We called the drop scones... it gets a bit confusing. Whatever they are my boys LOVE them. That's because they contain some sugar which I never realised until I had one last week having not tasted them since I was about 8. I have happy memories of my mum making us these and, of course, wanted my children to have the same, so I turned to my newest treasured possession, my mother-in-laws much-annotated Constance Spry cookery book and found her version.
My sister said these were the best she'd ever had which was nice of her, I was a bit panicked as I didn't have any baking powder so I left that out and they were absolutely fine. I've left the baking powder in the recipe below but I made them again with the baking powder and and they were exactly the same.
I melted some butter in a mug to brush on the bottom of my mini sauce pan. These are a bit more faff than a regular pancake but for tea time they are perfect. These also have a lot less sugar than the bought ones...
Scotch Pancakes
Makes about 15 drop scones
225g flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp baking-powder
1 tbsp syrup
a nut of butter
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
½ pint fresh milk (approx)
I melt some butter in a mug in the microwave so I can brush it on the frying pan for speed. I use a small frying pan for this and a serving spoon seems to give about the right amount of batter.
1. Mix all the dry ingredients, rub in the butter and add the syrup.
2. Add half the milk, mixing well iwth a wooden spoon, then break in the egg, beat well and add the remaining milk.
3. The mixture should just drop from the spoon (HENCE THE NAME YOU SEE!!!)
4. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, no longer.
5. Heat a well-greased pan and when really hot drop the mixture in spoonfuls and bake for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown (they get quicker each time).
To keep the scones warm and soft wrap in a clean cloth. These are fine re-heated in the toaster the next day.
13 April 2016
7 October 2015
Jamie Oliver's Chicken and Squash Cacciatore
Having a conversation on Twitter the other day I realised I had no shame in admitting I love Jamie Oliver, yes sometimes my hand twitches with the urge to give hi a little slap but I can say that about most people and they don't consistently make cookery books that I love.
I went to Bree's house and she had the new Jamie Oliver, Everyday Super Food
. I had added it to my Amazon wishlist but one look at hers and I bought it (half price in Waterstones) on the way home. Not that it is full to bursting with things I want to cook (I look to Jamie's 15-Minute Meals
for that) but because I am trying to lose weight, I need a healthier diet, I live with a man who needs man food, but of the slimming variety and Everyday Super Food
seems to have that all covered.
The Chicken and Squash Cacciatore with mushrooms, tomatoes, olives and bread is a good example of this. It's just not really my sort of thing, in fact I hate squash so, as suggested by Jamie, I substituted it for the mildly more bearable sweet potato. But it was delicious, filled us up and Joe cooked it. Successfully but not taking hours. So here it is. I didn't take a photo, I left out the olives and resisted the urge to have it with pasta and had one slice of bread as per the recipe.
I sometimes think Jamie's portion sizes are a little on the small side. This did both of us and a huge leftovers lunch for Joe the next day so it would do 4 but make sure you have bread and pudding. In fact, if you are so inclined this is a great one to cook with a view to having the leftovers for lunch the next day, it is filling and reheats well.
Chicken and Squash Cacciatore
Serves 4
1 onion
1 leek
4 cloves of garlic
2 rashers of smoked pancetta
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
olive oil
2 fresh bay leaves
½ a butternut squash or 600g sweet potatoes
100g chestnut mushrooms
2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
250ml Chianti or other good red wine
4 chicken thighs, bone in
8 black olives (stone in)
200g seeded wholemeal bread
Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. The recipe says it takes 1 hour 20 minutes and I'd agree with that, an hour of it is cooking time.
1. Peel the onion and cut into eighths, trim, wash and slice the leek, peel and slice the garlic.
2. Place a large ovenproof casserole pan on a medium heat. Finely slice the pancetta, pick and finely chop the rosemary leaves, then place both in the pan with 1 tbsp of oil and the bay leaves.
3. Stir regularly for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, followed by the onion and leek. Cook for 10 mins, stirring regularly.
4. Meanwhile, chop the squash or the sweet potato (wash first) into bite sized chunks, leaving the skin on and discarding any squash seeds. Jamie chops the stalks off the mushrooms and adds all to the pan with the squash/sweet potato.
5. Remove and discard the chicken skin (we didn't) and add the chicken to the pan. Pour in the wine and let it reduce slightly, then add the tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Half fill each tin with water, swirl about and pour into the pan and mix it all together.
6. Destone the olives (we left them out completely), then poke them into the stew. Bring to a gentle simmer, the transfer to the oven to cook for an hour or until the sauce is thick and the chicken falls off the bone. Season as you wish and serve with bread to mop up the sauce.
I went to Bree's house and she had the new Jamie Oliver, Everyday Super Food
. I had added it to my Amazon wishlist but one look at hers and I bought it (half price in Waterstones) on the way home. Not that it is full to bursting with things I want to cook (I look to Jamie's 15-Minute Meals
for that) but because I am trying to lose weight, I need a healthier diet, I live with a man who needs man food, but of the slimming variety and Everyday Super Food
seems to have that all covered.The Chicken and Squash Cacciatore with mushrooms, tomatoes, olives and bread is a good example of this. It's just not really my sort of thing, in fact I hate squash so, as suggested by Jamie, I substituted it for the mildly more bearable sweet potato. But it was delicious, filled us up and Joe cooked it. Successfully but not taking hours. So here it is. I didn't take a photo, I left out the olives and resisted the urge to have it with pasta and had one slice of bread as per the recipe.
I sometimes think Jamie's portion sizes are a little on the small side. This did both of us and a huge leftovers lunch for Joe the next day so it would do 4 but make sure you have bread and pudding. In fact, if you are so inclined this is a great one to cook with a view to having the leftovers for lunch the next day, it is filling and reheats well.
Chicken and Squash Cacciatore
Serves 4
1 onion
1 leek
4 cloves of garlic
2 rashers of smoked pancetta
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
olive oil
2 fresh bay leaves
½ a butternut squash or 600g sweet potatoes
100g chestnut mushrooms
2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
250ml Chianti or other good red wine
4 chicken thighs, bone in
8 black olives (stone in)
200g seeded wholemeal bread
Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. The recipe says it takes 1 hour 20 minutes and I'd agree with that, an hour of it is cooking time.
1. Peel the onion and cut into eighths, trim, wash and slice the leek, peel and slice the garlic.
2. Place a large ovenproof casserole pan on a medium heat. Finely slice the pancetta, pick and finely chop the rosemary leaves, then place both in the pan with 1 tbsp of oil and the bay leaves.
3. Stir regularly for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, followed by the onion and leek. Cook for 10 mins, stirring regularly.
4. Meanwhile, chop the squash or the sweet potato (wash first) into bite sized chunks, leaving the skin on and discarding any squash seeds. Jamie chops the stalks off the mushrooms and adds all to the pan with the squash/sweet potato.
5. Remove and discard the chicken skin (we didn't) and add the chicken to the pan. Pour in the wine and let it reduce slightly, then add the tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Half fill each tin with water, swirl about and pour into the pan and mix it all together.
6. Destone the olives (we left them out completely), then poke them into the stew. Bring to a gentle simmer, the transfer to the oven to cook for an hour or until the sauce is thick and the chicken falls off the bone. Season as you wish and serve with bread to mop up the sauce.
16 September 2015
Jamie Oliver's Gorgeous Gado Gado
Jamie's Comfort Food
arrived in my life when my pregnant superhero level sense of smell was at it's peak and making a baked egg exhausted me. It has to be one of my most looked at cookery books, there are a ton of recipes I want to try out and every mood and taste is covered but they mostly require a level of time and mental involvement that I just didn't have. Until now. Now I am just about managing two children, I'm going to the gym three times a week and it's not acceptable to send my husband out for pizza 5 nights out of 7 because the large slab of fat on my tummy no longer houses a person and needs to disappear. In short I'm not pregnant anymore so I need to take control of what I eat. I'm back in the kitchen.
One of the recipes I've been threatening to try out for a while is the Gado Gado, an Indonesian salad with radishes, beansprouts and tofu, with a peanut and lime dressing. We eat salad quite a lot and I am very strict about what qualifies as a salad-that-is-a-main-course. If there is cheese or meat involved then it is a main course, without these it is just a side salad and not enough for my supper. Therefore feta and mozarella feature heavily in our diet - it's nice to explore other options. Gado Gado has neither cheese nor meat (though I'm sure you could add both) but the egg, potato and tofu sneak this one in to the main course category and it is incredibly filling. We made the amount from the book, recommended for 4 people and had two large helpings each and both had a large bowlful for lunch the next day.
This was the first time I had cooked tofu rather than using the pre-cooked stuff and it was ok - it sort of disintegrated in the pan so I'll probably use the pre-cooked next time, or just try again until I'm better at it (unlikely). I followed his instructions on cooking the cabbage and agree it's the best way to do it (see below). I do think I'd probably add at least one more tomato to this though. But I'm a tomato fan. This is basically, like all salads, one of those recipes where you use the dressing and add what you like. It's a guideline. A good one.
I've changed the order in which he does things as this, to me, makes more sense. If you want soft-boiled eggs, well I do them almost last, he does them first...
