Twins At Tea Time.

Phee's little sisters came for dinner last night. I say little but they're not any more. In fact truth be told they are taller, much taller in my case, than either Phee or myself and Flora is all set to go off to university!

I decided to make a Aubergine Parmagiana in honour of the occasion, and thought I'd share the recipe with you all.

To start you need to make a Passata (or magic sauce as its affectionately known). You will need:

Ingredients:

* 2 Tins of Plum Tomatoes, 400g each

* Fresh Basil

* 4 Tomatoes

* Garlic (I like lots but its a question of personal taste)

* 1 Onion

* Tomato Puree

* Balsamic Vinegar

* Olive Oil

* Black Pepper. 

Method: 

There isn't one as such, this is very much a 'try-it-and-see' recipe, but below is how I make it.

1. Dice onion and 5 cloves of garlic, add to pan on a low heat with a little olive oil.

2. Once Onions and garlic are cooking nicely, add the 2 tins of tomatoes. Stir regularly.

3. Whilst the the above is cooking chop the fresh tomatoes and 2 cloves of garlic, add.

4. Tear the Basil and add this also. 

5. Bring to the boil give all a good stir, pop the lid on, lower the heat and leave to brew for a bit.

6. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

7. I like my sauce a little bit chunky so I usually take out a bit of the mixture before blending the rest, then add it back in later.

8. Blitz the lions share of mixture

9. Add the chunky stuff, stir

10. Put in a good glug of Balsamic Vinegar

11. return to the stove and allow to reduce until look and taste suits your fancy. 

12. Season to taste.

1. Dice the onion and 5 cloves of garlic, add to pan with a little olive oil.

3. Chop fresh tomatoes and 2 cloves of garlic.

6. Remove pan form the heat and allow to cool.

7. For a chunkier consistency spoon out some of your sauce and set aside whilst you blend the rest.

For the Parmigiana you will need:

Ingredients: 

* Your Passata, I like to make mine the day before so it has time to flavor up a bit.

* Aubergines, depending I only used 2 but it depends on the size of our tin

* Courgette, this is optional I decided to add one to mix things up a bit

* Paramasan Cheese

* Mozzarella Cheese

Method:

1. Pop your Passata on the hob and allow to reduce
2. Slice Aubergines, about 1cm thick is good. I cut them slightly on the diagonal.
3. Slice the Courgette in the same way
4. Place the Aubergine slices on a tray and grill until they're nicely browned on both sides.
5. Grate your Parmesan
6. Get a good sized baking dish and spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce into the bottom, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese then cover with a layer of Aubergines.
7. Add another layer of sauce and more Parmesan, then lay Courgette slices over the top. I like to lay them in the opposite direction from the Aubergine layer below to reduce gaps.
8. Repeat the sauce, cheese, vegetable layers until you have used everything up.
9. Top all with more Parmesan and torn up pieces of Mozzarella.
10. put in the oven cook for about 30 mins. until everything is golden brown and bubbling. I cooked mine on full whack but our cooker is rubbish. 190°C/375°F/gas 5 is a good rule of thumb.

As per I didn't get a photo of it once it was done as we yummed it up too quickly but here's one Jamie made earlier.

2. Slice Aubergines

3. Slice Courgettes

4. Grill Aubergines

These ones aren't quite done yet.

6. Spoon a thin layer of sauce into your baking dish.

7. Layer Courgettes over sauce, aubergine, cheese, sauce.

Delicious Chocolate Orange Cheese Cake made by Phee

Chowing down on Cheese cake!

P.S. Next time I will use a little less sauce, and add oregano. I would also add breadcrumbs to the top and more cheese throughout.

xXx

Quinoa and Salmon Salad.

At the risk of sounding like a middle-aged, middle-class, food neurotic, I made Quinoa today and liked it!

