Risotto of the Orient

The covers were wrapped around me; my eyes opened briefly and then closed again like shutters opening briefly to release the intense nervous energy that had built up over the short days in the run-up to the Christmas Break. I briefly remembered my dog barking in my face and then letting her out onto the garden before feeding her and heading back to bed.

Suddenly; it was 10.30am. I'd not slept in so long for nearly two years. However I felt refreshed in some way and excited as in the preceding days I had survived emotional family encounters and made them memorable. I found myself waking in that strange hinterland between Christmas and New Year where nobody really knows what day it is. What I did know was that my dining partner was returning North and the following day I would be cooking us our very own Christmas Dinner.

In the meantime I walked my dog to a snowy landmark many metres above sea level. For tea I settled on a recipe partly inspired by a Vietnamese Restaurant in a nearby city and my dining partner's penchant for making "fusion" dishes. These dishes are ones that feature ingredients from a number of cultures, such as a Chinese Curry that contains Chinese and Indian Ingredients for example.

With this in mind I settled on an Oriental themed Risotto. Of course Risottos are more often associated with Italian Cooking but I decided to see what it'd be like to mix them with Oriental Ingredients. The ingredients of this dish were:

Half a large Butternut Squash peeled and cut into cubes.
A Spring Onion peeled, topped and tailed and sliced thinly.
A Green Pepper de-seeded and cut into small squares.
A teaspoon of Soy Sauce.
A teaspoon of Powdered Ginger.
A teaspoon of dried Basil.
A teaspoon of dried Coriander.
Two pieces of Star Anise.
Ten Ounces of Risotto Rice.
Eight Ounces of Quorn Chicken Pieces.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock.

On the player was Jethro Tull's seminal 1978 live record "Bursting Out". This lively album sees the band on fine form and full of confidence during their tour in support of their agricultural themed masterpiece "Heavy Horses".

The first job was to pour some Olive Oil into my Le Cresceut and add the vegetables and spices. I stirred them all together and put the lid on the Le Cresceut. I then sweated them for twenty minutes on a medium heat while stirring occasionally.

Next I took the lid off the Le Cresceut and stirred the rice in for around two minutes. Then I added the Quorn Pieces and half the Chicken Stock and stirred them in for twenty minutes on a medium heat. The reason for doing this was to ensure the Risotto Rice absorbed a lot of the stock.

After that I added the other half of the Chicken Stock and simmered the ingredients for another twenty minutes; by this time the rice was soft enough to be edible and the dish was ready.

I served it and on eating it found that the Risotto Rice went well with the more Oriental ingredients and flavours. Of course long-grain rice is regularly used in Oriental Cooking and so adding the Risotto Rice to this dish wasn't a great leap. It was however different enough to create a unique and flavoursome dish that give me a much-needed energy boost in midwinter.

Stir it up- the dish shortly after the addition of the Risotto Rice and the Quorn Chicken Pieces. 

The meal on a plate ready to eat and decorated by pieces of Star Anise that served to provide a sweet and Aniseed-like taste. 

Solstice Tart

It was the first Sunday in December, the low winter sun shone brightly and illuminated the hills overlooking my two up, two down semi. The day before my dining partner and I helped a local charity flog mulled wine at a Victorian Market in the local County Town. An added bonus of a great event was seeing one of my best mates and his parents during the course of Market. All three were on good form.

After the Dogg and I had been our usual walk, she chose to curl up on the sofa while I focused on a festive cookery project. On the player for this one was Rod Stewart's 1984 blockbuster "Camouflage". If you're a child of the eighties with a soft spot for albums driven by synths and top-heavy drum kits, then this record is right up your street. It contains a massive hit in the form of "Some Guys Have All the Luck" as  well as a stonking cover of Free's 1970 blockbuster "All Right Now". Admittedly the record is not up there with his early classics such as "Never a Dull Moment" or "Gasoline Alley" but it still packs a punch.

I had not made a pudding for a time and recalled a recipe for a Mincemeat Tart that my mum had discovered some five years previously. The recipe is essentially a giant Mince Pie which, instead of being topped by pastry, is topped by a sheet of Marzipan.

The ingredients are as follows:

For the Shortcrust Pastry:

13 ounces of Plain Flour.
6.5 ounces of Unsalted Butter.
2 tablespoonfuls of Almond Milk.

For the filling:

One large jar of Mincemeat.
The juice juice of one Orange.
One teaspoon of Nutmeg.
One teaspoon of Cinnamon.
One teaspoon of All Spice.

For the topping:

One pound of ready to roll Marizapan.

The method to make this one is:

1. Put the Flour in a mixing bowl and add the Butter after first cutting it into small cubes.

2. Rub the Flour and Butter in until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Gradually add the Almond Milk and stir it in.

4. Knead the Pastry into a ball and then roll it out until it forms a circle nearly a foot in width.

5. Use the Pastry to line a greased pie dish around a foot in width and three centimetres deep.

6. Add the Mincemeat, Spices and Orange Juice to the pie dish and spread them about evenly using a butter knife.

7. Roll out the Marzipan so that it is flat enough to cover the top of the pie dish.

8. Place the rolled Marzipan on top of the pie dish so that it covers the filling and the edges join with the pastry. Use any spare Marzipan to make a decorative pattern on the top of the Tart.

9. Cook the Tart for 35 minutes on Gas Mark 5.

When the Tart came out of the oven it was slightly browned on top, a little like a Simnel Cake, and it was steaming. During the week I indulged in it as a superb comfort food; it helped take the edge off the short days and surplus darkness. The spices and the Orange coupled with the Mincemeat served to re-ignite positive memories of classic Christmas Holidays. The Marzipan meanwhile reminded me of Christmas Cakes that my Gran used to make, for Christmases long since gone, before she began her slow walk into the sunset.

Cross o' the Pan- the extra Marzipan made an excellent star-crossed pattern atop the Tart. 

Two Pear Soup for Autumn

A windy day ensued, nothing to do with what I'd eaten the night before, it was a Thursday in November and a day away from the office. My dining partner was coming over later in the day and I wanted to cook something fresh, flavoursome and healthy.

On the player was Cat Stevens' 1974 record Buddha and the Chocolate Box. This album contains the excellent hit "Oh Very Young" and plenty of earnest singer-songwriter material that is very listenable. The album's title came from a plane trip Stevens took and he noticed that, when looking down at what he held in his hands, if the plane had crashed all he had with him were the two items that form the title of the album.

I had been inspired to make a soup featuring Pears, Limes and Celery in an attempt to make something that was quite liquorice like in taste. The Pears were sourced from an excellent independent fruit and vegetable shop that contains a great choice of fresh, seasonal produce and pleasant staff.

The ingredients for this recipe were:

A teaspoon of Fennel Seeds
Two teaspoons of Ground Cumin.
A teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Two teaspoons of Oregano
Three Bay Leaves.
The juice of two Limes.
One Chinese Pear cubed, de-cored but not peeled.
One Conference Pear cubed, de-cored but not peeled.
One White Onion topped, tailed and finely sliced.
One Sweet Potato topped tailed, peeled and sliced width-ways.
Two tablespoons of Tomato Puree.
Two sticks of Celery finely sliced width-ways.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock.
One Avocado de-stoned and peeled.

The method for the soup was:

1. I fried all the herbs and spices, the Lime Juice, the Pears, Tomato Puree and Vegetables for 30 minutes on a medium heat in Olive Oil in my Le Cresceut with the lid on the Le Cresceut.
2. I then added the Chicken Stock and simmered everything for 20 minutes with the lid off the Le Cresceut.
3. I removed the Bay Leaves.
4. After leaving the mixture to cool away from the hob for an hour, I then blended it and served it in bowls with slices of Avocado on top  of the soup.

Rich Autumnal tastes abounded in this soup, partly due to the inclusion of the Pears. My dining partner said the soup was very flavoursome. It was also something she'd have paid for in a nice restaurant. It was also one of the best soups she'd ever had and wasn't too creamy. For my part I was aiming for a soup as good as one I'd had during a recent visit we made to a top restaurant. One way I sought to achieve this was by pureeing the ingredients as much as possible, perhaps this was one reason for the kind and positive comments.

Pureed Shores: a sea of soup with a small island of Avocado in the centre. 

Cider Bread with memories.

