Chimichurri

I have been enjoying bunched carrots for decades but until this month I had not considered eating the lush green tops. They have always been donated to a friend's rabbit. Unfortunately the poor bunny will now be going hungry as I have discovered Chimichurri. This is a sauce or marinade that originated in Argentina / Columbia and Uruguay. Traditionally made with parsley or coriander I have discovered a recipe using carrot tops, so ... waste not want not!  As per usual there are numerous versions but this is the one I settled on and I have eaten it every day for two weeks. I may branch out and try a few variations but I'm happy enough with my first attempt. Once the carrot top season is over I shall continue to make it and adjust proportions of parsley and coriander; I may even add in fresh chillies rather than dried.  

All ingredients are store cupboard staples for me so it's easy to knock up in a few minutes and Hey Presto we have a tasty dip ready.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely chopped carrot tops (or parsley / coriander
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp sweet paprika (when I ran out normal paprika works just as well)
• 1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
• 1/4 tsp cumin (I ground them)
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1/4 cup virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• ground pepper

Method:

This is the simple bit ... Mix all the ingredients together!

Eat and enjoy in whatever way you fancy. I particularly like it with crusty bread, but it was also divine as a topping on a pan fried tuna steak.

Fruited Apple and Almond Tea Loaf

This recipe is one that I tore out of a Waitrose magazine a year ago and it's taken me this long to get motivated enough to actually make it. I wish I hadn't waited so long as it's delicious and definitely on my regular bake list.  One word of warning: if you're as spontaneous a baker as me please be aware that you need to allow time for soaking the fruit before you start. I was all set to bake for VE Day and ensured I had all the ingredients available but it wasn't until I set out to make it in the morning that I realised I should have soaked the fruit overnight. I compromised by soaking for four hours instead, and it turned out fine but maybe I could have had an even more succulent loaf if I'd been better prepared.  

I apologise that this is an inadequate photo but we'd eaten nearly all of it before I thought that I would need a photo to share this amazing recipe with all of you!

It supposedly serves 10 (possibly tiny fairy people with minuscule appetites!)

Allow cooking time of 1 hour 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 200g mixed dried fruit
• 200ml strong, freshly made English Breakfast tea, tea bag left in
• 30g salted butter, melted (plus extra to grease)
• 175g self-raising flour, sifted
• 150g demerara sugar, plus 2tsp for the top
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 85g ground almonds
• 1 braeburn apple (about 150g), skin on, 1/2 grated, 1/2 sliced into thin wedges
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp milk

Method:

• Put the dried fruit and tea in a bowl. Cover and leave until plumped - about 4 hours, or preferably overnight. 
• Grease a 900g loaf tin; line with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 160*C. Drain the fruit over a bowl; reserve the tea and discard the tea bag. Put the flour in a large bowl; stir in the sugar, spice, almonds and a pinch of salt.
• Add the melted butter, soaked fruit, grated apple, egg, milk and 2 Tbsp of reserved tea and stir into a thick batter. 
• Spoon into the tin and level the top a little. Dip the apple slices into the leftover tea, scatter over the cake and press in a little, then sprinkle over 2 tsp sugar.
• Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, covering with foil for the final 20 minutes if the top is browning too much. When ready, the cake will be risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean or with just a few damp crumbs.
• Cool in the tin for 30 minutes and then lift out using the paper, and cool on a rack. 
• Serve warm or cold, spread with butter if like.

We found it was perfect as it was and did not need butter.

Give it a go and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Chargrilled Halloumi with Chilli Pesto

A little taste of summer to keep me going through the winter. I am a great one for collecting magazines and not reading them for months. Therefore this recipe from the Summer Waitrose magazine was waiting in a stack to be read and when I eventually got around to cooking it we were in winter rather than summer but who cares?  The recipe may be intended for summer barbecues but all of the ingredients can be found at any time and it worked perfectly as a starter for us.

