Reform Cocktails

Today's cocktails needed to go with the mushroom pastry puffs, that had a spike of sherry in them, so a sherry cocktail was perfect - 4 parts of dry sherry to 3 parts of dry white vermouth and a couple of shakes of orange bitters.  Shake over ice and pour into martini glasses, then add a Maraschino cherry and a little of the Luxardo Maraschino syrup from the jar.  Very elegant, very dry.

Potato, Celeriac and Apple Mash

A nice recipe from Riverford Organics, this.  It doesn't look any different from ordinary mash, but the lovely smokiness from the celeriac and the sweet note from the apple complemented some roast pork loin and red cabbage perfectly.  Basically, you cook equal quantities of peeled and cubed celeriac and potato (I like King Edwards) and then mash them with a little butter and cream, and a peeled chopped apple cooked in a tiny bit of water until soft..  Season with salt and lots of black pepper.  I imagine this would be great with bangers and onion gravy with, perhaps, some pan-fried apple slices on the side.

Mushroom and Parma Ham Pastries

These lovelies are perfect with cocktails before dinner - smoking jacket optional.  You can make it veggie by leaving out the ham.  Basically, you make a 'duxelles' of mushrooms, a punnet of them, any sort will do, by blitzing in a food processor or chopping very finely on a board with a big knife.  Do the same with a small onion, and also blend 3 or 4 slices of Parma Ham if using.  In the food processor, after all the other chopping has been done, blitz a slice of bread to crumbs - white or wholemeal, no matter.  This will also 'clean' the bowl and make it easier to wash.  Now, slowly cook the mushrooms and onions in about 25g of butter until quite dry - this will take a good 20 minutes over a lowish heat.  Mix in the ham, the breadcrumbs, an egg, some fresh thyme and a little salt and pepper to taste - I add a splosh of sherry too which deepens the flavour.  Allow to cool completely.  Now, assemble 'sausage rolls' using the cold mixture, by spooning it down the length of a strip of puff pastry, fold the edge over to seal, and cut on the diagonal to make little mushroom rolls.  Brush with another beaten egg, and bake at 180C until lovely and brown and crisp.  Any leftovers freeze really well, either cooked or raw.

Cardamom Rice Pudding with Roast Rhubard

One of the joys of growing up in the 1960s and 70s was being given Ambrosia Rice Pudding for dessert - do they still make it?  I shall have to have a look.  With tinned mandarin oranges, it were a real treat!  I love rice pudding of any sort, although I am not a fan of the skin on a baked pudding.  This version came to me via Fiona Beckett's 'Frugal Cook' blog, and she bakes arborio rice in evaporated milk with sugar and cardamom pods.  I used full cream fresh milk instead.  By covering the dish with foil and stirring regularly, you keep away the dreaded skin.  It is amazing how little rice - about 65g - is needed for a pint of milk and a couple of tablespoons of sugar.  A long, slow bake, covered with foil, yields a lovely creamy pud, that I prefer served cold.  You can vary the flavourings with classic vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon.  I sometimes use some coconut milk to replace ordinary milk for a lovely twist, nice after a light Asian meal.  I followed Fiona's lead and served roast rhubarb, done my usual way with orange zest and juice.   But fresh pineapple or pureed mango are nice at this time of year. 

Chicken and Mushroom Pancakes

Pancakes are a great vehicle for using up leftovers, and tonight saw off the last of Sunday's chicken, mixed with mushrooms and parsley in a bechamel sauce, rolled up in the pancakes, glazed with more sauce and some Parmesan, and baked till bubbling and crisp.  The flat is now full of the aroma of a soup made from the carcase, with celery, root veg, leeks, cannellini beans and rosemary - perfect for lunch over the next couple of days.  All from a free-range chook costing just under a tenner.  Not bad, eh?

