Roast gammon, potatoes, carrot and swede, courgette frittata and some steamed kale

OK - I'll not pretend that shortages have begun to bite yet - but I though it was still worth sharing the basic timings of a good roast dinner.  This was our Mother's Day tea (not my Mum, sorry Mum - we couldn't risk visiting) - which is slightly hilarious, as the Mum in question is veggie - but this was to cater for all!

The ingredients were all sourced from Tod market - which is doing its best in these troubled times.

The ham joint is a big 'un - so that it can be used for sandwiches and other stuff, over the next few days.  All the left over veg will go into "leftovers soup" so there is zero wastage.

Start the ham early - it needs to poach for 3 hours, then get a glaze on and bake for another hour or so.  It was so worth it!





Baked, glazed ham

Ham joint
Mustard (english and wholegrain)
Honey
Olive oil

Potatoes
Olive oil
Carrots
Swede
Butter
Courgette
Eggs
Kale

1.  1 o'clock - put the ham in a large pot of water, boil for 3+ hours - topping the water up as necessary, but otherwise ignore and get on with the rest of your day.
2.  About 4pm - take the ham out of the pan, transfer to an oven dish.  Leave to settle for 30 minutes.
3.  Make the glaze - mix mustards, a small spoon of honey, salt and pepper and olive oil - paste over the joint.
4.  About 5 ish - pop the ham in the oven - turn to 180.
5.  5:30ish - start the veg prep - cut potatoes into even sized pieces (these were baby potatoes, so I just halved them).  Toss in olive oil and salt and roast - check them after about 50 minutes - if they are doing too fast - take them out and put them back in for the last 10 minutes to heat through again.
6.  Peel and chop carrots and swede - boil for about 20 minutes - when cooked mash them with butter and seasoning and pop in the oven.
7.  Chop courgettes into small cubes, whisk eggs.  Mix the eggs and the courgette and pour into an oiled baking dish - bake for about 25-30 minutes.
8.  Take the ham out of the oven to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
9.  Prep the kale by removing the hard stem, shredding, and steam for 15 minutes.
10.  serve, scoff - delish

St Patrick's Day - baked gammon and colcannon

St Patrick's Day - and I am now in a largely Irish household, so any excuse for a roast gammon dinner and a pint or three of the black stuff.  It was made even more special by the beautiful gammon from Bracewell's butchers in Todmorden market hall - absolutely first rate.

Gammon joint
Potatoes
Onions
Cabbage
Carrots
Apple juice
Chicken stock cube
Butter
Egg
Cornflour

1.  Bake the gammon at 180 for about 2 hours (obviously depending on the size of your joint, this was just under 3lbs).  Turn it over after an hour, and add a cupful or so of apple juice to help make the gravy.
2.  After 1 hour peel the potatoes and put on to boil for the mash - steam chopped onions and shredded cabbage above the potatoes, and steam the peeled batons of carrot over them, for about 15-10 minutes, until the potatoes are done.
3.  Drain the potatoes, mash in the cooked onions and cabbage with plenty of butter.  Place in an oven dish and put in the oven to brown the top.  Cover the carrots with foil and put in the boom of the oven to keep warm.
4.  Drain the juices from the gammon, and make a simple gravy with chicken stock and cornflour.
5.  After another 30 minutes the dinner will be nearly done, so fry an egg for all those who want one.
6.  Serve, scoff ..

This is the veg dodger's plate - 4 carrot batons!  honestly!  But everybody had seconds, most had thirds and fourths .. success

Carrot and pea curry and tarka dhal

Cheap, nutritious and delicious.  Sourced from Todmorden market - The Mediterranean Pantry spices, coconut oil, rice and lentils.  Kevin outside for the vegetables.

