Category Vegetables and Salads

Chorizo and Balsamic Lentils

March 23, 2014 Comments Off read Meat, Vegetables and Salads

This weekend I journeyed home for a village pig feast that has been vigorously and unheathily circled in the diary for a while! I’ll explain. My home village where I grew up and spent my life can be imaged as a hybrid of the ‘Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ (without the killings I stress!) A Wiltshire village with a stereotypical local pub, glorious fields and the strong signature smell of manure tainting the air like the smell of perfume at the duty free! For the past few years we’ve shared the caring, feeding and more importantly eating, of two village pigs who we take in turns to feed and water only to butcher respectfully 6 months down the line and divide up the takings. From piglets to healthy happy curly tailed porkers the sausages and juicy joints of pork that have filled our freezer for a long while have been some of the best I’ve had. We’ve had some teathing issues along the way but nothing can beat the taste of happy wholesome and local meat. So this weekend we saved a giant leg to roast and feast on with all the team! It was delicious and I have nothing else to add.

However, after a rich and fatty roast with shards of caramel cracking, sweet and sharp apple sauce and lashings of wine (perhaps too many lashings?) I craved the fresh flavours of fish and vegetables. This little dish is so simple to knock out but so tasty and pleasing in many ways.

Serves 2

2 seabass fillets, seasoned
4oz Puy lentils
100g chorizo
1 large garlic clove, chopped
Bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4-5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
Vegetables to serve

Simmer the Puy lentils for about 15 minutes until soft and tender but with a slight bite (don’t let them get mushy). Drain and keep warm.
Chop the chorizo into hearty chunks and fry in a medium hot pan until they begin to release their scarlet oils. Add in the garlic and fry for a few more minutes but don’t burn so keep an eye out.
Turn up the heat a little and add the vinegar (and stick on the extractor fan as it will be pungent!). Simmer the vinegar until thickened and syrupy.
Add this chorizo mix with the oily balsamic juices to the lentils. Grate in the zest of the lemon and add the herbs and season. Set aside and keep warm.
Fry the seabass fillets, lightly seasoned, in a tsp of hot oil for a matter of 2-3 minutes on the skin side until crisp turning for the last 30 seconds to finish off.
Serve the lentils topped with the seabass and some freshly steamed and buttery asparagus or green beans.

Mango-chilli Salsa and Halloumi

March 7, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

I don’t know where the first week of March has gone but I can surely say that it officially feels like spring! The suns been out and daffodils are starting to infiltrate their way onto desks and kitchen tables. Time for spring clean of the same old lunch time menu (i.e. soup) and a refreshing recipe….

Serves 2 (for a good lunch)

1 mango, cut into 2cm cubes
About 8 cherry tomatoes, diced
½ red chilli, chopped finely
½ small red onion, chopped finely
Bunch coriander, chopped
Bunch mint, chopped
Bunch basil, chopped
½ pomegranate, seeds
1 lime
6 slices halloumi
Runny honey
Handful sesame seeds

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a large bowl and muddle together with the juice of the lime. Season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of extra virgin olive oil
Heat a frying pan until hot and add a small drizzle of oil. Fry the halloumi until golden on both sides. Turn the heat off and add a tsp of runny honey and the sesame seeds and coat the halloumi for about 30 seconds before removing from the heat.
Serve the salsa topped with the warm halloumi slices.

Thai Coquina Squash Soup

March 1, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

You don’t have to use a Coquine squash here – butternut or any other meaty variety will do- but the animated colour was just so bright and vibrant to resist. The sun was finally glowing today to mark the 1st March (already! where has time gone?) so it seemed appropriate to reflect this.

This soup is like a bowl of spicy chilli flecked lava with wonderful flavours. Butternut squash is the king of soup ingredients I think as it creates such a wonderful silky texture. Feel free to use half stock and half coconut milk here for a deeper coconut flavour and an even creamier texture. I didn’t purely as I didn’t have enough to hand.

NOTE: For both garnish and if using in addition to stock, use a thick good quality coconut milk. The cheap varieties in the ethnic sections of many supermarkets are always better value and are thicker and creamier.

