Being Green on Bank Holiday

There was genuine heat on Bank Holiday Sunday. It was the kind of the heat that seems to build up from out of the Earth as the day goes on before enveloping you in a sweaty cloud. The Dogg and I had seen something shiny, rare and green at a site close to our home that had been out of bounds for years, until recently, because of legal wrangles.

On our return I knew my parents were coming over for tea and also to drink some whisky with me to commemorate what would have been my late Granddad's 91st Birthday.

On the menu was something light and vegetarian in the form of a tart with thin shortcrust pastry and lots of Green Vegetables among its ingredients.

On the player was an energetic live album from 2002 by evergreen Folk-Rock act Fairport Convention called "From Cropredy to Portmerion". Standout tracks on this one include the mournful, emotive tale of a battle in the English Civil War that is "Red and Gold" a butt-kicking medley that features the classic "Matty Groves" as its centrepiece and a rousing encore of the timeless "Meet on the Ledge".

The ingredients you need to try this one at home are as follows:

For the Shortcrust Pastry

Twelve Ounces of Plain Flour.
Six Ounces of Unsalted Butter.
Two tablespoons of Almond Milk.

For the filling:

Eight Ounces of Low Fat Hummus.
A can of Chickpeas.
Ten thin sticks of Asparagus.
Four Ounces of Samphire.
Four Ounces of Rocket.
Three Ounces of Peas.
One Ounce of Chives.
One Ounce of Grated Parmesan.

The method was as follows:

1. The night before I made the pastry base by rubbing the Butter and Flour together until it resembled breadcrumbs. Then I used the Almond Milk to bind it together. Then I kneaded the Pastry, rolled it out and spread it evenly to a greased pie dish about twenty-five centimetres wide and five centimetres deep. I left the pastry  in the dish overnight in the fridge to help it solidify.

2. About an hour and a half before my parents arrived on the Sunday I cut up the Asparagus finely and added it, the Samphire, Rocket, Peas, Chives and Chickpeas to my Le Cresceut and fried them on a medium heat in Olive Oil on the hob for about thirty minutes.

3. While the Green Vegetables were frying up with the Chickpeas I spread the Humus evenly over the pastry that was spread over the pie dish.

4. After the Green Vegetables were ready I added them, with the Chickpeas, to the pie dish and spread them evenly. Next I grated the Parmesan over the top.

5. I cooked the tart on Gas Mark Five for twenty minutes.

I served the Tart with a side of Fresh Rocket and Pine Nuts. The Samphire, which is native to Israel and looks like the fronds of a Pine Tree, has a flavoursome and salty taste that enhanced this dish. The other Green Vegetables gave it a freshness that was offset by the surprisingly rich textures of the Hummus and the Parmesan. The thin pastry meanwhile meant that this wasn't a stodgy dish and suited the tropical conditions perfectly.

It was a good way to line the stomach prior to us cracking open the fifty per cent strength whisky that we used to drink to my Granddad's Memory.

Lots of innovative Green Ingredients can be found in this recipe.

Butter Chicken for Vegetarians

It was the end of April and the chilly, wet weather had returned. I made the most of the situation by having a wander down to my old snooker club, rejoining it and having a few frames. Later on, myself, a very good friend of mine and his very pleasant tag time partner hit town and dined out at a Greek Restaurant.

The next morning the Dogg and I headed out to one of the highest places in the county for a walk that took in heath lands, the remains of an ancient chapel, farms, a reservoir and dark, damp woodland.

On player when we got home was some typically mellow Sunday music in the form of Richard Hawley's sophomore effort from 2003 "Lowedges". I only started listening to Hawley seriously at the end of 2016 but he has quickly blossomed into one of my favourite artists. I think part of the reason is that he is from and his albums are largely about his home city of Sheffield. It's a place that's close to my own heart because of many personal and professional connections with the city. In fact the album takes its name from a part of Sheffield where a relative of mine used to live.

The album contains lots of fully formed songs with brooding lyrics and restrained performances that blend electric and acoustic guitars in a very measured way.

The recipe I made for tea was inspired by the popular Butter Chicken recipes I have consumed at numerous curry houses over the years. It's a dish that's hard to do well as often it can be too rich. The only place I have been that gets the right balance of richness and flavour is a local Gurkha Restaurant.

I decided to put my own slant on the dish by substituting chicken for Quorn style chicken fillets and pieces.

