TableTurner

Blackened barbecued pork fillets

Sun, 13 May 2012 21:28:03 +0100

After a long period of miserable weather the sun finally came out today and gave me the chance to use the BBQ. I thought I’d try this Jamie Oliver recipe which I stumbled across the other day.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

For the marinade

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 clove
1/2 heaped tbsp sweet smoked paprika
zest and juice of 1/4 orange
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked and very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and very finely chopped
75ml tomato ketchup
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 x 400g pork fillets, preferably free-range or organic
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

A handful of fresh coriander, leaves picked and chopped
Lemon juice

METHOD

To make your marinade, crush up the cumin, fennel seeds and cloves in a pestle and mortar and mix with the paprika, orange zest and juice, thyme, garlic, ketchup and balsamic vinegar. Season the pork fillets with salt and pepper, then toss them in most of the marinade until completely coated. Feel free to marinate for half a day, but at least an hour. If you have metal or wooden skewers, lay the fillets side by side and skewer them together about 2.5cm apart.

When you’re ready to cook, simply put the meat on to a barbecue or under a hot grill for 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely charred. Every time you turn the meat, brush it generously with the leftover marinade so you build up a sticky, blackened glaze. When they’re done, put the fillets on a big platter and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the meat between the skewers, or just slice each fillet in half, and sprinkle over some chopped coriander or squeeze over some lemon juice if you fancy.

From ‘Cook with Jamie’ by Jamie Oliver

RESULT

They came out really well. The pork was nice and tender and the marinade was very tasty. I think it had far too much orange in it though - it’s all I could really taste. I’ve halved it in the recipe above so hopefully it should be a bit more balanced. I served it with potato salad - a really good recipe for which you can find here.

Slow-roast shoulder of lamb

Sun, 13 May 2012 21:13:42 +0100

In celebration of the bank-holiday last week I slow roasted a whole lamb shoulder for my family. It’s actually one of the easiest things you can possibly cook and results in really tasty, tender and succulent meat.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

2.5 - 3kg shoulder of lamb from the butcher
I whole bulb of garlic
6 onions roughly chopped
8 carrots roughly chopped
Salt and pepper

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cut the garlic bulb in half through the middle and rub it all over the shoulder of lamb. Then break it up and scatter the cloves in a roasting tin. Add the onions and carrots and place the lamb on top. Season generously and pour in 2 pints of water. Seal the roasting tin with foil and place in the over for 30 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 150°C and cook for a further 4 hours. About 30 minutes before serving take off the tin foil to allow the lamb to crisp and brown. Remove the lamb and allow to rest for a bit while you use the stock left in the roasting tray to make a nice gravy. I served it with garlic potatoes and coriander carrots.

RESULT:

The lamb comes out really tender. You don’t really need to carve it, you can just pull it apart with a fork. Make sure you warm your plates nice and hot though as it cools down and dries out really quick.

Lunchtime Lamb

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:45:00 +0100

The other day I was having a slightly dull morning at work and thinking about a load of lamb shoulder I had left over in the fridge. It was all the slightly fattier bits that didn’t look too appetising. I suddenly felt inspired to cycle home, run it all through my mincer and create some lamb burgers. That’s normal isn’t it?

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

400g lamb shoulder or lamb mince
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried chillies
Salt and pepper
Handful of chopped coriander and mint
1/2 egg, beaten
25g bread crumbs
1/4 tsp cinnamon

METHOD

The above ingredients are a bit of a guess in terms of quantities. Really you can stick in whatever you like and just play it by ear.

Put the lamb through the mincer or just use lamb mince, stick all the ingredients in a bowl and then use your hands to work it all together. Shape them into patties, or kebabs if you’d prefer.

Heat a griddle pan on a high heat until it’s nice and hot and then fry the burgers for a few minutes on each side.

RESULT

A delicious lunchtime treat. Although it’s tempting to use a whole egg you don’t want them to be too wet, so only use a bit. If they are still too wet then just add some more breadcrumbs.

Ravioli of bacon, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, chilli and basil

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:34:00 +0100

I spent about 2 hours last night following a pasta recipe that to be honest with you was nothing that special. Tonight I rustled this up in about 15 minutes with some leftover pasta dough and some things I found in the fridge and it was way better. In fact it was delicious!

