Baked potato with romanesco and mushroom cheese

It looks like a mountain of mush, but it was really tasty.

Meat eaters had a bit of chorizo, veggies didn't ...

All ingredients (except soya milk) available from Todmorden Market.  Cheddar from The Crumbly Cheese, olive oil, mustard, gf flour and chorizo from The Mediterranean Pantry.  Veg from Garry outside.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Onion
Mushrooms
Romanesco (or cauliflower)
Wholegrain mustard
Flour (GF for us)
Soya milk
Cheddar ... lots
Chorizo

1.  Prick the potatoes with a fork, rub over with olive oil and bake.
2.  Sautee onion in olive oil, when soft add mushrooms.
3.  Steam the romanesco.
4.  Make the cheese sauce by adding a spoonful of flour to the mushroom mixture, mix until it has disappeared into the veg, then add a a spoonful of mustard and the milk (soya for us), mix until a sauce forms.
5.  Add grated cheese to the sauce, stir in the romanesco and put in the oven until potatoes are ready.
6.  At the last minute fry chorizo for the meat eaters.

Turnip colcannon, with mushroom and romanesco

So, today we have vegetarian, gluten free and lactose intolerance ... and a veg box (with no onions), and potatoes to use up.  I think I did really well.  Those who came with their dietary requirements seemed to think so to, as thirds were eaten!

Potatoes
Turnip
cabbage
olive oil
garlic
mushrooms
romanesco
vegan bouillon
tuscan seasoning (available from the Mediterranean Pantry)
olive oil spread

30 minutes, start to finish.

1.  Peel and chop potatoes and turnip, boil until cooked (about 15 minutes, depends how small you chop the potatoes.
2.  Shred the cabbage and steam it.
3.  In a good few tablespoons of olive oil, chop mushrooms and sautee.  Add crushed garlic, gently cook off some more.
4.  Cut florets from the romanesco, and add to the mushrooms, add a teaspoon of tuscan seasoning.
5.  Make about half a pint of stock with veg bouillon and add to the mushrooms and romanesco.
6.  When the potatoes and turnip are cooked mash them, with a couple of spoons of olive oil spread (or similar) - season.
7. Serve, scoff .....

And apparently, scoff again - thirds! at least!

Romanesco and butter bean casserole

Well, what a week!  Wedding, music competitions (well done... v proud) ... work pressure, family health issues, back to Uni .... ! phew! It's been a roller coaster.

So, came home late tonight - having forgotten what was waiting - needed tasty filling dinner and to use up the end of the veg box dinner.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the fridge and the romanesco was sitting there!

There was also some colcannon left - so heated that through in the oven ... meanwhile


1 leek
olive oil
1 romanesco
garlic
1 courgette
2 carrots (purple, cos they were in the veg box :) )
Vegetable stock
tin of butter beans
about a dozen pitted black olives
tin of tomatoes

1.  Sweat chopped, washed leek in olive oil.
2.  Add in florets of romanesco and garlic.
3.  Stir around, then chuck in peeled, and chopped into chucks carrots, and then diced courgette.
4.  Stir a bit, add a pint of stock, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
5.  Add in a drained tin of butter beans and some roughly chopped, pitted black olives.
6.  Simmer.  When veg soft-ish (abut another 5 minutes) add in a tin of tomatoes = chop them with a knife in the pan.... simmer again.
7.  Scoff - with whatever you fancy - we have reheated colcannon - could easily have been rice.

This was really, really good.  The romanesco has a lovely, gentle nutty flavour which goes really well with the mediterranean influenced garlic, olive, tomato casserole vibe.  The purple carrots made it all a it more funky.

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

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.

National sausage week: day 4: butter bean ricey stuff - with a sausage and parmesan garnish

OK - so, not everyone wanted sausages again.  The solution was to make a nice vegetable ricey stuff (could call it paella if it had been more spanish) and cook sausages separately, then serve it all (with or without sausages) with a goodly sprinkling of grated parmesan.  Ricey stuff - onion, red pepper, romanesco sauteed in olive oil for a few minutes, then added rice and garilc, and some spicey seasonning (greekish, in this case) - then stock, a bit at a time as rice is cooking.  After about 15 minutes add frozen peas and buttter beans - adding stock to keep moist throughout.  When rice is nearly cooked (about 20 mins - but tase it) ... and sauce is nearly absorbed, pull off the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes.  Serve - with, or without, grilled sausages, black pepper and grated parmesan.

Cauliflower and potato curry

Still feeling a bit grim - but well enough to go back to work tomorrow - so comfort food required.  Chopped and sauteed onion with curry powder (of your choice, this was a biryani mix), garlic, mushroom and green beans.  Then added chopped potatoes and cauliflower (well, romanesco, but it doesn't matter, and doesn't show the drama of the vegetable).  Add tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and water/stock.  Brought to boil, then bunged in simmering oven for 40 minutes or so.  Rice done in normal way, ie "steamed" in Aga warming oven.  Just before serving stirred in quite a lot of double cream ... tsk, tsk - but it does produce the silky texture.  Served in my Dennis the Menace bowl, cos that sort of thing cheers me up - what a daft sod I am.  Victim quite liked it, but prefers curry with meat in.

Chicken and sweet potato hotpot

Veg box revenge.... sweet potato and red cabbage lolling about at the back of the fridge - actually turned into something quite delicious.

Started with the red cabbage - chop an onion and saute in olive oil, added chopped red cabbage - give it a few stirs and add a tsp or so of dried fennel seeds, salt, black pepper and apple juice - a good grind of black pepper and enough water to keep it moist.  Simmer, and chuck in medium oven with a lid on.

Then, onto the hotpot.... chop leeks, celery, carrots and saute in olive oil in a big casserole pan - add chopped green beans, chopped asparagus ends (optional - leftovers), suate a bit longer.  Push veg to edges and brown chicken chopped into bite sized pieces in the centre - add 2 cloves chopped garlic, and some "greek seasoning" (or some paprika/ oregano and mint).... when a bit browned deglaze with white wine, and add chicken stock, tomato puree and some mushrooms and  fresh tomatoes.  Simmer, lid on, for about 20 mins.  Meanwhile peel and thinly slice sweet potatoes - and then arrange in tidy layer on top ... the missed pic as the gathered victims were straight in there with the serving spoon.

In medium oven, with lid on for 30 mins - lid off for final 15-20 mins. 

Steam romanesco as you would broccoli.  Serve, and watch the vitamins take over gathered victims systems - doing them more good than they expected.  Also, sweet potato top gets big thumbs up from sweet toothed, and slightly spiced hot pot thumbs up from peeps who like "summat a bit different".  The only thumbs down was for the red cabbage - but that's just because they're nuts... I loved it.