Comfort food for the ill 1

Ken has a stinking cold... after watching Life of Pi at the cinema (finally - and isn't it amazing? Can't find a fault with it), he insisted on trawling the shops to buy a new laptop for me. I feel a bit odd having a laptop brought for me, feel its a bit of a waste of money and have many other things I need (a sewing machine that works?)... I shouldn't worry though as its not really for me, its for techno-obsessed-Ken but I will use it! 

And to make him feel worse, we came home empty-handed.

So dinner needed to be something to warm him and make him feel snug inside....

You probably think I should have made a healing chicken noddle broth, but I didn't have any chicken. I did have a lovely little autumn cup squash though.... and some delicious Helen Browning organic back bacon (I do think this bacon is really scrummy - great flavour and not all watery)... and some feta..... Mmmmmm - what a great combination - now, what to cook?

I had it in my mind I wanted to do a pasta bake. For me, bakes, with their crispy tops, are the ultimate simple/rustic warming comfort food. But I couldn't be sure how to make a sauce so that it wasn't dry and tasteless - do I do a white sauce, for example, but that would be bland surely? 

A brief search on the web in the usual places (BBCGoodFood  & BBC Food, predominantly -not very adventurous I agree!) I found a recipe for a macaroni cheese that used squash - BBCGoodFood - Butternut-Macaroni-Cheese. Whilst some people had found it to be a bit bland, others had sung the recipe's praises. So I decided to add some bacon and sprinkle feta on the top to boost the flavour.

Served with a simple salad of lettuce, tomatoes, avocado & red onion with a balsamic vinegar dressing to make sure Ken got some vitamins!

Whilst I don't like buying tomatoes at this time of year as they are not 'in season', the lettuce has come in my veg box, so whilst a greenhouse item, I can be sure that it has been grown under ethical conditions that are not compromising the environment in any way, and providing year-round employment to those who grown them.

02.03.13

A comforting Sunday lunch

After a freezing cold bike ride what more do you want than a restoring roast dinner? 

The old reliable when it comes to roasts in my mind is Nigel Slater... so today, as directed by him, I finely chopped up the leaves of three large rosemary stems, mixed them with olive oil and a pinch of Maldon salt and rubbed it all over a leg of lamb on the bone. This was then laid on a bed of the remaining rosemary twigs and a whole garlic bulb sliced in half. 

I only had a (very) small piece of lamb, and was worried that my enthusiasm with the rosemary and garlic would be too over-empowering, but it was just fine. Whilst you could taste the rosemary and garlic, the taste of the sweet lamb meat was also prevalent. 

I also managed to get the lamb right - lightly pink.

Served with roasted potatoes and a turnip (I'm Scottish - you may know it better as swede) & carrot mash made with lashings of butter and ground pepper. Mashing carrots it quite hard - not fully possible - if anyone knows the secret, please let me know.

All topped off by probably one of the most delicious apple crumbles I think I've ever had. I got the bramley apples from work - ordered by mistake for eating apples (we provide a fruit in the afternoon to help with the afternoon slump) - weeks ago. Maybe old apples are sweeter?!

Time for a snooze...............

24.02.12

Curry night no. 1

I've been thinking of cooking a curry for a while as I picked up a great Indian cookbook a while ago and never use it. Last time was Ken's birthday in 2011 when I did a curry night for 10 friends we had over for his birthday. 

Its Saturday night, I've defrosted some plump organic chicken breasts and want to do something special with them. Saturday... hmmmm... a perfect night for a curry with a movie, don't you think?

After a browse through the book for a chicken dish, vegetable dish and rice dish bearing in mind the ingredients I have in the house... plus a trip to the shop, I got going.... only to discover that I'm still missing a key item as I'd got parsley instead of coriander... so another trip to the shop (this time the small Asda on the High St 10 mins walk away as can't face going back to the local corner shop again) plus a slight menu change and I'm off on my curry extravaganza!

Menu: Chicken Rogan Josh, Aloo Gobi and Mushroom Rice.

Well, thankfully as I expected, it was all fairly straightforward, but cooking three unknown dishes brings a certain level of confusion! The cook book is simply presented and the instructions beautifully clear - what a treat... I meticulously prepared all the ingredients into little dishes like you see on TV cooking programmes. I think this is essential when cooking curries as you have to 'throw' ingredients into the pan at certain stages & timing is important (you don't want to burn the spices, or anything) - so best to have them all ready and to hand.

And the result (by which time it was almost 10pm - oops) was DELICIOUS!!!! The fresh tomato taste, the light spices, the chunky chicken pieces... the full flavour of the rice from being cooked in veg stock.... unfortunately the potatoes and cauliflower of the aloo gobi were overcooked and very soft, but for a first attempt, I think I did pretty well, thank you!

Forget Indian take-aways - even if they are meant to be 'upmarket'... fresh tastes SO much better, but maybe with a bit more preparation. 

Now, when can I do it again?

23.02.13

Is this the best carrot soup ever?

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/soups/carrot-and-coriander-soup.html

As I think I've already mentioned I get carrots a lot in my veg box and frankly, there's only so many ways to cook carrots, usually boiled as a side dish.