Count Your Blessings for Lent

OK, I know this is a while off - Lent begins on 9 March this year, but I came across this brilliant idea from Christian Aid and I am going to follow it.  Now, I am not remotely religious, and Lent has too often been used by people around me as a shallow re-visit of New Year's resolutions - time to abstain from chocolate or alcohol, for instance.  It was supposed to be a time of reflection and this 'Count Your Blessings' approach forces you every day to re-evaluate your life and to compare it with others who are less fortunate than you.  The fact remains that, in the UK, the vast majority of people are OK - sure, it could be better, but we do still have health care, social housing, education, clean water, good food, the rule of law, freedom.  Millions don't.  So, instead of giving things up, I am going to count my blessings every day, and make a small financial contribution each day - less than the cost of a bought sandwich or Starbucks latte, following the guide from Christian Aid.  Check it out here. http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/cyb-main-resource.pdf.  You can do the same and donate to your fave charity, it doesn't have to be Christian Aid.  OK, sermon over.

Cabbage Masala

There is no way to make this dish look pretty - shredded white cabbage slowly cooked with onion and spices has a face only its Mum could love, but it tastes delicious - sweet, savoury and mellow, and a lovely counterpoint to a spankingly hot chicken Thai curry.  I based this on a recipe of my friend, Anu.  (She won't let me say Anu's recipe - oops!  Sorry!).  Finely chop an onion, and gently saute in a tablespoon of sunflower oil.  Whilst it is cooking, shred half a white cabbage and rinse well.  Add a teaspoon of black mustard seeds to the onion and turn up the heat, letting them pop a little.  Now stir in a teaspoon of garam masala, quite a bit of black pepper and also some salt - more than you might think is needed.  Add the cabbage and toss it all together.  Now add a little water - Anu uses the upturned lid of the pot as a measure.  Clamp the lid on and allow it to cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is soft and translucent and has shrunk down a little - probably around 15 minutes.  Taste and check seasoning, and cook for the last minute or so with the lid off to drive off any remaining liquid.  Anu does this with halved sprouts, which is a really nice way to eat them.  Leftovers, by the way, make the BEST bubble and squeak!

Mussaman Chicken Curry

I ate out with lovely friends at the Thai River restaurant in Windsor last week, and decided to try a Mussaman (or Massaman, depending on where you look) curry with the left-over chicken from yesterday's roast.  Quite simple really - first make the paste - in a blender put 3 teaspoons of chilli flakes (NOT the 15 dried red chillis the original recipe called for!), a tablespoon of ground coriander, a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and a teaspoon of ground black pepper.  Add a LOT of crushed garlic - a whole head, peeled and crushed, 4 peeled chopped shallots, 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste, 2 stalks of chopped lemongrass, an inch of ginger, peeled and grated, a teaspoon of tamarind paste and a tablespoon of fish sauce.  Add a tablespoon of hot water and blend to a thick paste, then stir in a dessertspoon of soft brown sugar, or palm sugar if you have it.  At this stage, it will smell like old ladies sitting drying by the fire.  Please persist, it gets better.  Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok and add half the paste (freeze the rest, you only need half), and then around half a pint of hot water.  Chuck in a couple of medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks, and allow the spuds to cook in the sauce, as it gradually reduces.  Whilst this is happening, finely chop a couple of tablespoons of unsalted cashew nuts and toast in a dry frying pan.  When the potatoes are done stir in a small can of coconut cream, around 200mls, some shredded cooked chicken and the toasted cashew nuts.  Allow to cook for a few more minutes and stir in some corainder if liked.  Add some salt, it will probably need it, or some more fish sauce.  Enough for 2 with some naan bread and Masala Cabbage (see later recipe).  Man, this was HOT!

Deauville Cocktails

Hubby just described these as 'Sidecars with Calvados', and I guess that is pretty much what they are - equal measures each of good Cognac, Calvados, Cointreau and freshly-squeezed lemon juice.  We sweetened it with a little gomme sugar syrup, and added a lemon twist.  Shaken over ice and served in a martini glass, this was a classic example of the alchemy of a good cocktail -all the ingredients combine to taste of something different from the individual parts.  Very delicious, and quite potent - hic!

Rhubarb and Orange Ice Cream

I love home-made ice cream, but as I only have one of the machines that need to be pre-frozen, it is sometimes a bit of a palavar.  So, this 'cheat's version is a great alternative, as you simply add the ingredients to a tub of slightly-softened, good quality bought vanilla ice cream.  I used a litre tub of Yeo Valley vanilla but go for your favourite.  I started by roasting a pack of Yorkshire forced rhubarb, which is bang in season now.  Please don't succumb to the Dutch stuff, support an old, traditional industry.  Check out Oldroyd's website for a fascinating history of this product.