Serves 4

1 large squash
1 onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red chilli (medium hot or half a hot one…depends on taste), chopped
3-4cm piece ginger, grated
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 fresh Kaffir lime leaf
700ml hot chicken stock
1 lime
Bunch coriander
Coconut milk (to garnish or use 350ml stock and 350ml coconut milk. and half coconut milk for a creamier soup)
2 tbsp desiccated coconut

Heat a splash of oil in a saucepan and gently soften the onion for about 5 minutes.
Once soft, add the garlic, ginger, chilli and mustard seeds and fry for a few more minutes until the flavours have combined.
Meanwhile, peel and deseed the squash reserving the seeds. Chop into chunks and add to the pan and combine with the onion mix.
Add the stock (if you like you can use half stock half coconut milk) and the lime leaf and some seasoning and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15minutes until the squash is soft.
Remove from the heat and discard the lime leaf. Blend until fine and smooth with a hand blender. Add the juice from the lime and all but a handful of coriander and bend again.Taste to check the seasoning and keep warm.
Heat a frying pan until hot. Remove any pith from the reserved seeds and fry in a tsp of oil for a few minutes. Add the desiccated coconut and fry until toasted. Remove from the heat.
To serve, fill warm soup bowls with the soup, drizzle with some coconut milk and garnish with the toasted seeds and extra coriander.

I served mine with some warm charred flatbreads (see here) spiked with Nigella seeds and smothered in butter.

Black pudding, Minted Pea Puree, Apple

February 15, 2014 Comments Off read Meat, Vegetables and Salads

I completely understand that black pudding is not for everyone’s palate or psychological well being. However I loose my reluctant understanding for the folk that have never sampled this fine delicacy but screw up their faces with such sincere disapproval as if instead I had announced my chosen career path as a stripper! (Case #1, my sister. And we’ll soon know if she’s actually been reading my blog if I hear her wining tones at this comment). If you’ve never tried black pudding then who knows- you could have wasted years rejecting something delicious so this recipe is a fine way to start.

I usually default away from making cliche recipes in my desperate need to experiment at any occasion that calls for food but sometimes I must admit you can’t beat the satisfaction and comfort of a classic. And, lets face it, they exist for a reason and black pudding and pea really is a classic example of two deliciously matched soul partners of the food world. Peas are sweet and fresh which is the perfect harmony for the fatty and rich black pudding. What could be more unfussy and simple than a pile of minted pea puree with a crispy fried slice of black pudding resting lazily on top….

A bowl of peas (a good handful per person)
Small bunch of mint, leaves picked
Knob of butter
Black pudding slices (1-2 slices per person)
1 apple (serves 2 people)
Lemon juice

Boil the peas for a few minutes and then drain.
Place in a food processor with some generous seasoning the knob of butter and the mint leaves and blend to a puree adding a little warm stock or boiling water to loosen to the desired consistency. Alternatively, without a processor you could eat this as a coarse pea mash which would be equally as delicious.
Cut your apple into matchsticks with a sharp knife and set aside in a bowl with a little squeeze of lemon juice to prevent it turning brown and a little seasoning.
Heat a frying pan until hot and add a tiny drop of oil if you wish. Fry the black pudding for a few minutes on each side until crispy and cooked through.
Serve on top of your warm pea puree and top with a handful of the crunchy apple matchsticks.
Drizzle with a little oil and a scattering of mint leaves and serve.

If you’ve been converted to black pudding then here are a few more of my favourite delicious ingredients that go well with it:

Butternut squash
Blue cheese
Pear, apple
Roast pork, belly is good
Cauliflower
Fennel
Mushrooms
Thyme, rosemary
Prunes
Eggs (especially little fried quails eggs)
Chicken, rabbit, monkfish (stuffed with black pudding)
Oh and of course, a fry up…..

Black pudding stuffed chicken in a mushroom and red wine sauce, wet polenta and garlic kale (Serves 4)

4 free range chicken thighs, skin on, bone removed
4 chicken drumsticks.
2-3 large thick slices of black pudding
A few rosemary sticks, leaves picked and chopped
Thyme, leave picked
1 red onion, chopped
1 large glass red wine
Stock – beef for a rich sauce, chicken for a lighter one
1 handful of dried wild mushrooms
150g quick cook polenta
400ml milk
Knob of butter
20g grated parmesan
Kale
1 garlic clove, chopped finely

