National Burger Day ....

It's National Burger Day today!  To celebrate this Nick (Fielden's Family butchers) has developed a double cheese burger … made with steak, cheddar and mozzarella and spiced up with jalapeno … it's delicious.  Scout around the market a little further and you can find the ingredients to make your own special burger.  Here's ours in toasted sourdough and avocado salad

… with chips (rude not to!).  No recipe required as you chop the salad, fry the burger for a couple of minutes each side … toast the "bun" and construct.

There are a wealth of fresh and frozen burgers for you to choose from in Tod Market …. including … the featured steak, jalapeno and cheese, minted lamb, low fat piri piri chicken, pepper steak, steak, world famous thai burger from Nick … and venison, Moroccan, lamb and mint, pork and apple, steak burger … from Bracewell's

If you don't fancy making your own you could always order one from the Market Café … go on, treat yourself on National Burger Day.

Smorgasboard (well, a little one)

A gloriously sunny day in Yorkshire, and the veg dodger out, so we had a mini version of a smorgasbord.

A smorgasbord, incase you want to know, is a Swedish buffet which usually has both hot and cold dishes.

Ours had:-

Fried potatoes
Smoked salmon
beech smoked anchovies
Leafy salad
Tomato, avocado, onion and basil salad

No recipes - but - smoked anchovies are amazing - you should try them (even if you think you don't like anchovies).

Salmon salad wraps

 The hottest June day in 40 years!  Well!  Actually, it wasn't that hot in Tod in comparison with the rest of the country - but it was a lovely summer's day - so what better than a light salady (is that even a word) dinner (the veg dodger was not home, so that made it easier).   We had some broad beans in the fridge too, so a garlicky bean medley joined the steamed salmon and salad in the wraps - delicious.

Broad beans
Green beans
Olive oil
Garlic
Salmon
Lettuce
Cucumber
Red pepper
Baby plum tomatoes
Spring onion
Avocado oil
Balsamic vinegar
Tortilla wraps
Garlic mayonnaise

1.  Double peel the broad beans, and steam with green beans.
2.  At the same time steam the salmon - put it on some greaseproof paper in a second layer of the steamer.
3.  Crush a big clove of garlic and heat gently in olive oil.
4.  Splash wraps with a tiny splash of water - just to create a little steam - wrap tightly in foil, and put in a medium oven for a few minutes to heat through.
5.  Make the salad - shred the lettuce, chop the other bits and toss.  Dress lightly with avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.
6.  Serve, build wraps ... like this ....

7.  Roll the wrap over, and scoff .... with lots of filling most of it falls out, so this can end up being a delicious messy event!

Smoked mackerel and a medley of salads

A sunny day in Todmorden - miracles never cease!  So, a medly of salads for tea tonight.  There is no real recipe for this - boil the pasta, chop vegetables, open a tin and flake smoked mackerel - remember to squeeze lemon onto the avocado, or it will go brown.  I added garlic mayonnaise to my celery, apple and almond salad, but it's not universally liked, so I left it off the main serving.

Tomato and avocado salad

Cherry tomatoes
Finely chopped red onion
Radish
Avocado
Squeeze of lemon juice

Celery and apple salad

Celery
Apple
Almonds
Garlic mayonnaise (optional)

Pasta and mackerel salad

Pasta (random odds and ends of GF today)
Chopped red onion
Sweetcorn
Smoked mackerel

Green leaves
Olive oil
Sherry vinegar

Salad in a jar

Tonight's dinner was a bunch of lovely salads:-

Salad leaves from the allotment, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and garlic oil
Carrot and sesame seeds
Tomato, onion and basil
Artichoke salad (artichokes, garlic, olives, red pepper, herbs - available from the Mediterranean Pantry)
New potatoes
Quail's eggs (from Chris on Tod market)

And it was all delicious, and there was loads left, so it was packed into a jar for lunch.  The trick is to put the dressing type salads on the bottom, then layer upwards, finishing with the leaves.  Deliciously kept for its second serving.

