Hot as hell(im)!

Well, after pie gate yesterday (it wasn’t really a 'gate'); I opted for a no carb. salad dinner tonight, in keeping with the hot weather. I had previously knocked up some rocket and parsley pesto from the leaves given to me, again by Mother in law Spread after our last visit. I had frozen some as I had made so much and this was going to be the perfect dressing for my butter beans with grilled halloumi.


What you will need
1 bag/bunch of rocket (about a handful)
A bunch of parsley (about a handful)
2 cloves garlic
1 handful of pine nuts or walnuts
Olive oil
Parmesan (about a handful)
1 tin of butter beans
1 pack of halloumi
Lemon
Fresh basil


Blitz the rocket, parsley, garlic and nuts together (whichever you chose) in a blender. Either add what seems like a handful of parmesan to the blender or grate separately and stir into the blended ingredients. Season the pesto with salt and pepper and add olive oil to bind. You don’t necessarily need that much if you are going to be eating it immediately. I prefer to make it rather than buy it as I don’t need to add so much oil as I’m not preserving it.


Stir as much as you fancy of the pesto through a drained can of butter beans. I just add a squeeze of lemon juice to freshen the whole thing up before topping with three to four slices of oozy, bubbling and brown halloumi. Serve garnished with a sprig of fresh basil.

Gipsy Spread had a great time with his rocket pesto and butter beans salad as he also had Waitrose’ pulled pork. Thanks Ocado for the awesome meat treat for my man. Although, he does very much like the hellim, so I let him have one slice with his pork.


He still has a lot of the pork left, so the challenge of dinners to accompany pulled pork continues. If he's lucky, I might make gyozas this weekend with it. Watch this space.

Here's mud in your eye

Well, a two week heat wave. So I should have clearly been cooking and eating the foods of the hot countries; India, Mexico, Spain, Italy and Turkey, where the ingredients and spices are designed to cool and refresh.


But no, we were in the Home Counties at the weekend and I popped into the Holy Cow in Petersfield to pick up Mother in Law Spread’s seeded loaf and spotted my favourite pies. I have previously made the special trip to Midhurst to pick up the delicious ‘Mud’ pies, but no more, thanks to the Holy Cow. A Holy Cow indeed!


So, it was 27 degrees outside. We’d driven home in the sauna of a car; we had a bottle of fizzy pink prosecco on ice (to toast Murray of course) and I put the pies in the oven to heat through for dinner.


Mine was the deliciously earthy and rich wild mushroom and asparagus pie, with the beautifully short, but naughty crust. Gipsy Spread had a lamb and rosemary pie with the same all encompassing buttery crust.

I expect these Mud pies will find their way to London from Hampshire, but I would most probably rather they didn’t – you know, so I’m not eating a proper pie as frequently. When I make my own, it’s usually with just a pie crust top. Although, my point is that these deliciously organic, homemade type pies are a joy and if I’m going to eat a pie, I do want it to be really good.


So thanks Mud for making my Sunday even better, but I am definitely in need of a run this week, with this hot weather meaning I need to peel off the layers.

You can see where they are sold via their website http://www.mudfoods.com/

The Murray Medley

Wow, so what a scorcher today turned out to be, as well as an exciting finale to Wimbledon.


Gipsy Spread and I were in the home counties this weekend, visiting Mother in law Spread and attending a first birthday party in an eclectic garden. Think, piano outside on patio with flowers growing out of it, a vegetable patch and wild flower conservation area, y'know for the bees. There was also a paddling pool for the children, which made me wonder why there are not paddling pools for adults?


Anyway, after the party we headed back to the cottage, planning on removing back to London. We were all parched from the sun, and as we noted the Wimbledon scores, we settled down to see whether the finale was indeed soon, before heading back to London. I therefore decided to knock up some mocktails for us to help quench our thirst.


