in a shallow tin at 180degC for 30 minutes, which reduces the water content greatly and ended up with about 600g of cooked rhubarb in deep pink syrup. I drained this, reserving the syrup.
Next, for the cake, I lined a 23cm springform tin with baking parchment, made some custard (11g custard powder, 13g sugar, 160ml milk) then creamed 250g margarine with 250g sugar and 5ml vanilla extract and added 4 eggs, one at a time, before adding 250g SR flour mixed with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and about half the custard, plus some of the syrup from the rhubarb.
Half of the mixture went into the tin, and after spreading it out I topped it with half of the rhubarb, then put the rest of the cake mixture on top of that, in rough spoonfuls, then the rest of the rhubarb on top of that. Then I spooned blobs of the custard on the top, and it was ready for the oven.
Then, disaster.
While I was lifting it into the oven, the base of the springform tin sprung out. The cake mix ended up all over the oven door. I grabbed 3 2lb loaf tins and liners (thank you, Lakeland) and hastily scraped the mix into them, so all my careful layering went completely to pot. After washing the oven door, I put the tins in with crossed fingers and baked them for about 50 mins at 180degC.
We had one for dinner, served with the leftover rhubarb syrup, and although it did not look pretty it tasted good.
Sunday 22 April 2012
Salad 'n' soup
What is the correct response when your husband proudly presents you with a strangely misshapen beetroot that he has discovered in the garden? One of the batch that he grew last year, which has somehow escaped being harvested with all the others?
Why, make a salad with it, of course.
So, I peeled it, then out came my trusty vegetable shredder (which looks rather like a mutant potato peeler; something like this one, and which confuses my husband dreadfully - oh, how I laughed when I heard he had been trying to peel potatoes with it once) and shredded it into a bowl along with two carrots and a finely sliced onion. The juice of a lemon, about a tablespoonful of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper went in next, then the whole lot had a good toss and was good to go.
Still in a salad-y mood, as I'd picked up a couple of cheap cucumbers and some tomatoes at the supermarket yesterday, I soaked 150g of bulgur wheat in 300ml boiling water for about 20 mins, then chopped up half a cucumber and quartered 8 cherry tomatoes to make some tabbouleh. A good squeeze of garlic puree, the juice of a lemon, another tablespoonful of olive oil, salt, pepper and a generous handful of flat-leaf parsley from the garden (with the earwigs and ladybirds carefully removed before bringing it indoors) roughly chopped, made the dressing, into which I folded the cucumber and the tomatoes and then the still-warm bulgur wheat.
And the soup: broccoli today.
One onion, chopped and fried gently in 10g butter, with 2 potatoes, diced, then added to the pan with the onion, plus the broccoli stalks from a medium head of broccoli, chopped. About a pint of boiling water, salt and pepper, then after it had simmered for about 10 mins, the rest of the broccoli, and about 8 further minutes simmering. Then a quick whizz in the pan with a hand blender, about 1/2 a pint of milk, and it was ready to serve.
All in all, not a bad lunch!
Why, make a salad with it, of course.
Still in a salad-y mood, as I'd picked up a couple of cheap cucumbers and some tomatoes at the supermarket yesterday, I soaked 150g of bulgur wheat in 300ml boiling water for about 20 mins, then chopped up half a cucumber and quartered 8 cherry tomatoes to make some tabbouleh. A good squeeze of garlic puree, the juice of a lemon, another tablespoonful of olive oil, salt, pepper and a generous handful of flat-leaf parsley from the garden (with the earwigs and ladybirds carefully removed before bringing it indoors) roughly chopped, made the dressing, into which I folded the cucumber and the tomatoes and then the still-warm bulgur wheat.
And the soup: broccoli today.
One onion, chopped and fried gently in 10g butter, with 2 potatoes, diced, then added to the pan with the onion, plus the broccoli stalks from a medium head of broccoli, chopped. About a pint of boiling water, salt and pepper, then after it had simmered for about 10 mins, the rest of the broccoli, and about 8 further minutes simmering. Then a quick whizz in the pan with a hand blender, about 1/2 a pint of milk, and it was ready to serve.
All in all, not a bad lunch!
Friday 20 April 2012
Rhubarb, rhubarb...
The weather has been a bit dreary for the last couple of weeks, but the rhubarb in the garden has enjoyed the recent rainfall. So much so, in fact, that I think we will mostly be eating rhubarb for the foreseeable future.
I have recently acquired a new crumble dish - the one that I used for my last crumble foray ended up getting used to hold a flower arrangement of anemones for my mum's 75th birthday (happy birthday, Mum! It was a GREAT party!) which she took home with her after the party, and so that my poor chaps at home would not be unduly deprived of crumble, I now have her oval pyrex dish, which is significantly bigger than the one that had the anemones in.
Tonight I gave the larger crumble dish its first outing, with the first crop of rhubarb from the garden.