23 November 2017; exactly twenty-one years to the day since a party in the ruins of a stately home for an erstwhile classmate's birthday. It was also almost nineteen years to the day since a party in the same location, for the same reason, with, largely, the same people in the winter of '98.

On the player during cooking of today's recipe was the deluxe version of "Back to Black" that I had acquired from my dining partner. She has a good taste in music. In light of the fact that the album's author sadly joined the '27' club in 2011, a listen to this modern classic signposts exactly why this happened. Indeed, the lyrics to songs such as the timeless "Rehab", the capital title track and the raw hurt of "Addicted" proved to be grimly prophetic. The album is certainly one that proves the theory that great art does not spring from contentment.

It was against this soundtrack that I decided to make some bread, as I had yet to subject my dining partner to my bread making skills. The ingredients for the bread I chose to make, which was a Cider, Apple and Wensleydale Bread, were as follows:

For the dough:

Fifteen Ounces of Wholemeal Bread Flour.
One teaspoon of Yeast.
Two teaspoons of Dried Rosemary.
One teaspoon of Mustard Seeds.
One Russet Apple, without its core, top or tail.
Ten Ounces of Wensleydale Cheese.
Half a pint of Cider.

For the topping:

One teaspoon of Sesame Seeds.
One teaspoon of Nigella Seeds.

The method to use is as follows:

1. Mix the Flour and Yeast together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add and stir in the Rosemary, Mustard Seeds, Apple and Cheese.
3. Gradually add the Cider while mixing it in gently.
4. Once it's all mixed together, knead vigorously into a flat circle.
5. Top it with the Sesame and Nigella Seeds by spraying them widely on top of the bread.
6. Leave to rise in a warm room by the window, preferably south-facing, for two to three hours.
7. Bake it in the oven for twenty-five minutes on Gas Mark Six.

The taste of this bread was very moist due to Apple and Wensleydale, while the Mustard Seeds and Rosemary gave it a distinctive and warm flavour.  My dining partner concluded it was a healthy and easy to digest, compared to supermarket bread, and a bread recipe that she'd make herself. She also believed it to be nutritious,flavoursome and unique.

The weather was so warm that we had the bread as part of a picnic on the last Friday in November. Funnily enough we ate it on a bench in the grounds of the stately home I had visited for those parties nineteen and twenty one years earlier. As the sun shone down on us I reflected on the parties and regaled my dining partner with stories of my first taste of lager, the guests (one of whom is no longer with us), and midnight walks round the ruins- all things that took place during these parties.

Open Sesame- the bread topped with Sesame and Nigella Seeds cooling down after a spell in the oven. 

African Eggs

It was a Friday in mid-November. I had the day off and the sun had glistened on the high hills above my home during the morning dog walk. Prior to cooking my lunch, which is the subject of today's recipe, I had bumped into a mate in the local greengrocer. I'd shared some epic nights out on the town with her and others from our crowd over the years. Things had changed for us both since those times as she is now a mother of two while I have a house to run. Later on in the day, as the sun set, I wandered around a nearby County Town with a bag of fresh laundry. As I approached a towering Mock Tudor Building I saw my old boss, still wearing the same waistcoat and trousers combo as he did when I worked with him, framed in the bay window of his office. It was heartening to see him still working away. These two experiences made it a day of memories.

A further memory rose to the surface of my present in the choice of dish for my lunch. I remembered it was a little over three years since I had taken a trip to Fuerteventura. I went there in circumstances that will not happen again. One of the breakfast dishes at the hotel I stayed at was Poached Egg with Tomato and Herb Sauce. I decided to make a similar dish in the shape of Fried Egg and Tomato Sauce. I decided to use Moroccan Herbs and Spices in the Sauce in light of Fuerteventura's fairly close proximity to this North African Country.

Perhaps I was trying to mark time with my choice of dish, the experiences I had that day and even the choice of music while I cooked. I chose Rod Stewart's 1975 effort the excellent "Atlantic Crossing". The album saw Stewart leaving his homeland, for reasons of finance and romance, to settle in the USA. In a more low key way three years earlier, almost to the day, I had left the County Town I'd spent a lot of my early adult life working in and went to work in the City for similar reasons.

The Sauce recipe comprised of:

Four diced Shallots
Two Sliced Tomatoes
One Birds Eye Chili
One teaspoon of Basil
One teaspoon of Ras El Hanoi Seasoning
One teaspoon of Black Pepper
One tablespoon of Tomato Purée with Chili

I stewed all these ingredients in three tablespoons of Olive Oil in my Le Cresceut on a medium heat, while stirring them constantly, for a period of 25 minutes. 

Towards the end of the cooking time for the sauce I fried two Eggs in two ounces of melted and Unsalted Butter and two tablespoons of Olive Oil in a frying pan for five minutes. In frying the Eggs for just five minutes I ensured they were not under cooked but I also ensured the yolks were not dry and were runny. That way when consuming them with the Sauce I could mix the yolks with the Sauce. 

When the Eggs and Sauce were ready I first served the Sauce by spreading it evenly on the plate and then placed the two Eggs on top. Tomato and Basil are always an irresistible combination. They were enhanced in this meal not just by the runny yolks of the Eggs, but also the sharp and exotic flavour the Ras El Hanoi Seasoning. This spice served to rekindle memories of breakfasts underneath Palm Trees and cloudless blue skies at the start of the Autumn Equinox of 2014. 

Two Egg On: the Runny Eggs sit atop a Spicy Sauce.

Holiday Chilli

One positive habit I've taken up over the past three years is to save a lot of my holidays for the end of the year. The darker mornings and commutes home in the pitch black can be, even for a self-confessed positive person like me, grueling and tiring. I put my theory into practice this Autumn and Wintertime by taking a holiday on the East Coast. We were blessed by a lot of dry weather, interesting nature, clean beaches and quaint coastal villages, not to mention important company.

Those who'd booked the holiday cottage we stayed in have made lots of sacrifices for me over the years; more perhaps than I appreciated at the time. On the night before I drove home with the dog, I drove not the dog- she can't be trusted with such a big vehicle, I decided to cook for them as they had done so many times for me before I was able to.

The dish I chose was a vegetarian Chili Con Carne. What inspired me to make this, apart from my love of Tex-Mex Cooking, was the discovery in a local seaside supermarket of Blue Corn Tortillas. These were to be the side dish for Chili Con Carne. Blue Corn is grown in Mexico and Southwestern United States. It is often used to make Tortillas. In its natural state the corn cob that it comes from has numerous shades of purple and the patterns make it look like Jackson Pollock has been let loose on it with a variety of purple paints. The Tortillas I used as the side dish for this recipe were largely a uniform colour of Deep Purple.

Somehow Simply Red's 1991 bestseller "Stars" had found itself onto the player. Perhaps the music chosen was to meet the tastes of those I was cooking for. On the other hand perhaps it was due to driving and,fairly, funky numbers like "Thrill Me" and "Something Got Me Started" taking me back to my "Fat Elvis Years" . In those years alcohol consumption was higher, nights out lasted longer, often took place on a Sunday and the job I worked in was uninspiring; even if my colleagues were great to work with.

So to the job in hand, the ingredients sourced for this recipe were as follows:

For the Chili:

15 Tomatoes sliced into quarters. 
5 Shallots, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
3 Cloves Garlic, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
3 Sweet Peppers with their tops removed, the seeds removed and sliced into small squares. 
1 teaspoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
1 teaspoon of Chili Flakes
1 tablespoon Tomato Purée with Chili.
A packet of Quorn Mince
A tin of Red Kidney Beans

I first fried the spices, Tomatoes, Vegetables and Puree for 35 minutes on a medium heat in Olive Oil in a frying pan. I stirred the ingredients constantly to make sure they didn't stick to the pan. I then added the Quorn Mince and fried the ingredients for a further 20 minutes while stirring the ingredients regularly. Next I added the Kidney Beans and after another 10 minutes the dish was ready.

I served the dish with 12 ounces of boiled White Rice that I'd boiled for 20 minutes so as to make it ready at the same time as the Chili. As well as the Blue Corn Tortillas I had a tub of plain, low fat Greek Yoghurt and some grated Chili Cheese with Lime available as a side dishes. 

The unique and salty taste together with the freshness of the Greek Yoghurt and the sweet spiciness of the Chili Cheese served to enhance the strong but flavoursome and taste of the Chili. It certainly warmed our hearts as the winter inched its way across the courtyard towards our cottage that evening as we ate the meal. 