Coconut oil
Onion
Garlic
Basmati rice
Fennel seed
Cumin seed
Coriander seed
Mustard seeds
Chilli flakes
Turmeric
Red lentils
Carrots
Potatoes
Peas
Curry leaves
Garam masala

1.  Sautee chopped onion and crushed garlic in coconut oil.
2.  Put rice on to cook - I bring to the boil in a pan covered in 1 inch of water, slam the lid on and turn it right down for 15 minutes.
3.  Boil lentils in water, keep an eye on them, stir occasionally to stop them sticking and add more water if it goes too dry.
4.  Add fennel, cumin, coriander, chilli and turmeric to the softened onion.  Stir in and cook for a couple of minutes.
5.  Add peel diced carrot and potato to the onion spice mixture, stir in.  Add a cup of water, put the lid on a simmer gently for about 15 minutes - check the water level occasionally.  Add a teaspoon of garam masala and stir in.
6.  When the vegetables are nearly done chuck in a handful of frozen peas and put the lid back on for a few minutes.
7.  Make the tarka by heating coconut oil in a small pan - add mustard, cumin, fennel and coriander seeds and a few curry leaves.  Fry for a minute or so, and then pour over the lentils.
8.  Serve, scoff, save!

Healthy fish and chips

Fish and chips - potato wedges and batter with turmeric in it to make it a bit tastier, and quite a lot healthier.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Onion
Carrots
Haddock
Polenta
Egg
Soya milk
Turmeric
Fennel seeds
Peas

1.  Cut potatoes into wedges and roast in olive oil for about 45 minutes.
2.  Make batter by mixing polenta, a teaspoon of turmeric, a pinch of fennel seeds and egg and enough soya milk to form a batter.
3. Sautee chopped onion in olive oil, add carrot and a little water, simmer.
4. When the potatoes are nearly done dip fish in batter and fry fro a couple of minutes on each side.
5.  Add frozen peas to the veg.
6.  Done, serve, scoff - really very tasty.

Kale, spinach and feta tumble top pie, with cumin carrots and herby courgettes

Couldn't think what to do for tea today - but knew we had a load of leafy greens in the fridge so I invented this kind of cottage pie with a Greek-ish twist.  I also added some greek meatballs for the carnivore.

Onion
Olive oil
Kale
Spinach
Potatoes
Feta
Nutmeg
Carrots
Cumin
Courgettes
mixed herbs
GF flour
Meatballs

1.  Chop onion and soften in olive oil.  Add shredded kale.
2.  Dice potatoes and par boil.
3.  When the kale is a little soft add handfuls of spinach to wilt.
4.  Peel carrots, toss in olive oil and cumin seeds and roast for 30 minutes or so.
5.  Add chopped feta to the wilted greens, grate on a little nutmeg, mix through and put into an oven dish.
6.  Drain the potatoes and tumble onto the spinach mixture.  Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes, until the top goes golden.
7.  Bung meatballs in the oven.
8.  Slice courgettes and toss in seasonned, herby flour.  Grill on both sides for a couple of minutes.
9.  Serve, scoff.

A touch of sunshine on an autumnal evening.

Tortilla with fennel, carrot and avocado salad

The organic box gave a lovely bunch of vegetables this week, and the biggest carnivore was away, so we figured on a meat free meal.  So, tortilla (or spanish omelette) with salad it was.

Onions

Olive oil

potatoes

Fennel

Carrots

Avocado

Lime

Sesame seeds

Avocado oil

Lettuce

Orange infuse olive oil

balsamic vinegar

eggs - lots of them

1.  Chop onions and fry until soft in olive oil.

2.  Cut potatoes into slices and boil.

3.  Finely chop fennel and carrots, sprinkle on sesame seeds.

4.  Beat together eggs, seasonned with salt and pepper, add a little water to loosen the mixture.

5.  Drain the potatoes and put into a large mixing bowl, add the onions, stir gently, then pour on the eggs.

6.  Tip the eggy potato mix into olive oil, in a large frying pan.  Cook over a a gentle heat for a few minutes  Then place in a medium oven, under a medium grill to cook the top.

7.  Finish the salads by drizzling orange infused oil and balsamic onto washed lettuce leaves.

8.  Slice and avocado and add to the fennel and carrot salad, squeeze on the juice of half a lime to prevent it from browning - drizzle with avocado oil.

