Neapolitan Easter

One product of this disturbing lockdown is that many people have been baking, if they have been lucky enough to get hold of any flour. On Instagram and Facebook I have seen some excellent and very professional efforts at baking bread. On a tropical Good Friday I decided to throw my hat into the ring by making a bread that is known in Italy, especially Naples, as a savoury Easter Treat. The usual process is to make a circular bread with a hole in and fill it with ham, hard-boiled eggs and some cheese.

The ingredients for my take on this bread were:

6 slices of Prosciutto cut into small squares. 

8 ounces of Chilli Cheese cut into small cubes. 

6 sprigs of Rosemary 

6 cups of Wholemeal Bread Flour

1 sachet of Yeast 

0.1 litres of Olive Oil 

2 cups water

On the player was Roy Orbison's final and greatest studio album "Mystery Girl" produced by the great Jeff Lynne and featuring songs by stars such as Elvis Costello, Bono and the Edge. It finds the Big O in typically engaging voice with many of the songs coming up to the quality of his memorable and long run of 1960s hit singles. I first heard the record while riding in my Dad's aged Fiat Uno as he and my mum transported me to play some junior cricket for a Peak District Team in the summer of '94. The album has stuck with me ever since. 

The method for this recipe was as follows: 

1. Combine the flour, yeast and Rosemary in a mixing bowl.

2. Gradually add the Olive Oil.

3. Then add the Cheese and Prosciutto pieces. 

4. Then add the water until all the ingredients are mixed together.to form a ball. 

5. Knead into a flat circle.
6. Punch a hole in the middle.

7. Leave in the refrigerator for 2 hours then get out for 45 minutes and bake on Gas Mark 5 for 45 minutes before serving hot or cold. 

The results of this project gave a bread that was slightly crunchy on the outside yet moist and very rich and flavoursome on the inside.

Survival Soup

The situation that has arisen since my last blog post is, in most of our lifetimes, unprecedented. Unlike during the War it is not the threat of invasion from a foreign power that has so curtailed our daily lives, but a microscopic army of disease that has caused a disturbance to our liberty. 

The closest thing to this in my lifetime was when in 2001 the foot and mouth outbreak saw the government close a lot of regular footpaths and parks, which meant I was able to find new places to walk closer to the home I lived in at the time.

The present scenario has brought a similar opportunity as it has allowed me to discover lots of new paths, within easy walking distance of my home, for the Dogg and I to exercise that few people seem to know of. This in turn means we get our daily exercise at a safe distance from anybody else and there is no risk of us causing what the state might term irresponsible harm by not following their social distancing rules. 

In one such place I found an enormous colony of Primroses growing on an embankment above a decaying railway line. They glowed luminously in the late spring light like the lines of an iridescent yellow marker pen dancing off an otherwise bland page of writing. 

Different times have called for different recipes. My emphasis is not so much on cooking for pleasure but more on cooking recipes that are nourishing, are able to last some time and they can be made pretty cheaply. 

Today's recipe is a type of soup that ticks all those boxes. 

On the player while making this soup was Nick Drake's final record, 1973's Pink Moon. Despite being around 26 minutes long he says a lot in a short space of time. The record contains sparse acoustic guitar and piano and is a classic case of less is more. Aside from the familiar title track, which was used in a car advert, you have the hypnotic chant of "Know" and the expansive "Things Behind the Sun" and "Parasite" as well as the assertive "Road". I got this record for my twenty-first birthday after I had just finished my first degree. My professional life, what little of it there was at that time,was at a crossroads just as it is today. 

In recent months the Dogg and I have made some connections with the Mysterious East. A Mysterious East that is just twenty minutes' drive away in normal circumstances. One thing I do know about this situation is that in the fullness of time the events that are unfolding will make this connection much stronger. The soup recipe is one taken from these connections and is as follows:

• Leaves and Stems of four Beetroot chopped finely.
• Four Sliced Shallots.
• Teaspoon of  dried Oregano.
• Teaspoon of Garlic Salt.
• Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The method is as follows:

1. Fry the Vegetables and herbs gently for twenty minutes in cooking in a Le Cresceut or a deep frying pan or wok.
2. Add the Vegetable Stock.
3. Simmer for thirty minutes.

Despite this recipe being seemingly nothing more than the leftovers from some Beetroot I baked with a shoulder of Gammon, the soup is full of natural goodness from the leaves and stems while the Oregano and Garlic Salt give it a real kick. The batch I made is enough for several helpings that have lasted a few days already. The soup is also surprisingly filling compared to a lot of the tinned dross that ignorant, self-centred delinquents have foolishly panic-bought from their local supermarkets. 