Purple Days- the Tortilla Chips, Grated Cheese and Greek Yoghurt sit brightly on the bed of Chili and Rice. 

Mid- Month Mackerel

Saturday Morning. A week after Remembrance Weekend. The morning after I drove home staring up at the stars that were dotted above the fields and contemplated the wonder of it all. The dog woke me up early, she doesn't do lie ins, and I stumbled out of bed to let her out. I also thought of the cooking project for the day, which would soon find its way into your midst on this blog.

I had recently been for a very special meal at a local restaurant. I'd left the place feeling very lucky. I also left it feeling inspired to cook some new fish dishes in light of the excellent Bream and also Smoked Haddock Recipes we'd consumed there.

That said I decided to cook a dish involving fresh Mackerel and a sauce containing fruits and spices. Here's how I made it:

First thing, prior to a trip out for some excellent frames of snooker and productive Christmas Shopping in rural areas, I decided to make the sauce. The reason for this was that I planned to allow it to ferment and set so as to give it a richer flavour when I came to cook it later. The ingredients for the sauce were as follows:

One Red Grapefruit- sourced from my wonderful local Greengrocer the "Strawberry Basket"
One Orange
A tablespoon of Dried Mint.
A teaspoon of Mustard Seeds.
A teaspoon of Piri-Piri powder.
A teaspoon dried Parsley
A tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar.
Two tablespoons of Olive Oil.

I halved the Grape Fruit and Orange. I then peeled them and ripped them into segments while ensuring that I removed pith to ensure they were not too chewy. Then I added them to a mixing bowl with the herbs and spices, White Wine Vinegar and Olive Oil. I then whisked them in the mixing bowl, until the ingredients were totally blended. I left the bowl containing the blended ingredients in the fridge.

Later, when I returned from Snooker and Christmas Shopping Adventures, I realised it was nearly teatime and time to prepare the final part of the dish.

On the player was Rod Stewart's 1976 corker "A Night on the Town". This was the last record he made prior to, in the eyes of serious music critics and his more hip fans at least, selling out. It has to much on it to commend it from a rollicking cover of Manfred Mann's "Pretty Flamingo", the touching story song "The Killing of Georgie" and "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" a fine opener to the album that was the inspiration for a successful West End Musical inspired by Stewart's Music.

I took two fillets of Mackerel and Fried them in two ounces of melted and Unsalted Butter, I think it is a sin to use excessive salt in cookery you see, and a tablespoon of Olive Oil. I fried them on a medium heat,  with a teaspoon of Piri-Piri Powder, turning them twice over the course of 14 minutes.

I the meantime I cut up two Pak Choi into thin slices and fried them in my Le Cresceut in two tablespoons of Olive Oil with the sauce for a period of twenty minutes. In order to help the flavours of the sauce infuse into the Pak Choi I kept the lid on the Le Cresceut while I was frying the food and stirred it occasionally.

Once the Pak Choi, Sauce and Mackerel were properly cooked I served them. Even the undoubtedly healthy Red Grapefruit was present the dish was not sour. In fact the Piri-Piri and Mustard Seeds gave it a fine balance between fiery flavours  and a fresh and mellow taste that was created by the Mint, Parsley and Oranges. The Mackerel was rich in vitamins and had a fresh but smoky taste too that complimented the other ingredients well. I'll definitely be cooking this dish again, but next time I'll blend the sauce to make its texture smoother.

Red runs the plate- the Red Grapefruit's sour taste complimented the smoky yet fresh taste of the Mackerel. 

Stewed Shallots, Fried Sausages

It was the end of a great holiday on the East Coast. I had returned home. As if on cue the rain plummeted out of the sky and hammered into the western wall of my home with a vengeance. It was not even light when my dog dragged me from my slumber and we nipped out into the downpour. After that I went back to bed and woke mid-morning.

While I was waiting for the weather to clear I decided to commence preparation of the Bonfire Night dish I was treating my wonderful dining partner to that evening.

This time on the player there was yet more Van Morrison; this time his flawless double live album from 1974 "It's too Late to Stop Now". It is a stellar performance from a rather erratic live performer and as well as great album tracks and hits there are some top drawer blues covers thrown into the set-list.

The dish I made was one that was meant to be a typically savoury Bonfire Night Recipe. When I think of Bonfire Night, I think back to when I was a kid and we had Baked Potatoes filled with lots of beans and for pudding we would have Bonfire Toffee.

Another Bonfire Night staple is sausage sandwiches. However my Dining Partner and I are largely vegetarian and so I decided on a variation on Bonfire Night Sausage Sandwiches. The ingredients were as follows:

Ten Shallots that were peeled and topped and tailed.
A Pint of Cider.
Four Vegetarian Sausages.
A tablespoon of Dried Thyme.
Two tablespoons of Honey.

The first job was to put the Shallots in a greased baking tray with the Cider. I then placed foil over the top of the baking tray. I then cooked the Shallots and the Cider in the oven for three hours on Gas Mark 5. Once they were ready I turned the oven off and left the baking tray containing the Cider and Shallots in the Oven as it cooled down so as to keep them warm.

I then went and picked up my dining partner and we took my dog a walk at the local reservoir in the weak, yet warming, Winter Sun. When we returned it was time for the next stage of the cooking.

I lightly fried, in a frying pan with some Olive Oil, the four vegetarian sausages for ten minutes with a pinch of Mustard and a tablespoon of Dried Thyme.

I then added two tablespoons of Honey to the Cider and Shallots. Next I added them to the frying pan containing the Vegetarian Sausages and warmed the mixture through. This then meant it was ready to serve.

I toasted some slices of Seeded Bread and used them to make sandwiches with the Sausages and Shallots. I served them with a side of Red Cabbage Stewed in Cider and Herbs.

Although it uses a lot of power in stewing the Shallots for such a length of time, the reward is worth it for the rich and lived-in taste that is the end product. They certainly serve to add a depth to a dish that would otherwise be bland. The dish is rich and very sweet and a fun treat for adults and children alike on Bonfire Weekend. The meal also served to warm us before we headed out into the night and watched the fireworks from a local landmark. We were detached from the Bonfire Night celebrations in some way, however in our own way we were part of them.

Centre Sandwich- the Sausage and Shallots are fully glazed and ready to eat on a chilly Bonfire Saturday Night.

Pumpkins frying with Chestnuts

Part two of my cooking project to impress on 21 October 2017 again involved Pumpkin. It also involved, again, playing a Van Morrison Album. This time it was his 1990 record "Enlightenment". Plum tracks on this one include the devotional "Real, Real Gone", a number I could well relate to, and the stilted but fun slice of nostalgia "In the Days Before Rock 'n' Roll".

The main course was a Pumpkin and Chestnut Stew and it featured the following ingredients:

The cubed flesh of one Pumpkin
One diced Red Onion.
A pack of Pre-Cooked Chestnuts.
One Sharon Fruit topped and tailed.
A tablespoon of Dried Thyme
A tablespoon of Dried Sage.

This was a pretty easy dish to make and one, bear with me readers, that may seem on first look to be bland and banal. However the reality was quite different.

I poured some Olive Oil into the bottom of the Le Cresceut and then added all the ingredients bar the Chestnuts. The reason for this was that they were pre-cooked and so didn't need much extra cooking.

I stewed the ingredients on the hob on a medium heat with the lid on my Le Cresceut for about twenty-five minutes.

I then added the Chestnuts and cooked all the ingredients for another twenty minutes until the Pumpkin Flesh could be cut with ease by my plastic serving spoon.

I served the food with Honey Roast Parsnips (see 22 October 2017 entry for how to make these) and on this occasion these also included  chopped Cooking Apple with the Parsnips.

Again my dining partner provided the best insight into this dish. Her view, as was mine, that the dish was a rich and flavoursome evening meal. I would add that the Sharon Fruit, an underrated fruit that has a very short season, also gave the dish a unique twist and a taste of Autumn.

Sweet and Savoury- Honey Roast Parsnips sit well with the rich and tasty stew. 

Hollowing out your Pumpkins

The penultimate Saturday in October. The wind and rain buffeted the dog and I as we traversed the local fields near our house. We were caught in the back end of a storm called, rather non-threateningly one might add, Storm Brian. The first birds of winter drifted over our heads as we turned for home.

