Chicken Chilli Soup

Chicken Chilli Soup by Charlotte

Did you have roast chicken at the weekend and do you have a small amount of chicken and perhaps some gravy left over? I did and I do. In the fridge I also have some small bits of fennel that are way past their heyday, one lonely mushroom, white wine left over from New Year and full cream milk that is not allowed near my tea cup but could work in a post work, post run chicken soup...

Ingredients (a rough guide)
Butter and olive oil
1 small onion, diced
Half a chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 old mushroom, roughly chopped
Fennel bits from bottom of fridge drawer, diced (optional)
Dash of white wine
1 leek, roughly chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
Leftover chicken gravy (enhanced with veg stock to make about 450ml)
Cooked leftover chicken
Handful of parsley (with stalks) roughly chopped
Splash of full cream milk
Salt and pepper

Here's what I did
- Heat a small amount of butter and oil and add the onion, chilli, mushroom and fennel. Cook for 7-8 minutes and then pour in some white wine, cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Add the leeks, potatoes and gravy/veg stock to the pan and cook on a low heat for approx 25 minutes with a lid on. Add more water if you need to.
- Add the cooked chicken to the saucepan, heat through and continue to simmer the soup for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the parsley and remove from the heat to blend the soup. My blender gave up have way through its job so we ended up with a chunky soup that was still nice and thick thanks to the starchy potatoes.
- Put the soup back on a low heat, stir in a splash of milk and season to taste.
- Serve hot and enjoy.

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Parsnip and Ginger Soup

Happy New Year! Apologies that it has been somewhat quiet on the Keston Kitchen front in recent weeks. One of our New Year resolutions is definitely to be more active on the blog and keep you up to date with what is cooking in our kitchen.

For our first post Christmas post I thought I would choose a recipe that should help combat the January blues. The ginger in the soup gives it a kick that feels like it is banishing any hint of a cough or sneeze as you consume it.
It is a simple and cheap recipe to make and it provides you with a healthy and hearty supper which definitely won't break any of you New Year resolutions (unless you have given up parsnips of course)!
This soup is based on a recipe taken from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new vegetarian cook book which I was lucky enough to get for my birthday.

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:
Glug of olive oil
Chunk of butter (about 1 tbsp)
2 small onions finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1-2 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped (add more or less depending on how fiery you would like it to be)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 parsnips (about 500g) peeled and cut into small chunks
600ml vegetable stock (add 3tsp of Marigold Bouillon to some boiling water or use homemade stock)
200ml whole milk
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Coriander leaves and/or a drizzle of natural yogurt to garnish

Method:
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large sauce pan and cook the onion for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent but not browned. Then add the garlic, fresh ginger, cumin and cayenne, stir in. Add the chopped parsnips to the pan before adding the hot veg stock, milk and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Once simmering, cover the pan with a lid but leave a small gap to stop the pot boiling over.
After simmering for 20-30 minutes use a hand blender to puree the soup in the pan or allow it to cool a little and transfer it to a food processor until smooth. Heat the soup up again before serving. Trickle some natural yogurt over each bowl full and add a few coriander leaves if you have them, then enjoy with a hunk of crusty bread on the side.

Best served on a weekday evening to housemates who have just returned from a run/swim/which ever sport they have embraced for their January health kick.

Rachael x

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Pumpkin Pie

Every year without fail I carve a grinning face into a pumpkin, but often, a couple of days after the trick or treaters have cleaned us out of sweets and chocolates the pumpkin just ends up in the compost bin. It is shame to let the flesh go to waste though because it can be made into soup, roasted or chopped up and put into a risotto, this year however I wanted to try my hand at a dessert, pumpkin pie.

I have tasted pumpkin pie before at Thanksgiving but I was keen to try making it myself with fresh pumpkin. I had a look at a few recipes online and picked the bits I liked the sound of from each. I think the result was delicious (even if I do say so myself!), it was rich and custardy but not too sweet because I used fresh pumpkin instead of puree and cream rather than evaporated milk.

