Gratin Lite

The third part of the Easter Saturday "Come Dine With Me" style trilogy was to be a main course that was quite rich but healthy too. The dish in question I made was a Potato Gratin.

On the player was Garth Brooks' third effort from 1991 "Ropin' The Wind". It is perhaps his strongest album as it strikes well the balance between hardcore country, bluegrass, country-rock and rock power ballads without Brooks losing his ability make a focused and truly great record.

The ingredients for the dish were as follows:

Five Spunta Potatoes, sourced from the local greengrocer, peeled and sliced very finely into pieces the width and thickness of crisps.
Seven knobs of Unsalted Butter.
Three tablespoons of Nutmeg
A teaspoon of Black Pepper
Seven fluid ounces of Plain Greek Yoghurt.
Seven fluid ounces of Almond Milk
Three ounces of Breadcrumbs
Four ounces of Pine Nuts.
A teaspoon of Dried Parsley.
Two ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese.

The method to make this minimalist yet filling main course is:

1. Grease a medium-sized pie dish.
2. Layer the Potatoes evenly throughout the pie dish.
3. Spread the Nutmeg, Black Pepper and Unsalted Butter evenly over the Potatoes.
4. Stir the Almond Milk and Greek Yoghurt together in a measuring jug and then pour evenly over the Potatoes.
5. Bake in the oven on Gas Mark 5 for one hour.
6. While the dish is cooking, mix together the Breadcrumbs, Pine Nuts, Dried Parsley and Parmesan.
7. After an hour remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle the Breadcrumb, Pine Nuts, Dried Parsley and Parmesan evenly over the top of it. Bake for another half an hour again on Gas Mark 5.

After the dish was cooked I removed it from the oven and presented it in my dining room before serving it in three equal portions. The Potatoes added much needed body to the dish while the Nutmeg made it flavoursome and the Breadcrumbs added texture. The Pine Nuts meanwhile gave plenty of protein to this tasteful dish.

Pine Nut and Potato Crunch- safely out of the oven and ready to serve.

E is for Easter

Good Friday 2018 had arrived. It was time for a break. At work I had pushed myself hard and made some magic in doing so. However I was tired; not because of work, as I had found a new energy and focus in the three months after the Christmas Break, but because of the challenging ride I'd been on in my personal life since the start of February. Things had returned to an even keel though now and I wasn't down for long.

However taking note of what my body had told me over the preceding week, I decided to slow myself down and I didn't set the alarm on Thursday night. However I still woke up at a reasonable time on Good Friday Morning. I fired up the Panda and the Dogg and I headed for a walk over at large pond that sits next to the grounds of an old stately home, currently home to a dentist. The dentist in question probably wouldn't have approved of my choice of pudding for my parents' visit for tea on Easter Saturday.

When people think of sweet dishes at Easter Time the first thought is of course Easter Eggs, while another thought might be Simnel Cake, a recipe I have featured on this blog previously. Then you have Fancies and sponge cakes decorated with mini Easter Eggs. The latter was a recipe I chose to make as my Easter Cake of choice for this year.

The record of choice to listen to was Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1990 cracker "Ragged Glory". The album features plenty of raw emotion, screaming guitars and a sound that makes one wonder if it was recorded in a garage. Whether it was or not, the primal sound of it makes it one of Young & Crazy Horse's best. It's the perfect record to listen to at full volume when making cake with the best part of a four day bank holiday in front of you.

The Ingredients of the Cake were as follows:

For the cake itself:

250 grams of Unsalted Butter
250 grams of Brown Sugar
250 grams of Flour
5 Eggs
A teaspoon of Almond Essence
The zest of two Oranges.
The juice of one One Orange.
A bag of Mini Eggs

For the topping

300 grams of Icing Sugar.
3 tablespoons of warm water
A bag of Mini Eggs

The way I made it was as follows:

1. I creamed the Butter and Brown Sugar together in a mixing bowl.
2. I beat the Eggs in a large measuring jug. Then I added them to the Butter and Brown Sugar with the Almond Essence and stirred them well.
3.I added the Orange Zest and stirred it in.
4. I added the flour and mixed it in thoroughly until I had a thick paste.
5. I added the cake mix to a greased cake tin.
6.I cooked the cake mix in the oven for 38 minutes on Gas Mark 4. I checked it was properly cooked by putting a skewer through the middle of it and seeing that it came out clean.
7. I then put the baked cake to one side to cool down.
8. When the cake was cooled I poked a hole through the middle of the cake and found it largely hollow. I filled the hole with the juice of the Orange and added one bag of Mini Eggs.
9. I made the topping by gradually mixing the Icing Sugar with the warm water in a mixing bowl.
10. I spread the freshly made icing over the top of the Cake with a butter knife and put a large amount of the icing in the middle to help fill the hole containing the Mini Eggs and Orange juice.
11. I decorated the topping by putting Mini Eggs round the side and using the remaining eggs to spell the letter E in the middle of the cake.
12. I put a paper towel over the top of the cake and left it to cool in the fridge over night.

