Gluten Free Christmas Part 2: Breadcrumbing

 A life-affirming Zoom call last week helped to give all participants some advice on life and how to live it. It also gave me some inspiration to try a bread sauce recipe, a sauce that one of the participants will not eat their Christmas Dinner without.

The fog had closed in again. It was like the toxic, clingy, misty, web in the recently re-discovered nineteen sixties Doctor Who noir classic "The Web of Fear". The fog gave the impression that touching it would result in something nasty. It was certainly not a day to travel very far and so I cheered myself up by cooking an early Christmas Dinner which featured my friend's Bread Sauce recipe.

The night before, following our Zoom call, I had a downloading spree and obtained the Bonus EP Tracks for the Queen albums that were re-issued in 2011. It was a good opportunity to do this before Amazon ban the use of many types of credit cards, including mine, on 19 January. 

At any time of year the music of Queen gives inspiration to smash it at parties or in sporting events, while in winter time it takes on the extra dimension of showing how the band members were able to feed of each others' stress in tough times to make something special. That's a lesson we can all learn from if we have the winter and the Christmas Blues so as we can turn potential hard times into something good. 

Suitably inspired by collections of rarities including "I Go Crazy" from the re-issue "The Works" and kick-ass live versions of some of the songs from the re-issue of 1982's criminally underrated "Hot Space", I tackled the bread sauce as part of a special Festive Sunday Dinner.

The ingredients for this Bread Sauce are as follows:

One Chicken Oxo Cube- crushed heavily. 

One Hundred and Twenty Grams of Gluten Free Breadcrumbs. 

Two Tablespoons of Boiling Water.

One Onion, diced and lightly fried for around ten minutes. 

A pinch of Nutmeg.

A pinch of All Spice. 

Two Sprigs of Fresh Thyme.

A teaspoon of White Pepper. 

A pinch of Garlic Salt. 

Point One Litres of Oat Milk. 

The way to make this sauce is to mix the crushed Chicken Oxo, Boiling Water and Breadcrumbs together into a paste in a measuring jug.  

After that's done add the Onions, All Spice, Nutmeg, Thyme, Garlic Salt and White Pepper and stir these in. 

Then add the mixture to a sauce pan and stir on a low heat while gradually adding the milk. When the milk is stirred in serve. With my meal I served it with Pigs in Blankets and Chicken Breasts marioneted in homegrown herbs from my local farm shop together with steamed carrot and frozen peas as well as some cabbage that was still growing in my garden. 

The sauce added a new dimension to my early Christmas Dinner as it is savoury with a touch of sweetness and in that way encapsulates in one recipe what the taste of a traditional Christmas Dinner is really like. I can well see why my friend insists on having this with all her Christmas Dinners. 

Gluten Free Christmas Part One: The Pies Have It

 Often associated with the festive period, Mince Pies have been a staple sweet dish for some time in midwinter. Today's blog recipe gives a modern twist on these type of pies that does not include gluten.

The fog had rolled round the park and even the next village, with its Comptonesque Council Estate, could not be seen. There was a sense of claustrophobia and already it seemed a little dark in the house even though it was just 2pm. In the lounge and the conservatory, coats and shoes not belonging to me rested in their usual places, just as they had done for a couple of years. They were seemingly half complete without their owner. Looking at them made me think the house was like one where one of the occupants had just passed away before Christmas and the survivor had not been able to bring themselves to move the items away. 

Against this backdrop it was easy to feel like I was on a journey dark places, and yet I had much to be happy about. I had somewhere to go for Christmas, lots of friends to meet with via video link or outdoors with the Dogg and my team and I had achieved much, against the odds, at work during 2021. 

Whatever happened next, it was time to get into the Christmas Spirit. Remembering that consuming more than one meal containing gluten in a week makes my mind do strange things, I resolved to make some Gluten Free Mince Pies. 

On the player was something upbeat in the shape of Meatloaf's 1993 comeback "Bat out of Hell Part 2: Back Into Hell". The video for opening "I Would Do anything for love (But I won't do that)" seems to feature someone hurriedly driving a car to a deserted house where once someone well-loved lurked. 

So to the recipe which goes like this:

200 grams of Gluten Free Plain Flour.

125 grams of Unsalted Butter. 

A jar of Mincemeat. I used some non-gluten free Mincemeat strongly flavoured with Port. 

A tablespoon of tap water. 

The first job was to cut the Butter into small cubes and add it to the mixing bowl. Then came the Plain Flour. I rubbed these ingredients in until I saw that they had formed golden breadcrumbs. 

After that I stirred them together using a butter knife and dropping in a tablespoon of tap water to help bind the mixture together. 

The thing with Gluten Free Pastry is that it is often moister than normal pastry and harder to roll out because it sticks to the rolling pin. The best approach is to knead it flat using some spare flour to grip and then chill the rolled out pastry in the fridge for half an hour. After that it is easier to use it. 

I followed this approach and after chilling the pastry I cut circles out of the pastry and placed them in greased bun tins and added the Mincemeat. I then covered them more pastry to form small pies. 

The mince pies were then placed in the oven and cooked on gas mark 4 for 20 minutes. 

So what was the difference between these mince pies and ones with gluten in? Well the pastry had a lighter taste and with the use of more butter there was a more golden colour to the pastry. They were certainly an interesting diversion this Christmas and one worth taking. 

Dim Sum We

We recently visited a restaurant in Nottingham called Man's which serves traditional Chinese Food. It mixed the bizarre, battered crunch of chicken feet with heaps of real noodles, fried turnip squares and the famous Dim Sum. It was a trip that inspired me during a weekend of downtime in October to make some Dim Sum of my own. Here's how it's done.

The night before I had experienced cultural delights with my fellow cricket team mates at the local curry house for our end of season night out. I realised it was time to step out of my traditional weekend cooking dishes of the last couple of weeks to make the Dim Sum.

The ingredients used were:

For the pastry:

• 200 grams of Gluten Free Rice Flour.
• 8 tablespoons of cold water. 

For the filling:

• 200 grams of cooked prawns. 
• 200 grams of Bamboo pieces.
• One home grown Cayenne Pepper sliced thinly. 

For the dip:

• Three tablespoons of Soy Sauce.
• Three tablespoons of Sesame Oil.
• Three tablespoons of Rice Vinegar. 

On quite heavy rotation was the Smiths compilation "Louder than Bombs" . It's a collection that gathers together a number of singles, b-sides and other outtakes into one very listenable and surprisingly hummable package. The best Smiths compilation by far.

So to the method, it goes like this:

1. Slice the Cayenee Pepper, Prawns and Bamboo thinly and fry them lightly in Sunflower Oil for ten minutes.

2. Make the dough by gradually stirring the Rice Flour and water together until the mixture is soft enough to knead together without it breaking up. 

3. When the dough is soft, pliable but not too sticky, roll it out onto the worktop until it forms a wide and flat circle. 