Supposedly served 4-6 but I halved the pesto mix and we had a generous amount for two of us. For the halloumi I just bought the pack size in the supermarket and sliced it evenly for the two of us. I have a very gung ho approach to cooking that used to worry me and now I embrace it!

Ingredients: 

• 750g halloumi, thickly sliced lengthways
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juice

For the Pesto:

• 150ml light olive oil
• 75g pine nuts
• 2 red chillies, roughly chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed (I didn't bother halving this ingredient)
• 50g mint leaves
• 50g basil leaves

Method:

• First, make the pesto. Put the oil, pine nuts, chillies, garlic and a pinch of sea salt in a food processor, then blend to a coarse paste. Alternatively use a pestle and mortar and a fair amount of effort.
• Set a dry frying or griddle pan over a high heat (or prepare your barbecue so that the coals are at a medium-high heat). Brush the halloumi slices on both sides with olive oil, grill for 2 minutes on each side, until golden and lightly charred. Lay them on a warmed serving plate, spoon over the pesto, squeeze over the lemon juice and serve at once.

Duck with Spiced Plum Jam and Watercress

I'm a little late in posting this but it was a meal served for Valentine's Day and went down exceedingly well. I'm usually a bit reticent about cooking duck at home as I once filled the kitchen with black smoke from all the fat. However, this was easy to cook and divine to eat with no nasty smoke to ruin the mood.

Photography is not my strong point ...
the perspective implies enormous pak choi and tiny duck 

The recipe is one that I've had sitting neglected in a file for a while, but now it has been given the attention that it so rightly deserved. So get to the butcher and order juicy duck breasts and get quacking!  As always the recipe is designed for four but I amended it to suit the two of us. I used a whole breast each but the recommended three would work well for four as we were very full!

Ingredients: 

• 2 heads pak choi
• 3 duck breasts
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a bunch of watercress to garnish

    for the plum jam:

• 200g caster sugar
• 200ml white wine vinegar
• 1 medium chilli, chopped
• pinch of chilli powder
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• squeeze of lime juice
• splash of soy sauce
• 6 plums, stoned and chopped
• 1 Tbsp chopped coriander
• salt and ground ginger

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180*C / gas mark 4. Break the pak choi into individual leaves, then split each leaf down it's length. Set aside.
• Prepare the duck breasts by removing any sinew from the underside of the breast; use a very sharp knife to score the skin with a series of slashes, being careful not to cut too deeply and cut into the flesh.

• ** This is where I would skip to the plum jam and start making that before setting off on meat cooking ... timings will overlap so read through the recipe thoroughly and decide how you want to time things**

• Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add the breasts, skin side down; and cook for about 3 minutes until the skin has caramelised. Pour off the excess fat and reserve.
• Lay the duck breasts, skin side down, in a roasting pan and place in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
• Pour the reserved fat and any fat in the roasting tin back in the frying pan and set over a medium heat. Once hot add the pack choi and toss in the hot duck fat. Remove from the pan and season with salt and pepper.

** To make the plum jam:

• Heat the sugar and vinegar in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then cook until the mixture starts to thicken.
• Add the chilli and chilli powder, garlic and lime juice and soy sauce. Then stir in the plums and cook for 20-30 minutes until tender.
• Add the coriander, then remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and ground ginger.

Carve the duck into slices and divide between four plates, then serve with the pak choi and plum jam, garnished with watercress.

We both loved this, particularly the plum jam; we decided it would work really well with pork chops too ... see what you think.

Vietnamese -style Caramel Ginger Chicken

Another recipe torn from a Waitrose Magazine and then left to languish in a folder for over a year. It has finally seen the light of day and was a great success. My only reservation was the mess it left in the bottom of the pan when it caramelised. I have learnt that it is a thin line between caramelised and burnt.

It was tasty and worth the effort to make. It was even worth the washing up.  We halved the recipe and it worked well enough. I'm not a great one for accurate measurements and it isn't easy to halve small quantities so some of the spices were not adjusted proportionately and it tasted great.