Gorgeous Gado Gado
Serves 4
for the salad:
400g new potatoes
4 large eggs
400g firm silken tofu
sesame oil
½ Chinese cabbage
2 ripe tomatoes
1 handful radishes
½ a cucumber
2 handfuls ready to eat beansprouts
½ bunch fresh coriander
optional: prawn crackers
optional: 1 fresh birds eye chilli
sauce:
1 clove garlic
50g palm sugar (I used this)
120g crunchy peanut butter
1-2 fresh red chillies
juice of 2 limes
2 tsps fish sauce
1 tbsp low-salt soy (we just have normal soy)
1 tbsp tamarind paste
You will need a magimix or blender for the sauce though of course you can mix it by hand, and a frying pan for the tofu if you are cooking it yourself.
1. Scrub the potatoes and cook in salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes or until tender; then halve or slice them up.
2. Finely slice the cabbage if you want it raw of if you want it cooked, which is more traditional, cut into 2cm slices, place in a colander and slowly pour a kettle of boiling water over the top.
3. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, quarter the radishes and slice the cucumber.
4. Put all the veg into a bowl and season with salt.
5. Cut the tofu into 2½ cm chunks and fry in a splash of sesame oil for about 15 minutes, or until golden, then sprinkle lightly with salt.
6. While the tofu is cooking put the eggs on to soft boil for 6 minutes or longer if you prefer. Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender, peeling the garlic and grating the palm sugar if needed, and blitz until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning - you want this to be quite limey so I added some more.
7. Traditionally you serve this in individual bowls adding the salad first and then mixing in the dressing. Jamie adds the sauce to the bowls first with the dressing on top so the individual can see all the ingredients while they mix the dressing in. I am lazy. I put it all in a big bowl, added the dressing and mixed. Tastes the same, doesn't look as beautiful as you can see from my picture. If I was making this for other people I would probably do the individual bowl thing.
arrived in my life when my pregnant superhero level sense of smell was at it's peak and making a baked egg exhausted me. It has to be one of my most looked at cookery books, there are a ton of recipes I want to try out and every mood and taste is covered but they mostly require a level of time and mental involvement that I just didn't have. Until now. Now I am just about managing two children, I'm going to the gym three times a week and it's not acceptable to send my husband out for pizza 5 nights out of 7 because the large slab of fat on my tummy no longer houses a person and needs to disappear. In short I'm not pregnant anymore so I need to take control of what I eat. I'm back in the kitchen.One of the recipes I've been threatening to try out for a while is the Gado Gado, an Indonesian salad with radishes, beansprouts and tofu, with a peanut and lime dressing. We eat salad quite a lot and I am very strict about what qualifies as a salad-that-is-a-main-course. If there is cheese or meat involved then it is a main course, without these it is just a side salad and not enough for my supper. Therefore feta and mozarella feature heavily in our diet - it's nice to explore other options. Gado Gado has neither cheese nor meat (though I'm sure you could add both) but the egg, potato and tofu sneak this one in to the main course category and it is incredibly filling. We made the amount from the book, recommended for 4 people and had two large helpings each and both had a large bowlful for lunch the next day.
This was the first time I had cooked tofu rather than using the pre-cooked stuff and it was ok - it sort of disintegrated in the pan so I'll probably use the pre-cooked next time, or just try again until I'm better at it (unlikely). I followed his instructions on cooking the cabbage and agree it's the best way to do it (see below). I do think I'd probably add at least one more tomato to this though. But I'm a tomato fan. This is basically, like all salads, one of those recipes where you use the dressing and add what you like. It's a guideline. A good one.
I've changed the order in which he does things as this, to me, makes more sense. If you want soft-boiled eggs, well I do them almost last, he does them first...
Gorgeous Gado Gado
Serves 4
for the salad:
400g new potatoes
4 large eggs
400g firm silken tofu
sesame oil
½ Chinese cabbage
2 ripe tomatoes
1 handful radishes
½ a cucumber
2 handfuls ready to eat beansprouts
½ bunch fresh coriander
optional: prawn crackers
optional: 1 fresh birds eye chilli
sauce:
1 clove garlic
50g palm sugar (I used this)
120g crunchy peanut butter
1-2 fresh red chillies
juice of 2 limes
2 tsps fish sauce
1 tbsp low-salt soy (we just have normal soy)
1 tbsp tamarind paste
You will need a magimix or blender for the sauce though of course you can mix it by hand, and a frying pan for the tofu if you are cooking it yourself.
1. Scrub the potatoes and cook in salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes or until tender; then halve or slice them up.
2. Finely slice the cabbage if you want it raw of if you want it cooked, which is more traditional, cut into 2cm slices, place in a colander and slowly pour a kettle of boiling water over the top.
3. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, quarter the radishes and slice the cucumber.
4. Put all the veg into a bowl and season with salt.
5. Cut the tofu into 2½ cm chunks and fry in a splash of sesame oil for about 15 minutes, or until golden, then sprinkle lightly with salt.
6. While the tofu is cooking put the eggs on to soft boil for 6 minutes or longer if you prefer. Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender, peeling the garlic and grating the palm sugar if needed, and blitz until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning - you want this to be quite limey so I added some more.
7. Traditionally you serve this in individual bowls adding the salad first and then mixing in the dressing. Jamie adds the sauce to the bowls first with the dressing on top so the individual can see all the ingredients while they mix the dressing in. I am lazy. I put it all in a big bowl, added the dressing and mixed. Tastes the same, doesn't look as beautiful as you can see from my picture. If I was making this for other people I would probably do the individual bowl thing.
31 January 2015
Jamie's Griddled Kinda Nicoise
My infatuation with Jamie Oliver is escalating. What started as mild disinterest is now a full-on passion. I was very kindly given Comfort Food for Christmas and am gearing up to cook something from that soon (pregnancy makes everything very slow) but the other night I was cooking for my mother and husband both of whom are trying to be virtuous in January and I'm very aware that the bump isn't getting its 5 a day so I randomly picked this Salad Nicoise from 15 minute meals. No potatoes and no egg but supremely delicious and finished by three of us and pretty easy to cook (and no it didn't take me 15 minutes but I'm a pretty slack cooker). Will be cooking this again and again - nice tuna steaks aren't cheap but the rest of the ingredients are and you can use what veg you have in your fridge.
There were quite a few things I tinkered with on this recipe, for example I'm not a huge fan of green beans and couldn't get the mixed green and yellow from the recipe so I used half beans and half broccoli tips.Where I've made changes I hope I've made them clear - I think the thing with salads is they are endlessly adaptable depending on what you have and like. I also refuse to serve anything on a board so I did this on one big platter... as you can see from the picture.
Griddle Tuna Salad
Serves 4
350g mixed green and yellow beans (or half green and half broccoli tips)
½ a baguette (I used a small one from Sainsburys)
12 black olives (Jamie says stone in, I say stone out)
3 ripe mixed-colour tomatoes (or red ones)
1 romaine lettuce
20g feta cheese
1 lemon
Tuna and Dressing
1 big bunch of fresh basil
6 anchovy fillets
1 lemon
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 x 200g tuna steaks (about 2.4cm thick)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp runny honey
You will need a medium sized saucepan with a lid, a griddle pan and a liquidiser/magimix.
1. Line the beans up and cut off the stalks, put them into a pan of salted boiling water and put on a lid (I did my broccoli and beans for the same length of time).
2. Slice the baguette into 2cm chunks and, if you are following Jamie put onto the hot griddle pan. I think basting them in a tiny big of garlic oil pre-griddle would be lovely. Turn when golden.
3. Pick and reserve 10 baby sprigs of basil then rip off the rest of the leaves and blitz in the liquidiser with the anchovies, juice of 1 lemon, the extra virgin olive oil and a splash of water.
4. Pour about 40% of the dressing on to a nice serving platter (Jamie uses a separate one for the dressing and tuna and then places the whole lot on a board with the salad. I used one big platter and it worked very well).
5. Rub 10% of the dressing into the tun and season with salt and pepper. Pour the rest of the dressing into a big bowl with the vinegar, mustard and honey then mix together. Drain the cooked beans, remove the stones from the olives. roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the dressing and mix together.
6. Put the tuna on the griddle pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until blushing in the middle. How you cook your tuna is a matter of personal preference.
7. Chop the lettuce into 2cm chunks, tear the toasts into croutons and arrange over a large board (or on the platter) with the lettuce. I think it's nice to toss half the croutons in the bowl of tomatoes and dressing so they get a bit soggy.
8. Scatter the dressed beans, olives and tomatoes over the top. Tear each tuna steak in half or more and add to the dressing platter (or put on top of the dressing in the centre of the platter if you are not using a board).
9. Scatter over the reserved basil leaves, crumble over the feta and serve with lemon wedges (if you remember).
There were quite a few things I tinkered with on this recipe, for example I'm not a huge fan of green beans and couldn't get the mixed green and yellow from the recipe so I used half beans and half broccoli tips.Where I've made changes I hope I've made them clear - I think the thing with salads is they are endlessly adaptable depending on what you have and like. I also refuse to serve anything on a board so I did this on one big platter... as you can see from the picture.
Griddle Tuna Salad
Serves 4
350g mixed green and yellow beans (or half green and half broccoli tips)
½ a baguette (I used a small one from Sainsburys)
12 black olives (Jamie says stone in, I say stone out)
3 ripe mixed-colour tomatoes (or red ones)
1 romaine lettuce
20g feta cheese
1 lemon
Tuna and Dressing
1 big bunch of fresh basil
6 anchovy fillets
1 lemon
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 x 200g tuna steaks (about 2.4cm thick)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp runny honey
You will need a medium sized saucepan with a lid, a griddle pan and a liquidiser/magimix.