The ingredients were as follows:

The Butter Chicken itself:

• One Quorn Chicken Fillet.
• Eight Ounces of Quorn Chicken Pieces.
• Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
• Four square centimetres of root Ginger, peeled and cut into small cubes
• A teaspoon of  Hot Chili powder.
• The juice of half a Lemon.
• A quarter of a pint of zero fat Greek Yoghurt. 
• A teaspoon of Garam Masala.
• A teaspoon of Ground Turmeric
• A teaspoon of Ground Cumin. 
• Four tablespoons of Olive Oil. 

The Sauce

Four Ounces of Unsalted Butter. 

Two Garlic Cloves, peeled and finely sliced.

Four Centimetres squared of Root Ginger, peeled and finely chopped into small cubes.

Two Cardamon Seeds.

One teaspoon of Ground Coriander

One teaspoon of Garam Masala.

One teaspoon of Ground Turmeric.

One teaspoon of Hot Chili Powder.

A tablespoon of Tomato Puree with Chili.

The juice of Half a Lemon. 

A quarter of a pint of zero fat Greek Yoghurt. 

A chopped Lettuce Leaf to Garnish. 

The way I prepared it was as follows:

1. I fried the "Butter Chicken" ingredients in my Le Cresceut with the lid on the Le Cresceut on a medium heat for thirty-five minutes. I stirred them regularly to ensure they didn't stick and to make sure the flavours blended properly.

2. After the above ingredients had been frying for about ten minutes I prepared the ingredients for the sauce. I then melted the Butter in a frying pan on the hob before adding all the other ingredients but the Greek Yoghurt and fried them for ten minutes. Then I added the Greek Yogurt and stirred it in thoroughly. I then left the sauce to warm through on the hob for a further ten minutes.

3. After "Butter Chicken" and the Sauce had cooked through for the correct length of time I served them with some boiled White Rice.

4. I put the "Butter Chicken" on top of the Rice on a plate, then added the Sauce and Lettuce Leaves to Garnish.

The dish was flavoursome rather than rich as the Yoghurt was zero fat and the Lemon, Fresh Ginger and wide variety of spices gave it a spicy taste that wasn't overpowering.

Going for Gold: somewhere under that low fat sauce are the Quorn Pieces

Tag Team Tapas (Part Two)

Part Two of the Tapas was not only inspired by the hot April Weather but also by a top-drawer tip to Birmingham the weekend after the Easter weekend. With the Dogg on a kind of holiday of her own for the preceding three weeks, in addition to the Birmingham Trip I had taken in some epic nights out, tea at new Pizza Restaurant, Curry, a frame or two of Snooker and the evening do of a wedding of two awesome people.

The Birmingham Trip saw me hook up with some close friends for a meal and plenty of pool as well as a night out that ended in the local branch of a Walkabout. The morning after that night out, April 9th I believe, one of my friends and I took in some Spanish Tapas at a bar in Grand Central by the Train Station. One Tapas dish contained meatballs and it was this dish that gave me the recipe idea on the blog today.

The ingredients were as follows:

Two New Potatoes sliced narrowly length ways.
Two Cloves of Garlic, topped, tailed and diced.
A tin of Chick Peas drained.
One Onion topped, tailed, peeled and finely sliced.
One Red Pepper de-cored, de-seeded and sliced into small squares.
Two Tomatoes cut into cubes.
A teaspoon of Paprika
A teaspoon of Dried Thyme.
A teaspoon of Dried Oregano.
A teaspoon of Tomato Puree.
A quarter of a pint of White Wine.
Eight Vegetarian, no this isn't a joke, Meatballs.
Four strips of Vegetarian Bacon.

On the player was another Captain Beefheart Record; this time "Trout Mask Replica". It is considered not only his best but one of the best albums ever and has even found itself subject to an order preserving it in the United States' National Archives. In truth it's an acquired taste but one that is worth taking time to acquire for the record to reveal its charms.

The first job was to shallow fry, in my Le Cresceut in Olive Oil, the New Potatoes, the Chickpeas and the Garlic. I did this on a medium heat for around fifteen minutes.

Then I added the Onion, Red Pepper, Tomatoes, Spices and Herbs and Tomato Puree, stirred them in and sweated them for another fifteen minutes.

After that I added the wine, which for those wine lovers among you was a light New Zealand number called Wairau Cove that was a Sauvingnon Blanc, the Meatballs and Vegetarian Bacon. I then stewed everything a further fifteen minutes.

The end result was a stew that was not overly runny and had plenty of richness with tangy spices. Although it was a stew it wasn't overly heavy, in light of the extremely hot weather, and evoked memories of old adventures to the Canary Islands and new and wonderful adventures to Birmingham nearly two weeks earlier.