900g of freshly picked rhubarb, washed and cut into 2.5cm chunks, covered the bottom of it quite nicely. 85g of sugar was sprinkled over that, and that all sat in the dish thinking about things quietly while I whizzed up 300g of plain flour and 120g butter in the food processor, then added 80g rolled oats and 100g sugar and gave it another quick whizz.
Spreading this evenly over the lumpy rhubarb in the dish was a bit challenging - I could have done with more crumble mix, really. Particularly as there is the regular "crumble grumble" in which it is strongly suggested to me that the main point of a crumble is the crumble topping and certain young gentlemen in the house would definitely prefer their crumble with not so much fruit and a lot more topping. As there were some areas where the crumble topping was a bit on the thin side, due to the underlying rhubarb substrate being a little uneven, I popped this in the oven (180degC) for about 50 mins, until the rhubarb juices were bubbling up pinkly through the (all too sparse) crumble topping, bracing myself for the inevitable whingeing when it was served. However, older son and husband both ate it with apparent relish (and a large helping of custard) and younger son will be having his when he gets back from helping at Scouts this evening.
Yes, I'm such a bad mother that I don't even feed my poor son properly before he goes out in the evening these days. But as I didn't get back from work until 6 today, having a crumble that could be eaten by 7 was never really a possibility, and he has it to look forward to when he comes home.
I have recently acquired a new crumble dish - the one that I used for my last crumble foray ended up getting used to hold a flower arrangement of anemones for my mum's 75th birthday (happy birthday, Mum! It was a GREAT party!) which she took home with her after the party, and so that my poor chaps at home would not be unduly deprived of crumble, I now have her oval pyrex dish, which is significantly bigger than the one that had the anemones in.
Tonight I gave the larger crumble dish its first outing, with the first crop of rhubarb from the garden.
900g of freshly picked rhubarb, washed and cut into 2.5cm chunks, covered the bottom of it quite nicely. 85g of sugar was sprinkled over that, and that all sat in the dish thinking about things quietly while I whizzed up 300g of plain flour and 120g butter in the food processor, then added 80g rolled oats and 100g sugar and gave it another quick whizz.
Spreading this evenly over the lumpy rhubarb in the dish was a bit challenging - I could have done with more crumble mix, really. Particularly as there is the regular "crumble grumble" in which it is strongly suggested to me that the main point of a crumble is the crumble topping and certain young gentlemen in the house would definitely prefer their crumble with not so much fruit and a lot more topping. As there were some areas where the crumble topping was a bit on the thin side, due to the underlying rhubarb substrate being a little uneven, I popped this in the oven (180degC) for about 50 mins, until the rhubarb juices were bubbling up pinkly through the (all too sparse) crumble topping, bracing myself for the inevitable whingeing when it was served. However, older son and husband both ate it with apparent relish (and a large helping of custard) and younger son will be having his when he gets back from helping at Scouts this evening.
Yes, I'm such a bad mother that I don't even feed my poor son properly before he goes out in the evening these days. But as I didn't get back from work until 6 today, having a crumble that could be eaten by 7 was never really a possibility, and he has it to look forward to when he comes home.
Sunday 15 April 2012
Long and slow...
...that's the best way to cook a casserole.
Today I made a pork and cider casserole which turned out pretty well, despite horrifying both my mother and my husband by my extravagance for using 2 cans of cider in it. But it's enough for 2 meals, and tasted good. Even fussy younger son liked it.
Into my large cauldron went:
1kg diced casserole pork (picked up reduced at the supermarket yesterday)
5 medium-sized onions, peeled and sliced
about 1/3 of a head of celery, sliced finely
8 largish carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
2 cans of Strongbow cider
salt
pepper
the stalks from a good handful of flat-leaf parsley from the garden
about 1tbsp (home grown!) dried sage
400g can chopped tomatoes
250g mushrooms, quartered
After letting it sit for a couple of hours, I added one Granny Smith apple, cored and diced, turned the heat on and brought it to a gentle boil, then turned the heat right down and let it burble very gently for about 3 hours.
I thickened it with a couple of dessertspoons of cornflour, mixed with a crumbled vegetable Oxo cube and a bit more salt and pepper, plus about 150 ml water, then let it burble some more while I cooked rice and green beans to go with it.
Enough for 3 portions today and will comfortably do 4 more portions later in the week, so that's one day I don't have to think about food after work!
Also planned for this week: the legendary Minced Trolley Meat Loaf.
Today I made a pork and cider casserole which turned out pretty well, despite horrifying both my mother and my husband by my extravagance for using 2 cans of cider in it. But it's enough for 2 meals, and tasted good. Even fussy younger son liked it.
Into my large cauldron went:
1kg diced casserole pork (picked up reduced at the supermarket yesterday)
5 medium-sized onions, peeled and sliced
about 1/3 of a head of celery, sliced finely
8 largish carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
2 cans of Strongbow cider
salt
pepper
the stalks from a good handful of flat-leaf parsley from the garden
about 1tbsp (home grown!) dried sage
400g can chopped tomatoes
250g mushrooms, quartered
After letting it sit for a couple of hours, I added one Granny Smith apple, cored and diced, turned the heat on and brought it to a gentle boil, then turned the heat right down and let it burble very gently for about 3 hours.
