Saturday 5 April - Fish and Chips

In a bid to try and eat more fish, we thought we'd have a go at proper fish and chips. We based this meal on a recipe from Tom Kerridge, but didn't make pea puree - nothing but proper mushy peas will do for us.

These were soaked  for the afternoon, and then cooked gently with a big sprig of mint.

 

Tartare sauce was made from scratch, the addition of grated boiled eggs was something I've not done before, and it worked really well.

Next the fish - the batter was made using Bass No1 and a couple of eggwhites whisked into self raising flour.

Tail pieces of cod were dipped into this and then deep fried.

And finally the chips - these were parboiled and then fried twice - I'm not convinced that the chips taste any better for the first boiling, but it saves having to dry the potatoes.

Everything got eaten, but we all thought the batter was a bit thick and could have been crisper.  The fish was delicious though.

Friday 28 March - Pad Thai

I've not made Pad Thai for years, but found a lovely looking recipe in one of Rick Steins books, We now also have the advantage of a local Thai grocery store so all the ingredients were easy to get hold of - even the correct type of noodles. The only ingredient that took three shops to find was the bean sprouts.

Here are all the ingredients laid out before, and after preparation.

Once prepared it was simply a case of adding them to the wok in the correct order.

Starting with the garlic, chilli and raw prawns

Next the eggs

and finally all the noodles, vegetables and flavourings

Served with a squeeze of lime juice. The flavour was lovely, although we felt a bit more colour would have been nice.

For afters my new favourite thing - tapioca, but for an Eastern twist, cooked in coconut milk.

I cooked it very slowly over a heat diffuser, with a spoonful of sugar and some added whole milk.

Once cooked it was cooled and some cream was stirred in. I then layered it with another of my current favourite things - ready pureed Mango that I buy in the Indian Grocery store. This also makes brilliant sorbet with no other ingredients required!

Possibly one of the nicest things I've cooked in a long time - and plenty left over for the next couple of days too.

Saturday 8 March - Tonka Bean Icecream

Another recipe from my new egg book - I'd never heard of Tonka Beans before, and a bit of online shopping was required to get my hands on some.
They arrived this week, and despite a long day out in the garden putting up my new greenhouse, I decided to make this to use up some cream we had in the fridge.

The beans looks a bit like dried rabbit droppings, and as soon as we opened the jar we were hit by the aroma - a bit like a cross between cinnamon and vanilla.

One and a half beans were grated into a mix of milk and cream and this was heated up. The recipe said to infuse for a couple of house, but as I didn't have time to do this, I made the custard with the grated beans in the liquid and we sieved it once the custard had cooled.

 

I made the custard using whole eggs and a spoonful of cornflour as I feel it's a bit of a waste using just egg yolks - this is despite having 6 or 7 eggs a day at the moment!

Once the custard was strained we churned it in the ice cream machine.

The resulting ice cream was a huge hit with visiting teenagers - not unlike vanilla but something a bit different - definitely a flavour to try other things with.

Tuesday 4 March - Indian Pancakes For Pancake Day

Despite my promise not to buy anymore recipe books, I spotted a book about eggs in The Works this weekend - A Good Egg by Genevieve Taylor - Recipes from an Urban Hen Keeper. As we are currently getting 6-7 eggs a day from our chickens I thought this one was justified!

The first page I opened had a recipe for pancakes filled with potato curry that looked amazing - so a version of this was perfect for Pancake Day.

I did change the filling as the recipe in the book used curry paste, and I don't like the harsh flavour, so I replaced this with my favourite potato and mustard seeds from a Madhur Jaffrey Book.

The pancake batter was a basic wheatflour one, but with the addition of mustard seeds and turmeric - it came out a lovely colour!

The filling was made up - fried mustard and cumin seeds, then in with the onions when the seeds start popping.

To this spices were added - cumin, coriander, turmeric and some chilli powder, along with cooked cubed potatoes and some fresh chillies. I also added peas to this to pad it all out a bit. A splash of water and a bit more cooking and finished off with chopped fresh coriander.

 

A chutney to serve alongside was made from chopped tomatoes, chilli, coriander along with some garlic, sugar and lime juice.

The pancakes were fried, I tried to make them as thin as possible.

Then to serve, the pancakes were spread with a bit of mango chutney and the potato and pea filling, and then rolled up. Served with the coriander chutney

Saturday 15 February - Sunshine Food

Challenge on the food group this week was 'Sunshine Food' and as I happen to have a Sophie Grigson book by that very name I hunted through that to find some recipe. Not all of this meal went down too well with us, but having taken the photos I thought it was worth blogging.