9.  Serve, scoff.

Carrot and sweetcorn fritters, cajun wedges and salad

A glut of carrots required some inventive thinking - and we haven't had fritters for a bit.  I added cumin as it goes really well with carrot, and a mix of cornmeal and buckwheat flour to give the batter some body.   The steamed cabbage doesn't necessarily go, but it is finish up the veg box time  The added salad goes very well.

Olive oil
Potatoes
Cajun seasoning

Carrots
Sweetcorn
Red onion
Cumin
Chives

Cornmeal
Buckwheat flour
Eggs
Soya milk
Natural yogurt

1.  Cut the potatoes into wedges, dust with cajun seasoning and roast in olive oil.
2.  Make the batter by whisking eggs, soya milk (or regular milk) and a big spoonful of yogurt into the flours.  Keep beating until smooth - it should be a bit thicker than double cream in consistency.
3.  Grate carrots, drain sweetcorn and finely chop red onion, mix together.  Mix in a good pinch of cumin seeds, salt and pepper.
4.  Mix together the batter and the veg.
5  Fry blobs of mixture for 2-3 minutes each side, in olive oil.  Fry them in batches to not overcrowd the pan, and keep them warm while you finish them.

Carrot and cabbage curry, with dhal and rice

Open fridge, see ... not that much ... some spring onions, some carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and half a cabbage, add some rice, lentils, garlic, spices and a paratha each ..faff about a bit and .... ta dah! dinner!

1.  Put 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water in a pot.  Bring to the boil, lid on turn RIGHT down.
2.  Boil lentils.
3.  For the curry, start with curry spices (fennel seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, tumeric) onions, garlic and some grated ginger - in olive oil.
4.  Add diced carrot and water/stock, simmer for a bit.
5.  Add chopped mushrooms, shredded carrots and halved cherry tomatoes.
6.  When nearly cooked add garam masala to taste.
7.  Prepare the tarka for the dhal ... in olive oil heat curry leaves, cardamon, a little chilli and cumin.
8.  Throw the tarka onto the dhal, fry the paratha on each side.

Sunday roast - budget version

We seem to be having a bit of a run on baby roast potatoes at the moment, but they are sooooo good.

This is another VERY simple, but delicious dinner, and again - all available from Todmorden Market.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Chicken legs
Lemon
Garlic
Roast chicken seasoning
Carrots
Spring greens

1.  Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces, boil for 10 minutes.
2.  Put olive oil in 2 oven dishes - one for the potatoes, and one for the chicken.
3.  Put the potato one in the oven to warm up.  Put the chicken in the other, with 3 halved cloves of garlic, a sprinkle of roast chicken seasoning and a slice of lemon.  Chuck it in the oven.
4.  Drain the potatoes, add to the hot olive oil, and roast for 1 hour(ish).
5.  Prep the veg, and then steam for the last 12 minutes of everything else cooking.  When you put the veg on - have a look at the chicken - baste it with the juices.

Turnip and blue cheese gratin, dolmades and bean medley

 I will not claim that this was a gourmet dinner which would rival international chefs ... it was OK - all of the separate bit were really quite nice, but it is no masterchef entry.  The combination was prompted by i) left overs ... from the stall - the dolmades and bean salad are lovely (you can eat them all hot or cold) ii) the remnants ... of the veg box and some cheese from earlier cheeseboards and iii) it was COLD today so we wanted something warm.

Recipe - very sketchy, because it really is a "whatever you have" kind of a dinner ....

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil.
Add a pinch of rosemary, and some peeled and diced root veg (turnips, carrot and potato).
Turn over for a minute or so, then add a glass of dry white wine and some stock.  Stir in a spoonfull of mustard.
Simmer for 15 minutes or so, then ad  shredded cabbage.  Simmer again until veg is al dente.
Transfer to oven dish and crumble on a bit of blue cheese, and a bit of cheddar type cheese.
Roast for a bit.
At the same time - put dolmades and bean mix into the bottom of the oven to heat through.

