Green Gruff Goodness

 An old work colleague used to say that if someone looked tired they probably needed some broccoli to perk them up. What I think she was getting at was that this foodstuff contains lots of iron to help one feel better if feeling a little fatigued. 

After Storm Eunice had vanished and I had completed my mandatory daily exercise programme, prescribed by the cricket club, I slipped on my copy of Fleetwood Mac's 1972 lost classic "Bare Trees". The cover of this album features, you've guessed it, some leafless trees that poke faintly out of the mist in a scene replicated regularly in the English Countryside at this time of year. The music within is however different gravy, being a mixture of driving and swinging rock, stoner sounds and sunny west coast pop. If you want to venture beyond the obvious of "Rumours" in exploring the Mac's Discography you could do much worse than start with "Bare Trees". 

Following a day of storms and walks in the ice, I needed something to warm me up that contained iron and a spot of carb loading. With a potato, Brocolli and Cheese Soup I found just what I was looking for. The ingredients for this one were as follows:

One head of Broccoli cut thinly.

Two large Baking Potatoes that were cubed and with the roots removed but the skin left on. 

A teaspoon of White Pepper.

Half a pint of Chicken Stock

Some mustard and pepper Cheddar acquired from the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check out their page at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook 

The method is quite simple and goes like this:

1. Sweat the Broccoli, Potatoes and White Pepper in Sunflower Oil in a deep pan or Le Cresceut on a medium heat for around ten minutes.

2. Add the Chicken Stock and simmer for a further twenty minutes on a medium heat.

3. Blend and then return to the pan or Le Cresceut, warm through and add the cheese so that it melts into the soup before serving. 

The goodness contained in the fresh vegetables coupled with the richness and tang of the mustard cheese gives this soup a starring role in the revitalising dishes of the winter months.

A Taste of Honey

In January a spontaneous sleepover, with Dogg in tow, lashings of Campari and a cathartic 10 mile walk that, I now realise, lit flickering embers to make a new light shine brightly and reveal a path towards something exciting and new.

Energised, I returned home in the mist and fading light which induced me to stick on the bleak, yet somehow triumphant final flounce by the Walker Brothers; 1978's "Nite Flights". They knew it would be their last record and so came up with something radical, dark, dystopian, industrial and life affirming. The record's feel could have been a metaphor for my mental state after a month of challenges I was starting to emerge into something potentially brighter.

I decided to cook something that combined sweetness with Salmon as follows:

Two Fillets of Fresh Salmon

Two Homegrown Corn on the Cob 

100 Grams of Noodles

For the Sauce:

Three finely sliced cloves of Garlic.

100 grams of Unsalted Butter.

Three tablespoons of Honey

Three tablespoons of Peanut Oil

The method to make this Sweet Salmon dish goes like this.

1. Steam Salmon, and Corn on the Cob for twenty minutes.

2. Boil noodles for twenty minutes.

3. Melt Butter in a sauce pan and add Garlic, cook for around five minutes.

4. Add Honey and Peanut Oil, stir together.

5. Remove the Salmon from the steamer, then glaze and serve with Sweetcorn and Noodles.

Despite being in the freezer for around three months, the homegrown Corn on the Cob was sweet and fresh in a way its supermarket counterpart isn't. The flavoursome Salmon was also quite rich and made much tastier by the winning combination of Honey and Peanut Oil. 

Ugly Kid Tofu

It was a Saturday of Storms, being chased by 6 Doggs through remote woodland, cathartic sunshine and real hope. It was also a day of some new creativity that was inspired by a pre-holiday season trip to a local Thai Restaurant where I had battered Tofu with a special Soy Sauce. 

Despite not possessing a deep fat fryer I decided to have a go at making my own battered Tofu. 

On the player was Jellyfish's 1990 debut album "Bellybutton" an album that takes pure pop, bouncy lyrics and stadium size hooks to the next level. The band have sold few records during or after their lifetime but for those of us who know them, they are not only one of the greatest bands of the nineties; but one of the all time great bands. 

So the recipe for this one and it's as follows:

One block of Tofu of the standard size sold in supermarkets. 

Gluten Free Rice Flour and Plain Flour that gives a total of 100 grams.

1 Duck Egg, beaten. 

2 Cups of Semi-Skimmed Milk 

Half a cup of Peanut Oil

Half a cup of Oyster Sauce.

The way to make this dish is to first place the flour in a bowl and form a hole in the middle of it. Then gradually add the Duck Egg, Milk, Peanut Oil and Oyster Sauce gradually stirring it into the the Flour as you do so. 

The Tofu needs preparing by putting it between two paper towels and two heavy objects to squeeze excess water out of it. Once it's dried, cut it into cubes and mix thoroughly with the batter mixture to give it the best chance of being fully coated. 

After that I heated some sunflower oil in a frying pan and fried the batter coated Tofu for around five or six minutes turning regularly before serving it with some noodles, fried ginger, sweetcorn, homegrown chilli and a bowl of Oyster Sauce for dipping. 

While not as crisp and golden as battered Tofu found at restaurants, this battered Tofu had a texture and a flavour that lifted it above the blandness usually associated with Tofu. 

Hake yourself at home

It's just before the holiday season. I'm in need of some inspiration, a lot more iron from some green veg and a bit of brain food from some white fish. There's fog everywhere and it envelopes everything. This, coupled with the rise in Covid Cases; that has caused paranoia and stress among my nearest and dearest going beyond that normally expected in the run up to the holiday season.

The edge is taken off this feeling of a siege mentality by a listen of Oasis' confident, slightly leaden but fun 2000 effort "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants". A quick blast of opening track "f%*kin' in the bushes" is just about enough to put some zest into life. It makes do and sometimes resting up and making do is the best thing to do in the run to the Holiday season. 

To make this flavoursome and green fish dish I took the following ingredients:

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

Five Small Garlic Cloves, crushed. 

Two tablespoons of Smoked Paprika.

One tablespoon of White Pepper. 

A small head of Homegrown Broccoli. 

Three Homegrown Cabbage Leaves shredded.

One Homegrown Swiss Chard Leaf shredded. 

A tin of Haricot Beans.

A Hake Fillet, fresh from the supermarket fishmongers. 

The method went like this:

1. Sweat the White Onion, Garlic Cloves, Smoked Paprika and White Pepper in a Le Cresceut in Olive Oil for around five minutes stirring regularly. 

2. Add the Broccoli , Cabbage and Swiss Chard and fry for around fifteen minutes, stirring regularly. 

3. Add the Haricot Beans and keep the mixture warm on the hob. 

4. Fry the Hake separately on a medium heat five minutes each side. Serve with the bean mixture.

The dish conjured up a freshness like a clean warm, rock pool at the beach in the summertime while the bean mixture held a genuine smokiness and lots of protein.