I have been keeping a food diary (neurotic) recently and it has sparked a real interest in nutrition and the like. Its really fascinating and quite complicated once you start picking it apart. NB I still firmly believe that, for the most part, eating what you want when you fancy it is the healthiest rout to take with food.

Ingredients:
for the Salmon
* Salmon fillet
* Olive Oil
* Garlic, 1 Clove
* Parsley, a handful
* Black Pepper
* Lemon
* White wine

for the rest
* Quinoa
* Stock Cube
* Courgette
* Celery
* Avocado
* Cherry Tomatoes
* Spring Onions
* Feta Cheese
* Seed Mix (Pumpkin, Sunflower, Sesame, Golden Linseed)

Method:
Having sung Quinoa's praises I have this to say- its fucking hard to cook. Or rather its hard to cook 'right'. It should be light and fluffy (and aldante, like pasta) and not, as mine was, mushy gloop. I followed these instructions and I think it must be me, rather than the instructions, that are at fault. Apparently the trick is to use a 1:1 ration rather than the more popular 1:2 ratio suggested on most packets i.e. use less water.

* Soak Quinoa in cold water for around 15 mins.
* Drain using a fine mesh sieve, run under cold water until the water runs clear (it stops foaming).
* Place in Quinoa in a pan and add the same amount of water as you have Quinoa, in my case 2 cups Quinoa and 2 cups water. Add stock and seasoning.
* Bring to the boil, then place a lid on the pan and turn the hob onto a low heat. Apparently it ought to take about 30 mins. but mine was one in a flash (10 mins. max)
* Once cooked set to one side.
* Everything else goes in raw so all you need to do is chop, dice, cube etc and add once the Quinoa has cooled a bit.

Celery and Spring Onions

Avocado and Cherry Tomatoes

I have been meaning to try raw Courgette for a while, and so purchased myself a peeler and gave it a while. I have to say the results were damn tasty!

The fish is super easy and super quick.

* Get yourself a longish piece of tin foil and fold in half (so you have a double layer).
* Dribble some olive oil onto the foil and smear around a bit.
* Put Salmon (or fish of choice) in the centre of the foil.
* Chop up a clove of Garlic (or more if you like it- I do) and sprinkle over the fillets.
* Chuck a handful of parsley over the lot
* Squeeze half a lemon over the fish
* Add a few tbl. sps. of white wine, and a little Olive oil
* Bring the sides of the foil up and roll down, pinch up sides of the foil and fold round to make a parcel.
* Whack in the oven for about 20 mins. You'll know when its done- it smells delicious! (should take about 15-20 mins. depending on the oven temp and the type of fish).

To serve:
* Spoon Quinoa into a bowl/plate
*Add other ingredients (Obviously in an ideal world (where Quinoa is fluffed to perfection) you would already have added these bits).
* Add fish- pour on the juices left in the foil
* Add an extra squeeze of lemon, and a fuck load of black pepper.
* Sprinkle on seed mix, Parsley and Feta

I meant to add petites pois to this meal but totally forgot them! I added them to my lunch, which brings me to another point; this recipe works fabulously well as a packed lunch the following day- YUM!

xXx

Stuffed Flat Breads

A recipe from the weekend as promised:

Making Dough.

We were inspired by Nigel Slater.  If you got the Observer last Sunday (26/08/2012) you can find the the original in the supplement. Ours were subject to ingredients restraints and the usual kitchen disagreements- both combined to make a number of different versions of the original (all with varying degrees of success).

Ingredients:
for the dough (makes c. 6 flat breads)
* Strong, white bread flour 500g
* Salt 10g
* Instant yeast 10g
* Unsalted butter 30g
* Water 300ml

for the filling
* Roasted veg- Butternut squash, red pepper, onion, garlic, courgette, tomatoes (this is just what we had but you can use pretty much anything you like).
* Cheese- We used Blue cheese but again you have a particular liking for. If I make them again I'm going to give goats cheese a bash.