I thickened it with a couple of dessertspoons of cornflour, mixed with a crumbled vegetable Oxo cube and a bit more salt and pepper, plus about 150 ml water, then let it burble some more while I cooked rice and green beans to go with it.
Enough for 3 portions today and will comfortably do 4 more portions later in the week, so that's one day I don't have to think about food after work!
Also planned for this week: the legendary Minced Trolley Meat Loaf.
Monday 2 April 2012
Cheesy mashed potato and leeks
The protein for tonight's dinner was battered haddock fillets to cook in the oven. I looked at them in the box, decided they were a bit small for my hungry tribe, and thought I had better rustle up something pretty substantial as an accompaniment. Even better - I had only one pan to wash up afterwards.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present - cheesy mashed potato and leeks.
Cut 800g of (old) potatoes into even sized chunks and place in a pan of cold salted water. You can peel them if you like, but I seldom do. Chop 500g leeks into 2.5cm long pieces and add those to the pan. Turn the heat on, and bring to the boil.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain the pan, and add 20g butter, a heaped dessertspoon of low fat creme fraiche, about 120ml milk, 80g mature cheddar (grated) and 1 tbsp chopped chives.
Mash it all together roughly - it will be a fairly sloppy texture - and serve. Delicious, and goes very well with the haddock.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present - cheesy mashed potato and leeks.
Cut 800g of (old) potatoes into even sized chunks and place in a pan of cold salted water. You can peel them if you like, but I seldom do. Chop 500g leeks into 2.5cm long pieces and add those to the pan. Turn the heat on, and bring to the boil.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain the pan, and add 20g butter, a heaped dessertspoon of low fat creme fraiche, about 120ml milk, 80g mature cheddar (grated) and 1 tbsp chopped chives.
Mash it all together roughly - it will be a fairly sloppy texture - and serve. Delicious, and goes very well with the haddock.
Pea and ham soup
My younger son is exceedingly partial to home made pea and ham soup. Even before he could pronounce the word "soup" properly, and called it "doup". This particular recipe was "Yummy doup". My grandad loved this soup too - I used to take him a frozen container or two up when I visited him. I've been making this soup for (counts on fingers) ooh, probably about 20 years now. Ever since I received an enormous stockpot as a wedding present. This has seen some heavy use. Over the years I've experimented with different things in it - potato - or not? Green split peas - or yellow ones? Chop the veg before putting them in, or bung 'em in whole and liquidise them at the end? This is the version that I generally make (and I get complaints now if I vary from it). It makes rather a lot - enough for 4 hungry people for 3 days - so I generally freeze 2/3 of it. It's great to know you have a pot of it in the freezer for emergencies.
Take a smoked gammon hock or ham bone, put it in the stock pot, cover with cold water, and bring to the boil. Skim off any scummy bits, then reduce the heat and simmer for a couple of hours until it's tender (the meat, obviously - you won't get the bones tender no matter how long you cook them).
Take the hock out and sit it on a plate, then skim the fat off the cooking water, which has now turned into wonderful smoky gammony stock (I put it through my skimmer jug, which separates the fat from the watery bits). Put the cooking water back in the pan, along with 500g of yellow split peas, 3 good-sized sticks of celery, 500g peeled and halved onions, 500g carrots. Bring to the boil again and simmer for at least an hour.
Meanwhile, once the hock has cooled down a bit, remove the skin, the blubber layer, the bones and the gristly bits, and you should be left with about 300-500g cooked ham. Chop this into cubes and put it on one side - NOT in the soup yet.
Once the peas are soft and the vegetables are tender, liquidise the veg. I use a slotted spoon to put them into the 1 litre beaker that came with my hand blender, and whizz them in that. It doesn't matter if you get some split peas liquidised too - just make sure that all the big lumps of veg are gone.
Return the liquidised veg to the pan, and add the cubed ham. Put in a good grinding of black pepper, and taste to see if it needs any salt. Simmer gently for another 5 mins or so, then serve. Makes lots!
If you're feeling keen, you can dice half the veg before putting them in to cook, then just fish out the un-diced big lumps - this gives a soup with a chunkier texture. But it takes a fair while, and the onions make me cry, so I tend to just peel them and put them in. I used to add a couple of diced potatoes as well, but I think I prefer it without. And as for using green split peas - well, if I didn't put so many carrots in, that would be fine, but it turns out a rather unappetising khaki if you have green peas and orange carrots. So we have a bright orangy-yellow pea and ham soup.
Take a smoked gammon hock or ham bone, put it in the stock pot, cover with cold water, and bring to the boil. Skim off any scummy bits, then reduce the heat and simmer for a couple of hours until it's tender (the meat, obviously - you won't get the bones tender no matter how long you cook them).
