Root vegetable cake, kale with blue cheese dressing, roast tomatoes

Saw something similar on Nigel Slater - he grated a load of root vegetables and used it as a crumble on a steak pie... and had loads of root veg from the box, so I thought I'd adapt it and give it a go.

knob of butter
splosh of olive oil
2 onions
garlic
2 potatoes
2 parsnips
2 carrots
1 celeriac
1 tbsp grainy mustard
juice of 1 lemon
grating of nutmeg
lots of black pepper

olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
chopped kale
blue cheese

tomatoes
salt
olive oil

1.  Grate ingredients for the root vegetable cake.
2.  Fry them in olive oil and butter until they're a bit soft.
3.  Add garlic, mustard, nutmeg and seasoning.
4.  Transfer to oven proof dish and bake for about an hour at 180.
5.  Chop tomatoes and chuck into oven, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil.
6.  10 minutes before serving, sautee onion until a bit soft- toss in choppde kale, add splash of water - cover and steam for about 5 minutes.
7.  Add cheese, recover, let steam and melt.  Stir in.

Sharon fruit and pomegranate chili and ginger jam

Sharon fruit?  Pomegranate?  I really am not a fruit expert.  I know I "should" eat more of it, but it doesn't come naturally to me.  OK, if you eat puddings, chop it up and have a fruit salad, in lots of combinations... but I don't eat pudding more than once a month.  So here I am with 3 sharon fruit and 3 pomegranates, what to do?  Lots of snuffling in the house as well, so a good faff in the kitchen mucking about with stuff kind of a Saturday, so I though chutney... and then I though again.. chili jam!

2 smallish onions, finely chopped
olive oil
3 sharon fruits
2 pomegranates
dried rosemary
gralic, crushed - at elast 4 cloves, more if you like it garlicky
ginger - also crushed - about a thumb sized piece, but to taste
chili flakes (about 1 tsp)
granulated sugar (about 250g)
cider vinegar
splosh of red wine
juice of 1 lime
juice of 2 oranges
water

1. Sautee onion in olive oil.
2.  Add chopped sharon fruit and pomegranate buds (well, whatever they are -- the bobbles, cut pomegranate in half and squeeze the sweet kernels into the pan, squeeze in juice of 1 lime.
3. Sprinkle a little dried rosemary in.  Stir, and gently sautee.
4.  Add garlic, ginger, chili paste, sugar and vinegar.  Simmer.  don't let t dry out.
5.  Taste - I added orange juice and simmered again for a bit.
6.  spoon a bit onto a cold plate, and taste when it cools down a bit.  adjust seasoning to taste.
7.  Put into jars.

Eat with cheese/ cold meats.

Warming kale and mushroom casserole with leek mash

Needed comfort food.  Got comfort food.  It was good for us too.  You don't need the parmesan - I just had some left, it added a nice savoury edge.

The mash
olive oil
1 leek
1/2 celeriac
3 largish potatoes
knob of butter
tablespoon of parmesan

The Casserole

olive oil
1 onion
Crushed garlic
6 big mushrooms
5 tomatoes
red wine
italian herbs
Kale
Tin of chickpeas

1.  Saute leek in olive oil, it can go a little caramelised around the edges.
2.  Peel and chop into 1 inch chunks the celeriac and potatoes.  Boil in salted water until mashable.  Drain, mash, add seasoning, leeks, cheese and butter.  Put into hot oven to crisp up the top.
3.  Saute onion in olive oil, add chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic.  Soften a little - splosh in red wine and add herbs.  Simmer.
4.  Chuck in chopped kale and a little water or stock.  Then tin of drained chickpeas.  There should be enough liquid in the pan to let if cook without catching, but not so that it is swimming in it.
5.  Bung it in the oven with the potato.
6.  Wait 20 minutes.  Take out of oven, scoff.

Delicious, really warming, really filling, does you loads of good.

Pasta puttanesco

It's not authentic, but it is quick and very tasty.  Tonight we had a nightmare with trains so didn't get in through the front door until 9:20.  We were sitting down to eat this at 9:40.  I decided to pep it up with anchovies and miss out the chili this time.