Preheat the oven to 180°C. To start, heat the milk and the same amount of water in a sauce pan and add a few peppercorns and a bay leaf. Just before it comes to the simmer remove from the heat and leave to infuse to use in the polenta later.
Crumble the black pudding into a bowl and add the thyme. Mash until paste-like. Open up the chicken thighs and stuff a spoonful of the black pudding inside and roll up. You can secure these with the rosemary sticks if you wish. Season the skin well. Stuff this black pudding mix under the skin of the drumsticks too and season.
Fry the red onion in a little oil until soft and then add the rosemary leaves. Add the red wine and simmer briefly before adding the mushrooms which will soften in the liquid and remove from the heat
Place in a casserole dish and add the chicken pieces so they fit tightly. Add enough stock to come most of the way up the sides of the chicken so that the chicken can poach and roast gently as it cooks being careful not to pour it over the skin or you won’t get a crispy skin (we can’t have that!)
Place in the oven and cook for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is golden, cooked through and the sauce is bubbling away nicely.
Meanwhile, tip the kale into boiling water for a matter of 30 seconds to wilt but drain it quickly while still bright green, soft and full or nutrients. Leave to drain the excess moisture. Heat a little oil in your frying pan from before and gently fry your garlic over a very low heat being careful not to burn it. Add the kale and a knob of butter and stir to combine. Set aside to keep warm.
I suggest leaving the polenta until last minute as it won’t wait so see to the kale first and then the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked remove from the sauce and leave to rest in a warm place. The sauces thickness with vary depending on how much stock you added but to thicken (which is what I needed to do) mix a tbsp of butter and flour in a mug until you have a paste. Whisk this paste into the red wine sauce until smooth and the sauce will begin to thicken without being lumpy. Set aside to keep warm.
Before you cook the polenta, make sure you’re ready to go -plates warming, guests hungry, wine open and aerating!
Drain the milk from earlier and bring to the simmer. Whisk the polenta in a steady stream into the milk and stir continuously as it will thicken immediately. Let it bubble for a minute until smooth and creamy. Stir in the butter and cheese and some generous seasoning (it will need salt) and taste.
Spoon into bowls immediately and top with a chicken thigh and drumstick each and a generous spoonful of the mushroom sauce.
Sit aside some warm garlicky kale and serve on a wild and windy evening with a bold punchy glass of red.

WINE RECOMMENDATION: This weekend I tried Waitrose’s Vina Valdivieso Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley. It was bold and had lovely dark berry and fruit flavours and some menthol notes to it. Delicious with the rich black pudding.

Waitrose £9.99

Pea and Mint Arancini with Avocado Puree

February 10, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

I can’t actually decide if leftover risotto turned morphed in arancini is actually better than risotto…? See what you think

Serves 2

Leftover pea and mint risotto, chilled (or any other risotto)
1 egg, beaten
Plain flour
Breadcrumbs
Grated parmesan
Good melting cheese e.g. mozzarella, tallegio etc
Sunflower oil for frying
1 large ripe avocado
Handful of chopped mint leaves
1 lemon

Get 2 clean shallow bowls ready. Place the egg in one, the flour in another and the breadcrumbs, parmesan and some seasoning in the other.
Roll your chilled risotto into balls (mine were about golf ball size) placing a small piece of your melting cheese in the middle if you like.
Roll each in first the flour, then the egg and finally coat in the cheesy breadcrumbs. If you want a thicker coating repeat in the egg and breadcrumbs. If not, place aside on a plate and repeat with the rest before chilling (the arancini that is…feel free to chill too).
Preheat the oven to 180°C for later. I fried my arancini in shallow oil but they are delicate (unless you made a very stodgy dry risotto to start with- to avoid this see tips here). If you have a deep fryer fry each arancini until golden. If not, fry in shallow oil until crisp. Place in a the oven to warm through to the middle while you make the puree.
Scoop out the ripe flesh from your avocado and place in a food processor with some seasoning and a splash of lemon juice. Blend until thick, glossy and smooth – feel free to add flavours here you like. I added some mint leaves but lime, coriander, chilli all work well depending on what flavour your arancini are.
Once ready, serve your crispy and melt in the middle arancini on top of your silky puree with a scattering of fresh mint.

Spice Roasted Sweet Potato Soup, Lime-cardamon Yoghurt, Coconut Flatbread

January 18, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Some relaxing blogging always starts the weekend off well. After a long week, it was nice to slow down and take my time over lunch instead of dashing home from work and being caped in my apron and up to my eyes in ingredients before I could even take off my coat! I love to constantly use different flavours and it really is the easiest thing to inspire a standard recipe by adding a few flavourful touches. If you haven’t got a stocked pantry of store cupboard ingredients then I highly recommend investing in a few essentials to be at hand and add to your cooking (see here). My store cupboard is by no means complete…storage space and budget don’t allow my dream pantry so for now I stick to the most useful ingredients.

This warming soup is smooth, creamy and cinnamon scented. Sweet potatoes have natural sweetness which goes really well with cinnamon and ingredients like maple syrup so the lime and cardamon yoghurt is a lovely fresh addition to top it off. Coconut flatbreads (just because) are heavenly.