All the goodness- the soup ready to serve and steaming away. 

There's a kind of #Hash

Later that evening we were to watch the original Terminator Movie starring, among others, Mr Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger. With the exception of a few bits in Terminator 3, for me there were only ever two Terminator Movies; the first one and the second one. Sometimes the first two films suffer from over-familiarity . However watching the first one again with the lights off on a dark January evening with no interruptions made me realise how dark, chilling and in some ways prophetic the film was when taking into account our over dependence on technology today. The film is therefore just as relevant then as it is now. 

Seeing as Arnie is originally from Austria I decided to make something that is popular in his native country and I went for a Tiroler Grostel that's popular in the South Tryol Region of Austria. The recipe a kind of hash that is a little more exotic than some of our native hashes. 

The soundtrack today was more Zappa this time a live album released in 1991 called "Make a Jazz Noise Here". It is a deft mix of musical dexterity, strong guitar work, tight playing and sardonic humour. It is one three live albums that Zappa culled from his last world tour in 1988. 

The Ingredients

3 Small White Potatoes sliced as thinly as possible. 
3 Banana Shallots, peeled, topped, tailed and sliced width-ways. 
250 grams of Diced Beef.
250 grams of Diced Pork.
5 tablespoons of Rapeseed Oil or as needed. 
A tablespoon of Black Pepper. 
5 tablespoons of freshly chopped Parsley. 
1 tablespoon of dried Marjoram. 
1​ tablespoon of Caraway Seeds.
2 Eggs.
Salad leaves, such as Rocket, to serve on. 

The method

1. Heat the Oil in a frying pan and add the Potatoes. Fry until they are golden brown and fairly soft. 

2. In a separate frying pan fry the Shallots until they are translucent. 

3. Add the Beef, Pork and herbs to the pan with the Potatoes and fry until the Beef and Pork are cooked fully. Add the Shallots and then continue to fry on a low heat stirring very regularly. 

4. In the pan which contained the Shallots fry the two eggs for around five minutes while trying to make sure the Yolks remain runny. 

5. Serve the meat and potato mixture on a bed of Salad Leaves and divide this between two serving plates. Add a Fried Egg to the top of each serving.

There's a real earthy yet light taste to this recipe and it had the feel of something very different but is also comforting on a chilly Winter's Evening. For me it is the Diced Shallots, Pork and Caraway Seeds that really make the meal.

1. 

   A fried egg sitting pretty on top of the meal. 

   
   

   
   

The Empire Bites Back

The second week of January 2020 was as intense and action-packed as expected but also much more rewarding than expected. It mixed moments of intellectual excitement, clean-hitting during Cricket training and compromising body postures at a local village hall. 

Some comfort food was on the menu by the time Saturday 18 January rolled round. During the morning The Dogg and I discovered a new route through a familiar local wood and for our troubles were chased by a strange wolf-dog. The Dogg also succeeded in flushing an exotic-looking Mandarin Duck at a pond we walked passed. It was so muddy round and about that by the time we got home we were dirty enough to resemble some of the iconic pictures of mud -painted Rugby Union players from the 1970s, where every game seemed to take place on a a very damp day in January. 

Once we were cleaned up I searched my memory and recalled a retro biscuit recipe for something known as Empire Biscuits. These were the sort of biscuits your Gran might have made when she was a kid in the days when the United Kingdom genuinely had an Empire. 

Some inspiring music was playing in the background in the form of Frank Zappa's 1988 album "Guitar". The album is exactly what it says on the cover; a long collection of Zappa's guitar solos culled from various sources over the years. It succeeds in holding the listener's fascination for its entire length, as Zappa is such an accomplished an eclectic axe man that he keeps the music totally fresh throughout the album's duration. 

The ingredients of  this recipe are as follows:

Biscuit Base

• 130 grams of Caster Sugar
• 250 grams of Unsalted Butter
• 1 Egg, beaten. 
• 500 grams of  Plain Flour

Filling 

• Jar of Strawberry Jam. 

Topping

• 200 grams of Icing Sugar
• Few teaspoons of  water
• Glace Cherries.