Method:
* Put the flour in a large, warm mixing bowl, add salt and dried yeast.
* Add the butter and most of the water.
* Get your hands involved and bring the mixture together.
* Gradually add the remaining water until all the flour has been mixed in.
* Knead for about 5-10 mins. until the dough feels smooth and silky.
* Pop it back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise. 1 hour is about long enough but we were hungry so we used a hair dryer to speed up the process (I'm not sure this had any real effect...) ANYWAY the dough should be about double its original size when its done.
* Tip the dough onto a floured surface and 'fold' until all the air has been removed. We found that tearing it onto smaller pieces and squeezing it removed the air faster- you can actually feel the bubbles popping!
* One the air has gone form the dough into 6 rounds.

* Chop what ever you are using for the filling into small pieces- cheese and 'other' filling should be about the same size.
* Make a hollow in each round and add the filling.
* Pinch the dough together around the filling sealing it in (a bit like a pasty).
*  place the ball of dough on a floured surface and flatten with a rolling pin (some of the filling might make a bid for freedom at this point, just pinch it back into the dough and roll again if this happens.
* when you have finished rolling your flat breads should look a bit like fat pitta breads (c. 16cm ovals).
*Place your ovals on a piece of baking parchment and leave in a warm place, and leave for 10-15mins. We put ours in the oven on a very low heat.
*Warm a thick based frying pan over a moderate heat.
* Trickle a tiny bit of olive oil in to the pan, and move it around until the base is lightly oiled.
* Place your flat bread/breads (depending on the size of your pan) in the pan and cook.
* Nigel suggests cooking for 3-4 mins. each side. We didn't find this was long enough... both sides should be browned (blackened in places) and the sides should have hardened up a bit. Give them a prod with your fingers to check how they're getting on, and a taste if your still unsure.
* The dough should be cooked through but a little sticky.
* Remove and eat immediately.

Fat little flat breads sizzling in the pan.

To Serve:
We had ours with leafy salad, a few cheery tomatoes and some delicious marinaded pan fried Salmon. I added some additional roasted veg and a good chunk of blue cheese too. Oh and a bottle of wine- naturally. :)

xXx

Pad Thai!

Last night we made the long awaited Pad Thai. It was delicious despite the facet that (predictably) it didn't quite taste like the real thing.

Phee and I spent Sunday pretentiously swishing about Brighton shopping in 'authentic' markets in the hope of recreating a realistic Pad Thai. The saddest thing is we found almost everything we needed in that bastion of middle class virtue- Waitrose...

For a meal that is supposed to be quick to make, not to mention made at lightening speed, quite a lot of preparation is needed.

Thought I'd share the recipe with you guys. Enjoy!

1. First off (cooking for veggies) meant replacing meat with tofu, which had to be pressed then heated to draw out all the moisture. this took fucking ages! If you're a vegetarian, or cooking for one, here are some decent instructions on how to prepare it before Pad Thaiing. (I advise doing it otherwise it all falls apart when you get down to business).

Warm on low heat, turning tofu every 8 mins. or so. ours took about 45mins.

marinade ingredients: Salt, Garlic, Soy Sauce.

I made a marinade for our tofu and left it soaking over night. A Thai women we met on our ingredients buying excursion told us to add salt to soy sauce to replace fish sauce. I often use coarse salt to pulp garlic if I'm adding it to a marinade or dressing- in this instance I just added a little more.
You will need: coarse salt, 1 clove garlic and enough soy sauce to cover your tofu. finely chop garlic then smosh it over the salt with the flat of your knife until pulped.

I used a recipe for Pad Thai that I found on this brilliant Blog. its the best I have found so far, check it out.

3. Soak the noodles: for Pad Thai use luke-warm water and soak until they are pliable but not fully cooked. Ours took about 25 mins. drain and add oil to prevent them from sticking to each other.