Later that day a very important and special guest was arriving at my home. Thoughts therefore turned naturally what I would make us. There were a  lot of Pumpkins in the local supermarket and Halloween was not too far away. That meant the two course meal I would prepare was distinctly Pumpkin- themed.

On the player was Van Morrison's underrated, and meditative album 1980 album "Common One". There are some albums that you can remember exactly where you were and exactly what things happened during that time. In this case I bought the album towards the end of the first semester of the final year of my Politics Degree. A degree that seems a lifetime ago now. Events from around this time in my world included getting punched in the mouth by a random passer by on a night out in my University Town. Another happening saw me attend a 21st birthday party in my hometown, which culminated in the Birthday Boy sucking whipped cream from a plastic phallus and winning us all free drinks in the process.

So the soup. The ingredients were as follows:

A tablespoon of  Dried Basil
A tablespoon of Dried Oregano
4 Chopped Tomatoes.
The cubed flesh of a medium-sized Pumpkin..
A diced Red Onion.
1 Small Clove of Garlic sliced finely.
Olive Oil to cover bottom of my Le Cresceut.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The soup was a variation on a Pumpkin and Tomato Casserole recipe that I had first road-tested in October 2009 during my reckless, and never to be repeated, "Fat Elvis" Years.

The method was as follows:

First I fried the vegetables and herbs in Olive Oil for 40 minutes. I did this on my Le Cresceut on a medium heat. I made sure to stir the food regularly to stop it sticking to the bottom of the Le Cresceut.

I then added the vegetable stock and simmered everything with the Le Cresceut lid on for another 35 minutes on a low heat.

I then left the ingredients to cool before blending them and serving the soup with toasted Brown Bread and Pumpkin seeds.

My dining partner for the soup summed up the taste better than I in that on paper she didn't expect the ingredients, particularly the Pumpkin to be tasteful but in fact it was a rich and flavoursome soup because of the herbs and seasoning. I would add that it was a soup that had an Italian feel and was a perfect tonic to the howling wind and lashings of rain that clattered against my house in the Autumn Evening.

Orange Skies- the soup sits on my table ready to eat with some freshly toasted bread just behind it. 

Glazed Parsnips for October

I remembered to say "White Rabbits" when I finally awoke on 1st of October. It's a family tradition to say it on the first day of the month before you speak to anyone as it is meant to bring you luck. Well I wonder?

More heavy had arrived to match that I had driven through to see some very good friends of mine for the first time in a quarter the night before. That said for second day in a row it was time for an early lunch in the hope that it would clear up in the afternoon for a walk with the beast.

I had obtained a Parsnip from my local greengrocer, which is regrettably to close soon, and decided to spice it up by frying it in some honey. I decided to serve it with a side of  White Fish from the freezer and some Garlic Butter Sauce.

On the player was Joni Mitchell's excellent and underrated debut album "Song to a Seagull". Even at this early stage in her career Mitchell's unique phrasing in her vocal delivery and complex guitar tuning techniques are well in evidence.

I peeled and topped and tailed the Parsnip before slicing it into narrow batons that were no more than five centimeters long.

Next I pre-heated the oven to Gas Mark 4 and when it was warmed up I added the White Fish to it on a foil-covered baking tray. I let the Fish cook for around twenty-five minutes.

While the Fish was cooking I fried the Parsnips on a medium heat in a frying pan in Olive Oil turning them occasionally. I also added some fresh Thyme and after fifteen minutes of cooking I added three tablespoons of Honey. I mixed the Honey thoroughly into the Parsnips and herbs. I kept cooking them on a medium heat for a total of twenty-five minutes.

In the meantime I melted four ounces of unsalted butter in a saucepan and once melted added two finely sliced cloves of Garlic together with two ounces of dried Rosemary and Thyme. Then I added two ounces of Plain Flour and took the saucepan off the heat to stir the flour into the Butter, Garlic and Herbs. This gave the sauce the appearance of a Honeycomb interspersed with Garlic Pieces. Then I added five tablespoons of unsweetened Soya Milk, put the saucepan back on a medium heat and stirred everything until I had a thick sauce. I kept the sauce on a low heat until the Fish and Parsnips were ready.

I served the dish by pouring the sauce all over the White Fish and putting the Parsnips next to them.

The White Fish had its usual delicious taste which was enhanced by the deceptively simple sauce. The Parsnips meanwhile tasted sweet and rich but still had plenty of goodness bearing in mind they came from a local Greengrocer.

Golden days- the Parsnips sit near the sauce-covered fish. 

Jamaica Jerk

The treetops in the field shone like faded gold. It had been a good weekend. There had been late night adventures on Friday and a meal to celebrate my mum's 65th birthday in a top drawer public house on Saturday Night. Plus I was feeling a way I had not for a very long time. As I wandered through the woods memories came flooding back of the times I'd come there as an A-Level Student and a university graduate to find inspiration. I encountered ragged man with a white beard who was ubiquitous in the wood in my youth. His dog wore a strange bell that jingled as it walked.

A few hours after the dog and I had drifted home, two of my oldest friends arrived and their surprise visit was a very enjoyable way of rounding off the weekend.

Then thoughts turned to a recipe for tea. I had long been an admirer of Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipes. I sampled a splendid one near Stratford in London back in May 2010. However I am not a massive fan of Chicken. That said I decided to make a Jerk Recipe that utilized Quorn Chicken Pieces in place of  "real" Chicken.

On the player was Paul Simon's 1986 masterpiece "Graceland". I had vague memory of the record on its release. I also remember that my Dad, a science teacher at the school I attended, found a cassette of the album stuffed behind a fume cupboard in a room in which he used to teach. This discovery happened at start of the new millennium and I remember thinking that perhaps, years previously, some callous child had taken their classmate's beloved cassette and stuffed it behind the cupboard as a cheap joke. The album passed me by at the time as a close friend told me Paul Simon was uncool. I took him at his word and avoided the record.

A listen of the record today reveals I was wrong to overlook it, as there is not a weak track on the album and it remains innovative and wonderful. Opening track "The Boy in the Bubble" cracks and pops with gusto. Its lyrics about looking at a  distant constellation in a far off corner of the universe reminded me of many post-pub, semi-inebriated and insightful talks I have had over the years with with one of my friends who had  popped round that afternoon.

The Ingredients of the dish were as follows:

1 teaspoon of All Spice.
1 teaspoon of  Jerk Seasoning.
1 teaspoon of Nutmeg.
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon.
1 heaped teaspoon of Brown Sugar.

1 diced clove of Garlic.
2 diced and de-seeded Red Chili
1 diced and de-seeded Green Chili
10 ounces of Root Ginger peeled and sliced finely.
1 diced White Onion.

Juice of 2 Limes.
Juice of 1 White Grapefruit.

First I put some olive oil into the bottom of my Le Cresceut dish and added, the Garlic, Chillies, Root Ginger and White Onion. Then I added the Lime Juice and the Grapefruit Juice. I warmed all this through for five minutes and then added all the Spices and the Brown Sugar. After stirring these together I simmered them all in the Le Cresceut dish on a medium heat with the lid on for twenty minutes.

Then I added 10 ounces of Quorn Chicken Pieces and simmered in the Le Cresceut, with the lid off this time, the food for another thirty minutes.

During the last spell of the cooking of the dish I boiled up some White Rice for fifteen minutes. I then drained it and returned it to the saucepan I'd boiled it in. I took the opportunity to add a can of Red Kidney Beans and heated them through on a medium heat for about 2-3 minutes.

I put the Rice and Kidney Beans on the plate and used them as a bed to lay the Quorn Jerk on top. I'm a bloke who likes my spicy food and this recipe certainly was, despite the presence of the Brown Sugar. The spices gave it the taste of a strong Rum and it was a dish that was tasty and flavoursome. It was also a dish that was spicy enough to mean I needed to drink two pints of water to get through it. It has certainly inspired me to seek out more Jamaican Recipes for future blog posts.

Mountain of Fire- a pile of the Quorn and Jerk sits atop of the bed of Rice and Kidney Beans. 

Courgettes for Soup and Oregano

The last day of September. The dog barked in my face to wake me up at 7am. Sleep had been limited as I was still buzzing from an epic evening in a nearby Spa town. Familiar locations had been visited but they were given a new and exciting twist.

