Orange is the new squash

The red light was on and there was no gas left in the tank and by the end of last week I was comparing myself to a "H" Reg Ford Fiesta in that I was a little battered and some of the parts felt like they needed replacing. It was clear that I needed a bit of a break and sure enough this up coming week was my first off work since the Christmas Holidays. It had been six months but it had been six months of rewarding hard work personally and professionally.

Yesterday was a day of unwinding and not doing too much as well as revisting an old recipe from six or seven years ago when I first became interested in cookery. I had about twelve ounces of butternut squash in cubes going spare as well as a large white onion, a clove of garlic, a hint of white pepper and a couple of teaspoons of powdered ginger.

I sliced up the white onion finely and the garlic clove and fried them in a saucepan with the lid on for about fifteen minutes. I added the ginger and the white pepper while they were frying. I stirred the ingredients periodically to ensure they did not stick to the bottom of the pan.

After the fifteen minutes was up and I was sure the onions, especially, were suitably softened I added the cubed butternut squash and fried it with the other ingredients for another ten minutes. I then added half a pint of chicken stock and simmered the mixture for around twenty-five minutes.

The soundtrack to the simmering of the soup mixture was Fairport Convention's 1978 effort Tippler's Tales a rustic folk record who's songs are all themed around drinking. The album was their last before their temporary disbanding.

After the twenty-five minutes were up I blended the soup, which transformed it into a bright orange mixture that glowed in the sun coming into my conservatory when I served it in a bowl topped with some fresh chives from my garden.

The soup was perfect for the unseasonable chill in my part of the world and the chives added a freshness to the always flawless taste of butternut squash.

Bright and bubbling with extra chives

Haddock Friday

On Good Friday the sun shone for what seemed like the first time in a couple of weeks, I was off work after a long week of fulfillment and new light through old windows. I also had insurrection to deal with at the charity of which I am President for part of this year. I, as I do when I have challenges to face and overcome, took a long walk with my dog in the sun which lasted nearly five hours and was around ten miles long.

The walk cleared my head and after utilising a trick popularised for me, at least as far as the sleeping part is concerned, by my octagenarian grandad who is also my role model, I had an afternoon nap while listening to the Allman Brothers' Band's wonderful 1972 epic album "Eat A Peach". After walking on the problem earlier in the day and then sleeping on it I was about ready to deal with it. Although first I needed a big meal.

As it was the Easter weekend coming up I had decided to get some fish in during the week. The fish was a smoked haddock fillet and it had been defrosting in my fridge during the course of the day.

I first pre-heated the oven at Gas Mark 4 and once it was warmed up I put the haddock in wrapped in a foil parcel and covered it in rapeseed oil on a baking tray. The haddock was to be cooked for around 22-25 minutes.

In the meantime I set to work frying in my Le Cresceut a leek I had sliced lengthways with some diced onion. I fried it lightly for around fifteen minutes in some rapeseed oil with a hint of squeezed mustard. I then added some fresh cress as well to garnish this element of the meal.

I also steamed for about twenty-five minutes some white potatoes I had cubed several weeks earlier and then frozen to keep them fresh so they could be put straight into my steamer when they were ready to use. I steamed them with some frozen peas that I added to the steaming potatoes after about twenty minutes of steaming.

After the potatoes and peas were cooked I added them with two tablespoons of chopped mint and two of milk to the blender. I then blended them until they resembled the consistency of mushy peas as sampled from one of the many great local chippys in the area. The milk was crucial in the blending as without it the blender struggled to cut through the potato pieces despite the steamer doing an efficient and economic job of cooking them.

After the potatoes and peas were blended I put them in a serving bowl while the other ingredients were still being prepared.

I made a dressing for the dish by putting three tablespoons of honey in a saucepan with four sprigs of fresh Thyme, two tablespoons of dried Tarragon, some Rapeseed Oil and the juice and zest of one lemon. I stirred these ingredients together and warmed them through in the pan before putting them in a serving bowl.

Once the dish was all ready to serve I added the Haddock, some of the dressing, some of the peas and the leek, cress and onion to a plate as shown in the picture. With the Cocteau Twins' charming offering Heaven or Las Vegas playing loudly, I sat down to tea.

There was a real mix of flavours in the meal although not enough to spoil it. The smoked haddock contrasted well with the sweet and sour of the dressing and the freshness of the mint puree seemed all the more appropriate in the sunny weather. Definitely a dish for the end of an exacting week when the sun shone.