I had purchased some cranberry cordial yesterday, which I poured over ice into a jug. I picked some fresh mint from the garden and added several spriggs to the jug, a squeeze of a fresh lemon and some of the lemon zest, then topped this up with fizzy water.

This is what we were all drinking in the final 30 minutes of the most tense sporting event I have witnessed (perhaps this is because I don't generally watch much sport!?). So, I name this very simple, but refreshing mocktail the Murray Medley, in his honour. Cheers Andy!


Now we are back at home, where's the real stuff...?

Crumble with cheddar and herbs

I promised my vegetable crumble recipe the other day, and so I have delivered today. Although, in reality this recipe varies based on the vegetables I have in the house. For example in the winter, it might consist of root vegetables in which case I would make the sauce more stock and gravy-like with sage and rosemary in the crumble. Alternatively, and like today, if I have the more Mediterranean vegetables in the house, I will opt for a tomato based sauce with oregano and basil in the crumble. Basically, the choice is yours.


What you will need

1 aubergine

2 cloves of garlic

A pinch of chilli flakes

1 courgette

2 leeks

1 onion

½ a butternut squash

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 table spoons of tomato puree

1 table spoon of chopped capers

2 table spoons of balsamic vinegar

150g plain flour

100g of mature Cheddar

50g of softened butter

1 table spoon of seeds (optional)

Handful of fresh herbs (I opted for oregano, basil and chives)


Chop the onion and garlic and sauté in some oil until softened. Slice the courgette and leek and chop the aubergine and butternut squash into cubes and add to the softened onions and garlic. Soften the vegetables for 5-10 minutes on a low heat before adding the chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, chilli and tomato puree. Add the same amount of water as tomatoes (i.e fill the tin and add to the pan, plus a little bit more). Cook and reduce the vegetables for about 20 minutes. You will want to ensure there is still some sauce for baking. 


In this time you can make your crumble. It is not dissimilar to making a sweet crumble, it’s a similar process of combining flour with butter, but instead of sugar, the other ingredient is cheddar and I add my omega 3 mixed seeds and the chopped herbs. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together using your fingers and thumbs to combine until they look like breadcrumbs.


Transfer the vegetables to a casserole dish and cover with the crumble and bake for 30-40 minutes in a preheated oven at 220 degrees until the crumble has browned and crisped. A word of caution if you don’t plan to bake straight away let the vegetables cool down and put the crumble on just before you bake so that it doesn’t go soggy.
 

As I stated before, this can be made using whatever vegetables you have to hand. The filling can also include green lentils or beans for some added protein.

Sugar and spice...

The wait was over as we headed to the Cinnamon Soho on Sunday for Ma Toast's 60th birthday celebrations. The double whammy for me was also the drinks on the outdoor balcony at the oxo Tower, but I will get to that.


The Cinnamon Soho is one of Vivek Singh's brainchild's, following on from his hugely successful Cinnamon Club and Cinnamon Kitchen. It is described as their 'younger and cheekier sibling'. The former two are a bit more expensive and I tend to keep these for special occasions being fine dining. Not that ma Toast's birthday isn't special, but sadly, the Cinnamon Club is not open on Sundays. So, it was off to what promised to be the more relaxed and fun Cinnamon restaurant.


As it happened, we went on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year (so far). We arrived and the restaurant was fairly quiet for Sunday lunchtime. We (Pa Toast owns an Indian restaurant) tend to find that people don’t want to eat Indian food when it’s hot, which is weird because spicy food, like tea is consumed in hot countries because it helps cool you down, i.e. sweat.


Anyway, we reviewed the lunch menu, which is all that is on offer on a Sunday and started with two courses for the bargain price of £15. Ma Toast and I went for the vegetarian papdi chat which was a refreshing and tangy explosion of flavours and textures. The crunchy gram flour sev against the light yoghurt and sweet-sour tamarind chutney. It was well done, just like mum makes, although she was telling me the ways in which it was different (read inferior) to hers.
 

