Freakin' love me a farmers market.

It has been 6 months. 6 months of London life; a move, a new neighborhood and culinary experiences that have ranged from the informal drunken joy of discovering the new local chicken shop to culinary-gasiming over the raspberry souffle cloud of dreams in high heels courtesy of Micheal Roux at the Langham.

A few weeks ago I had the joy and merriment of discovering my new local farmers market in Queens Park. (I now live in Queens Park. Or alternatively I say Kilburn. It depends on how fancy vs 'urban' I feel that day.) This pretty much involved my flat mate and I running around eating every cheese sample available and spending far too much money on purple cauliflowers.



We were keen on something Thai for dinner but didn't fancy the usual chicken or prawn vibe so decided to go a little left field and bought some duck from a raather nice man at the farmers market. To accompany it I made a thai green curry vegetable broth. It was a real Sunday treat and serving the duck as such ensures you get the rendered down crispy duck skin vibes everyone loves.

Serves 2 with leftover paste.

2 duck breasts, skin scored and seasoned
1 tbsp flavourless oil

For the curry paste:
2 lemongrass stalks
2 kaffir lime leaves
stalks of a bunch of coriander
3 fat garlic cloves
2 inch piece of ginger or galangal
zest of 1 lime
2-3 hot thai chilles
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 red onion

An assortment of vegetables , I used aubergine, cavolo nero and cauliflower
Tin of coconut milk
1 chicken stock cube
500 ml water
palm (or brown) sugar
lime juice
the leaves from the bunch of coriander, chopped
2 more lime leaves finely shredded
fish sauce

Steamed rice

Pre heat oven to 200˚C

Blitz all the ingredients for the paste in a processor or bash it up in pestle and mortar.

Now get the duck on. Place it skin side down on a medium heat in a frying pan for 6-8 minutes until golden brown, pour off the fat regularly and then seal the other side for 30 seconds.

Now on a rack in a roasting tin in the middle of the oven roast the breasts for 8 -12 minutes (8 for rare, 12 for medium, cook it anymore and you don't deserve to eat it because your a bad person)

While the duck roasts take two table spoons of the paste and sweat in the oil until fragrant. Add the cubed aubergine, stock cube, water, coconut milk and shredded lime leaves then leave to simmer until the aubergine is nearly cooked through and the sauce has reduced by about a 3rd. Now throw in the cauliflower, broken into florets and the cavolo nero shredded for the last 5 minutes.

The duck should be about done now, whip it out and leave to rest for 10 mins.

When the veg is cooked balance the sauce. Taste it, think about it and then pimp it with the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and coriander and even freshly sliced chilli if required until you have a salty/sweet/spicy/sour dreamy harmony.

Serve the veg and sauce on a bed of steamed rice and top with the sliced duck breast.

Holly's Bake.

This is one of those recipes that has real a family legacy. Whenever we serve it the story that comes with it is obligatory, so obviously I feel compelled to share it here.

Back in 2000 my dad took a sabbatical off work and as a family we went traveling, the trip culminating in us living in New Zealand for 5 months. My sisters and I went to school there, we rented a house and adopted a full on Kiwi lifestyle for the duration of our stay.

A family favorite was always this bake. It features layers of chicken, mozzarella and grilled vegetables on a bed of homemade tomato sauce. 

One time Elle, my older sister, had a friend called Holly around and my parents served this for dinner. Holly enjoyed it so much she asked for the recipe and attempted to make it at home for her parents.

Before I continuing I should point out that there was not much of a foodie culture out there, not in the way us Brits do it anyway.

One of the most prominent issues I recall having was the fact that they didn’t have Heinz tomato ketchup. Instead, they had this monstrosity of a condiment called ‘Whatties tomato sauce’, the local replacement for my beloved Heinz. Its tag line was ‘you’ll always be a Kiwi if you love our Whattie’s sauce’, needless to say, not being a Kiwi, I was not a fan.

But anyway, back to Holly. It transpires she had later attempted to make this dish but instead of making a tomato sauce with chopped onions, garlic and tinned tomatoes etc, she had simply up-ended several bottles of ‘Whattie’s tomato sauce’ into a baking dish and then layered the chicken, veg and mozzarella on top. Not so yummy me thinks.

So, to honor her valiant effort my family named the dish after her.

Here is my (I promise more yummy than Holly’s) version:

2 tblsp olive oil

2 chicken breasts

2 large courgettes

1 block of mozzarella

1 small bunch of basil, leaves picked and stalks finely chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, chopped

½ a chili, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

large handful freshly grated parmesan

Salt and Pepper

Pre heat your oven to 200 Degrees.

In a pan sweat the onions in half the oil.