Vegetarian sausages in onion gravy, sauteed turnip and new potatoes - with salads

We went off Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages for the longest time - but then I had a think about why - and it's that they go too dry if baked, and too greasy if fried, so I now bake them for 20 minutes, and finish them off with onions in a frying pan - delicious!

The turnips are ours, from the allotment ... loud fanfare - and we had some cooked new potatoes left, so an easy sautee was the way forward.

Green salad with various of our, home grown, salad leaves - and artichoke salad from The Mediterranean Pantry.

Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages
Olive oil
Onions
Garlic
Tomato puree
Bouillon powder
Turnips
Cooked new potatoes
Chives

Salad leaves
Basil infused olive oil
Artichoke salad

1.  Drizzle a little olive oil in an oven dish, pop in sausages and turn over so there is a thin film all over them.  Bake in medium-hot oven for 20 minutes.
2.  Peel and thinly slice turnips, sautee in olive oil.  
3.  Finely chop onion and fry in olive oil.  When the onions are softish add a squitt of tomato puree and a cup of stock, made from the bouillon.  Simmer to reduce a little.  Add the sausages.
4.  The turnips will be nearly done, so add sliced potatoes and chopped chives, toss around and keep cooking until the edges get a little golden.
5.  Drizzle salad leaves with basil infused oil (or other light dressing).
6.  Scoff

Mediterranean hot salad, haloumi and baby baked potatoes

What, officially, is a salad?  You get leaf salads, tossed salads, cold salads, salads with meat, salads with cooked things .... etc etc .  I have decided, for the purposes of today's recipe, that "salad" means a bunch of ingredients prepared separately, and then served together, with a dressing.

Today - we had mediterranean hot salad with some baby baked potatoes.

For the baked potatoes - wash, prick with a fork, and coat with olive oil (pour a tiny blob of oil into your hand, and then cuddle each potato until it has a coating of oil...) ... put into an oven proof dish - microwave for 10 minutes, then transfer to a hot oven to finish baking.

Hot salad, with haloumi

olive oil
red pepper
aubergine
courgette
tomato
black olives
garlic
italian herbs
grainy mustard
spinach
black pepper

1.  Prepare, and then griddle in a hot griddle pan each of ... red pepper, aubergine and courgette.
2.  Place, as they are griddled, into an oven proof dish.
3.  Slice tomatoes, and add them ... probably in the middle of the layers of griddled veg - just add them in as you are ready.
4.  Bung the lot in the oven.
5.  Prepare the dressing:  Crush the garlic, mix with olive oil, mixed herbs and mustard (add chilli or anything else you fancy) ...
6.  Throw the dressing over the veg and griddle the cheese.
7.  Put the cheese on the salad - return to the oven.
8.  Add 3 tablespoons of water to the hot griddle pan, sizzle, add spinach and toss - it'll wilt in no time.
9.  Serve and scoff.

We had thirds!

Smoked trout salad

The summer seems to have deserted the north - but the lettuces in the trug have still clung on, so despite thunder and lightening, it was time to have sunshine in the kitchen.

New potatoes
Hot smoked trout

Little gem lettuce
Parsley
Sorrel
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Tomatoes
Spring onions
Radishes
Salt
Olive oil
Basil

Carrots
Sesame seeds

So 4 salads ...

1.  start by washing and boiling new potatoes.
2.  Wash and spin lettuce leaves, add fresh parsley leaves and sorrel leaves (not chopped up as a garnish, but as salad leaves).
3.  Drizzle on olive oil and squeeze on the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  Toss gently as you serve.
4.  Chop the tomatoes, radishes and spring onions, drizzle with a little olive oil, tear in a few basil leaves and grind on rock salt.
5.  Peel and grate carrots, mix in a spoonful of sesame seeds,
6.  Flake smoked trout into the potatoes,
7.  Scoff

(Turn the heating up and pretend that summer is here)

Asparagus and green bean pasta salad with pine nuts

Yay!  Asparagus in the veg box! Yay!   oh, were you watching? How very embarassing!  But, frankly, I don't care - I was very very pleased to see the new season asparagus in the organic veg box - it's a late spring, and it's been a while coming.  I wondered whether to showcase the asparagus, as often happens, as a starter and then have our main dish - but I decided to go with our usual one dish dinner and to have asparagus as a delicious ingredient amongst others.