Slashed root vegetables, butter beans and cabbage with roast tomatoes

Got home late, and wanted speedy dinner, nut veg in veg box didn't really lend themselves to that kind of concept ... as my immediate idea was spiced roast root vegetables, and that would have been over a hour.  I think I did this in 25 minutes, but frankly, I didn't time it.

1. Bung cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt,  whack up the oven to its highest setting.
2.  Peel and chop root vegetables (turnip, kohlrabi and carrots), boil.
3.  Chop and sautee onion and celery in olive oil, add rosemary and white wine, sautee until quite soft.
4.  Chop cabbage, steam over root veg.
5.  Add butter beans to onions, heat through.
6.  When root veg are soft, add olive oil spread and lots, no a bit more, lots of freshly ground black pepper.  Slice through quickly and thoroughly with a sharp knife (hence slashed, not mashed).  (Use butter here if you are not lactose intolerant/vegan).
7.  Mix cabbage with butter beans.
8.  Serve, scoff.

Delicious. Nutritious, Seasonal - what more do you want?

Root veg and squash mash with lentils, shallots braised in red wine

This is very close to a Yotam Ottalenghi recipe - but we didn't have celeriac, puy lentils or ground cumin - so we used celery with the shallots, some little green lentils and a little biryani curry mix instead - and it was delicious.

Start with the shallots, then the lentils, then the root vegetables.

Shallots braised in red wine

Olive oil
Shallots, peeled and chopped if necessary
Celery, chopped
Bay leaves
Mixed herbs
Vegetable stock
Red wine
salt and black pepper

1. Sweat off shallots and celery in olive oil.
2.  Add bay leaves and herbs, chuck in wine and stock.
3.  Simmer for about an hour until veg are soft.  Add more wine/stock if it is going dry.
4.  At the end turn heat up, to thicken sauce into sticky yumminess.
(You could pull out the veg, and stir in a knob of butter, to make more luxurious)

Lentils

Boil in plenty of water until soft - about 30 minutes. Drain.

Root vegetable mash

2 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 sweet potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 squash (festival in our case) peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks
salt
black pepper
butter
curry powder (or some other spice eg. cumin)

1.  Boil carrots for about 10 minutes
2.  Then add other veg and boil until all yield to a sharp knife.
3.  Drain, add a good knob of butter and seasonings.  Mash.
4.  Stir in lentils.

Serve mash and lentils with shallot, red wine sauce on top.

Extremely healthy comfort food.  DELICIOUS.

Macaroni vegetable cheese

I'm not supposed to have too much lactose - but I love cheese.  So, the compromise on this was to make the cheese sauce with strong cheddar and soya milk.

Also, finishing off the end of the veg box meant not cauliflower cheese, but everything else in the fridge cheese.

Steam veg (Leeks, runner beans, carrots, cabbage).  Boil pasta shapes (gluten free).  Make cheese sauce by boiling soya milk, adding slaked cornflower, mustard and cheese.  Mix together with halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake at a high heat to brown the top.

Delish.  And an end of the veg box victory.  Enough left for tomorrow's lunches, and dinner I think.

Rice & lentils, roast tomatoes and steamed vegetables

There is a "rule" in our house ... use up last week's veg box first - perhaps adding special stuff from the new box, particularly if it's a thing which will go off quickly.  Usually this requires self-control as all the lovely fresh veg comes in ... but tonight it was a bit of a relief, because the mix of new veg is quite a challenge - it's going to be an inventive week.  Something I can tackle tomorrow with a bit of thinking time - but not when I got in at nearly 7pm tonight.

So, from the old veg box - cherry tomatoes, cabbage, lemon.

From the new veg box carrots and runner beans.

From the larder basmati rice, puy lentils, dried fried onions, olive oil, garlic.

From the fridge natural yogurt.