Olive oil
Gluten free pasta
leek, chopped and washed
2 plum tomatoes, diced
handful of olives, roughly chopped
small handful of capers, roughly chopped
crushed garlic
About 6 anchovy fillets, chopped.
Parmesan, freshly ground

1.  Put the pasta on, cook according to packet instructions.
2.  Sautee leek in lots of good olive oil.
3.  Add diced tomatoes.  Stir in and chuck in olives and capers.
4.  About 2 minutes before serving, stir through anchovies - they don't need to cook, just warm through.  I like them to retain little punchy pockets of flavour rather than it be evened out over the whole dish, in this recipe.
5.  Drain pasta,  stir into the sauce.
6.  Serve with big grinding of black pepper ad freshly grated parmesan.

Butter bean and romanesco curry with mixed rice

I love romanesco, but we have had quite a lot of it recently.  Which is not a surprise because it is in season.  However, I didn't fancy doing the "usual" things which are roman cauliflower or a cheese sauce - os I thought I'd bung it in curry.  It was lovely.  The butter beans stayed whole and their gentle flavour came through the spicy sauce.



Rice - red, basmati and wild

Olive oil
1 leek, chopped and washed
1 romanesco, broken into florets
3 carrots, peeled and diced
garlic, crushed
Curry mix .. this one claimed to be for chicken kebabs, but it could have been many - check that you like the sound of the spices
1 tin butter beans, drained
1 carton tomatoes
water

1.  Sautee leek in olive oil until a bit softenned.
2.  Put rice in cast iron casserole, cover with water to an inch over the surface of the rice.  Bring to the boil, then stick in a medium oven and ignore until the curry is ready.
3.  Add the romanesco, carrots, garlic and spice mix to the pan.  Soften for a couple of minutes then add some water and simmer.
4.  Chuck in the butter beans after about 10 minutes.
5.  Add passata and simmer for about another 10 minutes.  Add more water if it looks like it's going dry.
6.  Taste, season and taste
7.  Scoff

Veggie tapas

The new veg box comes tomorrow - which is great.  We have lots of veg left in the fridge - which is great.  The trick is to make nice dinners out of stuff which doesn't always immediately go together without just shouting stew, casserole, curry.... and chucking it in and hoping for the best.

Tonight, carribbean squash, balsamic roasted beetroot, spinach with nutmeg and parmesan, roasted heritage tomatoes, charred chicory .. all brought together with garlicky mustard yogurt dressing.  Yum.

Turn oven to 180C.

4 beetroot
2 red onions
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

1/2 decent sized squash, peeled and chopped into big bite sized pieces, seeds and middle stringy bit scraped out and discarded
carribean seasoning
olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced
2 big handfuls of spinach
olive oil
water
garlic
freshly grated nutmeg
black pepper
parmesan, grated

chicory
olive oil

tomatoes
olive oil
salt

natural yogurt
1 tbsp grainy mustard
crushed garlic
olive oil
lemon juice
seasoning

pine nuts

1.  In a roasting dish - put unpeeled beetroot, quartered red onion, a good splosh of olive oil.  Lid on - in the oven (will take about 90 minutes)
2.  Argue with the squash, battle it into pieces - I aim for about 2-3 cm cubes, but obviously the vegetable doesn't provide those proportions - so my best guideline is pieces which, in polite company, one would cut into two pieces before cramming into one's gob.  Put in roasting tin, sprinkle with carribbean seasoning (or mix of chili and herbs etc), toss about, cover (with foil if no lid).
3.  Have a sit down, ... cup of tea.. watch a soap.. for about 40 minutes
4.  Galvanise yourself, put tomatoes in an oven proof dish with splosh of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt.  Put dish in oven.
5.  Have another little sit down, listen to some nice music - about 20 minutes.
6.  Finely slice an onion and sautee gently in olive oil, after a few minutes chuck is chopped (or if baby spinach, just chuck it in) and washed spinach, allow to wilt for a minute, add a tiny splash of water to allow it all to wilt.
7.  Grate a little nutmeg (be careful with nutmeg, it can get medicinal) into the spinach, squish in garlic, grind in some black pepper, stir around, clamp on lid and steam for a bit.
8.  Check that the veg are ready... by sticking a sharp knife into the beetroot and squash, when they are nearly ready...
9.  Cut chicory into quarters, sear in a hot pan.
10.  Take the beetroot out of the oven, take its lid off, and let it cool down.  When it is cool enough, peel and chop into nice, bite sized pieces, and stir in balsamic vinegar.
11.  Actually, in the middle of step 10 - make the yogurty dressing... mix crushed garlic, grainy mustard, seasoning, yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning ... to taste (think of 1 tsp garlic, 2 tsp mustard, 6 tbsp yogurt, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp lemon juice.... but this really is to taste, so try as you go)
12.  Gently toast some pine nuts.  (If I hadn't burnt these, I would have spinckled them elegantly on the spinach).
13.  Present to appreciative crowd, and scoff

