Signs Of Life (Activity Part 2!)

Hi y'all. Has it really been so long since my last post? Very poor show, isn't it?
I'm going to start posting some recipes again soon, honest! I'm in the middle of decorating my flat, which is taking a lot longer than anticiptated. That's mainly because the paint I'm applying to my lounge walls is taking five coats. Anyway, the good news is that I've done the kitchen, and I'm cooking. I'll upload some pics once (a) I've finished the lounge, (b) I've found my decent camera, and (c) I've cleared all the decorating mess from the kitchen. Still looks like a bit of a building site.
Anyway, thanks for bearing with me and my slack blogging. It's even worse because we're in the middle of the asparagus season, and as we all know, asparagus reigns supreme. So, until then, eat lots of asparagus, and enjoy.

Activity!

Oh yes! I'm back! For a few hours, anyway. After a week's delay, and an over-running timescale, my kitchen is almost finished. I've even taken some rubbish, lo-resolution pictures to show you the before-and-after shots, which I'll post next week.

One of my friends, Rob, has insisted on visiting tonight, even though there's no running water in the kitchen, and the rest of my apartment has turned into a building site. Oh well, off to the pub....

My Kitchen's Like Battlestar Galactica

I think that's a fair analogy. My kitchen was built in the 1970's on a moderate budget, and now it looks laughably out of date. All the high-tech materials are, frankly, cheap bits of plastic. Tired and ropey. Thankfully, it's about to get a new lease of life, and become super-cool & stunning. That's right, it's being refurbished. So this weekend, I'm clearing all the cupboards out, defrosting the fridge, and dealing with a hundred other things that I'd forgotten to do. And then I'm disappearing for a week, to avoid the chaos.

In Season: March

I've been lucky enough to pick up lots of purple sprouting broccoli from a local (with car) farmshop- it's cheaper than in the supermarkets, and is a lot more intense in colour and taste (ie. it's a lot fresher). Here are some other seasonal foods.

Mushroom Risotto

I've been meaning to post this recipe for ages, but never got round to it.  The reason being that I've cooked this for a fellow veggie and they've said "that's by far the best meal I've ever had". He was probably exaggurating, but it is one of my favourites, too. Very buttery- don't think I'd manage it everyday.

Ingredients for the stock:
2.5 l (4 pints) vegetable stock
50 g (1.8 oz) dried wild mushrooms (cep/porcini)
2 cloves of unpeeled garlic
sprig of thyme

And for the risotto:
250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
250 g (9 oz) button mushrooms, sliced moderately finely
350 g (12 oz/4 handfuls) carnaroli rice
400 g (14 oz) selection of wild mushrooms
100 g (3.5 oz) parmesan cheese, to taste
pepper to taste
truffle oil and rocket salad to serve

Method for the stock:
In a saucepan, make up the stock.
Add the dried mushrooms, garlic and 1 sprig of thyme.
Leave to simmer until needed.

Method for the risotto:
Melt 3/4 of the butter in a saucepan until it is foaming, but not splitting.
Add the chopped onion, garlic and sprigs of thyme.
Gently move the ingredients around the pan with a wooden spoon to soften the onions in the butter. When the onions are translucent, add the sliced button mushrooms.
Cook on a gentle heat until the mushrooms are also translucent.
Add the rice and move it around in the mixture until you hear a faint little crackle.
Remove the garlic and thyme from the stock.
Add the stock to the rice, a little at a time, stirring all the time.
Cook for around 12–15 minutes – until you can bite right through a grain of rice with no hard bit in the middle.
Add the wild mushrooms and dried mushrooms from the stock.
Add the extra butter reserved earlier and the parmesan cheese to taste.
Serve the risotto with a drizzle of truffle oil and rocket salad.

That serves 4, and I got it from the TV show "Ever Wondered About Food?", cooked by Paul Merrett.

The Italian Slob

Not much posting this week, as I've either been eating other people's food (always good) or else having the same meal - tortellini with fresh chilli, garlic, pesto, and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Plus freshly-grated Parmesan and freshly-milled black pepper. It's repetitive, but I love it. Especially with a serving of steamed purple-sprouting broccoli, which is by far my favourite vegetable, after the almighty asparagus.