Brother Toast went for the interesting combination of flavours of mackerel with an apple and fennel raita, whilst Gipsy Spread had the tandoori chicken salad with toasted melon seeds.

 

 

The vegetarian main course sounded interesting to me;a chargrilled broccoli malai with almonds and rose petals. I wasn’t sure if the broccoli was going to be pureed with flaked almonds through it. What I received was some delicately spiced broccoli on a bed of puréed spiced spinach (I’m guessing this is the malai?) covered with a creamy/cheesy sauce (or was this the malai?). I was also unable to identify the almond in the dish. Regardless, I had not had anything like it before and it was very tasty. We ordered sides of masala mash, garlic nan and potato paratha for us to share. These were also very tasty.

 

 

Gipsy spread had the pan seared coley with tomato and lime sauce.

By the end, none of us had room for any dessert. I did like the food and the service was excellent, but on the day that we went, I felt the atmosphere was lacking. I think I would like to go again, perhaps for dinner on a Saturday night to get a better feel for it.

You can view the menu here http://www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/Soho-Home

 

To pea or to leek...?

It’s a silly question really, as it’s both, plus a courgette in my three greens pasta. Another quickie, but a necessity for when we’ve both been working all day and we want a simple nutritious (three of our five a day!) and a delicious but satisfying dinner.

What you’ll need

1 courgette

1-1.5 leeks

2 handfuls of green peas

2 tablespoons Crème fraiche

White wine

1 tea spoon mustard

Nutmeg

Pasta

Slice the courgette in half lengthways and then slice to produce ½ cm wide half moons.  Slice the leek(s) and sauté both in a pan with some olive or rapeseed oil and salt. It should take 5-10 minutes for these to soften on a low heat, making sure they don’t burn, but that the leeks have softened. Add the green peas towards the end of this cooking time for a minute or two.

Then add a glass of white wine. Any will do, I added a cabernet sauvignon tonight, as Gipsy Spread is the white drinker and won’t drink chardonnay, so that's what we had. As to the amount, about a 125ml glass, aka the size of a glass of wine I would never order (there really is no point). Cook the alcohol off for a minute and then add two heaped table spoons of the crème fraiche (yes, mine is half fat) and heat through with a teaspoon of mustard, a grating of nutmeg and black pepper for another minute. I added thyme and chopped chives at the end.

Cook whatever shape of pasta you fancy (for 4 portions), we went for penne on this occasion, reserving 4-6 large tablespoons of the water (really, make it as saucy as you like).  Add the creamy three greens sauce to the pasta and water and heat through before serving with freshly grated parmesan. Enjoy.

 

 

Well, the Ocado shop arrived this week, so I have already thought about dinner tomorrow night. Watch this space for an update on my vegetable crumble recipe that we'll be having for dinner. Gipsy spread will be having his with Waitrose' finest venison sausages.


I'm also heading out for lunch with Alice and the Cat tomorrow(yay!). Yes indeed, to the best falafel stand in London Town and I hope to pick up some baby aubergines to start my recipes for my perfect Indian thali.

 

 

I say tomato...

The Cat and I were being ladies who lunch… on our lunch break from work, this Thursday. We headed to our usual hot spot of the falafel stand in Tachbrook street market (scroll down to a previous post about the best falafel in London Town). Whilst queuing, we both spotted some vibrant jewels of yellow cherry tomatoes out of the corner of our eyes. These we had to have.

So, last night I had to decide what to do with these gems (The Cat had eaten half of hers on her train journey home on Thursday). Wanting them to ‘speak for themselves’, I decided on a very simple tomato, avocado and mozzarella salad, garnished with beautifully fragrant fresh herbs of greek basil and oregano and dressed delicately with balsamic vinegar.