Method 

• Pre-heat your oven to 180°c (or 160°c for a fan assisted oven). If using a Gas Oven pre-heat to Gas Mark 4. 
•  Line two baking trays with greased cooking foil. 
• Cream the Unsalted Butter and Sugar until it is very fluffy.
• Add the egg and mix until combined.
• Gradually add the Self-Raising Flour until a dough is formed. Knead the dough into a ball and then place in the fridge for around twenty minutes. 
• Roll the dough on a floured surface to around 1cm thick. Using a round cutter, cut the biscuits out and transfer them to the greased baking trays. 
• Bake for around 20 minutes until the biscuits become solid and golden. 
• When the biscuits are totally cool add the jam to the underside of half of them and attach them to the other halves to form a sandwich. 
• Prepare the icing by stirring the icing sugar and water slowly together until you have a thick paste. Spread the icing evenly over each of the biscuits and add the glace cherry. 
• Put the biscuits in the fridge for twelve hours to ensure the icing solidifies. After twelve hours remove from the fridge and serve once at room temperature. 

As the winter sun rolled into the lounge last Sunday Afternoon I took the time to chomp on one of the biscuits and reflect on how far that we'd all come in the last fifteen months. We had made a memorable start but the best was coming.

Flat Turk

Last Sunday was a bit of rush. After the Dogg and I had returned from the park there was a lot of pressure to prepare meals for the forthcoming working week as I knew I would have limited time. The reason for this was that there were a number of important matters that were to come to a head prior to some calmer weeks later in the month. 

I was inspired by a visit, back in the Autumn Season, to a Turkish Restaurant in the City where I practise. The restaurant has to be the best in the area for authentic and quality Turkish Food. I make no apologies for name checking it in the shares of this post on social media. 

There are a number dishes that Turkish Cuisine is known for. These include kebabs and pine seeds wrapped in vines. There are also a number flat breads that are most delicious. As something quick needed making for Sunday Tea I went for a flat bread recipe. 

On the player was the Grateful Dead's 1987 comeback record "In The Dark". The album was a strong return to form after the quality of the band's album output went off a cliff at the start of the 1980s. Highlights include the MTV Staple "In the Dark". Jerry Garcia's guitar meanwhile twangs like he's stolen the licks of a few Dire Straits songs. However being one of the greatest guitarists of all time, his unique, inimitable style remains underneath. This is made all the more remarkable by the fact just a year before he fell into a diabetic coma that caused him to lose his memory and have to relearn the guitar. 

To the recipe now, the ingredients were as follows:

For the Topping:

4 Tomatoes cut into cubes. 

1 Red Pepper de-cored, de-seeded and sliced thinly. 

1 Red Onion topped, tailed and sliced very thinly. 

1 Tablespoon of Ground Coriander.

1 Tablespoon of dried Ground Cumin. 

Olives

Several Cubes of Feta Cheese. 

For the Flat Bread

200 grams of Self-Raising Flour. 

2 Cups of Water.

1 tablespoon of Olive Oil.

Method

1. Fry the ingredients for the topping on a medium heat in Rapeseed Oil for twenty minutes stirring regularly. Once cooked take off the heat and leave to one side. 

2. Stir the Flour, Olive Oil and Water together with a wooden spoon until a thick paste is formed. 

3. If necessary use some extra flour for extra grip and knead the ingredients until you have a thick, pliable ball of dough.

4. Place the Dough in the fridge for thirty minutes. 

5. Roll the Dough out into four pieces.

6. Fry the Dough Pieces on a medium in a frying pan using rapeseed oil for around fourteen minutes using some Rapeseed Oil.

7. Put some topping on each of the Dough Pieces and grill on a low heat for around five minutes before serving. 

The beauty of this bread is that it is relatively quick and easy to make and also filling. A tasty meal for anybody in a hurry with a love of Turkish Food. 

A complimentary piece of Sea Bass sits atop the Flat Bread while some Salad Leaves are underneath.

Sugar Free Parkin

The Smiths once sang that "rain falls down on a humdrum town". The days before Remembrance Weekend 2019 neatly fitted that particular bill as I piloted the freshly MOT'd and serviced Panda through storms and floods and along roads linking several forgotten ex-mining villages. 

On the evening of Remembrance Friday a trip to a local venue to see a first rate Rush tribute band with equally first rate company was equally dark and damp, but certainly much more enjoyable than the drives through floods the previous day.

By the time the weekend proper had rolled round and the parents had dropped the Dogg off at mine thoughts turned towards making some seasonal comfort food. My mind turned back to my childhood and dark November Nights after tricky days at school where I would often binge on bonfire toffee while watching Champions' League Football on the TV. It's funny how certain flavours and tastes stick in your mind from days gone by. The burnt and earthy taste, punctuated with shards of sweetness, of that bonfire toffee was something I wished to replicate. 

