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.

Bank Holiday Broccoli

It was a typical Bank Holiday Monday, in terms of the weather at least, the rain fell in the morning and something was needed to occupy me while the weather cleared. Realising I was away the following weekend I decided to relax and cook up a recipe for the blog.

Broccoli is one of those vegetables that tends to polarise people, a little like a green version of marmite. Either way it's a vegetable that's very good for you. On Bank Holiday Monday the Broccoli I'd sourced from the local greengrocers was going in a soup.

It was soup weather as the temperature had dropped after the extreme heatwave that had pervaded the last couple of days of the previous working week and the lion's share of the Bank Holiday Weekend. The kitchen was dimly lit because of the heavy cloud and lack of sunlight and on the player was Neil Young's engaging but equally dark comedown album "Tonight's the Night".

First job was to finely slice a clove of Garlic. Next I cut up a stalk of Broccoli and added it together with the Garlic and a tablespoon of Black Pepper to the Le Cresceut where I fried the ingredients in Rape Seed Oil for twenty minutes.

Then I added half a pint of Vegetable Stock and simmered everything for half an hour. After leaving the ingredients to cool in the dish I blended them and returned them to it. I then added a quarter of a pint of unsweetened Soya Milk and mixed it in. I then warmed it through and served the soup.

There's not much to this soup ingredients wise however there was enough to it to make it a fairly rich and filling one and certainly a dish to pep up the damp day.

Green Goddess- this one looks good for you and tastes better than you'd think.

Rum Cake

The other Bank Holiday Monday project was making a cake. It was something I'd not done since the Simnel Cake I made the previous Easter Weekend. I noticed I had some White Rum left from last summer's birthday antics and it was that which inspired me to make a fruitcake that was laced with the stuff.

The ingredients were as follows:

5 tablespoons of White Rum
140 grams of Brown Sugar.
150 grams of Margarine.
200 grams of  Self Raising Flour.
155 grams of  Sultanas
3 Eggs.

First I added the Sultanas and the White Rum to my mixing bowl and left them to soak for ten minutes.

Then I added the Brown Sugar and Margarine and with a wooden spoon creamed together these ingredients with the Sultanas and the White Rum. Once everything was completely mixed together I added the Self Raising Flour and fully mixed it in until I had a thick paste that smelt very alcoholic.

After that it was time to add the Eggs which I cracked and poured the whites and yolks into the mixture. Once they were stirred in I found the mixture had become very runny which is just the way it should be for a cake of this type.

I poured the mixture into a greased cake tin and then cooked it on Gas Mark 4 for one hour and five minutes. I did the usual trick of putting a skewer into the cake and making sure that it came out clean to check it was totally cooked.

After heading out on a brief and misty walk and then falling asleep at my laptop, a side effect of some previous events and lack of sleep in the recent heat, I tasted the cake and found it sweet and flavoursome; much like a good quality rum cocktail.

Planet of the Cake: a cross-section offset against a random globe in my conservatory.