As I'm an avid cricket fan I often use cricket phrases in my everyday conversation. Therefore as there was heavy rain I decided to take an early lunch as no play outdoors, in this case walking my Terrier, was possible during the morning. I also had guests on powerful motorbikes to entertain for a brief spell in the afternoon before I headed out for a catch up with some of my oldest friends.

All things considered as well as having an early lunch I decided to make some soup using four locally sourced Courgettes. These ones were quite small and the experts tell me that this means they taste sweeter. I am not the biggest fan of cooked Courgettes but they are good in soup I must admit. Otherwise I prefer them raw with salad.

On the player was Deep Purple's controversial 1969 classical crossover "Concerto for Group and Orchestra". When my dad was a student in the early seventies he shared a house with, among others, a chap who owned this record. My Dad was not impressed with it. However once you pierce the fairly unadventurous classical compositions you find that the raw power of the nascent second incarnation of the band is well in evidence. Also, outside of the concerto piece there is an early version of the classic "Child in Time" and a powerful  rendition of the original band's "Wring that Neck". Both these songs are worth the price of the album alone.

The ingredients of the soup were as follows:

4 topped, tailed and sliced Courgettes.
1 topped, tailed and thinly sliced White Onion
1 tablespoon of Black Pepper
1 tablespoon of dried Basil
1 tablespoon of dried Oregano.
Quarter of a Pint of Black Tower White Wine.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.
Olive Oil.

I sweated the Courgettes, Onions and the Herbs in my trusty Le Cresceut Dish with some Olive Oil for twenty minutes on a medium heat on the hob. I kept the lid on during this process to ensure the ingredients cooked more quickly.

I then added all the White Wine and simmered everything for another 30 minutes keeping the lid on.

After that I added the Vegetable Stock simmered the ingredients for another 20 minutes, this time with the lid off the Le Cresceut.

I then left the food to cool for two hours and blended it before serving it.

The Black Tower White Wine has a strong and rich taste that almost makes it as potent as Red Wine. In this case it served to make the soup rich while the Basil and Oregano enhanced the sweetness of the Courgettes.

Green grows the soup- ready to eat and bubbling brightly. 

Rhubarb, Apple and Orange Cake

The middle Saturday in September. It was time to recover from twelve straight days at work, albeit the middle two of those days had involved some excellent networking in leafy park next to a school where my parents first met.

I had recently acquired Rhubarb and Bramley Apples from an allotment in the County Town where I once practised my trade. I decided to turn this delicious fresh produce into a cake. The ingredients of this cake were as follows:

15 ounces of Self-Raising Flour.
9 ounces of Brown Sugar.
4 ounces of Unsalted Butter.
2 beaten Eggs.
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence.
Half a pint of unsweetened Soya Milk.
Juice of 1 Orange.
1 stalk of Rhubarb.
2 Bramley Apples.

On the player was Frank Zappa's excellent live effort "Fillmore East: June 1971" which features excellent live versions of three songs from his best known record "Hot Rats" as well as a cover of the cheesy 1960s hit by The Turtles "Happy Together". The cover is given credibility by the two lead singers of this band being a part of Zappa's band at the time.

I started by stirring together in my mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, the Flour, Sugar and Butter. Once they were combined I added Rhubarb, after it had been sliced thinly, and the Bramley Apples, after I'd cubed them and removed the cores.

After fruit had been mixed into the dry ingredients the Eggs, Milk, Orange Juice and Vanilla Essence were added and stirred in until the mixture resembled a thick paste that was dominated by the fruit.

I had earlier greased with Unsalted Butter a twenty centimetre wide and ten centimetre deep cake tin and I proceeded to pour the mixture into it and spread it about evenly throughout the tin. Then I put it in the oven at Gas Mark 4 and cooked it for seventy minutes.

I knew the cake was cooked when I used the old trick of putting a sharp object through the top of it to see if any of the mixture stuck to it. As it didn't I realised that the cake was ready.

Rhubarb is more closely associated with crumble normally. However here it was perfectly appropriate and the flavour of contrasted well with the sweetness of the Orange Juice and Vanilla Essence. These two sweet ingredients helped to ensure that the normally sour taste of the Bramley Apples was enhanced and made to be flavoursome.

Taking a slice- a cross section of this cake with a piece removed. 

Salmon Gratin

The first weekend in August seems a long time ago now. It had involved raving in the garden shed of close friend and a ten mile walk with the dog. There was Smoked Salmon in the house;a fish that I had found my love of rekindled by a one off encounter in the City.

I decided to turn the Smoked Salmon into a Smoked Salmon Gratin. I find Gratins quite easy to make if you want to prepare something with limited effort that is also a substantial meal. There are a number of great Vegetarian Gratins out there that I've made but this was the first time that I'd tried a Fish Gratin.

The day's soundtrack was the Cat Stevens album "Mona Bon Jakon" the key track on this corker from 1970  being "I think I see the light" a song appropriate to my circumstances at the time.

The Recipe for the main part of this dish was as follows:

Half a diced White Onion.
One Leek topped,tailed and sliced widthways.
Two White Potatoes sliced widthways.
Eight Ounces of fresh Broad Beans from my local Green Grocer.
A pinch of Mustard.
A teaspoon of White Pepper.
Twelve ounces of pre-cooked Smoked Salmon.
Olive Oil.

The Recipe for the Sauce was as follows:

Four Ounces of Unsalted Butter.
Three Ounces of Plain Flour.
A pinch of Mustard.
A tablespoon of dried Dill.
Half a pint of sweetened Soya Milk.

If you want to try the dish yourself then the approach I followed was:

1.In my Le Cresceut I  shallow fried on a low to medium heat  the vegetables, Mustard and White Pepper for a period of thirty five minutes. I fried these ingredients in Olive Oil and stirred them regularly to ensure they didn't stick to the bottom of the dish or burned.

2.I then added the Smoked Salmon pieces and stirred them in.

3. While I was cooking the main part of the dish I, fairly successfully, was able to multi-task by making the sauce. I did this  by melting the Butter in a saucepan and mixing it with the Plain Flour, Mustard and Dill. When this was all mixed together it formed into a honeycomb. I then gradually added the Soya Milk to the saucepan while all the time stirring it into the dish on a medium heat until I had a thick sauce.

4.I then added the sauce to the Le Cresceut and stirred it in thoroughly.

5. To finish the dish off I put the Le Cresceut, with the lid off, in the oven on Gas Mark Four for around fifteen minutes. After which I served it.

The Smoked Salmon's unique flavour and the Dill Sauce were what made this dish while the Broad Beans provided the required taste to help bring out the taste of the other vegetables too.

All cooked a ready to serve and much more delicious than this photo might make it look. 

Beetroot and root vegetable risotto

The day after my Birthday was August the 10th. It was a Hot August Day and the dog and I disappeared off into the White Peak for the majority of the day on a twelve mile walk to revisit places from my childhood and spot new things.

On my return home I had to tackle the fact that tomorrow was a working day so it was important to cook something that was suitably fortifying to see me through to the weekend without any difficulty. I decided to try a Beetroot Risotto recipe that was a variation upon the one that I wrote about in a previous post on this blog entitled "Beety McBeety Face,"

The ingredients for this recipe were:

Three Beetroot topped, tailed, peeled and then Cubed.
A Leek topped ,tailed and sliced finely.
Two Carrots, peeled, topped, tailed and sliced width-ways.
A clove of Garlic slice finely.
Two Sprigs of Marjoram from my back garden.
Five Sprigs of Rosemary from my back garden.
A teaspoon of White Pepper.
A teaspoon of Ground Ginger.
Two tablespoons of Port
Eight Ounces of Risotto Rice.
Half a Pint of Water.
Five ounces of Wensley Dale Cheese.

I started off by putting some Olive Oil into the bottom of my Le Cresceut and frying on a medium heat the Beetroot Cubes, Sliced Leek, Carrots, Garlic, Marjoram, Rosemary, White Pepper, Ground Ginger and Port for thirty minutes. I stirred these ingredients regularly to ensure they did not stick to the bottom of the dish.

I then added the Risotto Rice which I stirred into the dish for ten minutes. Next I added the water and simmered the dish for twenty minutes until most of the water absorbed.

To finish I added five ounces of Wensley Dale, stirred it in until it had just melted and then served the Risotto.