4. Cut the dough into pieces and wrap it round clumps of the Prawn Mixture to create dumplings the size of golf balls.

5. Mix the Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil and Rice Vinegar together in a small serving bowl.

6. Steam the dumplings for five minutes prior to serving.

For the authentic dining experience this Dim Sum dish is best sampled by using chopsticks to dip the dumplings into the bitterly savoury dip while the pastry makes the meal surprisingly filling. 

Parkin' the Gluten

 Individuals' allergy to gluten is something that has come to the forefront of the art of meal preparation in recent years. Supermarkets worldwide are festooned with gluten free products as this medical condition has become more well-known. Today's article covers a recipe for a gluten free take on a traditional winter recipe.

Bonfire Night can often feel like a night of new starts spiritually as well as culturally and personally. On one hand the dark spooks of Halloween have been purged by the bright lights of bonfires and fireworks and on the other hand it traditionally has been a time for new beginnings. On bonfire night 1966, Patrick Troughton took over as the titular character in Dr Who. It was the first time the lead actor had changed in the show's history. This was one of the chief reasons why the show, love it or hate it, has had such longevity. 

Just before bonfire night in 2014, I commenced work at a job in the city nearest to me that allowed me to grow up personally and professionally. This year's bonfire night also marked the arrival of a new talent in my work team, and the glimpse of a bright new future, as well as the reaffirmation of a longstanding personal partnership. 

The best food to mark this time is Parkin and with the taste that makes it feel as if it has been extracted from the embers of every bonfire since 1606, it is ideal comfort food at this time of year. 

When making this gluten free version of it I had an old stager on the player in the form of Phil Collins' 1996 effort "Dance Into the Light". He is a man who, despite selling hundreds of millions of records, is much maligned. In the 1980s and early 90s he was ubiquitous, perhaps proving the saying familiarity breeds contempt. For my generation, thanks to castigation from such varied quarters as South Park, Noel Gallagher and the hipster indie kids at the local music bar, he was an irredeemable purveyor of bland Dad Rock. 

Time changes things. As we mature we give less of a toss about coolness and more about whether we like the music or not. Listening to his records now, which happily sit alongside Milles Davis, Mercury Rev, Suede, Joy Division and PIL to name but a few in my collection, one is struck by the boundless energy and catchiness of a lot of the material and so it stands the test of time. 

"Dance into the Light" was his first post Genesis album and is chock full of bongo bouncing world music, strong ballads and general brightness. In the 1980s and early 1990s that was fine. In a post Oasis, Suede and Blur world however, it was passé. Still it is an album worth owning to brighten a winter night. 

So to the ingredients of this recipe which are as follows:

200 grams of Unsalted Butter. 

4 tablespoons of Skimmed Milk. 

1 Large Egg Beaten thoroughly. 

285 grams of Treacle. 

85 grams of Demerara Sugar.

100 grams of Gluten Free Oats

4 tablespoons of Ground Ginger. 

250 grams of Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour. 

The way to make this one goes like this:

1. Melt the Butter in a saucepan. Then add the Sugar and stir that into the Butter. Then add the Treacle and stir it into the mixture. When thoroughly stirred in, turn off the heat and leave to one side. 

2. Take the Flour, Oats, Ginger and mix together in a dry bowl. 

3. Add the melted Butter, Sugar and Treacle to the mixture in the bowl and stir in. 

4. Add the Beaten Egg and mix it in well. 

5. Add the Milk and stir in. 

This should leave a thick, sweet paste that can then be placed into a greased baking tin. I recommend using a greased Pyrex dish, more normally used for a Shepherds' Pie or Lasagne, which was a trick I learned from an old work crush who used to make the most exquisite chocolate brownies during my Fat Elvis Years. 

The next step is to cook the mixture in the oven on Gas Mark 3, aka 160c, for around an hour. At the end of that you should have a mixture which is solid but moist, that a skewer comes out clean from when poked into it. The mixture can be cut into pieces and used for to five days, during that time it becomes more flavoursome and its smoky yet sweet taste is enhanced. 

Commander Quesadilla

The other dish I tried at the Pedlar Market was Quesadillas that were stuffed with Avocado and Wensleydale Cheese. As part of my recent cooking spree to create new recipes I made some Quesadillas of my own. Here's how. 

The sound of more Genesis in the form of their flawlessly played 1973 offering "Live" permeated the air as I began the preparation process. The first step was to make the Tortilla Wrapping and I took 150 grams of Gluten Free Self Raising Flour and placed them in a bowl. After that I gradually stirred in two tablespoons of cold water and two of Olive Oil. 

Depending upon the type of flour you use, plain flour is just as good, you may have to add more or less water or Olive Oil than I've mentioned above. The trick is to get a flexible dough that can be rolled out without sticking to the rolling pin. 

When though dough was pliable enough, I kneaded it and then dusted it with a little more flour before rolling it out into a fairly thin, flat circle. Next I cut the circle into equal pieces and fried each piece for one minute on each side in Sunflower Oil. 

After the pieces had cooled a little, I stuffed them with fried Tomatoes, fresh Basil and some Charcoal Cheese pieces I'd acquired from Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook 

The challenge with using Gluten Free Flour is to make dough or pastry that's springy and pliable. The dough here was fairly flexible but gave the food the appearance of Paninis but the taste was in every way that of a Quesadilla. 

Arancini Aromatics

The other week I donned my dark black trousers, cardboard collar shirt, dress shoes, scarf and smart black jacket. In other words it was the look of the middle-aged rock star,

think Mike Rutherford of Genesis on their recent tour and you get the feel of the outfit. Through the rain I travelled and rendezvoused at the Pedlar Market with two people I first met 27 years ago. We marked time by sampling an exotic range of food as the Autumn rain thudded down onto the roof of our executive table. 

Top of the taste list that I sampled comprised of some Quesdillas, of which more on another post, and some Arancini Balls. The last time I had anything remotely similar to this was when I had Mini Kievs as a young Kidd. The ones I sampled at the Market contained Risotto Rice, a few Chicken pieces and golden butter and herb sauce. They were an inspiration for today's blog post.

After the intensity of the week and some intriguing ways getting presented to forward my career that were chucked at me, there was a kind of stillness on the sunny Saturday. While I was waiting on the rain to clear, and my tag team partner to appear, I decided to experiment with the cooking by making some Arancini Balls of my own.

Keeping in line with the Genesis theme I banged onto the player perhaps their most controversial work, 1974's "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". It was a record that saw the departure of longtime lead singer Peter Gabriel following the supporting tour. There is a feeling throughout the album of the band simultaneously reaching a creative peak as they're about to fall apart. The story that is meant to be told on the album makes no sense, but the music and lyrics have a power and beauty that make this essential listening. 

The first job was to get the ingredients together to make this dish and they are as follows:

For the filling: 

One White Onion, chopped finely after first being topped, tailed and peeled. 

