Millecosedde

Or Thick Bean and Vegetable Soup to you! Now, I could never be a vegan, as I like my dairy too much, but if forced, I could live on this soup for a while (and would probably be much healthier for it). It is an Italian soup, and roughly translated, this apparently means 'thousands of cooks', as, like Minestrone, it has lots of variations. This version, from Italian veggie guru Ursula Ferrigno, is essentially a mix of cooked chickpeas, green lentils, borlotti and cannellini beans, simmered with a lot of fresh, skinned tomato, stock, onion, celery and carrot. Half the soup is blended, and returned to the pot with lots of steamed Savoy cabbage and masses of chopped parsley. It is very healthy and filling, although I wouldn't recommend standing downwind of me after a couple of hours........Some recipes recommend adding pasta but I preferred it with bread instead. A little fresh rosemary is a nice addition too.

Orecchiette with Broccoli, Garlic and Chilli

There are probably as many recipes for this as there are Italian cooks, but however you do it, it makes for a cheap yet nourishing and filling supper. Do use the orecchiette pasta, though, as it has a particular texture - firm and chewy - that is 'right' for this. I think it means 'little ears' and they certainly resemble them! For 2: Whilst the pasta is cooking (it takes about 13-14 minutes, a little longer than other pasta), steam or boil a head of broccoli, broken into florets, you don't need the stem for this but do add any leaves, chopped. Then, heat 2 or three tablespoons of good olive oil in a pan and gently soften 2 or 3 cloves of chopped garlic - don't be afraid to let it go a little golden and toasty, but not brown when it becomes bitter. Add a chopped red chilli (to taste, but it should have some 'poke') and then the cooked broccoli. Continue to saute until the broccoli starts to break down a little but remains green, seasoning with a little salt and lots of black pepper. Strain the pasta, keeping back a few spoons of water, and stir through the sauce, adding the reserved water if it is dry and another spoon of oil. Serve with fresh parmesan, quite coarsely grated. Very nice for the end of the month, no money blues!

Fig and Raspberry Crostata

Another Alice Waters inspired recipe, from 'Chez Panisse Fruit' - a wonderful book, although it now has a rival in Nigel Slater's fantastic Volume 2 of Tender - 'Fruit', which arrived this weekend - fabulous! A crostata is such a simple pie, and if you roll the pastry out on baking parchment, you can go for a rich buttery eggy pastry. The smell of this as it cooked was fabulous, although we have eschewed the recommended Chartreuse glaze, as I couldn't be arsed. Anyway, we didn't have any in the drinks cabinet, either green or yellow, shocking, I know. Forgive me. Anyway, a great Autumnal fruit pairing, and a most original recipe. Let me know if you want it and I will email it to you.

Braised Duck Legs with Onion and Sage

Duck legs are by far the most delicious part of the bird, and this recipe, inspired by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse-fame, managed the difficult task of producing tender, melting meat, a delicious gravy and crisp skin. Simply brown quite a lot of onions in a tablespoon of oil and transfer to a casserole with some chopped garlic and a few sage leaves - go easy as they are a very dominant flavour - and a bay leaf. Now, brown duck legs, skin-side down, in the same pan as the onions. Let the skin take on a good, deep-golden colour. Season the meaty uppers of the leg with salt and pepper, then turn and brown the meat side. Remove to the casserole, pour off the rendered fat (keep it in a pot for roast spuds) and deglaze the pan with a wine-glass of white wine. Pour this over the duck, cover, and braise for an hour. Uncover, pour off the sauce (keeping it, of course) and return the duck to the oven for a further 30 minutes - turn it up high to crisp the skin. Before serving, skim the duck fat off the sauce and add the onions from the casserole. Bring to the boil and allow to reduce a little before pouring over the crisp duck and serving with dark greens and potatoes - mash is good! I will use the remaining two duck legs for a soup tomorrow. Gorgeous with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.

Hot Smoked Salmon and Chive Pate and Zanzibar cocktails

Well, another manic weekend of baking, for a street party on Saturday and a charity Macmillan Coffee morning on this coming Tuesday. I managed to squeeze time in to cook our dinner, which was yummy, and a neighbour has also given us some wonderful Punjabi vegetable curries and samosas, so we won't starve!

First off for dinner was this oh-so-simple fish pate, spread on crisp toast. Simply mash a pack of hot smoked salmon with a fork, and add half its weight in light cream cheese. Mash again and add chives and lemon juice to taste. Pot into little dishes and cover - will keep for several days. These toasts went down very well with today's cocktail, 'Zanzibars', which consist of 3 parts dry white vermouth to 1 part gin and fresh lemon juice, with sugar syrup to taste and a good splosh of orange bitters. Shake on ice and strain into a Martini glass - serve with a lemon twist.