Anyway, cut a pack, about 4 long, slender, shocking pink sticks, into chunks and put in a single layer if possible in a baking dish.  Now, zest an orange, and stir into 3 tablespoons of caster sugar, and sprinkle over the rhubarb.  Juice the orange and pour over the sugary chunks.  Bake at 160C for 20-25 minutes until the rhubarb is tender and the whole thing is lovely and juicy.  Allow to cool.  Take out your ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes.  Now, either tip into a food processor with the cold cooked rhubarb and juices and blitz in short sharp buzzes until rippled through, or roughly blend the rhubarb until still a bit chunky, tip the ice cream into a bowl and fold the blended rhubarb through.  Either way, Pour the ice cream into a lidded plastic container and return to the freezer sharpish so it can all settle and freeze again.  Serve with more roasted rhubarb and some crisp little biscuits - shortbread, perhaps, or I like Bonne Maman Butter Galettes for a complete cheat's dessert!

Sweet and Sour Chicken and Pineapple

I HATE the sweet and sour stuff you get at most Chinese restaurants - way too sweet AND sour, with a gloopy sauce.  Most recipes sound gross too, with pineapple juice, too much vinegar and huge quantities of sugar.  But, we had some lovely fresh pineapple in the house, so I thought, why not try to make it with a lot of these elements reined in?  And it worked - we ended up with a lovely dish of delicate, subtle falvours and textures, and I am quite converted to this now.  Here's what I did, for two people.  I made the sauce first by dissolving a dessertspoon of honey and a teaspoon of tomato puree in 1/4 of a pint of boiling water in a jug.  To this, I added 2 teaspoons of rice wine vinegar (but any white vinegar would do), along with 2 teaspoons of sweet chilli sauce, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce (I use reduced sodium) and stir well.  Now add a clove of garlic, grated or finely chopped, and about an inch of fresh ginger, grated.  Top it up to 1/2 a pint with cold water, and then whisk in a heaped teaspoon of cornflour, and set aside.  Get on with your stir-fry - I used sliced chicken breasts, red onions and a red pepper, but you can use pork, mange touts, courgettes, anything that takes your fancy.  I also chopped about a quarter of a fresh pineapple into medium chunks - do use fresh, as I think tinned is too sweet and mushy.  Stir-fry everything in the usual way in a really hot wok, then at the end, add the sauce and let it bubble and glaze everything for a minute.  Sprinkle with a little crushed dried red chilli for even more 'poke' if liked.  Serve with rice.  Lovely, piquant meal and miles better than commercial sweet 'n' sours!

Beetroot Gratin

A most unprepossessing-sounding recipe, this, but extremely delicious.  It comes from the Riverford Cookbook.  For two, you need 3 medium uncooked beetroot, scrubbed and peeled (wear rubber gloves).  Slice thinly with a sharp knife or mandolin, and layer in a small gratin dish.  Bring to the boil 100ml of double cream, with a clove of crushed garlic, and some fresh, chopped rosemary.  Season with salt and pepper, and add a teaspoon of grated horseradish if you have any.  Pour over the beetroot - it won't seem like enough cream, but trust the recipe!  Cover tightly with foil and bake at 160C for an hour - I slipped it in next to a lovely joint of Aberdeen Angus topside and shallots, and some potatoes and parsnips, for a meal-in-an-oven.  photo courtesy of Waitrose.com

White Lady Cocktails

Looking at previous blog entries, I can't believe I haven't mentioned this one before - perhaps because it is such a timeless classic, I just presume everyone knows it.  But if you don't, do make yourself one, it is such a perfect, delicious drink.  We use 2 parts of Gordon's Gin to 1 part each of Cointreau and freshly-squeezed lemon juice and gomme/sugar syrup to taste - we use around half a part syrup, but start with less and taste until you get the level of acidity you can bear.  Shake on ice, and serve in a martini glass with a lemon twist.  Perfect accompaniment to smoked salmon blinis.

