The Chicken and The Egg

Tortellini

2011-07-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well despite my undying love of pasta, I've never made it from scratch. Shocking I know, but I am without pasta machine. So a Monday evening was the night it was going to happen. I decided to make tortellini and to fill it with the closest things to hand, spinach, ricotta and chorizo.

I fried the very finely diced chorizo and the wilted the spinach in the same pan. Drained most of the juices, the added ricotta, parmesan, pepper, nutmeg, lemon zest and oregano. That out of the way, I put it in the fridge and got on with the dough. Type 'OO' four and eggs, brought together and then needed until the gluten stretched. So far so good, I put this in the fridge to relax for half and hour.

The problem I had without the pasta machine was with the rolling of the dough. The pasta for tortellini has to be extra thin as it meets in places. It needs to be translucent and the best way to do this is to roll out small pieces at a time. Golf ball sizes. Yes its hard work and takes a bit of time, but if you don't want to be spending time on making your own pasta, then you should probably buy it in.

I boiled the little tortellini's in salted water for about 4 minutes and then tossed them along with some of the pasta water in some of the left over pizza sauce. Sprinkled it with mozzarella and fresh herbs. I am happy with my first attempt, please can someone buy me a pasta machine so I can make linguine.

BBQ on the fields

2011-07-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

You can BBQ again on Highbury Fields. Hurrah! The ban has been lifted. I wish we could BBQ in my neighbouring Clissold Park. I've had several idea's about how this could work. Give out bricks, hire out BBQ's.. its criminal that in London most people don't have a garden and we're not allowed to BBQ in our public parks.

We had a pink coleslaw made from rich greek yoghurt instead of mayonnaise, my favourite fennel and carrot shavings side salad (which just gets some lemon, white wine vinegar and oil), harissa pasted squid, a chilled bottle of Pinot Noir and some mighty fine well hung rump steaks from Godfreys in Highbury.*

Holy crap, cooking steak on a bbq is the best way, it really is.

*goes without saying there was halloumi too

Pizza

2011-07-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

I started making pizza the other day, started with the dough obviously. I was mixing the ingredients together and realised that I had made a serious error with the quantities. Too much yeast. For the record, the scales that I have are in ounces so this happens a lot. Its why I don't bake. I started adding flour and water until it felt right and by that I mean, quite a fluid dough and then I let it prove slowly for a good couple of hours.

It was the closest thing to an authentic pizza I've ever made at home. The base crisped and bubbled up nicely, it wasn't soggy in the middle. Maybe it wasn't the dough, maybe it was the oven that had been on for ages at full wack. Whatever it was, I was very impressed with myself and so was my pizza addict boyfriend.

Toppings: Artichoke, ham and rosemary / Mascarpone, mushroom, ham and truffle oil.

For the record, the discovery of the Mascarpone and Truffle combination, has been a very happy one.

Ooh I got me a new camera

2011-07-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is a kale and mushroom risotto.

Summer Rolls

2011-06-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here in east London you'd be a mug not have had Vietnamese food in one of the many restaurants on Kingsland Rd. Me, I like ye old favorite Pho. Plus any kind of large fish, deep fried and served with a salty and sweet sauce over it with sticky rice. I also want to give a shout to 'Pork on a Stick'. If you ever find yourself at Tay Do, a Vietnamese place that looks like a school canteen, where the staff are rude and the art awful. For goodness sake, order pork on a stick!

Anyway I'm getting at the point and that point is, the other thing you simply must eat is a summer roll or five... Like their distant cousin the Spring Roll or uncle Vietnamese Roll, the Summer Roll is made with rice paper. However the difference being that you don't cook this roll and the ingredients are therefore a whole different ball game. The outside is soft, translucent and well not at all crispy. Thats why you have to fill it with things that go 'crunch'. Usually in goes iceberg lettuce, beansprouts pork and/or prawn and a very important Vietnamese ingredient, MINT.

You can find these papers at most Oriental supermarkets, you dip them in hot water and they soften. Its loads of fun, I can imagine kids would love to get involved, I know this because my boyfriend and his pal Rupert stopped complaining about where dinner was when I gave them the summer rolls to make.

Ultimately though, its all about what you dip a summer roll into. Here is a dip.

Sauce - play around with the quantities until you have it right:

Lime Juice (1)

Brown Sugar (2 tbls)

Fish Sauce (2 tbls)

Grated Chilli

Grated Garlic

Grated Ginger

Rice Wine Vinegar (2 tbls)

Coriander Stalks Finely Chopped

Chopped Peanuts

Vegetable Oil (1 tbls)

Smokey Chicken and Bean Cassoulet - Sort of.

2011-06-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a massive fan of Cassoulet, the southern French dish consisting of toulouse sausage, confit du canard, pork belly; baked in the oven with breadcrumbs on top, cooked slowly with beans and goose fat. Apparently its a peasant dish, well I'm a peasant and I can rarely afford to buy these ingredients. Its delicious belly busting savory goodness is so full of fat, it sets when cold. But its heavy, very heavy, you can't eat a dish like this often and I had one last week so I won't be doing it again until the winter sets in.

Anyway, I was rummaging around my jars of dried goods, saw the pinto beans, saw some smokey chipotle chilli's, the dried porchini's, thought of Cassoulet, then made this.

Its not really a cassoulet, its a slow cooked smokey bean and chicken stew. Its very hearty but its not a sinful dish. With all the smokeyness and the beans, its definitely got a bit of a cowboy kick to it too.

Ingredients:

A whole chicken - jointed (or 6-8 chicken thighs)

1 small onion

2 cloves of smoked garlic (normal will be fine too)

2 stalks of celery

1 carrot

Dried mushrooms - rehydrated (save the water)

2 Dried Chipotle Chillis - rehydrated (save the water)

Tomato Puree

Tinned Tomatoes

Thyme

2 handfuls of dried pinto beans or a can of cooked.

Oregano

Olive Oil

Bay leaf

Red Wine Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Breadcrumbs with grated garlic.

Brown the chicken pieces in 2 tablespooms of olive oil and remove from pan in. Add more oil and in the same pan add diced onion, carrot, celery, garlic and sweat. Meanwhile I drain the mushrooms, chop, then add these to the pan. Then 1 tablespoon of tomato puree, cook off for a couple of minutes. Add the herbs.

Meanwhile if you are using dried beans, you are cooking these in unsalted water until they have rehydrated. Takes about an hour and a half (good if you soak over night).

To the other pan, in goes the chopped rehydrated chillies, the tinned tomatoes, the mushroom water and the chicken pieces. Season, cover and slowly cook for about an hour.

At this stage I decant into a pretty yellow dish and leave in the fridge for a couple of days. The reasons for this are two fold. 1. The flavours mingle. 2. We ate out for 2 days.