So, ...

Rape seed oil
Lemon
Chinese leaf
Lettuce
Watercress
Green beans
asparagus
Farfalle pasta
Pine nuts
basil
Parmesan (to serve)

1. Put water on to boil in a pan big enough to take the pasta, and hold steamers for the vegetables.
2. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus, chop the stems into 1 inch pieces, reserving the delicate spears.
3. Top and tail the beans and cut into bite sized pieces.
4.  Boil the pasta in water, after a minute or so put the veg pieces on to steam (not the spears, put them in 5 minutes later.
5.  Drizzle oil onto a serving plate, squirt on lemon juice and add some seasoning.  Chuck on the salad leaves .. whichever you are using.
6.  Lightly fry the pine nuts until golden brown - watch them, they WILL burn if you take your eyes off them.
7. Drain the pasta and veg, drizzle on oil and squirt with lemon, toss and add to presentation plate.
8. Liberally sprinkle on toasted pine nuts, shave on parmesan to date.

Scoff.  Bring on summer.

Leek and mushroom savoury pancakes

 Pancake day!  But neither of us like sweet stuff much, so, I picked some tasty stuff from the veg box and some halloumi .. and these were the best pancake day pancakes ever.

Gluten free pancakes

Gluten free flour
Egg
Natural yogurt
Soya milk
Peanut oil




Leek and garlic mushrooms

Olive oil
1 leek
Mushrooms, sliced
Crushed garlic
Butter

Salad

Baby salad leaves
Baby rocket
Radish
Spring onions

Roasted beetroot
Roasted cherry tomatoes

Fried halloumi

1.  Start with the pancakes - make the batter.
2.  Then gently with the veg sweated down in oil and butter.
3.  Make the pancakes, keep warm.
4.  Fry the halloumi.
5.  Put everything on the table, and let people assemble their own.

Delicious.

Mushroom and onion pasta, chopped salad - oh, and some steak

After making the carnivores suffer yesterday I relented and made them steak.  However, also needed the extras to be gluten free and go with salmon for the pescatarean.  So, I thought - some tasty mushroomy pasta for carbs and a fridge full of veg just begged to be eaten - best way, chop it all up and mix it togther, American's would call it chopped salad, so lets go with that.

It all went down extremely well.



Chopped salad

Celery
Cucumber
Radish
Carrot
Tomato
Frozen petit pois
Cress
olive oil
orange juice

Chop everything up into 1/2 cm dice - squeeze on juice of half an orange (I didn't have any lemons or limes) and a slosh of olive oil, season, stir.

Mushroom Pasta Salad

1 onion, chopped
6 large mushrooms, chopped
garlic
olive oil
pasta shells (gluten free, or otherwise!)
oregano

Fry onion in olive oil,  just as it is starting to caramelise add chopped mushrooms and garlic.  Fry until mushrooms are just soft.
Boil water, add pasta ... when cooked, drain.
Add splosh of olive oil, mushroom mix and fresh oregano and mix through.  Grind on plenty of black pepper.

Steak

Oil the meat, not the pan - grinding of black pepper.  Fry, in hot pan for a minute or so each side.

Scoff - one person had 4 helpings of the pasta!

Broad bean, courgette and petit pois risotto, with a green salad

Broad beans - what a labour of love! Fortunately, I had someone here handy who enjoys the peace of double shelling them - so I exploit it :).

So, recipe ...

