Fishy or fruity...or both?

Nigel Slater's mackrel with rhubarb and sherry vinegar. In a nutshell: pan fried mackerel served with oven baked rhubarb. The sherry vinegar comes into it at the end when you are rewarming the rhubarb in the pan before serving. Mine was a bit mushier than Nigel's, and didn't look pretty, but the taste combination was surprisingly good.

 

Chicken and corn soup

Lizzie's chicken and corn soup - love it. Her recipe calls for fresh corn, but it also works with frozen corn, albeit with a much shorter cooking time. This is my go-to lunch when I have leftover roast or poached chicken.

Breakfast babies

No need to panic, we haven't turned cannibal! The babies I'm referring to are Dutch babies (aka dutch baby pancake, Dutch puff, German pancake or puffed pancake - but I think they are an American invention). This is another tasty discovery from Gina's blog, and has become a firm favourite at our house. Dutch babies will never win any glamour awards - although they rise spectacularly (and unevenly in my case!) they collapse as soon as they are out of the oven. To me they are a cross between a pancake and a yorkshire pudding.

They are quick and easy to make - I've managed to whip one up on a weekday morning to enjoy before heading to work. We tend to have ours with golden syrup, but berries and sugar, apples or other fruit would be a good healthy alternative as well. The added bonus is it is quite filling, and will keep you going until lunch. You can reheat leftovers in the microwave the next day, and they are almost as good.

Here are a couple of recipes to get you started - why not try one this weekend?

• Gina's recipes for 3, 4, 5 and 6 egg versions
• Joy the Baker's triple berry version

Recipe roundup - Nigel Slater's pork cheeks

Would you believe we still have pork from our piggies? They were the gift that just keeps on giving! Apart from some chops and roast, I found the pork cheeks in the freezer, and have made nigel slater's recipe several times now -it is delicious. Our porkers were quite large, so one cheek actually gave us two meals.

You would probably need to order cheeks from your butcher, but this simple tasty recipe is worth that extra effort. I have made this in both the oven and in my slow cooker, with the same delicious results.

Stuffed eggplant

One of the nice things about buying meat from the farm is that it's really exciting to have lamb again after many month absence from the table. Last week we picked up two locally grown lamb from the butcher (cut to order), so I spent several hours packing it up using my vacuum sealer (one of the best purchases I've ever made - really protects the meat in the freezer). Needlesss to say after the long lamb drought we had chops several nights in a row!

Last night I'd defrosted some lamb mince thinking I'd make moussaka, but it was just too hot to turn the oven on. Smitten kitchen to the rescue! I made these stuffed eggplants, and they were truly delicious. I eliminated the pine nuts (don't like 'em), used veg stock, replaced the rice with pearled spelt, and used a saudi baharat spice mix rather than allspice. Served with a dollop of plain yoghurt, and some flat leaf parsley. I made a side salad as well but we didn't need it.

I think it would be easy to modify this recipe for a vegetarian version, perhaps with mushroom.....

Kimchi

Back from holidays and there were a few cabbages in the fridge from our veg box scheme that needed some love. Kimchi is the answer!  This Korean fermented cabbage dish is super easy to make, and I like it a lot more than sauerkraut.

I followed the recipe from the excellent Joy of Pickling book, but there are load online too. After 12 hours in brine I added minced ginger, garlic and a Japanese 7 chilli blend to mine ( like it hot) and into the cheese fridge (a wine fridge I bought at a garage sale for $25) for 3-4 days. The cheese fridge keeps it below 20 degrees but above fridge temperature, to allow fermentation to occur. I sealed the top of the jar with a food grade plastic bag filled with more brine - this allows air to escape but keeps the contents sealed from nasties.

Once it's reached a good taste, then just seal the jar and refrigerate. It keeps for months.

Speltotto

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg Everyday cookbook is one of my favourites. Even Jerry has been known to compliment a meat free meal made from it's pages (no small feat). Several of his recipes call for pearled spelt, but I have never been able to track any down. Pearled spelt is dehulled, but then goes though an extra process to scratch the surface of the grain to facilitate water absorption (and therefore dramatically reduce cooking time as well).