Then when it is time to cook the 'Cassoulet', I put it into a preheated oven at 180 for an hour until happily bubbling. I take it out, stir through more olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar, check seasoning and sprinkle the garlicy breadcrumbs on top. Then cook in the oven at 200 until the top is golden.

Serve with bread to mop up the juices or a vinegary side salad.

Dal via Ravi

2011-05-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Dinner of a weekday evening need not be stressful or expensive. Those nights when you are planning to have a jacket potato or beans on toast, why not do as I did this week and make some dal. *takes off Martha Stewart hat.

Usually one component in a meal of many, dal with bread and cooked with some veg is more than enough to satisfy. The spicyness, of which you are in complete control of, entirely makes up for any missing meat. Even raving carnivore Barn approves.

Inspired and instructed by good friend Ravi, who's family hail from Punjab. I made this with the family Garam Masala she bequeathed to me the last time I had dinner at hers and Bugerac blogger Gavs flat. The preparation of which is two fold.

Firstly, you need to cook the Dal (lentils), I used yellow split pea, in water, with a teapsoon of tumeric, a garlic clove halved and a slice of ginger. Roughly two handfuls per person of lentils and cover with a couple of inches of water. Bring to boil, skim as you go, and then simmer whilst you make your spice mix. It should take around 20-30 mins for the lentils to cook (don't add salt until the end as the lentils will have a hard skin).

In another pan with vegetable oil, I fry half an onion and half a chopped courgette. Add chopped garlic, ginger and a whole chilli that has been pricked to release its heat. Then I add a tablespoon of garam masala, a teaspoon on ground cumin, a teaspoon of mustard seeds and fry these for a couple of minutes. Finally I add 1 chopped tomato to the mix to moisten it. You might not use courgette, you could use spinach instead (put this in last though), or no other veg at all. I like the green.

Check your lentils, I like them with a bit of bite. If they are done, rather than blend into an oblivion, you need to get a whisk and just stir it until some of the lentils break up and thicken the liquid, you'll know when you've done it enough, it should be the consistency of porridge with lentils in it (dal).

Stir in the spice and veg mix to the lentils, season very well, throw in some curry leaves and eat with warm chapatti's and yogurt.

Yellow Split Pea lentils (a handful per person)

2 x Cloves of garlic

1/2 thumb of ginger

1/2 onion

1/2 courgette or 2 handfuls of spinach

tablespoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon corriander

1 tomato diced

teaspoon mustard seeds

teaspoon of dried curry leaves

warm chapattis and yoghurt to serve

1 chilli

Seared Tuna Thai Salad - Pics to follow

2011-05-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

So recently I've been trying to live a healthier lifestyle, which has always been something I've been dead against. I'm the girl that likes the taste of healthy food sure, but I would never choose it over say a burger, a massive bowl of Spaghetti Vongole or even a bottle of wine.

Alas smoking, eating, drinking and minimal exercise are feeling like they might be finally catching up with me. I've pretty much quit the deadly weed and feel amazing for it. With it, my skin has gained a bit of a glow back which I must say is a pretty addictive feeling and for the first time ever, I've become acutely aware of the fairly well known idea that I can nourish myself by controlling what I put into my body.

... this might not last very long.

We got sushi grade tuna steaks from Broadway Market's Fin and Flounder. I made a crunchy spicy salad whilst the steaks were marinading in the following sauce.

Marinade:

1 Grated clove of garlic

1 Grated 1/4 thumb of ginger

1 grated red chilli

tsp of Soy Sauce

tbls of fish sauce

Juice of 1 fresh lime

Brown Sugar

Sesame Oil - a dash

tsp Vegetable oil

bit of water, not much.

tbls rice wine vinegar

The Salad:

Ribbons of 2 Carrot

Ribbons of 1 Fennel bulb

Large handful of Sliced Sugar Snap Pea's

Spring Onion

After a bit of a marinade the steaks get flashed for 20 seconds either side of a searing pan. Meanwhile the veg gets tossed in the marinade. At this stage you could add some cold cooked rice noodles, we didn't have any.

Some people are squeamish about the seared tuna thing, I'm talking about Barn here. It annoys me, so without telling him that it was all that raw, I just served it. He freaked out for a minute and tried it and realised that with really fresh tuna like this, there's no other way to eat it... except for maybe completely raw.

This meal is refreshing, spicy and filing. I highly recommend it.

Back in the kitchen

2011-05-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well never away really. After a long break due to work and other half fake excuses I am back food blogging. I've cooked some awesome meals in the gap between this post and the last, which is annoying because they were neither logged nor photographed.

Anyway, I'm gonna get on with it. As always, I am not professing to be an amazing cook or expert, this blog is just a sort of record for me and anyone else who likes looking at food and getting idea's for dinner. After some suggestions from friends though, I will be less vague about recipes.

New Foodie In Da House

2010-09-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Its become quite clear in the last two weeks that my niece, who incidentally is the cutest of cutes, is digging food. She’s just started eating mashed up fruit and veg as supposed to only milk. It is pure brilliance, from the hilarious way she holds her mouth wide open in anticipation of the next mouthful to the contemplative expression she has when she’s trying to make sense of each taste and texture. This contemplative expression is generally followed by this face.

Which is awesome.

Tortilla II, with Serrano Ham

2010-09-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

In an ideal world there will be a Tortilla in the fridge at any one time. In my opinion its better served cold.

Sliced new pots and boil them for a little while. Then in a non stick cake tin I layered up the potatoes, fried onions and Serrano ham. I seasoned each layer, poured in 6 beaten eggs and baked in the oven for about 1/2hr - 45 mins.

It is the definitive spanish omelette and should look like a cake.

Potato Cakes

2010-08-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

My mum is irish so I grew up with potato cakes after ever meal that involved mash potato (which is most). This was a really tasty lunch of colcannon potato cakes, parmesan, panchetta and rocket salad with a nice dressing. You make potato cakes by adding plain flour until the mash potato is the consistancy of a pastry dough. Then roll out and cut out the cakes, freeze any excess. You almost dry fry them, maybe with a touch of butter. They are so good for breakfast too. Great with a poached egg, bacon and maple syrup.

Barny does Sausages and Colcannon

2010-08-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

And they were deelish. Incase you don’t know, Colcannon is an irish potato dish which is basically mash potato, cream and kale. Amazing served with boiled ham. We made loads of it, far too much to eat, which made me deliriously happy as I knew we’d be making potato cakes the next day.

Poached eggs with chilli wilted spinach and panchetta on toast

2010-08-08T04:07:00.001-07:00

Ricotta Stuffed Mushrooms and a Basil and Broad Bean Salad

2010-08-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

Broad beans are in season, so I am going to do my best to eat all of them. I got two portobello mushrooms from the green grocers. Then Gilbey came for dinner because I wouldn’t let him cycle home on a bike who’s breaks refuse to work in the rain. So we shared the big ones and also used a few big little mushrooms we found in the shop on the way home.