Ingredients:

Sweet short crust pastry (175g plain white flour, generous pinch of salt, 15g caster sugar, 110g cold unsalted butter cubed and about 2 tbsp cold water)

450g prepared weight pumpkin flesh cut into 1 inch chunks (I bought a very small pumpkin which weighed almost twice this, however once I had peeled and de-seeded it, it was about the right quantity)

2 eggs plus 1 extra egg yolk

75g soft dark brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Lots of freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/2 tsp)

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

275ml double cream

Method:

To make the pastry from scratch, sieve the flour into a large bowl, add the salt and sugar and mix. Add the cubes of cold butter and rub with your fingers to combine the fat and flour. Once there are no lumps of butter left and the mixture looks like bread crumbs add a dribble of cold water so that the crumbs will pack together to form a ball of dough. You can also add crushed pecans at this stage if you fancy. Wrap the pastry in lightly floured cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, this relaxed the gluten in the flour and should stop it cracking when you roll it.

Grease a 23cm (9 inch) diameter tart dish with butter. Roll the chilled pastry out on a floured surface, keep rolling until the pastry is big enough to line the dish. Lift the edge of the pastry, slide the rolling pin underneath and use it to pick up the disc of pastry and transfer it to the dish. Make sure the dough is pushed into the corners of the dish and trim the excess pastry with a knife. Cover with cling film and put back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

The method I used to cook the chunks of pumpkin flesh was steaming but you could roast it if you preferred. I put the pumpkin in the steamer just for a few minutes until it was soft and then pureed the pieces in a blender.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

While the pumpkin is steaming and the pastry case chilling, whisk the eggs and extra yolk together in a large bowl. Put the sugar, spices and cream in a pan, bring it to simmering point and mix everything together throughly. Pour the creamy mixture onto the eggs, whisking again. Then mix in the pumpkin puree.

Pour the finished mixture into the pastry lined dish and bake in the oven at 180C for about 40 minutes. The filling should have puffed up a little round the edges but still feel wobbly in the centre.

Allow to cool on a wire rack and serve with creme fraiche or as I chose, double creamed whipped, with a trickle of ginger syrup.

Best enjoyed on a chilly autumn evening, following a roast cooked by Ceri and whilst watching Downton Abbey.

Happy Halloween

Rachael x

p.s. don't chuck away the pumpkin seeds, if you roast them in the oven with a sprinkling of salt they taste amazing, better than popcorn!

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Wiltshire Lardy Cake

Wiltshire Lardy Cake by Charlotte

Lardy cake - a reminder of buying cakes on Saturday with my dad from a bakery in Gloucester, Jane's Pantry, a place that all Gloucester folk know well. What joy when I opened my favourite book, British Regional Food by Mark Hix, to find a recipe for Wiltshire lardy cake.

This recipe will not disappoint; it is gooey, fruity, doughy and sweet - great with a coffee on Sunday morning. It will definitely make you want to visit your local bakery too, which is always a good thing. And, if you cook and bake regularly, you may find you have most of the ingredients already...

200g lard, softened

50g butter, softened

200g mixed dried fruit (I used up old currants and a few tunisian sultanas that were festering in the back of the cupboard!)

75g mixed candied peel (I used some candied ginger and glacier cherries)

200g granulated sugar

for the dough:

650g strong white bread flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp caster sugar

7g sachet yeast

400ml warm water

First make the bread dough: in a warm bowl mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Add the warm water and mix to a soft dough. Knead by stretching and folding the dough for about 10 mins on a lightly floured surface.

Then mix the lard, butter, fruit, peel and granulated sugar together.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to roughly three times as long as wide. Spread two thirds of the length with a third of the fruit mix, then fold both ends of the dough into the centre and press the edges firmly with your fingers. Repeat this process twice, using up the fruit mix, then roll the dough out to its original size.

Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper and turn the dough over, onto the tray. There should be enough room for the dough to rise again. Let the dough prove for 30 mins.

Pre-heat the oven to 190C and bake for about 45 mins. Turn the cake upside down and cool a little. Sprinkle with caster sugar and serve warm.

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Best Steak Lettuce Wrap

Best Steak Lettuce Wrap by Charlotte

Thanks to friends Phil and Sonya I have discovered the best steak lettuce wrap. This is food that is very pleasing to the eye and mouth. It can be made in three shakes of a lambs tail and will be sure to give you that red meat fix.