4. For the Sauce: the marvelous Chez Pim has this to say on Pad Thai sauce: "lead with a salty flavor, follow by a mild sourness, then just a gentle sweetness and a soft caress from the chilli at the back of my throat at the very end." so this is what I went for. Mine didn't turn out quite like this (too sour) but was tasty non the less.

You will need: 1/2 cup Tamarind Paste, 1/2 Soy Sauce (I added the left over marinade to the concoction), 1/3 Brown sugar (melted over a low heat in water) and a good pinch of chilli powder and chilli flakes. Heat the Sugar first then add the others and simmer gently.

5. As I mentioned earlier, you have to be super speedy once you actually start cooking so its best to have all your ingredients ready to go.

Soaked Noodles, Bean Sprouts, Tofu, Spring Onions, Pickled Beetroot, Lime, Chinese Cabbage, Chillies. We had grated carrot too but it doesn't seem to have made an appearance here.

You can add pretty much what ever you like to Pad Thai but we used- Bean Sprouts, marinated Tofu, Spring Onions (we couldn't find Chinese Chives), Pickled Beetroot (we couldn't find pickled turnip- and beetroot made it all pink which was fun), Lime, Chinese Cabbage, Chilli (de-seeded and chopped) and illusive grated Carrot.

 6. Heat your wok until it starts to smoke

7. Add oil (we used Sesame)

8. Add Tofu and a table spoon or two of your sauce (add extra garlic if you fancy it). Cook tofu until crisp and golden.

9. Add noodles and 1/2 cup of warm sauce. (best to have your sauce to hand and warming on a hob throughout).

10. Stir all vigorously making sure to keep everything moving until the noodles are soft. (if you find the sauce is evaporating too quickly add a bit of water. Again, its good to have this to hand as everything happens pretty quickly. Add more oil if your noodles are clumping.

11. Push noodles to one side and crack an egg into the wok. I found that the egg cooked too quickly and sort of disappeared. Next time I' going to try adding it last- I'll let you know how it goes. Toss all together.

12. Add bean sprouts, pickled beetroot, cabbage, spring onions and toss all together. Add more sauce if things are looking a bit insipid and pale.

13. whack it all on a plate sprinkle liberally with Peanuts, chilli and carrot.

14. Serve with booze (any you like but dry white wine and cider go particularly well). ENJOY!

xXx

Soups to Fill your Boots!

Well hello there Blogisphere!

Feels like forever and a day since I last posted. The main reason for this is that my digital camera is broken, well the lead that charges it up is missing so I have gone back to trusty old film.The upshot of this is that I take a lot more care over shots. Also poor old lappy will be spared a glut of photos that will never see the light of day. The down side is embracing deferred gratification. I have never been any good at this, and have very little patients for anything that requires denying yourself things you desire.

Funds are very low a the moment, not aided by a water bill, a new tax disk and the impending renewal of my car insurance. (Incidentally I am trying to sell the car- if anyone is interested in a trusty little motor drop me a line). The upshot of my lack of funds is that I shall be dinning like a pauper until the end of September at the earliest. I have been getting well into soups recently- they are super cheap, fill you up, and are relatively healthy- Everyone's a winner :)

So without further ado here are a couple for recipes:

Watercress Soup  
Ingredients:

• 1x Onion
• 1x Potato (medium baking works well, or a handful of small salad spuds)
• 2x Sticks of Celery
• 200g (or 2 bags) of Watercress
• 1 ltr. Chicken Stock (or preferred stock)
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Extras: I added some Parsley (a bunch) and Peas (500g) to the mix, the Parsley adds another flavor, Peas do the same and thicken the soup. A bag of frozen peas is perfect, cheap and easily

Method:
1. Heath some oil in a large pan. Chop up the Onion and Celery (technique isn't important as everything will be whizzed up at the end, though the smaller the bits are the faster they will cook.) Sweat the Onions in the pan with the lid on, until soft, add the Celery and stir around a bit.