I filled them with garlic butter, thyme, halved cherry tomatoes and started to bake them in the oven. Then I mixed the stuffing which was ricotta cheese, pancetta, red pepper, salt and pepper. I filled them with this after about half an hour and drizzled more olive oil and butter and added a little bit of white wine to the tray, then popped back in the oven. This wine not only reduces cooking time but emulsifies with the butter and the mushroom juice for a scrumptious jus.

Served on a bed of wilted spinach with a rocket and broad bead salad which was dressed with a very garlicy and very basily dressing.

Smoked Mackerel with Horseradish Cream and Bean Salad

2010-08-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my lovely old flat mates Justin and Becky who once made me something similar. I bought some top notch sweet smoked mackerel, served it cold with crunchy radish and with some green and broad beans that i'd cooked and gently fried with butter and shallots. I grated some parmesan, then plopped a big dollop of cream fraise which is well seasoned and mixed with horseradish sauce. The spicy horseradish really cuts through the oily fish. Deeelish. In smaller quantities, this would make a great starter.

Rib Eye and Salsa Verde Asparagus, Mushrooms & New Potato

2010-06-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

Not really much to describe here. I had a craving for steak and spring veg. We had the steaks bloody and the veg covered in a salsa verde for extra punch.

Left over chicken idea

2010-06-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Got home really late from work and was starving. Picked up an avocado, some cheese and some tortilla’s with no idea what I was going to do with them.

Then in 5 minutes I made such a satisfying lil’ snack, cheesy and crispy and slightly spicy.

I dry fried a tortilla, grated cheese on top, some avocado, the left over chicken, dried chilli salad and then the other tortilla on top. I turned the whole thing over and dry fried the other side and pressed with a fish slice. Just a tasty sandwich.

Roast Jerk Chicken

2010-06-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

Love Jerk Chicken in the summer and also love roast chicken. We had ours with a green salad on a hot night, twas super duper. The jerk run made a crust above the skin keeping it all moist but the skin was deliciously crispy and jerky.

The jerk rub consisted of:

Scotch Bonnet Pepper

Ground Corriander

Dried Thyme

Dried Oregano

Dried Basil

Nutmeg

Allspice

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Tomato Ketchup

Soy Sauce

Ginger

Garlic

Shallot

Spring Onion

The Best Burger

2010-05-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

I went for lunch in the new Byron in Islington. I had never before heard of Byron or of its burgers, I therefore had no idea that they are a small London based chain. This information would probably had put me off had I heard it before we ate. Anyway, we arrived and were greeted with water in frosted glass, beers in frosted glasses, some really bloody good red wine and a simple menu.

I ordered a medium rare cheese burger (with american cheese) and Byron sauce on the side. We also had onion rings and fries. Lets start with the fries. It’s not hard to get fries wrong, keep them small, keep them crispy and keep them salty. They were exactly all of these things. The onion rings were made with an amazingly crunchy batter which didn’t get soggy for the entire meal and it seemed that each ring of onion was carefully picked and considered, they too were a triumph.

The burger however. Was so perfect I am still dreaming about. The patty not too thick, when I bit into it it was cooked to perfection, bit you could tell it wasn’t straight off the grill because the blood wasn’t going everywhere. The bun wasn’t too sweet and was the perfect consistency. The lettuce, the processed cheese, everything you could tell had been thought over and given the attention it so deserved. Nothing was over complicated or fussy just really really good.

I want to go back very soon.

For when you are feeling fat.

2010-05-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

Naturally after the last post I was feeling pretty guilty about my food intake, especially after a week in France eating pretty much only cheese prior to that. So while Barny prepared the oven for his pizza I made this:

Steam or quickly boil, mange tout, tender stem broccoli and green beans. Warm oil in pan add a crushed garlic clove. Add fresh chopped tomatoes, grilled red peppers (from jar), salt, pepper, sugar and basil. Then my new favorite friend, harissa paste, but if not, some dried chilles. I had some very stale french bread from which I torn a little off and popped on the plate. I then crumbled feta into the sauce, quickly put the sauce over the bread, with the green vegetables on top and a little more feta.

And it wasn’t all that bad.

Highbury Fields BBQ

2010-05-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

There is little more satisfying than having a day off, going to your favorite food shops and spending money on fine cheese, meats, veg and wine with the intention of slowly grazing all day on it. This is how we spent our day off when the weather was good last week.

We started with cheeses, marinated anchovies, bread and homous. Then a friend turned up with a pretty awesome celeriac salad and a chicory and orange salad. There were artichokes, grilled peppers, pate and Burgundy.

Then it was about 5pm and we lit the Barbeque on which we obviously has some excellent chipolates, halloumi (no bbq complete with out) and corn cob. The absolute stars of the day however were the british asparagus, which we rubbed with butter salt and pepper and put on until warmed through and a beautiful steak from my favorite butchers, Godfreys. It saw a couple of minutes each side and we left it to rest while the blood started to bead on the top. One of the most perfect food days ever.

Chicken Tagine

2010-05-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

Easy as pie. Although, pies aren’t actually that easy, especially if you’re planning on making your own pastry. So easy as stew, which is technically what I did here.

This was really quite quick and very enjoyable. Great I think if you have people round last minute.

I rolled the chicken legs and thighs in some of the spices and browned them in the pan a couple at a time. The in the same pan, fry onion until softened then add garlic, ginger, paprika, cumin, tumeric and cinnamon. Then add stock, some fruit (dates here), rinsed kalamata olives, Harissa paste, honey, preserved lemons if you can, bring to the boil and add the chicken again. Simmer for about and hour, maybe a bit longer. Then at the end I bunged a l load of herbs in it and served with couscous.

I love the fragrant spices with the meat and the sweetness the sauce takes on from the fruit. I can’t imagine that this isn’t really healthy either which is a bonus.

Braised Squid

2010-05-30T05:51:00.000-07:00

I ate a St John Bread & Wine a few months ago and possibly the best dish I had there was the wine braised cuttlefish. I could get any cuttlefish so I bought some squid. Which I marinated with garlic, lemon rind and oil over night, probably unnecessary but I did it regardless. Then I fried off some chorizo and lots of sweet red onions. When they had softened I added garlic, dried chilli, two anchovy fillets, paprika, lemon zest and juice, seasoned well with salt pepper and some sugar. Then threw in about half a bottle of red wine. I put it in the oven for about three hours on a really low heat. Added at the last minute capers and lots of parsley. The fish was cooked perfectly but I wasn’t entirely happy with the consistency of the sauce, which was still pretty watery. Next time I’ll probably leave the lid off and/or dice some potatoes. I really want the sauce to be quite sticky and dark. It was really tasty however and great with some crusty toasted bread.