Although, whilst slicing these tangy and sweet jewels in half, it became apparent I had more of the gems than I could eat all by myself in salads. I then decided that I needed to preserve them. In this case, I lined the bottom of an oven tray with halved cherry tomatoes, seasoned and sprinkled over two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 cloves garlic crushed, two crushed dried chillies with a bay leaf and cinnamon stick and added plenty of the afore mentioned greek basil and organo and roasted to dry for an hour and a half at 110C.

I then placed the roasted tomatoes in a sterilised jar and topped up the gaps in the jar with rapeseed oil (yes we have converted from olive oil). I’ll be having these tomatoes for an easy pasta dinner this week, topped with lashings of grated parmesan or as a pizza/bruschetta topping.

Whilst, I was doing the above, Gipsy spread used the yellow tomatoes in his baked cod parcel, which also included capers, bay leaf and fresh herbs poached in white wine.

Dinner in 10 minutes?

These aren’t all my recipes, but I thought I’d share five (it’s just a nice number)of my 10 minute after work quickies. Now, I know Jaime Oliver does it in 30 minutes and manages to make three courses, but I don’t think all of that is necessary every night for dinner and in fact, is very likely to make you obese if you ate one of his full 30 minute meals every night. He also has a billion gadgets on the go, which would then need washing up.

 

I guess I should also confess that these 10 minute meals, might actually take a little bit longer, but my point is that you shouldn’t really need to be chopping, stirring or tending to stove for longer than 10 minutes in total. These meals are generally for two and I mostly cook by eye, so don’t really measure. My frame of reference is therefore usually spoon size.

 

 

1) Green bean, beetroot and feta salad (this one is Olive magazine)

This is so simple and delicious and looks so pretty. Simply blanch a packet of green beans for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. Quarter some vac-packed beetroot and then crumble over the feta cheese. Dress with a white wine vinaigrette (3/4 oil to ¼ vinegar–ish), I of course add chilli flakes to mine, and some lemon thyme.

 

   2) Artichoke and lemon spaghetti

This is a really light and refreshing pasta dish for summer. No calorific sauces here. Put enough spaghetti for two onto boil. Drain and quarter a tin of artichokes (you can use artichokes from a jar, but I don’t like that they are often drenched in oil). Drain the pasta, reserving a couple of spoons of the water and return to the pan. Add the artichokes, two cloves of crushed garlic, salt, a teaspoon of chilli flakes (or to taste) and the juice of one lemon. Stir through for a minute to heat through. Serve with lots of grated parmesan and lemon thyme and fresh basil. This is a store cupboard saviour.

 

3) Butterbeans and halloumi (this one is Bill's from Cook, Eat, Smile)

     This is one of my favourite dinners. I could eat this all day every day. It is also so simple to prepare. Add a drained tin of kidney beans and one of butter beans to a pan. Add salt and a teaspoon of paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon and 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric and put onto to heat. After a minute or two, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and the juice of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce and I add a teaspoon of omega 3 seeds (I think Bill suggests some other seed). Let all of this heat though and reduce for about 10 minutes. In the mean time, slice and grill your halloumi. Serve the beans with 3-4 slices of bubbling and brown halloumi. This meal never fails to satisfy my hunger on a cold winter’s night, without the need for any carbs!

 

 

 

4) Yoghurt and feta pasta (in Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem)

I had picked this recipe out of ‘Jerusalem’ as one to try and was re-inspired to make this after our Turkish holiday and sampling the Turkish stuffed pasta dish manti, which is also served in a yoghurt sauce. This is also very simple. Put the pasta (shells in this case) on to cook in salted water. In the meantime blend together 5-6 heaped tablespoons of yoghurt with 2 cloves of garlic and 2-3 heaped tablespoons of peas. Reserve a tablespoon of cooked peas to dress the pasta with. In a frying pan, add a couple of good glugs of olive oil, fry off a teaspoon of chilli flakes and a tablespoon of pine nuts until the pine nuts brown and the oil turns red.