This risotto proved to be rich one, partly due to the addition of the Port, but not as rich as the one featured in "Beety McBeety Face" as it lacked that risotto's Goat's Cheese. However it was still a filling and healthy meal thanks to the Beetroot and the other fresh vegetables.

Tickled Pink- a glowing pre-work risotto. 

September Goulash

The second part of my cookery project for the first Saturday in September was inspired partly by a recipe I'd seen in a Vegetarian Cookbook, part by my love of Pui Lentils and part by a trip to Eastern Europe many years ago where I ate plenty of Goulash.

I had never made a Goulash before so here I was in unknown territory. To mark this moment the meal was prepared to the innovative and groundbreaking 1978 Frank Zappa Live Album "Zappa in New York".

The ingredients were as follows:

For the Goulash:

Two sliced Carrots.
Three finely sliced Shallots.
Three finely sliced sticks of Celery.
Two diced Garlic Cloves.
A tablespoon of Tomato Puree.
One can of chopped Tomatoes.
Ten ounces of Pui Lentils.
One teaspoon of Caraway Seeds.
One teaspoon of Smoked Paprika.
A tablespoon of Port.
A half pint of Vegetable Stock.

For the dumplings:

A sachet of vegetarian dumpling suet.
A tablespoon of finely sliced chives from my garden.
Five tablespoons of Water.
One tablespoon of Soya Milk.

I first made the dumplings by putting the suet and the Chives in a mixing bowl and gradually adding the Water and Soya Milk. The reason I did this was that I find if you add the wet ingredients gradually the dough mixes together better and makes better quality dumplings. After the dough was mixed together I divided it into six balls and left them in the fridge to firm up.

After this I sweated the Carrots, the Shallots, the Celery, the Garlic Cloves, Tomato Puree, the Caraway Seeds, Smoked Paprika  and the Port in the Le Cresceut in Olive Oil for 35 minutes on a medium heat. I stirred the dish occasionally to make sure that the ingredients did not stick to the bottom of it burn. I also kept the lid on during cooking to make sure the food cooked quickly.

 About 25 minutes into this process I added the Dumplings.

In the meantime as soon as I started cooking the food in the Le Cresceut I boiled up the Pui Lentils in a saucepan of water for 35 minutes on a medium heat.  Once the Lentils were ready I added them
 to the Le Cresceut with the Vegetable Stock and Tomatoes. I stirred them in carefully. I then boiled it all for a further 35 minutes on a medium heat.

The Smoked Paprika, a spice that had been recommend to me by an individual who had contributed
little else that was positive to my life, and the Caraway Seeds added a charcoal type taste that reminded me of Liquorice. The Celery of course served to enforce this taste. However this taste wasn't too overpowering as the Tomato Puree, tinned Tomatoes and the Chive Dumplings ensured enough contrast to make this a flavoursome and filling meal.

It was certainly a meal my parents enjoyed as we talked shop about significant individuals and possible futures.

Melting Pot- the Dumplings and other ingredients bubbling away prior to serving the dish. 

Carrot Marsala and Lentil Soup

Saturday morning. The morning after a night out, with good company, at a revamped local pub that sits at the top of a hill in the shadow of an eerie churchyard. Only three and a bit pints had been consumed but I was feeling a little jaded, perhaps partly because I had pushed myself hard at work during the truncated working week that had just finished.

Later on that day my parents were around for a meal as they were off on holiday for nearly three weeks the following day. What to cook? I decided on a three course meal and today's blog entry deals with the first course of that meal.

On the player was one of Frank Zappa's many top drawer live albums. The album I listened to was called "The Best Band you never heard in Your Life". Zappa probably released this record in pique and sadness as it documents his final tour in 1988 that he cancelled after a fall out with his backing band. The title is specifically for the fans who had bought tickets for the cancelled legs of the tour. The record features a mix of Zappa Classics and cover versions, some serious and some clear parodies, of well-known rock numbers. Among the best of these is his cover of "Stairway to Heaven" in which the horn section approximates Jimmy Page's famous guitar work to a tee.

I had consumed quite a few curries recently and had found in my fridge a lot of Carrots that needed eating quickly. That said I settled on preparing a Carrot Marsala and Lentil Soup.

The ingredients of it to try at home are as follows:

For the Soup:
1 Diced Red Onion.
1 Diced Garlic Clove.
1 Cubed and diced White Potato.
1 Tablespoon of Garam Marsala.
1 Tablespoon of ground Coriander.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.
1 Can of Green Lentils.

For the Lime Oil

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Rind of one Lime.

The way I prepared this one was as follows:

1. In my Le Cresceut I sweated the Onion, Garlic, Potato, Coriander and Marsala in Olive Oil with the lid on the Le Cresceut for around half an hour on a medium heat.  

2. After the half an hour was up I added the Vegetable Stock and simmered everything in the Le Cresceut with the lid off for another half an hour.

3. After this I took the Le Cresceut off the heat and left the contents to cool.

4. Once the food had cooled I blended it and returned it to the Le Cresceut.

5. Next I added the Lentils to give the dish some more texture and warmed the soup through so it was ready to serve.

6. While the soup had been cooking on the hob I made the Lime Oil. The way I did this was to put the Olive Oil in a serving bowl. I then grated the Lime Rind in using a cheese grater. Next I stirred it into the Olive Oil with a spoon and left it to cool in the fridge until I was ready to serve the soup.

The soup went down well with everyone. The Marsala and the Coriander gave it a definite taste of some of my local town's better curry houses while the Carrot, Potato and Lentils gave the Soup a real body and plenty of protein.

The Lime Oil was added to the Soup once it had been served and it served as a welcome contrast to some of the more savoury flavours of the soup. With the weather starting to cool this is definitely a soup that will no doubt be made again over the winter months.

The Lime Oil floats on top of the soup as it is less dense than the soup itself.

The Lime Oil is illuminated by the late summer sunlight.

Any Port in a Storm

Last Wednesday it was my birthday, a year older, a year wiser as well? Maybe, certainly a year where I'd achieved a lot and learned a bit more about myself. After the dog woke me up early I saw it was still raining heavily from the day before. While I waited on the weather to clear, so I could go a walk, I decided to use some of the Beetroot I'd purchased from the local greengrocers and some of the Port my wonderful secretary had got me for Christmas to make Chutney.

With the wonderful sound of Frank Zappa's 1974 Jazz-Rock Classic "The Roxy and Elsewhere" bouncing out of my newly repaired speaker system I set to work.

The ingredients were as follows:

Four Beetroot, topped,tailed, peeled and cubed.
Half a White Onion , topped, tailed, peeled and diced.
A tablespoon of Dried Ginger
Five stems of Marjoram from my herb garden.
Three tablespoons of Port.
A clove of Garlic topped, tailed, peeled and finely sliced.
Juice of Half a Lemon
Half a pint of water

In my Le Cresceut dish I fried in four ounces of melted and unsalted Butter on a medium heat on the hob the Beetroot, White Onion, Ginger, Marjoram, Port, Garlic and Lemon for around thirty minutes stirring them constantly to stop the ingredients from burning and sticking to the bottom of the Le Cresceut.

After the thirty minutes were up I added water and stewed the food for a further forty-five minutes in the Le Cresceut dish on a lowish heat.

When the food was ready I took the dish off the hob and left it to cool down. Once it had cooled down I then put it in an airtight container and left it into the fridge. In doing this it sealed in the flavour and stopped the chutney going off. I would recommend though with this type of Chutney that for the best taste you consume it within 2-3 days at most.

Later in the week I sampled it with a couple of pasties over an early lunch and found it to be very savoury with an extra rich flavour because of the Port.

Purple Reign- some of the Chutney boxed up and ready to eat.

How many beans make two?

After a surprisingly fresh last Saturday, which involved a quality head clearing walk, I decided it was high time to make a soup recipe for the blog. My inspiration came from a can of Butter beans that I had lying around in my cupboard. I decided to use them to form the foundation of the soup I was to prepare.

On the player was Shaun Ryder's obscene solo album "Amateur Night at the Big Top". I remember well reading a rather negative review for it when it came out back in '03, when I was a scruffy student travelling Europe with some good friends of mine. Out of curiosity I picked it up nearly a decade later and found the record to be little more than a set of swear words and quite entertaining blue stories spoken over arrangements that varied from hip hop to scuzzy trance music with a spot of Chilled Ibiza thrown in for good measure.