Easy "kedgeree"

I don't want to bleat on... but I have had a couple of bad days or so.  On the Sunday before we had this for tea I fell over on ice - people around me insisted it was a heavy frost, not ice, but it WAS ice... it was water, frozen and invisible on the pavement.. and I fell over.  Dramatically!  One minute I was upright, next I was on my back.  Luckily (hmphh) the dog broke my fall ... well the poor thing got squished under my arm for a milli-second as I fell - he did not provide a mattress in my minute of need.  So, I spent a day ouching, a second day unable to sit down for more than 10 minutes (it's always worse the day after with the bruising), then it has got gradually better.  I won't put a picture of it up here - you will be pleased to hear - but the bruise on my bum really was an insult to the underlying pain!

So, easy kedgeree:-

1 onion
oilve oil
1 turnip, peeled and diced
1 leek
rice
veg stock
malaysian fish curry mix (cos I have some, could be another spice mix)
1 pack of "fish pie" mix (cod, salmon, smoked haddock)
garlic
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
handful of frozen peas

1.  Sweat  chopped onion in olive oil.  About 3 minutes.
2.  Add chopped veg - could be a mixture - we had turnip and leek to use up.  About 2 minutes.
3.  Add rice and stir in, so that every grain is separate.  Chuck in the spice mix and tinned tomatoes and some stock/wine and simmer for a bit, don't let it get too dry, but don't swamp it.
4.  When the rice is "al dente" add in fish bits.  Leave them on top of the rice mixture and put on a lid to steam for about 5 minutes.
5.  Chuck in a handful of frozen peas, stir in.
6.  At this point you should be able to turn off the heat, clamp the lid down hard, and let the ricey mixture soak up the residual juice.

SCOFF. gloat

Roast mushrooms, lentil casserole and cabbage

The BEST thing in today's veg box .. 2 lovely field mushrooms ... delish.  So, kinda, sorta, stuffed mushrooms innit? but not quite.. It really is very simply roasted mushrooms with a lentil stew and some cabbage.  It was really, really easy.

onion
red pepper
garlic
olive oil
carrot
puy lentils
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
herbs


1. Start "ragu"/ stew by gently frying onions, and the adding veg... and some wine if you have it.
2. Add lentils or other beans (if they REALLY needed soaking you should have started this yesterday), simmer for a bit, add tomatoes, simmer again until done.
3. Stir fry chard with a sliver of garlic in olive oil.
4.  Steam cabbage.
5.  Grill mushrooms on both sides, with a drizzle of olive oil and a good grind of black pepper.

Turnip, potato and leek pie with greens - gluten free

 Well - I bought some lovely looking turnips (yes, I did write that) and was wondering what to do with them - and I thought I'd try some gluten free pastry - so, a few google moments later and I found this http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/05/30/turnip-leek-pie/ ... so spent the next 30 minutes wandering around the very interesting blog.

The pie, itself looked lovely, so I have adapted it a bit - but in essence I have stolen the leek, turnip, rosemary and cheddar idea - and added potatoes.  The pastry is made with gluten free flour - which makes it more difficult to handle - roll out on greaseproof paper so that you can lift it accross.

In order of what to do - start with the pastry, put it in the fridge while you start the filling, turn on the oven.  When the filling is ready, make the pie, put it in the oven, put tomatoes in at the same time - then prep and steam the vegetables.  It can then all be ready within an hour.

Pastry

About 125g gluten free flour
About 50g soya spread (I was going down the lactose free route, but then decided to add cheese.. could have been butter)
2 tbsp natural yogurt
pinch of salt
cold water - about 2 tbsp


Rub together fat and seasoned flour, turn into pastry with yogurt and cold water.  Wrap in cling film, and put in the fridge to rest.  When ready pull out of the fridge and roll out (treat it gently, it doesn't have the same resilience as wheat flour pastry) on floured (gluten free of course) greaseproof paper.