One finely sliced Garlic Clove. 

Three Hundred Grams of Risotto Rice.

One fresh Cayenne Pepper from my garden that was de-seeded and sliced thinly. 

0.1 litres of Red Wine or Port Wine.

One litre of Chicken Stock.

One hundred and thirty grams of Riocah Flavoured Cheddar which I obtained from the ever growing and ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook

For the coating:

Three Beaten Eggs

100 grams of Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour 

100 grams of Gluten Free Breadcrumbs 

The method goes like this:

1. Fry in Sunflower Oil in a deep frying pan or Le Cresceut dish the White Onion. Fry on a medium heat for around fifteen minutes until they are translucent. 

2. Add the Garlic Clove and Cayenne Pepper and fry for another five minutes while stirring.

3. Add the Risotto Rice and stir in for one minute.

4. Add the Red Wine or Port Wine and simmer until the Rice is absorbed by the Wine. 

5. Add the Chicken Stock and simmer vigorously for around twenty-five minutes until the Risotto Rice has absorbed all the stock and the Rice is soft. 

6. Add the Riocah Cheddar and mix in until it has been absorbed by the rest of the mixture. 

7. Leave the mixture to cool. Once cooled shape the mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls.  Put a piece of cheese, I used Arran Cheddar into the middle of each of the balls. 

8. Put the eggs, self-raising flour and breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. 

9. Put each ball into the eggs, then the self-raising flour and then the breadcrumbs so that they are totally covered by the mixture.

10. Fry in a lot of Olive Oil turning frequently for about five to ten minutes. 

The richness of the Red Wine and Riocah Cheese together with the melted Arran Cheddar gave the Arancini a luxuriant taste and the breadcrumb coating, the author's first attempt at making this type of coating, was of a crunchy golden consistency. Thank you to Pedlar and to my friends in inspiring me to make this dish. 

Aubergine d'Genius

It was the week after the cricket season had ended. It had been another memorable one for me with a finish comfortably inside the club's top twenty bowlers in terms of wickets taken and my bowling average and a finish inside the top five for my bowling strike rate. In some ways that first weekend after the end of the cricket season can feel like a bereavement, as with it comes the feeling that shorter days and hostile weather are on their way. In turn with that comes a new way of living until cricket training picks up again in the New Year. 

That's one way of looking at the end of the season. Another way of looking at it is that you can use the weekend to look back at all the memories you've made on the cricket field, and beyond, over the summer just gone. With the arrival from the courier of two Rugby games to play on my PS3 during upcoming the dark nights, a game of snooker at a nearby club and some heavy rain on the Sunday morning, I could quite easily have taken the former view upon the weekend. 

However I took a short walk with the Dogg into my conservatory and then the back garden. The Pumpkins glowed like a dimly lit streetlight in the morning fog, while the Peas and Runner Beans dangled daintily from their host plants. In one corner of the conservatory the Aubergines we had cultivated since the frosts of January had swelled into deep purple and noir vegetables that were ripe for the picking. The Bell Peppers were scrunched and twisted in quirky ways while the Cayenne Peppers were sharply pointed like colourful fangs.

It was looking around the conservatory and garden at the plentiful supplies of fresh vegetables that we had worked hard to prepare over the year that gave me perspective and understanding. It was a realisation that for all the adventures on and off the cricket field over the summer, sometimes it is good to stop and appreciate all that you've achieved and bask on that to make more memories during the Autumn and Winter. 

A way of appreciating the vegetables we had nurtured was for me to take something special for us both to eat and something to share with you all to help inspire you readers in your own cooking recipes over the coming months. I made an Aubergine and Sausage Casserole using the following ingredients:

Four Aubergines, diced and cubed sourced from those grown in my conservatory. 

Two Red Bell Peppers, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory. 

One Green Bell Pepper, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory. 

One Cayenne Pepper, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory.

Five fresh Basil Leaves from my back garden.

Six fresh Marjoram Leaves from my back garden. 

Three Heads of Fresh Parsley from my back garden.

Eight Tomato and Pork Sausages- sourced mine locally from the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check out their page at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook 

Six Tomatoes cut into small cubes.

Two diced cloves of Garlic.

A tin of Chick Peas.

A White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and diced. 

Half a pint of Beef Stock. 

A teaspoon of Chilli Powder. 

As I began work on preparing the dish, I slipped onto the player Morcheeba's 1996 offering "Who can you trust?". The album is another one in a long line of memorable British Trip-Hop albums from the 1990s and every bit as good as Massive Attack's "Blue Lines", "Dummy" by Portishead or "Maxinquaye" by Tricky. 

The method goes like this:

1. Shallow Fry the Sausages on a medium heat for around five minutes until they are slightly browned. Then leave to one side. 

2. In a Le Cresceut sweat the Aubergine, , Garlic, Peppers and Onions for around ten minutes or until the Onions are translucent, whichever is the sooner. 

3. Add the Tomatoes and stew for another ten minutes. 

4. Add the Basil, Chilli Power, Marjoram and Parsley plus the Chickpeas and stir these in. 

5. Add the Sausages and stir in with around three quarters of the Beef Stock.

6. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 3, or 275 degrees Fahrenheit or 170 degrees Celsius, for ninety minutes. 

7. After ninety minutes remove the Le Cresceut from the oven, stir the contents and add the remainder of the Beef Stock. Return to the oven and cook for a further thirty minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and serve.  

From a health fitness point of view the Sausages provided plenty of iron, while the Chick Peas had lots of nutrients and fibre and the Aubergine contained lots of minerals and potassium. From a taste point of view the herbs added much flavour and the homegrown vegetables were much sweeter and tastier than their quasi-manufactured supermarket counterparts would have been. 

One pot to rule them all

 We recently returned from adventures in Arran and the Lake District and brought with us some recipes from our travels. One of the great things about travel is visiting various restaurants and hotels to see how they approach their cooking. That way you can incorporate these skills into your own cooking. It's a little like what Mark Knopfler said about stealing a few guitar licks from other artists he worked with so that he could incorporate these new licks into the music he made with his own bands.

For our stay in the Lake District we stopped at a place marketed as a Vegan Retreat where no non-vegan food, bar that for our Dogg, could be brought onto the premises. We had a lovely stay there and the Dogg loved to run around the expansive back garden. The owners seemed pleasant. However on examination of  surprising public comments made after our departure; they came across, much like characters in a Bond film, as not all that they first appeared.

Although their plush luxury coupled with subtle and not so subtle attempts to convert us to be vegan failed, they certainly gave us some food for thought to try a variety of new vegan recipes. Those of you who have followed this blog for a time will know that I write about, and cook, a lot of vegetarian, fish, meat and vegan recipes. My outlook on life is that a balanced diet is the most important thing and not all vegan recipes I have seen give enough protein to be standalone meals. They are better as side dishes.