In keeping with the Italian theme, I'm cooking another Delia Smith recipe tonight- Tagliatelle With Gorgonzola & Toasted Walnuts. It was that, or Penne With Wild Mushrooms & Creme Fraiche. It was just a case of which set of ingredients I could lay my hands on first. I was impressed that I managed to find some delicious Cashel Blue in the first shop I tried- the awesome Nima Delicatessen, just down the road.

Anyway, the ingredients are slightly different- I'm using penne instead of tagliatelle, with the added advantage that, when I'm eating it, I'm less likely to splash cheese sauce in all directions in a four-foot radius. I'm also using Cashel Blue instead of Gorgonzola- I've tried this recipe before using each, and I think the trusty Irish cheese comes out on top.

Ingredients:
8 oz (225g) tagliatelle
4 oz (110g) creamy Gorgonzola or Cashel Blue
4 0z (110g) walnuts
2 oz (50g) butter
5 fl oz (150ml) single cream
4 spring onions, trimmed
freshly-grated Parmesan, to serve
salt & freshly-milled black pepper

Method:
Pre-heat the oven - 180 degrees C (gas mark 4, 350 degrees F).
Get the pasta water boiling.
Bake the walnuts on a baking tray for 6 mins.
Get a saucepan, & gently melt the butter over a low heat.
Add the cheese & cream, & let simmer very gently to become a creamy sauce.
Put the pasta in for boiling, and chop the walnuts into small pieces.
Finely chop the spring onions, add the ingredients to the sauce, mix with the drained pasta, & serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Delicious, quick & easy.

Sabzi Korma

I bought a copy of Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian Cookery about 2 years ago, and I only got around to trying a recipe last week. I used to be on a quest to master the dark art of cooking curry in the style of British Indian restaurants, but trying out experimental recipes with lots of oil can get out of hand. There is a great site - Curry Recipes Online, which has a lot of truly devoted curry fans, working towards perfecting home-made curries, in the British restaurant style. I've mentioned that forum before, and you can bet I'll mention it again.

Anyway, I dug out and dusted down CIVC because I was getting curry cravings. Without further ado, here's the recipe for sabzi korma (cauliflower, aubergine & potato in herb sauce). Serves 4.
And it's delicious. In fact, I'll just quote her description, because it's very mouth-watering:

Korma is the classic Moghul technique of braising vegetables in a thick, nut-rich sauce. In this process the vegetables retain their flavour & shape during cooking. Thus korma dishes are considered one of the most elegant preparations in vegetarian cookery & often occupy the centre place at the banquet table. Here the vegetables are cooked in a fennel-&-coriander-scented and almond-tomato sauce. The toasted sesame garnish adds an interesting texture as well as a nutty flavour to the dish.

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons grated or crushed fresh ginger root
5 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
30g (1 oz) ground blanched almonds
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tin of tomatoes, pureed (or 2 fresh tomatoes, pureed, plus 2 teaspoons tomato paste)
1 tsp paprika
350 ml (12 fl oz) water
1 medium-sized cauliflower (about 2lbs), cut into florets
1 small aubergine (about 250g/ 8 oz), cut into 4cm or 1.5 inch cubes
2 medium-sized potatoes (about 250g/ 8 oz), peeled & cut into 4cm or 1.5 inch cubes
1.5 tsps ground roasted cumin seeds (or garam masala)
2 tsps coarse salt
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method:
Get all the spices ready to go in separate piles.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan over a medium-high heat.
Add the onion & fry, stirring, 'til browned- about 10 mins.
Stir in the garlic & ginger & cook for 2 mins.
Add the coriander leaves & almonds, & cook for another 2 mins.

Stir in the ground coriander seeds, fennel, cayenne & turmeric - let the spices sizzle for a few seconds.
Add the tomatoes & paprika, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 2 mins. Keep stirring to prevent burning.