Stew up- this Meatball Stew was a pretty fair approximation of the quality stew I had in Birmingham previously. 

Tag Team Tapas (Part One)

During the day on Friday the city and the provincial ex-mining town where I worked were transformed by temperatures akin to those you'd find in Benidorm or the Canary Islands. After hard work and a good chat with wonderful colleagues I signed off, bagged the weekly shop, got home and thought back to holidays in the Canary Islands. It was those holidays, coupled with a recent trip to a Tapas Restaurant in Birmingham, that inspired me to concoct a double-header of homemade Tapas during the weekend.

Part one of this project was to make some Olives with traditional Canary Island Mojo. The ingredients were as follows:

Two punnets of Green and Black Olives.
0.1 litre of Vinegar.
A quarter of a pint of White Wine.
Three medium-hot Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Half a head of Garlic.
A teaspoon of Dried Thyme.
A teaspoon of Paprika.
A teaspoon of Dried Oregano.

The first job on the Friday Night was to soak overnight the Olives in a small bowl with the Vinegar and White Wine.

On Saturday Afternoon the next job, after I had first negotiated the return of the Dogg following her three week hiatus at an outpost on the moors, was to make the Mojo. Captain Beefheart's challenging second album "Strictly Personal" had found itself onto the player. It is a record that finds the Captain at the crossroads between the relatively, for him at least, straight ahead blues with sixties pop hooks sound found on his first  rate debut album "Safe as Milk" and the seemingly disjointed, yet painstakingly rehearsed, far out blues of his early masterpiece "Trout Mask Replica". There's plenty of quality on the present record however as the Captain's strong voice, sounding like a blues man from the dawn of time, and searing, dirty bottleneck, bluesy guitars carry the day. Plum tracks include the pleading "Trust Us" and the filthy, commanding "Gimme Dat Harp Boy".

So to the Mojo; I removed the top and the seeds from the chili peppers and sliced them finely while wearing plastic gloves. This was very important as even so-called "medium" chillis can sting your hands quite badly if you risk preparing them without gloves.

Then I peeled and topped and tailed the Garlic. As I'm not middle-class enough to own a pestle and mortar I mashed the chili and garlic in a bowl with a potato masher and then added the herbs and oil. I then added this to the bowl with the olives in and stirred them together. I then put the bowl in the fridge until teatime.

At tea I served the Olive Tapas as a side with the Vegetarian Meatballs Tapas I had made for tea. The savoury taste of the Olives, Vinegar and White Wine mixed well with the fire and flavour of the Chili and Garlic which, although raw, was not overpowering.

Glowing Green- the Tapas Olives are lit up by the Spring Sunlight beaming onto the dining table. 

Green Belt

When it's throwing it down with rain, a common thing in this country, you have to be ready to change your plans. That's what happened on Easter Saturday and I made the most of the time by prepping a soup for the three-course dining extravaganza later in the day.

The record on the player was country music sensation Garth Brooks'  1992 effort "The Chase". As well as containing numerous catchy tunes, it deals with the universal issues of challenges in relationships between people. As this theme is something we can all relate to on some level it probably explains why the album sold by the bucket load on its release.

I plumped for a soup that contained lots of green vegetable ingredients and flavourings that evoked warm, sunny summer evenings. The soup was a Rocket, Chinese Cabbage and Potato Soup.

The ingredients were as follows:

A bag of pre-prepared Rocket.
Ten leaves from a Chinese Cabbage.
One Spunta Potato- peeled and then cubed.
Ten Ounces of Frozen Peas
A White Onion- topped, tailed and then diced.
The juice of a Lemon.
A tablespoon of dried Thyme.
A teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Three tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Two cloves of Garlic- topped,tailed, peeled and sliced finely.
Quarter of a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The ingredients to make this one was as follows:

1. Sweat the Cabbage, Garlic, Potatoes, Pepper and Thyme in Olive Oil in a sauce pan for thirty five minutes on a medium heat. Stir the ingredients constantly to stop them sticking to the pan.

2. Add the Rocket and Lemon Juice and sweat for a further twenty minutes.

3. Add the Vegetable Stock and simmer lightly for another twenty-five minutes until the Potato Pieces can be cut with the edge of a plastic spoon.

4. Leave the ingredients to cool and then blend.

5. Warm through on the hob for ten minutes and add some grated Parmesan for a richer taste.

The taste of this dish was rich but also sweet because of the Peas while the Potatoes gave it plenty of substance. The stodginess and wintry taste necessarily created by the Potatoes was also offset by the summery freshness of Lemon Juice.

Being Green- a refreshing and healthy soup ready to eat. 

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.