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.

Broccoli and leek blue cheese gluten free pasta

Olive oil
2 leeks
1 head of broccoli
some chard leaves
garlic
white wine
about 100g blue cheese (gorgonzola in this case)

gluten free pasta
salt and pepper

Sautee leeks in olive oil.  Add chopped broccoli stalks, and then after a couple of minutes the florets.
Cook pasta according until al dente.
Splosh white wine into veggies.  Simmer.
When veg is nearly done chuck in chunks of blue cheese.
Drain pasta, chuck into veg and season.

It was extremely quick, and extremely tasty.

Spicy fish and "chips"

Oops... was so tasty we scoffed a lot of it before I remembered to take a pic.

"Chips" were really roast potatoes, par-boiled and then roasted in hot olive oil, in a hot oven.

Spicy fish was pollock in a maize meal, cornflour and cold water batter, with a good spoonful of curry goat seasoning - fried in olive oil.

Vegetables were 1 chopped onion, sauteed until soft, in olive oil, garlic, frozen peas and splosh of white wine, then handful of shredded lettuce wilted in.

Tartare sauce was 2 gherkins, some capers, finely chopped and stirred into half and half creme fraiche and natural yogurt, with a squeeze of lemon juice and black pepper.

Delish!

Rosti, tomato and feta casserole with mushroom and leek stuff

Really bad pics at the moment - apologies!

Rosti

6 potatoes
2 onions, 1 red one white

Grate potatoes and onion season well, put into seive and weigh down to drain out water.

Squish into patties.  Fry, when other stuff is nearly ready in olive oil and butter for a couple or 3 minutes each side.

Tomato and feta casserole

5 tomatoes
1/2 red onion
feta
handful of olives

Chop tomatoes roughly, and red onion finely, put in oven proof dish - crumble in feta and chuck in stoned black olives.  Bake, covered with foil for half an hour or so.

Mushroom, leek and pea sauce

olive oil
2 leeks
handful mushrooms
garlic
splash of white wine
handful frozen peas
creme fraiche

Sautee chopped and washed leeks in olive oil, when a little soft add mushrooms and garlic.  Adda  splash of white wine and simmer gently.  When nearly ready to eat chuck in handful of frozen peas, heat through, take off the heat and stir in tbsp creme fraiche.

My favourite bit was the hot sweet tomato with the salty feta and olives, against the fried potato.  Yums.

Rice and lentils, roasted veg, beetroot and kale

All elements of the "recipe" quite simple - but together it was very good, and very nutritious.

Cook rice and lentils, and mix together when cooked.

Peel and chop carrots and parsnips, add wedges of red onion, spritz with lemon juice, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with caribbean spices.  Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, remove foil and continue to bake until veg is soft and slightly "caught" around the edges.

Bake the beetroot with garlic cloves and olive oil and black pepper - cover with foil.  Peel when hot, chop and splash on balsamic vinegar.

Steam kale for about 12-15 minutes, after grating on fresh nutmeg.

Scoff.  Some garlic yogurt sauce would have been nice if you like that kind of thing.

Tortilla, pepperonata, butter bean casserole and red cabbage slaw

End of the week for the veg box, some red peppers, so an interesting mix for tea.

Tortillas:

Maize meal
Warm water

Mix to a paste - squish into tortillas in specialist tortilla squisher - between sheets of cling film.  Or, in less gadget driven households - roll out, between cling film so that it doesn't stick to the surface - with a rolling pin.

Fry in a little olive oil and butter.  Keep warm in the oven.

Pepperonata:

1 red onion diced
Olive oil
2 red peppers
2 cloves crushed garlic
Tomato puree
water
Chili flakes
salt

Sweat onion in olive oil, add chopped peppers, garlic and tomato puree.  Add a little water so that it stays juicy.  Add chili flakes and salt.  Cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes.

Butter bean casserole

Half a red onion, diced
Olive oil
Drained tin of chick peas
Splosh of white wine
Grated rind of half a lemon
Dried rosemary
Black pepper
Crushed garlic

Stick everything into cast iron casserole and simmer gently.  Ours went a little dry, should have checked that there was enough liquid and added a little water.  Delish though.

Red cabbage slaw

1/2 red cabbage
1 small red onion
3 carrots
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 tsp mustard
fennel seeds
3 tbsp natural yogurt
black pepper
salt

Grate, mix - taste, adjust seasoning.