Add the water & the rest of the vegetables. Turn the heat up high, and bring to the boil.
Lower the heat & simmer (covered) for 30 mins.
Turn off the heat & stir in the cumin powder (or garam masala).
Let stand for 30 mins before serving, to let the flavours blend, & then serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Sopa De Repollo

A day later than planned, but here's a recipe for Chilean cabbage soup. Have no fear, I'm not on a fad diet, I just wanted to use up a glut of cabbage. It's pretty good, but ultimately it's just cabbage soup. Even as a fan of vegetables, it didn't really float my boat. It was nice and light, but I much prefer an even simpler way of eating cabbage (predictably, the Delia Smith way).

Shred the cabbage finely, put in a pan, add salt, add boiling water, cook for 3-5 mins, drain, stir in a little melted butter, and season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

As this post has a hint of Chile, I just wanted to say that I've never had a bad bottle of Chilean wine, especially the pinot grape varietity. If you fancy a change from the usual, mass-marketed Australians & Californians, check them out.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Hi all - 'fraid I haven't been doing much interesting cooking over much of the last week due to a combination of a cold, and the rubbish weather. Hence I've mostly been eating shop-bought tortellini, with tons of chilli & garlic added, to keep my respiratory system stimulated. Don't know if that actually helped, but it felt like it did.

I bought a bag full of fresh veg from my local farm shop at the start of last week, being mindful that I'm trying to cook in season. So I'd got potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, onions & carrots.
I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with them, and I didn't want to just do a mixed veg soup. So, I ended up just having cabbage on its own, as a meal, then leeks on their own, and then using some of the other veg in a curry. And today, I used the rest of the leftover veg with a new supply to make...soup. Crazy stuff, eh? I'll post the recipes tomorrow.

Celeriac & Chilli Gratin

Right, it's high time that I posted a seasonal recipe, so I've had a go at a celeriac dish from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's website.

This is so simple to make- about 5 minutes to prep everything, if you've got a food processor.

Ingredients:
1kg celeriac
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2–1 fresh red chilli (depending on strength), finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes)
250ml single cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Peel the celeriac and slice as thinly as possible - about the thickness of a 10-pence piece is ideal; use the slicing blade of a food processor, if you like.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the celeriac slices with 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the other ingredients until the slices are evenly coated and the garlic and chilli well distributed.

Transfer to a lightly-oiled gratin dish, spreading out the slices with your fingertips: you do not have to layer the gratin piece by piece but try to ensure that the slices are mostly lying flat.

Pour over any cream left in the bowl and trickle the remaining oil over the top. Bake in a fairly hot oven (190°C/Gas Mark 5) for 40-50 minutes, until the celeriac is completely tender and the top is browned and crisp.

I guess this is essentially a dauphinoise, but with celeriac and a lively chilli kick, and it's mighty fine- celeriac making a fantastic substitute for potato.

Seasonal Ingredients - February

Hi gang, here's what's in season during the shortest month:

Fab Feb Fruit & Nuts: Bananas, blood oranges, kiwi fruit, lemon, oranges, passion fruit, pears, pineapple, pomegranate, & walnuts.


And Feb Veg: Beetroot, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celeriac, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, leek, parsnip, potatoes (maincrop), rhubarb, shallots, & swede.

In fact, there's a great website that tells you what's in season, as well as giving you recipes and info about the vegetables. A bit like this one, but better: Eat The Seasons.

Mushroom & Fennel Soup

Well, so much for my plan to stick to eating seasonal, local food, eh? I've been buying a lot of mushrooms recently, so I thought I'd try this soup out. This is another recipe from Leith's Veg Bible. Fennel's not actually in season until the height of summer, hence they're nearly a quid each in Sainsbury's, and look suitably jet-lagged. Nonetheless, it tastes OK (but I'd still rather have it in a soup than a salad at this time of year). This soup's delicious, quick, & easy.

Ingredients: flat mushrooms (225 g/8 oz), fennel (1 bulb), fennel seeds (1 teaspoon, crushed), butter (55 g/2 0z), garlic (1 clove, crushed) white bread (2 slices), mushroom stock (1 litre), fresh parsley (1 tablespoon, chopped), salt & freshly-ground pepper, creme fraiche (150 ml / 1/4 pint).

I used 2 garlic cloves, substituted veg bouillon stock for the mushroom stock, wholemeal bread for white (yuck!), & used freshly-grated Parmesan instead of parsley. Of course, you can use double cream instead of creme fraiche.

