African Eggs

It was a Friday in mid-November. I had the day off and the sun had glistened on the high hills above my home during the morning dog walk. Prior to cooking my lunch, which is the subject of today's recipe, I had bumped into a mate in the local greengrocer. I'd shared some epic nights out on the town with her and others from our crowd over the years. Things had changed for us both since those times as she is now a mother of two while I have a house to run. Later on in the day, as the sun set, I wandered around a nearby County Town with a bag of fresh laundry. As I approached a towering Mock Tudor Building I saw my old boss, still wearing the same waistcoat and trousers combo as he did when I worked with him, framed in the bay window of his office. It was heartening to see him still working away. These two experiences made it a day of memories.

A further memory rose to the surface of my present in the choice of dish for my lunch. I remembered it was a little over three years since I had taken a trip to Fuerteventura. I went there in circumstances that will not happen again. One of the breakfast dishes at the hotel I stayed at was Poached Egg with Tomato and Herb Sauce. I decided to make a similar dish in the shape of Fried Egg and Tomato Sauce. I decided to use Moroccan Herbs and Spices in the Sauce in light of Fuerteventura's fairly close proximity to this North African Country.

Perhaps I was trying to mark time with my choice of dish, the experiences I had that day and even the choice of music while I cooked. I chose Rod Stewart's 1975 effort the excellent "Atlantic Crossing". The album saw Stewart leaving his homeland, for reasons of finance and romance, to settle in the USA. In a more low key way three years earlier, almost to the day, I had left the County Town I'd spent a lot of my early adult life working in and went to work in the City for similar reasons.

The Sauce recipe comprised of:

Four diced Shallots
Two Sliced Tomatoes
One Birds Eye Chili
One teaspoon of Basil
One teaspoon of Ras El Hanoi Seasoning
One teaspoon of Black Pepper
One tablespoon of Tomato Purée with Chili

I stewed all these ingredients in three tablespoons of Olive Oil in my Le Cresceut on a medium heat, while stirring them constantly, for a period of 25 minutes. 

Towards the end of the cooking time for the sauce I fried two Eggs in two ounces of melted and Unsalted Butter and two tablespoons of Olive Oil in a frying pan for five minutes. In frying the Eggs for just five minutes I ensured they were not under cooked but I also ensured the yolks were not dry and were runny. That way when consuming them with the Sauce I could mix the yolks with the Sauce. 

When the Eggs and Sauce were ready I first served the Sauce by spreading it evenly on the plate and then placed the two Eggs on top. Tomato and Basil are always an irresistible combination. They were enhanced in this meal not just by the runny yolks of the Eggs, but also the sharp and exotic flavour the Ras El Hanoi Seasoning. This spice served to rekindle memories of breakfasts underneath Palm Trees and cloudless blue skies at the start of the Autumn Equinox of 2014. 

Two Egg On: the Runny Eggs sit atop a Spicy Sauce.

Holiday Chilli

One positive habit I've taken up over the past three years is to save a lot of my holidays for the end of the year. The darker mornings and commutes home in the pitch black can be, even for a self-confessed positive person like me, grueling and tiring. I put my theory into practice this Autumn and Wintertime by taking a holiday on the East Coast. We were blessed by a lot of dry weather, interesting nature, clean beaches and quaint coastal villages, not to mention important company.

Those who'd booked the holiday cottage we stayed in have made lots of sacrifices for me over the years; more perhaps than I appreciated at the time. On the night before I drove home with the dog, I drove not the dog- she can't be trusted with such a big vehicle, I decided to cook for them as they had done so many times for me before I was able to.

The dish I chose was a vegetarian Chili Con Carne. What inspired me to make this, apart from my love of Tex-Mex Cooking, was the discovery in a local seaside supermarket of Blue Corn Tortillas. These were to be the side dish for Chili Con Carne. Blue Corn is grown in Mexico and Southwestern United States. It is often used to make Tortillas. In its natural state the corn cob that it comes from has numerous shades of purple and the patterns make it look like Jackson Pollock has been let loose on it with a variety of purple paints. The Tortillas I used as the side dish for this recipe were largely a uniform colour of Deep Purple.

Somehow Simply Red's 1991 bestseller "Stars" had found itself onto the player. Perhaps the music chosen was to meet the tastes of those I was cooking for. On the other hand perhaps it was due to driving and,fairly, funky numbers like "Thrill Me" and "Something Got Me Started" taking me back to my "Fat Elvis Years" . In those years alcohol consumption was higher, nights out lasted longer, often took place on a Sunday and the job I worked in was uninspiring; even if my colleagues were great to work with.