The ten steps to steak wrapping:

1) Go to your butcher and get a tasty piece of rump steak (to cook whole)

2) Marinade the meat in lemon juice, chilli (fresh or dried) and fresh ginger

3) Grate carrot for salad

4) Make a dressing - I used lemon juice, sesame oil, fish sauce, fresh red chilli, ginger, salt and pepper

5) Mix the dressing with the carrot

6) Use a good sturdy leaf like Romaine as your wrap

7) Griddle or bbq your meat - a few minutes on each side will leave it pretty and pink

8) Slice the steak and put it in the lettuce with the dressed carrot

9) Get kitchen roll ready as the wrap may leak!

10) Enjoy

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Harvest

When trying to decide how to best celebrate my birthday, I discovered that Alex James was going to be holding a festival on his farm in Oxfordshire which combined several of my favourite things all in one field, good food, music and cider. So with tickets to Harvest booked and a sprinkling of close friends I knew I had the recipe for an excellent birthday!

Charlotte and Julia also had a few surprises up their sleeves to make it an even more memorable birthday, starting with a delicious raspberry focaccia which we ate for breakfast at the tent before heading into the festival.

At Harvest there was an exciting array of yummy food stalls it was hard to decide what to eat first - and also easy to spend a small fortune.
We began with Meat Wagon burgers which were as delicious as always, the legend of the meat wagon has obviously not reached as far as Oxfordshire as there was no queue at all! Throughout the weekend we also ate fish and chips from the Sea Cow, which is another establishment local to us in London, hog roast with quince aioli from the Salt Yard tent, chorizo and haloumi wrap from Salad Days and Charlotte and Matt tried the fish dogs created by Mark Hix.
Other options included Mexican from Wahaca (which apparently David Cameron and his family had for lunch), the Mash Up gourmet pie company, Squid and Pear and a host of farmers market type stalls full of local produce. We'll have to go back next year to try all those!

There was a tent called the chefs table where you had to book in advance to secure a table which we hadn't done but we did sample some of the food by getting it to take away. All the dishes were made to recipes by the chefs appearing at the festival such as Ottelenghi, Emily Watkins and Stevie Parle. I had the excellent lamb meat balls with tomato sauce and polenta which were by Valentine Warner.

I have to say the music at the festival definitely played second fiddle to the food, this was no bad thing though, it just made for a very different festival experience. Usually we would be trying to find time to grab a burger in between bands, at Harvest however it was more a case of catching a few songs while deciding what to feast on next. There was always an eager crowd buzzing around the farmhouse kitchen stage, where as the bands sometimes had an active audience that you could count on one hand.

We thoroughly enjoyed watching all the cooking demonstrations, particularly when we managed to secure a seat on a hay bale close to the stage meaning we got to sample some of the dishes being produced.
On the Saturday we watched Nuno Mendes (Viajante), Stevie Parle (The Dock Kitchen) and Monty and Sarah Don. We then made sure we were in a prime position before Ottolenghi was due to take the stage. He cooked 3 dishes, a tomato based one with prawns, scallops and feta cheese which we managed to get a spoon full of, a salad featuring giant cous cous and a platter covered in a caramelized fennel dish.
Just as his set was coming to an end, the compare announced that it was the birthday of someone in the audience, they called me up on stage and everyone sang happy birthday while Ottolenghi presented me with an apple and olive oil cake which Julia had baked, smuggled into the festival complete with cake stand, iced and taken back stage!

The surprises didn't end there, on Sunday Charlotte and Julia tracked down Alex James by his cheese stall. They had carried a ceramic cheese dish to the festival which they filled with cheese on toast and got Alex James to give it to me!

On Sunday afternoon we watched Tom Kerridge (from The Hand and Flowers) cook cod with salt baked carrots and a fillet of sea bass with risotto which I think was the best recipe I got a taste of. Next on stage was the comedy duo of Mark Hix and Alex James who made loads of different dishes all containing cheese, they ran way over their allotted time slot much to the displeasure of Jay Rayner who was up next. The Sunday evening headliner was Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall who was promoting his new vegetarian cook book (recipes from which are likely to feature in future Keston Kitchen posts as it was one of my birthday presents).

We all had a brilliant weekend and I would definitely recommend the festival to any foodie fan. I am sure it will be bigger and better next year, if you are planning on heading to Harvest 2012 make sure you have full wallets and empty stomachs!

Rachael x

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The Piedmonte Diet

by Charlotte

Who ate all the Piedmonte?