1. Line the beans up and cut off the stalks, put them into a pan of salted boiling water and put on a lid (I did my broccoli and beans for the same length of time).
2. Slice the baguette into 2cm chunks and, if you are following Jamie put onto the hot griddle pan. I think basting them in a tiny big of garlic oil pre-griddle would be lovely. Turn when golden.
3. Pick and reserve 10 baby sprigs of basil then rip off the rest of the leaves and blitz in the liquidiser with the anchovies, juice of 1 lemon, the extra virgin olive oil and a splash of water.
4. Pour about 40% of the dressing on to a nice serving platter (Jamie uses a separate one for the dressing and tuna and then places the whole lot on a board with the salad. I used one big platter and it worked very well).
5. Rub 10% of the dressing into the tun and season with salt and pepper. Pour the rest of the dressing into a big bowl with the vinegar, mustard and honey then mix together. Drain the cooked beans, remove the stones from the olives. roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the dressing and mix together.
6. Put the tuna on the griddle pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until blushing in the middle. How you cook your tuna is a matter of personal preference.
7. Chop the lettuce into 2cm chunks, tear the toasts into croutons and arrange over a large board (or on the platter) with the lettuce. I think it's nice to toss half the croutons in the bowl of tomatoes and dressing so they get a bit soggy.
8. Scatter the dressed beans, olives and tomatoes over the top. Tear each tuna steak in half or more and add to the dressing platter (or put on top of the dressing in the centre of the platter if you are not using a board).
9. Scatter over the reserved basil leaves, crumble over the feta and serve with lemon wedges (if you remember).
1 December 2014
Sarah Raven's Smoked Salmon Pate
One of the things I miss most whenever we move (and take forever to unpack) is my cookery books. I know my way round a kitchen and fridge so they are not considered essential enough to dig out with any immediacy. Then once I have found them I forget to use them for a bit and it takes a while to fall back in love with old favourites. Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook
is definitely and old favourite and particularly useful as it's arranged by month.
One of the things I miss most when I'm pregnant is pate although I'm pretty lax about what I eat I try to keep pate fish-based and homemade for the 9 months... it's not that long and if you find the right recipe then its a doddle to make and more delicious than any shop bought variety. So when I looked at a very old list of things I wanted to try from the Garden Cookbook
I fell upon the Smoked Salmon Pate with chervil recipe and, as suggested, used chives instead of chervil, which isn't in season.
This pate is a cinch to make (in the magimix) and incredibly delicious to eat. Straight to the top of my lists for easy starters, nibbles and fish pates. I made it for some friends who then requested the recipe... twice!
Smoked Salmon Pate with Chervil
Serves 8 (I successfully halved this)
170g smoked salmon (You can use trimmings. I used smoked trout)
510g cream cheese
300ml double cream
60g butter (she says unsalted I say salted)
Lemon juice to taste, plus slivers of lemon to serve
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh chervil, chives or dill
Black pepper
Warm toast, to serve
I made this in a magimix, made thin slices of toast in the oven and served it in a dish in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. If you wanted you could do individual ramekins which would maybe be better for 8.
1. Put the fish, cream cheese and double cream into a blender. Blitz briefly.
2. Add the butter, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, herbs and black pepper. Whizz until the mixture forms a paste consistency. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
3. Pack into a pate dish or ramekins and put in the fridge for an hour or two to set.
4. Serve with warm toast, slivers of lemon and butter if you are a total glutton like me.
is definitely and old favourite and particularly useful as it's arranged by month.One of the things I miss most when I'm pregnant is pate although I'm pretty lax about what I eat I try to keep pate fish-based and homemade for the 9 months... it's not that long and if you find the right recipe then its a doddle to make and more delicious than any shop bought variety. So when I looked at a very old list of things I wanted to try from the Garden Cookbook
I fell upon the Smoked Salmon Pate with chervil recipe and, as suggested, used chives instead of chervil, which isn't in season.This pate is a cinch to make (in the magimix) and incredibly delicious to eat. Straight to the top of my lists for easy starters, nibbles and fish pates. I made it for some friends who then requested the recipe... twice!
Smoked Salmon Pate with Chervil
Serves 8 (I successfully halved this)
170g smoked salmon (You can use trimmings. I used smoked trout)
510g cream cheese
300ml double cream
60g butter (she says unsalted I say salted)
Lemon juice to taste, plus slivers of lemon to serve
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh chervil, chives or dill
Black pepper
Warm toast, to serve
I made this in a magimix, made thin slices of toast in the oven and served it in a dish in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. If you wanted you could do individual ramekins which would maybe be better for 8.
1. Put the fish, cream cheese and double cream into a blender. Blitz briefly.
2. Add the butter, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, herbs and black pepper. Whizz until the mixture forms a paste consistency. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
3. Pack into a pate dish or ramekins and put in the fridge for an hour or two to set.
4. Serve with warm toast, slivers of lemon and butter if you are a total glutton like me.
14 September 2014
Spring Rhubarb Relish
We recently started getting a small Abel & Cole fruit and veg box delivered every week and although there are some things I've banned from the box one of the reasons I wanted to try out the delivery system was to widen my knowledge of how to actually use the fruit and veg that I'm not so keen on. This was put to the test a few weeks ago as I hovered next to the bin with the rhubarb that I hated, the baby I knew wouldn't touch and there was no point putting in a pudding for my away-with-work husband. There's got to be something I can do with this, I thought. And there was.
I like any excuse to get out my Preserves book and it didn't disappoint with my rhubarb problem. Really easy to make and Joe loves it this relish is perfect with cheeses, quiches and pork pies and makes a really nice change from more traditional chutneys.
Spring Rhubarb Relish
Makes about 4 x 340g jars
500g granulated sugar
100ml cider vinegar
1kg rhubarb (untrimmed weight)
125g raisins
For the spice bag:
50g fresh root ginger, bruised
2 cinnamon sticks, snapped in half
6 cloves
You will need a spice bag or 20cm square of muslin, a preserving pan and some jars.
1. First make the spice bag by tying up the bruised ginger , Cinnamon sticks and cloves in a 20cm square of muslin (or a pre-made spice bag).
2. Put the sugar, vinegar , 100ml water and the spice bag into a preserving pan. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar and allow the spices to release their flavours into the syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for about 20 minutes.
3. While it's infusing, trim and wipe the rhubarb stalks and chop into 2-2.5cm chunks.
4. Add the rhubarb and raisins to the spiced syrup. Cook gently for 15-20 minutes until the mixture is thick, but the rhubarb is still discernible as soft chunks.
5. Remove from the heat and pour into warm, sterlised jars and seal with vinegar proof lids.
Use within 12 months.
I like any excuse to get out my Preserves book and it didn't disappoint with my rhubarb problem. Really easy to make and Joe loves it this relish is perfect with cheeses, quiches and pork pies and makes a really nice change from more traditional chutneys.
Spring Rhubarb Relish
Makes about 4 x 340g jars
500g granulated sugar
100ml cider vinegar
1kg rhubarb (untrimmed weight)
125g raisins
For the spice bag:
50g fresh root ginger, bruised
2 cinnamon sticks, snapped in half
6 cloves
You will need a spice bag or 20cm square of muslin, a preserving pan and some jars.
1. First make the spice bag by tying up the bruised ginger , Cinnamon sticks and cloves in a 20cm square of muslin (or a pre-made spice bag).
2. Put the sugar, vinegar , 100ml water and the spice bag into a preserving pan. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar and allow the spices to release their flavours into the syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for about 20 minutes.
3. While it's infusing, trim and wipe the rhubarb stalks and chop into 2-2.5cm chunks.
4. Add the rhubarb and raisins to the spiced syrup. Cook gently for 15-20 minutes until the mixture is thick, but the rhubarb is still discernible as soft chunks.
5. Remove from the heat and pour into warm, sterlised jars and seal with vinegar proof lids.
Use within 12 months.
.JPG) |
| Rhubarb relish does not photograph well... |
14 August 2014
Nigella Lawson's Italian Apple Pie
We've unpacked my cookery books! Finally after months of having to cook from memory I'm able to try out the huge list of recipes I've flagged for testing. One of the books I was really looking forward to getting my hands one was Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration
and so when I decided to have my family for a summer supper in the garden I cooked two recipes from it. The first was a pasta dish which was perfectly nice but needed some tweaking (in my opinion). The other recipe was this Italian Apple Pie which I did at the last minute realising I'd forgotten about pudding and I had some apples that needed using up.
I was really focussed on the pasta and indeed so focussed that I was happily gossiping outside not realising that the alarm was going off to let me know the pie was reading - meaning it had a few charred patches. A disaster I thought, bin it immediately. However, I was persuaded to serve it and I am so glad it was saved from the bin. It was incredibly delicious and unusual and actually very light for what is basically a cake (the sponge was so good I'm going to use this method for other cakes) and great with double cream (and strawberries on the side) for a pudding or indeed with a cup of coffee as elevenses, It is incredibly easy to make and Ned loved it so much that he learnt to say 'cake'!