When we arrived at the Vegan Retreat, we took the opportunity to eat out at places that had ostensibly Vegan dishes on the menu so as to immerse ourselves fully in the experience we had signed up for on the two days at the end of the holiday. On the first night of our stay we went down town with the Dogg; she conquered her nerves to allow us to relax at a restaurant called the Round. Together with its sister restaurant Fellpack, of which more later, it offers quality dining alternatives to meat dishes. In this case we had a burger made entirely of Beetroot while I relaxed my nerves and kept in holiday mode by consuming a large can of Hawkshead Pale Ale. 

The next night we were outside at the Fellpack itself as the clouds battled and bled lukewarm rain onto us occasionally. Having quickly polished off a bottle of Keswick Gold, these days I will only drink the finest craft beer, cask ale, real Whisky, Gin and good wine the world has to offer, it was time for our main meal. 

The Fellpack specialises in Fellpots and these are essentially a local take on Onepot recipes. This and more from the menu can be glimpsed at: Fellpack - Fellpack 

I quickly consumed their Lentil Mixed Bean chilli that also contained Quinoa and enough protein to create a full main meal. The sour cream and chive mixture was livened by strong Jalapeno Chillies which were extinguished by another stein of golden bitter. This filling recipe inspired me on my return home to make a meal inspired by this dish. 

On the player was some newly discovered mellow trip hop in the shape of Morcheeba's excellent "Who can you Trust?" from 1996, which alternatively floats, bites, stings and impresses with its range of sounds that make it a lost classic. 

The ingredients for the recipe were as follows:

One White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and then diced. 

One Spring Onion, this one was homegrown, tailed and cut into thin pieces. The leaves should be used as well. 

One Green Sweet Pepper, this one was homegrown too, topped, de-seeded and sliced thinly.

Two Hundred and Twenty Five Grams of Quinoa.

A tablespoon of Cajun Seasoning. 

One Hundred Grams of Quorn Mince. 

A tin of Red Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce. 

The method goes like this:

1. Simmer the Quinoa in a saucepan of boiling water for around twenty-five minutes then drain and leave to one side.

2. In a Le Cresceut with some vegetable oil gently fry the Onions, Pepper, Cajun Seasoning and Quorn Mince. Do this for around twenty five minutes.

3. Add the Red Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce and the Quinoa to the Le Cresceut and warm through before serving. 

The key to a good Vegan Dish is Protein and more Protein coupled with Spice and extra Spice. That way the dish is lifted above being a simple side dish. In this recipe the Quinoa and Red Kidney Beans give the requisite protein, although I would substitute Quorn Mince for Pui Lentils next time to give more genuine protein. The Chilli Sauce, Cajun Seasoning and homegrown produce meanwhile make the flavour rise above the ordinary.

Chard Remains

During the longest Saturday of the year I was sitting watching the river flow, after some weeks of action packed adventures away, meetings with remarkable people and captaining the cricket team. I had also been tending to my vegetable garden and noticed that there was plenty of Swiss Chard that had been growing now for quite some time.

I was inspired to make a Swiss Chard Flan from a vegetarian cookbook from the 1970s my parents had that contained a Swiss Chard recipe.

Bob Dylan, the man who wrote the song "Watch the River Flow", was on the player in the shape of his dark, brooding 1997 masterpiece "Time out of Mind". The record was Dylan's first set of original songs for seven years and showed why it was wise for him to wait to make the record until he had enough superior songs. Everything on this disc is top-notch with highlights such as "not dark yet" and "make you feel my love" that was later covered by Adele. It's worth checking out at: Bob Dylan - time out of mind album - YouTube 

The ingredients to make this flan are as follows:

Short Crust Pastry made from 250 grams of Plain Gluten Free Flour, 125 grams of Unsalted Butter and some milk to bind it together while kneading it.

Fifteen Swiss Chard Leaves, shredded into small pieces. I used some picked from my garden. 

Three Duck Eggs, beaten and mixed with quarter of a pint of Almond Milk or Cow's Milk if you prefer.

Tablespoon of Nutmeg.

Grated Cheese of your choice..

The method to make this recipe goes like this:

1. Knead together the Flour and Butter together to create a breadcrumb mixture and then add some milk if necessary to bind the mixture together to make a dough. 

2. Roll the dough out and add the pastry to a flan tin, lining the tin evenly with the pastry. 

3. Add the Nutmeg, Egg and Milk Mixture and the Chard pieces to the pastry tin and space the mixture of ingredients evenly in the flan tin.

4. Grate the Cheese over the top of the mixture. I used a Cheddar flavoured with Rioja Wine.

5. Bake in the oven for thirty minutes on Gas Mark 5.

This recipe felt reasonably healthy with the fresh Swiss Chard while the Nutmeg added a sharp feel to the taste. The only thing I will do different next time I make this dish is use Cow's Milk in the Egg mixture as the Eggs bind together much better with Cow's Milk than with Almond Milk which left the dish a little watery.  I later made it with Cow's Milk and got a much thicker mixture, as shown below, which enhanced the taste.

D'Yer Mak'er

The first weekend in July was quite tropical both in temperature and the number of wet storms that took place. It was enough to cancel my game of cricket on the Saturday, albeit that hardier teams in our club still played their matches. Still it left some time for experimenting with new recipes.

The day before we had visited a new Steakhouse that's opened in a building that once housed a rough and ready boozer. A link to their website is at: (2) BIG JIMS BBQ Steakhouse | Facebook Their owner, who was a classmate of mine for 11 years at Primary School and then Secondary School, has created a recipe roster of first class steaks and the best chicken goujons that I've had since I stopped at a diner in Massachusetts in 1990. Chatting to him, in person for the first time in twenty years, and hearing his business plans made it clear he's got the drive and the focus to succeed spectacularly. 

On the player, as I flicked through some recipes online for my own inspiration, was the Band's 1971 double record "Rock of Ages" that shows they were a force to be reckoned with onstage. The edition I have also features a cameo by Bob Dylan during his "retirement" period between 1971 and the start of 1973. 

I was inspired by Big Jim's example to make an exciting and new meat dish with some low budget minced beef the Tag Team Partner had unearthed from the bargain bin earlier that week. The dish is a Jamaican Dish and the ingredients are as follows:

For the chilli Minced Beef:

500 grams of Minced Beef.

Some Chilli Flakes.

A teaspoon of All Spice.

A teaspoon of Jerk Seasoning.

One Red Pepper cut into small squares.

A grated Carrott.

A tin of Red Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce. 

For the Minty Sweetcorn

A tin of Sweetcorn.

Some chopped fresh mint, around two tablespoons worth. 

An Orange Pepper cut into small squares.

Two diced Tomatoes. 

For the Coconut Rice

125 grams of Rice.

A small Tin of Coconut Milk.