Recently one of my net-buddies has started an online food store, The Mindful Trader*, and she invited customers and potential customers to request items we would like to see stocked in the store. Sensing the opportunity to set a challenge, I nominated pearled spelt. Lo and behold a few weeks later a supplier was found and it was in stock. I placed an order.

My first cooking with pearled spelt attempt was Speltotto - like risotto but, you guess it, with spelt. I've linked to the swede version of the recipe, but I made my speltotto with kale. Basically follow the recipe, but ignore the swede part, and in the last 2-3 minutes of cooking add shredded kale. I served with a few slices of poached chicken breast, loads of cracked black pepper and some grated chilli peccorino. Heaven. Honestly folks this leaves regular risotto for dead. The spelt has a lovely nutty/wholegrainy flavour, and retains a good grain texture as well - no glugginess. It also reheated brilliantly the following day.

Jerry was as verbose in his praise as it is possible for him to be about a meal with very little meat. He agreed it was much tastier than regular risotto, and said he would be happy to eat a lot more speltotto in future. Once the weather cools down a bit I am keen to try a version with roasted root vegies. I suspect it will be equally delish.


*Disclaimer: Although I know the owner of the Mindful Trader, I haven't been asked to write this post, nor have I received any benefit (financial or otherwise) for doing so. I just really like pearled spelt :-)

Berry bonanza

Yep, it's berry season again, and it's going to be a cracker!

So far we have picked 10kg of berries (raspberries, brambleberries, loganberries), plus just over 2kg of redcurrants. Blackcurrants will be picked before Xmas. I've frozen some berries, but today to sheer volume decreed that jam making was in order.

Out with my jam bible - Marguerite Patten's the basic basics series book on jams, jellies and chutneys. I spied a variation in the loganberry jam section for loganberry and cherry jam. That sounded pretty good, and I happened to have a kilo of cherries in the fridge.

Half an hour later 2kg of fruit and sugar became 10 jars of jam (I made a double batch). Looking forward to trying it once it has set (it tasted pretty good warm!). It has an amazing colour.

Recipe from Marguerite Patten's the basic basics series book on jams, jellies and chutneys

• 450g loganberries
• 450g cherries (weight when pitted)
• 900g sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Put the loganberries and water in a pan and warm on a lowish heat until the juice just starting to run. Add the cherries and heat until the fruit is soft. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Turn up the heat, and boil until setting point reached. Leave to stand a few minutes and stir to distribute fruit. Put into jars and process as per your normal method.

Aaaah Mr Slater, you make exceptionally fine cakes

Well, technically I made the cake, but it was Nigel's recipe...Nigel bills it as a 'pudding cake' of honey, cinnamon and plums. Jerry and I aren't big fans of cinnamon, but I thought ginger would work so I used that instead and it was perfect. Gave it a rich gingerbreadlike taste that really complimented the plums. The recipe calls for fresh fruit but I used home grown canned plums from last year.

I served it cool with some extra thick cream, but custard would also be very good on a cold evening (or, if you're Jerry, on any evening!).

The recipe is from Tender Vol 2,  and because I'm lazy you can find it here or here. I think the muscovado sugar really adds to the rich spicyness of the cake, so I encourage you to use if it you can get your hands on some.

Variation on lizzie's carrot and beetroot salad

Today Lizzie posted a beetroot and carrot salad recipe. Spookily today in the organic veg mix there were beetroot and carrots. That's dinner sorted, along with local salad greens and local feta.

I didn't have mint so used parsley, and also added a dash of lime olive oil and some chermoula spice mix. Lovely!

 

 

I'm in love with an angel

Angel food cake, that is. As a fat free cake it would almost be healthy if it wasn't for the rather large amount of sugar. Its what I imagine pavlova would be, if it were a cake.