Serves 4

Soup

800g sweet potato, peeled, chopped into chunks
2-3 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, chopped finely
2 pints of good, hot chicken or vegetable stock

Lime Cardamon Yoghurt

150g plain natural yoghurt
½ lime – zest and juice
Few mint/coriander leaves
3-4 cardamon pods

Coconut Flatbreads

15g dessicated coconut
75-80ml coconut milk/water
125g flour
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Peel and chop you sweet potatoes into chunky pieces and add to a large roasting tray. Throw in your garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled.
Drizzle with a couple of generous tablespoons of olive oil or sunflower oil and scatter over the cumin seeds, cinnamon and some generous seasoning. Mix until coated in the spices and roast for 30 minutes. Toss half way through cooking.
Meanwhile, sweat and soften the onion in a little oil in a saucepan over the hob and prepare your stock.
Make the flatbreads by combining the flour, seasoning and coconut in a large bowl. Add in your liquid and mix with a fork until combined. Bring together to form a smooth dough, adding a little more liquid if needed. Knead for a few minutes and then set aside to rest.
For the yoghurt, combine in a bowl with the lime juice, zest, finely chopped mint and some salt and pepper. Bash the cardamon pods to remove the seeds inside. Grind these as fine as you can in a pestle and mortar and add to the yoghurt. Stir to combine then set aside.
Once the potatoes are ready remove from the oven and pick out the garlic cloves. Add the potatoes to the sweating onion. Squeeze the roasted and sweet garlic pulp from their skins and add with the potatoes.
Add the stock and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the flavours are combined and the potatoes are really tender.
Puree with a hand blender until silky and smooth. Add a little more stock to thin the soup if you like.
Keep warm while you cook the flatbreads. Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll each out thinly on a floured surface. Fry each in a the dry hot pan for a few minutes each side until a lightly charred and they begin to puff up slightly.
Serve warm immediately (or keep warm in the oven) with a generous warming bowl of spiced soup drizzled with the fresh yoghurt.

Sprouts with a Makeover

December 26, 2013 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Sprouts are such a controversial topic. Whether you truly hate the unique taste or you have simply had their unfairly stereotyped reputation brainwashed into you as an impressionable child. Sprouts are very bitter by nature and this is accentuated with the cooking time. This I painfully discovered after using a few of the festive leftovers in a gratin last year along with some freshly boiled ones. The unlucky guests to get the odd effectively double cooked sprout soon knew…..excruciatingly bitter and metalic and unworthy of my delicious and creamy gratin.

So, this year I cooked them differently. Risky -my dad being a traditional man grew this years batch on his precious allotment and harvested within the day of eating. But safe to say I heard no objections as soon as the word bacon was batted around. As a member of the cabbage family I decided to cook them like cabbage or savoy cabbage to be precise. Shredded and sauteed lightly in garlic butter with some salty gems of bacon lardons. Chestnuts, had we had some, would have also been delicious here. By keeping them as raw and crunchy as possible to reduce the cooking time but enough to soften them, they were a welcome change to the Christmas lunch which will be continued from here on….plus, much less risk of choking for the health and safety conscious among us!

(I’ve left out quantities here depending on the number of guests you’re obligingly cooking for)

Sprouts, shredded
Smoked bacon/pancetta/bacon lardons
Butter
Garlic
Optional- cooked chestnuts
Salt and pepper

Start with making your garlic butter. Crush 1-2 peeled garlic cloves into a chunky paste with some coarse salt and the back of a knife and mix with a generous knob of butte (about 25g for 1 large garlic clove if you need a rough measure)
Heat a large frying pan and add the garlic butter and heat until it begins to foam. Cook slowly so the garlic doesn’t burn.
Fry the bacon in a separate pan until crisp. (You can do all this in the same pan but the bacon will soften and you loose that crunchy texture. If you’re not fussed then add the bacon to the foaming butter and cook here)
Add the shredded sprouts to the garlic butter and turn to coat. Add a splash of water to help steam things along a little and cook for a few minutes until as softened as you like them.
Add the crispy bacon and its oil and chestnuts if using. Coat in the delicious juices and serve immediately!

Herby Halloumi Wrap

December 21, 2013 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

These are an enticing, comforting and friendly hug inside a warm pitta on a rainy December afternoon with the prospect of a Christmas feast approaching. A perfect semi-healthy lunch in the lead up to Christmas. I’m back home in the country air with a day of present wrapping, card writing and general festivity on the agenda. With the house and, more importantly, the kitchen blissfully to myself I welcomed the peace and solidarity and devoured these for a welcome lunch break mid Christmas chores. Alone I’ll admit but I don’t regret a thing…..a thing.