50 grams of Creamed Coconut sliced into pieces. 

To make the mince mixture first fry on a medium heat the mince with the spices for around ten minutes. Then add the Red Pepper pieces and fry for around another ten minutes. Add the Red Kidney Beans and stir them into the mixture to make a thick sauce. 

The Minty Sweetcorn is made by frying it with the Orange Pepper for ten minutes on a medium heat and then adding the Tomatoes and frying the ingredients for another fifteen minutes. Lastly add the fresh mint in readiness to serve. 

The Coconut Rice is made by adding the Rice to a frying pan then covering it with some boiling water. Simmer it on the hob for around ten minutes, stirring regularly to stop the Rice getting stuck to the pan. Then add the Coconut Milk and the Creamed Coconut and let it cook on a low heat for another five minutes to create a creamy rich rice. 

This dish was a good mix with the fieriness of the Chilli Minced Beef getting quenched by the minty Sweetcorn and the Sweetness of the Coconut Rice. An enjoyable leap into the unknown which may see a few more Jamaican Recipes on this blog. 

Getting in Tuna

Gardening leave from a game of cricket one Saturday gave me some thinking time. It made me realise that one of the things the game has lost as a result of the Covid Pandemic is the Cricket Tea. Cricket teas have advanced in my time involved in the game from being a simple affair of a glass of squash, some custard creams and a bag of corner shop crisps, to more exotic fare of Hummus and well-crafted sandwiches.

While I had time on my hands I decided to make a quiche that included homegrown and locally sourced ingredients and would stand fit to make it onto a spread for a cricket tea. 

The ingredients for this quiche are as follows:

Shortcrust Pastry made from 200 grams of Plain Flour, 100 grams of cubed, unsalted butter with around a tablespoon of Almond Milk to thicken the pastry.

240 grams of Tinned Tuna. 

2 Duck Eggs, beaten.

1 Chicken Egg beaten.

A quarter of a pint of Skimmed Milk.

50 grams of Fresh Dill- I used some that I'd grown from seed in the conservatory. 

25 grams of Fresh Parsley- I used some that I'd grown in my garden. 

100 grams of strong cheese. For this recipe I used Isle of Arran Cheddar however plain Cheddar, Red Leicester or, for the Pro Europeans amongst us, Gruyere will do. 

On the player was a classic band, who I only knew from a few listens during the dying days of my A-Levels, called Santana. The album on the player was their recent offering Santana IV which saw some of the original members return and successfully rekindle the Latino swing- rock that made them so famous in the first place. 

Now to the method of this quiche. I first prepared the pastry by rubbing together the Flour and the Butter in a bowl until they formed something with the consistency of breadcrumbs. Then I added the Almond Milk and kneaded the mixture with some forceful punches until I had a pliable dough.

Next I rolled the pastry out and used it to line a circular cake tin that I had previously greased to avoid the pastry sticking. 

I distributed the Tuna, Dill and most of the Parsley evenly throughout the cake tin. I cut the Arran Cheddar into pieces and spread them as well.

Then I beat the eggs together in a measuring jug before adding the Skimmed Milk and whisking thoroughly to create a golden paste in the measuring jug. I poured this into the cake tin and watched it distribute widely to cover and flood the Tuna, Cheese and Herbs. After that I added the final piece of Parsley in the centre of the Quiche to provide some decoration. 

The Quiche was then cooked in the oven on Gas Mark 3, or 160 degrees for an electric oven, for 45 minutes. 

After it was cooked, some of the Tuna atop the quiche had a smoked feel to it and the fish itself contained plenty of protein. As did the Eggs, especially the Duck Eggs which tend to be larger and richer than the eggs of chickens. The Dill and Parsley meanwhile gave this one a real freshness and bite that would help fill anybody's stomach between innings in a game of cricket. 

New Baconcy

 White Fish and Bacon are a combination that traditionally goes together very well. Recently we acquired some back Bacon Rashers from the wonderful local farm shop at Stretton Hall, see their website at: (2) Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook for more about them. 

Prior to making to dish we had prepared the garden and set out the seeds we were going to grow for this summer's vegetable garden project. On the player was the downbeat, claustrophobic thud of the Manic Street Preachers 1994 offering "The Holy Bible". It can be heard at: Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible (1994) - YouTube . It's the last album to feature contributions from guitarist Richey Edwards who vanished in mysterious circumstances not long after its release. 

To make this dish you need the following ingredients:

Six Rashers of Back Bacon.

Two Hundred Grams of Samphire.

Three Mooli Radish, peeled, topped and tailed and sliced thinly. We used some that had been freshly grown out of my garden. 

Two Cod Fillets.

A head of Broccoli, cut into small florets.

This one is a simple recipe to make and it goes like this. 

1. Layer the Broccoli florets across the bottom of a steaming pan. 

2. Put the Cod Fillets on top of them. 

3. Steam for thirty minutes.

4. Meanwhile fry the Mooli Radish and Samphire on a medium heat for ten minutes. 

5. Add the Bacon and continue to fry lightly for another ten minutes.

The moist and succulent feel of the Cod offsets the sharp taste of the Mooli Radish and salty texture of the Samphire and the Bacon making this a tasteful combination for all.

Broccoli and Roll over you

 One of the great joys of Lockdown has been the discovery of growing my own vegetables from scratch. After nursing some Ironman Broccoli through a very cold winter, which involved a lot of night time gardening after work, I harvested it just as the clocks changed for British Summertime and then soaked it in hot water to ensure it was clean. 

We decided to use the Broccoli in some soup with an unconventional ingredient:

A head of Fresh Broccoli that's been homegrown.

One large White Potato, peeled and cubed. 

One hundred and twenty-five grams of fresh Garden Peas. 

A quarter of a pint of Beef Stock. 

One hundred and twenty-five grams of Edami Beans something that doesn't normally get associated with these kind of ingredients for a soup. 

Some Charcoal Cheese, we sourced ours from Stretton Hall Farm Shop at Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook

We also went for something a little unconventional in our soundtrack with the all girl punk band the Slits jagged and wonderful album "Cut". Check it out at: The Slits - Cut (full album) - YouTube 

This Soup was deceptively simple to make as follows:

1. Sweat the Broccoli and Potato in a Le Cresceut for around twenty minutes on a medium heat. 

2. Add the Peas, Edami Beans and Beef Stock and simmer for a further twenty-five minutes. 

3. Blend the soup and sprinkle some Charcoal Cheese in it before serving. 

Broccoli and Potato are known to go together well and the  freshly picked Broccoli certainly dominated this dish while the fresh peas made it feel like summer was not far away. The Edami beans also offered a gravelly texture and a lot of protein. 