Take the hock out and sit it on a plate, then skim the fat off the cooking water, which has now turned into wonderful smoky gammony stock (I put it through my skimmer jug, which separates the fat from the watery bits). Put the cooking water back in the pan, along with 500g of yellow split peas, 3 good-sized sticks of celery, 500g peeled and halved onions, 500g carrots. Bring to the boil again and simmer for at least an hour.
Meanwhile, once the hock has cooled down a bit, remove the skin, the blubber layer, the bones and the gristly bits, and you should be left with about 300-500g cooked ham. Chop this into cubes and put it on one side - NOT in the soup yet.
Once the peas are soft and the vegetables are tender, liquidise the veg. I use a slotted spoon to put them into the 1 litre beaker that came with my hand blender, and whizz them in that. It doesn't matter if you get some split peas liquidised too - just make sure that all the big lumps of veg are gone.
Return the liquidised veg to the pan, and add the cubed ham. Put in a good grinding of black pepper, and taste to see if it needs any salt. Simmer gently for another 5 mins or so, then serve. Makes lots!
If you're feeling keen, you can dice half the veg before putting them in to cook, then just fish out the un-diced big lumps - this gives a soup with a chunkier texture. But it takes a fair while, and the onions make me cry, so I tend to just peel them and put them in. I used to add a couple of diced potatoes as well, but I think I prefer it without. And as for using green split peas - well, if I didn't put so many carrots in, that would be fine, but it turns out a rather unappetising khaki if you have green peas and orange carrots. So we have a bright orangy-yellow pea and ham soup.
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Warm Puy lentil and cranberry salad
I can't claim this recipe is original - it's based on the one in the Audrey Eyton F2 Diet book, which in turn is based on a recipe by Leon Lewis. But it is delicious and healthy, and takes about 25 mins start to finish.
It's a real star - the earthiness of the lentils, the crisp but tender vegetables, and the sweet tanginess of the cranberries, wrapped in a garlic and parsley dressing.
My version also keeps the washing up to a minimum - 2 pans, a chopping board, a knife, a colander and a garlic press, plus a tablespoon to measure the oil and vinegar.
Put 300g puy lentils in a pan with a generous teaspoon of veg. bouillon powder and 850ml boiling water.
Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer and cover.
In another pan, warm 1tbsp olive oil and add 3 chopped celery sticks (about 7mm dice). While the celery is sizzling, peel and chop 2 good-sized carrots - again, about 7mm dice - and add them to the celery and stir. Then peel and chop 2 onions - I used 1 red, 1 white - and add those to the veg pan. Stir some more, then chop a courgette into - you guessed it - 7mm dice and add that to the pan. Stir again.
Next, go out into the garden and pick a generous handful of parsley (5 or 6 chunky stalks). Wash the parsley, and chop the stalks finely and add those to the veg pan (stir!), then chop the parsley leaves and put into a large bowl. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, a good grinding of black pepper and about a level teaspoon of salt, and stir. Peel 3 chunky garlic cloves and squidge them through a garlic press into the bowl, and stir again. Add 100g dried cranberries and stir.
The veg will probably be tender (but with a bit of bite still) by now - perfect. Turn off the heat and let them cool for a couple of minutes. Test the lentils to see if they are cooked - you want them yielding, not bullet-like. When they are cooked, drain them, and leave them to cool for a couple of minutes.
Add the vegetables to the bowl, and stir well to mix with the parsley and garlic and cranberries. Add the lentils and stir again.
Serve warm, and if there is any left over, it is wonderful cold too the next day.
It's a real star - the earthiness of the lentils, the crisp but tender vegetables, and the sweet tanginess of the cranberries, wrapped in a garlic and parsley dressing.
My version also keeps the washing up to a minimum - 2 pans, a chopping board, a knife, a colander and a garlic press, plus a tablespoon to measure the oil and vinegar.
Put 300g puy lentils in a pan with a generous teaspoon of veg. bouillon powder and 850ml boiling water.
Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer and cover.
In another pan, warm 1tbsp olive oil and add 3 chopped celery sticks (about 7mm dice). While the celery is sizzling, peel and chop 2 good-sized carrots - again, about 7mm dice - and add them to the celery and stir. Then peel and chop 2 onions - I used 1 red, 1 white - and add those to the veg pan. Stir some more, then chop a courgette into - you guessed it - 7mm dice and add that to the pan. Stir again.
Next, go out into the garden and pick a generous handful of parsley (5 or 6 chunky stalks). Wash the parsley, and chop the stalks finely and add those to the veg pan (stir!), then chop the parsley leaves and put into a large bowl. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, a good grinding of black pepper and about a level teaspoon of salt, and stir. Peel 3 chunky garlic cloves and squidge them through a garlic press into the bowl, and stir again. Add 100g dried cranberries and stir.
The veg will probably be tender (but with a bit of bite still) by now - perfect. Turn off the heat and let them cool for a couple of minutes. Test the lentils to see if they are cooked - you want them yielding, not bullet-like. When they are cooked, drain them, and leave them to cool for a couple of minutes.
