Veggie Week!

National Vegetarian Week started yesterday and I will be doing my best to avoid meat this week.  I tend to stick to a vegetarian diet mid-week anyway (although with some fish) and then have good quality (preferably organic and/or locally sourced) meat at some point over the weekend.  So tonight was a perfect opportunity to make a delicious veggie dish, and join in this month's Cookalong on nigella.com at the same time.  The recipe for Griddled Aubergines with Feta, Mint and Chilli is just my kind of dish as I love all of the individual ingredients, and it was so easy to put together. Pefect to make at a barbeque or for a picnic, especially for any vegetarian guests, and just as good for a light supper when you get in late from work (as I usually do!). Yum!

Nigella Express

I have had this book as my recipe book of the week for quite some time now... I am still working my way through it but already have a few favourite recipes. All those that I've tried have been very quick and easy, many made from store cupboard ingredients and those that need any fresh additions can easily be put together after a quick stop at the local supermarket after work. Many of the recipes can be found at nigella.com but I really recommend getting this book for anyone who is short on time but still enjoys cooking and entertaining at home. If you fancy a warming bowl of chilli or a comforting dish of pasta with ragu sauce but can't face the thought of chopping onions and endless simmering to break down tinned tomatoes, Nigella has some nifty shortcuts. If you're like me, you'll have the odd jar of ready made pasta sauce lurking in the cupboard (although to lessen the guilt of buying "convenience" foods, I try to make mine organic at least!) and one of these can form the basis of a satisfying meal with a few other additions.

If you try one recipe, make it the Quick Chilli. I am a big fan of chilli and usually turn to Jamie Oliver's recipe which uses a jar of blitzed sun-dried tomatoes and a cinnamon stick to produce a deeply aromatic dish which never fails to disappoint, but I was really impressed and quite amazed at this extremely quick recipe. Here is my version of the recipe:

Nigella's Quick Chilli - serves 4
150g chorizo sausage, chopped
500g minced beef
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cardamom pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar tomato and chilli pasta sauce
1 x 390g can chilli beans (I used Biona organic ones from Waitrose)
2 tbsp chilli sauce
A good pinch of chilli flakes

Heat the sliced chorizo in heavy saucepan over a medium heat and cook until a little crispy. Add the mince and cook until browned.
Stir in the spices and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add the pasta sauce, chilli beans, chilli sauce and chilli flakes (there's no such thing as too much chilli!).
Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 mins.
I served mine with a dollop of sour cream and fresh chilli from my brother Dom's garden.

Can also be served with rice, topped with grated cheese, guacamole or sliced avocado, or as a topping for jacket potato.

And the no-churn Margarita ice cream makes the perfect dessert - I can't be without a tub of this in my freezer and have converted my friend Suz from her all-time favourite chocolate ice-cream! Next, I'm going to try out some other cocktail flavoured ice-creams, strawberry daquiri could be very good.

mushroom monday

Before I move on from my recent recipe book of the week, i needed to mention another little recipe from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea which i tried last week.

I really love risotto but often think it's just too much faff for cooking midweek for one... but i tried not one, but two risotto recipes last week and this one was delicious:

mushroom and porcini risotto - serves 6

1 handful dried porcini, soaked in 400ml hot water for 30 mins
4 tbsp olive oil plus extra for frying
500g mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt and ground black pepper
60g unsalted butter
2 onions, finely diced
400g carnoroli rice
About 1.5 litres vegetable or chicken stock
150g grated parmesan cheese

Here's how:
Strain the porcini and reserve soaking liquid. Set both aside.
Heat a generous amount of oil in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms with the garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Put 4 tbsp oil and the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, till the onions are soft but have not yet started to brown.
Pour in the rice and cook over a medium heat, stirring, till it becomes translucent.
Add the porcini and some of their liquid and the sliced mushrooms.
Pour in the stock a ladleful at a time and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid before adding some more. Carry on adding the stock until you have a creamy consistency. The rice must be cooked but slightly 'al dente', and the mixture must hold together.
Remove from the heat and add the parmesan.
Stir well and check the seasoning.
Pour the risotto into bowls and serve immediately.

And after a weekend that involved a chinese takeaway with my friend Suzanne and then delicious chocolate cake in Tunbridge Wells (thank you Sister Claire!), it's back to mid-week healthy meals.