Here is the dish ready to eat with a presentation that attempts to give local restaurants a run for their money.

Our Laksma

The 23rd January was a Saturday and it involved a walk in the crisp winter sun in the local wood and exploring the large network of streams in the wood; mainly due to my dog's love of water and my need to get her clean after she found almost every muddy patch of ground possible on our walk.

The day before that I had found time to visit the winter gardens in my local city of Sheffield for a cup of tea with an old schoolfriend to end an exciting week on a high.

When I got home I stuck on the MP3 player Love's string laden and warped masterpiece Forever Changes which was followed by R.E.M's Green which saw them cross over with an album that is at least half successful in terms of creativity.

Following recent exposures to Oriental Culture through various sources I decided to make a dish known as Laksma. The method and the recipe of it from the version I made are as follows:

1. I created a paste that I put through my blender before frying- it as you will see I did later on in the recipe. The paste had in it the following:

1 diced onion.
2 diced garlic cloves.
1 teaspoon turmeric.
1 teaspoon ginger.
1 teaspoon coriander.
2 diced green chilli peppers.
1 tablespoon olive oil.

A close colleague and friend of mine at work swears by making her pastes from scratch rather than buying ready made ones from the shops. I have to say that I totally agree with her, there is certainly something more authentic and flavoursome about making your own paste from scratch even if it takes longer.

2.After leaving the paste on one side I then grilled a salmon steak I had found I my freezer for a period of twenty-five minutes.

3. While the salmon was cooking under the grill I boiled some noodles in a pan of water on the stove for  fifteen minutes.

4. While the noodles boiled and the salmon was cooking I fried the paste in my wok with some light soy sauce, fish sauce, one and a half cups of chicken stock and one and a half cups of coconut milk as well. I fried it for around five minutes until it was warmed through and kept it warm on a light heat while the noodles and salmon were cooking.

5. Once the Salmon and the noodles were ready I combined them in the wok with the paste and served the dish. This is one of those dishes that feels it does you nothing but good and also tastes delicious too. The Salmon and noodles give it plenty of protein while the texture and taste of the paste help increase your intake of fresh vegetables.

I also served it with some spinach which took the edge off the spices in the paste to give the food a more rounded flavour.

The meal definitely helped motivate me to seek out more types of Oriental Recipes which you'll see on the blog in the coming weeks.

Like a lot of Oriental dishes this is best off being served in a bowl because of the liquid content.

Squashed Risotto

It was Wednesday, it was January it had rained (again) and spring seemed rather a long way away. As is the way at this time of year it was dark by the time I got home from work, although to be fair as I was leaving the office the last vestiges of daylight were clinging to the rooftops of Rawmarsh as I climbed into the car.

Rather than making something quick from, to borrow one of my secretary's catchphrases, "out the freezer" I decided to treat myself to making a dish I would usually reserve for the weekend when I had more time on my hands.

It was a recipe I learned from my dad in the days when I lived at home. The ingredients I used were as follows:

1. 8 ounces of risotto rice.
2. 3 cloves of garlic.
3. Half a red onion.
4. 1 litre of vegetable stock.
5. Teaspoon of paprika.
6. Teaspoon of white pepper.
7. Half the flesh of a butternut squash.
8. Half a bottle of red wine.
9. 10 ounces quorn pieces.
10. 3 ounces of grated Red Leicester cheese.
11. Salad leaves to garnish.

The album on my MP3 player was something that was a little downbeat to say it was the middle of the working week and I tend during this time to listen to energetic music to keep me pumped up and in the zone for the challenges of the day job. The album was Radiohead's 2003 effort Hail to the Thief that had arrived in the post earlier in the day. It is an album that combines their nascent guitar driven work with their, at the time, more recent dalliances with the world of electronica. The project is a real success and beneath the fog of electric swirls and Thom Yorke's wintry whine is hidden a great record that rewards repeated listens.

As I had not had time, or cash, to invest in a Le Cresceut since I moved to my new place I had to use the wok and I covered the bottom of it with rapeseed oil. Next I diced the garlic and onion and fried them gently for around five minutes together with the paprika and the white pepper.