Italian Apple Pie
Serves 8
100g soft unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
zest 1 unwaxed lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml full fat milk, at room temperature
3 pink lady apples, or any crisp eating apples (approx 500g in total)
You will need to grease a 22/23cm springform cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6/400F.
1. Into a food processor put the flower, baking powder and a pinch of salt, 100g soft butter, caster sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, and blitz until it forms a thick smooth batter. Then, with the motor still running, pour the milk gradually down the funnel to lighten the mixture.
2. To do this by hand, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy, then beat in the eggs, followed by the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, lemon zest, and milk until you have a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
3. Halve 1 of the apples, the peel, core and chop one half into approximately 1cm cubes, add these to the batter and either pulse to mix, or beat in. Pour your batter into the springform tin.
4. Quarter and core the remaining apples (including the unused half apple), leaving the skin on, then finely slice them and arrange in concentric circles (or how you can) on top of the cake batter.
5. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle this over the apples, then bake for 40-45 minutes, by which time the cake should be risen and golden. Piece with a metal skewer, should have only a few crumbs sticking to it when removed.
6. Leave to cool for 1 hour, before springing it out of the tine to cut and serve warm, or leave to cool completely once out of the tin
and so when I decided to have my family for a summer supper in the garden I cooked two recipes from it. The first was a pasta dish which was perfectly nice but needed some tweaking (in my opinion). The other recipe was this Italian Apple Pie which I did at the last minute realising I'd forgotten about pudding and I had some apples that needed using up.I was really focussed on the pasta and indeed so focussed that I was happily gossiping outside not realising that the alarm was going off to let me know the pie was reading - meaning it had a few charred patches. A disaster I thought, bin it immediately. However, I was persuaded to serve it and I am so glad it was saved from the bin. It was incredibly delicious and unusual and actually very light for what is basically a cake (the sponge was so good I'm going to use this method for other cakes) and great with double cream (and strawberries on the side) for a pudding or indeed with a cup of coffee as elevenses, It is incredibly easy to make and Ned loved it so much that he learnt to say 'cake'!
Italian Apple Pie
Serves 8
100g soft unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
zest 1 unwaxed lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml full fat milk, at room temperature
3 pink lady apples, or any crisp eating apples (approx 500g in total)
You will need to grease a 22/23cm springform cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6/400F.
1. Into a food processor put the flower, baking powder and a pinch of salt, 100g soft butter, caster sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, and blitz until it forms a thick smooth batter. Then, with the motor still running, pour the milk gradually down the funnel to lighten the mixture.
2. To do this by hand, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy, then beat in the eggs, followed by the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, lemon zest, and milk until you have a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
3. Halve 1 of the apples, the peel, core and chop one half into approximately 1cm cubes, add these to the batter and either pulse to mix, or beat in. Pour your batter into the springform tin.
4. Quarter and core the remaining apples (including the unused half apple), leaving the skin on, then finely slice them and arrange in concentric circles (or how you can) on top of the cake batter.
5. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle this over the apples, then bake for 40-45 minutes, by which time the cake should be risen and golden. Piece with a metal skewer, should have only a few crumbs sticking to it when removed.
6. Leave to cool for 1 hour, before springing it out of the tine to cut and serve warm, or leave to cool completely once out of the tin
3 March 2014
Cadbury's Headgehog Cake
One of my stand-out memories from my childhood is my mother making a chocolate hedgehog cake. Not only was it delicious but I was convinced she was some sort of genius kitchen witch. It seemed only fitting that when Ned turned one he should have hedgehog cake and I persuaded my mum to not only make one but three (he had two birthday parties obvs) and they were just as delicious as I remembered and perfect for a birthday because you end up cutting small slices so it goes a very long way.
When it was my nephew's first birthday a few weeks later it was I was in charge of making the cake so my mum sent me the recipe and I learnt the witchcraft for myself. The recipe is actually from Cadbury's and familiar to mum's everywhere but for those of you still convinced there are other forces involved here it is in it's easiest to follow form.
I would like to point out that my mum uses raisins for eyes, I didn't have raisins so I used marshmallows as suggested in the recipe. As you can see below my hedgehog looks a little scary but possibly suitable for those children with glasses...
Cadbury's Harriet Hedgehog
Serves a childrens party of 20-25 people
The cake:
175g margarine
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
25g cocoa powder
Icing:
100g butter
175g icing sugar, sieved
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Decoration:
2 large packets of chocolate buttons
1 glace cherry
2 mini marshmallows, raisins or coffee beans
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. You will need an oven-proof basin, greased, that can hold 1.2litres/2 pints.
1. Cream the margarine and sugar together really well. Gradually beat in the eggs with a flour.
2. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together and fold in. Add a little milk to the mixture if it's too dry.
3. Turn into a prepared basin, smooth the top with a spatula and bake for about an hour. Test with a warm skewer to see if the cake is cooked in the center. Leave in the basin to cool and then turn it out.
4. Make the icing by beating the butter with the icing sugar. Dissolve the cocoa with a tiny amount of boiling water and mix into the butter icing.
5. Spread the flat top side of the cake with icing, then cut it in half down the middle and sandwich the two iced halves together.
6. Spread the icing all over the rest of the cake leaving a small amount to make the nose, lift onto a plate and use icing to form the snout at one end. Cut the chocolate buttons in half and arrange them as the hedgehog prickles. Make the face by dragging a fork along the icing, using the glace cherry as a nose and the raisins, marshmallows or coffee beans for eyes.
When it was my nephew's first birthday a few weeks later it was I was in charge of making the cake so my mum sent me the recipe and I learnt the witchcraft for myself. The recipe is actually from Cadbury's and familiar to mum's everywhere but for those of you still convinced there are other forces involved here it is in it's easiest to follow form.
I would like to point out that my mum uses raisins for eyes, I didn't have raisins so I used marshmallows as suggested in the recipe. As you can see below my hedgehog looks a little scary but possibly suitable for those children with glasses...
Cadbury's Harriet Hedgehog
Serves a childrens party of 20-25 people
The cake:
175g margarine
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
25g cocoa powder
Icing:
100g butter
175g icing sugar, sieved
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Decoration:
2 large packets of chocolate buttons
1 glace cherry
2 mini marshmallows, raisins or coffee beans
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. You will need an oven-proof basin, greased, that can hold 1.2litres/2 pints.
1. Cream the margarine and sugar together really well. Gradually beat in the eggs with a flour.
2. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together and fold in. Add a little milk to the mixture if it's too dry.
3. Turn into a prepared basin, smooth the top with a spatula and bake for about an hour. Test with a warm skewer to see if the cake is cooked in the center. Leave in the basin to cool and then turn it out.
4. Make the icing by beating the butter with the icing sugar. Dissolve the cocoa with a tiny amount of boiling water and mix into the butter icing.
5. Spread the flat top side of the cake with icing, then cut it in half down the middle and sandwich the two iced halves together.
6. Spread the icing all over the rest of the cake leaving a small amount to make the nose, lift onto a plate and use icing to form the snout at one end. Cut the chocolate buttons in half and arrange them as the hedgehog prickles. Make the face by dragging a fork along the icing, using the glace cherry as a nose and the raisins, marshmallows or coffee beans for eyes.
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| My chocolate hedgehog (pre-candles) with the 'glasses' |
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| My mother's version for Ned |
12 February 2014
Saganaki
I love feta cheese but I'm aware that not everyone shares my passion. My mother is one of these people yet it was she who suggested I try this recipe out on some friends who were coming to supper as she thought it looked like a delicious and unusual starter. Whilst babysitting for me one day a week she works her way through my cookery books copying recipes and making my tummy rumble by shouting out suggestions for what we should be eating even though she knows I'm on a diet.
So rather than going for my usual something-on-toast easy starter for supper the other night I decided to try out the suggested Saganaki from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook
and it was really tasty and, if you had a round table, probably quite fun to help yourself straight from the dish with warm flat bread.
Saganaki
for 6
600g (3 packs) feta cheese, broken into rough 2cm pieces
20 large or 30 small cherry tomatoes
20 capers
15 Kalamata olives, halved and stoned
2 tbsp olive oil 6 sprigs of thyme or marjoram
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. You can make this as individual parcels for cooking on an open fire - 100g feta, a few tomatoes, capers and olive pieces, herbs and oil on top, fold loosely and cook for 10-15mins but I did it in one big dish.
1. Crumble the cheese into a shallow, oven-proof dish, dot the tomatoes around sprinkle over the capers and olive pieces, drizzle with oil and sprinkle the thyme or marjoram over the top.
2. Bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browning on top. Eat hot or warm. I served with mini pitta bread but think the flatter the bread the yummier probably.
So rather than going for my usual something-on-toast easy starter for supper the other night I decided to try out the suggested Saganaki from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook
and it was really tasty and, if you had a round table, probably quite fun to help yourself straight from the dish with warm flat bread.Saganaki
for 6
600g (3 packs) feta cheese, broken into rough 2cm pieces
20 large or 30 small cherry tomatoes
20 capers
15 Kalamata olives, halved and stoned
2 tbsp olive oil 6 sprigs of thyme or marjoram
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. You can make this as individual parcels for cooking on an open fire - 100g feta, a few tomatoes, capers and olive pieces, herbs and oil on top, fold loosely and cook for 10-15mins but I did it in one big dish.