I also served it with some stuffed aubergines. I halved, removed the flesh and boiled these in water for about half and hour. then stuffed then layered them in a gratin dish on top of a spicy tomato sauce. Filled them with fried onions, the flesh, garlic, spinach and feta. Then topped with bread crumbs and parmesan.

Rib Eye with Rainbow Chard

2010-05-05T04:21:00.003-07:00

I have been craving bloody red meat for about two weeks. I must be low in Iron or something. Anyway with a big steak, you don’t need potatoes, just something green and delicious. I sauteed the rainbow chard stalks and half an onion for a few minutes while the meat was resting. Then added a little chopped garlic, grated lemon rind, a little lemon juice, the Chard leafs, seasoned and cooked for 2 more minutes.

Eggs Benedict

2010-05-05T04:21:00.001-07:00

I’d actually never made hollandaise sauce before believe it or not. The eggs we bought for this had unbelievably dark and orange yolks which explains the colour of the sauce.

I have to say, I was worried this wasn’t working until I seasoned it and everything fell into place. It was a massive treat.

Tortilla

2010-05-05T04:20:00.000-07:00

Pre boiled the potatoes this time to create a layered gratin effect. Layered with sauteed onion and chorizo and baked in a cake tin.

Not enough egg. Work in progress.

Pizza

2010-05-05T04:19:00.001-07:00

Boys like pizza and when there is more than one (boy) staying at our house, I tend to make them. Maybe its the scale of it, a large pizza doesn’t look like it will run out and this makes them (the boys) feel safe.

I also really like to serve pizza as a starter when there are lots of people round for dinner. Assuming the dough has already been sorted the morning before.

Toppings:

Chorizo and Courgette

Artichoke, Parma ham & Capers

Quick Pasta Supper

2010-05-05T04:18:00.001-07:00

No time or inclination to leave the house and try to throw together anything more complicated than this. Its rapid prep is one of the reasons why people love pasta in this country. This took 15 minutes from opening my front door to sitting down at the table. Italian cooking is to me, ingrained in my cooking knowledge. The first type of food I cooked, like many I'm sure, was pasta sauces. Its such a good way of understanding seasoning and getting different flavours into food. I think once you’ve had a pop at a few dishes, you can just mix and match ingredients as you deem appropriate.

For this one I raided the fridge and larder (don’t have a larder, wish I did). We had egg, parmesan, courgette, spinach, shallots, a jar of artichokes and a glug of white wine to be equally shared between me and the frying pan.

As the pasta was cooking I gently fried the shallots and courgette. The pasta is nearly done, I added the artichoke and the glass of wine to the frying pan and seasoned as the alcohol cooked off. I added the spinach, drained the pasta and added to the frying pan and took off the heat. Then I added the grated parmesan and the beaten egg and tossed to make a creamy sauce (if I had cream, there would have been a splash).

Giant Lamb Chops with Feta and Lemon

2010-04-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

I’m pretty sure that this is a Nigel Slater recipe. I marinated lamb chops in lemon zest, chopped garlic, fresh thyme, a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil and seasoned. Then cooked them on each side so the fat was charred and they were still a little pink inside. I let the rest, dressed my salad leaves, used up the last of the pink coleslaw. Then crumbled feta and squeezed lemon over the lamb.

Tapas

2010-04-16T05:07:00.000-07:00

Alright, pink coleslaw isn’t strictly spanish. Dinner didn’t start off being tapas. I made the coleslaw, then took a look at all the rest of the ingredients and the sunny evening and decided that it would be kind of spanish.

So I made Chorizo Patatas Bravas which involved roasting or deep frying cubed potatoes and making a spicy chorizo tomato sauce to pour over.

Found some langoustine at the supermarket and snapped them up. I fried them in a skillet with garlic butter for a few minutes then put a glass of white wine and popped them under the grill to finish them off. I’ve never had langoustine before not over cooked, they were so sweet, I cannot stress how gorgeous the meat was.

Also made a bread and tomato salad with some stale bread, chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil leaves, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper.

Breakfast

2010-04-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

Sausages with caramelised red onions in a baguette and tea.

Its all gravy

2010-04-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

I found myself boasting the other day that it had been 2 years since I was sick last... 6 hours later I came down, very dramatically (fainted) with a bug. Its been exhausting, made me feel like crap, I even had to take off work to get better and was wracked with guilt. The night after it broke I only wanted mash potato, green vegetables, chicken and gravy. So this is what we had.

Feta & Courgette fritters

2010-04-16T04:45:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly the best thing ever. I was Introduced to this Gilbeys step mum. Its actually a turkish disk called Mucver, which is fairly appropriate because my grandfather was actually turkish. So its in the blood, I was meant to eat it. Basically you can have this at anytime of the day and it will always taste timely, Barny had it the following morning for breakfast.

Grate two courgettes, salt and leave them in a sieve to drip for half an hour, this removes the water. Then finely dice a shallot and 4 spring onions. Add quite a bit of thyme, some parsley, mint, a teaspoon of ground coriander, two beaten eggs, season and three table spoons of plain flour. Mix together and then crumble in the feta cheese.

You either shallow or deep fry the fritters. Shallow fry and they look like patties like mine or deep fry and dollop them into balls.

I had mine with corn cob, chutney, salad leaves and sour cream.

Tacos.

2010-04-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

I am developing an obsession with Mexican food and I want to nail the basics. I thought tacos would be a good place to start because you can put whatever in them. I made a guacamole, with the usual lemon, chilli, some grated garlic, salt & pepper. Then a salsa (which incidentally was so much better the day after) with chilli, red onion, tomato flesh, garlic, cucumber, mint, parsley and lime juice. Then I prepped the tacos, I couldn’t find any corn tacos so I bought flour tortillas and (wasteful) cut them into smaller circles then dry fried them on each side and laid them folded so they kept their shape.

The tricky bit was frying the chicken so that it tasted seasoned in the right way. I mixed pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, ground coriander, paprika, salt, grated red chilli and garlic, then a little tomato flesh and tomato puree and fried until it was all pretty dry on the outside but the chicken strips were still moist.

Served with cheese, rice, lettuce and sour cream with everything on the table so we could make our own.

Good Idea

2010-04-16T04:11:00.000-07:00

This is a great food blog, Food Stories. One of the things I like about it is she’s a witty writer. I kinda feel that when I look back at some of my posts that a lot of them have a back-from-the-summer-holidays-and-writing-a-story-in-my-jotter-for-primary-school quality about them. The other thing I love about her blog is that she writes about sandwiches and burgers. I god damn love good sandwiches and I cannot think of anytime in my life when I haven’t picked up a menu and though “yep, I could definitely eat the burger”.