#sourkrautsausage

 A line from the film "Lawnmower Man" about "taking my work back underground" heralded the start of the Prodigy's Second Album "Music for the Jilted Generation". The record is a mix of claustrophobic and tinny garage that is interspersed with some epic, sweeping ambience that foreshadows clearly the music of such present artists as Darren Styles. Although it was released in 1994, it's an album that still sounds like it could have been released yesterday. Check it out at: The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation full album - YouTube

It was on the player as we decided to make a Sour Kraut recipe using some Cabbage that had survived through the winter months. It was to be served as a side with some grilled Sage Sausages sourced from Stretton Hall Farm: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook and some home baked bread. 

The full ingredients are: 

Five large leaves of a green Garden Cabbage, shredded finely. 

Three Diced Shallots.

Three Diced Cloves of Garlic. 

A fresh Yellow Pepper, we picked one that had been growing in the Conservatory, that has been de-cored and sliced thinly. 

Two tablespoons of Caraway Seeds.

A tablespoon of Brown Sugar.

Half a pint of Beef Stock. 

The method is:

1. Fry the Garlic, Shallots, Pepper, Brown Sugar and the Caraway Seeds for ten minutes until the Shallots become caramelised. 

2. Add the Beef Stock and Cabbage and simmer for around twenty minutes until the Stock has been absorbed into the other ingredients.

3. Serve as a filling to the Sausage Sandwiches. 

This take on Sour Kraut comes from a Bavarian recipe and is sweet but not too sweet because of the earthy Caraway Seeds while the Cabbage had a wild taste and texture that is only found in homegrown Cabbage and gets lost in the supermarket version. 

The Charcoal Burner

A Sunday full of light and shade had shards of bright sunlight, a coffee for two, rehabilitation for the Dogg's muscle strain and an exotic new frittata. 

On the player was Jeff Wayne's Musical version of HG Wells' apocalyptic novel "The War of the Worlds". It is a piece that shows how brightness can rise ultimately from seemingly inevitable defeat and so is highly relatable for many of us today.

The ingredients to make this recipe are as follows:

4 Duck Eggs

100 grams of Kale

6 Basil Leaves

2 Tomatoes cut into half.

A pinch of White Pepper.

0.1 litres of Skimmed Milk.

Fifty Grams of Charcoal Cheese cut into small pieces.

The method to make this recipe goes like this:

1. Beat the Duck Eggs together in a measuring jug until they are fully blended. 

2. Fry the Kale in a frying pan in some sunflower oil on a medium heat for around 10 minutes stirring frequently to avoid it being burned. 

3. Add the Duck Eggs, Milk, Tomato, Basil and White Pepper. Split the Tomato evenly over the top of the Frittata.

4. Cook on the hob for around ten minutes using spatula to get under the Frittata to save it from sticking as it warms through. 

5. Scatter the Charcoal Cheese over the the Frittata.

6. Remove the frying pan from the hob, keeping the Frittata in there, and put it under grill on a low heat for two minutes prior to serving. 

The Kale was juicy yet crunchy while the Duck Eggs carry a richness and protein to fortify us through a wild March. The Charcoal Cheese meanwhile is like no cheese I've ever tasted with the charcoal itself being a good aid to the immune system. 

And Soup and I

Two soups eat as one

The ides of March was a time in the month that, when the Romans were around, was seen as a time to settle debts and the ides of March are seen in folklore to be a time of the year to be wary of. Yesterday seemed to live up to that at first as typhoon style rain battered the Western Wall of my house while I waited anxiously to go on a wander with the most irreplaceable part of the band.

To fuel us up for a walk in the hills in the west  I decided to prepare a bright Beetroot Soup. On the player was Yes' dynamic "Keys to Ascension" Box Set that covered several re-union shows the band had with star keyboardist Rick Wakemen and wonderful new studio tracks the were the best the band had forged since their seventies heyday. 

The Recipe

Three Beetroots, topped, tailed, scrubbed clean and then cubed.

The leaves and stems of the three Beetroots. 

Three Cloves of Garlic, topped, tailed, peeled thinly sliced. 

One Hundred Grams of Fresh Root Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced. 

One small Red Chilli cut into minute pieces.

Half a pint of Vegetable Stock

The Method

1. Fry the Beetroot Pieces, Beetroot Leaves, Stems, Garlic Cloves, Ginger and the Chilli in sunflower oil on a medium heat in a deep sauce pan for ten minutes stirring regularly.

2. Add the Vegetable Stock and simmer for one hour.

3. Blend and serve or put in a flask to take with you on a walk to keep you warm. 

The ratio Ginger and the Chilli made sure the heat of the soup was evenly distributed while the sweet, earthy taste of the Beetroot gave the recipe real body. 

We took the soup to a place out in the west where the skies were wild and the horizons showed us, wild, distant, untamed but somehow forbidden countryside. There we took our cups of soup and drank our health and to the future adventures and wild wonders that we would experience. 

Orange Spring

The sun was shining, the sky a relaxing blue glow as we finished a long walk at the end of February during a spell of fake spring. On the way to the walk I had picked up some chicken fillets from the local farm shop, where I had also been door-stepped by an old acquaintance who wore her surgical mask like a beleaguered bandido. 

I used the chicken fillets to make a new recipe that featured a healthy amount of fresh orange juice. The ingredients are as follows:

For the marinated chicken fillets:

Two Chicken Fillets.

A tablespoon of Dried Tarragon.

The juice of one Orange. 

For the Butter Sauce

The juice of one Orange.

One Hundred Grams of Unsalted Butter.

A teaspoon of Fennel Seeds. 

For the White Sauce

The grated rind of one Orange.

One Hundred Grams of Unsalted Butter. 

A tablespoon of Cornflour. 

A quarter of a pint of Skimmed Milk. 

As a side dish

A head of Brocolli and some Kale steamed for thirty minutes prior to serving. 

On the player as I started the work on this dish was Emerson, Lake and Palmer's grand and ambitious effort "Works Volume 1". It features everything from a Piano Concerto, lots of obscure love ballads, Jazz Jams and delicate classical interpretations to barnstorming prog rock. All conjured up by three blokes. There's not been a hit album like it since. If you fancy an adventure then check it out at: Emerson, Lake and Palmer- “Works, Volume 1”(full album 1977) - YouTube 

The first job was to marinate the Chicken by rubbing it in Sunflower Oil, the Dried Tarragon and Orange Juice and then placing it on a baking tray and leaving it to cook in the oven for thirty minutes on Gas Mark Five. 

Also steamed for thirty minutes at this time was the Broccoli and Kale. 

I prepared the Butter Sauce by melting the Unsalted Butter in a sauce pan and adding the Fennel Seeds and Orange Juice. Once the Butter had melted I left this to one side until it was time to serve the dish.

Next I melted the Unsalted Butter in another sauce pan, added the grated rind of Orange and the Corn Flour and stirred these all together to form a thick paste. Then I gradually added the Milk to the pan, while keeping it on a medium heat, and stirring it until I had a thick sauce.