So to the job in hand, the ingredients sourced for this recipe were as follows:

For the Chili:

15 Tomatoes sliced into quarters. 
5 Shallots, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
3 Cloves Garlic, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
3 Sweet Peppers with their tops removed, the seeds removed and sliced into small squares. 
1 teaspoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
1 teaspoon of Chili Flakes
1 tablespoon Tomato Purée with Chili.
A packet of Quorn Mince
A tin of Red Kidney Beans

I first fried the spices, Tomatoes, Vegetables and Puree for 35 minutes on a medium heat in Olive Oil in a frying pan. I stirred the ingredients constantly to make sure they didn't stick to the pan. I then added the Quorn Mince and fried the ingredients for a further 20 minutes while stirring the ingredients regularly. Next I added the Kidney Beans and after another 10 minutes the dish was ready.

I served the dish with 12 ounces of boiled White Rice that I'd boiled for 20 minutes so as to make it ready at the same time as the Chili. As well as the Blue Corn Tortillas I had a tub of plain, low fat Greek Yoghurt and some grated Chili Cheese with Lime available as a side dishes. 

The unique and salty taste together with the freshness of the Greek Yoghurt and the sweet spiciness of the Chili Cheese served to enhance the strong but flavoursome and taste of the Chili. It certainly warmed our hearts as the winter inched its way across the courtyard towards our cottage that evening as we ate the meal. 

Purple Days- the Tortilla Chips, Grated Cheese and Greek Yoghurt sit brightly on the bed of Chili and Rice. 

Mid- Month Mackerel

Saturday Morning. A week after Remembrance Weekend. The morning after I drove home staring up at the stars that were dotted above the fields and contemplated the wonder of it all. The dog woke me up early, she doesn't do lie ins, and I stumbled out of bed to let her out. I also thought of the cooking project for the day, which would soon find its way into your midst on this blog.

I had recently been for a very special meal at a local restaurant. I'd left the place feeling very lucky. I also left it feeling inspired to cook some new fish dishes in light of the excellent Bream and also Smoked Haddock Recipes we'd consumed there.

That said I decided to cook a dish involving fresh Mackerel and a sauce containing fruits and spices. Here's how I made it:

First thing, prior to a trip out for some excellent frames of snooker and productive Christmas Shopping in rural areas, I decided to make the sauce. The reason for this was that I planned to allow it to ferment and set so as to give it a richer flavour when I came to cook it later. The ingredients for the sauce were as follows:

One Red Grapefruit- sourced from my wonderful local Greengrocer the "Strawberry Basket"
One Orange
A tablespoon of Dried Mint.
A teaspoon of Mustard Seeds.
A teaspoon of Piri-Piri powder.
A teaspoon dried Parsley
A tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar.
Two tablespoons of Olive Oil.

I halved the Grape Fruit and Orange. I then peeled them and ripped them into segments while ensuring that I removed pith to ensure they were not too chewy. Then I added them to a mixing bowl with the herbs and spices, White Wine Vinegar and Olive Oil. I then whisked them in the mixing bowl, until the ingredients were totally blended. I left the bowl containing the blended ingredients in the fridge.

Later, when I returned from Snooker and Christmas Shopping Adventures, I realised it was nearly teatime and time to prepare the final part of the dish.

On the player was Rod Stewart's 1976 corker "A Night on the Town". This was the last record he made prior to, in the eyes of serious music critics and his more hip fans at least, selling out. It has to much on it to commend it from a rollicking cover of Manfred Mann's "Pretty Flamingo", the touching story song "The Killing of Georgie" and "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" a fine opener to the album that was the inspiration for a successful West End Musical inspired by Stewart's Music.

I took two fillets of Mackerel and Fried them in two ounces of melted and Unsalted Butter, I think it is a sin to use excessive salt in cookery you see, and a tablespoon of Olive Oil. I fried them on a medium heat,  with a teaspoon of Piri-Piri Powder, turning them twice over the course of 14 minutes.

I the meantime I cut up two Pak Choi into thin slices and fried them in my Le Cresceut in two tablespoons of Olive Oil with the sauce for a period of twenty minutes. In order to help the flavours of the sauce infuse into the Pak Choi I kept the lid on the Le Cresceut while I was frying the food and stirred it occasionally.

Once the Pak Choi, Sauce and Mackerel were properly cooked I served them. Even the undoubtedly healthy Red Grapefruit was present the dish was not sour. In fact the Piri-Piri and Mustard Seeds gave it a fine balance between fiery flavours  and a fresh and mellow taste that was created by the Mint, Parsley and Oranges. The Mackerel was rich in vitamins and had a fresh but smoky taste too that complimented the other ingredients well. I'll definitely be cooking this dish again, but next time I'll blend the sauce to make its texture smoother.

Red runs the plate- the Red Grapefruit's sour taste complimented the smoky yet fresh taste of the Mackerel. 