INGREDIENTS (feeds 2)

For the pasta

100g tipo 00 pasta flour
1 large egg

For the filling

4 rasher of streaky bacon
4 large sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
Small handful of basil, chopped
Half a ball of mozzarella, torn into small pieces
1 tsp of dried chilli flakes
Fresh parmesan
Salt and Pepper

To serve

50g butter
Basil leaves

METHOD

First of all make the pasta dough. Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack in the egg and bring the dough together with a fork. Then transfer to a surface and knead it really well until your dough feel smooth and silky. Wrap it in cling-film and leave it in the frige for at least half an hour.

In the meantime make the filling. Grill the bacon till crisp and then chop into small pieces. Put them into a bowl and add the the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped basil leaves, mozzarella, chilli flakes, a good grating of parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper. Mix everything together.

Now roll out your pasta dough. You can use a rolling pin if you don’t have a pasta machine. I’ll asume you know to use the latter if you have one. Roll it out really thin, till you can just see through it, and then cut into circles using a chef’s ring or pastry cutter or even a glass.

Take one circle of pasta, brush the edges with water, and holding it cupped in your hand place a spoonful of the filling in the middle and then another circle of pasta on top. Carefully press all the edges together firmly as you don’t want the filling to come out during cooking.

Get a pan of boiling salted water on the hob. Add the ravioli to the water and cook for a couple of minutes. Whilst the pasta is cooking melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the pasta along with a bit of the cooking liquid and simmer until the butter and water have turned into a sauce that just coats the ravioli. Serve on warm plates - drizzle over any remaining sauce, a good sprinkling of grated Parmesan and some basil leaves.

RESULT

Every now and then you cook something dead simple (admittedly making fresh pasta isn’t particularly simple - but in this case that was already made) where you literally just throw some stuff together and it comes out better than you expected. This was one of those rare occasions! Some of my absolute favourite flavours, perfectly cooked pasta and particularly loved the chilli. Boom.

Chocolate brownies

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:39:00 +0100

Another find in the Jamie Oliver book were these chocolate brownies. I never usually deviate from my tried and tested recipe - which I’ve actually yet to post on here - but they were delicious and incredibly easy to make.

INGREDIENTS (makes 10 - 12)

250g unsalted butter
200g best-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) broken up
80g cocoa powder sifted
65g plain flower sifted
1 tsp baking powder
370g caster sugar
4 large eggs

To serve:

Creme fraiche
Orange zest

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 180°C. Line a 30cm rectangular baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate together and mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency (you have to beat quite hard).

Pour your mix into the baking tray and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them, so unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray and then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. Serve slightly warm with a dollop of creme fraiche topped with the some orange zest.

Haddock in smoked bacon with asparagus and hollandaise sauce

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:19:00 +0100

Someone cooked a delicious Jamie Oliver curry for me last week. I’d gone off him a bit - mostly due to the ridiculously long lists of ingredients required for most of his recipes - but I had a flick through one of his books that’s been sitting on my shelf untouched for years and found this really simple light dinner. I swapped the mayonnaise for hollandaise which went really well.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

4 x white fish fillets (150g - 200g) skinned and boned. I used haddock
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
zest of 2 lemons
16 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
Olive oil
2 large bunches of fine asparagus

For the hollandaise:

2 large free range organic eggs as fresh as possible
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
100g butter

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 200°C. Season your fish with the rosemary, finely grated lemon zest and some pepper. Lay the rashers of bacon on a board and one by one run the flat side of a knife along them to thin them and widen them out. Lay 4 rashers together, slightly overlapping, put a fish fillet on top and wrap the rashers around it. My fillets were quite long and thin so I chopped the bacon in half and laid 8 slices together.

Lightly heat a large ovenproof frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and lay your fish, prettiest side facing up, in the pan. Fry for a minute, then place the pan in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish, until the bacon is crisp and golden. I actually grilled mine for the last few minutes to crisp up the bacon without overcooking the fish.

While your fish is cooking make the hollandaise (recipe here) and 5 minutes before the fish is done boil or steam the asparagus. If you’re feeling hungry you could cook some new potatoes to go with it too.

From Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver

Apple Walnut Cake

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:22:00 +0100

It was my mate’s 30th the other day so I made him a cake. It came from a book I got from a great little bakery in New York called Amy’s bread. It’s possibly the most anal cookbook I’ve ever used but everything I’ve made from it has always been delicious. I should really put the amazing carrot cake recipe up here but I thought I’d mix things up and try the apple walnut cake with maple syrup icing.

I’m not sure it is completely necessary to use exactly 218g of dried cherries or 432g of oil, so I’ve rounded up all the ingredients to the nearest 10 at least. This is a massive cake so you might want to half the recipe if you’re doing it in a smaller tin. Mine was a roasting tray about 30 x 40cm.

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake

600g Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
220g dried cherries
180g walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
600g caster sugar
430g corn oil
4 large eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
640g plain flour
10g salt
1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.5 tsp cinnamon

For the icing

250g maple syrup
1 tsp instant coffee
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp water
300g icing sugar
400g unsalted butter, softened

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a large tray (30x40cm) with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
Cut the apples into chunks and process in a food-processor. Using a pulsing action 3 or 4 times until the apple is finely chopped but not mushy. Add dried cherries and walnuts. (To toast the walnuts spread them on a baking tray and stick them in the oven for 5 minutes on the same temperature).
In a bowl whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until they are well combined. In a separate large bowl (the biggest you have) mix together the dry ingredients and then add the liquid ingredients and stir them together with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be quite stiff at this point.
Fold in the apple mixture and stir just until everything is evenly distributed. The moisture will make the mixture easier to stir. Spread it into the tin in an even layer and place it in the oven. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a knife comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Rotate the tray half way through cooking.
Cool the cake completely before adding the icing.
To make the icing, dissolve the coffee and salt into the water and mix well. Beat the icing sugar and butter together and then add the coffee liquid. Add a bit more icing sugar if it’s too wet.

From ‘The sweeter side of Amy’s Bread’ by Amy Scherber & Toy Kim Dupree.

Barbecued spicy lamb & fennel meatballs

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:24:39 +0100

Today we had the first BBQ of the year in a sunny interval minutes before it started chucking it down with rain. It wasn’t exactly a traditional BBQ, but I’d been inspired by a great meatball dish I’d had at a restaurant in Soho called Polpo and decided to try and have a go at making something similar.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2-3)

For the meatballs

500g Pork mince
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp fennel seeds
Salt and pepper

For the tomato sauce

400g Passata
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper

For the kebabs

2 chicken breasts
Red pepper
Green pepper
Red onion

METHOD

Get the BBQ on

I’m not completely sure about the spice quantities as I just chucked them in, so you might need to use your judgement, but mix them together with the mince and a good amount of salt and pepper using your hands. Form into large meatballs (about 6-8).

For the kebabs I chopped the chicken and coated it in some piri-piri marinade, then sliced the onions and peppers and stuck them all on kebab sticks.

Before you start cooking on the BBQ wipe some oil onto the bars to stop the meat sticking and then cook your meatballs and kebabs. Be careful to make sure they are cooked through thoroughly but try not to overcook them else they’ll dry out.

Meanwhile make the simple tomato sauce by cooking the passata in a medium saucepan adding some fresh basil leaves and some salt and pepper. When the meatballs are done add them to the saucepan and cook for a further 5 minutes or so.

RESULT

The meatballs were delicious - with a nice kick from the cayenne and the great taste from the fennel which always go really well with pork. They were a little bit on the dry side - to be honest I’m not sure barbecuing them was the best way to cook them - but not a bad attempt and not miles way from the incredible ones I had in the restaurant.

Briani rice with lamb curry

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:00:00 +0100

People often remark that Indian food is a great way to enjoy vegetarian cooking and that most of the curries made in India are with vegetables and not meat. It’s a fair point but there’s nothing like a lamb curry. This is actually based on a Mauritian curry - made on this years Masterchef final by the winner Shelina Permalloo.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

For the lamb curry:

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 white onion, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2.5cm fresh root ginger, grated
2 red birds’-eye chillies, finely chopped
12 curry leaves
4 tbsp Mauritian curry powder
500g lamb shoulder chopped into 2.5cm cubes
Can plum tomatoes (400g)
3 tbsp fresh coriander
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh coriander, to garnish

For the briani rice:

1 litre canola oil, for deep frying
1 white onion, finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
3 tbsp epices pour briani (a Mauritian spice mix for briani)
300g/10½oz basmati rice
½ bunch coriander, leaves picked, finely chopped
½ bunch mint, leaves picked, finely chopped
pinch salt
pinch saffron
20g/¾oz unsalted butter

METHOD

For the curry:

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli until soft.