Olive oil
2 spring onions, chopped
Crushed garlic
risotto rice
large bag of broad beans, double peeled to a small handful of green gems
1 courgette, diced
Italian herbs
white wine
vegetable stock
frozen petit pois
grated fontina and parmesan
lemon zest, juice of lemon
seasonning, specially black pepper

Salad

olive oil
garlic
lemon juice
salt and pepper
spring onion, sliced thinly
radish, sliced
cucumber (small amount, diced)
cos lettuce, sliced to about 1 inch pieces

1.  Put the salad dressing ingredients in the bottom of big bowl, whisk together.  Chuck on onion, radish and cucumber.
2.  Sautee onion briefly in olive oil.  Add diced courgette, crushed garlic, and toss in oil for a few seconds.
3.  Add risotto rice, and stir until each grain is finely coated in oil.  Shake in herbs.
4.  Add a glass of white wine and simmer.
5.  Add vegetable stock, simmer.  Keep adding stock and simmering for about 5 minutes - then add broad beans.
6.  Carry on adding vegetable stock and simmering until nearly dry until rice is nearly done.
7.  Add a handful of frozen peas and another ladle of stock.
8.  After 2 minutes, turn off the heat, stir in cheeses and let the rice suck up the final juices for 5 minutes.
9.  Sprinkle on lemon zest and squeeze in lemon juice.
10.  Serve, with a good grinding of black pepper.
11.  Chuck shredded lettuce onto salad and toss - serve with risotto.

Summery and delicious.  Made me feel better after a few days of grim viral bleaugh-ness.

Mackerel salad "nicoise" and carrot and grapefruit salad

Veg box and some smoked mackerel in the fridge ... and a little bit of sun - so - SALAD.

New potatoes
Green beans
Lettuce
pea shoots
Tomatoes
Red pepper
1/2 cucumber
Handful black olives
Smoked mackerel
3 large carrots
3 spring onions
Mustard seeds
1 grapefruit
1 clove garlic, crushed
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
English mustard

1.  Boil potatoes and steam green beans.
2.  Mix dressing - garlic, tiny teaspoon mustard, olive oil, juice of half a grapefruit, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar - season and taste.
3.  Drain potatoes and beans and chuck on dressing while still warm.
4.  Mix in other chopped salad vegetables - cucumber, lettuce, pea shoots, red pepper, tomatoes and olives.
5.  Flake on smoked mackerel and toss.

Carrot salad

1.  Peel and grate carrots, add chopped spring onions.
2.  Add 2 tbsp onion seeds and juice of half a grapefruit and a big pinch of salt.

Scoff, with lovely victim, and a nice glass of wine.  Summer is here.  We were particularly impressed with the grapefruit in the carrot salad.  Enough left for 2 packed lunches, so that was a bonus too.

Tuna pasta salad

Had a lovely visit with some mates today, who were looking for easy, quick but tasty dinners - we found a few - and I chucked this together when I got home, so I thought I'd add it here too.  Took about 13 minutes, start to finish.

Pasta - I used shells
green beans
celery
olives
tomato gherkins
1 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 tbsp natural yogurt
1 tin tuna in spring water

1.  Chuck pasta into plenty of boiling water, after a couple of minutes add chopped green beans.
2.  Chop celery, tomato, black olives and gherkins (could also add any/all cucumber, spring onions, peppers, bean sprouts, shredded lettuce, radish...)
3.  Add tuna (drained), drain cooked pasta a beans, stir in with mayonnaise and yogurt (squeeze of lemon juice if you have any)

Scoff.  Simples.

Vegan party food

So, a couple of friends were celebrating their Civil Partnership, and I volunteered to help out with the catering.  Another chap had also volunteered, and he got all the meaty options.  So I was tasked with 2 veggie mains, and a couple of salads.  There was also the possibility that there were some vegan, some lactose intolerant and some gluten sensitive guests - so I decided on making my contribution completely vegan and gluten free.