I served the dish by putting the Chicken Fillets on plates and pouring the Butter Sauce over them. Next I added the Broccoli and Kale and poured the White Orange Rind Sauce over them. Chicken, Tarragon, Fennel and Orange are flavours that go together well as does White Orange Rind Sauce Broccoli and Kale. There was just the right amount of Orange Juice on the Butter Sauce and the Chicken Fillets and the White Sauce had the rich flavour of a fruity cheese. 

Thai-phew

When restaurants are closed during lockdown, albeit some are serving takeaways, it's easy to get uninspired with home cooking and stick to the same old recipes. At the end of January I revived memories of a lovely Thai meal I had on the birthday of someone who came from nowhere to be a cool and inspiring presence after the best part of twenty years away. 

The restaurant we went to was a small yet popular venue and I had to do my best with my powers of persuasion to get us a table for two at short notice. I remember consuming a lot of noodles with plenty of spice but most importantly I remember the dynamic company. 

With Kiss' heavy yet melodic "Alive 3" on the player I set to work. There's nothing like some pounding drums, the sound of a lively crowd, thrashing guitars and some chant-along anthems to power through a cooking session. 

The ingredients for the Thai Curry I chose to make are as follows:

 3 Sweet Potatoes , peeled, topped and tailed and sliced width-ways. Then steamed for around thirty minutes to soften them. 

Steamed Cod Fillet. If steamed from chilled steam for twenty minutes. If steamed from frozen steam for 30 minutes.

1 Diced Green Pepper

2 Shallot, peeled, topped, tailed and diced.

4 Kaffir Lime Leaves

1 small Red Chilli (optional)

200 gram Red Thai Curry Paste

Juice of 2 Limes

Six Fresh Basil Leaves

100 grams of Noodles

400 ml Coconut Milk 

110gram Fresh Spinach 

Sesame Oil to fry. 

The way this one is made is as follows: 

1. Start the Sweet Potato and Cod steaming for the suggested times shown above. 

2. In a deep frying pan or wok pour some sesame oil and warm it gently on a low heat. 

3. Add the Green Pepper, Shallot, Lime Leaves and Chilli (if using) and shallow fry for around fifteen minutes stirring regularly to stop the ingredients burning. 

4. Put into the pan the Lime Juice, Basil Leaves, Noodles and Thai Curry Paste. Stir all those ingredients together and fry for another twenty minutes until the noodles start to become soft. Be sure to keep stirring regularly to avoid the ingredients burning and sticking to the pan as before. 

5. Add the Sweet Potatoes and Cod once they have been steamed and stir in. Take the opportunity to gently slice the Cod with the stirring spoon so the Cod pieces are spread evenly throughout the curry mixture.

6. The Coconut Milk and Fresh Spinach. Simmer for around ten minutes until the Spinach shrinks a little and the Noodles are fully soft. Then serve.

What makes this recipe special is the mixture of the sharp Thai Curry Paste, Sourness of the Lime Juice and Lime Leaves and the richness of the Coconut Milk. It made sure that once again I was taken back to that evening where the light jumped out of the shadows and the evening was like a wonderful, crazy dream. 

Red, Dread, Redemption

 The first of the grains of snow appeared. Insignificant at first but soon they became thicker until a blizzard obscured the hills and thoughts of travel were shelved. It could have easily have been a metaphor for the recent turn of events where something that seemed that it might be manageable was turning into something that had the potential to stop me in its tracks. 

Back at the house the phone rang and news of the first of my family members to pass away from Covid-19 was passed on to me. She'd left the building a few years earlier through dementia, after once being an energetic individual who kept me on my toes and taught me how to tie my shoelaces as a schoolboy. 

A warming soup was needed with the mercury hitting the minus numbers. I plumped for a tomato soup recipe that included the following:

• Six Fresh Tomatoes cut into cubes. 
• Six cloves of Garlic diced carefully. 
• A teaspoonful of Paprika.
• A diced Red Pepper. 
• A small Red Chilli cut into pieces. 
• Eight fresh Basil Leaves.
• Four Hundred and Fifty Grams of Tomato Puree liquid.
• Two Hundred and Fifty Grams of Sun-Dried Tomatoes. 

The album on the player was Mark Knopfler's carefully-crafted 2012 double-album of folk-blues "Privateering". One song, which opens the second disc, the epic, string laden, Celtic-flavoured "Kingdom of Gold" sounded like it could have been the perfect send off for my late relative as she started off on the planet in a Fishing Town in North Eastern Scotland back in the early 1930s. 

The method for this soup is quite simple and goes like this:

• Steadily fry the Fresh Tomatoes, Garlic, Paprika, Chilli, Red Pepper and Basil leaves in some Olive Oil in a Le Cresceut with the lid on for twenty minutes on a medium heat. 
• Add the Tomato Puree Liquid and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and simmer for around fifteen minutes. 
• Pour the contents of the Le Cresceut into a blender then purify. 

There's something a little defiant about plucking fresh Basil and Chilli from one of my houseplants in the middle of winter when little should be growing. Both these ingredients added a real tangy freshness to the soup while the sun-dried tomatoes give a real rich and weathered taste to the whole soup. 

Just after finishing my first helping of the soup an e-mail was received. Maybe it was time for something new. 

Wrapped in Winter

Words had been exchanged, frankness hung in the air. Perhaps it was the impending mortality of some old friends of thirty years' standing that had fuelled the fire for some direct criticism of some things that seemed beyond my control. The next morning dawned with lying ice shelves, and buckets of Baltic Rain marring the trip to the Mall to get the weekly shop. 

While there I discovered two chicken breasts. The first was to be cooked for the Dogg's birthday tea while I decided to pep the other up a bit for a tea of my own. The weak winter sun, that had made my Cauliflower Seeds germinate and helped banish a portion of the unwanted lying snow, faded into an inky night.  

The album on the player was Scott Walker's first real foray into the world of the Avate-Garde with his 1995 record "Tilt". Unlike later efforts "The Drift" "Bisch Bosch" that veer towards loud sounding nothings, "Tilt" has enough melody, structure and cohesiveness to be compelling. It features the pleading, plaintive "Farmer in the City" and much industrial brightness plucked from the darkest corners of the psyche in all parts of the record. If you're feeling brave take a listen at: Scott Walker - Tilt (1997)Album - YouTube 

The ingredients to make the wrapped chicken recipe I tried out are:

One Chicken Breast

One hundred grams of Wensleydale and Cranberry Cheese. I sourced mine from the wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check them out at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook

Six Fresh Rosemary Leaves.

Three Slices of Parma Ham

One hundred grams of Walnuts.

One Carrot, topped, tailed and slice widthways. 

Quarter of a pint of Red Mine. I used a Chilean one called Casillero Del Diablo Merlot. 

The flesh of two Cox's Apples that's been cubed. 

I was inspired to make this from a wrapped chicken recipe two kind and generous fraternal friends served up during a visit to there's in brighter times. 