Add the vegetables to the bowl, and stir well to mix with the parsley and garlic and cranberries. Add the lentils and stir again.
Serve warm, and if there is any left over, it is wonderful cold too the next day.
Sunday 25 March 2012
Crumbling...
Two hot puddings in a row. Luxury!
Following a trip to Newmarket yesterday, when I went past the veg stall at just the right time (when they were selling fairly random scoops of assorted things for £1) I came home with various things, including a cucumber, three vine tomatoes, a couple of onions, one cooked beetroot, a large head of garlic, four carrots, a cabbage and four sticks of rhubarb, all for £2.
So, the rhubarb has now gone into a rhubarb crumble which is cooking at the moment alongside a shoulder of pork. (we'll be having the cabbage and the carrots with the pork later on, and some of the garlic and an onion went into the soup).
225g plain flour
85 g butter
50g oats
85g sugar
rhubarb (I'd normally put more than 4 sticks in, but 4 was all I had)
more sugar
Whizz the butter and flour together in a food processor until looking like breadcrumbs; add the oats and sugar and whizz briefly until mixed. Chop the rhubarb into even pieces (about 2 cm long) and put in the bottom of a dish - my crumble dish is an oval pyrex one without handles, a bit like this - I used to do crumbles in a narrower, deeper dish but the family prefers flatter ones. Sprinkle a couple of tbsp of sugar over the rhubarb, then spoon the crumble topping over evenly.
Cook at about 180degC until the top is browning gently and the rhubarb can be seen bubbling away at the bottom of the dish.
Following a trip to Newmarket yesterday, when I went past the veg stall at just the right time (when they were selling fairly random scoops of assorted things for £1) I came home with various things, including a cucumber, three vine tomatoes, a couple of onions, one cooked beetroot, a large head of garlic, four carrots, a cabbage and four sticks of rhubarb, all for £2.
So, the rhubarb has now gone into a rhubarb crumble which is cooking at the moment alongside a shoulder of pork. (we'll be having the cabbage and the carrots with the pork later on, and some of the garlic and an onion went into the soup).
225g plain flour
85 g butter
50g oats
85g sugar
rhubarb (I'd normally put more than 4 sticks in, but 4 was all I had)
more sugar
Whizz the butter and flour together in a food processor until looking like breadcrumbs; add the oats and sugar and whizz briefly until mixed. Chop the rhubarb into even pieces (about 2 cm long) and put in the bottom of a dish - my crumble dish is an oval pyrex one without handles, a bit like this - I used to do crumbles in a narrower, deeper dish but the family prefers flatter ones. Sprinkle a couple of tbsp of sugar over the rhubarb, then spoon the crumble topping over evenly.Cook at about 180degC until the top is browning gently and the rhubarb can be seen bubbling away at the bottom of the dish.
Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen!
I've long been an Alice in Wonderland fan and returned to this masterpiece many times through my childhood and again in later years.
I've also long been an advocate of soup. Wonderful stuff. I have battled for years against a husband who likes Cup-a-Soup - which to my mind has all the nutritional value of over-salted wallpaper paste and is an abomination. But if he wants cup-a-soup, that's fine. I prefer not to pollute my body with such rubbish, and often make a cauldron full of soup at the weekend. Weekend lunch is generally soup and bread and cheese and things.
Today was a leek, cauliflower and potato soup day. It came out a delicate pale green colour (hence the Lewis Carroll quote) and was really rather good. Here's how I made it:
Into a large pan, melt 20g of butter and put 500g washed, trimmed and sliced leeks in. Stir the leeks around, keeping the pan partly covered so that they sweat rather than frizzle. While the leeks are sweating, peel and slice a couple of garlic cloves and add them to the pan, then fill up the kettle and then chop up a cauliflower (I used all of it except for a couple of the outside leaves which were a bit manky) and put that in too. Peel a couple of medium potatoes (about 250g), slice, and put them in as well, then add boiling water to not quite cover it all, crumble in a couple of vegetable Oxo cubes, and grind in some black pepper.
Let it simmer for about 20-25 mins until all is tender, then liquidise (I do like my hand blender which I can use in the pan to liquidise soup). Mix 50g skimmed milk powder with about 150ml water and add that as well, then check the seasoning.
Serve hot!
I've also long been an advocate of soup. Wonderful stuff. I have battled for years against a husband who likes Cup-a-Soup - which to my mind has all the nutritional value of over-salted wallpaper paste and is an abomination. But if he wants cup-a-soup, that's fine. I prefer not to pollute my body with such rubbish, and often make a cauldron full of soup at the weekend. Weekend lunch is generally soup and bread and cheese and things.