The next day I served it for pudding when my parents arrived. The taste was rich but, surprisingly, not overindulgent. The sponge was light while the juice and zest of the Orange gave it a real freshness. In fact the cake went down so well that it barely lasted the night.

E is for Easter-straight outta the fridge and ready to serve. 

Kiwi Champion

It was 18 March 2018 and only a week until the clocks changed to take us into British Summertime, yet there were masses of snow on the ground. The night before it had created blizzards and plenty of compacted ice on the trip to and from the house of two very close friends in the company of another of my oldest and best friends and his vibrant young son.

That morning I had slept in a little before the Dogg and I adventured out in the powdery snow. In the afternoon I had a nap again for an hour. The Dogg curled up next to me as if providing some kind of protection. She must have sensed I had a heavy heart.

When I awoke I knew it was time to create something new in the kitchen. I had two spare Kiwi Fruit from the local greengrocer and stepped into new territory by for the first time making a Kiwi Fruit Cake. The recipe was inspired by a similar one I had seen in a cook book bought me as a birthday present by two of the close friends I had seen the night before.

On the player was the final and, perhaps, finest album by the Doors; LA Woman. There are no duff tracks on this record, yes I even adore the jangly and unjustly maligned "Hyacinth House". Some of the very plum cuts include "The Changeling" where singer Jim Morrison urges the listener to 'get loose' while the paranoid "Cars Hiss by my Window" builds a hypnotic atmosphere and sense of claustrophobia that was very fitting considering the thick snow outside. The well-known "Riders on the Storm" is still the best cut on the record and was apt for my mood when considering the storms I had ridden from the start of February.

The ingredients for this cake are:

Cake Mix:

Six Ounces Unsalted Butter.
Six Ounces of Self-Raising Flour.
Nine Ounces of Brown Sugar.
Three beaten Eggs.
A tablespoon of Almond Essence.
One Kiwi Fruit- peeled and cubed.

Topping:

Nine Ounces of Icing Sugar.
Four Tablespoons of warm water.
The rind of one Lemon.
One Kiwi Fruit- peeled and sliced.

The method was as follows:

1. Beat the Eggs in a measuring jug and leave to one side.

2. Stir the Butter, Flour, Sugar, Almond Essence and Kiwi Fruit together in a mixing bowl.

3. Add the Eggs and stir thoroughly until you get a thick paste.

4. Bake in the oven for an hour on Gas Mark Three.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a good hour.

6. Make the topping by stirring the water, Icing Sugar and Lemon Rind together. Then spread it evenly over the top of the cake.

7. Lay the slices of the remaining Kiwi Fruit out in a decorative pattern on top of the cake.

The Lemon taste coupled with the freshness of the Kiwi Fruit made this cake evoke feelings of sunny summer days walking in the countryside, attending barbecues with good friends and special picnics with loved ones. Perhaps sunnier days are on the way after all.

Glazed over- the icing has run down the side of the cake and created a frozen pattern that mirrored the ice outdoors. 

Olive Bread

The last Saturday in February found me listening me to an obscure album by a legendary artist. The album was "Some Time in New York City" the artist was John Lennon. Although not on a par with his greatest records the album does contain some excellent live jams, as well as some poor ones, including some with a real hero of mine- the late, great Frank Zappa. There are also some great studio songs including the rolling, bluesy "John Sinclair" and raw blast of rock 'n' roll that is "New York City".

During his break from music in the mid to late seventies Lennon took up the hobby of baking bread among other things. I decided to follow his lead as a distraction from the fact that I had suddenly been forced to step back and watch the wheels.

I set out to make a wholemeal bread filled with Olives. The ingredients were as follows:

20 ounces Wholemeal Bread Flour.
Two teaspoonfuls of Dried Yeast.
One teaspoon of dried Rosemary.
One teaspoon dried Thyme.
Three tablespoons of Almond Milk.
Ten ounces of Green Olives.