Having checked the fridge last night, it was a case of "shit-ake!' - i'd forgotten they were in there! So i picked up a delicious organic salmon fillet on my way home, and some baby pak choi with a Nigella Bites recipe in mind. And i think this can now be my new recipe book of the week...

salmon with greens and shitake mushrooms - serves 2

2 skinned salmon fillets, preferably organic
1 clove garlic, finely minced or chopped
2 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil
125g shitake mushrooms, destalked and sliced
400g choi sum, roughly chopped
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
pepper to taste

Here's how:
Grill or fry the salmon fillets - preferably in a good non-stick pan or on the smooth side of a griddle - until just cooked through and remove them to warmed plates while you get on with or finish the vegetables. (I pre-heated the oven to 150C, pan-fried the salmon flesh side down until the surface was golden and the fillet looked almost cooked, then flipped it over and placed the pan in the oven, reducing the heat to 100C while I did the rest of the cooking. It was cooked to perfection, which is almost a miracle for me when it comes to cooking fish!)
In a heavy-based pan, fry the garlic in the oil until it is warm but not catching. Add the sliced mushrooms together with the choi sum stalks, stirring everything together for a minute or so. Cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, remove the lid and add the roughly chopped choi sum leaves, soy sauce and sesame oil, then let it cook for another 2-3 minutes until the leaves have wilted.
Pile the mushrooms and greens on the plates with the salmon and eat!
Nigella suggests making a little sauce to go with, by mixing Colman's mustard powder into a smooth paste with a little cold water, adding a few drops of soy sauce and a scant, pulpy puree of fresh ginger. I sprinkled mine with some black sesame seeds (and then, off-camera, a very generous dollop of sweet chilli dipping sauce...).

chicken soup for the soul

After a hard day at work, i was struggling to think what else to do with left over roast chicken! I settled for a comforting soup which i wasn't planning on writing about, but it was so good i decided it was blogworthy...

Here goes - these quantities will feed 2 comfortably but just increase the quantities if feeding a family:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 pint good chicken stock

150g cooked chicken, shredded

50g pasta for soup (optional)

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, celery and carrot, cooking for a few minutes until they start to soften.

Add the stock, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 mins.

Add the chicken and allow to heat through, then the pasta and simmer for the time indicated on the pack (i used a spanish short spaghetti called fideo which takes 5 minutes). Add a little more hot stock if required.

Season to taste and serve in your favourite soup bowls.

Delicious, comforting and credit crunch cheap!

new year, new way of eating

I feel that i have been neglecting my blog! My excuse is that i had a hectic and very sociable weekend, and i haven't quite mastered the art of cooking for other people, being hostess AND taking photos to post on here!

Last Friday was a mexican night in with the girls, when i produced my famous guacamole, nachos, beef fajitas and vegetable chilli (Lee's Hippy Farm Beans from the Leon cookbook). Dessert was the most delicious Chocolate Pots from Nigella Bites.

Saturday was spent eating leftovers from the night before and going to a fantastic wedding reception in the evening.

Sunday was all about planning and preparing a roast dinner for a friend (who happens to be a very good cook - no pressure then...) when i made Jamie Oliver's perfect roast chicken (taken from The Naked Chef), crispy roast potatoes and parsnips, sweet potato gratin (from Ottolenghi The Cookbook) and some simple peas and carrots. I hadn't cooked a roast for ages, but it all turned out well and we finished it off with some home-made apple crumble and cream (should have been freshly made custard but it curdled beyond repair...).

So tonight, i was determined to cook AND blog! But first i will explain my new year way of eating. I have spent the last couple of weeks sorting out my finances, my cupboards, my life in general... This was brought on by reading The Thrift Book by India Knight which is a modern day guide to living well and spending less. Tying in with all things credit crunch, i have decided if i make less visits to Waitrose each week, i will definitely save money and not waste so much food. It is all too easy for me to get carried away deciding on a must-cook recipe and ignore the actual contents of my fridge. So, i am making the most of the food i have and only shopping for fresh essentials as and when i need them. The secret of this is having a well-stocked cupboard which, thanks to the aforementioned Waitrose, I do!
A book i will be referring to often and which i have had for a good number of years is off the shelf by Donna Hay. Tonight i needed to use left over roast chicken and this recipe was perfect:

lemon chicken pasta

I didn't realise there were so many recipes on her website so i am off to explore some more...

Note to self: do not post too many pasta recipes!