The method goes like this: 

1. Pre-Heat the oven to Gas Mark 5.

2. Fry the Chicken Breast in Sunflower Oil on a high heat on all sides for five minutes.

3. Stuff the Chicken with the Wensleydale and Cranberry Cheese and three quarters of the Rosemary Leaves. 

4. Wrap the Parma Ham round the Chicken to keep the filling in place. 

5. Place in a high-sided baking tray and decorate with the Cox's Apple pieces, Walnuts, Carrot and remainder of the Rosemary Leaves. 

6. Bake in the oven for thirty minutes. 

Cranberry Cheese with Chicken and Fresh Rosemary is something that goes together well as a complete flavour package. The Red Wine meanwhile gave a richness that coupled with the mixture of Carrot, Apple and Walnut made for a revitalising mid-winter meal. 

Oystercatcher

In the summertime we participated in the Eat out to Help Out Scheme and found a seafood restaurant off of a remote main road located in some countryside that gave the restaurant the remote feel of an American Diner on the highway. At that restaurant they have a wonderful range of Seafood and especially Oysters. A link to their website to see for yourself is at: The Mussel and Crab Restaurant, Tuxford 

One of our resolutions this New Year has been to practise more self-care and focus on a good quality of life. One way of doing that has been to replicate recipes from our favourite restaurants that we cannot get to at present because of the lockdown. 

In the last minute shopping carnage of New Year's Eve, I located a pack of Oysters in the fish vendor and elbowed my way through the dilatory throngs to the till before making my escape. A few days later, after a strange adventure in the secret garden of an old mining village, we decided to make a meal with the Oysters. The ingredients are as follows:

Eight Oysters

For the dressing:

One Red Chilli, we used one that was freshly harvested from the chilli plant in my indoor Greenhouse. 

The juice from a Lemon.

On the player was a record that is considered one of the best in Jazz; Miles Davis' 1959 collaboration with Gil Evans "Porgy and Bess". With its images of fishing and seafood in the titles to some songs it was a handy accompaniment to the food preparation. Why not check it out this piece of history at: Porgy and Bess (Miles Davis) - YouTube 

The first trick was to open the Oysters. This is a challenge and one that requires caution to overcome. The best approach is to find a soft area in the edge of the shells, thrust a sharp knife in and twist it to open the shell. If that doesn't work use some pliers to crush the shells to access the Oysters.

The next step is to clean the Oyster flesh inside and remove any shell fragments. Then serve the Oysters on a plate in individual half shells. 

The Chilli Dressing is made by removing the top of the Chilli and slicing it into small pieces. Add the Chilli pieces to a small serving bowl with the Lemon Juice.

The best way to consume the Oysters is to treat them as if you are drinking a shot of liquor. Add some relish to the shell containing the individual Oyster and then drink the Oyster and relish from the shell in one go. 

The sourness of the Lemon Juice coupled with the fire of the Red Chilli and rich moistness of the Oyster make this dish a wonderful luxury to start the New Year with. 

Manchego Man Randy Savage

The snow had arrived out of nowhere as the second half of the second day of 2021 became a whiteout. It was an opportunity to cook a few meals to freeze so as to consume them during the working week. It was also a time to cook a new soup recipe. 

On the player was the sterling Rolling Stones compilation "Forty Licks". It shows how much depth and quality there is in the band's catalogue.  Buried within the compilation are four new, at the time, songs that showed the key facets of the styles of song writing Jagger and Richards employed in the early noughties. 

The soup recipe goes like this:

Three large White Potatoes, peeled and cubed.

Three fresh Chives cut thinly. 

One head of Broccoli cut into cubes.

One White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and diced. 

Pinch of White Pepper.

Half a pint of Chicken Stock

One Hundred Grams of grated Spanish Manchego Cheese made with Sheep's Milk. This cheese was sourced from the excellent Stretton Hall Farm Shop who can be found online at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook 

The first step is sweat the Potatoes, Brocolli, Chives, White Onion, Chives and White Pepper in Sunflower Oil in a saucepan on a medium heat for around ten minutes stirring regularly to stop the ingredients sticking to the bottom of the pan.

The second step is to add the Chicken Stock and simmer the ingredients for thirty minutes then blend them before adding the soup back to the saucepan. Thirdly add the Manchego Cheese and warm the soup through, so the Cheese melts into it, before serving it. 

The potatoes give this soup plenty of quality carbs while the cheese gives a richness that makes this a midwinter treat. 

 

Christmas Chick

It was a wet December Day. We had scrambled up to the summit above the old mine-workings and then scrambled down the remains of the old slag heap to find a meal of Al-Fresco Tea Bread and fresh Coffee. Returning home we were soaked and needed to refuel with a strong Sunday Dinner. 

We had acquired some fresh Chicken Fillets and some Cheese made of Chives and Caramelised Onions from the local farm shop and set to work. 

On the player was Jethro Tull's Christmas Album, which makes old sounds appear as if they have just been invented, and then Low's shimmering, wonderful Christmas Album. 

The Recipe is as follows:

For the flavoured Chicken Breasts:

2 Chicken Breasts.

7 fresh Chive Sprigs. 

4 teaspoons of Dried Tarragon.

2 teaspoons of Mustard Seed.

2 diced cloves of Garlic.

1 diced White Onion. 

Olive Oil 

For the Cheese and Leek Sauce:

50 grams of Unsalted Butter.

1 tablespoon of Cornflour.

7 tablespoons of Unskimmed Milk.

4 tablespoons of Grated Plougman's cheese or other soft cheese with Caramelised Onion and Chives. 

1 tablespoon of Pine Nuts.

1 diced Leek freshly steamed. 

For the Rosemary Mashed Potato:

3 medium White Potatoes, mashed after being peeled, diced and steamed.

1 teaspoon of fresh, diced Rosemary. 

2 tablespoons of unsweetened Soya Drink. 

The method goes like this:

1. Put the Chicken Breasts on a baking tray covered in foil and some Olive Oil. 

2. Spread the Onion and Garlic evenly between the Chicken Breasts and on top of the Chicken Breasts. 

3. Spread the Chive Sprigs, Tarragon and Mustard Seeds all over the Chicken Breasts and brush with Olive Oil.

4. Wrap the foil round the Chicken to create a parcel. 

5. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 5 for 30 minutes. 

6. Steam the diced Potatoes and Leek for 20 minutes until they are soft. 

7. Make the Sauce by melting the Butter in a saucepan. Stir in the Flour and Pine Nuts. Add the Milk into the mixture and stir until there is a thick paste. Melt in the Cheese and once the melted cheese has combined with the sauce add the Steamed Leeks and stir together. 

8. Mash the Potato, stir in the Soya Drink and Rosemary Leaves. 

9. Serve the Potato, then put the Chicken on top of it with Cheese and Leek Sauce.