Stewed Shallots, Fried Sausages

It was the end of a great holiday on the East Coast. I had returned home. As if on cue the rain plummeted out of the sky and hammered into the western wall of my home with a vengeance. It was not even light when my dog dragged me from my slumber and we nipped out into the downpour. After that I went back to bed and woke mid-morning.

While I was waiting for the weather to clear I decided to commence preparation of the Bonfire Night dish I was treating my wonderful dining partner to that evening.

This time on the player there was yet more Van Morrison; this time his flawless double live album from 1974 "It's too Late to Stop Now". It is a stellar performance from a rather erratic live performer and as well as great album tracks and hits there are some top drawer blues covers thrown into the set-list.

The dish I made was one that was meant to be a typically savoury Bonfire Night Recipe. When I think of Bonfire Night, I think back to when I was a kid and we had Baked Potatoes filled with lots of beans and for pudding we would have Bonfire Toffee.

Another Bonfire Night staple is sausage sandwiches. However my Dining Partner and I are largely vegetarian and so I decided on a variation on Bonfire Night Sausage Sandwiches. The ingredients were as follows:

Ten Shallots that were peeled and topped and tailed.
A Pint of Cider.
Four Vegetarian Sausages.
A tablespoon of Dried Thyme.
Two tablespoons of Honey.

The first job was to put the Shallots in a greased baking tray with the Cider. I then placed foil over the top of the baking tray. I then cooked the Shallots and the Cider in the oven for three hours on Gas Mark 5. Once they were ready I turned the oven off and left the baking tray containing the Cider and Shallots in the Oven as it cooled down so as to keep them warm.

I then went and picked up my dining partner and we took my dog a walk at the local reservoir in the weak, yet warming, Winter Sun. When we returned it was time for the next stage of the cooking.

I lightly fried, in a frying pan with some Olive Oil, the four vegetarian sausages for ten minutes with a pinch of Mustard and a tablespoon of Dried Thyme.

I then added two tablespoons of Honey to the Cider and Shallots. Next I added them to the frying pan containing the Vegetarian Sausages and warmed the mixture through. This then meant it was ready to serve.

I toasted some slices of Seeded Bread and used them to make sandwiches with the Sausages and Shallots. I served them with a side of Red Cabbage Stewed in Cider and Herbs.

Although it uses a lot of power in stewing the Shallots for such a length of time, the reward is worth it for the rich and lived-in taste that is the end product. They certainly serve to add a depth to a dish that would otherwise be bland. The dish is rich and very sweet and a fun treat for adults and children alike on Bonfire Weekend. The meal also served to warm us before we headed out into the night and watched the fireworks from a local landmark. We were detached from the Bonfire Night celebrations in some way, however in our own way we were part of them.

Centre Sandwich- the Sausage and Shallots are fully glazed and ready to eat on a chilly Bonfire Saturday Night.

Pumpkins frying with Chestnuts

Part two of my cooking project to impress on 21 October 2017 again involved Pumpkin. It also involved, again, playing a Van Morrison Album. This time it was his 1990 record "Enlightenment". Plum tracks on this one include the devotional "Real, Real Gone", a number I could well relate to, and the stilted but fun slice of nostalgia "In the Days Before Rock 'n' Roll".

The main course was a Pumpkin and Chestnut Stew and it featured the following ingredients:

The cubed flesh of one Pumpkin
One diced Red Onion.
A pack of Pre-Cooked Chestnuts.
One Sharon Fruit topped and tailed.
A tablespoon of Dried Thyme
A tablespoon of Dried Sage.

This was a pretty easy dish to make and one, bear with me readers, that may seem on first look to be bland and banal. However the reality was quite different.

I poured some Olive Oil into the bottom of the Le Cresceut and then added all the ingredients bar the Chestnuts. The reason for this was that they were pre-cooked and so didn't need much extra cooking.

I stewed the ingredients on the hob on a medium heat with the lid on my Le Cresceut for about twenty-five minutes.

I then added the Chestnuts and cooked all the ingredients for another twenty minutes until the Pumpkin Flesh could be cut with ease by my plastic serving spoon.

I served the food with Honey Roast Parsnips (see 22 October 2017 entry for how to make these) and on this occasion these also included  chopped Cooking Apple with the Parsnips.

Again my dining partner provided the best insight into this dish. Her view, as was mine, that the dish was a rich and flavoursome evening meal. I would add that the Sharon Fruit, an underrated fruit that has a very short season, also gave the dish a unique twist and a taste of Autumn.

Sweet and Savoury- Honey Roast Parsnips sit well with the rich and tasty stew. 