Method: Chop the mushrooms. Remove the outer leaves from the fennel. Trim the fennel root, & chop. Reserve the feathery tops (if you're in the UK and cooking this time of year, they might not even have them!).
Melt the butter. When foaming, add the fennel & fennel seeds. Fry for a few mins, 'til softened.
Add the mushrooms, & fry until soft & mushy.
Add the garlic, & cook for another minute, then add the bread and mix it all around, so the bread's absorbing the mushroom juices.
Pour in the stock, season with salt & pepper, & simmer for 20 mins.

Puree the soup in a blender (or food processor). Health & Safety supervisors, look away now! Because I've broken the interlock on my food processor, I've had to tie the broken bit of the lid to the motor housing with a bit of twine. It's functional, but it ain't pretty. So I used a blender...

Finally, pour the pureed soup back into your rinsed-out pan, add the parsley & creme fraiche, & reheat without boiling. Check seasoning, serve in warm bowls, and sprinkle with the reserved fennel tops.

I half-suspected that this'd be best as a summer soup, but it's suitably hearty for midwinter. I'm off now to finish off the leftovers.

Kenwood FP116 Food Processor

Thought now would be a good time to do a kitchen appliance review, as my weekend cookery was disrupted by my new-ish (6 months old) food processor breaking.
Time and again I read articles saying that, although this certainly isn't true with all aspects of consumerism, that you get what you pay for in the kitchen.
And, of course, I resolutely ignored that advice last summer, when I bought a food processor for the first time. As I hadn't owned one before, I was a little suspicious that I wouldn't get good value-for money, and it'd end up with the sandwich-toasters and cafetieres in the back of my pantry. I also expected that it'd be a blooming pain to wash up.
So, I went for something cheap & cheerful, and got the FP116 online for £27. Anyhow, it turns out that it's been incredibly useful.

Size: I love the fact that it's so compact. It's no problem to leave it on display permanently in a tiny kitchen. It's got a capacity of 0.8 litres, which is ideal for me, but wouldn't be any good if you're cooking for more than 3 or 4 people.

Power: There's a 300W motor, with isn't adjustable. Again, that's fine for small amounts of cooking, but I think you'd be struggling if you were cooking on a large scale. It's moderately noisy, but certainly nothing louder than I'd expect.

Performance: Lots of good attachments. There's a chopping blade, slicer, grater, whisk, citrus press, and a canopy to boost the bowl capacity when you're blending (to just over 1 litre). I've already got a blender, so haven't tested that out. The rest work very well, and when you're chopping or slicing, there's actually a lot less wastage than I'd expected.

Overall: In fact, I reckon it was a decent purchase, except for one thing. And it's a big thing. The build quality of the plastic bowl and lid. The bowl is pretty thin (only about 1.5 or 2 mm)- if you dropped it or knocked it on something solid, I think it'd crack very easily. And the lid's even worse, especially the catch that locks it onto the main body of the processor. I'd already cracked it once a few weeks ago, purely when opening/closing the lid, and on Saturday it snapped off into 3 pieces, and I certainly wasn't being heavy-handed with it.

I've been onto Kenwood, and they've given good customer service (ie. a free replacement lid), but I think that was mainly due to being on hold for 30 minutes before I got through. It'll be hugely exciting to see how long the next one lasts. They're charging £9 for a new lid, which at 33% of the cost of the whole thing, is shocking.
If you've got any recommendations for a moderately more expensive replacement processor, please let me know (especially if the bowl and lid are sturdy).

Le Weekend

Well, I'll be doing some entertaining tonight- another helping of lentil & mushroom bake, and I'll be doing some mushroom & fennel soup tomorrow. I think I'll add some extra garlic, celery & fresh chilli to the bake, not that there was anything lacking in it first-time round. One of my drinking buddies Rob is visiting, and his girlfriend's not too keen on garlic & chilli- more fool her, eh? So, he'll be having some vital ingredients he's normally denied. Everyone's a winner!

Seasonal Ingredients - January

As it's nearly February, I guess it's time for a list of what I ought to be buying at the moment.