After five minutes I added the butternut squash pieces, quorn pieces and the rice and another five minutes of frying, whilst constantly stirring the ingredients to stop them sticking, ensued. I then emptied half a bottle of red wine into the wok and stirred it into the food steadily until it had been absorbed. I used a Riocha Wine which had a rich taste to say the least.

After the wine was absorbed I poured in half of the vegetable stock and stirred it in until it too was absorbed. Next came the second half of the vegetable stock and when around two thirds of this had been absorbed I added the grated Red Leicester which ensured that, once it had melted, the risotto was thick and not overly runny.

I then served it with some salad leaves to garnish as well. The trick with risotto is making sure that you have some surplus liquid so it is not overly dry while at the same time ensuring the risotto rice is fully cooked and not unecessary al dente. This was something I managed to achieve with this dish, which proved to be real comfort food on a dark winter's night that left me in a positive and energetic frame of mind for work the next day.

The red wine gave the Quorn Pieces and the risotto rice a claret hue and a rich taste.

Scrambling Spinach

The mild weather returned towards January's end and as a result it suddenly became easier to get out of bed in the morning and the sunshine returned too which is always as bonus at this time of year.

That said towards the end of the month the weather was better for walking in and one of my closest friends and I on a Sunday, not far from payday, took to the hills with our respective dogs for a long, cathartic walk where we shared our recent experiences and set the world to rights. It was after a post-walk cup of tea that I decided to prepare a healthy but rich lunch that was one step beyond my usual Sunday Lunchtime fare of cheese and biscuits.

The dish I settled upon was scrambled eggs with spinach which is a simple dish to make and very healthy. The ingredients I used where as follows:

Three eggs
Four ounces of light margarine.
Three tablespoons of semi-skimmed milk
A tablespoon of dried Tarragon.
A tablespoon of white wine vinegar.
Half a tablespoon of squeezed mustard.
One ounce of grated cheese.
Two handfuls of spinach.

The album on my MP3 player was one I bought at the start of my second year at university, nearly fourteen years ago, being Love's 1967 effort Da Capo. This album is best categorised as a psychedlic record and it encapsulates both the best and the excessive elements of this sub-genre. On one hand you have the first six songs that are short, sharp and memorable as well as ground-breaking. However this is balanced out by the nineteen minute jam which closes the record that is typical psychedelic excess although having said that it is much more interesting than many similar jams by other artists as it includes amongst other things a saxophone solo.

I broke the three eggs in a mixing bowl and then whisked them together very rapidly. In the meantime I melted the margarine into a sauce pan and once it had melted I added the Tarragon to it. Then came the whisked eggs followed by the milk, white vine vinegar and the mustard. While keeping everything on a low heat I stirred it constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture had thickened.

After this I put the spinach into the mixture and once it had blended in sufficiently I added the grated cheese and melted this into what was now scrambled eggs with spinach. Soon the dish was ready to serve and I added some more spinach to the top of it for decorative purposes.

Spinach has plenty of iron in it and it also gave the meal a fresh taste that was offset by the richness of the eggs and margarine, albeit low fat margarine, while the tarragon, vinegar and mustard added a matureness to the meal that worked very well.

More interesting than your average Sunday Snack complete with decorative spinach leaves

Garbanzas Compuestas

On the 16th January it was a bitterly cold day on which the sun shone and it was easier to walk on the local paths than it had been for some time as the dampness had been replaced with icy but solid ground. In short the wet and mild weather had given way to a typical, sunny, crisp winter day. It was certainly wonderful to get out in it and as the sun shone through the pine trees in the local wood I realised being out in the fresh air was the perfect therapy for the exciting challenges that I was experiencing.

It was also my dog's 4th birthday so I treated her by making the walk seven miles long and then giving her cooked bacon for her lunch when we returned to my home. In the evening the light vanished early and was replaced by extreme cold and snowfall. To remind me of warmth and sunshine I dug out a recipe book relating to Tapas of the Canary Island that I brought back from a holiday in Fuerteventura the October before last.

I settled on a recipe called Garbanazas Compuestas which is essentially the Canary Islands of a meat casserole. The soundtrack to cooking today was Suede's 1994 masterpiece Dog Man Star which was as dark and cold as the weather outside my window. The album has elements of The Smiths' sound, early R.E.M and most tellingly mid to late 70s David Bowie; an artist at the forefront of my mind after the announcement of his sad death earlier that week.

