Pumpkin season

Out on the town last Saturday night, the weather  was chilly and despite me wearing many layers in order to look like Bane from the Dark Knight rises as part of my Halloween fancy dress costume there was no denying that winter had arrived. In town there were many people wearing various Halloween costumes while others wearing more plain clothes appeared to have caned large amounts of booze to beer themselves up against the cold as they moved along the streets that connected the bars.

The next morning with thoughts of the tactical scampi and bacon fries and tasty Talisker Whisky I consumed at the final pub on our Halloween themed bar crawl still on my mind I chose to make a soup containing a vegetable synonymous with this time of year and the start of winter. My choice was a pumpkin and chili soup, which although it was already mid-morning I knew I could prepare before lunch bearing in mind the clocks had gone back the night before.

The soundtrack to the cooking was John Martyn's 1974 offering Sunday's Child. His music is perfect for laid back Sunday mornings after a night out and this album with its typically Martynesque ambient guitar, coupled with spare acoustic songs that are easily accessible fitted the bill.

The key task was to prepare the pumpkin, which was the size of a large round football. I carefully cut the top of it off and then halved it using the sharpest knife I could find in the kitchen. A strong sharp knife is essential for preparation of the pumpkin as on a previous occasion I succeeded in breaking the blade of my knife due to the toughness of the pumpkin.

After I had halved the pumpkin I undertook the much easier task of quartering it and then cut out all the seeds and orange-coloured pith. I followed this by cutting the pale flesh out in large oblongs and then dicing it for use in the soup. I was able to extract so much edible flesh from this pumpkin that I needed two pans to prepare the soup!

Next I topped, tailed, peeled and diced a carrot and did the same with two strong white onions and a clove of garlic. I poured enough oil into my Le Cresceut dish and a pan to cover the bottom of each and then added an equal proportion of carrot, onion, garlic and pumpkin pieces to the Le Cresceut and pan. I then added a quarter of a teaspoon of black pepper to the two sets of mixture together with a quarter of a teaspoon of dried chili oil to both sets of ingredients.

I heated the dish and pan on a medium heat on the hob for about 10 minutes while all the time ensuring that I stirred them both regularly to stop the food sticking to the bottom of them. After 10 minutes I added a pint each of vegetable stock to both of the dishes together with about 400 grams of dry red lentils that were split evenly in the same way between the dishes. I also added the leaves from two sprigs of fresh rosemary to the dishes, a sprig of parsley to each as well as a teaspoon of powdered ginger.

I brought the Le Cresceut and the pan to the boil and let them simmer for around half an hour. When the half-hour was up I poured the contents of the pan and the dish into a blender and blended the food on the lowest setting so as it was still reasonably thick.

After blending I poured the soup back into the pan and heated it through; it was now ready to serve.

It is true to say that pumpkins are not the easiest vegetable to work with as they are tough to prepare and if not used correctly in meals they can be exceptionally bland. In the past I have had some pre-prepared pumpkin soups from supermarkets that have been uninspired and tasteless. However it was not the case with this recipe; the chilli, herbs and ginger made it strong tasting soup without being overpowering. While the lentils, carrot, onion and garlic added much needed body to it while at the same time enhancing the taste of the pumpkin. If you are looking for something special to cook for Halloween this is it. I can certainly see it becoming as much a part of my future Halloweens as a themed fancy dress party, the Thriller album and the Ghost buster's Theme song.

There was so much pumpkin I had to split it between two pans.

Blended, ready to eat and on its way to becoming a classic Halloween dish.

   

Makin' Bacon

I don't cook many meat dishes these days but when I do I like to use bacon. For the recipe I made during my recent week off I decided to take on an old classic and made a spicy bacon roll.

I went back to where it all began with my choice of music to cook to as I listened to Dire Straits' final studio album On Every Street which was one of the first CD's I ever purchased towards the end of my G.C.S.E studies. As the slight but likeable country rock shuffle of the opening song 'Calling Elvis' gave way to the opening bars of the reflective title track I removed the fat from eight slices of unsmoked back bacon before slicing it into small squares.

In a shallow frying pan I fried the bacon and one diced white onion for around three minutes with two sprigs of parsley. I made sure I did not fry the contents of the pan for too long as I knew they would be baked for some time in the oven later on.

I then rolled out a ball of pastry which I had previously prepared using four ounces of margarine and eight ounces of plain flour. Once I had rolled the pastry into a large oblong I poured the contents of the frying pan onto it and spread them out until they were within two centimetres of the edge of the pastry.

I next dampened the four corners of the pastry with a small amount of water and joined them up so as the bacon, onions and parsley were encased totally.