January veg: carrot, turnips, leeks, squashes, cabbages (including the Oriental varieties- pak/bok choy, & choy sum), parsnips, shallots, celery, & celeriac.

And January fruit: pears, & forced rhubarb. If you want some imported fruits, now's the time for citrus fruits.

I was chuffed to see some fresh English purple-sprouting broccoli available yesterday, and I'll be getting some very shortly.

Mushroom Stock

This is the stock I made for the lentil bake (see post below).
Very simple to make, and tastes great.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion (sliced), 2 carrots (sliced), 2 leeks (sliced), 1 0z dried mushrooms, 6 0z chestnut or cup mushrooms (roughly chopped), 2 garlic cloves (chopped), handful of fresh parsley, 1 bay leaf, 4 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, 3 1/2 pints water.

Method: Large saucepan- heat the oil, & add the vegetables, garlic & parsley.
Cover, & cook on a low heat for 10 minutes, until the veg are softened.
Add the rest of the ingredients & bring to the boil. Then lower the heat, partially cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
Strain & discard the veg, then return the liquid to the pan, & reduce to the desired strength.

Lentil & Mushroom Bake With Seed Topping

More brilliance from Leith's Vegetarian Bible. Not more bleedin' lentils, you say! What makes this a standout dish is the topping- there's a fantastic blend of taste & texture there, and it's super-healthy (in an enjoyable way, not, say, like running marathons). In fact, this has suddenly become my favourite lentil dish.

I actually made the stock for this from scratch last night, which was another first. I'll post the details for that later, as veg bouillon stock is fine instead (and quicker!).

Ingredients: 2 tbsps olive oil, 1 large onion (sliced), 1 carrot (chopped), 2 celery sticks (chopped), 8 0z chestnut mushrooms (about a supermarket punnet's worth) (sliced), 5 oz brown lentils, 1/2 pint mushroom stock, 8oz tinned tomatoes (about half a can).

For the topping: 2 oz fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs, 1 oz chopped pinenuts, 1 oz pumpkin seeds, 1 oz melted butter, & 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley.

Method: Large saucepan- heat the oil- add the onion & cook 'til starts to brown.
Add the carrot, celery & mushrooms and gently fry 'til soft.
Stir in the lentils, stock & tomatoes. Season with salt & pepper, cover & simmer for 30 mins, until the lentils are tender, & the liquid has reduced to a syrupy sauce.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Brush an ovenproof dish with oil.
Mix all the topping ingredients & season with salt & pepper.
Spoon the lentil mixture into the dish, and scatter the topping mixture on top.
Bake for 20-30 mins until golden-brown & piping hot.

Serves 6, apparently, but being a greedy sod, I managed it all in 2 sittings.

New Year, New Broccoli Soup

I was delighted to get Leith's Vegetarian Bible for Christmas.
The first thing I made from it was the first recipe in there, broccoli soup.
I've used a few different recipes for this in the past (Gordon Ramsay and Anthony Worrall-Thompson spring to mind), and they've been disappointing. Thankfully, this one is brilliant, and straightforward.

Ingredients: 1 0z butter, 1 large onion (sliced), 1 lb broccoli, 1 pint veg stock, salt & freshly-ground black pepper, 1/4 pint milk, 1/4 pint single cream, & freshly-grated nutmeg.
Serves 4.

Method: Large saucepan- melt the butter- when foaming, add the onion and fry on a low heat until soft & transparent.
Chop the broccoli florets & stalks, and just discard the very tough bits. Add to the pan (with the stock). Season with salt & pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Puree the soup in a food-processor or blender, & return to the pan. Stir in the milk & cream, and add as much nutmeg as you like- reheat without boiling.

And there you go- the nicest broccoli soup I've ever had, especially with some crumbled Stilton mixed in.

Winter Break

Hi all. Sorry for the delay in posting. I've tried out a few recipes recently, and I'll post them up this week.

Just thought I'd let you know that I've been soaking up the rays in Spain for the last week.
Apparently there's been gale force winds here? I never realised that it's so hot in Spain during the winter- I picked up quite a nice tan.

Anyway, I'll give you the lowdown on my Spanish gastronomic adventures (or disasters) in a few days, too.