Sunday, 29 July 2012

This week I have mostly been eating...

Herefordshire Cherry Focaccia with Caraway Seeds. No.1 breakfast for champions.
Milk Tea & Pearl - cold tapioca tea[!] - either love it or hate it I guess.

Olympic Onion Rings. Thanks to Rachael for inspiring me with her Cheese Javelins.
Pickled Radicchio-mouth watering!! Basic recipe: 150ml malt vinegar; 300ml water, 65g caster sugar, salt. Add spices of choice. Mix cold and pour over. EASY.
BBQ Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad.

2 ears of corn, husks removed
Butter
1-2 tomatoes
2 green chillis
1/3 red onion
1 ripe avocado
1 lime
2tbsp coriander
salt and pepper

Take the coriander and roughly chop it. Rub the corn with butter, a bit of salt and 1 tablespoon of the chopped coriander. Put it on the bbq until it is thoroughly cooked and coloured on each side, about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, get a third of red onion in one thick slice and put it on the bbq. You can grill it if it is falling apart. Cook the onion until it is slightly translucent, turning it to ensure it cooks evenly on both sides.

Then cut the tomatoes into large chunks and add to a bowl with the remaining tablespoon of coriander. Next, dice the chilli, removing the seeds first and add to the bowl.

Cut your avocado in half, remove the stone and then cut away from the skin into pieces similar in size to the tomato. Add these to the bowl.

Once the onion is translucent remove it from the grill, dice it and add it to the salad bowl also.

Then take the corn off the grill [once evenly cooked all over]. Let it cool for a minute and then use a large knife to slice all the way down the corn to remove the kernels. Add everything to the bowl and mix.

Squeeze the lime juice on top, and toss with a bit of salt and pepper before serving.


The Battle of the Bak Kut Tehs - For Action Against Hunger

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Tempura

 Tempura - an enjoyable summer battering



Fish and chips is one of the best things when the mood is right, although the batter can cause a food coma to come on rapidly and immediately after consumption. Fritto misto is also one of the best things when in Italy and by the sea. 

When the food coma is not an option [you need to do things/speak to people/move around freely] and you're not leisurely hunting for lunch on the Italian coastline I suggest applying a light tempura batter to anything that you have to hand.

In this instance I had half a courgette, leftover asparagus, quite a few small carrots and two squid in my kitchen.

Firstly, cut your veg and fish to size:
Carrot and courgette batons
Asparagus (whole)
Squid - cut into rings

Get a plate of cornflower to toss the veg in before it goes into your batter.

Make the batter by mixing 80g cornflower, 80g self-raising flour, 210ml sparkling water, 2 tsp rapeseed oil (I used olive oil), 1/4 tsp salt and whisk to get a smooth runny paste. 

You can add in and herbs and spices to flavour the batter – I split it and added lemon rind to half (to go on the squid, asparagus and courgette) and fennel seeds to the other half (for the mountain of carrots). Dip everything in the batter ready to go into the frying pan.

You then want to fry everything in batches so that it cooks evenly and does not stick together. I opted for shallow frying in about 300ml of vegetable oil. Get the oil hot in the pan on a high heat and then turn down to medium.

Piece by piece put the vegetables and squid into the pan without too much excess batter. Soft veg should take about 1 minute and harder veg like carrots 2 minutes. Remove and place on kitchen paper to get rid of unwanted oil.

There are lots of dipping sauces out there but on this occasion I went with lemon wedges and salt as it was supposed to be a quick lunch break!
One happy lunch buddy
 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Jubilee Week Roundup

Pizza Oven - the beginnings - a delightful dome - reminds me of something in Florence...
Devonshire cream tea in Torbay - with ginger scones and all mind!
Marcus Wareing's banana bread - made in a jelly mould. Crinkle cut.

100% Forest of Dean wild boar salami. Satisfying.
The Silver Spoon chicken with pomegranate (and Italian dried mushrooms). Che libro!

Brustengo - another Italian dish, also known as bubble and squeak! It goes very nicely with HP sauce (sshhh!)


Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Chicken Breasts stuffed with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Olives, Basil & Feta

by Ceri X     



It's all quiet on the Keston front this week.  The girls are away for a seaside holiday, so I am on my own which has meant pottering around the house; cooking and generally recovering from the weekend.  Last weekend was spent in the first of many fields of the 2012 season at the lovely Fire in the Mountain festival in Wales.  Whenever I return from a festival; the 4 days of fun, work and generally giving my body a hard time (booze, cold, rain, sleeping on a floor in a tent, crew food, more booze) means that I come back craving some healthy, tasty food that I have cooked myself.  Today, I decided on chicken stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, olives, basil & feta to be eaten with salad & asparagus. 