I made my first ever angel food cake today using the recipe from the David Lebovitz's fab blog...although I almost got distracted by his marshmallow recipe. I must confess to some trepidation when turning the cake upside down to cool, but all's well that ends well. It is very light and fluffy. Perhaps slightly moist, but it was my first go so I'm going to be forgiving as it seems to have the right texture.

Now that I have tasted it, I can see why he paired the cake with some plum and raspberry compote as it's almost (not quite, but almost) too sweet for me, and the plums would be a lovely counterpoint. Needless to say Jerry has never met a cake (or anything else for that matter) that is too sweet for him!

The other advantage if you have hens that are laying a lot is that this cake uses a LOT of eggs (well the whites) - 12 to be precise. Now, what to do with all the egg yolks? Ice cream seems to be a sensible option :-)

Aaah Nigel, you've done it again

My mum gave me Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries II for my birthday last week, and I've just cooked my first recipe from it - chocolate muscovado banana cake. Too delicious!

Cream125g butter and 235g muscovado sugar together (use dark brown if you can't get muscovado, but it is worth trying to find it as it really adds something extra to the taste and aroma).  Lightly beat 2 eggs and add in to the butter/sugar mix.

At this point I had a kitchen revelation when he said if it looks like it will curdle add in a spoon of the flour. Why has no one ever mentioned this before! I always have curdling at this step, but the flour trick worked a treat!

Mash 400g (peeled weight) bananas lightly (leave chunks) then mix in a teaspoon of vanilla. Chop 100g dark chocolate into smallish chunks, then fold gently into the butter/sugar mix, along with the bananas. Then fold in 250g of flour to which you've added 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

Into the oven at 180 for about 50 minutes in a lined loaf tin  - if a skewer comes out of the middle of the cake moist but clean then it's done. Cool in the tin for 15 mins before removing the cake to finish cooling - peel off the paper after another few minutes, then leave to cool.

It's fabulous on it's own, but I imagine it would also be divine lightly warmed with a dollop of thick cream / creme fraiche.

The last porky tales - part 5: Liver for beginners

And that includes me, as I was a liver novice. However when confronted with 4kg of fresh liver you just have to dig in - or rather dig out your Hugh F-W Meat book or Pig in  Day DVD and get creative.

First I should point out that I got the liver and other offal on processing day (the day the piggies were "dispatched"), so the liver was super super fresh. One liver I vacuum-sealed and put in the freezer for later. The other I used to make pate and liver, bacon and onion.

Pate-in-pictures below, more or less following Hugh's recipe here. I used prosciutto rather than bacon as there was no decent streaky bacon to be had nearby.

And this is the liver, bacon and onion I made for Jerry. I can't say it will ever be my favourite dish, but it was quite tasty, and Jerry said it was the best liver "ever".

Thanks piggies!

Pickled radishes

As work plus uni plus a real need for soil improvement means that our garden will be limited this summer, we're getting our veg from a local organic CSA this season. This means that sometimes you get things you wouldn't normally grow or eat. Radishes are one of those things. After 2 weeks of radish bunches we had way more than we could use before they were beyond their 'use by' date. Fortunately I remembered reading a recipe for pickled radishes on David Leibowitz's excellent blog here Pickled Radishes | David Lebovitz.

And of course then I forgot about them in the back of the fridge. They were rediscovered today and we had our first taste....MAGIC! Crunchy and flavoursome, they will be brilliant on a cheese platter or plate of mixed nibbles. I highly recommend giving them a try next time radishes are in season where you live.

 

Getting back to the kitchen

It's been a bit of a foodie weekend here - in between my Harry Potter 1-7 marathon, which started mid week :-).

I made feta (cows milk) in between watching the prisoner of azkeban. It's a bit hard to see here in it's brine bath. I'm hoping this one turns out - the last one (goats milk) wasn't great because I forgot the calcium chloride, so it all fell apart. 

Shelling dried runner beans is the perfect activity while watching the goblet of fire.

Lunch was a mixed plate with leftover frittata (from Hugh F-W's Veg everyday book), and the start of the order of the phoenix.