Filling

Olive oil
Chopped leek (1 big)
Peeled and diced turnip (1 big)
peeled and diced potato (3 medium/big)
garlic
white wine
dried rosemary (a tsp max)
grainy mustard
vegetable stock
cheddar cheese - grated (200g)
egg - beaten (for egg wash - could be milk)

Saute leek in olive oil, when a bit soft add turnip and garlic, and white wine, simmer for a little then add rosemary and potato and enough stock to simmer.   Stir in grainy mustard.  Simmer until veg is "al dente" (about 15 minutes) don't let it dry out but let it reduce away so that you can just transfer mixture to pie dish.  Top with cheese, and then layer over pastry.  Pierce a few times to let out steam and egg wash.

Bake at 180 for about 25 minutes.

I also chucked some cherry tomatoes in at the same time, with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of rock salt - they worked very well.

Steam chopped vegetables - cavolo nero and broccoli in this case.

Really, really nice.  Great to have the treat of a pie, whilst being entirely gluten free.  Left overs in plastic box for lunch tomorrow.  (not sure how well it would freeze) Yum.

Bonfire night casserole with roasted bulgar groats

I have had some criticism about my presentation so I tried a bit harder.  I don't think it's achieved much!  The roasted bulgar groats were in a ring in the middle of the dish, with the lentil casserole as a moat, and the cavolo nero as a free form bonfire on the top.   Whatever! It tasted great.  I have never had roasted bulgar groats and they work really well.

I love cavolo nero, but wanted it to stand as a dish so stirred in a sauce of yogurt and mustard ... it was LOVELY.

So ....

Start with the lentil casserole

olive oil
leek
garlic
squash, peeled etc , in bite sized pieces
puy lentils
mushrooms
(other veg...)
tsp marmite
mixed herbs
black pepper

1. Sautee chopped leek in olive oil for a few mins, on middling heat.  Add other veg, lentils and water... season.  Simmer for about 20 minutes - add water if it's going dry.
2.  Adjust seasoning., make sure there is enough water ... simmer a bit more.
3.  After about 30 minutes lentils should be soft and all other veg cooked.

Meanwhile...

Boil the bulgar groats according to packet instructions (15 mins in boiling water)... draind and serve

Cavolo nero with yogurt mustartd sauce

Cavolo nero (or other green cabbage) - chopped, and steamed
Natural yogurt
Lemon juice (tiny squeeze)
Salt and pepper
Mustard (to taste)

Steam:- on top of the bulgar boiling water- shredded cavolo nero (I LOVE this vegetable) - when it is steamed stir it into the mustard/yogurt mixture.

Mushroom risotto and braised red cabbage

The braised red cabbage thing benefits from being started first, but you also need to leave time for the mushrooms to soak to get the full flavour into the risotto.  So, boil a kettle, chop the onions and start the two dishes at the same time.  The red cabbage dish can be chucked into the oven for up to about 2 hours.  The risotto, when the dried mushrooms have been reconsistuted will take about 30 minutes.


Braised red cabbage

1 onion, chopped
olive oil
1/2 a red cabbage
crushed garlic
fennel seeds
cumin seeds
chopped apple
red wine
seasoning
water

mushroom risotto

onion, chopped
olive oil
garlic
risotto/paella rice
dried mushrooms (shitake in this case)
chestnut mushrooms
vegetable stock
white wine
parsley
parmesan, grated

1.  Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water.
2.  Start the braised cabbage - gently sautee onions and garlic with a tsp fennel seeds and half a tsp cumin seeds.
3.  Add chopped red cabbage and chopped apple.  Chuck in glass of wine and simmer.  Add water (not much, just dont let it go dry) and seasoning.
4. Simmer very gently, or out in lowish oven, for about 40 mins (or longer, let it take its time... stir it and taste it)

Risotto

1.  Sautee chopped onion and garlic in olive oil.
2.  Add rice (a small handful per 2 people), turn over until every grain is coated.  Add slosh of white wine and finely chopped fresh and rehydrated dried mushrooms.
3.  You will have fished the rehydrated mushrooms from hot water - this is the stock, at least to start with - add it ladle by ladle full to the risotto and let it simmer away.
4.  It should take about 20 minutes, stir every now and again, add more water ans seasoning as you think.
5.  Turn off heat and leave to stand for a few minutes to suck up the juice.
6.  Stir in chopped parsley, grated parmesan - freshly ground black pepper - and serve.