Vegan moussaka - first I cooked up 1.5kgs of lentils... this is a lot of lentils!  I really only needed 1kg.  Then I parboiled 7.5 kg peeled potatoes... that's a lot of potatoes!  I really only needed about 5kg.  Anyway - the recipe - sautee chopped onions and garlic - infact 2 lots simultaneously, for the 2 bottom layers.  Heat 3 litres of soya milk with bay leaves and an onion.  To the onions and garlic add i) chopped celery, drained lentils, mint, cumin, a bit of chili and seasoning, squirts of lemon juice ii) mediterranean herbs, chopped peppers, aubergines, courgettes and tins of tomatoes.  Cook the bottom layers for about 20-30 minutes.  Make a bechamel type sauce with olive oil and gluten free flour, and the drained soya milk, grate in a little nutmeg.  Chop potatoes into slices.  Layer up - starting with about 3cms lentil mixture, 2 cms vegetable mixture, bechamel sauce and potato slices - drizzle with olive oil - bake for about 45 minutes.


Potato salad - boiled 5kg new potatoes - when cooked drain and stir in olive oil, chives and parsley and seasoning while still warm.


Potato, mushroom and chickpea spicy casserole - sautee onions and garlic in olive oil, with chopped celery and carrot, with a spice mix (chili, cumin, black pepper, cayenne, oregano) - add chopped potatoes (4kg), loads of mushrooms and vegetable stock and tins of chopped tomatoes - simmer for an hour.  Add drained tins of chickpeas, check seasoning.  Simmer a bit longer.


Also made tomato, red onion, radish salad with baslamic dressing


Other people's guests were the victims, and I did not hear any complaints.  There was shed loads of delicious food, including lots and lots of pork products (pastrami, roast pork, pulled pork, hams, sausages....) but even so, amazingly 2 enormous pots of moussaka, nearly 8 litres of casserole and 4 very large salads were pretty much demolished.  Whoever made the cakes also did a fantastic job.


And congratulations to the happy couple - it was a great night - with some fantastic entertainment - Samba dancing and some singing as well as the scoffing.

Tuna salad

This is not even a recipe, as it's so easy - but I include it because I have seen people buying jars of tuna sandwich filler etc... and it is so easy, and more delicious to make it yourself.  To a can of drained tuna add chopped spring onion, celery, roast red pepper, cucumber, radish and gherkin.  Mix in 1 spoon of mayonnaise and one spoon of natural yogurt, grind on black pepper.... easy, incredibly quick and delicious - and people buy this stuff at great expense from the chiller compartment.  Use as sandwich filler, baked potato topper or on its own.  Victim had breadsticks, and says it's yummy.

Bring on summer - spicy hake with 3 salads

There was some sun today - hurray! So, I thought I would try to prolong the good sunshiny vibes with a salad dinner.  I had spicy hake, but also chucked a burger in for the victim ... just as well, as spicy fish was properly poo-pooed (silly! was delish).  OK - in order of cooking - beetroot, borlotti bean and mozzarella, coleslaw, waldorf (kind, sorta, ..ish) salads... spicy fish "goujons", green salad.