The Ingredients were as follows:

1 Can of chick peas.
8 ounces of diced bacon.
8 ounces of pre-prepared chorizo.
1 diced red onion.
Half a diced red pepper.
6 halved baby tomatoes.
2 cloves of garlic.
1 teaspoon of paprika
2 sprigs of  fresh thyme.
1 teaspoon  of black pepper.
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar.

The method I used to make the meal was as follows:

1. Fry the onion, garlic and pepper for 10 minutes in a wok with some olive oil.
2. Add the bacon and fry for 10 minutes.
3. Gradually add each spice and vinegar stirring them in one at a time.
4. Add the tomatoes
5. Add the chorizo.
6. Add the chick peas.
7. Stew for 20 minutes.

The outcome was a dish with plenty of warmth and spices that was substantial and succeeeded in banishing the winter blues because of this and also because it brought back memories of my trip to cloudless Fuerteventura, a trip that is still one of the best I've been on.

A delicious looking meal that attracted a lot of attention when I first posted this picture on Facebook

The Sunday Tarragon Project

The first Sunday of the New Year had me wake up with a feeling in my mind that I had slept well. However the tiredness trawling through my body suggested the opposite. The reality was that I had just awoken from a classic case of Alcoholic Sleep. What I mean by that is that I had consumed a reasonable amount of real bitter the night before and therefore got to sleep quickly on my return home. However as often happens when you have a few drinks you sleep very lightly so when you wake up your body usually makes you feel you have been up for last twenty-four hours.

It had been worth it though as I had a very entertaining night out in town as we sampled real ale at two different pubs including a local pub that has a juke box that plays tasteful progressive rock and has the pick of the beer from the local breweries on offer. It is certainly my town's best kept secret and one of the jewels in the crown of its public houses.

Another plus of consuming the beer the night before was that I had something to sweat out on a walk that morning with my dog, who I had custody of for the weekend, and by the time I had pounded up and down the nearby hills I was ready for a substantial meal.

My music taste, as those who know me well will tell you, is eclectic and ranges from the hip to the tragically un-hip. The album on my MP3 Player was perhaps a touch closer to the latter part of the spectrum and was Chris Rea's 1978 debut Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? This album is now out of print and hard to find despite being a rare hit album for him in America, in fact it is his highest charting record there to date. Still its mellow warmth, that mainly stems from Rea's gravelly voice, and eclectic mix of rock, ballads, country and powerful guitar made it the perfect soundtrack to banish the winter blues and shake off the vestiges of a hangover.

I got a bunch of brocolli and washed it thoroughly. I then cut parts of it off so that the brocolli pieces looked like minature trees, coincidentally a fellow foodie had mentioned  this very fact the night before about the appearance of brocolli when cut in this way. I also peeled a potato and sliced it widthways prior to simmering both the potato and the brocolli for a period of ten minutes. After this time I left the brocolli and the potatoes in then pan to cool once I had turned off the heat.

In the meantime I fried whilst turning steadily two chicken breasts. I fried them in rapeseed oil, an oil that is both cheaper than olive oil and also as good for preparing meat with. Once the chicken had finished its brief encounter with the wok I added it with the potatoes and the broccolli into a glass ovenproof dish that I had greased liberally with margarine. I then added a diced white onion, a thinly sliced garlic clove, half a pint of chicken stock, some squeezed mustard, a hint of black pepper and two tablespoons of dried tarragon to the dish. I spread all the seasoning widely around the dish.

After I had ensured that the stock covered the chicken and vegetables fully I put the dish in the oven and then cooked it on gas mark 6 for one hour.

After an hour I checked the chicken by slicing part of one side of it and this revealed that the meat inside had become white, and formed tender strips when cut into. For me this is a sure fire sign that chicken is cooked and something I look very carefully for when having a chicken dinner as chicken is a meat that if you undercook it then it can have unwanted consequences for your short term health.

Having satisfied myself that the chicken was cooked through I served it with the rest of the dish. I have to say that there is nothing that is much better than a chicken dinner on a Sunday lunchtime and this recipe gave me no evidence to change that view. The use of the tarragon also worked well as it has a slight aniseed- like taste that contrasts well with the salty and savoury taste of the stock. A good dish to have after a hangover- busting walk that will set you up for a productive recovery day.

Freshly cooked, juicy chicken that was covered in flavoursome tarragon