Add the curry leaves and curry powder and continue frying for three minutes.

Add the meat and brown on all sides.

Add the tomatoes and leave to simmer for 1½- 2 hours until tender. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

For the rice:

For the briani rice, heat the canola oil in a deep-sided, heavy-based pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns golden-brown when dropped into it.

Carefully lower the onion and garlic slices into the hot oil and deep fry until golden-brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain onto kitchen paper.

Add the spice mix to a dry pan and cook for one minute, until fragrant. Add the rice, mint, coriander, fried garlic and onions and salt and mix through. Add strands of saffron and dot with butter. Do not mix, as you want the colours to permeate through the rice. Add 750ml/1¼ pints water, cover and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes.

Remove the rice from the heat and leave to steam with the lid on – you need the residual steam to cook the rice.

To serve:

To serve, place a portion of the mutton curry into a miniature pan or ramekin on each serving plate, and garnish with fresh coriander. Using a chef’s ring place a spoonful of rice to the side.

RESULT

Despite the relatively long list of ingredients and the fact it was a Masterchef winning meal this was actually a pretty easy meal to do. The only time-consuming part was boning the lamb shoulder I bought from the butcher but I could have just got him to do that.

The Mauritian curry powder and Briani spices I bought from an online Mauritian store although sadly they messed up the delivery so I had to go to Tesos. I used a mix of some Indian and a Caribbean curry powders in the curry which I found in the in the Ethical section and a Briani spice mix I found there too.

The recipe seemed all to go to plan but I did need to keep adding water to the curry to stop it drying out. I also cooked it for about 2 hours and even then the lamb could have been a tiny bit more tender. It tasted delicious though - would have been more than happy if I’d been served it in a restaurant. The briani was also very tasty but was really hot. I’m not sure if that’s standard for briani spice mixes or whether this was a particularly hot one, but I think it would have been nicer if it was slightly less spicy. I served it with some natural yoghurt which helped! I’ll definitely make this again though.

Mango, Pineapple & Mint

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:59:00 +0100

After the spicy curry above I served this really simple refreshing dessert. It’s based on a Jamie Oliver recipe I made ages ago but uses mango as well in tribute to the woman who’s recipe I used for the curry - Shelina - who is absolutely obsessed with the things.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

1 ripe pineapple
2 ripe mangoes
Pot of natural yogurt
Bunch of mint
Sugar

METHOD

Chop the pineapple and mango into chunks and spread on plates.

Bash the mint and sugar together in a pestle and mortar until you have a sugary paste. Add more sugar if it’s too wet.

Dollop yoghurt ontop of the fruit and sprinkle over some of the mint sugar.

RESULT

Delicious. Just make sure you use nice ripe fruit and don’t make the mistake I did of using salt instead of sugar - as that tastes horrible!

Leek & roquefort risotto - the last supper

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0100

Today was my last day of having to eat like a vegetarian. It’s something I’m really glad I did and can honestly say it has changed my opinions towards vegetables. I’ve actually found it easier than I thought I would - I’ve not really had any meaty cravings and have realised that it is possible to enjoy vegetarian cooking and eating. Don’t get me wrong - I can’t wait to eat meat again, but will definitely rely on it less in the future. That said I couldn’t have done it without cheese! I was quite in the mood for some blue cheese so I thought I’d make this risotto.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

olive oil
25g butter
2 small leeks , sliced
1 garlic clove , chopped
125g risotto rice
1/2 glass of white wine
l litre vegetable stock
2 tbsp tarragon , chopped
100g roquefort or gorgonzola

METHOD

Heat 1 tbsp of oil and 1/2 the butter in a wide, shallow pan. Add the leeks and garlic and cook over a gentle heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil. Increase the heat a little and pour in the wine. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Add a ladleful of the stock and simmer, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way until it has all been used and the rice is tender and creamy.

Season and stir in the tarragon. Remove from the heat and fold the remaining butter and roquefort through the risotto. Serve immediately.