recipes - such as they are - beetroot, borlotti bean and mozarella salad.  I had beetroot and borlotti beans in the veg box this week, so made it from scratch - vacuum packed beetroot, and tinned beans would be proper tasty, and much less time consuming.  So, starting from the raw state... roast washed (but not peeled) beetroot in a tray with garlic, slosh of olive oil and splash of balsamic until beetroot is soft - I cover tray in foil and test after about an hour, knife should go in with very little resistance.  Meanwhile, pod and then boil borlotti beans - takes about 12 mins from boiling - but depends on beans.  Cool beetroot, cool and drain beans.  Skin beetroot (I always use gloves) and cut into bite sized pieces.  Mix together beetroot pieces, beans, chopped radish, mozarella - torn into bite sized bits, basil leaves, seasoning, olive oil - taste...yum yum - add splash of lemon juice/vinegar if needs a little sharpness.  Sorta waldorf ... well, as kids we hated walnuts, so Mum invented this with almonds... it may have morphed over the years, but it's proper simple, so morph it yourself.. Chop a fair bit of celery into small, but still chunky, chunks, add some chopped onion... chop apple - add - squirt with lemon/lime juice - mix up until all apple has touched acid juice, at this point I added chopped orange and red pepper.  Chuck in handful of almonds, small spoon of mayonnaise, good teaspoon of horseradish and about 2 tbsp of natural yogurt - season - taste, adjust... should be crunchy, savoury and refreshing.  Coleslaw... everyone has their own recipe - but finely shredded red onion, about 3 times as much red cabbage and white cabbage, grated carrot - lemon/lime juice or cider vinegar, and good pinch of rock salt... let sit for 30mins, cabbage will start to soften slightly.  Stir in splodge of mayonnaise and some natural yogurt (adjust proportions depending on whether you are trying to reduce fat (0% mayo lowest fat... all mayo if you are a skinny imp wanting to chunk up).

Spicy fish - was hake (could've been most white fish, tuna or salmon) - cut into strips and tossed in flour and fish curry spices - fried - hot and quick...

Delish.

Lettuce... OK - for completeness - I tossed it in lime juice and a whisper of olive oil.

Monkfish & talapia on the BBQ

Marinaded monkfish and talapia fillets for 20 minutes, in garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, white wine, chili flakes and salt and pepper.  Meanwhile made celeriac slaw ( celeriac, carrot, apple - through mandolin (managed not to damage fingers this time), light mayonnaise, lemon juice, natural yogurt) ... and greek(ish) salad - little gem lettuce, rocket, red onion, tomator, cucumber, red pepper, basil, black olives, feta - dressed with olive oil and lemon juice).  Griddled courgette - marinade in olive oil, salt and herbs.  Grill monkfish for about 8 minutes, courgette about 6 minutes and talapia for about 6 minutes - on hot barbeque.  Served, today, with rice.  Primary victim had burgers, but the rest of us enjoyed the fish.  I prefered the talapia to the monkfish - but I'd do them both again.

Crab cakes and celeriac slaw

OK - this looks like a burnt offering with some salad.  Fair enough - but it is home made burnt offering, with home made salads.  The crab cakes were inspired (?) by yesterday's bargain - and the everything else was in the fridge, including from the last veg box - with a spring onion boost from Poly the tunnel! :)

So, the "recipe".  I peeled, chopped into chunky cubes some potatoes - meanwhile chopped spring onions (from poly the tunnel) and some celery, added minced garlic and chili, and some sweetcorn - and then very carefully picked over crab - when the potatoes were cooked mashed them, and seasoned.  Mixed the veg and mash - added beaten egg - beat until fully mixed.  Fried in hot olive oil  until crust formed - them put in baking tray in hot oven for 20 mins.   Serve with green salad, and celeriac slaw, and some sweet chili dipping sauce.  

Celeriac slaw - grate or mandolin - carrots, red onion, celeriac into lemon juice - stir in tsp mayonnaise, tbsp natural yogurt; squeeze of lemon/lime juice (or splash of vinegar).

Salad greens - you know what your victims will embrace - I tried watercress, chichory and cos lettuce ... most of it was left, but I loved it!  Hey ho (again)

Crab cocktail

Well - bargain night at Waitrose - Cromer crab for £1 .. so, it would have been rude not to!  Mixed crab, chopped celery and tomato in mayonnaise - should have added chopped chili, but didn't have any fresh.  Season.  Chopped cos lettuce and tossed with good olive oil.  Chopped avocado and mixed with lime juice and black pepper.  Stack.  Victim was very pleased, though said presentation could have been improved by drizzle of lemon oil - and agreed about the chili.