The Ingredients of this soup were:

1 Leek topped and tailed and sliced into hoops.
Fresh Broad Beans from three pods.
1 White Onion topped, tailed and diced.
5 sprigs of fresh Marjoram out of my garden.
1 can of Butter Beans.
A quarter of a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The method I used was as follows:

1. In my Le Cresceut I fried in Olive oil the Leek, Broad Beans, Onion and Marjoram for a period of  twenty-five minutes.
2. I then added, after draining them, the Butter Beans. I fried them in the Le Cresceut for a further ten minutes.
3. I then added quarter of a pint of Vegetable Stock and simmered everything for ten more minutes.
4. Next I took half of the contents of the Le Cresceut and blended them. I then added them back to the rest of the Le Cresceut to give texture to the soup and enhance the taste.
5. I then warmed everything through in the Le Cresceut and served the soup in a small bowl with some fresh sprigs of Marjoram on top for decoration.

The Marjoram and two types of beans made this dish. The Marjoram provided a unique and delicious taste while the Butter Beans and Broad Beans added substance to it not to mention plenty of protein.

Marjoram Leaves atop this soup added extra decoration and taste. 

The Layers of the Macaroni

Last Sunday it was another hot day and the dog and I had both treated ourselves to a lie in after attending a Barbecue in town at a friends' house that went on into the small hours of Sunday Morning. We followed this up with a three hour wander down a trail that once was home to a number of local coal mines.

Later that day my parents were coming over for tea for the first time, in a while, so I had set aside a very special recipe to cook and one for you wonderful readers to try as well. I had settled on cooking a Macaroni Cheese with a difference. The ingredients were as follows:

For the main part of the dish:

1 Butternut Squash: peeled, de-seeded, topped and tailed and cubed.
1 Red Onion: peeled, topped and tailed and diced.
1 Tablespoon of Dried Marjoram, Sage and Rosemary.
1 Tablespoon of Dried Basil.
1 Tablespoon of Dried Oregano.
12 Ounces of Macaroni.

For the sauce:

6 Leaves of Purple Sage from my garden.
4 Ounces of melted, unsalted, Butter.
1 heaped tablespoon of Plain Flour.
Half a pint of Milk.

For the topping:

Two sliced Tomatoes.
8 Ounces of Cubed Cheshire Cheese.
4 Ounces of Cubed Caramelised Onion Cheddar Cheese.

I had got my Bluetooth Speaker working after almost two years. It had meant stripping my computer back to its factory settings and getting rid of that infernal Windows 10 which had positively ruined many of the best things about my laptop, including my Bluetooth Sound System.

On the player to match the sunny summer weather was the Beach Boys two albums on one CD compilation Friends and 20/20. The band's powers were on the wane on both these records but there is enough quality on them to make them very listenable especially as they contain such hits as "Do It Again" and "I Can Hear Music".

I prepared the dish as follows:

1. I sweated the Butternut Squash and Red Onion with the dried herbs  in my Le Cresceut in Olive Oil on a medium heat in the hob for twenty-five minutes.

2. While I was sweating the vegetables and herbs I boiled up the Macaroni in water in sauce pan for ten minutes. I then drained the Macaroni and set it to one side. I find it is better to pre-cook the Macaroni to ensure it doesn't dry up when you cook it with the other ingredients.

3. Next I made the sauce by melting the Butter in a sauce pan and mixed it with the Flour and the Purple Sage Leaves. Once they had formed a honeycomb-like consistency, I gradually stirred in the Milk on a medium heat until I had a thick sauce.

4. When all that was done I started the layering of the dish in the Le Cresceut.  The Squash, Onion and Dried Herbs were place on level one. The Macaroni was put on the second layer and the Sauce was spread liberally on the third layer making sure it covered all the Macaroni. On top  of all this I spread the two sliced Tomatoes, eight ounces of cubed Cheddar Cheese and four ounces of cubed Cheddar with Caramelised Onion.

5. I cooked the Macaroni Cheese in the Le Cresceut with lid on for twenty minutes on Gas Mark 6. I then took the lid off and cooked it for a further five minutes on Gas Mark 6.

During my childhood I had memories of Macaroni Cheese being a pleasant, albeit bland, meal. However with the introduction of the Butternut Squash, Purple Sage and Caramalised Cheddar among other ingredients it was transformed into a flavoursome main meal and certainly one my parents enjoyed too.

Tomatoes on top provided some delicious decoration for this dish. 

Gringo Fish

It was hot as I walked through the park and the heat brought back good memories of a garden party in the North Country the previous Saturday, while today's trip to the park helped create some more important and exciting pointers to a new direction.

There was a slight breeze too and this took the edge off the heat. Nevertheless when I got home the house was warm. Then following a telephone conversation with a very good friend, who was calling from the Eurostar en-route to his latest trailblazing adventure, I decided to make my tea.

A conversation on a recent road trip about  a holiday to Mexico had provided me with a detailed knowledge of Mexican Cuisine. The main finding was that what we think of in this country as true Mexican Food is in fact more like "Tex-Mex" food. The reality is that true Mexican Cuisine is something completely different.

A dish I had been recommended was something called Ceviche. It is a dish that uses white fish herbs, spices, coconut and limes. Typically I decided to turn my own idiosyncratic style to the dish with a view to creating something that was distinctly my own. The ingredients were as follows:

1 Cod Fillet.
1 diced White Onion.
1 teaspoon of dried Mint.
1 teaspoon of Chili Powder.
1 teaspoon of dried Coriander.
The juice of half a Lemon.

The great thing about a white fish dish like this is that it is filling but light and so it is perfect for a warm summer evening.

On the player was another obscure Fleetwood Mac record. In this case their 1995 effort "Time". This record is a one off in that it features for the only time ex-Traffic guitarist and songwriter Dave Mason and singer-songwriter Bekka Bramlett. Mason manages two sturdy rockers while Bramlett is largely invisible. Like its predecessor the album is saved from oblivion largely by Christine McVie's songs especially Hollywood (Some other kind of town) and Nights in Estoril which winds up being one of her best songs; period. The album closer These Strange Times meanwhile sees Mick Fleetwood offer up a haunting spoken lead vocal. The lyrics he recites do sum up well the fate of their original front man and are backed by a reflective arrangement.

I laid the  Cod out on baking tray that I'd covered in foil. I covered it evenly with the Mint, Chili Powder and Coriander. Then I sprayed the Lemon juice over it. I put some of the Onion on the fish too and spread the rest evenly by the side of it.

I cooked it in the oven at Gas Mark four for twenty-five minutes and this allowed the herbs, spices and Lemon Juice to soak into the fish. After the Cod was cooked I added it to my dinner plate with a side of fresh Broad Beans that I'd steamed with some Cress. When I cook Cod I'm normally quite conservative, with a small "c" I must hastily add, and just have it with traditional English vegetables and don't do much to flavour it. However adding these ingredients that were inspired by the Mexican recipe I had been given opened up many new and exciting avenues for cooking with Cod.

Freshly cooked white fish ready to eat as my dog looks on

Craft Pie

It was the final Saturday in June, the heatwave had subsided and the fresher weather had come in. It was perfect weather to walk in to get away from it all. Then the familiar, deliberate thud of my mobile phone sounded and meant it was ringing. I saw the identity of the caller and my heart sank a little. It was a call that shouldn't have been necessary but it was a call I could have worked hard to stop had I known better.

I unpacked my picnic bag and decided to rain check my planned walk. I then sat in the kitchen disbelieving for a time. Eventually I pulled myself together and wandered aimlessly through the fields near my house with the dog.

When something hits you between the eyes and knocks you back I find the best things to do are go on a long walk and do some cooking. On my return home I decided to modify a steak pie recipe by adding some vegetables to it and some craft beer that a very good and longstanding mate of mine had introduced me to in the last year.

The ingredients for the pie were as follows:

A pack of diced beef.
Two tablespoons of dried Oregano.
A tablespoon of Tomato Puree.
Half a diced White Onion.
Three Spring Onions, topped, tailed, peeled and sliced thinly.
Two Carrots, topped, tailed, peeled and diced.
Eight ounces of fresh Broad Beans.
A stubby can of Piston Head Lager.
Half a pint  of Vegetable Stock.

The method I used was as follows:

1.I fried the beef, vegetables, Tomato Puree and Oregano for twenty minutes in my Le Cresceut in Olive Oil.