Now don't get me wrong, I like carrots and I know they're good for you, in particular they keep your eyes healthy, but I do not find many opportunities for boiled carrots on the side. Perhaps once every 2-3 weeks when I might cook a roast or griddle a piece of meat.

I often shave them with a peeler and add to salads (more 'classy' than grating!). Mainly in summer. Very tasty with feta, seeds and lots if other ingredients.

No matter how often I try to use them, I still always have a big bag in my fridge which I never get through. After a while I decide they're too old and there are too many and they all get dumped in the compost bin. What a waste!

Oh and they come covered with earth making the fridge filthy. Not that I mind the earth, I just hate having to clean the fridge so often!

Anyway, I brought a large bunch of coriander from the corner shop last week so it made sense to mix it with the carrots and make carrot and coriander soup, using up both before they went off.

Hmmmm.... carrot and coriander soup... Not something I ever crave for frankly. However, this recipe of Delia's was different to the others and I know Delia can be a stalwart for 'traditional' recipes - no short cuts which is funny from the woman who told everyone it's ok to use ready chopped onions, etc. So why not give it ago? Especially as I even had creme fresh which also needed eaten up.

As with pretty much all soups it is effortless to make and it's blatantly a naughty soup as you soften the carrots in lots of butter.

I had 1.5kg carrots so divided everything into 3/4. This made enough for two greedy people like Ken and me, or three small appetites.

And it was absolutely delicious!! Creamy, flavoursome, wholesome, spicy.

I'm now a covert to carrot and coriander soup.... as long as it's done Delia's way please.

Shame I didn't have any more carrots!

06.02.13

Ps. Congratulations to another amateur cook in the family - Flora - for getting into senior school AND being awarded the art scholarship.

A touch of Mexican?

Spent 30 mins in dental hygienist chair yesterday running through the ingredients in the fridge trying to decide what to make for supper... Kept coming back to butternut squash which we had the night before, or soup which I had for lunch...

Decided to pop by Whole Foods for a loaf of their tasty sourdough and check out their ready meals... Only it transpired they don't really do ready meals... Still no closer. Did spot some cooking chorizo which was reasonably priced and always good to have in stock to bring flavour.

Headed home in a torrential rain storm. Not good when you're wearing jeans on the bike!!

Hot bath to warm up and time for some inspiration from the web... Finally I recalled the tasty Mexican dish Huevos Rancheros - phew! A little more research and up popped this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1959651/potato-pepper-and-chorizo-stew-with-fried-eggs. Simple, tasty sounding and I had all the ingredients except parsley (as too wet to go outside to pick), but had coriander instead.

True to its description this took no effort and cheered me up nicely after my soaking. However, Riverford's chorizo is much better as this one which I felt was rather bland. Even the one I brought in Sainsbury's was better.

The winning supper streak continued tonight as my chunky veg soup was full of flavour and great textures.

1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 very large carrot, sliced into 0.5cm rings
1/4 large butternut squash, cut into large chunks
1/4 broccoli, cut into medium florets, including some of the stem (I like the flavour of the stem best)
1/2 red pepper, cut into chunks
2tbsp coriander, chopped
Veg stock, enough to cover veg
1/4 Savoy cabbage, shredded into 1cm slices
1/2 400g tin cannelenni beans, rinsed

Heat oil. Gently cook onions for few mins, then add garlic and chilli and continue to cook over low heat until soft, stirring often

Add veg except cabbage and cook for a few minutes.

Add stock and bring to boil then turn down and simmer for 10-15 mins, till veg cooked.

Add cabbage and beans and check seasoning. Cook for a few more mins till cabbage beginning to wilt and warmed through.

Add coriander and serve.

29.01.13

Comfort with a twist

Good ol' cottage pie (beef I think is cottage, whilst lamb would be shepherds'). Waitrose had their lean mince on 50% off per kg so 400g cost less than £3, fitting in with the post Christmas pinch feeling.

But I did parsnip mash and cheddar cheese on top to give it something a bit out the ordinary and suitable for a weekend dinner... plus I got to use the parsnips in this week's veg box. Haven't had parsnips yet this year in the box, so a nice new flavour.

Served with yet more Savoy cabbage... Had a lot of it over the last two months... But judging by the tiny wee size of this one, they may be coming to an end. I might miss it though as its nice to have something bright green on the plate, and its always very tasty and versatile.

Need to think up some more uses for carrots as supply growing again!

26.01.13

Chocolate chip banana cake take 2

Since it was SO delicious last time and I had two black bananas needing to be used up, I thought I'd make it again.

This time with muscovado sugar (light version) as Nigel suggests in his recipe. I expected it to be darker in colour, but I think it's too strong.

The cake is not as light and moist as last time, although this might be partly due to the 75g of bananas I didn't put in (don't ask why as I have them!), and its much sweeter. Cooking time was about the same.

I think I'll stick with light brown soft sugar in future!

Hey ho... It's still cake and cake is always good, partly because it seems greedy to eat cake in the middle of the afternoon in between meals.

26.01.13