1. Crumble the cheese into a shallow, oven-proof dish, dot the tomatoes around sprinkle over the capers and olive pieces, drizzle with oil and sprinkle the thyme or marjoram over the top.
.JPG) |
| Saganaki - pre-oven |
2. Bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browning on top. Eat hot or warm. I served with mini pitta bread but think the flatter the bread the yummier probably.
4 June 2013
Lemon and Lime Cream Tart
Another recipe that I copied from my mother's copy of The Naked Chef. There wasn't a picture (I don't think) and I was expecting something more like the cold, set lemon tarts I usually make. But it's not, it's cooked and browned on top and completely different. Like the Simple Chocolate Tart I bought the sweet shortcrust pastry base to see if it worked better for this - it went really well with the chocolate tart base - and it was fine but I think if I had more time I probably would hand-make the pastry for this. I'll put a recipe up for this asap. I served this with raspberries but it would work just as well with strawberries.
It was incredibly easy to make and, because I was using the shop-bought base, I had leftover filling which I froze and is apparently spectacular as a sort of ice cream. I didn't get to try any, my husband ate it all. I did use the lime zest as decoration so I zested them, squeezed them into a measuring jug and topped it up with lime juice from a bottle. The 4 limes makes about 100ml.
Lemon and Lime Cream Tart
1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell, baked blind.
340g caster sugar
8 large free range eggs
350ml double cream
200ml lime juice
100ml lemon juice
zest of 4 limes (optional)
Egg wash the tart base and pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
1. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. When they are well mixed slowly stir in the cream and juices.
2. Put the tart shell onto a baking tray and pour in the filling.
3. Bake for around 40-45 minutes until the filling is set but still semi-wobbly in the middle.
4. Put on a cooling rack and after about an hour the filling will have firmed up.
5. Dust with a little icing sugar (I forgot), sprinkle with the lime zest and serve with raspberries or strawberries.
It was incredibly easy to make and, because I was using the shop-bought base, I had leftover filling which I froze and is apparently spectacular as a sort of ice cream. I didn't get to try any, my husband ate it all. I did use the lime zest as decoration so I zested them, squeezed them into a measuring jug and topped it up with lime juice from a bottle. The 4 limes makes about 100ml.
Lemon and Lime Cream Tart
1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell, baked blind.
340g caster sugar
8 large free range eggs
350ml double cream
200ml lime juice
100ml lemon juice
zest of 4 limes (optional)
Egg wash the tart base and pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
1. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. When they are well mixed slowly stir in the cream and juices.
2. Put the tart shell onto a baking tray and pour in the filling.
3. Bake for around 40-45 minutes until the filling is set but still semi-wobbly in the middle.
4. Put on a cooling rack and after about an hour the filling will have firmed up.
5. Dust with a little icing sugar (I forgot), sprinkle with the lime zest and serve with raspberries or strawberries.
16 May 2013
Simple Chocolate Tart
I occasionally bite off more than I can chew but I'm becoming so grown-up now that I can now usually resist the urge to try to make three courses, look after the baby, tidy the house and do some writing all in the same day. For lunch yesterday this new regime manifested itself in the form of a shop-bought sweet shortcrust pastry tart base.
I never buy pastry unless it's puff, because I think it's a waste of money. It's not hard to make it and it's incredibly smug-making when you do and it goes really well but lunch with five adults, two toddlers, two babies and three dogs it seemed that maybe lovingly making a tart base was a bit too much. I didn't want to buy a pre-made pudding so I thought just the base was a good compromise. The filling was from The Naked Chef
by Jamie Oliver which I've never cooked from before but I'd written a couple of recipes down ages ago and anything with the word simple in the title was going to ideal for yesterdays lunch.
I'm not that fussed about puddings but this was really delicious and actually the shop-bought base was perfect because it was drier than home made which went really well with the rich chocolate filling. I have quite a lot of chocolate left-over but I'm going to whip up some cream, stir it in and make some sort of chocolate mousse... I'll let you know how that goes.
Simple Chocolate Tart
1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell baked blind
315ml double cream
2 level tbsp caster sugar
the smallest pinch of salt
115g butter, softened
455g best-quality cooking chocolate (half milk half dark works well), broken up
100ml milk
cocoa powder for dusting
1. Place the double cream, sugar and salt into a pan and bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture has boiled remove from the heat add the butter and chocolate and stir until completely melted.
2. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, stirring in the milk until smooth and shiny.
3. Scrape into the pastry shell, shake gently to even it out and allow to cool for 1-2 hours until it is at room tempterature.
4. Dust with cocoa powder.
I never buy pastry unless it's puff, because I think it's a waste of money. It's not hard to make it and it's incredibly smug-making when you do and it goes really well but lunch with five adults, two toddlers, two babies and three dogs it seemed that maybe lovingly making a tart base was a bit too much. I didn't want to buy a pre-made pudding so I thought just the base was a good compromise. The filling was from The Naked Chef
by Jamie Oliver which I've never cooked from before but I'd written a couple of recipes down ages ago and anything with the word simple in the title was going to ideal for yesterdays lunch.I'm not that fussed about puddings but this was really delicious and actually the shop-bought base was perfect because it was drier than home made which went really well with the rich chocolate filling. I have quite a lot of chocolate left-over but I'm going to whip up some cream, stir it in and make some sort of chocolate mousse... I'll let you know how that goes.
Simple Chocolate Tart
1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell baked blind
315ml double cream
2 level tbsp caster sugar
the smallest pinch of salt
115g butter, softened
455g best-quality cooking chocolate (half milk half dark works well), broken up
100ml milk
cocoa powder for dusting
1. Place the double cream, sugar and salt into a pan and bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture has boiled remove from the heat add the butter and chocolate and stir until completely melted.
2. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, stirring in the milk until smooth and shiny.
3. Scrape into the pastry shell, shake gently to even it out and allow to cool for 1-2 hours until it is at room tempterature.
4. Dust with cocoa powder.
8 May 2013
Healthy Salmon Burgers
Another recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine. Was very easy to make and yummy served with a green salad. Perfect for when you need to eat later than usual as it's really light - do make sure you add enough salt otherwise these won't taste as good as they should. I halved the amount to make enough for two.
Healthy Salmon Burgers
Serves 4
4 Salmon fillets
1 tbsp Thai green or red curry paste
4cm (1½) fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
Fresh coriander, small handful
1 tsp vegetable oil
I used my magimix for this, as instructed by the recipe but you could probably do it all by hand if you don't have one.
1. Put half the salmon in a food processor and whizz until completely smooth.
2. Add the remaining fish, curry paste, ginger, lime and coriander, season and whizz until combined but still retaining some texture.
3. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Form the salmon mixture into four equal patties and fry for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through, turning once.
4. Serve with salad, sweet chili dipping sauce and lime wedges.
Healthy Salmon Burgers
Serves 4
4 Salmon fillets
1 tbsp Thai green or red curry paste
4cm (1½) fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
Fresh coriander, small handful
1 tsp vegetable oil
I used my magimix for this, as instructed by the recipe but you could probably do it all by hand if you don't have one.
1. Put half the salmon in a food processor and whizz until completely smooth.
2. Add the remaining fish, curry paste, ginger, lime and coriander, season and whizz until combined but still retaining some texture.
3. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Form the salmon mixture into four equal patties and fry for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through, turning once.
4. Serve with salad, sweet chili dipping sauce and lime wedges.
20 March 2013
Somen Noodles, Prawn and Cucumber Salad
My sister is very good at buying cookery books as presents and one little gem she got for Joe is A Little Taste of Japan
. My close family are obsessed with Japanese food, my mother having spent some time living there when she was tiny, and one of the things Joe has done for me over the past ten years is hand rolled sushi for me. Knowing this my sister bought him A Little Taste of Japan
to broaden our at-home Japanese cooking horizons, so on Saturday night I was treated to sushi, sashimi and Somen Noodles, Prawn and Cucumber Salad.
Well I would have been if you could get all the ingredients in a mad dash at Waitrose in Shepherds Bush... which you can't. So we were missing a few things but this salad was delicious anyway and perfectly fine without them, or with the substitutions we made. Probably another great all-round dressing to liven up a normal salad with prawn or beef and we will definitely be having this again but next time I will venture to Thai Smile to see if I can get the things we were missing.
Somen Noodle, Prawn and Cucumber Salad
Serves 4 as a starter or 2 fatties
2 Lebanese (short) cucumbers
1 tbsp dried wakame pieces*
200g dried somen noodles
12 cooked king prawns, peeled. deveined and cut in half lengthways
3 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
shichimi togarashi (seven spice mix) to serve, optional*
Dressing:
½ tsp dashi granules*
125ml Japanese rice vinegar
60ml mirin
1 tsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tsp lightly grated fresh ginger
pinch of sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
* things we didn't have
We also couldn't find somen noodles so we used thin egg noodles which were yummy.
1. Cut the cucumbers in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, then slice the flesh very thinly on a slight diagonal. Put the slices of cucumber in a colader, sprinkle with salt and leave for 10 minutes before rinsing and squeezing out as much water as you can. Chill.
2. Meanwhile soak the wakame in cold water for 5 minutes, or until rehydrated and glossy but not mushy. Drain well and chill... or skip this step if you too can't find Wakame.