1.  Cook rice & boil lentils.
2.  Roast tomatoes with olive oil and salt.
3.  When the rice, lentils and tomatoes are approaching ready (after about 30 minutes) steam the chopped veg.
4.  Stir crushed garlic, lemon juice and seasonning into yogurt.
5.  When cooked mix together rice, lentils and onions.

Serve all the elements together, and let people mix what they wish to on their plates.  Surprisingly a really well balanced bunch of flavours and textures.  One word of warning - when you squish the tomatoes to get the juice into the ricey mixture the juice is i) very very hot and ii) squirts everywhere.

Now, what do I do with... pak choi, radishes, leeks, carrots, beetroot, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, cucumber, green beans, french beans, onions and potatoes?  Lots of lovely ingredients, but how to make them work together?  (fortunately still some tomatoes and cabbage left to factor in)

Butter bean and cabbage casserole with baked root veg, and roasted vine tomatoes

End of the veg box week, but absolutely delicious. The root veg bake has featured before - but this time had no cheese in so totally gluten free and vegan tonight.

So... Start the root veg bake first, then stick the tomatoes is the oven, then - after 10-15 mins ... cup of tea/ glass of wine ... whatever you fancy start the green veg casserole.

Root veg bake

Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 or 2 parsnips, topped and tailed
1 large onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 swede, peeled and chopped
6 carrots, top and tailed
garlic paste
Mustard
Olive oil
Seasoning

Casserole

2 leeks
mushrooms
garlic
olive oil
tin of butter beans
white wine
veggie stock cube
shredded cabbage

tomatoes

tomatoes
olive oil
sale

1.  Turn oven on to 180+
2. Grate most of the veg - I use my KitchenAid which obviously makes this much easier - but grate using food processer add ins, or a hand grater will save you time... honestly it will.  Particularly if you make too much, freeze it and have it the following day.
3.  Mix in other ingredients - bake at 180 for about an hour.
4.  At this point splash olive oil onto tomatoes, sprinkle on salt and bung in the oven with the root veg.

Have a cuppa, chat, watch Corrie or whatever... for a bit over half an hour, then...

4.  Sautee chopped, rinsed leeks in olive oil.
5.  After about 5 minutes add chopped mushrooms, garlic, white wine and about a pint of stock.
6.  Simmer briefly and add butter beans, simmer again for about 5 minutes.
7.  Shred cabbage, stick it on top of the leeks and steam until done.  (I put a lid on it and turned off the heat).

Yum.



Mung bean casserole

Tasted much better than it looks, honestly!

Mung beans
2 leeks
olive oil
garlic
spicy seasoning (I used a middle eastern/persian - ish mix)
bay leaf
potatoes
carrots
cauliflower
mushrooms
tin of tomatoes
chard

brown rice

1.  Simmer mung beans for about 30 minutes.
2.  Soften chopped and washed leeks in olive oil.
3.  Add spices, garlic and bayleaf, stir.
4.  Add other vegetables (not chard yet) and enough water to cook.
5.  Cover and simmer.
6.  5 minutes before serving chuck in mung beans, tomatoes and shredded chard.

Scoff.  Really healthy, really delicious.

Blue cheese and hazelnut vegetable crumble, baby roastie and carrot

Ooops... tucked in before I remembered to snap a pic - but it was worth recording, so I snapped this of the leftovers.  The baby roasties were so nice we had scoffed the lot.

Start with roasties, then the crumble - takes about an hour and 15 minutes.

 

Potatoes

Olive oil

 

Chop potatoes into bite sized pieces, parboil for about 5 minutes.  Drain, chuck into hot olive oil, move about until all covered - stick 'em in the oven at 180 for just over an hour.  Move them about a bit a couple of times so that they are crisp on all sides.