RESULT

It tasted a little bit winey so I’ve reduced the quantity from 1 glass to 1/2 a glass. Also the cheese was pretty strong so you might want to try adding a little bit less. It tasted great though and was incredibly quick and simple.

Veggie Mezze

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:54:00 +0000

I had a good friend over for dinner last night and thought I’d try out a few of the Mezze recipes from my veg book. As usual I was slightly optimistic with my timings and she ended up having to do half the cooking, but it was really good fun and tasted great!

P.S. Just to make you aware of the ‘Read More’ button under the photo if you haven’t already discovered it - it’s where you can find all the recipes.

INGREDIENTS

For the pistachio dukka (This is the stuff in the jar - a combination of nuts, seeds and spices. You dip your bread in the olive oil and then in the Dukka. It doesn’t look much from the photo but try it - it tastes great!

120g shelled unsalted pistachios
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp sesame seeds
Sprig of mint, leaves only, chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp flaky sea salt

For the beetroot and walnut hummus

50g walnuts
1 tbsp cumin seeds
15g stale bread (I used a bit of those bake-in-the-oven rolls uncooked)
200g cooked beetroot (not pickled) cubed
1 tbsp tahini (or smooth peanut butter)
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil and seasonings

For the grilled aubergines with chilli and honey (right at the back - we only did 1/2 this)

3 medium aubergines (about 750g)
Olive oil
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves only
A little clear honey
A little lemon juice

For the marinated courgettes with mozzarella (again we made half)

4 medium courgettes (about 500g)
5 tbsp olive oil
1 large garlic clove finely slivered
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon plus a little juice
Handful of mint or basil roughly torn
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
Salt and pepper

For the roasted peppers

Red and Orange and Yellow peppers
Olive oil and seasonings

For the griddled flatbreads

250g strong white bread flour
1 7g packet of dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
175ml warm water

For the patatas bravas (see here)

METHOD

The Dukka and the Hummus can be made in advance. The Dukka will keep for a few weeks in a sealed jar and the hummus a few days in the fridge.

For the pistachio dukka

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Scatted the pistachio kernals on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 5 minutes until just starting to turn golden. Allow to cool, then roughly chop.

In a small pan over a medium heat, warm the cumin and coriander seeds until they begin to release their aroma. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and bash until broken up but not too fine. In the same pan, lightly toast the sesame seeds.

Add the roughly chopped nuts to the mortar and bash until they are broken up into smallish pieces. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the sesame seeds, mint, chilli flakes and salt.

For the beetroot and walnut hummus

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Toast the walnuts on a baking tray in the oven for 5-7 minutes until fragrant. Leave to cool.

Warm a small pan over a medium heat and dry-fry the cumin seeds, shaking the pan, until they start to darken and release their aroma - this should take less than a minute, be careful not to burn them. Crush the still-warm seeds with a pestle and mortar or spice-grinder.

Put the bread and toasted nuts into a food-processor or blender and blitz to fine crumbs. Add the beetroot, tahini, most of the garlic and cumin, half of the lemon juice, half a tbsp of olive oil, some salt and pepper. Blend to a thick paste. Taste and adjust the flavour by adding a little more cumin, lemon, garlic, salt and/or pepper. Loosen with a dash more olive oil if required. (Mine needed a bit more lemon juice and a bit more salt)

For the grilled aubergines with chilli and honey

Preheat the grill to medium-high. Slice the skin off the aubergines, then cut across into 1cm slices. Place on a foil-lined grill tray. Brush liberally with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on one side, then flip the slices over, brush with more oil and season with more salt and pepper. Keep grilling until the slices are a deep golden brown all over and very tender, flipping them again if you need to. This will take around 15-20 minutes.

Transfer the grilled aubergines slices to a plate or dish, layering them if you need to and sprinkling each layer with chopped chilli and thyme leaves. Trickle with a little honey and lemon juice. Leave for at least 10 minutes until tepid, or even better, 30 minutes until cool, by which time the juices will have run and mingled a little.

For the marinated courgettes with mozzarella

Top and tail the courgettes, then cut them lengthways into think slices 1-2cm thick (I used a peeler to do this). Put them in a bowl with 2 tbsp of the oil and use a pastry brush to get them lightly coated.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a fairly high heat. Working in batches, sear the courgette slices for about 2 minutes on each side until tender and golden. Transfer them to a shallow dish.