Today was a leek, cauliflower and potato soup day. It came out a delicate pale green colour (hence the Lewis Carroll quote) and was really rather good. Here's how I made it:
Into a large pan, melt 20g of butter and put 500g washed, trimmed and sliced leeks in. Stir the leeks around, keeping the pan partly covered so that they sweat rather than frizzle. While the leeks are sweating, peel and slice a couple of garlic cloves and add them to the pan, then fill up the kettle and then chop up a cauliflower (I used all of it except for a couple of the outside leaves which were a bit manky) and put that in too. Peel a couple of medium potatoes (about 250g), slice, and put them in as well, then add boiling water to not quite cover it all, crumble in a couple of vegetable Oxo cubes, and grind in some black pepper.
Let it simmer for about 20-25 mins until all is tender, then liquidise (I do like my hand blender which I can use in the pan to liquidise soup). Mix 50g skimmed milk powder with about 150ml water and add that as well, then check the seasoning.
Serve hot!
Saturday 24 March 2012
Chinese Wedding Cake
Well, that's how I've grown up hearing rice pudding referred to. Blame my father for that. I got grumbled at for buying too much milk at the supermarket on Thursday evening, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity to make a rice pudding. My boys are quite happy to eat rice pudding - home-cooked puddings are a rarity in this house, so they're grateful for any sort of home-make pudding, not like my fussy younger brother who I remember assuring my granny during a visit there about 35 years ago that he couldn't possibly eat rice pudding because he was allergic to it.
Following a quick walk down to the local shop (who sell pudding rice, bless 'em) I put the oven on to 150 degC, got an industrial-size lasagne dish out, and put 100g pudding rice and 85g of sugar in, plus a litre of semi-skimmed milk and a sprinkle of nutmeg. After a quick blast in the microwave (to bring the milk up to temperature) and a stir, it's now going to sit puddingifying in the oven for a couple of hours to get a lovely nutmeggy thick skin.
Following a quick walk down to the local shop (who sell pudding rice, bless 'em) I put the oven on to 150 degC, got an industrial-size lasagne dish out, and put 100g pudding rice and 85g of sugar in, plus a litre of semi-skimmed milk and a sprinkle of nutmeg. After a quick blast in the microwave (to bring the milk up to temperature) and a stir, it's now going to sit puddingifying in the oven for a couple of hours to get a lovely nutmeggy thick skin.
Thursday 22 March 2012
The cupboard is bare...
...and this evening there was not a lot of time either, as son #1 had to be taken into Cambridge to a talk at the Engineering Dept starring at 7 pm, and son #2 needed to make some cakes for a classmate's cake stall tomorrow.
A delve around the fridge yielded a somewhat tired cauliflower and a bag of leeks that were threatening to go slimy, plus milk and cheese, and a few slices of ham, and the pantry had dried pasta, flour and butter plus a can of sweet corn.
I fished the large baking trough out of the cupboard, and then proceeded to fill it with 550g penne pasta (weight before cooking), the cauliflower (divided into small florets) and the leeks (sliced and boiled with the cauliflower). The can of sweet corn went in, the ham was chopped and scattered over, and 2 pints of cheese sauce made with a pint of fresh milk, 50g skimmed milk powder, 85g flour and 50g butter plus a teaspoon of mustard powder, the cooking water from the veg and the water from the sweetcorn. Oh yes, and about 125g grated cheese. After pouring the cheese sauce over I gave it a quick stir then sprinkled about 100g more cheese on top and it went into a 190degC oven for about 30 mins until brown and bubbly.
4 good portions today and almost half left for another day. Result!
A delve around the fridge yielded a somewhat tired cauliflower and a bag of leeks that were threatening to go slimy, plus milk and cheese, and a few slices of ham, and the pantry had dried pasta, flour and butter plus a can of sweet corn.
I fished the large baking trough out of the cupboard, and then proceeded to fill it with 550g penne pasta (weight before cooking), the cauliflower (divided into small florets) and the leeks (sliced and boiled with the cauliflower). The can of sweet corn went in, the ham was chopped and scattered over, and 2 pints of cheese sauce made with a pint of fresh milk, 50g skimmed milk powder, 85g flour and 50g butter plus a teaspoon of mustard powder, the cooking water from the veg and the water from the sweetcorn. Oh yes, and about 125g grated cheese. After pouring the cheese sauce over I gave it a quick stir then sprinkled about 100g more cheese on top and it went into a 190degC oven for about 30 mins until brown and bubbly.
4 good portions today and almost half left for another day. Result!
Wednesday 21 March 2012
YMCA Cuisine
Tonight was a YMCA night. That stands for Yesterday's Meal Cooked Again. YMCA meals are a handy thing for the time-poor working mother.
The boys had some lasagne recycled from Monday, and husband and I had the leftover goulash and rice from yesterday. We all had frozen peas. A trip to the optician's after school meant that the boys and I didn't get back until almost 7pm and that was too late to cook from scratch.
Tomorrow's going to be a problem. No time to go to the supermarket, and little in the cupboards and fridge. Friday's going to be a challenge too, as I'll have less than an hour to cook and eat before going to the library for my regular 2 hour library duty. And even less food in the cupboards by then!