Stick everything on the table and let the free for all commence.

Sardine and rice stuffed pappers

1 onion, chopped and sauteed in olive oil
Garlic
Chili flakes
A few mushrooms
Cauliflower
Tin of tomatoes
Tin of pichards
Green beans

2 red peppers

Cook rice according to packet
Roast peppers in a drizzle of olive oil for about 40 minutes
Make rice mixture by mixing sauteed onion, mushrooms, beans, chopped cauliflower and sauteeing until soft, add cooked rice, chili flakes and tin of tomatoes, heat through.
Add in sardines/pilchards and mix through

Cheap, nutritious and tasty.

Penne with smoked salmon, peas and beans - gluten free

Veg box at weekly low - chinese leaves are still in there though!  abandonned!  Not really sure what to do with them.  Fine in salads, but it's cold.. I want a hot dinner.

Anyway:-

Olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
Garlic
Smoked salmon
green beans, chopped
Frozen peas
Spinach
2 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp natural yogurt

Pasta (in this case gluten free penne)

Cook pasta to packet instructions
Sautee onion in olive oil, add green beans
When bearly cooked add frozen peas, chopped spinach and bits of smoked salmon
Drain pasta, mix with veg and salmon, stir in creme fraiche and yogurt

Couldn't be easier

Kholrabi salad with mushroom, spinach and hazelnut pasta

Well, much debate about what to call tonight's dinner - without just listing ingredients!  It is Monday - the veg box arrives on a Tuesday morning.  This is the time when you look at what you have got, and try to find something tasty, which is not just "chuck it in and hope for the best".

So, two dishes, either of which could have stood alone, but actually were delicious together.

Kholrabi, apple and watercress salad

Olive oil
1 lemon
1 kholrabi
2 small apples
2 carrots (mine were yellow, but that's because that was what we got)
1 onion, very finely sliced
cider vinegar
1 small bunch watercress, leaves picked off
salt and pepper

1.  Squeeze half a lemon to catch its juice in a bowl add about as much olive oil - this is to stop the kholrabi and apple oxidising and turning brown - so bear this in mind as you grate the other ingerdients in, and make sure you turn them over in the lemon juice and oil as you prepare the veg.
2.  Grate in kholrabi, apples and carrots.  Finely (as finely as you can) slice onions into half moons. I would have used red onions if I had some, but I didn't so VERY carefully finely sliced a white onion.
3.  Turn over to make sure veg and fruit have a film - you may wish to add more juice/oil - and/or a drop of cider vinegar to make a tangy, tasy mix.
4.  Strip watercress and gently stir in leaves.
5.  Taste, and adjust seasoning.

Mushroom, spinach and hazelnut pasta

Pasta (this is a gluten free version, so it was a corn rice mix penne pasta.. but any shortish pasta would be fine)
olive oil
8 (well, 8ish) mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
splosh of brandy (optional really, but does give a depth of flavour)
big handful of spinach leaves
3 tbsps creme fraiche
75g gorgonzola (or other blue cheese)
water
black pepper
a handful of hazelnuts

1.  Cook pasta in boiling water, according to packet instructions - don't over cook, as it will be heated through with the mushroom mixture.  Drain when cooked.  If a little while before needed, drizzle over a tiny hint of olive oil and stir so that it doesn't stick together.
2.  Chop mushrooms and sautee gently in olive oil (and butter, if you like butter).
3.  Chop spinach leaves into ribbons - not tiny pieces, just so that when they wilt they keep some shape but are not stringy.
4.  Add crushed garlic to mushrooms, stir in.
5.  Add a splosh of brandy - flame it (turn pan slightly into gas flame/ a match) to burn off the harshness of the alcohol but retain the flavour (this step is entirely optional, but does add a depth of flavour otherwise un-achievable)
6.  Add ribbons of spinach and stir/toss until wilted.
7.  Meanwhile roast hazelnuts, briefly, in a dry frying pan - about 2 minutes shaking much of the time.  Once roasted  - either pulse in processor or smash a bit in pestle and mortar.
7.  Chuck in pasta, remove from heat.
8.  Let cool for a minute, add crumbled cheese and creme fraiche.  Stir through until cheese is melted.

Serve - I sprinkled the hazelnuts on the pasta, and served with the salad - and we both had seconds... and thirds.