Course one was something that reminds me of our family holidays in France in the 1970s  - plain artichoke with some thick, mustardy dressing. I love these, the others ate theirs but weren't really fussed about it.

For the main course, the bit that none of us were really that keen on was the chicken - this was spatchcocked and stuffed with a puree of black olives, garlic, and parsley under the skin, before roasting .

The dish of Provencal Tomatoes that went with it, however, were a huge success.

I did a tomato sniff test when buying them to get the ones that actually smelled of something. These were then halved and fried cut side down until brown, then placed in the serving dish. cut side up.

They were then seasoned andsprinkled with breadcrumbs mixed with chopped garlic, parsley and tarragon, drizzled with olive oil and baked for about half an hour.

These were served with the chicken and some new potatoes.

For Dessert, a 'Trio' of things that all of us like.

Lemon Panacotta - I added a splash of limoncello to this along with the gelatine to give it a bit more of a lemony flavour.

An orange compote made with sliced oranges and tangerines, in a caramel syrup with a touch of cinnamon, and a dash of Grand Marnier.

To go with these, a bit of a treat - some homemade Baklava - this is surprisingly easy to make.

Layers of butter brushed filo, topped with plain chopped nuts - I used pistachios and almonds and pulsed them in the food processor. Then another 4 or 5 layers of filo on the top.

The pasty was scored and then baked until crisp. While still warm a syrup of sugar and water was made - I added some rose water and a good squeeze of honey to this, although it wasn't in the recipe.

The syrups was then poured over the still warm pastry.

Once all three components were cold they were served - and went down a lot better than the main course!

Sunday 2 February - Mezze and Greek Walnut Cake

Inspired by a visit to Akram, I decided to have a go for the first time to make proper homemade falafel.

Chick peas were soaked overnight and then into the processor (raw) with onions, garlic and various spices and pulsed until a paste formed.

This paste was then popped in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.

While it was chilling I made some Mezze style dips to serve alongside.

Roasted aubergines were turned into Baba ganoush by adding tahini, olive oil lemon juice and spices - the horrible grey flesh turns into a silky smooth dip when whizzed.

I also made some hummous out of tinned chickpeas.

The chilled pasted was formed into patties, and then shallow fried - the bit I was anxious about - what was going to hold the mixture together?

But they worked!! I served them with the dips, flatbread and a greek salad on the side.

 

For afters a delicious greek walnut cake - this was a bit like a meringue, with no fat in it, and just a little bit of flour. Once it was cooked a syrup infused with cinnamon was poured over.

I served this with frozen greek yoghurt which I sweetened with a touch of honey.

 

Sunday 26 January - Cheesemaking

We love trying to make things from scratch - it's even better if Bob gets to make a bit of equipment to help with the cooking. It's a horrible wet weekend, so we decided to make some cheese.

The first stage began yesterday - a litre of milk was warmed , and a pack of starter added to it. This then had to ripen for 24 hours before it could be used. The spare starter has gone into the freezer in icecube bags for next time.

Here is the equipment needed to make cheese  -  the press is Bobs contribution. A thermometer is probably the most vital bit of kit to ensure success.

The ingredients we used - we used gold top milk this time, hoping to get a nice rich end result.

Stage one is to warm the milk very slightly, and add the starter to it - it's then left for 45 minutes.

\Next the rennet goes in - 5 drops in a bit of cooled boiled water.

Then it is left to form the curds - we went shopping and came home to find it was ready.

Once the curds have set, a pallet knife is used to cut them.

\Next stage is to very, very slowly warm the pan, whilst stirring by hand.

Then drain the curds through some cheesecloth in a colander.

\Next, drain the curds by hanging and leaving to drip - this took as long as a weeks worth of ironing!

The firm block of curds is then sliced and layered.

It is then chopped into small pieces and salted.

Finally, it's scooped into a cheese mould lined with muslin, and placed in the cheese press.

It will stay in the press for a couple of days - with the pressure gradually being increased.
Then it will be brined, and wrapped, and left to mature - we should get to taste this in 2 to 3 months.

T

This is the cheese after two weeks maturing - the second one is a week younger and has annatto added for colour.

Bit of an update as the first of the cheese was sampled on 3rd April - it has quite a mild flavour, a bit like a Lancashire. Quite pleased with the results!