Anyway a great idea that I thoroughly enjoyed was a soft boiled egg and hot butter soldiers with anchovies squished in on them.

Thai Prawn Curry

2010-03-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Note the naff Thai restaurant style sugar-bowl-come-rice-mould.

Roast Chicken, Fennel and Orange Salad

2010-03-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

I’m not good at salads, I’m not entirely sure how they work, but we’ve been eating so much lately I needed something relatively healthy. The fennel and orange were really good together and the salty crispy chicken made me feel like it was half substantial. The best bit though were the crispy croutons which were bits of ciabatta that I rolled and browned in the chicken juices. This salad may encourage me to eat more salads.

Italian Sandwiches

2010-03-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

A very tasty sandwich. I rubbed garlic onto each slice of ciabatta, then olive oil, the laid basil leaves, italian salami, parmesan, capers, salad leaves and mayonnaise. It annoys me that you can't get a good sandwich like this on every street corner. The food/lunch options in the area that I work in is so very dire.

Pork Tenderloin with Cider, Mustard and Mushroom Sauce and Celeriac Mash.

2010-03-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

Dover Sole With Caper Brown Buttter

2010-03-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Bought this Dover Sole from the fisherman’s hut on the beach in Aldeburgh. It was so fresh. I rubbed it with salt and pepper, cover with flour and shook off the excess. Then pan fried it with some of butter I’d clarified. I fried it for about 3 minutes on each side then left it to rest while I did the sauce. For the sauce I put the rest of the clarified butter in a sauce pan with parsley, a squeeze of lemon and some capers and cooked it until it went a darker colour and tasted nutty. Served it with crushed potatoes and sliced courgette.

Lamb Shank Ragu and Bronze Drawn Spaghetti

2010-03-30T04:08:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned before I finally found the spaghetti I’ve been on the hunt for. Its made by pushing the pasta through a bronze die rather than the smooth plastic one. This makes it perfect for a saucey pasta dish as the sauce sticks to every bit of the spahetti making it an altogether more saucy experience.

Anyhoo. I wanted to do some kind of tomato sauce but thought spahetti bolognaise would be a bit of a cop out. So i bougth two lamb shanks from the butchers in Aldebrugh. I browned them in a hot hot pan, then added them to my ragu sauce which had just started bubbling away and left it like that for 3 1/2 hours. The ragu sauce was onion, celery, garlic, thyme and rosemary, softened. Diced mushrooms and pancetta. Tinned tomatoes, glass of water and a glass of wine (which is used to deglaze the pan the shanks were sealed in).

I let it all bubble away for three hours, then flaked the delicious meat from the bone, added it back to the sauce and let it reduce down. The result was a sticky, meaty savory sauce which stuck to the pasta perfectly, which stuck to our ribs and sent us to sleep. It was a triumph.

Holiday Snaps

2010-03-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

As the business is still relatively new, we have to take really short breaks, as and when we can. We’ve just come back from a 5 day break in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. We hunkered down in Barny’s granny’s amazing Shrimp Cottage, which is about 10 paces away from the sea front, 20 paces away from a fishermans hut and surrounded by amazing deli’s and farm shops. We arrived with a box of different wines from Majestic, a bag of DVD's and cooking supplies. We ate, slept, scrabbled and drank fine wine for 5 days.

Chicken Shack Boogie

2010-03-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Its no secret that The Chicken and The Egg blog likes an egg or two. Although I probably didn’t realise just how much that was until looking back at the posts. Anyhoo. There doesn’t seem to be enough said about the humble chicken and I’m not the only person who has noticed.

Enter Gavin from Get Involved blog. Get Involved is the brain child of Pie Man (i refer to his pie making skills) and DJ, Gavin Lucas. He also co-runs an amazing monthly rock, roll, soul, funk, rhythm and blues night, ‘Gerry’s Joint’ at The Boogaloo in Highgate London.

He has taken the time to put together a group of songs about the chicken, named ‘Chicken Shack Boogie’ and has decided to exclusively make said compilation available on The Chicken and Egg Blog for free download. Very exciting. Oh and if you are wondering who did the amazing artwork, that’d be Roo. Extremo talent and also co-promoter of Gerry’s Joint. Here follows the tracklisting and the link. Enjoy your chicken.

http://getinvolvedclub.com/Chicken%20Shack%20Boogie.zip

Chicken Shack Boogie
1. Chicken Grabber - The Nite Hawks
2. Chicken Necks - Don & Juan
3. Chicken Shack Boogie [No. 1] - Amos Milburn
4. Chicken Out - Wayne Carroll
5. Let's Do It (The Chicken Scratch) - Jimmy McCracklin
6. Chicken Shack - Fat Daddy Holmes
7. Chicken Walk - Hasil Adkins
8. Chicken Reel Stomp - Tune Wranglers
9. I Chickened Out - Kenny Loran
10. Chicken - Devendra Banhart
11. C-H-I-C-K-E-N - Tom Paxton
12. Do The Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas
13. Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens - Louis Jordan
14. Momma Stole The Chicken - Billy Bland
15. Chicken, Baby, Chicken - Tony Harris
16. Chicken Payback - The Bees
17. Chicken Back - Bobby Comstock
18. Chicken Shack Boogie [No. 2] - Amos Milburn
19. Chicken Strut - The Meters

Bubble & Squeak

2010-03-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

Made this with left over crushed new potatoes and peas. Made a patty type affair with the potatoes and pea's and fried. The trick is not to touch it more than twice (one to put it in the frying pan, second time to flip) for fear of it falling apart.
Actually making use of leftovers is a buzz. I have a bowls of things that lurch at the back of my fridge for weeks on end that never get eaten and morph into unidentified food - the fridge monsters.

Rich Pickings

2010-03-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

Got carried away in the food hall at selfridges with cheese etc on my day off. Finally found the pasta that I have been looking for all over london, which is a spaghetti that is drawn through a bronze die. It makes the surface rough and subsequently sauce really sticks to it. I'm going to do a whole separate post about this.

After a getting back from town, we went to the butchers in Highbury to pick up a ham joint so I could honey glaze it. This butchers is really good. Check out the website. They really know their meat.

Dinner was a house picnic of bread, the ham, the cheese, watercress and carrot salads, left over salsa verde and wine. Hello spring.

Mexican Breakfast

2010-03-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

One of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. Its consisted of a tortilla (fried in lard), a tomato and chilli sauce, fried egg (in lard), refried beans, avocado and grated cheese. For a good mexican breakfast everything needs to be made with lard and thus, tastes delicious.