Sunday pranzo (lunch) a la Barbara

Bruschetta with tomatoes

Salami crostini

Salmon crostini

Tomato mozzarella focaccia

Coleslaw

Cena (dinner)

Pasta al ragu

Pasta puttanesca (whore's pasta)

Birthday cake (record breaking-lightest sponge ever)

Merlot di Cascina Capriolo (courtesy of Alistair)

Pranzo - a kind of use up / get into Italian mode meal

Roasted red peppers

Insalata Caprese - home grown tomatoes (these crop up a lot) with mozzarella

Coleslaw

Bread

Peaches & Birra

Cena - Anni's Courgette Pasta*

Grated courgette, capers, olives, lemon juice and zest, and mint. Served with linguine and Parmesan.

Torta di Ali Perry - a French style apple tart served with natural yoghurt.

Espresso & Dolcetto di Cascina Capriolo

*New recipe!

Tuesday colazione (breakfast)

Chocolate cereal

Coffee and blood orange juice

Pranzo

Linguine al ragu

Cena - Pizza night #1

10 pizzas cooked at 350C

Toppings: mozzarella; artichoke; capers; tomatoes; olives; egg; peppers; onion; spicy salami; Parmesan

Wednesday colazione

Scrambled eggs with Parma ham and toast

Coffee and blood orange juice

Pranzo - Bar Roma, Santo Stefano Belbo

Bresaola con rucola e grano padano

Insalata caprese

Prosciutto e melone

Tomino e pesto con zucchine e melanzane

Prosciutto e mozzarella

A bottle of Arneis

Cena

Bruschetta

Veal Milanese with rosemary potatoes and grilled aubergine halves filled with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil

Aperol spritz & Prosecco

Thursday colazione

Chocolate rice

Coffee

Pranzo

Gazpacho a la Julia - smoother than an otter

Seabass stuffed with capers, lemon, parsley and breadcrumbs

Insalata caprese

Grilled radicchio with balsamic vinegar

Bread

Cena - a birthday dinner (hence the size)

Ten course dinner in the hills. Creative descriptions by Ali Perry...

Piedmonte focaccini with prosciutto lardo (sausage rolls)

Veal tartare with pear and Parmesan (brains)

Turkey with a salsa di tonno (Turkey mayo)

Tortina di courgette served with a cheese stuffed courgette flower (Wet quiche)

Starters over, onto the pasta...

Ravioli with sage butter (herb sacks)

The mains:

Pigs cheek and rabbit with courgettes and aubergines (Two meat and veg)

The puddings:

Tiramisu

Baked peach with a kind of brownie on top

Gelato - the minty kind

Budino do cioccolato - an alcoholic dense chocolate bar

Coffee e grappa followed by obligatory horizontal lying down

Friday colazione

Coffee - no room from previous night

Pranzo

Insalata #2 (tomatoes, lettuce, egg, tuna and sweetcorn)

Cena - Pizza night #2

Nb. Night of the special double egg top a la Lloyd

Saturday colazione

Plum cake

Coffee

Pranzo

Penne e pesto with artichoke and pancetta

Cena - Pasta e Pasta, Alba

Antipasti to share - Bruschette con lardo - melt in the mouth

Agnolotti Piedmontese a la ragu di Fassone - an area we think...

Other recommendations-

Risotto ai frutti di mare

Filetto de manzo Castelmagno (rare steak with cheese sauce - to die for)

Sunday colazione

Plum cake

Plums (susine - new word)

Coffee

Pranzo

Lasagna

Insalata - tomatoes and cucumbers

Bread

Cena - Pizza night #3

Nb. 80% flour and 20% semolina flour - great for moving the dough around

Aperol spritz & Vino rosso di Cascina Capriolo

Monday colazione

Coffee and tea

Cornflakes (very Italian)

Pranzo - Sapori di Langa, Santo Stefano Belbo

Set lunch menu

Grissini - great breadsticks that looked like wizards fingers

Two types of baked pasta - one with courgette / one with aubergine

Two types of pasta - spaghetti al ragu / penne arrabiata

Two meat courses - grilled chicken / roast pork

Red wine & Coffee

Airport

Focaccia col formaggio - so greasy but good

Grazie mille a Barbara e Alistair. Ciao tutti.

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