Take the frying pan off the heat and let it cool down a bit. Add the remaining 3 tbsp of oil, the garlic and the lemon zest. Heat very gently for a few minutes - the residual heat in the pan may be enough - you just want to take the raw edge off the garlic and infuse the flavours into the oil.

Pour the infused oil over the courgettes. Add some salt and pepper, a little squeeze of lemon juice and the mint or basil. Toss together, cover and leave for an hour at room temperature.

For the roasted peppers

Turn your grill up to high and grill the peppers till the skin is black, then turn them over and repeat on the other side. Allow them to cool for a few minutes and then remove the burnt skin (which should come away fairly easily). Slice the soft peppers in half, remove the seeds and then chop into slices. These are delicious done on a BBQ.

All these recipes are from River Cottage Veg Everyday cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

For the griddled flatbreads

Tip the dry ingredients into a food processor with a paddle attachment and mix well. Pour in 350ml warm water and the oil, then process to a soft dough. Mix for 1 min, then leave in a large bowl covered with cling-film for about an hour.

When you’re ready to make the flatbreads roll out your dough till it’s about 1/2cm thick and then cut into strips. Get your griddle pan as hot as you can and cook the them for a few minutes on each side.

Beetroot, green bean and goats cheese salad

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:58:55 +0000

Not sure this really classes as a salad - the huge piece of goats cheese in the middle slightly negates any health benefits, but it tastes amazing. It was inspired by a starter I had at a pub in Kennington last year and was the perfect way to use the beetroots I had in my veg box.

To be honest with you I’ve made this in the past and just used pre-prepared beetroot added at the same time as the green beans, rather than roasting the beetroot myself which is a little bit more of a fiddle as they’re a bit hard to peel when hot.

This recipe is dead simple - it’s just about the timings. If an entire goats cheese is too glutenous then carefully slice it in half through the middle which will then serve 2. I’ve not really given any quantities so just estimate based on how many people you’re cooking for.

INGREDIENTS

Fine Green beans, trimmed
Beetroot
A red onion, sliced
Baby new potatoes
Goats cheese
Olive oil
Seasoning

METHOD

First preheat the oven to 200°C

Scrub the beetroot, dry it with some kitchen towel and place in a roasting tin. Drizzle over a fair bit of olive oil (you’ll use it to roast all your ingredients) and roll the beetroots around to make sure they’re covered. Season and place in the oven - they’ll be done in an hour.

With about 45 minutes to go add the potatoes to the roasting tin - rolling them round in the olive oil and seasoning as well. Give them a bit of a shuffle around from time to time.

With about 25 minutes to go steam your green beans for about 5-6 minutes in a sieve over a pan of boiling water.

With about 15 minutes to go add your onion and green beans to the roasting tin, again giving them a good old slide around in the olive oil.

With about 10 minutes to go move the onions around a bit and add put the goats cheese in the oven on a bit of tin foil on a baking tray.

With about 5 minutes to go take out the potatoes and beetroot as they need some time to cool, move everything else around a bit and get some plates in the oven to warm.

Carefully peel the beetroot and chop it into chunks.

Your goats cheese should be nice and soft but you might want to grill the top whilst you plate everything else up.

Get the plates out the oven, scatter on the green beens, the red onions and beetroot chunks, the potatoes around the edge and lastly carefully place the goats cheese in the middle.

RESULT

These are some of my absolute favourite ingredients and with a piece of warm goats cheese that big in the middle you really can’t go wrong. Delicious!

Eggs Benedict (nearly)

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 12:32:00 +0000

I wouldn’t normally even consider making Eggs Benedict without a nice slice of smoked ham or crispy bacon underneath my eggs - but for any new visitors to this blog - I’ve given up meat for lent. That said poached eggs and hollandaise is still a winning combination.

It’s probably cheating but I tend to use Delia’s method for making hollandaise which uses a food processor rather than having to use a whisk and a bowl over boiling water. As long as you use the smallest bowl of your food processor it shouldn’t split.

INGREDIENTS (for 2)

6 large free range organic eggs as fresh as possible
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
100g butter
English muffins

METHOD

Boil the kettle and get a couple of small saucepans of water bubbling on the hob.