Green Kitchen

2010-03-15T03:57:00.000-07:00

I adore fish, but I don’t get to eat that much because Barny is scared of bones and thinks he doesn’t like it. Until he actually eats it and realises that he does like it, but that then falls away from his memory two days later and he’s back to hating. I think he must have been attacked by a roll mop or something when he was a baby.

Anyway I made a salsa verde which I decided to chop by hand, which is therapeutic, but messy, it turned the kitchen green. I love salsa verde, its so fricking tasty. We served the panfried Mackerel fillets (I had to gut myself, first time I’ve done that, yuck) with crushed potatoes and pea’s. Very very tasty.

Confit Duck and Blood Orange Sauce

2010-03-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Its not that I don’t/can’t confit my own duck, I bet I could, if I tried... and I will one day, for sure, I hate the idea of not doing something from scratch. Its just that the whole process takes a while, costs a hell of a lot and those people in france do it so well by popping it in those pretty jars and tins that I wouldn’t want to mess with their thing. So yeah another quick dinner. I just haven’t had a moment to cook lately because of all the work, its all soups and quick meals, what a drag. We’ve a little holiday coming up though, which has the potential to be a cooking extravaganza... its by the coast.

This is just the duck confit, with lil’ roast potatoes, cooked in the duck fat with rosemary, with a red wine and blood orange sauce. T’was gooood.

Quick sticks

2010-03-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

Caulipower

2010-03-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

As I sit here in the shop writing up this post, its a saturday morning, I am sleep deprived, under nourished and wondering what happened last night. What I need right now is to be at home, hooked up to a drip, in my PJ’s, watching when Harry Met Sally, playing with a puppy and eating this Cauliflower Soup.

Ahh soup, so easy, sooo good. Onion, garlic and celery softened, a caulifower, chicken stock, salt, pepper and an old parmesan rind. All boiled until cauliflower is cooked, then blended until velvety (including rind).

I made some parmesan crisps to go with it and also fried fresh rosemary for crunchy bits.

Gavin's Pie!

2010-03-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

I promised nearly two months ago to post a picture of a pie my friend and newly established pie guru made. So here it is. I’m pretty sure it was a Ale and Mushroom pie and yes I think the product placement in the background is very deliberate. Can we have our free landlord beer please?

Root Veg Gratin

2010-03-04T10:20:00.000-08:00

Pancetta, Kale, Mushroom & Fennel Seed

2010-03-03T05:03:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe that I’d like to say I ‘invented’ (get me) before this blog started, its super quick, everything happens at the end when the pasta is done.

We were so tired from an antiques fair last night that it had to be something easy and comforting and often a big bowl of pasta is the only answer. I fry mushroom and pancetta for a few minutes while the pasta is boiling away (I also added Courgette to this one) then when the pancetta is starting to colour I add a bit more olive oil and fry the fennel seeds for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic and fry a little more. Then a large glass of wine a tiny bit of lemon juice, I throw in the cooked pasta and a bit of the pasta water at the end, season and let the flavors cook into the pasta. Its a quite a brothy dish but really nice if you want something not too saucy.

Roast Pork - Black Pudding and apple gratin.

2010-03-03T04:59:00.000-08:00

I set out to make the ultimate roast dinner on Sunday evening to celebrate that I was not working. Honestly, the pork let it down. I missed the good butchers and Barny had to go to Sainsbury’s and as a result, it wasn’t as tasty as it could have been. The crackling however, was spot on. I was very proud. All the veg were great too.

We had roasted beetroot, which was roasted in foil for 2 hours and then peeled, and fried with garlic and thyme for a couple of minutes.

Also had Cavolo Nero, carrots, roast potatoes and a cider gravy.

Most importantly, I roasted the pork on a bed of sliced apple and black pudding, seasoned with salt, pepper, sage and butter. It worked beautifully taste wise, but was a bit of a mush when it came out. Next time intend to make this in a little gratin dish.

Upside Down Pom Bears = Waving bunnies.

2010-02-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

Black Pudding

2010-02-26T03:55:00.000-08:00

I bought some last week from the fancy butchers in Highbury, made some for breakfast this morning and made a mental note to go out and buy twenty more and do some experimenting, so watch this space.

This is black pudding a la breakfast, on toast with a poached egg, some wilted spinach and mum’s green tomato chutney (which I really need to do a post about, its so good).

Completely unnecessary, but look at this poached egg. This makes me so happy, it looks so good!

Mayonnaise, Guacamole & Le saucisson, les haricots, Pomme Frites de le et la mayonnaise

2010-02-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

I’m not embarrassed to say on this blog that last night we had sausage, chips & beans. So very not embarrassed that I wrote it in French. We had been up at antiques fair at 4am that morning and sometimes when you are tired you need to eat food that your mum cooked when you were 10. It was really good.

I also debuted the mayonnaise last night, which I still need to perfect. I know its not that hard. We also had some guacamole with some tortillas when we got in as a pre ‘dinner’ snack.

Gilbey Gilbey Day & The East Indian Firework Company

2010-02-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

Today was Gilbey’s birthday. I didn’t see him until Dinner when he came round for a birthday treat. Before he did, we went for a little walk to Highbury Barn and bought some wine from Highbury Vinters to go with a blue cheese that Barny had bought the day before from Broadway Market (gorgonzola we think). It was an Argentinean Malbec.

Then I started on Gilbey’s Pavlova, which was easy enough, but I had 3 egg yolks left so decided to make garlic mayonnaise..... WHICH WAS NOT EASY, IT TOOK AN HOUR! After I finished, I had been holding the electric whisk for so long that I was actually electronically charged and was sparking off anything in the flat that would conduct.

Anyhoo, the mayonnaise tasted ok I think, I’ll make something tomorrow that can be eaten with it.

Then I started on the main, which was Spiced Lamb Cutlets and Saag Aloo. Lamb cutlets are such a treat. Worth the money, I toasted cumin and coriander seeds then mixed with garlic, salt, pepper and oil and rubbed all over the meat. Then made the potato and spinach curry with Garam Masala, onion, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, ginger and garlic.

Gilbey named it The East Indian Firework Company.

Breakast

2010-02-21T05:01:00.000-08:00

Courgette, Pancetta and tomato on toast with parmesan and unfortunately no egg. Had already started it when I realised I didn’t have an egg to poach on top. Still yummy though, I’m a big fan of courgette for breakfast, especially with feta.

Risotto (again).

2010-02-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

No time to cook a big meal after returning from Lancaster with my Mum. So (with big hangovers) we nursed a gooey bowl of healing mushroom, squash & pancetta risotto, a glass of wine and watched Masterchef (of course).

Dining alone.

2010-02-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

Cooking dinner for one is a pretty lonesome activity. It means you definitely can't go to town and for me almost definitely means no meat. I decided to use the good penne I had bought at the Deli in Aldeburgh a few weeks ago. Always when you make a pasta dish for one, no matter how careful you portion it, you inevitably make too much, tell yourself you’ll have the rest for lunch tomorrow and then eat it around 27 minutes later.