 

 

Add the yoghurt sauce to the drained pasta slowly so it doesn't split, along with the peas and heat through. To serve, drizzle over the chilli sauce and pine nuts; add crumbled feta and plenty of fresh basil. Delicious.

 

If you are a massive Ottolenghi fan like me, you might also find this FT article interesting.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7698ad52-d2ee-11e2-aac2-00144feab7de.html

 

I have to admit... I do Ottolengh!

 

 

5) Cheese and sweet corn fritters.

Cheese and sweet corn is a classic combination, the salty cheddar offset by the sweetness of the corn. Another store cupboard saviour means simply opening a tin of sweet corn (of course frozen or indeed fresh could be used), chopping an onion and grating some cheese. Bind the lot together with a couple of tablespoons of gram flour and enough water to make a pancake batter. I add whatever extra spices or herbs I fancy at the time. Then fry the batter in small circles for a couple of minutes each side until they bubble and brown. I like to eat these with a tangy and refreshing tomato salsa.

This method also works with various other fillings such as leek and feta or tomato and mozzarella.

 

 

The first three are part of Gipsy Spread’s repertoire for when I’m at yoga because of their simplicity; alongside the baked potato dinner. Don’t get me wrong, he does like to cook, but usually not after work. He likes to keep it ‘manly’, his preference being the more time consuming (and messy) likes of pasta making.

 

 

So, moving swiftly from cooking myself to having others cook for me, I’m heading to Cinnamon Soho next week, so will let you know what I find. I have high expectations, already being a fan of the Cinnamon Club in the old Westminister Library. You can get a taster of the menu here http://www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/Soho-Home. 

 

One of the most versatile store cupboard ingredients

Well, I said I'd get round to my five favourite pulses next and just as it happens, today was the day.

I opened up my fridge earlier to start thinking about dinner. I found that there was not much in there (which I did kind of already know), other than a couple of aubergines, several types of cheese (of course!), yoghurt, cucmber and tomatos. The easy option here would have been to go in for the melanzane parmiagana, but I fancied something different, making use of all my fresh ingredients (I hate vegetables going off - it's such a waste). I have a cupboard full of spices and another full of flours, vinegars and syrups, so inspiration struck.

So what did I do and what will you need?

Aubergine fritters
1 aubergine
Salt
2 tablespoons of gram flour (chickpea flour)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon of amchur(mango powder) or dried pomegranite
Chopped fresh coriander and chopped green chillis to taste (and optional)

I sliced my aubergine into 1/2 cm thick rounds (about 15-20) and salted and left at room temperature to sweat (this was to prevent it being rubbery). In another bowl I added two heaped tablespoons of gram flour, the salt, all the spices and the coriander and chillis. I added water, a little bit at a time to turn the flour and spices into a medium-thick batter, then tossed the aubergine through this. You might need to get your hands dirty to ensure the aubergine is covered.

Once this is done, fry the aubergine in oil for a couple of minutes on each side until soft on the inside and delightfully crispy and brown on the outside. I did this in the frying pan with the oil about half a centimetre deep.

I'll be serving the aubergine with a cucumber raita and tomato salsa, along with a side of herb salad (we are currently growing greek basil, oregano, mint (and peppermint) and parsley - along with thyme, lemon thyme, sage, rosemary and coriander - which also need using up!). I could happily have served up the above with some crumbled salty greek feta and luminous pearls of pomegranite with the raita, sans cucumber.


Cucumber raita
Slice and chop quarter of a cucumber. Add to a bowl with a heaped tablespoon of yoghurt, salt, a splash of lemon juice and a a clove of crushed garlic. Mix together and top with half a teaspoon of cround cumin.

Tomato salsa
Slice and chop either a couple of normal tomatoes or a large handful of cherry tomatoes and add to a bowl with a finely chopped half an onion, salt and half a teaspoon of chilli flakes. I added fresh chives to mine (yes, I forgot if from the above list of herbs we are in the process of using up!).