Separate 2 of the eggs and put the yolks into the smallest bowl of your food processor. Blend them for about a minute. Heat the lemon juice and vinegar in a small saucepan until bubbling. Turn the food processor on again, slowly add this liquid then turn off again. In the same saucepan melt the butter.

Whilst the butter is melting stir the water in the saucepans to create a whirlpool and drop the eggs right into the middle. You’ll need to do them in two batches. Alternatively just slowly drop them into a large pan of simmering water (see here). Either way they’ll need about 3 minutes.

While the eggs are cooking toast the muffins, then remove the eggs, dry them on some kitchen roll and then place on top. Turn the food processor on again and very slowly pour in the melted butter in a steady stream. You can get quicker towards the end.

Pour over the hollandaise, season and you’re done!

RESULT

Breakfast of Kings. Well, maybe Queens given the lack of ham.

Mushrooms on Toast

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:05:00 +0000

I had some veggies to use up so I created a slightly random dinner. Mushrooms on Toast, sticky spiced red cabbage and a green salad. As a plate of food I’m not sure it really worked to be honest, but the mushrooms on toast were a winner.

If you want to make the sticky spiced red cabbage you can find the recipe I used here. I wouldn’t though to be honest; it wasn’t very nice and it made my whole house smell of farts. The mushrooms on toast recipe is very slightly adapted from James Ramsden’s ‘Small Adventures in Cooking’ book.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

Big knob of butter butter
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1/2 wineglass of Marsala (optional)
250g of your favourite mushrooms, roughly chopped
100ml creme fraiche
a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
good squeeze of lemon juice
2 slices of good bread
parmesan cheese

METHOD

Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly to avoid burning.

Add the Marsala if using and simmer for a minute or two until slightly reduced. Tip in the mushrooms and cream, cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes until the mushrooms have cooked through. Uncover and cook for a further 5-7 minutes until the the sauce has thickened.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley and lemon juice to taste. Toast the bread, spoon over the mushrooms, grate over some parmesan cheese and scatter with a few parsley leaves.

Veg Box Soup: Carrot and Coriander

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:50:55 +0000

My veg box gets delivered on Mondays so thought I’d better use up all the leftovers this weekend before the next one comes. I had a potato, a load of carrots, some parsnips, a couple of leeks and some coriander from this recipe. A soup seemed like the obvious solution.

RECIPE

I just threw it all together so I’m not completely sure this is right but it went something like…

Add a few glugs of olive oil and a large knob of butter to a large pan over a medium heat. Add a roughly chopped onion and fry for a bit; add a couple of sliced leeks and fry for a bit more; peel and roughly chop 6 or so carrots, 2 or 3 parsnips and a potato, add them to the pan, turn down the heat and allow to sweat for about 10 minutes stirring every now and again. Then add a bit of ground coriander and 1 litre of vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until the carrot is soft. Stick it all in a blender and blitz it till smooth then stick it back in the pan, season generously and add a handful of chopped coriander and a bit of whole milk.

RESULT

Delicious! Could have done with a bit more ground coriander but went down a treat. Also marked the end of my veg box which was a success. Apart from one spurious red cabbage. Need to try and find some way to use that tomorrow.

Patatas bravas

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:17:00 +0000

The river cottage veg book has become a life-saver whilst I’m off meat. This is a really simple recipe for patatas bravas. It’s also healthier than the traditional method of deep-frying the potatoes in oil. Whilst admittedly this would make a fantastic side-dish alongside a nice bit of meat, I’d happily eat this on it’s own for supper.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4 as a side-dish or 2 as a main)

1kg waxy potatoes cut into 3cm cubes
5 tbsp olive oil
Flaky sea salt

For the Spicy tomato sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
Handful of thyme sprigs, leaves only, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
Tin of plum tomatoes
2 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of sugar

To finish

A handful of parsley roughly chopped

METHOD

Get a large pan of water on the boil for the potatoes and salt well.

To make the sauce heat 2tbsp oil in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion with the thyme and sweat until soft and translucent. It should take about 10 minutes.

Whilst the onions are cooking add the potatoes to the water. Bring back to the boil and cook for 5-8 minutes until on the firm-side of tender; ie not quite done. Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for a few minutes.

Add the garlic and chilli to the onions and cook for a further minute. Then add the tomatoes and their juice, the paprika, sugar and some salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Whilst this is cooking warm the 5tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan or skillet over a medium-high heat and sauté the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until crisp and golden then scatter with some sea salt.