Nigella's Rapid Roastini

Well, what can I say? These little babies may just change your life! First of all, get out to your local shop and buy a bag of shrink-wrapped long-life potato gnocchi. Yes, those ones. Yes, the ones that are like little hockey pucks of gluey starch. Trust me. Put a frying pan on the heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and allow to come up to temperature. Now, open the pack. This requires a Master's Degree in its own right. Carefully drop as many as you are able to eat in the oil and cook for 4 minutes. Turn them over and cook for another 4 minutes until a deep golden colour. Drain, sprinkle with salt, and eat. Sit back and marvel at how clever Nigella has transformed such an unpreposessing ingredient into little crisp roasted potatoes that are sooooo yummy. Now, go and cook the rest of the pack. You will want to, believe me. This is from Nigella's new book, 'Kitchen', a mammoth tome but worth it. Here is the recipe.

Chocolate Brownies with Hazelnuts and Walnuts

I baked a massive batch of these for a Cancer Charity Coffee Morning this morning, and used Delia's recipe from her Winter Collection, but I double the amount of chocolate. So, use her recipe but with 100g dark chocolate, rather than the 50g the recipe suggests, which is not chocolatey enough and too sweet for my taste. Other than that, it is a great recipe and produces the perfect texture of a crisp top and gooey middle, with chunky toasted nuts throughout. I also used just two varieties of nuts, as that was all I had! One punter at the coffee morning said they were the best brownies she'd ever eaten - forgive my boastfulness!

Baked Salmon with Spiced Chickpeas and Spinach

I wonder why Alex Mackay isn't better known? He is a Kiwi chef who worked for many years with the legendary Raymond Blanc. He has written a great book on Provencal cooking, and also writes from time to time for Sainsbury magazine. A couple of years ago, I cut this recipe from there and cooked it tonight - simple and delicious! Make a 'papillote' of a big sheet of foil per person, lined with another sheet of baking parchment. On this, lay a handful of spinach leaves per person. Take a tin of chickpeas, rinse, and mix in a bowl with half a tin of good chopped tomatoes, a chopped clove of garlic, a chopped spring onion and a half teaspoon of garam masala powder. Divide this amongst the spinach parcels - this quantity serves two. Place a salmon fillet (organic if possible) on each pile of chickpeas and dot with a wee bit of butter, and some salt and pepper. Scrunch up the parcels, sealing well, and place on a baking sheet. Bake in a really hot oven, 200 C, for 20 minutes, and then unwrap. The smell is glorious as the fragrant steam puffs out.

Cream of Leek Soup

A little too early for potato and leek soup, as the maincrop potatoes haven't hit the shelves yet. Am I the only one craving creamy mash??!!! Anyway, this was a lovely soup that showcased the fabulous leeks that Riverford have been supplying. Simply clean and slice 3 big leeks, and do the same with a large onion. Allow to sweat for a good 20 minutes in quite a lot of butter - about 30g. Then stir in a heaped tablespoon of flour, and then a pint and a half of veg stock (or chicken if you prefer). Simmer for another 20 minutes. I then remove some of the soup to a jug, and blend the rest in the pan with a stick blender with lots of parsley, then return the unblended portion to the pot - this gives some nice textural contrast. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of double cream or creme fraiche and dish up. I served quite small portions as it is surprisingly rich and filling, and we had another course to follow. Delicious, and freezes really well.

The Lifecycle of half a leg of Roast Lamb

There are just the two of us in our little household, but I never shy away from cooking a joint of meat - you hear some people say "oh, it is too much for two" as they tuck into a Fray Bentos Sliced Beef and Gravy or some other monstrosity. Of course, two people won't polish off a whole chicken, or a joint of beef, or half a leg of lamb, at one sitting, but think of the leftovers! On Sunday, I roasted a lovely half leg of lamb that had been tunnel boned and stuffed with loads of garlic and rosemary - very nice with gravy, turnip gratin and some spinach, thank you very much. We had loads left over so:
Monday - we made a Lamb Ragu by mincing half of the remaining meat and simmering it with tomatoes, the remaining gravy, a splosh of red wine and some roasted veggies. Tossed through chunky rigatoni pasta, it was perfect for a wet evening after work.
Tuesday - tonight, I have just finished making some rissoles with the final bit of meat, minced with onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, mint, parsley, egg and some Garam Masala powder. They were then shaped into patties, egg-and-breadcrumbed, and will be fried to serve alongside new potatoes, roasted tomatoes and runner beans (reminds me of the old joke - what's in a rissole? Earhole, Eyehole and Ar$ehole - well not in mine, there ain't!)
I was left with the shank bone, which, were I being really frugal, and were it a bit chillier, I would have boiled up and made into Scotch broth, with turnip, carrot, leeks and barley.
So, love your leftovers, get that lovely joint of meat, and make the most of it for a good couple of frugal days.

Ozone Cocktail

Tonight's cocktail - now bear with me, because these sound a bit like a dog's dinner but were really very nice. For 1 person:

Take 3/4 of a measure of sweet sherry, 3/4 measure Bourbon, 1 measure of pineapple juice, 1/2 a measure of fresh lime juice, a teaspoon of Campari and a scant teaspoon (careful it is sweet) of Grenadine. Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker then pour into a straight glass filled with more broken ice. Enjoy! Trust me, it was very good!