3. To make the dressing mix the dashi granules with 1 tbsp hot water until dissolved. Add the rice vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, grated ginger, sugar and sesame oil and stir to combine. Chill.
4. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then reduce and simmer. Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes or until tender (or follow the instructions on the packet). Quickly drain and rincse under cold running water until completely cool.
5. Combine the cucumber, wakami, noodles, prawns and half the spring onion in a bowl. Pour on the dressing and toss well. Serve immediately garnished with the remaining spring onions and the shichimi togarashi.
. My close family are obsessed with Japanese food, my mother having spent some time living there when she was tiny, and one of the things Joe has done for me over the past ten years is hand rolled sushi for me. Knowing this my sister bought him A Little Taste of Japan
to broaden our at-home Japanese cooking horizons, so on Saturday night I was treated to sushi, sashimi and Somen Noodles, Prawn and Cucumber Salad.Well I would have been if you could get all the ingredients in a mad dash at Waitrose in Shepherds Bush... which you can't. So we were missing a few things but this salad was delicious anyway and perfectly fine without them, or with the substitutions we made. Probably another great all-round dressing to liven up a normal salad with prawn or beef and we will definitely be having this again but next time I will venture to Thai Smile to see if I can get the things we were missing.
Somen Noodle, Prawn and Cucumber Salad
Serves 4 as a starter or 2 fatties
2 Lebanese (short) cucumbers
1 tbsp dried wakame pieces*
200g dried somen noodles
12 cooked king prawns, peeled. deveined and cut in half lengthways
3 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
shichimi togarashi (seven spice mix) to serve, optional*
Dressing:
½ tsp dashi granules*
125ml Japanese rice vinegar
60ml mirin
1 tsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tsp lightly grated fresh ginger
pinch of sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
* things we didn't have
We also couldn't find somen noodles so we used thin egg noodles which were yummy.
1. Cut the cucumbers in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, then slice the flesh very thinly on a slight diagonal. Put the slices of cucumber in a colader, sprinkle with salt and leave for 10 minutes before rinsing and squeezing out as much water as you can. Chill.
2. Meanwhile soak the wakame in cold water for 5 minutes, or until rehydrated and glossy but not mushy. Drain well and chill... or skip this step if you too can't find Wakame.
3. To make the dressing mix the dashi granules with 1 tbsp hot water until dissolved. Add the rice vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, grated ginger, sugar and sesame oil and stir to combine. Chill.
4. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then reduce and simmer. Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes or until tender (or follow the instructions on the packet). Quickly drain and rincse under cold running water until completely cool.
5. Combine the cucumber, wakami, noodles, prawns and half the spring onion in a bowl. Pour on the dressing and toss well. Serve immediately garnished with the remaining spring onions and the shichimi togarashi.
8 February 2013
Lamb Ragu
I'm not a huge fan of lamb, as you'll see if you click on 'Lamb' in the cloud on the right. However, in my frenzy to cook as much as possible from Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration
and because the picture looked so damn yummy I decided to try out her Lamb Ragu. She also describes it as one of her 'go to weekday suppers' and well, I was having friends to supper, it was a Thursday, I thought I'd give it a try. Typically it was the picture that made me want to cook, and eat, this recipe and what with feeding the baby, putting him to bed, cooking and drinking vast amounts of wine I forgot to take a picture. I'll add one next time I cook it. And there will be a next time.
Nigella always bangs on about these exciting types of pasta that I vow to get next time I'm near anywhere that sells such a thing but I always end up ordering online from Sainsburys, so instead of the mafaldine or pappardelle that the recipe requires, I used good old tagliatelle and it worked just fine.This is a great alternative to normal bolognaise as the lamb mince can be in the freezer and everything else is store cupboard stuff. I have to admit that I left off the fresh mint and I'm not a huge fan and added a squirt of tomato ketchup towards the end of cooking as I felt it needed a little sweetness... whether you decide to do that or not is up to you.
Lamb Ragu
Serves 2
1 ½ tbsp garlic oil
1 banana shallot, chopped
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
250g minced lamb
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tsp redcurrant jelly
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
200g mafaldine or pappardelle (or whatever pasta you can find)
Fresh mint, to serve (optional)
I doubled the quantities and cooked this in a round le creuset but a heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid would do just as well. Whatever you usually put your bolognaise in basically. I also cooked this on a low heat for about double the amount of time because that was easier when you have people coming over.
1. Put a large pan of water on to boil, then warm the garlic oil in a small, heavy-based pan (with a lid) and cook the shallots, stirring, for 2 minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the herbs and chilli, stirring again in the hot pan before adding the mean and cooking for a couple of minutes, stirring to break it up with a wooden spatula or spoon until it loses a bit of the pinkness.
3. Add the tomatoes, redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce, pinch of salt and some grindings of pepper, give it a good stir and bring to the boil, then partially cover with the lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Salt the pasta water and cook the pasta according the instructions, and your taste.
5. Once the pasta is cooked, and not too efficiently drained, return the pasta to the pan and dress it with the ragu. Spinkle a little fresh mint and serve.
and because the picture looked so damn yummy I decided to try out her Lamb Ragu. She also describes it as one of her 'go to weekday suppers' and well, I was having friends to supper, it was a Thursday, I thought I'd give it a try. Typically it was the picture that made me want to cook, and eat, this recipe and what with feeding the baby, putting him to bed, cooking and drinking vast amounts of wine I forgot to take a picture. I'll add one next time I cook it. And there will be a next time.Nigella always bangs on about these exciting types of pasta that I vow to get next time I'm near anywhere that sells such a thing but I always end up ordering online from Sainsburys, so instead of the mafaldine or pappardelle that the recipe requires, I used good old tagliatelle and it worked just fine.This is a great alternative to normal bolognaise as the lamb mince can be in the freezer and everything else is store cupboard stuff. I have to admit that I left off the fresh mint and I'm not a huge fan and added a squirt of tomato ketchup towards the end of cooking as I felt it needed a little sweetness... whether you decide to do that or not is up to you.
Lamb Ragu
Serves 2
1 ½ tbsp garlic oil
1 banana shallot, chopped
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
250g minced lamb
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tsp redcurrant jelly
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
200g mafaldine or pappardelle (or whatever pasta you can find)
Fresh mint, to serve (optional)
I doubled the quantities and cooked this in a round le creuset but a heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid would do just as well. Whatever you usually put your bolognaise in basically. I also cooked this on a low heat for about double the amount of time because that was easier when you have people coming over.
1. Put a large pan of water on to boil, then warm the garlic oil in a small, heavy-based pan (with a lid) and cook the shallots, stirring, for 2 minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the herbs and chilli, stirring again in the hot pan before adding the mean and cooking for a couple of minutes, stirring to break it up with a wooden spatula or spoon until it loses a bit of the pinkness.
3. Add the tomatoes, redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce, pinch of salt and some grindings of pepper, give it a good stir and bring to the boil, then partially cover with the lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Salt the pasta water and cook the pasta according the instructions, and your taste.
5. Once the pasta is cooked, and not too efficiently drained, return the pasta to the pan and dress it with the ragu. Spinkle a little fresh mint and serve.
28 January 2013
Healthy Ham, Egg and Chips
Since having a baby I have been unable to read. Not literally, I'm not some sort of medical anomaly, but I just can't bring myself to read a book. It's strange, and slightly tricky as I still do one day a week working for a publisher. Magazines I can just about do however and Good Housekeeping is my magazine of choice. In fact it is Good Housekeeping and Nigellissima that have got me back into the kitchen even if what I'm choosing to cook isn't all that taxing. At least I'm cooking.
I never make ham, egg and chips. It's partly that it's one of those things that I think you can have in the pub and partly that whenever I do have it in the pub it comes with fat chips... which I loathe. I also think that if I were to have it at home it would morph into Brinner - bacon instead of the ham, bread instead of the chips and beans on the side to please Joe.
February's GH mag had a load of recipes that I wanted to cook in it and a rather lovely interview with Jennifer Saunders... added bonus. One of them was this Healthy Ham, Egg and Chips which seemed like a good way to use up some of the potatoes that have been hanging around for some time. I have also got into the habit of buying 12 eggs instead of 6 - mostly out of laziness - but it turns out that it's quite hard to use 12 eggs if you are not baking.
The recipe uses pulled ham hock which is apparently available in some supermarkets but they suggest using thick sliced ham if you can't find it. Tesco Metro didn't have either so Joe got two gammon steaks (250g) and grilled those up before starting the recipe which I think is what we'll do in future. Unless we can find any illusive ham hock. We also didn't have any fresh thyme (we used a sprinkling of dried), too few mushrooms and tomatoes and we ate it all quite happily between the two of us (not that I'd advise that... it was terrible gluttony on our part). I don't think I would have wanted any more tomatoes in it actually... it was very nice with the 150g we used. But here's the recipe as it should be - feel free to tinker with it at will.
Healthy Ham, Egg and Chips
Serves 4
3 medium potatoes, skin on and cut into 2cm dice
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
400g small closed cup mushrooms, halved or quartered as you like
4 fresh thyme sprigs
250g cherry tomatoes (although 100-150g fine as far as I'm concerned)
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 large eggs
125g pulled ham hock
chopped fresh parsley or chives to garnish
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. You will need a large non-stick roasting tin and that's it!