I placed the roll on a greased baking tray and baked it in the oven at 190 degrees, 200 for non-fan ovens, for forty five minutes.

The results were highly enjoyable; the fact I had taken all the fat from the bacon left nothing but the unique taste than can only be obtained from eating quality bacon while the onions and parsley added the necessary extra flavour to the roll. The heavy pastry was complimented by having plenty of brown sauce with the roll as well as some steamed slices of carrot.

The roll immediately after cooking.

A cross section of the roll.

Delicious when served with steamed carrots. 

Coffee Break

It was the first Monday in October, the sun was shining, I was off work all week and it was a perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe. On this occasion I decided to cook something a little bit retro in the shape of some coffee sandwich biscuits.

The soundtrack for the cooking was Van Morrison's under-appreciated 1986 offering No Guru, No Method , No Teacher the album's laid back vibes, carefully delivered vocals, swirling string arrangements and Mexican horns made it perfect chill out material for a man on holiday.

I took six ounces of self-raising flour and mixed them with three ounces of caster sugar. Once the flour and sugar were suitably mixed I added three ounces of margarine and rubbed it into the flour and sugar with a tablespoon until the outside of the pieces of margarine were made as dry as dust by the flour.

I emptied the contents of an egg, having first brought it to room temperature, into a separate bowl and beat it vigorously. In a mug I dissolved two tablespoons of instant coffee in one tablespoon of hot water. I then poured the egg and the liquid coffee into bowl with the margarine, sugar and flour and stirred everything together until the contents of the bowl had turned into a hazel-coloured soft cookie dough.

The next step was to separate the dough into cherry sized balls making sure that I had an even number of them so that each pair would form two parts of one sandwich.

I baked the pieces of dough on a greased baking tray in the oven at 180 degrees (170 for fan ovens) for fifteen minutes and then left them on the side to cool after they had cooked for the allotted time.

In the meantime I made some coffee butter cream icing by taking four ounces of icing sugar, two ounces of margarine and a tablespoon of instant coffee granules and stirring them together with a wooden spoon in a bowl until I had a filling thick enough to hold together the biscuit part of the recipe.

When the biscuit pieces were cooled I took the flat side, which was attached to the baking tray whilst it was cooking, and spread icing on it. I then joined it with the flat side of another of the biscuit pieces to make a sandwich. I repeated the process for the other pieces of biscuit until I had around sixteen which I then piled up on a convenient plate.

The biscuits are certainly suitable for those who like their trips to Costa Coffee and Starbucks as the whole coffee granules in the icing have the strong and raw taste of fresh coffee while the coffee flavouring in the biscuits is a little more subtle but no less distinctive in its taste.

Currying Your Mussels

It was Friday, I had not only finished work for the weekend but also for the next week as well. As it was the end of the week I had a little more time to cook than usual and I hit upon making something that was rich and substantial as well as being fairly easy to prepare.

I dusted down my Le Cresceut dish and added enough olive oil to it to cover the bottom. I put Van Morrison's mellow masterpiece Poetic Champions Compose on the CD player and set about dicing two red onions, two cloves of garlic and one celery stick as stately strings and saxophone from the stereo permeated the kitchen.

I turned the heat on the hob and warmed the oil before adding the freshly prepared vegetables to the Le Cresceut dish and cooking them on a medium heat for around five minutes until they began to a hazel brown colour. I then added two bay leafs and the leaves of two fresh thyme sprigs together with half a tablespoon of curry powder which I made sure was stirred into the vegetables.

I had not been able to acquire fresh mussels as there were no local fishmongers available so I instead used a pack of precooked mussels in white wine sauce I had acquired from the Co-Op and dumped them into the dish. I turned up the heat further and put the lid on the Le Cresceut dish; this stopped excess heat escaping the dish and allowed the mussels to cook fully.

After about four minutes I checked the mussels and was pleased to see that all of them had opened, this meant they were all edible as those mussels that do not open during cooking cannot be eaten unless you want to make yourself ill.

I plucked four sprigs of fresh coriander from the plant growing on the kitchen window sill, cut the sprigs up into small pieces and added them to the mussels together with a tin of coconut milk obtained from Waitrose. After lowering the temperature and then cooking the dish for another two minutes it was ready to serve the dish.

The fresh coriander and thyme made all the difference to this recipe and gave the rich tasting mussels a distinct taste. The coconut milk also added well to the richness but on balance I think next time I will only use about half a tin to stop the dish becoming too runny. Despite this however if you like your seafood this is a dish you must try.

Cooking them fiercely in the dish meant the mussels all opened and could be eaten. 

