Chili Cheese Calzone

A very close friend of mine got me a wonderful birthday present recently. It was an afternoon making street food at a leading local restaurant. At the course he and I learned a number of new recipes and tips to improve our cooking as well as having a lot of fun in doing so. I can safely say that it's one of the best birthday presents I've ever had. One dish we learned to make, while I sported an extremely ironic "Vegan Chef" hat supplied by my friend, was Calzone. The version we made contained Rocket, Mozzarella Cheese and Mushrooms. I'm not the biggest fan of Mushrooms but I saw the potential of the concept of calzone and decided to do my own take on it.

There was more Clapton on the player when I started the project. This time his landmark 1992 offering "Unplugged". In common with many other contemporary music legends the record sees Clapton treating some of his most famous numbers, plus some newbies and lesser known pearls, with acoustic instruments. Along with Neil Young's, Rod Stewart's and Kiss' take on this genre, Clapton's is one of the best. For those who wondered if Clapton, after a turbulent creative period in much of the 1980s, was still God, here's proof that the epithet remained justified.

If you fancy a taste of this record you can do worse than click on: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQL8vLGlM3mmh0vEpglq9x2LAPThDj19T

The ingredients of this dish were the following:

For the filling:

Five tomatoes cubed.
Ten leaves of Fresh Basil Shredded thinly.
Five Spring Onions cut into thin pieces.
Eight Ounces of Chili Cheddar Cheese cut into four equal pieces.

For the Dough

Two Hundred Grams of Wholemeal Bread Flour.
Four Ounces of Garlic Salt.
One Hundred Grams of Olive Oil.
One Sachet of Yeast.
One Hundred Grams of Water.

The method:

Prepare the filling by frying the Tomatoes, Basil and Spring Onions on a low heat in Olive Oil for around fifteen minutes stirring regularly. Once this is done leave the ingredients on one side to cool down.

Next make the Dough by adding the Bread Flour into a large mixing bowl with the Garlic Salt and Olive Oil. Stir these ingredients together and then form a hole middle of them.

In another bowl stir the Water and Yeast together and try and ensure the yeast is fully blended in with the Water. Add the Water and Yeast to the Bread Flour and the Garlic Salt and stir the ingredients together.

Then knead, which you may find very cathartic, the ingredients together until you find you have made a large ball of dough. This should take you around five to ten minutes. Then cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough in the fridge for one hour to rise.

After one hour remove the dough from the fridge and cut it into two equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough out into a large circle. Add one part of the mixture each to the two circles of dough and  two pieces of the Cheese.

Put the Calzones on a foil-covered baking tray and bake in the oven on Gas Mark Seven for fifteen minutes. After that remove them from the oven and consume or leave in storage to eat cold no more than two days after cooking.

These Calzones had plenty of freshness from the Basil, Tomato and Spring Onion while the Chili Cheese added a real fire and richness.

All Hallows Soup

The reason the Pumpkin has become associated with Halloween in this country is that it is usually hollowed out to look like a skull and then a candle is inserted in it to create a Jack O'Lantern. It wasn't always like that. In fact until the Pumpkin became widely available, following influence from the United States, the Turnip was the vegetable of choice for making such Lanterns. The legend of the Jack O'Lantern originated in Ireland where it is said an individual made a bargain with the Devil and as punishment is forced to walk the Earth with only a hollow turnip to light his path.

Less well-known on this side of the pond are Pumpkin's qualities as a source of food. Over in the States it is used in the sweet Thanksgiving Dish Pumpkin Pie. Here however it is often overshadowed by its more flavoursome counterpart in the squash family, the Butternut Squash. The taste of the Pumpkin is certainly not as accessible and immediately likable as the Butternut Squash, but when combined with the right ingredients it can make some wonderfully comforting Autumn and Winter dishes.

The clocks had just changed and the crisp winter sun crept through the park like the rust of red and gold over the green leaves of the trees it contained. I was having a spot of downtime having in the space of less than week taken in a gig by legendary blues guitarist Robert Cray, Tuesday Tapas, Snooker and Darts through work, a cookery class with a very good friend of mine, a night out in a midland city, a meal in another midland city with a close friend and a buffet tea with my parents. To follow up I had the christening of the first child of some other friends to look forward to,plus a possible midweek game of pool and a lot more.

The temperature had quickly dropped and some heat was needed which inspired me to make a Pumpkin Soup.

I had acquired the only studio album by Eric Clapton's side project Derek and the Dominos. It's not only one Clapton's greatest works, either solo or as part of a working band, but also one of the best records of all time. The record, called "Layla and other Assorted Love Songs", features not just the timeless title track but lots of other country blues classics generated by a man seemingly at war with himself emotionally.

The ingredients for this soup were:

One Pumpkin, de-cored and de-seeded and cut into cubes.
Five Pickling Onions diced.
Two Cloves of Garlic diced.
Four Tomatoes cut into cubes.
Eight Ounces of Red Lentils.
One teaspoon of  Dried Basil.
One teaspoon of Ground Cumin
One of teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Two Birds Eye Chili Peppers ground down very finely.
Six Pumpkin Seeds.
Pine Nuts.

The method is as follows:

1. Warm some Olive Oil on the hob in the bottom of a deep sauce pan or Le Cresceut.
2. Add the Pumpkin Seeds and cook them for ten minutes turning regularly. Then remove them and set to one side.
3. Add the Pumpkin Cubes and heat for fifteen minutes.
4. Add the Pickling Onions, Cloves of Garlic, Chili, Lentils and all spices and heat through for a further twenty minutes stirring regularly.
5. Add the Tomatoes and stir them thoroughly to allow their juices to soften the mixture- especially the Red Lentils. Stew on the hob for another twenty minutes then leave to one side to cool.
6. Blend the soup and return to the Le Cresceut dish.
7. Warm through and serve topped with the Pumpkin Seeds and some Pine Nuts.

The Tomatoes and Spices gave this soup a rich yet fiery taste that brought the taste of the Pumpkin Flesh to life. Meanwhile the seeds added an extra crunchiness that made the Soup something out of the ordinary.