The boys had some lasagne recycled from Monday, and husband and I had the leftover goulash and rice from yesterday. We all had frozen peas. A trip to the optician's after school meant that the boys and I didn't get back until almost 7pm and that was too late to cook from scratch.
Tomorrow's going to be a problem. No time to go to the supermarket, and little in the cupboards and fridge. Friday's going to be a challenge too, as I'll have less than an hour to cook and eat before going to the library for my regular 2 hour library duty. And even less food in the cupboards by then!
Rice
Rice is good stuff. Where would we be without it? And it's really easy to cook.
I've tried a number of ways of cooking it over the years. Here's the one that works for me. No draining, no colanders, no pre-washing. soaking and rinsing, no faffing. No salt either.
I generally cook enough for 2 meals, and refrigerate half of it (if I can keep it out of the clutches of the ravening hordes), then I have something that I can rustle up a quick fried rice with, or microwave it as an accompaniment on an evening when I am really short of time.
You need:
Basmati rice (I've tried other cheaper rice over the years. Basmati is best. Trust me.)
boiling water
a large mug
a heavy-based pan with a close-fitting lid
about half an hour
Put the pan on the hob, and turn on the heat.
Measure a mugful of rice - the size of the mug will depend on how much you want to cook. Put the rice into the pan.
Add almost 2 mugfuls of boiling water (about 1 7/8 the volume of rice).
Bring it to a GENTLE simmer and put the lid on.
Leave it alone, turning the heat off after 15 mins. DON'T TAKE THE LID OFF UNTIL IT'S TIME TO SERVE IT.
30 mins after you started, the rice is done. (But it's still good and hot 45 mins or more after you started - it's very happy sitting with the lid on until you're ready to eat it.)
I've tried a number of ways of cooking it over the years. Here's the one that works for me. No draining, no colanders, no pre-washing. soaking and rinsing, no faffing. No salt either.
I generally cook enough for 2 meals, and refrigerate half of it (if I can keep it out of the clutches of the ravening hordes), then I have something that I can rustle up a quick fried rice with, or microwave it as an accompaniment on an evening when I am really short of time.
You need:
Basmati rice (I've tried other cheaper rice over the years. Basmati is best. Trust me.)
boiling water
a large mug
a heavy-based pan with a close-fitting lid
about half an hour
Put the pan on the hob, and turn on the heat.
Measure a mugful of rice - the size of the mug will depend on how much you want to cook. Put the rice into the pan.
Add almost 2 mugfuls of boiling water (about 1 7/8 the volume of rice).
Bring it to a GENTLE simmer and put the lid on.
Leave it alone, turning the heat off after 15 mins. DON'T TAKE THE LID OFF UNTIL IT'S TIME TO SERVE IT.
30 mins after you started, the rice is done. (But it's still good and hot 45 mins or more after you started - it's very happy sitting with the lid on until you're ready to eat it.)
Courgettes
Uurgh, I hate courgettes, Mum. Oh no, not courgettes again... why do we ALWAYS have to have courgettes?
Because I like 'em, that's why - and because we grew a lot in the garden last year, so for a while we did have courgettes coming out of our ears. Courgette risotto, grilled courgettes, fried courgettes, courgette-heavy ratatouille - you name it, we had courgettes in it. Useful gardening tip - yellow courgettes are so much easier to see on the plant than green ones, so you can pick 'em when they're a suitable size and you don't end up with inadvertent marrows.
You will need:
Courgettes (about one per person, depending on size*)
A pan with a well-fitting lid
butter
salt
black pepper (or black cumin)
*size of courgette, or size of person...
Cut the ends off the courgette and slice into about 6mm slices. (If they're big, cut the slices into 2 so that they're semicircles, otherwise keep them as circles.)
Put the pan on to heat and put about 10g of butter in it. Let it sizzle, and add 1/4 teasp salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Or, if you prefer, 1/2 teasp of black cumin seeds, which I think go brilliantly with courgettes, but my younger son begs to differ. However, he loves them with black pepper.
Add the sliced courgettes, put the lid on the pan, and shake to coat in the butter. Keep the heat fairly high, and give the pan a shake every minute or so. If a lot of liquid collects in the bottom of the pan, remove the lid and let it evaporate. After 5 mins or so, reduce the heat. They'll be ready in about 5 more minutes.
Because I like 'em, that's why - and because we grew a lot in the garden last year, so for a while we did have courgettes coming out of our ears. Courgette risotto, grilled courgettes, fried courgettes, courgette-heavy ratatouille - you name it, we had courgettes in it. Useful gardening tip - yellow courgettes are so much easier to see on the plant than green ones, so you can pick 'em when they're a suitable size and you don't end up with inadvertent marrows.
You will need:
Courgettes (about one per person, depending on size*)
A pan with a well-fitting lid
butter
salt
black pepper (or black cumin)
*size of courgette, or size of person...
Cut the ends off the courgette and slice into about 6mm slices. (If they're big, cut the slices into 2 so that they're semicircles, otherwise keep them as circles.)