YUM.  Seconds of  risotto all round.  red cabbage was lovely, but saving it for salad tomorrow - when it will have softenned a bit and mellowed in flavour for a cold lunch.  Not so keen on cold risotto!

Fish pie with steamed vegetables

onion
bay leaf
soya milk
mixed fish (cod, salmon, smoked haddock)
cornflour
potatoes
olive oil spread
parsley
salt and pepper

green beans
carrots

Fish pie

Poach the fish, in bite sized pieces, in the soya milk flavoured with the onion and bay leaf, for about 7 minutes.
Peel, boil and mash potatoes.  Season well, add butter/olive oil spread and soya milk to taste.
Pull fish from soya milk with a slotted spoon, put into oven dish.  Discard onion and bayleaf.  Thicken sauce with slaked cornflour in soya milk/water, over a lowish heat.  Add loads of chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper.
Add sauce to fish (shake oven dish to distribute evenly).  Top with mashed potatoes.  Keep any spare sauce to have with the veg for extra luxury.
Bake at 180 for about 25 minutes until golden.

Steam vegetables.

Scoff

Halloween curry fest

Homemade... with all the trimmings

Aloo gobi, channa dhal and sag paneer with rice and raita

Aloo gobi

Mustard seeds
cumin seeds
tarka dhal
chopped onion
garlic
potatoes, big dice
carrots, peeled and diced
mushrooms, quartered
yellow pepper, chopped
romanesco (cauliflower), in florets
turmeric
tin tomatoes
water
chili
garam masala

channa dhal

chopped onion
channa dhal spice mix
olive oil
tin of chickpeas
tin tomatoes

saag paneer

olive oil
gralic
tinned spinach
paneer in bite sized pieces
chili

raita

natural yogurt
garlic
salt
lemon juice
chili flakes

rice
water

Rice - cook to packet instructions - or in my case put in pan, add water to about an inch above the surface of the rice, bring to the boil, cover tightly and transfer to oven .. let it cook itself for 20 minutes plus.

Aloo gobi - heat spices in a little oil until they start to pop.  Add onion and garlic, soften a bit, then add other chopped veg and water, simmer, add tomatoes, simmer.  Keep tasting and adjusting seasoning, probably for about 30 minutes - add water if it's going dry.  Add chili after about 10 minutes and garam masala 5 minutes before end of cooking.

Channa dhal - soften finely chopped onion in olive oil, add tinned shickpeas, channa dhal (or other) seasonning mix (be cautious, add a teaspoon and taste... you can add, but it's hard to take away... if it gets too hot add a little sugar),  Stir in a tin of chopped tomatoes (or tomato puree and water), simmer  Don't add salt until the end of cooking to avoid making the chickpea skins go hard.

Saag paneer (NEVER EVER tell anyone how easy this is).  Tip tin of spinach into pan, add chopped paneer, Heat gently, add garam masala when warmed through.

Raita - mix ingredients, taste, adjust....

This was a fantastic Halloween feast.  Obviously, as I am never knowingly under catered there was enough left for another meal.  Well, truth be told another 8 servings.  We mixed the rice and saag paneer together and the channa dhal and aloo gobi together for a 2 dish supper.

Would be vegan if you omitted raita, or used a soya yogurt.

Autumnal lentil and bean casserole with haloumi

chopped onion
garlic
olive oil
bay leaf
rosemary
carrots
green beans
white wine
tin of green lentils
grainy mustard
tomatoes

anya potatoes

Halloumi

Felt like something quite autumnal, and this really fit the bill.  It was delicious.

As to recipe - usual stuff, soften oniond in olive oil,  Add garlic, a bayleaf and a teaspoon of dried rosemary,  Add chopped veg and white wine, simmer until a bit cooked.  Tip in tin of green lentils and stir in a big spoonful of grainy mustard and some chopped fresh tomatoes.  Simmer again, seasoning as you go and adding water if it gets a bit dry.  It's ready when the veg is soft but lentils still hold their shape.

Boil/steam potatoes.

Fry haloumi in hot dry pan until coloured on both sides.

Scoff.  This was really, really delicious.