So,there you go. An ideal (pulse) store cupboard ingredient that is high in protein, low in fat and GI and which can be quickly used in the following ways;

• Mix the flour with water (spices optional) to create an alternative to savoury pancakes for stuffing with your favourite filling (i.e instead of pasta for a ricotta and spinach cannelloni). The more water you add, the lighter the pancake.
• As a binder for your veggie (and why not meat?) burgers, fritters or patties instead of egg or normal flour?
• In Indian cooking to function as the pancake in a masala dosa (instead of the very laborious rice pancake) and as the sundrie bread alternative instead of a chapati or nan.
• Like the french do with their socca, as a base for other ingredients and instead of a bready pizza base.

Well, I hope that's provided food for thought. I will be off for some of the best food I get to eat tomorrow at my mum's and gran's. Gipsy Spread is usually like a pig in whoopsy and wants to try all the authentic food we eat at home, and he's lucky my feeder nature comes from my family. I'll be bringing some of the best home cooked Indian food recipes here to ensure they are not lost forever in later posts. They will, I hope, include how to use gram flour to make a 'soup' called kadhi and also the steamed breakfast snack dokhla, just like my gran makes. I have yet to perfect these myself!

An N1 institution

I had the day off work yesterday to see the Stone Roses in Finsbury Park. Making the most of the time off meant meeting friends for a spot of lunch and (several) drinks before heading off to the gig.  As the gig was so close to my old stomping ground of Islington, I suggested we head to Mem and Laz, an Islington institution for a guaranteed high quality lunch at a great price. This is by no means fine dining, but for me, it's an excellent venue for a hearty satisfying lunch in an eclectic and lively environment (celebrating a birthday here once, I was pulled up to dance to the Turkish version of 'kiss kiss').

I booked a table for the seven of us at the small, normally heaving restaurant I remembered off upper street. Booking was usually necessary to accomodate larger numbers. When I arrived, I found that they had expanded into the two buildings next door over the last twelve months. I entered the new part of the restaurant, slightly dubious. I should not have worried, Mem and Laz have created a unique dining experience without losing the feel of a family run restaurant. The front half of Mem and Laz too remains faithful to the original. The decor includes the familiar mosaics and turkish lanterns, whilst the back, has a water feature wall, with opulent chandeliers and rainbow coloured seating. Apparently, the restaurant next door is Italian and I can't wait to come back to sample the dishes there.

So, I sampled from the lunch menu, which is extensive enough not to need to review the specials. I stuck with my usual 'vegetables with cheese' and had a starter of nut crusted goats cheese followed by the spinach and feta filo parcels with sour cream and parmesan. The goats cheese was subtle and light. It was complimented beautifully by the nutty crunchy crust. The filo parcels were bursting with spinach and feta, the earthiness of the spinach working in unison with the salty feta; further balanced against the sour cream and parmesan. These are great dishes for a summer lunch. I accompanied these with a dry and fruity rose wine (why not, we off work and on our way to a gig).

 

Some of the friends who came for lunch, have been to Mem and Laz with me before, and do themselves now go on to recommend the restaurant. Others who had not been before were converted and said they would defnitely visit again. In fact one said his starter of sardines was the best sardine dish he had ever had. Great praise indeed. I, sadly cannot comment on the sardines myself and did not grill him as to why he thought they were the best. Although, he did volunteer that the skin was perfectly crisped.

All of the above can be yours for the agreeable price of £7.95 Mon-Thurs and £8.95 on Fridays and Saturdays. You can check out the full lunch menu on their website. It is extensive enough to eat here every day for several weeks, working through all the dishes and varying the combinations of starter and main. It is great to see that even with the expansion, Mem and Laz remains committed to the original ethos of the restaurant, which I am sure all their old and new customers, do and will appreciate. I certaintly did.

http://www.memlazuk.com/