 

Crumble

 

olive oil

Leeks

Garlic

Fennel

Green beans

mushrooms

celery

mixed herbs

stock cube

white wine

gram flour

spinach

rolled oats
blue cheese
olive oil
chopped hazlenuts

1.  Sweat off leeks in olive oil - add chopped veg and soften a bit.
2.  Add herbs, garlic, white wine, stock cube and some water.  Simmer until nearly done.
3.  Add sprinkling of gram flour to thicken sauce, and spinach.
4.  Put into oven proof dish.
5.  Mix oats, crumbled cheese, hazlenuts and olive oil and plenty of seasoning - until moist, but still a crumble.  Put on top of the vegetables.
6.  Bake for about 45 minutes.

Carrots
Butter
Black pepper

Steam until just overcooked, chop them with a sharp knife, so that they are not mash, but they are in tiny pieces - add butter and black pepper.  Keep warm in the oven.

Scoff .. go ooops forgot to take pic!

Root vegetable bake, with cheese and mustard.

This was absolutely delicious, though I say it myself.  The veg box has created a surplus of carrot and parsnip, and I wanted something comforting.  I made this up.

1 onion
6 carrots
1 parsnip
1/3 swede
3 potatoes
olive oil
cheese (cheshire)
grainy mustard
garlic

1.  Grate the onion, carrot, parsnip, swede and potatoes.  You could also grate the cheese, but I just crumbled it.  Mix it all together.
2.  Add big slugs of olive oil, spoonful of mustard and crushed garlic.  Season well - then add more black pepper.  Mix together really well.
3.  Microwave for 6ish minutes.
4.  Put olive oil in baking dish, add in mixture - keep the top a bit rough to get the delicious crunchy browned peaks.  Bake for 45 minutes or so.


I also roasted cherry tomatoes in olive oil, sprinkled with salt - and served with steamed brocolli and cavolo nero.  It would have served 6 easily - so I reckon it's about  94p per portion (including veg) 45p per portion by itself.

Mozzarella might be interesting, to make it stringy - and to make it vegan, just omit the cheese or replace it with that peculiar dairy free stuff, or toasted pine nuts.

Red cabbage crumble, parsnip and carrot parmesan mash

This was DELICIOUS.  I say it myself, and I saw it more than once.  I like red cabbage, but you can have enough braised cabbage.  Also, there is too much red cabbage in the veg box to not have it feature more than as an extra.  So, a little bit of a romp through some cookbooks and quick and dirty searching on the web - braised, spiced and slaw are the over-whelming suggestions - but there was also a smattering of "gratin" - which got me thinking.... the recipe grew as it progressed - but it worked!

Red cabbage and leek crumble

Olive oil
1 leek, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 red cabbage, shredded
pinch mixed herbs
glass of red wine
small handful of dried cranberries
1 tbsp grainy mustard
juice of an orange
pinch of sugar
seasoning
2 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp natural yogurt
2 tbsp double cream

handful of hazelnuts
2 handfuls of oats
good pinch of mixed herbs
2 rice cakes
olive oil

1.  Sweat down leek in olive oil, add garlic and herbs.
2.  Add shredded red cabbage, herbs, wine, cranberries, mustard and some water - simmer.
3.  When the cabbage is starting to soften add the juice of an orange, a pinch of sugar and seasoning to taste.
4.  Keep simmering and tasting, adding water if it gets dry - after about 40 minutes if should be softish, but still keep a texture.
5.  Remove form the heat.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and then stir in dairy ingredients.
6.  Zap hazelnuts and rice cakes - tip into a bowl with oats and herbs.  Mix into a crumble mix with olive oil.

7.  Top the cabbage, in an oven proof dish, with the crumble mix - and bake for about 30 minutes.

Parsnip, carrot parmesan mash

3 parsnips, peeled and chopped (held in acidulated water)
2 big carrots, peeled and chopped
50g parmesan
butter
black pepper

1. Boil the veg until it's done.
2.  Zizz parmesan.
3.  "Mash" veg with a sharp knife, adding butter and black pepper.
4.  Stir in cheese and bake in oven for 20 minutes or so.

We had both dishes with steamed broccoli.  It were lovely.

Estimated cost:  Veg £2.10, hazelnuts 60p, cheese 75p, dairy 40p other stuff £2 max. (£5.85) Serves 6 - 98p

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.