2. I then after twenty minutes added the Piston Head Lager. Then I stewed the ingredients for another twenty minutes until the Lager had almost all been absorbed.

3. Next I added the stock and stewed the ingredients for another forty minutes.

4. In the meantime I made the Short Crust pastry in two parts. The first part was for the bottom and I used ten ounces of Plain Flour and five of Butter with a little Milk to bind the Pastry together. The top half of the pie was created with eight ounces of Plain Flour and four of Butter and a little Milk.

5. I rolled out the bottom bit of Shortcrust Pastry and spread it in a greased pie dish.

6. I then put in  the filling from the Le Cresceut and then covered it with the top part of the Shortcrust Pastry once I'd rolled it out. I left some holes to let the heat out.

7. I cooked the pie for 30 minutes on gas mark 6.

It was an exceptionally flavoursome pie as the Craft Lager and the Oregano helped bring out the taste of the Beef and the fresh Carrot and Broadbeans. It certainly filled me up as I watched the series climax of one of the best episodes of the New Doctor Who for some time.

The remainder of the pie was packaged up and served as my picnic lunch on a walk through the wet moors the following day. It tasted just as good, if not better, than it had fresh out of the oven. As I looked over the hills I could see a storm gathering around the tall tower blocks guarding the city I would need to head over to at the start of the working week. I knew one thing though; a storm may have been coming but I was good enough to sort out the issues that awaited me...

Life of Pie: a cross-section showing the meat and vegetables hiding underneath the crisp pastry.

Eggs Benedict Honeycomb

It was the weekend of Fathers' Day. The country baked and groaned under temperatures that made it feel like Benidorm. It had been a three day weekend for me and one of making plans and a few decisions; the outcomes of which, I suspected, would make me find out a lot about myself over the coming weeks.

On the player was an obscure Fleetwood Mac record in the form of 1991's "Behind The Mask". The album resides in that interregnum between Lindsey Buckingham's departure, which was shortly followed by that of Stevie Nicks, and the full-fledged reunion in 1997. Nicks is still on this record but  she is overshadowed partly  by the two guitar players parachuted in to replace Buckingham and chiefly by keyboardist/ singer/ iconic siren Christine McVie. This record is very much her baby and her shimmering songs keep it from being a train wreck. The pick of the bunch here is the haunting title track which, with some of my dealings in the preceding weeks, I could well relate to.

On Sunday morning plans had changed, just as they had earlier in the weekend, and I decided to make an indulgent breakfast to set me up for the tea. I'd promised someone important an Eggs Benedict recipe and I made it with one eye on this promise.

Typically the recipe had my own idiosyncratic take on it and in this case it was because the Hollandaise Sauce used the whites of the Eggs as well as the yolks. This in turn made it thicker and gave it the look of Honeycomb.

The ingredients for the Hollandaise Sauce were as follows:

Two beaten Eggs
A teaspoon of dried Tarragon
A pinch of Mustard.
A pinch of Nutmeg
A tablespoon White Wine Vinegar

After beating the Eggs aggressively in a measuring jug, until they resembled a thick golden paste, I added the herbs, spices and White Wine Vinegar. I next melted twenty five grams of Unsalted Butter in a saucepan on the hob. After that I added the ingredients for the sauce and simmered them for five minutes while stirring them with a wooden spoon. Once they'd solidified into a paste I took them off the heat and left them to one side.

In the meantime I'd brought a separate saucepan of water the boil. I did not have an egg poacher so I improvised and used a ladle greased with butter. I added an Egg to the ladle and lowered the ladle into the boiling water without letting the water run over the egg too much. I held it there for about five to six minutes.

I then removed the Egg from the ladle and placed it on top of two Toasting Muffins that were sandwiched with lettuce and two pieces of Serrano Ham. The yolk of the Egg was just right; part runny and part well-done. I drizzled the still warm Honeycomb Hollandaise Sauce on top of the Egg, Muffins, Lettuce and Ham and enjoyed this delicious but indulgent breakfast while my dog snored away on the sofa.

Going for gold: the Honeycomb Hollandaise Sauce sits well with the Egg, Ham and Lettuce while the Muffins are barely visible. 

When Five Counties Go to War

It was Wednesday Night at the start of June. It had been a day of conflict on the news and in other places more close to home. Sometimes after a day like that you need to stick on a record that's one of your favourites and never fails to gladden your heart. It was a tip I picked up from my Dad when he was working; if he'd had a tough day then he'd ask me to put on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" or (if Mum was out of the house) the Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks".

In my case both of those records would have done the job but on this occasion I chose a record who's fame and the infamy of its creator has often overshadowed the music within; the record was Michael Jackson's Thriller. It's easy to forget the great music contained within this album, yes there is cheese- albeit performed sincerely, but there is also a lot of cutting edge music that pointed bold new ways forward. It captures MJ when he still ability and innovation in his armoury and before celebrity squashed him.

In order to revitalise me to tackle the challenges ahead I decided to make a Risotto. The ingredients were as follows:

1 Clove of Garlic thinly sliced.
2 Shallots finely sliced.
1 Butternut Squash filleted, peeled and then cubed.
1 teaspoon of Basil
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning- such as Rosemary, Marjoram and Thyme.
8 ounces of Risotto Rice.
2 diced Tomatoes.
3/4 of a pint of Water
1/2 a slab of Five Counties Cheese.

I fried the Garlic, Shallots, Butternut Squash, Basil and Italian Seasoning in Rapeseed Oil in my Le Cresceut dish for 20 minutes. I stirred the ingredients at intervals so as to ensure they didn't stick to the bottom of the dish.

I then added the 2 diced tomatoes and the Risotto Rice. Now came the tricky part of preparation as I needed to make sure that I didn't under cook the Risotto Rice. To assist with this I gradually added 3/4 pints of  water into the Rice and the rest of the ingredients over a period of 30 minutes until the rice absorbed the water totally.

At the end of the cooking I added most of the half a slab of Five Counties Cheese and allowed it to melt in to the Risotto to ensure it thickened. Five Counties Cheese is widely available at the delicatessens of most good quality local supermarkets. It comprises of five cheeses fused together being; Cheshire, Derby(shire), Double Gloucestershire, Red Leicester and Cheddar, a cheese of course from Somerset.

When I served the Risotto I added a little bit of the cheese and some Chives from my garden as extra decoration. The meal itself was extremely rich and flavoursome while the Butternut Squash  made it very nutritious as well.

Garden Fresh- the Chives stand out atop a deliciously rich and nutritious Risotto. 

Smoked Tuesday

It was wet and windy outside and I was still feeling the effects of a chilli con carne and strong coffee that I had consumed the night before at The Temple. Despite the late night, at work the next day I had felt in the one place you want to be; in the zone. It meant that I ploughed through what on first blush seemed an impossible task.

Jaded I returned home and with some eighties synth pop by a short-lived chart topping act playing in the background I set about making a dish with Smoked Haddock. The ingredients were as follows:

2 Carrots- topped, tailed, peeled and then cubed.
1 Turnip- topped, tailed, peeled and then cubed.
1 Leek- topped, tailed, peeled and then sliced thinly.
A pinch of Mustard.
1 Teaspoon of dried Parsley.
1 Smoked Haddock Fillet.

I started by steaming the vegetables for around thirty-five minutes until a fork could go through them pretty easily. I then mashed them with the Mustard and Parsley and mixed them together to form a square. I then put this "food cube" in a frying pan filled with Rapeseed Oil and placed the frying pan under a grill on a low heat for about ten minutes. This trick means the cube becomes crisp and sticks together a little more. It is an approach that's used in making dishes such as Duchess Potatoes.

I made sure the end of the cooking of the cube was done to coincide with the preparation of the Smoked Haddock which I grilled for eighteen minutes and turned it half way through cooking.

I served the food by placing the cube, which had lost its shape a little, on a plate with the Haddock Fillet balanced on top of it.

The Leek and Carrot were certainly flavoursome as was the Parsley but the Turnip and Mustard had a slightly bitter taste. Luckily the rich taste of the Smoked Haddock balanced this out very well to make this dish an ideal "pick me up" after the action- packed day at work, trip to the Temple and also after a wonderful weekend in the north country with old and good friends.

Smokin' Aces- the Smoked Haddock sits well on top of the vegetables.