Valentine's Day Baking

So, the weekend has been spent producing what ends up looking like a ridiculously small amount of baked goods for a charity cake sale at work tomorrow.  About 3 pounds each of butter and sugar has been used, all in aid of the British Heart Foundation.  Hah!  The irony!  So, here is a picture of me producing the Chocolate Melting Moments.  I wish!  Those were the days when sex could be used to sell anything.  Ah me.

So what has been made?  Well, the Chocolate Melting Moments, along with Vanilla Melting Moments. I love these, being incredibly 'short' buttery little biscuits, sandwiched with butter cream.  The vanilla ones are very soft and 'tender', and the chocolate ones have ended up crisper - probably the extra cocoa powder that makes the difference. 

I have also made Orlando Murrin's brownies again (see earlier this month), along with Bill Granger's Lime Slice, which I have adapted to include lemon and passionfruit - for a Slice of Passion - geddit?  If anyone wants the recipes, just let me know.  And if you are a work colleague reading this, please bring lots of money in to work tomorrow!

Tarka Dal with Roasted Butternut Squash

My husband can be witty - sometimes.  When I said we were having this, he asked if it had otter in it - Tarka the Otter?  On the contrary it is a great vegan dish.  This is based on a recipe in Jamie Oliver's latest magazine, and is, essentially, a dal made from red lentils with lots of ginger, garlic, chilli, cumin and ground coriander.  Then it is served with the tarka topping, lots of onions, shallots, garlic and ginger fried in oil and a little butter until lovely and brown.  At the last minute, you add some garam masala and mustard seeds and spoon the oil and onion mixture over the dal with lots of chopped coriander.  We served this with chunks of butternut squash that had been peeled and vubed, tossed in a little oil and a teaspoon of garam masala, and roasted until toasted and soft.  Some Basmati rice and a little mint raita (not vegan, I know) was all we needed for a complete meal.

Golden Vegetable Soup

My parents were great soup-makers.  Being Scottish, hearty broths were part of their DNA, and I make them myself as often as I can.  Their repertoire was limited - Scotch Broth, Chicken Broth, Lentil and Ham Broth, and something my old Dad called 'CIA Soup' which meant, 'Chuck It All in', a bit like minestrone.  But my siblings and I never tired of them, they were so healthy and delicious.  Strange, then, that my parents also LOVED packet soup, particularly Golden Vegetable.  These were essentially milk and MSG in powdered form with little pieces of dehydrated carrot and pea that never, and I mean NEVER, rehydrated when the soup was made.  Gah!  But as a fresh soup made with simply masses of slowly simmered chunks of carrot, swede, leek, celery, and whatever else you have to hand (yesterday's version also had courgette, parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac) and of course the obligatory frozen peas, it is a wonderful hearty soup.  You get the slight golden colour by extracting about a third of the soup and blending it, returning it to the pot, which thickens and colours the entire pot.  Thin it with a little milk to give some creaminess and add some finely chopped parsley, and there you have it - better than anything out of a packet and no MSG. 

Orlando Murrin's Best Ever Chocolate Brownies

I once sat next to Orlando Murrin, one-time editor of Good Housekeeping and the BBC Good Food Magazine, at a posh restaurant in Ludlow.  Who knows, he might be saying the same thing of me?  I doubt it.  Anyway, I am always on the search for the Holy Grail of the best chocolate brownie recipe, and this one comes pretty near it.  Deep, fudgy and very chocolatey, this mix smelt divine as it was baking.  Who needs air freshener?  In the UK we spend something silly like £360 million each year on chemical air fresheners - just bake a batch of brownies, people!  Here is the recipe, give it a go. (I substituted 50g of chopped walnuts for the milk choc chunks, 'cos I like nuts in my brownies).

Smoked Haddock, Chard and Tomato Gratin

Some wonderful Swiss Chard turned up in the Riverford veg box today, so I chopped and blanched it, then laid it in a gratin dish with some sliced tomatoes from last week's box, some thyme and some chunks of undyed smoked haddock from Waitrose.  This was topped with a nutmeggy cheese sauce, using good, strong Godminster cheddar, and baked until bubbling and brown.  Served with toasted sourdough to mop up the sauce, it was a lovely comforting dish for a blustery dark February night.