Scones

If I do say so myself, I make a pretty good scone. As with all things simple, there are rules to follow:
1) always use Marry Berry's recipe! (see below)
2) Substitute buttermilk for ordinary milk in Mary's recipe (see - broken a rule already)
3) keep the mixture moist and sticky
4) handle the dough as little as possible
5) don't roll the dough, rather, pat it out with your hand, which doesn't compress it and force out that lovely air

This recipe makes loads of scones - I got 26 out of today's batch, and they are all in the freezer for next weekend.

675g SR flour plus 3 rounded teaspoons baking powder
120g butter, diced
75g caster sugar
3 eggs
300ml buttermilk (or ordinary milk)

I blitz the flour and butter in a food processor, then add the sugar and the eggs, beaten with the buttermilk. Hold back a couple of tablespoons of the eggy buttermilk to brush on the top. Blend again then tip onto a floured worksurface. Pat out with floured hands to about an inch thickness. Stamp out rounds (don't twist the cutter) then place on floured baking sheets, brush with the left-over egg mix, and bake in a HOT (200 degrees) oven for 10-12 minutes. Eat the same day, or freeze. Perfect!
Post script: a week later, Sunday, and these have gone down a storm at a Charity Coffee Morning, with clotted cream and jams - see picture at top

Parkin

I am in the middle of a baking-fest this weekend - next weekend, a friend is running a charity coffee morning, and I volunteered to bake for it. Parkin is a great cake to make well ahead - if it can sit for a good few days, well-wrapped, it becomes sticky and moist. It is dead easy to make as well. Here is the recipe I used, from the BBC website.

Other goodies for the coffee morning include - Scones (see next entry), Meredith's Zucchini Cake and the Simple Carrot and Raisin Cake, both of which are in the blog, and a Chocolate and Nut Brownie, which will be made later in the week, so I'll blog that when done. Phew!

Peach and Blueberry Crostata

If you can't be bothered with all the fuss of lining a tart tin, baking blind etc, then this crostata is the way to go. Roll out the dough (6oz flour, 30z butter, 1oz sugar and an egg yolk, blitzed in the food processor) on a sheet of baking parchment into a large round shape, ignoring any ragged edges. Toss fruit in a tablespoon of sugar and plain flour, pile into the middle and then bring the edges of the dough up around the fruit. It doesn't matter if the edges are ragged, or if the dough tears - just squidge it together again. It won't meet in the middle. Place on a baking sheet, using the baking parchment to lift it on. Brush the pastry with milk and sprinkle with demerara sugar, then bake in a medium oven for 40 minutes until golden, and the fruit has bubbled with the flour to make a lovely gooey filling. A doddle!

Spaghetti with Courgettes, Chilli and Garlic

Simple and delicious. Whilst the pasta (spaghetti or linguine is best) is cooking, grate a large courgette, chop about 3 cloves of garlic and finely chop half a red chilli (more if you like it really hot). Heat a couple of tablespoons olive oil in a pan over a highish heat, and throw the lot in, stirring for a few minutes until the courgette has wilted a little but is still bright green. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta, holding back a few spoonfuls of the cooking water, and add to the courgettes. Toss well, adding the reserved water if a little dry, and a drizzle of oil too if you like. Serve with grated parmesan. Enough for two.

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with Toasted Corn

The sainted Mary Berry does a roasted red pepper soup where she blends the whole lot, blackened skin and all. I was sceptical until I tried it, and now will never bother skinning a roasted pepper for a soup again! The skin adds a deep, smoky resonance to proceedings, almost as though you've used smoked paprika. Anyway, this recipe is so simple it is scarcely even cooking. Line a baking tray with parchment paper (saves a lot of washing up!). Halve a good kilo of ripe tomatoes and spread over the tray. Next, halve 2 red peppers and remove the stem and seeds. Halve again and add to the tray. Skin a red onion (or any other one for that matter!) and cut into wedges. Add to the tray along with a good number of whole, peeled garlic cloves, depending on size. I went for 6 yesterday, but we like garlic! Drizzle with a couple of tablespoons olive oil and roast in a medium oven for 40 minutes until well roasted and blistered with some nice charring on the pepper skins. Now, tip it all into a pot, and just cover with veg stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes and then blend. You can add some basil if you have it and a spoon of cream to soften the flavours a little. A nice garnish is some toasted corn kernels - simply brush an ear of corn with a little oil and grill for 10 minutes, turning from time-to-time, until it is nice and toasty. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then strip the kernels off with a sharp knife. Delicious!

Smoked Sardine Salad with Beetroot and Apples and a Honey Mustard Dressing

Marks and Sparks are currenty selling smoked Cornish sardines, so we had them tonight in a lovely salad just bursting with goodness from our wonderful Riverford delivery - the freshest lettuce, mellow cucumber, sweet earthy beetroot, freshly boiled and still warm. Added to the mix were some finely sliced spring onions and a crisp Discovery apple. This was all tossed together with a honey and mustard dressing - a classic vinaigrette of 1 part cider vinegar to 3 parts light olive oil, a dash of honey and mustard and some salt and pepper. Just lovely for a beautiful late Summer evening.