The humble chicken often gets a bad press, but I believe if you buy Happy Chickens that have been able to run around in daylight and you cook it well, not much can surpass its flavour. You can buy happy chickens from most supermarkets these days and it's worth looking out for the freedom food stickers/ rspca assured labels to make sure.  Or just hot foot it down to your nearest good butcher who will be able to tell you all you need to know about just how happy it was and where it was raised.  Stuffing a chicken always looks more impressive/ complicated than it actually is, so goes down well at a dinner party.  It's quick, simple, very tasty & the whole thing takes under 40 mins.  I'd call that a weeknight win of a meal!

So having located my happy chicken; feeling summery, healthy and in need of some vitamins and keen on Mediterranean flavours, I came up with the following:

Ingredients: Serves 2.

2 Free range chicken breast- (I prefer skin on for flavour)
A few green olives sliced in half- 8-10 should do
8 fresh basil leaves
8 sundried tomatoes
12 cubes of feta (I bought the olives with feta in the mix), Mozzarella works just as well.
Olive oil
Dried oregano
Salt & pepper
4 cocktail sticks

Salad- use whatever you fancy

Asparagus spears (approx 6/ 7 per person)- June is 100% Asparagus season, so I'd urge you to get amongst it.  It's AMAZING!!


1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees (or 180 for a fan oven).  Slice the chicken breast down one side, but don't cut all the way through (to make a pocket type space for the stuffing).  Place the basil leaves, sundried tomatoes, olives  & feta inside and close up the chicken breast.  Push a couple of cocktail sticks through to hold into place.  Rub some salt & pepper onto the skin, drizzle with a little of the oil from the sundried tomato container and finally sprinkle some oregano on the top.  A delicious variation on the cocktail sticks, is to wrap parma ham around the chicken breast to keep the stuffing in place, which is well worth a try too.

2.  Place the breasts on a baking tray and into the oven.  Cooking will be approx 20- 25 mins.  The chicken is cooked when juices run clear.  Be sure not to over cook as chicken goes dry in this case and loses that lovely juicy quality and much of the flavour.

3.  Meanwhile, assemble your salad on the plate.  Use whatever you fancy, I used mixed leaves, tomato, olives, basil leaves, avocado, cucumber & shredded carrot.

4.  Dress the salad.  I don't really believe in buying salad dressings when they are so very simple to make.  If you haven't done it before, it's all about having a go and mixing up ingredients & flavours you enjoy.  Here is a very simple base recipe.

Pour 100 ml of olive oil into a clean, empty jam jar, followed by 50 ml of balsamic vinegar (cyder or white wine vinegar will also do the trick).  Mix in 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard & 1 tsp of honey.  Season, then give the jar a good shake with the lid on.  You now have dressing (hooray!).  You can vary this using lemon juice and or different herbs/ vinegars.  If you feel your dressing is too thick, you can thin it out with a bit more vinegar and vice versa with olive oil/ honey if it is too runny.


5.  To griddle the asparagus start by snapping the woody tough end from the bottom of the spears.  Place the spears on a hot griddle pan which has been drizzled with a bit of olive oil (or under a heated grill).  Turn the spears a few times to keep the cooking even.  Once cooked through (I like  mine a bit crunchy still, which should take approx 6 mins depending on the size of the spears), drizzle with a little of the dressing and/ or juices from the chicken & serve onto the plate with the dressed salad & chicken.  Remove the cocktail sticks from the chicken and voila; a very lovely Wednesday night  happy chicken dinner for one :) The girls will be sad they missed it.  I am looking forward to seeing them on their return & roll on summer!  Happy June everyone :) Xx

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Lamb & Cannellini Beans

I Heart Italia: Lamb & Cannellini Bean Spezzatino

I love lamb. It has always been my favourite roast. Over the last month I've been waiting for the right opportunity to make lamb and cannellini bean stew, a staple in the Italian kitchen. I got some lamb, got some beans, found some cousins and a sister to invite for dinner, got some more lamb and beans to ensure sufficient quantities and got to work.