2. Add Season the Onion and Celery, add the stock cube crumbled and mix round quickly (make sure it doesn't stick/burn). Add 1 ltr of boiling water. Stir well then leave to simmer for about 10 mins stirring every now and then.

3. Whilst everything is bubbling away merrily chop up the potato (again the smaller you do this the faster they will cook). Add Spuds and bring to the boil. Stir around. Return to simmer and cook until the spuds go mushy.

4. Add the peas, stir a bit more, until peas are defrosted.

5. Chop up the watercress. This is not a prefect science, roughly chopped is fine, but I have found that the stalks sometimes escape the blender and go a bit stringy. If you have a buff blender this won't be a problem. Chuck watercress in. Stir round until wilted.

6. Leave to cool. Blend away. Voila soup! You can put the lions share in freezer bags and pop in the freezer. the remainder can be heated up and served. preferably with some goats cheese swirled on top and some crusty bread- delicious :)

Whats-In-The-Fridge Soup
As I mentioned I am as poor as a church mouse at the mo. Spending money on food when I'm broke pains me so this recipe is a real life saver. I have a feeling its pretty healthy too.

Ingredients (a rough guide):

• A handful of shallots/onions/anything of this ilk.
• Frozen Veg e.g. Peas, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach
• Veg that has seen better days, like that wilted sad looking leek, of the cabbage that has been malingering at the bottom of the veg draw.

Basically you can use anything.  What follows is a list of the delightful specimens malingering in Grimmauld's cupboards/fridge/freezer.

• 3x shallots
• 4x Sticks Celery
• 1 1/2 Carrots
• 1/3 of a particularly sorry looking red cabbage
• 1/2 Packet Spinach
• Frozen Cabbage
• Frozen Veg Medly (Broccoli/Cauliflower/Carrots)
• Bouillon (pilfed from the rents cupboard) 
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper 

Method:
Pretty much the same as above, plus a dash of common sense as to what to add when. I sweated the Shallots and Celery, with a bit of Salt and Pepper then added Stock. boil-simmer. added the Spuds. then the frozen bits and bobs. I popped the Spinach and wilty stuff in last then blended it all.

I was surprised at how verdant this one turned out, especially in light of the red cabbage addition. I should also add that it lacks subtlety of taste. Definitely one for quelling a rumbly tummy rather than fine dinning.

Popped round to the rents place the other night and was rewarded with a fat bag of foodie swag. various friends and relatives donated some really nice fresh produce (including a Courgette, literally the size of my calf, the biggest onion I have ever seen and some real McCoy French Garlic (also of gargantuan stature). So I got a bit creative with this one...

Spiced Courgette & Garlic Soup
Ingredients:

• Courgette (1x giant or c. 4x standard size)
• 1x Leek
• Onion
• Garlic, I love Garlic so I used heaps c.9 Cloves
• Olive Oil
• Chicken Stock & Bouillon 
• Salt & Pepper
• Cumin Seeds (or ground Cumin), Rosemary (fresh if you can get it, dried if not)

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven, I always turn it on to full whack when pre-heating, then adjust as seems necessary. Chop onion, and 1x Garlic clove, and the leek (I cut all fairly small). Put in a bowl for later. meanwhile Chop up the Courgette(s). These are going to be roasted so I kept them fairly chunky.

2. Bob some oil in a large pan with a Sprinkling of Cumin Seeds and fry till you can smell the Cumin. Add Onion, Garlic, and Leek. Put the lid on and make them sweat it out. For this keep the pan on a low heat and and either giggle the pan, or stir regularly.

3. Put the Courgette chunks and remaining garlic cloves (skins on!) in a baking tray, drizzle with oil and add some rosemary. Then put in the oven- judge the heat but keep your eye on it and mix around as and when. You'll know when its done because the kitchen will start to smell wholesome and delicious.

4. Whilst everything is roasting, add your chosen stock powder plus some seasoning to the pan and mix well. If things look a bit sticky add a bit of water. Add 1ltr. of boiling water to this and bring to the boil. return to simmer.