Ready to eat- a little bit too much coconut milk however still a very tasty meal

Rocket Ride

After a very enjoyable Friday evening in mid-September entertaining two friends at their house, I spent the Saturday getting out into the country for some peace and quiet with the new puppy during the morning and in the afternoon I re-visited a risotto recipe I'd not cooked for around two years.

The risotto of choice was lemon and rocket risotto. The album I listened to matched my state of mind; it was Van Morrison's underrated 1983 masterpiece 'Inarticulate Speech of the Heart' which contains a sizable helping of meditative instrumentals and mellow songs dominated by crisp guitar lines and frosty synthesisers.

I covered the bottom of my Le Cresceut dish with olive oil, turned on the heat and added an ounce of margarine to the pan. Whilst the margarine was melting I diced three onions and four cloves of garlic on the chopping board.

Once the butter was melted I added the onions and garlic to the dish and then grated the zest of two lemons over them as they began to cook. I stirred the zest of the lemon into the onion and garlic and after about five minutes when the ingredients had softened sufficiently it was time to carry out the next stage of preparation. I added 300 grams of risotto rice and then leaned over the Le Cresceut dish stirring the mixture constantly for two minutes. It is important you do this as otherwise the rice becomes stuck to the bottom of the dish which will consequently ruin the whole meal.

After two minutes was up I took half a pint of white wine and poured it into the dish. I turned up the heat on the hob and boiled the ingredients for two minutes, always remembering to stir it constantly, until the wine had boiled away and the rice had become a little bloated.

I laid my hands on 750 millelitres of chicken stock and added it gradually to the dish, again stirring the ingredients constantly to avoid them sticking to the bottom of the dish, until all the stock was gone. I kept stirring the contents of the dish until I was sure the rice was cooked; a good test as to whether it is cooked is how bloated it is. If the rice is very bloated it indicates it has absorbed enough wine and stock to be soft enough to eat.

I then added two bags of rocket, I find Sainsbury's Rocket the best, and an ounce of grated Parmesan Cheese and mixed then in until the rocket was soft and the cheese had melted.

The results were top drawer; the distinctive and sour taste of the lemon zest was complemented by the rich Parmesan Cheese while the gritty rocket was counterbalanced by the large amount of wine in the recipe. The risotto rice, garlic and onions meanwhile gave the meal enough body not to need the presence of any meat in the recipe.

In the dish just after the Parmesan had melted 

Ready to eat- hopefully the taste matches that of some risottos made in professional kitchens

Rocket Love

On the second Saturday in September I had been given the responsibility of hosting and writing a quiz for the cricket team and as I had spent a large amount of the afternoon preparing for the evening I needed to cook something quick that would give me enough energy for entertaining club members that evening.

The meal of choice was a Rocket and Potato Frittata. The album of choice while cooking was U2's 1984 effort the Unforgettable Fire; U2 are a band that baffle me in that they are probably the most unoriginal band I have ever heard yet there is something about their passion that keeps you coming back for more. It is fair to say their music is reasonable to get you in the mood if you are having an action-packed night out.

I washed and then dried three large new potatoes, peeled them and cut them into thin slices. I next filled the bottom of frying pan with olive oil and placed the potato slices evenly on the oil. I fried them on a medium heat for twenty minutes and turned them periodically. I knew they had been fried for long enough as I could cut them in half with one hand using a butter knife.

The potatoes were then joined in the pan by an ounce of sliced rocket straight from the greenhouse. The trick in this part of the cooking was to continually pat the rocket down as it has a habit of expanding and floating on top of the potatoes and oil.

I mixed together in a separate bowl three beaten eggs, four diced stems of chives from my garden, a hint of black pepper and an ounce of grated Parmesan Cheese. I then poured the mixture into the frying pan and made sure it was spread evenly throughout as well as burying the Rocket leaves low in the pan. I found the best way of making the Rocket stay down was to push it with a metal tablespoon.

Before grilling- the surface was a little more runny than was acceptable.

While the mixture was cooking on the hob I preheated the grill and over the course of five minutes periodically shook the frying pan from side to side. After five minutes I placed the pan, with the Frittata still inside it, under the grill until the surface of it began the dry and the edges started to turn a chestnut brown.

I served it with steamed garden peas and it proved a filling meal what with the protein from the eggs while the Rocket gave it a strong, distinctive taste that was not overpowering. It only took a little over half an hour to prepare and set me up well to entertain members of the cricket club that evening.

Post grilling- the surface of the Frittata had dried up but there was still enough moisture in the dish to stop it tasting like rubber.