Hollowing out your Pumpkins

The penultimate Saturday in October. The wind and rain buffeted the dog and I as we traversed the local fields near our house. We were caught in the back end of a storm called, rather non-threateningly one might add, Storm Brian. The first birds of winter drifted over our heads as we turned for home.

Later that day a very important and special guest was arriving at my home. Thoughts therefore turned naturally what I would make us. There were a  lot of Pumpkins in the local supermarket and Halloween was not too far away. That meant the two course meal I would prepare was distinctly Pumpkin- themed.

On the player was Van Morrison's underrated, and meditative album 1980 album "Common One". There are some albums that you can remember exactly where you were and exactly what things happened during that time. In this case I bought the album towards the end of the first semester of the final year of my Politics Degree. A degree that seems a lifetime ago now. Events from around this time in my world included getting punched in the mouth by a random passer by on a night out in my University Town. Another happening saw me attend a 21st birthday party in my hometown, which culminated in the Birthday Boy sucking whipped cream from a plastic phallus and winning us all free drinks in the process.

So the soup. The ingredients were as follows:

A tablespoon of  Dried Basil
A tablespoon of Dried Oregano
4 Chopped Tomatoes.
The cubed flesh of a medium-sized Pumpkin..
A diced Red Onion.
1 Small Clove of Garlic sliced finely.
Olive Oil to cover bottom of my Le Cresceut.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The soup was a variation on a Pumpkin and Tomato Casserole recipe that I had first road-tested in October 2009 during my reckless, and never to be repeated, "Fat Elvis" Years.

The method was as follows:

First I fried the vegetables and herbs in Olive Oil for 40 minutes. I did this on my Le Cresceut on a medium heat. I made sure to stir the food regularly to stop it sticking to the bottom of the Le Cresceut.

I then added the vegetable stock and simmered everything with the Le Cresceut lid on for another 35 minutes on a low heat.

I then left the ingredients to cool before blending them and serving the soup with toasted Brown Bread and Pumpkin seeds.

My dining partner for the soup summed up the taste better than I in that on paper she didn't expect the ingredients, particularly the Pumpkin to be tasteful but in fact it was a rich and flavoursome soup because of the herbs and seasoning. I would add that it was a soup that had an Italian feel and was a perfect tonic to the howling wind and lashings of rain that clattered against my house in the Autumn Evening.

Orange Skies- the soup sits on my table ready to eat with some freshly toasted bread just behind it. 

Glazed Parsnips for October

I remembered to say "White Rabbits" when I finally awoke on 1st of October. It's a family tradition to say it on the first day of the month before you speak to anyone as it is meant to bring you luck. Well I wonder?

More heavy had arrived to match that I had driven through to see some very good friends of mine for the first time in a quarter the night before. That said for second day in a row it was time for an early lunch in the hope that it would clear up in the afternoon for a walk with the beast.

I had obtained a Parsnip from my local greengrocer, which is regrettably to close soon, and decided to spice it up by frying it in some honey. I decided to serve it with a side of  White Fish from the freezer and some Garlic Butter Sauce.

On the player was Joni Mitchell's excellent and underrated debut album "Song to a Seagull". Even at this early stage in her career Mitchell's unique phrasing in her vocal delivery and complex guitar tuning techniques are well in evidence.

I peeled and topped and tailed the Parsnip before slicing it into narrow batons that were no more than five centimeters long.

Next I pre-heated the oven to Gas Mark 4 and when it was warmed up I added the White Fish to it on a foil-covered baking tray. I let the Fish cook for around twenty-five minutes.

While the Fish was cooking I fried the Parsnips on a medium heat in a frying pan in Olive Oil turning them occasionally. I also added some fresh Thyme and after fifteen minutes of cooking I added three tablespoons of Honey. I mixed the Honey thoroughly into the Parsnips and herbs. I kept cooking them on a medium heat for a total of twenty-five minutes.

In the meantime I melted four ounces of unsalted butter in a saucepan and once melted added two finely sliced cloves of Garlic together with two ounces of dried Rosemary and Thyme. Then I added two ounces of Plain Flour and took the saucepan off the heat to stir the flour into the Butter, Garlic and Herbs. This gave the sauce the appearance of a Honeycomb interspersed with Garlic Pieces. Then I added five tablespoons of unsweetened Soya Milk, put the saucepan back on a medium heat and stirred everything until I had a thick sauce. I kept the sauce on a low heat until the Fish and Parsnips were ready.

I served the dish by pouring the sauce all over the White Fish and putting the Parsnips next to them.

The White Fish had its usual delicious taste which was enhanced by the deceptively simple sauce. The Parsnips meanwhile tasted sweet and rich but still had plenty of goodness bearing in mind they came from a local Greengrocer.

Golden days- the Parsnips sit near the sauce-covered fish.