5. When your veg is smelling roasty toasted take it out and add the Courgette to the pan (it should be a bit mushy/'golden'- mine just went mushy with burnt- but you get the idea. Peel the Garlic (much easier when roasted) and add to the pan. bring to the boil. Simmer. Allow to cool. Blend.

I haven't tried this one yet. Going to have it for lunch tomorrow. It smells tasty but in hindsight I could have done with using a bit less stock, as it looks a bit watery and I prefer my soup to be verging on a stew. this is a personal preference of course, and if you intend to serve this soup as a starter, lighter is probably best.

If you try any of the above let me know how you get on. Especially if you add something new!

xXx

Health Kick Boost & Some Tasty Morsels.

Out of no where I have got a real urge to fix myself up. I started jogging about a month ago, I am genuinely feeling the benefits. I should add that I am not a natural fitness enthusiast. I enjoy exercise when you don't realise you're doing it, but jogging is free and (rubbish joints aside) it seems to be just the thing at the mo.

Jogging seems to have had a knock on effect, I have started eating better too and am generally more aware of myself. Preparing lunch in advance for work is also making me think about what I'm eating.

So here's what I made for lunch tomorrow:

Spicy Salmon with Chunky Salsa

Ingredients


For the Fish

• 2 x Salmon Fillets
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Chillies
• Coriander
• Lemon
• Olive Oil

Mix everything together with a good glug of olive oil, then leave the fish to marinade for a while. Once you think the fat little salmons have soaked up all the juices wrap them up in tin foil and pop them in the oven for about 20-30 mins and let the oven do its magic.

For the Salsa

• 3 x Tomatoes
• 2/3 Red Pepper
• 2 X Chillies
• 5 x Spring Onions
• 2 x Cloves Garlic 
• Coriander
• 1/2 Lime

(For both the fish and Salsa add salt and pepper to taste.)

with all the madness about E. Coli floating around at
the mo, it's always best to give everything a good scrub. 

Half the Tomatoes, and chop out the stalky bit.

Chop the toms really small. I Used the
 bread knife to mash it all up a bit.

Cut and deseed the Pepper
(I saved some for dipping in Hummi later but use as much as you fancy)

Right, the chillies! this is really a question of taste-
if you like it spicy use a couple, if not one will do nicely.
deseed, and chop up really tiny.

Coriander & Chives. I thought about adding Mint too (maybe next time)

Garlic- again its all down to taste. I love this stuff but its pretty potent, especially when its raw.
slice it thinly then mash it a bit with a heavy knife.

Mix it all together, squeeze in some lime juice
(I used 1/2 a Lime) and voila! you have your chunky salsa. 

All done in time to retrieve a well cooked salmon from the oven- Yum!

Mum popped round the other night to give us these beautiful beakers. Aren't they sweet?!

I'm sure many a happy booze will be sipped from these beauties.

This is a fab Recipe for BBQs too. I spent last weekend in sunny Surrey- cooking up many a tasty treat whilst soaking up the sun on the Medes.

We made these tasty skewers to go with the vast quantities
of 'man food' (aka meat, meat and more meat).

We also got a massive pot of just about every type of Olive
you can possibly imagine. These two were the biggest and smallest in the pot.

This was actually Trout (rather than Salmon) Its a much
slimmer fish, and will cook through if you lay it on the BBQ skin side down. 

No BBQ is complete without a bit of beer/Cider
and some lovely people to share it with.

Not to mention the addition of giant field
Daisies to any un attended items of clothing.

Lazing on the Medes.

Our Road is having a street party next weekend. Phee and I thought we would be grown up and have a dinner. Im cooking but I'm not sure what to make. Phee is not a fan of cheese or meat- any ideas?...

Right off to bed now, with a soothing cup of Detox tea for company- Yes thats right I am becoming a health freak :/ eeek!

xXx