Which is why I decided to tuck into the penne. I still had some smoked salmon left so decided to make a Carbonara. I used 1 egg, a big splash of cream, a handful of parmesan and pepper for the sauce part of the dish. That all gets stirred in at the end of cooking, when the pasta is off the heat (so the eggs don’t scramble) and while it still retains a small part of cooking water. Courgette was fried with thyme and the smoked salmon got torn and stirred in when the sauce was coming together.

7 minutes after finishing I returned for the second half.

LOVEly day.

2010-02-16T04:32:00.000-08:00

We both worked for valentines day. It actually worked out well because it meant we could go out for food the next night without having to share our evening with billions of other couples. So we celebrated valentines breakfast with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. Then in the evening Barny had booked a table at St John Bread & Wine on Commercial Rd.

It was such a good choice, its kind of like a british Tapas. Everything was incredible and made from unusual cuts of meat, but cooked to absolute perfection. I was far too busy enjoying the food to remember to take pictures of it until we'd nearly finished.

The highlight for me was the breaded lamb cheek. Its was like some kind of Lamb escalope, the meat inside was pink but falling apart like it had been braised, but it was so moist. We also had a perfect slice of pork pie and piccalilli, a cuttlefish stewed with onions and lemon and (mouth melting) mutton chops. Everything was just perfect. I cannot recommend it more highly.

The only problem was I didn’t want it to end, I could have stayed there eating all night.

Recent Eats

2010-02-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

Well I’ve been busy working like a dog lately. In the shop Tuesday to Sunday and then I’ve picked up a couple of shifts a week at a nice pub in Stokey for extra pocket money too, incidentally the food there looks great. So there hasn’t been much time for cooking. The meatballs were the same batch from a previous post I stored in the freezer.

The second dish was deeelicious. Roxy came round and we needed to eat comforting but healthy and I was adamant that it had to have an egg on top. So in a wok I fried off some shallots, garlic, ginger and cavelo nero. Added a little garam masala. Added cooked balsmati rice and stir fried for a little while. Then added smoked mackerel, diced tomato flesh, coriander, spring onion, light soy sauce and the juice of a lime. Then seasoned well and fried an egg for the top, which made my day (or week, or possibly year). So easy and quick I will be doing this again and again.

Lancashire Hotpot

2010-02-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Wild Rice & Halloumi

2010-02-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Went to an amazing deli today in Aldeburgh called Lawsons. They do great cheese, plus almost everything else you could ever want from a food shop, including Wild Rice.

We had it for dinner with Halloumi and a hot tomato and butternut squash chutney compote type of thing. You have to cook the rice for a long time. I did it in some chicken stock too, then at the last minute stirred in some greens. The compote thing was olive oil, sliced shallot, some cumin seeds, tomatoes, garlic, wine and a teeny tiny splash of white wine vinegar. I put in cubes of squash and then loads of water to cook the squash, then let it reduce down to a jammy consistency and squeezed some lemon juice over it.

The Week of no food and my ultimate weird combination.

2010-01-30T05:03:00.000-08:00

It really does upset me when I don’t have a chance to cook. My reasons for this are three fold. 1. Food goes off. 2. I feel like I haven’t eaten properly. 3. I feel like I haven’t had any time for myself. I genuinely cook to relax and it bums me out when I can’t.

This week I haven’t cooked because. Tuesday - went round for more delicious haggis at my big bro’s house. It was amazing. Wednesday - I would have been cooking for one as Barny wasn’t around so I ended up going out and ‘eating’ a bottle of wine. Thursday - Surprise birthday party at a friends house. Friday - working. Saturday - working. Sunday - Birthday Dinner in Suffolk. (n.b. a hell of a lot of birthdays going on in January)

So what can I write about. Well it dawned on me that I haven’t shared my favorite toast topping. For me, you cannot beat the hot, yeasty, sugary topping that is:

HONEY & MARMITE

I kid you not. With the right amount of butter (don’t even continue reading if you’re a margarine person), a layer of Marmite and a layer of Honey its the best combination you never thought you’d like. Try it.

Day Off

2010-01-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

I put a little bit of ground cinnamon in with the egg mix for the french toast and streaky bacon. This would not have tasted as good if it wasn’t for the half pint of maple syrup, the cinnamon and syrup made it particularly wintery.

I also made a pizza, on it went porcini mushrooms and spinach. Obviously made with my pizza sauce and some creamy mozzarella. I make pizza bases in big baches then freeze them and I've recently discovered that the best way to cook them in the oven is on a upside down roasting pan. An oven will never be as hot as the wood burners in a pizzeria, so you need to cook it from the bottom as much as you do from the top. The best way is to heat the upside down metal roasting pan in the oven, sprinkle with flour, put your pizza on and then pop in the (really hot oven).

I didn’t cook that night as we went out for Haggis for Burns’ night and a friends birthday. The conclusion is I LOVE HAGGIS and next year I intend to have a go at making my own.

Meatballs

2010-01-22T03:57:00.000-08:00

Had some friends for dinner last night but I didn’t have time to start cooking until about 7ish. I decided to make spaghetti and meat balls, not massively refined but they were very tasty and I even got a quote for the blog from Justin: "These meatballs are really f*&!%ng good and you can quote me on that". Which was nice.

The meatballs were a mixture of pork and beef, with lots of herbs, egg, breadcrumbs, shallot and smoked paprika. The sauce was going for about and hour and a half. Celery, shallot and carrot very finely diced and softened for 20 mins. Then wine, tinned tomatoes, water, sugar, salt pepper and finely diced mushrooms. Then I coloured the meatballs in a frying pan, chucked them in with the sauce and let them cook through. At the last minute stirred in basil and spinach. Served it in a big dish in the middle of the table so everyone could help themselves to more.

Risotto

2010-01-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

I so enjoyed this risotto and I wish that I had a camera to do it justice. I had a load of leftover roast chicken in the fridge, dried woodland mushrooms and a butternut squash. I rehydrated the mushrooms for an hour then drained and squeezed out the excess. Boiled the butternut squash. Once it was cooked, put it through a moule, seasoned, added butter and then squeezed through a sieve to make a puree. Then made risotto the usual way, stirred in the chicken and the mushrooms 5 mins before the rice was done. Then loads of parmesan, butter and yeah as you can see served with a blob of sweet and silky butternut squash puree on top which mellowed the earthy-ness of the mushrooms and chicken.

Day Off

2010-01-18T05:28:00.000-08:00

and what a day it was, lots of The Antiques Roadshow and food. I am stuffed.