The method was as follows:

1. Still together all the dry ingredients and Olives in a mixing bowl.
2. Gradually stir in the milk.
3. Once everything is bound together knead the ingredients into a flat but thick circle.
4. Leave in a warm place, such as a south-facing window sill, to rise for one hour.
5. Coat the bread in Olive Oil
6. Bake the bread in the oven for 20 minutes on Gas Mark 6.

The bread was soft with some crunch to it while the Olives, Thyme and Rosemary meant the taste took me back to times when I holidayed below the Olive Line in the southern part of Mediterranean Europe.

Almost gone- a small piece of the crisp yet spongy bread with a Green Olive poking out of it. 

Beetroot One Pot

It was 3 March 2018. It was meant to be Springtime but the area was festooned with snow. It was a complete whiteout. The temperature had cracked my hands but my mood was good despite the recent loss of the bloke that I'm named after and one my true inspirations. In cold weather like this it's great to cook one pot recipes to warm you through.

The dish I cooked proved to be one that was rich, fiery and filling despite containing no meat. However it did contain lots of Pui Lentils that proved to have plenty of protein of the type that was needed to give me my energy.

On the player was another Rolling Stones record in the shape of their underrated 1973 cracker "Goats Head Soup". The album is best known for hit ballad "Angie" but the strongest tracks include the wah-wah powered "Heartbreaker", the appropriate for the time of year "Winter" and the sensual "Coming Down Again".

The ingredients for this recipe were as follows:

Four medium-sized Beetroot, topped, tailed, peeled and cubed
One Spunta Potato, peeled and cubed.
Eight ounces of Pui Lentils
One pint of Cider.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock
One teaspoon of Ground Ginger
Half a teaspoon of Black Pepper.
One teaspoon of dried Chilis
One teaspoon of Chili Powder.

The method to make this one was as follows:

1. Sweat the Beetroot, Potatoes, Spices, Lentils in the Cider in Olive Oil on the hob in a Le Cresceut for  thirty- five minutes until the Cider has almost been absorbed. Be sure to stir the contents of the Le Cresceut regularly to stop the ingredients from sticking and burning.

2. Add the Chicken Stock and simmer on the hob for another thirty-five minutes stirring regularly and making sure that the ingredients don't stick to the bottom of the dish.

Once the Potatoes and Beetroot could be cut with the side of plastic spoon the dish was ready to serve.

It proved to be a rich and flavoursome dish with a fiery aftertaste thanks to the Chili Ingredients.

Afterglow- the Beetroot makes this tasty and substantial dish shine brightly. 

Special Soup

The Drambuie shot rolled down my throat like bath water dropping down a plughole. The Friday night had gone well as I was in the pub with two of my oldest friends and the wonderful and kind other half of one of them. We all needed a bit of a blow out for different reasons after the working week. For me it had been a challenging week partly because the snow from the east had compromised my personal and professional activities to the extent that one day I had needed to walk six miles to the local station to catch a train to work.

The morning after I woke with a sore head but thankful for a cathartic night with great company. After a dazed wander to the supermarket, local greengrocer and the DIY shop, the Dogg and I put on our thickest winter coats and headed to the park. Then after a quick nap to banish the remainder of the Drambuie it was time to make tea.

The inspiration I found for cooking came from a visit to wonderful country restaurant with someone very special. At the restaurant in question we'd had a shot of Sweetcorn and Smoked Salmon Soup that was one of the finest soups I had ever tasted. It was high time I made my take on that recipe.

The ingredients for this recipe were as follows:

One medium sized can of Sweetcorn.
A pack of Smoked Salmon Slices.
Half a pint of Skimmed Milk.
A teaspoon of dried Chives.
A heaped teaspoon of Mustard Seeds.
A teaspoon of dried Tarragon.
A medium-sized Spunta Potato peeled and cut into cubes.
A medium-sized White Onion peeled, topped, tailed and fully diced.
Two Ounces of Unsalted Butter.
A tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar.

On the player was the Rolling Stones' peerless 1970 live record "Get Your Ya's Ya's Out". I often find if my back's against the wall or I'm facing exciting change the Stones' music gives me a special energy to succeed.  They've been a band that's been the soundtrack to my life ever since I was sixteen.

The method to make this soup was as follows:

1. On a medium heat on the hob in a saucepan sweat, in olive oil, the herbs, White Wine Vinegar, Potato, Onion and half the Sweetcorn for twenty minutes stirring regularly to stop things sticking to the bottom of the pan.

2. Add half the Milk and simmer lightly for another twenty-five minutes until the Potato becomes soft and can be cut with the side of a plastic serving spoon.