Put the pan on to heat and put about 10g of butter in it. Let it sizzle, and add 1/4 teasp salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Or, if you prefer, 1/2 teasp of black cumin seeds, which I think go brilliantly with courgettes, but my younger son begs to differ. However, he loves them with black pepper.
Add the sliced courgettes, put the lid on the pan, and shake to coat in the butter. Keep the heat fairly high, and give the pan a shake every minute or so. If a lot of liquid collects in the bottom of the pan, remove the lid and let it evaporate. After 5 mins or so, reduce the heat. They'll be ready in about 5 more minutes.
Pork goulash
So, my older son had just returned from a week in NYC, and I wanted to cook something nice for his first dinner back home. It was a week since I'd been to the supermarket, and this week's planning didn't really happen. So I was scrabbling around the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what I could find. This goulash was the result. And a rather good one, if I say so myself.
One pork fillet (about 500g) - hastily defrosted in the microwave then sliced about 1 cm thick and each slice quartered
half fat creme fraiche (about 200g)
one large-ish onion, sliced
one scant tbsp oil
one red pepper, seeded, chopped
one carton chopped tomatoes
one tbsp smoked paprika - VITAL
one vegetable OXO cube
salt
pepper
mushrooms (170g) sliced
rice to serve
veg to serve (I did courgettes)
Boil the kettle for the rice and then get the rice going. (I'll talk about rice more in a future post)
Slice the onion, soften in the oil for a few mins, then fling in the red pepper and garlic. Stir for a couple of mins, then put in the paprika. Add the pork fillet and the tomatoes, and crumble in the stock cube and a generous amount of black pepper. Add the mushrooms, and give it a good stir. Put the lid on the pan, reduce the heat, and simmer for 25 mins. (You'll want to turn the heat off under the rice about 10 mins into the 25 mins, unless you like your rice with a crispy bottom).
Cook the courgettes (I'll talk about courgettes in the future too) and add the creme fraiche to the goulash pan. Simmer with the lid off for 10 mins (until the sauce has reduced slightly and the courgettes are done).
Eat!
One pork fillet (about 500g) - hastily defrosted in the microwave then sliced about 1 cm thick and each slice quartered
half fat creme fraiche (about 200g)
one large-ish onion, sliced
one scant tbsp oil
one red pepper, seeded, chopped
one carton chopped tomatoes
one tbsp smoked paprika - VITAL
one vegetable OXO cube
salt
pepper
mushrooms (170g) sliced
rice to serve
veg to serve (I did courgettes)
Boil the kettle for the rice and then get the rice going. (I'll talk about rice more in a future post)
Slice the onion, soften in the oil for a few mins, then fling in the red pepper and garlic. Stir for a couple of mins, then put in the paprika. Add the pork fillet and the tomatoes, and crumble in the stock cube and a generous amount of black pepper. Add the mushrooms, and give it a good stir. Put the lid on the pan, reduce the heat, and simmer for 25 mins. (You'll want to turn the heat off under the rice about 10 mins into the 25 mins, unless you like your rice with a crispy bottom).
Cook the courgettes (I'll talk about courgettes in the future too) and add the creme fraiche to the goulash pan. Simmer with the lid off for 10 mins (until the sauce has reduced slightly and the courgettes are done).
Eat!
What's for dinner, Mum?...
...is the perennial cry in our house.
As a full-time working mother of 2 teenage dustbins on legs, it's one that recurs on a regular basis. I've been trying to get more organised lately and plan the meals for a week ahead, so my Saturday mornings are generally spent doing the planning and going to the supermarket. With a husband that goes out fairly unpredictably, but who also hates waste and throwing uneaten food away, this is often a challenge. I'm trying to watch my weight as well, and also provide healthy home-cooked food the majority of the time, and the boys are permanently hungry. Oh yes, and the younger one has braces on his teeth at the moment, which necessitates serving sloppy things that don't need chewing for the first few days after a trip to the orthodontist...
So, I'm starting this blog to record what I'm serving up. What's worked, what hasn't... things I will try again, and things that are best avoided. I might put the odd picture in, every now and then, if time permits. If I don't - well, you'll have to imagine what it looks like.
As a full-time working mother of 2 teenage dustbins on legs, it's one that recurs on a regular basis. I've been trying to get more organised lately and plan the meals for a week ahead, so my Saturday mornings are generally spent doing the planning and going to the supermarket. With a husband that goes out fairly unpredictably, but who also hates waste and throwing uneaten food away, this is often a challenge. I'm trying to watch my weight as well, and also provide healthy home-cooked food the majority of the time, and the boys are permanently hungry. Oh yes, and the younger one has braces on his teeth at the moment, which necessitates serving sloppy things that don't need chewing for the first few days after a trip to the orthodontist...
So, I'm starting this blog to record what I'm serving up. What's worked, what hasn't... things I will try again, and things that are best avoided. I might put the odd picture in, every now and then, if time permits. If I don't - well, you'll have to imagine what it looks like.
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