I checked with Jacob Kennedy in the Bocca book to see if he had anything to say about this dish and found a rather lovely lamb and broad bean stew which made for the basis of my recipe.

Other key ingredients that I wanted to make an appearance were rosemary, as I have lots in the garden, white wine because the weather has been so hot and garlic, to hit the meat with some extra flavour. The result was a delicious spezzatino - a stew with an bold sauce, one that cannot be left behind and requires bread to swipe every last bit from the bowl.

Here's what I used: [serves 6]
500g leg meat, cut into pieces
Lamb ribs - I currently have an obsession with ribs - great inexpensive cut of meat
Flour
Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch spring onions
Pinch dried chilli flakes
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
6 rosemary sprigs
1 bottle white wine
2 cans cannellini beans
2 tomatoes, diced
Chard, finely sliced - this is optional, I fancied something green

First you need to toss you meat in seasoned flour. Then heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and lightly brown your meat.
Add the spring onion, crushed garlic, chilli flakes and anchovy paste to the meat and cook for a few minutes.
Add the rosemary and white wine and simmer for an hour and a half with the lid on. The meat will be lovely and tender by this point.
After an hour add your diced tomatoes and a cup of water if it needs more liquid.
Taste and season the sauce ten minutes before cooking time is up and then add your cannellini beans and chard if you're using.
Serve hot with some fantastic bread.

Sunday, 29 April 2012

THE EGG

The egg is a great gift from the chicken. 
Sometimes I wonder if I eat too many eggs.
Below are three recent egg dishes.
All were invented 'use up ingredients' recipes.

Baked Eggs - leftover pork & lemon meatballs, spinach and eggs - oven baked 






Corned Beef Hash - caralmelised red onions, leftover mustard mash, leftover broccoli, corned beef and a fried egg

Asparagus Frittata - leftover asparagus, onion, eggs, parsley, Parmesan and nutmeg

Sunday, 15 April 2012

New York New York!

New York New York!
A food diary for two.

Dinner at La Esquina (coming to London soon...)
A perfect margarita and a beer cocktail with fruit juice, salsa roja, salt and lime - never again!
Ceviche Acapulco (market fish, salsa roja, avocado, jalepeno, lime) with plantain fritters
Taquitos:
- pulled pork, picked onions and habanero
- pork shoulder, condensed milk, salsa roja

Breakfast on Union Square
Cappuccino x2
Eggs Benedict and eggs Florentine - served with sauteed potatoes and tabasco

Lunch in Central Park
Philly cheese steak roll
Rueben on rye

Dinner at Freeman's
Bread and cheese
Hot artichoke and cheese dip with bread - so good
Hunter's stew with venison, elk and boar
Venison cutlets (Milanese style) with roasted cauliflower and pistachio pesto
Dessert wine

Breakfast at The Smile
French toast with strawberries and Maple syrup - a lot of it!
Scrambled egg, ham and caramelised onion sandwich
Really good coffees

Lunch uptown
A sandwich of braised short beef ribs in red wine with onions and cheese - blew Matt's head off
Mardi Gras chicken sandwich (chicken, peppers, onions and chipotle)

Dinner at Roberta's, Brooklyn
Gin cocktails, Hot Toddy (bourbon, lemon, cloves) - in the garden while waiting for a table
Foccacia
Axyl Rosenberg pizza - double garlic, jalepenos, sopressata, tomato, mozzarella, mushroom
Espresso

Brunch at Saxon & Parole
Amazing cappuccino
Poached eggs on sourdough with mushrooms and spinach and yuzu (Asian citrus fruit) hollandaise
Poached eggs with ham and Parmesan potato cakes and yuzu hollandaise

Late lunch at Mandoo Bar - Korean dumpling bar
Fried pork mandoo
Mandoo spicy ramen with veggie mandoo
Spicy beef bim bap - incredible

Pre-theatre snack on Mulberry Street
Chicken and chips with BBQ sauce - a bit like eating a Burger King (!)

Breakfast at Jack's Stir Brew Coffee
Stella - a flat white with cocoa - highly recommend
Cappuccino
Pain au chocolat
Cherry an almond scone

Lunch in Brooklyn
Pizza with anchovies, basil, oregano, tomato, mozzarella
Three apple miso salad with an apple juice, cider vinegar and mustard dressing

Last supper at The Spotted Pig
Bourbon Sour
Beef burger with Roquefort and shoestring fries x2
Roasted beets - with a kick
Greens