3. Take the pan off the hob and pour the contents into a blender.

4. Puree the food in the blender on the highest setting and then put the food back in the saucepan.

5. Cut all but one sheet of the Smoked Salmon into pieces and add to the pan with the rest of the Sweetcorn and remainder of the milk.

6. Heat through and serve in bowls that can be topped with parts of the spare sheet of Smoked Salmon and stray Sweetcorn pieces.

This take on the recipe was a much thicker and richer recipe than the dish that inspired it. The Tarragon, a herb more usually associated with Chicken, Mustard, Chives and White Wine Vinegar blended seamlessly to create a unique and savoury flavour. This offset the natural sweetness of the Sweetcorn and contrasted to the burnt-wood taste of the Salmon.

Yellow and Pink top -spare Salmon and Sweetcorn sits atop this irresistible Soup.  

Bishop Fish

The Saturday that preceded Valentine's Day featured typically unremitting February Rain, my last haircut with my entertaining hairdresser and the penning of an important card.

The afternoon gave way to the early evening and it was time to cook. Today's project was a Mediterranean White Fish Dish. I, like many at this time of year, get a little jaded by the short days and traveling  in the dark. I had read that one way of combating this was to have plenty of fresh fish in your diet. This was a key reason for settling on the dish I chose to cook.

The ingredients were as follows:

For the Tomato Sauce:

Five Tomatoes cut into cubes.
Five Shallots, peeled, topped and tailed and cut into thin slices.
Two Cloves of Garlic, peeled, topped and tailed and cut into narrow pieces.
Half a teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Two teaspoons of Dried Basil.
Two teaspoons of Oregano.

For the Fish Part:

Two Fresh Cod Steaks.
Two tablespoons of dried Thyme.
Two tablespoons of dried Rosemary.
One Lemon sliced evenly width-ways.
Ten Green Olives that have been de-stoned.

For the soundtrack to the cooking I chose the Beatles' landmark record from 1967 "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". A close mate of mine had sent me a link to an insightful article by Michael Jackson's acclaimed producer Quincy Jones in which Jones declares the Beatles to be poor musicians. Jones may have a point, you wouldn't put many of the members in the top draw for technical virtuosity. However what they lacked in that department is made up for by the wonderful overall sound they generate coupled with the warmth and passion of their music. All of these qualities are present on this memorable album.

The method to prepare this dish is as follows:

Tomato Sauce:

1. Heat some Olive in the Le Cresceut on the hob.
2. Add the Garlic Cloves, Shallots and herbs.
3. Fry on a medium heat for around 15 to 20 minutes stirring regularly until the Shallots begin to go brown. This was a tip I picked up secondhand from my Dining Partner's Mum, who's curries have such a distinct and delicious because she cooks the onions well prior to adding many of the other ingredients.
4. Add the Tomatoes and fry for another 15 minutes.
5. Take the Le Cresceut off the hob and leave on one side.

The Fish:

1. Take a high-sided Pyrex dish and put enough foil in it to hold the sauce and the fish so they can be wrapped loosely in a parcel by the foil.
2. Line the bottom of the foil with the Tomato Sauce.
3. Spread the Lemon Slices evenly on top of the Tomato Sauce.
4. Sprinkle half the Thyme and the Rosemary on the Lemon Slices.
5. Put the Cod Steaks on top.
6. Sprinkle the rest of the Thyme and Rosemary on the Cod Steaks.
7. Spread half the Olives evenly on the Cod Steaks and the rest on the Tomato Sauce.
8. Fold the foil over the top of the food to form a parcel.
9. Bake in the oven on Gas Mark Four for 25 minutes.

When the dish was ready I served it with a side of Sweet Potato Fries that I had fried from scratch using one small Sweet Potato while the other food had been cooking in the oven. There's clearly a difference in eating fresh fish as the Cod was succulent and flavoursome unlike its frozen and processed counterpart. It also lacked the plastic taste of that type of frozen fish.

The Lemon, Thyme and Rosemary blended well to enhance the flavour and the Tomato Sauce had a rich taste without being sickly that made me think I was at a beach-side restaurant on a classy Portuguese or Spanish Resort. The Sweet Potato Fries also were a healthy alternative to chips or Potatoes. It was a tasty  meal that counterbalanced the dark skies and horizontal rain that continued outdoors.

Ready to serve- the Olives sit atop the Cod Steaks which themselves lie on a bed of Lemons, herbs and Tomato Sauce. 

A new angle- the Cod and Sauce stacked against a small wall of Sweet Potato Fries.