Feta Hash Brown, (cook hash brown normally, then in the last 5 minutes crumble feta and fold over to melt). We had it with crispy streaky honey drenched bacon and a poached egg.

Thai Curry Paste for the freezer: Green chilli’s, shallots, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, kafir lime leaves, fish sauce, ground corriander, ground cumin, paprika, chopped coriander stalks, sweet basil, oil, galangal, kitchen sink, limes & black pepper.

Reblochon cheese, salami and wine.

Udon Noodles, with a hot dressing of mirin, wasabi, chilli, garlic, ginger and soy (plus a pinch of sugar). Its was served hot (and probably too spicy - too much chilli) with pak choy, edamame beans, spring onion, nori seaweed strips and lovely pink pickled ginger.

Its not exciting but it is food.

2010-01-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

and this is a food blog after all. Its been a hectic week, so not as much (exciting) cooking as usual. Its all going to start again tomorrow. Promise.

Dinner for 4

2010-01-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Rolled shoulder of lamb, stuffed with feta, lemon zest, parsley, oregano, garlic, black olives & bay. Cooked slowly for 4 hours with a load of red wine. I lost the other photo’s, but it got served with new potatoes baked in chicken stock and thyme & lemony courgettes.

Herby Chicken, Creamed Kale & Salisfy

2010-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

I’ve never eaten or cooked Salisfy before. Its a root covered in dirt and it looks like something Ray Mears digs out of the ground and tells you is full of nutrition but actually just tastes like soil. Thankfully salisfy is delicious. We had it roasted in oil, garlic and a bit of ground coriander. Its sweet and creamy and there wasn’t anywhere near enough.

I’ve also accidently bought two huge bags of oregano the other day so I made a very herby (oregano, bay, fennel seeds etc) crust for chicken breasts in a bid to use them up.

Curly Kale is probably one of the best vegetables in the world.

Teamwork Bolognese

2010-01-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

Barny doesn’t cook, its suits me this way for obvious reasons. The few times he has cooked its been a success, which is probably why I don’t encourage him to do it more. Yesterday afternoon, I sat in the shop I wrote out some very detailed instructions for him on how to get the Bolognese started so that it has had long enough to bubble away before dinner last night. When I got home I was greeted with the best version of bolognese I’ve ever had. Not only was it intensely savory, the colour of it was treacle burgundy and although it carried the tang of a tomato based sauce, it did not really resemble anything I’ve had before. It probably wasn't very Italian. While we inhaled it we dissected the main points that attributed to it being so awesome.

1. Soffritto Anise - As usual we slowly softened the onion, carrot and celery in a pan. But this time, a-la-Blumenthal we crushed a little corner of Star Anise and added this and the other herbs, bay & oregano to it. For some reason fried onions and Star Anise takes meat to another level. Only the tiniest bit though.

2. Dried woodland mushrooms - After rehydrating the mushrooms in a mug of boiled water, the water was reserved. This dark and smoky mushroom water was added to the meat, soffritto, tinned toms and red wine. So 50% mushroom water and wine, 50% tomatoes.

3. Almost burnt meat - The mince was cooked in a separate very hot pan before it got added to the soffritto and I told Barn to let it really colour by not moving it so that the meat caramelised, he let it do that nearly to the point of too much, but it gave it a really good flavour.

4. At least 3 hours - It needs to cook for aaaages. As soon as it starts to look dry pop a glass of water in it. Oh check seasoning every hour.

I only have the pictures from when I got in and it didn’t hang around for long.

Day Off

2010-01-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

The shop is closed on a monday, its our only day off together, so we spend most of it eating. Breakfast is wilted spinach, with mashed boiled egg and chilli piled on seedy bread with loads of olive oil. He has two boiled eggs, soldiers and a cup of joe.

A swiss way of Rarebit

2010-01-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

I have considered and amalgamated the best parts of the following two points into a breakfast cheese rarebit moment.

1. I like fondue, I like the cloud of Gruyere stink that happens to a room when there’s a fondue going on.

2. Everyone likes melted cheese and everyone loves cheese on toast.

Grate gruyere cheese and another cheese, like emmental. Gently fry onion and garlic in a small amount of butter and oil in a small pan. In a bowl mix together an egg, the cheese, dijion mustard. I put the mix in the small pan with the onion and garlic and a small teacup cup of vermouth (white wine good too). Keep on a low heat so the egg doesn’t scramble and stir until smooth.

Spread on some good quality bread and put under the grill to brown.

Breakfast Frittata

2010-01-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Breakfast is important. After 9 hours of sleep, I’ve technically been fasting, some people can’t think about food and eating in the morning, I find this ludicrous.

Sunday morning in January, the start of the year, the start of the month, we still haven’t done a shop and I therefore decide to use up all the ingredients we do have. Eggs being one of them. Spinach, onion, chilli, a sausage and new potatoes being the rest.

The trick to frittata is to use waxy potatoes. You need to use the right sized frying pan, one thats not too big so that the frittata is deep, like cake. After you’ve cooked the sliced new potatoes in the stock and its all evaporated, the oil goes in with the onions to fry, as does red chilli, and whatever ingredients your fridge is willing to surrender.

Then goes in the beaten, seasoned eggs and spinach. Its topped with parmesan, cooked on the hob from the bottom, then pop under the grill to cook the rest of the way through from the top. It will brown in places and some of the Parmesan and spinach will go crispy, this is good. I eat it hot with some of my mums Green Tomato Chutney. You should eat the rest cold three hours later for lunch or however many hours you can hold out.

My kitchen herb drying line

2010-01-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

When I get chilli’s and herbs fresh I rarely use all of them in one go. The window above my sink gets all the sun and to avoid them rotting in the fridge I use it to hang them out to dry. Its particularly useful for the chilli’s when a dish calls for a bit of heat. Plus it looks like year through christmas decorations.

Pizza Sauce

2010-01-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

Its nothing particularly revolutionary but every time I make it people comment on it. Its very rich and savory you’d hardly need cheese. This isn’t the war though, no need to ration, do the cheese.

Heat a frying pan and into it add olive oil, add chopped garlic, basil stalks, some sprigs of thyme or rosemary and a couple of bay leafs. Don’t let the garlic brown. Allow the ingredients in the pan to flavour the oil then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, hopefully the oil will start to fry the tomatoes slightly around the outside of the pan. For some reason this makes it taste really good. Then give it a stir so that the whole thing is mixed and it will start to simmer. I add some balsamic, to take the edge of the tomatoes. Salt, pepper and some white wine if you have it to hand. Then turn it right down and leave it to reduce. It gets to a compote consistency with large chunks of tomato, something you can spread that isn’t watery. Sometimes when its reduced I add a cup of water and reduce again. Whether this has any bearing on intensifying all the flavours I don’t know, but I do it anyway.