Serves: 6; Preparation: 20 mins plus resting; Cooking: 55 mins

Ingredients:

6 chicken legs (I used them whole and didn't bother to joint)

5 Tbsp unrefined light brown soft sugar

4 Tbsp nam pla fish sauce

1/2 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground

2 Tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil

100g fresh root ginger, peeled and thickly sliced

1 red onion, finely sliced

8 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 red chilli, finely sliced

3 salad onions, finely sliced

Method:

• Divide the chicken legs into thighs and drumsticks (please yourself!), trimming off and discarding any excess skin. Toss in a large bowl with a pinch of salt, 1 Tbsp of sugar and 1 Tbsp of fish sauce, set aside. Mix the remaining 4 Tbsp and 3 Tbsp fish sauce with black pepper and a pinch of salt, set aside.
• Heat 1 Tbsp oil in  a very large, wide casserole (or heavy based frying pan) and fry the ginger, red onion and garlic over a medium -high heat, until soft and lightly golden - about 8-10 minutes, remove and set aside on a plate. 
• Heat the remaining  1 Tbsp oil in the pan and add the chicken, skin side down. Cook in batches if needed over a medium - high heat for 4-6 minutes, until the skin is deep brown and caramelised.
• Turn the chicken and repeat, caramelising in on the other side, then return the onion, ginger and garlic to the pan. Pour in the fish sauce and sugar mixture, cover the pan and gently bring to the boil. Uncover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrup and the chicken is cooked through; add a splash of water if it starts to catch. Cover and rest for 5 minutes, then scatter with the chilli and salad onions. Serve with rice and greens if liked.  (I served it with chilli and garlic roasted broccoli as I can never get enough chilli)

Saag Aloo

My intention to cook new recipes is tying up perfectly with my stack of torn out recipes; ... this time from a Tesco magazine. I have often ordered side dishes from my Indian take-away involving spinach so this was perfect to try at home.

Fresh spices, chilli and ginger ... I just know that I will love this

Serves 6 as a side (We had it as a main dish just as it was)

Ingredients:

1 kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces (I rarely peel potatoes as most of the nutrients lie beneath the skin)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsps mustard seeds

1 onion, finely sliced

3 large garlic cloves, crushed

3cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 Tbs tomato puree

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp hot chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

250g bag spinach

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Method:

• Simmer the potatoes for 10 mins our until tender (I steam everything as I never boil) Drain and leave to steam dry
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, lidded pan over a medium-low heat. Add the cumin seed and mustard seeds and fry for 1 minute or until they start to sizzle. Add the onion; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, tomato puree, the remaining spices and 1 Tbsp water. Cook, uncovered, over a low heat for 5-10 mins until softened. Add the potatoes and stir to coat.
• Add a large handful of the spinach and 100ml boiling water; cover and cook for 2 mins or until the spinach wilts. Add the remaining spinach. 
• Scatter with chopped chilli to serve.

A little blurred due to the steam rising off it.

Leek and Potato Soup

This is an old classic but one that never fails. It is quick and easy to make and uses minimal ingredients. I've had the recipe for so long now that I cannot remember who was the original author to credit them. I do recall that it is supposed to be a quantity suitable for four people ... that doesn't apply to our family.  Depending on the size of the servings and the hunger experienced by the diners it could be a starter for four but I tend to double the quantities and there is always enough with a little left over for another lunch.

An impressive soup from three simple ingredients

Ingredients:

1 pint / 550ml stock 

4 oz / 100g chopped onions

4 oz / 100g sliced leeks (thoroughly washed to shift any grit)

8 oz / 225g chopped potatoes (I often leave skins on for extra nutrients)

1 oz / 25g butter or oil

salt and pepper

Method:

• Cook the onions and leeks slowly in the butter for 10 minutes
• Add the rest of the ingredients and stock
• Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 40 minutes until all vegetables tender
• Allow to cool slightly and liquidise

I like to liquidise about half or more and leave some as it is. This provides a little more texture and interest without it being a sloppy broth with bits which I'm very good at spilling in transit from spoon to mouth!