1. In your roasting tin toss the potato cubes and onion in well seasoned oil and roast for 20 mins.
2. Add the mushrooms and thyme and toss together and then return to the oven for 25 mins or until the vegetables are tender and golden.
3. Toss through the cherry tomatoes and mustard. Then make four spaces in the tin and crack in the eggs.
4. Return to the oven for 8-10 mins or until the egg whites are cooked.
5. Top with the ham and herbs and serve.
I never make ham, egg and chips. It's partly that it's one of those things that I think you can have in the pub and partly that whenever I do have it in the pub it comes with fat chips... which I loathe. I also think that if I were to have it at home it would morph into Brinner - bacon instead of the ham, bread instead of the chips and beans on the side to please Joe.
February's GH mag had a load of recipes that I wanted to cook in it and a rather lovely interview with Jennifer Saunders... added bonus. One of them was this Healthy Ham, Egg and Chips which seemed like a good way to use up some of the potatoes that have been hanging around for some time. I have also got into the habit of buying 12 eggs instead of 6 - mostly out of laziness - but it turns out that it's quite hard to use 12 eggs if you are not baking.
The recipe uses pulled ham hock which is apparently available in some supermarkets but they suggest using thick sliced ham if you can't find it. Tesco Metro didn't have either so Joe got two gammon steaks (250g) and grilled those up before starting the recipe which I think is what we'll do in future. Unless we can find any illusive ham hock. We also didn't have any fresh thyme (we used a sprinkling of dried), too few mushrooms and tomatoes and we ate it all quite happily between the two of us (not that I'd advise that... it was terrible gluttony on our part). I don't think I would have wanted any more tomatoes in it actually... it was very nice with the 150g we used. But here's the recipe as it should be - feel free to tinker with it at will.
Healthy Ham, Egg and Chips
Serves 4
3 medium potatoes, skin on and cut into 2cm dice
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
400g small closed cup mushrooms, halved or quartered as you like
4 fresh thyme sprigs
250g cherry tomatoes (although 100-150g fine as far as I'm concerned)
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 large eggs
125g pulled ham hock
chopped fresh parsley or chives to garnish
 |
| All the ingredients |
1. In your roasting tin toss the potato cubes and onion in well seasoned oil and roast for 20 mins.
2. Add the mushrooms and thyme and toss together and then return to the oven for 25 mins or until the vegetables are tender and golden.
 |
| Adding the mushrooms |
4. Return to the oven for 8-10 mins or until the egg whites are cooked.
 |
| Topped with ham and herbs |
5. Top with the ham and herbs and serve.
15 January 2013
Meatzza
My husband has never been able to pronounce things
correctly. So much for his university education. When I met him he would say
burlesque to rhyme with barbecue, it was only a couple of years ago I sorted
out the Arkansas problem for him and literally months ago that we had a sit
down discussion about reneged having a hard ‘g’. I thought it was all over but
no, thanks to Nigella and her lovely new book Nigellisima I now have to deal with regular requests for the
‘Meatatza’. He means Meatzza.
On second thoughts maybe this annoying inability to pronounce
quite a simple word was a deliberate ploy to get me to cook it so we could move
on. It worked. I cooked it for our romantic Friday night that I’d been planning
involving booze and a new Midsommer
Murders that actually ending up being me and Most Haunted while Joe wolfed his Meatzza and returned to his
computer to get his award for slowest. Worker. Ever.
A quick word on Nigella’s latest series – loved it. Far less
simpering and saucy sideways glances, amazing figure, amazing clothes, updated
fab makeup and yummy recipes. A big improvement (although I did watch and love Kitchen she was a bit OTT wasn’t she?).
And the accompanying book is just lovely – completely different to her usual
look and easy to follow.
Now for the Meatzza which she says is the most requested
recipe in the book. It was delicious and very simple to make but kind of hefty.
Admittedly the recipe is for 4-6 people and there are only two of us, and yes
we did finish it (see my constant twitter complaints about how I’m not losing
weight even though I’m breastfeeding). But on its own for 4-6 people I feel it
would need something with it – salad or tagliatelle perhaps?
Also would like to add that mince doesn't photograph well... I tried.
Meatzza
Serves 4-6
500g minced beef
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
3 tbsp breadcrumbs or porridge oats (not instant)
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 clove garlic, peeled
salt and pepper to taste
butter, for greasing
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp garlic oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 x 125g ball of mozzarella (not Buffalo), halved then sliced
few leaves fresh basil
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. You'll need a large mixing bowl and a round baking tin, although I used a round Le Creuset, about 28cm in diameter. I didn't add enough salt, do not be afraid of salt in this recipe, it is your friend, if in doubt heat up a small frying pan and fry off a tiny bit of the mince mixture to try it for seasoning.
1. In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the mince, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley and eggs. Grate in the garlic and add some salt and pepper. Do not overwork it, just lightly mix together, or the meat will become compacted and dense.
2. Butter your dish or baking tin and turn the meat into it, pressing the mixture lightly with your fingers to cover the bottom of the dish.
 |
| The mince base |
3. Make sure you've drained as much juice as you can from the chopped tomatoes, then mix the tomatoes with the garlic oil, oregano and some salt and pepper and spread, using a rubber spatula, lightly on top of the meat base. Arrange the mozzarella slices on top.
4. Cook for 20-25 minutes by which time the meat should be cooked through and the mozzarella melted.
5. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes then cover with the basil leaves and cut into wedges like a pizza to serve.
21 September 2012
Instant Chocolate Mousse
Although I don't really have a sweet tooth normally I am always a fan of chocolate mousse. Typical then that, now I'm pregnant and only want sweet things, chocolate mousse is often off the menu as it contains raw egg. Thank goodness (as usual) for Nigella Express
which has this recipe in for an extra quick, egg free chocolate mousse. I can see this being a pretty permanent fixture in my fridge for the next 7 or so weeks. It seems to be really liquid when you decant it but once it's set in the fridge it has an amazing thickness. I like it best with a good dollop of double cream.
Instant Chocolate Mousse
For 4-6
150g mini marshmallows
50g soft butter
250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) chopped into small pieces
60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
1 x 284ml tub double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water into a heavy-based saucepan.
2. Put the saucepan on the hob, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth cohesive mixture.
4. Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml each in capacity, or 6 smaller ones and chill until you want to eat.
which has this recipe in for an extra quick, egg free chocolate mousse. I can see this being a pretty permanent fixture in my fridge for the next 7 or so weeks. It seems to be really liquid when you decant it but once it's set in the fridge it has an amazing thickness. I like it best with a good dollop of double cream. Instant Chocolate Mousse
For 4-6
150g mini marshmallows
50g soft butter
250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) chopped into small pieces
60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
1 x 284ml tub double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water into a heavy-based saucepan.
3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth cohesive mixture.
5 September 2012
Spicy Bean and Vegetable Soup
I made this soup for my husband once when we were doing Anna Richardson's Body Blitz
and ever since he has requested it and got all misty eyed about how I used to make it all the time. So on Bank Holiday Monday, when he dashed off to Carnival by himself having deemed me 'too blimpy' to be allowed to go too, I bloody well made him some. I've even frozen some for when we get back from our holiday and I am lying in a pre-baby panic coma.
Now I'm not a huge soup fan and I hate courgette's so I don't eat this but my mother and husband love it and I trust their taste buds so here it is. This is from a diet book but you can substitute the oil spray for olive oil if you'd rather.
Spicy Bean and Vegetable Soup
Makes 4-6 servings (depending on who you are feeding)
Mild cooking oil spray
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1-1 ½ tsp hot chili powder or smoked paprika
2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
400g can red kidney beans
400g can cannellini beans
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded
3 small courgettes, trimmed
198g can sweetcorn, drained
1. Mist a large pan with the oil and gently fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until very soft, stirring regularly. Stir in the chili powder and cook for a further minute.
2. Tip the tomatoes into the pan, then refill the can with cold water and pour over the tomatoes. Drain and rinse the beans and add them, the tomato puree and stock cube to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Cut the peppers into roughly 1cm chunks. Cut the courgettes in half lengthways and then into 1cm slices.
4. Stir the peppers into the pan and continue simmering for a further 5 minutes. Add the courgettes and sweetcorn.
5. Simmer the soup for 5 minutes more or until the courgettes are tender, stirring every now and then. Season with a little salt and black pepper before serving.
and ever since he has requested it and got all misty eyed about how I used to make it all the time. So on Bank Holiday Monday, when he dashed off to Carnival by himself having deemed me 'too blimpy' to be allowed to go too, I bloody well made him some. I've even frozen some for when we get back from our holiday and I am lying in a pre-baby panic coma.Now I'm not a huge soup fan and I hate courgette's so I don't eat this but my mother and husband love it and I trust their taste buds so here it is. This is from a diet book but you can substitute the oil spray for olive oil if you'd rather.
Spicy Bean and Vegetable Soup
Makes 4-6 servings (depending on who you are feeding)
Mild cooking oil spray
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1-1 ½ tsp hot chili powder or smoked paprika
2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
400g can red kidney beans
400g can cannellini beans
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded
3 small courgettes, trimmed
198g can sweetcorn, drained
1. Mist a large pan with the oil and gently fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until very soft, stirring regularly. Stir in the chili powder and cook for a further minute.