Some chocolate date ricotta muffins were the perfect reward for ironing - enjoyed with  afternoon tea and the remainder of the order of the phoenix. I adapted the recipe found here - including substituting dates for the choc chips, and using a mix of Mayan chilli chocolate and green and blacks hot chocolate in place of the cocoa (I've run out). As a result I only used 100g of sugar (recipe calls for 250g). I could probably have left the sugar out altogether really as the hot chocolate mixes have sugar in them. However the chilli in the Mayan chilli chocolate gives them a nice warm kick. The Mayan mix comes from the fantastic Gewurzhaus in Melbourne (they do mail order too). If you're ever near one of their stores in Melbourne I do recommend it - it's like an Aladdin's cave, and I can easily spend half an hour or more just inhaling the aromas in each box.

I have also done various domestic and outdoor chores including vacuuming, compost making, and some pruning and weeding. I also made trips to the farmer's market, and to the gym. I don't want you to think it's all been sitting around eating and watching TV :-)

Now it's time for the half-blood prince, and perhaps some knitting? Oh, and getting the roast lamb on for dinner. Yum!

I DO like university holidays!!!!!

What have you been up to this weekend?

Super brownies

I made Dixiebelle's chocolate and zucchini brownies a few weeks ago. They were so good I made them again on the weekend. I made a non-gluten free version. I made one lot without raspberries, and one lot with. The with version I think wins.

I highly recommend them

Wobble-licious

Apple juice, gelatine leaves, brambleberries, and these directions

Too easy!

Apricots stewed in lemon verbena tea

We only managed to pick 800g of apricots this year - disappointing, particularly as we have 2 trees (one didn't fruit at all). So the ones we did pick deserved something special.

Out with Nigel Slater's Tender part 2 (fruit), and he didn't disappoint, with this gorgeous recipe:

• Make a tea with a handful of lemon verbena leaves, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and 750 ml of water. Let it steep for 3-5 mins then strain out the leaves
• Halve apricots (recipe says 500g but I used 800 and it was fine) discard stones and put in an oven dish
• Pour over tea, and add in the vanilla pod (the recipe also called for a star anise but I'm not keen on the flavour so left it out
• Bake for about 40 mins at 180c
• Cool (although I can't see any reason not to eat them warm with some custard and a drizzle of the verbena 'tea')

Heaven.

Kitchen Diaries pasta

It's getting to be that time of year when I can actually get more than a few greens from the garden - of course that also means it's getting to be the time of year when I need to be creative with broad beans. Nigel Slater to the rescue!

Broad bean, ricotta, mint and chorizo pasta - based on a recipe by Nigel Slater

• Make ricotta (it's easy!) (or use store bought)
• Get some pasta on the go - whatever kind you fancy really
• Pop broadbeans in boiling water for 3-4 mins, then drain and pop from skins if they are large
• Fry some garlic (first of the new season garlic - lovely!) in some olive oil, then pop in the chorizo, broad beans, mint and ricotta and warm though
• Add the drained pasta, and a bit more oil
• Toss through the parmesan and serve

The original recipe didn't call for chorizo, but I had some left and I think it would have been too bland for my taste without it. It still needed (to me) a liberal grinding of black pepper - but I like spicy/hot food . It woudl also be good with bacon I think.

On the table in 20 mins tops if you don't make your own ricotta first.

More meals from the Kitchen Diaries

I have only managed to make about 3 new meals from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries, so I think I'll keep the same book for November!  I made a low-egg frittata, but forgot to take a picture (sorry).

Last week I made chicken legs with yoghurt, harissa and mint - very easy and tasty. Use leg (deboned) or thigh fillets. Mix a couple of tablespoons of thick yoghurt and harissa (less if you don't like it so hot), then drizzle in 2-3 tablespoons of oil. It won't look too appealing but hat's OK. Coat the chicken in the paste,  then grill or pan fry (recipe says grill, I pan fried). When cooked top with mint, and serve with the accompaniment of your choice. Quick, easy and very tasty.