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.