2. Tip the tomatoes into the pan, then refill the can with cold water and pour over the tomatoes. Drain and rinse the beans and add them, the tomato puree and stock cube to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Cut the peppers into roughly 1cm chunks. Cut the courgettes in half lengthways and then into 1cm slices.
4. Stir the peppers into the pan and continue simmering for a further 5 minutes. Add the courgettes and sweetcorn.
5. Simmer the soup for 5 minutes more or until the courgettes are tender, stirring every now and then. Season with a little salt and black pepper before serving.
23 August 2012
Jamie's Stuffed Cypriot Chicken with Pan Fried Asparagus and Cabbage Salad
by guest blogger Joe Harrod
Say what you like about Jamie Oliver. I know people find him smug, laddish, jammy and generally irritating. But he's also really watchable - a genuinely nice bloke and who cooks appealing food and happily laughs at himself. For me, the biggest problem with his shows and books is ingredients. He's always bunging in a bit of arrowroot, or something equally unavailable at Tesco.
30-Minute Meals
is the epitome of Jamie, and probably outsold the Bible last Christmas. (That's another irritating thing about him - successful bastard!) It's also, for a mainstream cookbook, pretty scary. Each double page spread presents you with a 3 course feast which you must prepare in a race against time, incorporating a barrage of flavours and cooking techniques. I've never, ever brought in one of these badboys at under 40 minutes and I've burned myself trying.
I have to say though, I love the book. It's packed with great recipes and makes after work cooking more of an assault course and less of a chore. And it builds up your repertoire of gourmet, fast-cook meals. I would add a couple of suggestions of my own: Firstly, don't be afraid to dawdle or mix up the order of the cooking. Jamie has you firing up the hobs before you start chopping and juggling four pans at all times, which is too much like hard work. Secondly, if you don't want to make the starter, side dish or the pudding - don't bother.
It was in this spirit that I approached Jamie's "Stuffed Cypriot Chicken, Pan-Fried Asparagus and Vine Tomatoes, Cabbage Salad, Flatbreads, St. Clement's Drink, and Vanilla Ice Cream Float." In other words, sod the St Clements and the Ice Cream Float. I served booze and frozen yoghurt instead. And, instead of stuffing the chicken and chopping the cabbage and prepping the asparagus and flatbreads against the clock, I did all that before my guests arrived then just did the heating once they arrived. This made me look suave and collected like Michael Caine doing the omelette in The Ipcress File.
The results were impressive. Light but striking flavours, amazing textures... bloody delicious basically. The chicken comes out really zingy and asparagus steamed in tomato juice is a crunchy, flavour-packed revelation. This is a great summer set piece.
So here it is in two stages. I've upped the ingredients because I was doing for six. Preparation takes about 25 minutes and cooking only 20, whereas if you try and do it all together you'll end up sweating and cursing an hour later, and muttering all kinds of things about poor Jamie.
Ingredients:
Garlic, lots of
Olive oil, plenty
Salt and pepper
Lemons (Jamie loves his lemons mmmate)
Thyme
Rosemary
Loads of parsley
Loads of basil
Bay leaves
+
Pitta Bread x 6
Chicken breasts, skin on x 6
Feta 200g
Sundried tomatoes
400g asparagus
2 packs vine tomatoes
Black olives
1/2 a white cabbage
1 onion
Red chilli
Preparation:
Flatbreads. (I used pittas.) Rub with garlic. Put a tablespoon of olive oil, loads of salt and pepper and a bunch of thyme on a chopping board and flop the garlicky pittas into them, rub them together and generally get them all sexy, then stack them up on a plate.
Cypriot Chicken. Put a good bunch of parsley, another of basil and a couple of rosemary sprigs, 8 sundried tomatoes and a block of feta on a board. (I didn't have sundried and used normal. Worked fine.) Chop it up nice and fine. Grate over zest of a lemon and crush on three cloves of garlic, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and chop through again. Slit the chicken, stuff it and then rub salt and pepper into the skin liberally. Stand to one side - they'll be going in a super hot pan later.
Asparagus. Lug some olive oil into a deep pan, add thyme sprigs, rosemary sprigs, three bay leaves and vine tomatoes to a pan, and chuck salt over. Lop the bottom off the asparagus and leave to one side along with a good handful of black olives.
Cabbage salad. Use a Magimix salad blade to slice up cabbage and put that in a bowl. Now use the regular blade to dice the hell out of an onion, a red chilli (seeds out) and a good fistful of basil. add these to the cabbage, plus the juice of two lemons. Toss this salad and take to the table.
Cooking
When you're ready to eat turn on a high flame under a pan with nothing but oil in it, and under the tomatoes, with the lid on. Whack the oven onto full blast with the pittas in it.
After 2 minutes, put the chicken in skin down with the very hot oil. Put some crinkled greaseproof over the top, and a lid. Turn down the tomatoes to medium.
After another 5 minutes, add the asparagus to the tomatoes and replace the lid. Flip the chicken (remove the paper) and turn down to medium. You'll let these guys and the pittas cook for another 12 minutes.
Ta-dah!
Say what you like about Jamie Oliver. I know people find him smug, laddish, jammy and generally irritating. But he's also really watchable - a genuinely nice bloke and who cooks appealing food and happily laughs at himself. For me, the biggest problem with his shows and books is ingredients. He's always bunging in a bit of arrowroot, or something equally unavailable at Tesco.
30-Minute Meals
is the epitome of Jamie, and probably outsold the Bible last Christmas. (That's another irritating thing about him - successful bastard!) It's also, for a mainstream cookbook, pretty scary. Each double page spread presents you with a 3 course feast which you must prepare in a race against time, incorporating a barrage of flavours and cooking techniques. I've never, ever brought in one of these badboys at under 40 minutes and I've burned myself trying. I have to say though, I love the book. It's packed with great recipes and makes after work cooking more of an assault course and less of a chore. And it builds up your repertoire of gourmet, fast-cook meals. I would add a couple of suggestions of my own: Firstly, don't be afraid to dawdle or mix up the order of the cooking. Jamie has you firing up the hobs before you start chopping and juggling four pans at all times, which is too much like hard work. Secondly, if you don't want to make the starter, side dish or the pudding - don't bother.
It was in this spirit that I approached Jamie's "Stuffed Cypriot Chicken, Pan-Fried Asparagus and Vine Tomatoes, Cabbage Salad, Flatbreads, St. Clement's Drink, and Vanilla Ice Cream Float." In other words, sod the St Clements and the Ice Cream Float. I served booze and frozen yoghurt instead. And, instead of stuffing the chicken and chopping the cabbage and prepping the asparagus and flatbreads against the clock, I did all that before my guests arrived then just did the heating once they arrived. This made me look suave and collected like Michael Caine doing the omelette in The Ipcress File.
The results were impressive. Light but striking flavours, amazing textures... bloody delicious basically. The chicken comes out really zingy and asparagus steamed in tomato juice is a crunchy, flavour-packed revelation. This is a great summer set piece.
So here it is in two stages. I've upped the ingredients because I was doing for six. Preparation takes about 25 minutes and cooking only 20, whereas if you try and do it all together you'll end up sweating and cursing an hour later, and muttering all kinds of things about poor Jamie.
Ingredients:
Garlic, lots of
Olive oil, plenty
Salt and pepper
Lemons (Jamie loves his lemons mmmate)
Thyme
Rosemary
Loads of parsley
Loads of basil
Bay leaves
+
Pitta Bread x 6
Chicken breasts, skin on x 6
Feta 200g
Sundried tomatoes
400g asparagus
2 packs vine tomatoes
Black olives
1/2 a white cabbage
1 onion
Red chilli
Preparation:
Flatbreads. (I used pittas.) Rub with garlic. Put a tablespoon of olive oil, loads of salt and pepper and a bunch of thyme on a chopping board and flop the garlicky pittas into them, rub them together and generally get them all sexy, then stack them up on a plate.
Cypriot Chicken. Put a good bunch of parsley, another of basil and a couple of rosemary sprigs, 8 sundried tomatoes and a block of feta on a board. (I didn't have sundried and used normal. Worked fine.) Chop it up nice and fine. Grate over zest of a lemon and crush on three cloves of garlic, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and chop through again. Slit the chicken, stuff it and then rub salt and pepper into the skin liberally. Stand to one side - they'll be going in a super hot pan later.
Asparagus. Lug some olive oil into a deep pan, add thyme sprigs, rosemary sprigs, three bay leaves and vine tomatoes to a pan, and chuck salt over. Lop the bottom off the asparagus and leave to one side along with a good handful of black olives.
Cabbage salad. Use a Magimix salad blade to slice up cabbage and put that in a bowl. Now use the regular blade to dice the hell out of an onion, a red chilli (seeds out) and a good fistful of basil. add these to the cabbage, plus the juice of two lemons. Toss this salad and take to the table.
Cooking
When you're ready to eat turn on a high flame under a pan with nothing but oil in it, and under the tomatoes, with the lid on. Whack the oven onto full blast with the pittas in it.
After 2 minutes, put the chicken in skin down with the very hot oil. Put some crinkled greaseproof over the top, and a lid. Turn down the tomatoes to medium.
After another 5 minutes, add the asparagus to the tomatoes and replace the lid. Flip the chicken (remove the paper) and turn down to medium. You'll let these guys and the pittas cook for another 12 minutes.
Ta-dah!
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