Serves 2

4-6 slices of halloumi (cut thickly)
2 pitta breads (For my homemade pittas see here) or warm wraps
Small bunch parsley/coriander
Small bunch basil/mint
Small bunch dill
4 tbsp thick yoghurt
½ lemon juice and zest
1 tbsp runny honey

If making your own the pitta breads start with these (see here) and keep warm while you deal with the halloumi. If not, lightly toast the pitta breads or warm the wraps.
Chop your chosen herbs finely and add the lemon zest. Mix the yoghurt with the lemon juice and some seasoning and set both aside.
Heat a frying pan until hot and add a drizzle of olive oil. Fry the halloumi slices for a few minutes each side on a high heat until golden. Add the honey and remove from the heat and coat the slices in the syrup.
Now assemble your pittas. Cut each open and spoon in a some yoghurt and a handful of herbs. Add your warm sweet halloumi slices and stuff with some more of the herbs and yoghurt.
Devour while warm!

Wrapped appropriately in a festive napkin….and eaten appropriately with a festive appetite!

Quinoa Salad

November 19, 2013 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

I love grains and pulses like quinoa, bulgur wheat and lentils. I’ve always had an appreciation for good food and using interesting ingredients, solidified even more so after painfully watching 3 years-worth of university flatmates religiously eating and buying couscous, pasta and pesto for most meals. So, I thought I’d draw attention to other grains that can offer a little more interest than couscous. Don’t get me wrong, I know couscous is cheap and goes a long way…but its not particularly nutritious. Just by mixing grains like quinoa, bulgur wheat, rice or lentils with a few tasty additions like herbs and lemon with some protein packed nuts and some greasy cheese is a healthy and hearty lunch!

Serves about 2

About 120g quinoa/bulgur wheat or a mix (or as pack instructs)
Bunch basil leaves, chopped
Bunch of mint leaves, chopped
Bunch coriander, chopped
½ red onion, diced finely
1 large tomato, de-seeded and diced
Handful of pistachios
1 lemon, juice
Olive oil
Halloumi

Prepare you quinoa/bulgur wheat (or even couscous?) as instructed on your pack. Usually about 10 minutes in boiling water.
While still a little warm, mix with the tomato, onion, lemon juice, a small drizzle of olive oil and mix well and season to taste
Add the herbs and the pistachios and mix.
If serving with halloumi, fry chunky slices in a splash of oil until golden and serve alongside.

Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Pizza

November 7, 2013 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Ok so it’s a tomato-less pizza…don’t shoot me. This was also pointed out by my (notably) satisfied and well fed but rather unjustifiably disappointed dad? A night of using up all ingredients littering the fridge, clinging on for dear life before labouring into town for a weekly food shop. One of my favourite challenges….make something from what you have left. Its a great way to be creative, prevent waste and come up with new ideas! Challenge accepted, I created this. Spinach forced its way into the base while the topping was a mix of mushrooms, lemony ricotta and some lovely fragrant thyme. Give me ready steady cook anyday?

Serves 4 lightly

Base

1 mug self raising flour
½ water
100g spinach
Pinch cumin seeds

Topping

200g mushrooms, chopped
Small bunch thyme leaves
Knob of butter
250g ricotta
150g mozzarella, sliced
Handful pine nuts
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil

Start on the base. Wilt the spinach in a hot pan with a splash of water. Once wilted, drain and squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible. Chop finely.
In a food processor, add the flour, cumin seeds, plenty of seasoning and the spinach. Blend together and slowly add the water, stopping when the mixture forms a soft dough. You will need to use your instinct with the amount of water being used.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead to form a smooth dough. Put aside to rest.
Melt the butter and a splash of oil in a hot frying pan and add the mushrooms. Fry over a medium high heat until they have released their juices. Add the thyme leaves and continue to fry until golden. Set aside.
Loosen the ricotta in a bowl with the juice from ½ a lemon and the zest.
Heat the grill to high. Next, heat a large frying pan over a high heat and add a splash of oil. Roll out the dough thinly and add to the pan pushing into the oil. While the bottom begins to cook and crisp,spoon over the ricotta and spread out evenly. Grate over the lemon zest. Top with the mozzarela and finally the mushrooms. Scatter with the pine nuts and continue to cook the base on the hob until the bottom is beginning to crisp and turn golden (you will need to lift it up now and again to check).
Once you’re happy with a crispy base, pop under the grill and cook for 8-10 minutes until the top is melted and the rest of the dough and crust has cooked.
Remove from the grill and devour drizzle with some good quality grassy green extra virgin olive oil.