This said I decided to make a type of Parkin that would resurrect this taste of the past. On the player while making this recipe was Kiss' 1975 breakthrough live album "Alive!". Kiss' first three albums are a marvellous mix of catchy, hard rocking numbers that cover a surprising amount of different territories. However at the time of their release they barely sold enough to recoup their advertising costs. "Alive!" changed all that, sold millions and set them on the road to stardom. The performances, which take the pick of the tracks from the first three albums, sound fresh, energetic and have lots of warmth. 

So to the recipe. When I do baking I tend to divide the ingredients up into "dry" and "damp" ingredients:

Damp Ingredients:

200 grams of Golden Syrup.
85 grams of Treacle. 
200 grams of Unsalted Butter, melted in a saucepan. 
1/8 of a pint of Whisky. The whisky used was a supermarket own brand blend. My followers from the Highlands will be pleased to know I didn’t waste a genuine single malt on this recipe.
1 beaten Egg. 

Dry Ingredients

200 grams of Self-Raising Flour. 
100 grams of Ground Almonds.
1 tablespoon of Ground Ginger.
100 grams of Oats. 

Method

1. Stir together all the Dry Ingredients in a mixing bowl until they are combined. 

2. Add the Melted Unsalted Butter, Whisky and Egg and stir into the Dry Ingredients until you have a thick paste. 

3. Stir in the Treacle and Syrup. 

4. Place the mixture into a greased baking tin that is too high sided. 

5. Bake for one hour in the oven on Gas Mark 3 (170 degrees) for one hour. Then bake for a further half an hour on Gas Mark 5 (190 degrees). Pierce with a skewer to ensure it is cooked and not runny in the middle. 

6. Remove from the tin, leave to cool then cut into cubes prior to serving. 

The combination of the Treacle and Whisky in this recipe gave it the tar-like and fiery taste I was looking for and the Syrup and Ground Almonds made it sweet and almost taste like freshly produced fudge. A baking project to bring back long lost memories. 

South Coast Cod

At the end of September I joined the parents on their tour of the South West Coast. While there the Dogg and I uncovered the mysteries of an Island containing much War History, two prisons and lots of quarries. We also discovered lots fine seafood including oysters and crab. 

Perhaps the most remarkable dish we discovered however was at a pub hidden in a valley near the South West Coast Path where we helped my mum celebrate what she reckoned was one of her most memorable birthdays. 

That area of the South West Coast has numerous links with the Smuggling Trade of years gone by and the name of this pub referred to these often romanticised links. 

The pub in question served me a tandoori Hake on a bed of Potatoes, Shallots and Spinach. It was that dish that inspired me to make recently my own take on this recipe which used fresh Cod Fillets in lieu of Hake. 

The ingredients were as follows: 

Two Large Cod Fillets.
Two tablespoons of Turmeric.
Two tablespoons of Fenuguk
Three Carrots, peeled, topped and tailed and cut into baton shapes. 
Three Shallots, peeled, topped and tailed and cut into halves. 
One White Potato, peeled and cut width-ways into circles. 
One White Onion,peeled, topped and tailed and cut into pieces width-ways. 
Five Lettuce Leaves. 

On the player was one of the discs of Fleetwood Mac's Epic collection of Live Radio Broadcasts known as Gold Dust Radio 1975-1988. The collection showcases a number of incarnations of the band and illustrates that whoever was in the band at the time each gig was recorded, they were always a top drawer live act. 

The method to make this dish is:

1. Marinate the Cod in the Turmeric and Fenuguk using Olive Oil to bind the spices to the Cod and a plastic brush to ensure the Cod is covered in the mixture. 

2. Steam the Carrots and the Potato for twenty minutes. 

3. Fry the Shallots and Onions on a medium heat in Olive Oil in a Le Cresceut Dish for ten minutes until they are translucent. Stir them regularly to stop them sticking to the bottom of the dish. 

4. Add the Carrots and Potato ,once they have been steamed, and fry the ingredients for a further five minutes. 

5. In the meantime wrap the marinated Cod loosely in foil to form a parcel and cook in the oven for twenty minutes on Gas Mark Four. 

6. Place the Lettuce Leaves on a plate. Add the Shallots, Onion, Carrots and Potatoes by placing them decoratively atop the Lettuce. Then place the Cod Steaks on top of everything else. 

This dish was a clash of exotic near eastern flavours with the Cod while the fresh vegetables were more at home on a traditional Sunday Roast Menu. Either way this contrast made this a varied an enjoyable dish that revived memories of some wonderful adventures on the South West Coast.