Check the consistency of your sauce adding a splash of hot water if necessary, then pour over the potatoes. Finish with a scattering of chopped parsley and serve warm.

From River Cottage VEG EVERYDAY

RESULT

I used a scotch bonnet rather than a red chilli so this had a pretty intense kick to it but it tasted great. The sauce was delicious and the potatoes sautéed really well in the skillet. It was pretty hot when it was first done though and tasted a lot better about 10 minutes later when it had cooled down a bit - and also cold when I got in after a night out!

Warm chilli, feta and coriander baguette

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:10:59 +0000

I don’t often swear but bloody hell this was hot! This is a recipe I saw once on a Nigel Slater program. The idea is that the heat of the chilli is balanced with the coolness of the feta and the coriander. I used scotch bonnet’s which are mentally hot but taste amazing. You wouldn’t want it much hotter but this dish really does work.

INGREDIENTS (Feeds 1)

1-2 chillies of your choice
Couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
Half a baguette
Half a block of good feta
Fresh coriander

METHOD

If you’re not so good with heat then just use normal chillies, but otherwise use birds-eye or scotch bonnet to give it a real kick. Deseed and finely chop them and pick the leaves off the thyme. Heat some olive oil in a pan and gently fry the chillies and thyme for about 5 minutes. They should bubble away but not colour. Then add the block of the feta. You want to let it warm through rather than cook so just give it a couple of minutes on each side. Then stick it all in the baguette and top with fresh coriander. Eat it straight away whilst the feta is still warm.

RESULT

This was definitely the hottest one I’ve made but it’s amazing to be able to taste the heat but for it not to burn because of the feta and coriander. You’ll need to experiment with it a bit - if it was too hot then add a bit less next time but if not then try some hotter chillies. Just be really careful to wash your hands properly straight after chopping them.

Pasta with fennel, rocket and lemon

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:55:00 +0000

The next veg out of my box that looked like it needed eating sooner rather than later was a fennel bulb. Again referring to the River cottage book (one that comes highly recommended by carnivores) I found this pasta recipe and decided to give it a go.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

1 large fennel bulb
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove finely sliced
150g pappardelle pasta
2-3 large handfuls of rocket
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp creme fraiche
Salt and pepper
Parmesan

METHOD

Put a large pan of well-salted water on to boil.

Trim the fennel, removing the tougher outer layer or two, then slice thinly. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and fennel and saute gently for about 10 minutes until the fennel is tender.

When the fennel is almost cooked, add the pasta to the pan of water and cook until al dente.

Add the rocket to the fennel and stir until wilted, then add the lemon zest and creme fraiche. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta, toss with the fennel mixture and serve with grated parmesan.

RESULT

It was pretty good. The fennel tasted really nice and still being a bit crunchy it gave the dish a nice bit of texture. The lemon made it taste fresh and the parmesan gave it lots of flavour. I hardly even noticed there wasn’t any meat in it. It was perhaps a little dry - I think next time I’d add a bit of the pasta’s cooking liquid to loosen it a bit.

Leek and cheese toasties

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:29:00 +0000

Right, so here’s the first of the vegetarian recipes. In celebration of my newfound ~~affliction~~ opportunity, I’ve joined Abel & Cole to deliver me a weekly box of fresh vegetables. It’s a complete rip-off but it does at least provide some inspiration for what to cook. First out was some leeks so I decided to make these toasties, closely based on a recipe from the river cottage veg book.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

a big knob of butter
2 medium leeks, trimmed and sliced
Couple of sprigs of thyme
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
50g your favourite cheese - I used half emental and half parmesan
Some thick slices of sourdough or other robust bread
Salt and pepper

METHOD

Melt the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the leeks. As soon as they are sizzling turn the heat down low and sweat gently for about 10 minutes. I placed some baking paper over the leeks to encourage them to steam.

Preheat the grill.

Stir in the thyme and creme fraiche and cook for a minute or two longer. Take of the heat and stir in half the cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Lightly toast the bread and then pile the leek mixture on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Place back under the grill until bubbling and golden.

RESULT

Delicious! I love leeks. This might well be one of the tastiest vegetarian treats I’ve ever made, though possibly not the healthiest!