When soft throw in the garlic, chili, oregano and basil stalks. Sweat until fragrant then add the chopped tomatoes and half a tin of water.

Season and leave to simmer until it thickens.

While that simmers slice your courgettes, brush with rest of the olive oil and stick under the grill, turn when golden and remove when soft and golden on both sides.

Meanwhile, slice your chicken breasts lengthways into 4 strips and your mozzarella into slices. 

When everything is ready assemble the bake;

Put the tomato sauce in the base, then in rows layer the courgette, chicken, and mozzarella until the dish is full. Push some basil leaves in between some of the layers and then sprinkle with the parmesan.

Bake until golden on top and bubbling. 

Serve with pasta, crusty bread or whatever you fancy. 

Chorizo and Butterbean Stew.

I am a bad blogger.

Various ‘trying to be a grown-up’ stresses  involving the big black hole that is life after university is responsible for this meaning it’s been nearly a month since I last posted. 

Don't worry I haven't stopped eating (pffft as if…) but if I'm honest I’ve just been eating on autopilot a lot recently - if I had continually blogged this space would literally just have become a tribute to pasta.

However, I endeavor for this all to change. 

I concluded that many of my fail safe eats which I can make with my eyes shut are just that – fail safe and with good reason, because they're YUMMY. So I've decided to blog about them over the next few weeks and here is the first of them. 

This is a recipe that I’ve been sitting on for a while, I first made it at the beginning of this academic year and have been honing it since. It hits all the spots of hearty comfort food with yum factor and apart from the chorizo is very economical. If you’re looking to be especially frugal though, reduce the amount of chorizo you put in it. The sausage’s flavor will still permeate the stew - the final result will just be a little less meaty.

I tend to do it as a bit of a make it up as I go along type thing here, so just keep tasting it and adjusting it how you like it - saltier, sweeter, spicier etc. a squeeze of lemon in at the end might be nice too!

1 white onion, diced.

2 large cloves of garlic, crushed

1 chili, chopped (or more, or less, depending on how hot you like it)

half a ring of chorizo, peeled if necessary and chopped into small-ish chunks

any other veg you fancy (i used chopped yellow peppers but you could use anything that stews well from mushrooms to new potatoes)

1 tsp of dried thyme

1 tsp paprika

1 can butterbeans

1 can chopped tomatoes

500ml chicken stock

1 1/2 tsp sugar

large handful sugar snap peas

salt and freshly ground pepper.

Sweat the onion until translucent, then add chorizo and any other veg. 

when the sausage  starts to leak it oils add the chilli, garlic, thyme and paprika, sweat this until fragrant, then add the beans, chopped tomatoes, stock and sugar.

Season liberally and simmer until the water evaporates, the sauce has thickened and everything is tender.

Throw in the sugar snaps in the last 5 minutes of cooking so they remain nice and crunchy, check/adjust seasoning.

Serve with crusty bread. 

Admittedly not the prettiest, but mega yumm, I promise. 

Chorizo, Butternut and Thyme Pasta.

Today was one of those days when I wasn’t looking forward to cooking. I know, a rarity for me, but I didn’t have anything in the fridge, didn’t fancy anything much to eat and had been up since 8am (which is rubbish because it’s a Sunday).  Basically it was one of those days when I wanted my father to cook me something yummy. Alas, he is many miles away in London so I turned to a version of one of his concoctions.

The original version of this uses sage instead of thyme and pasta tubes rather than twirls, parmesan and doesn’t include the spring greens but this evening was an exercise in creating what I could out of a very, very bare fridge so I was rather pleased with the results. The cheese however, was sorely missed so I’ve included it in the recipe.

Serves two, generously.

1tbsp olive oil

½ a small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into small cubes

50g Chorizo, chopped

200g Cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

A handful or two spring greens

1 tsp crushed chilli flakes

Enough pasta for two

Two handfuls of grated parmesan

In an oven at about 180 degrees place the squash on a baking tray, tossed in the olive oil and well seasoned.

When that begins to become tender add the chorizo and when that begins to crisp up and is leaking all its smoky, paprika flavored oils add the cherry tomatoes, chili and thyme.

While that has it’s last blast in the oven simmer the pasta in some salted water and when it has a couple minutes to go add the greens.

When everything is cooked, drain the pasta and greens, reserving a small amount of the cooking water and throw everything together, serve up and liberally sprinkle with parmesan.

Creamy Green Vegetable Risotto with Lemon Thyme.

Risotto.

It is a thing of joy if done well and a stodgy, claggy mess if not prepared with enough care. It seems this balance is often something difficult to master. However, being a risotto lover I would like to think that I have somewhat managed the art.

Risotto’s issue is that it is temperamental. One has to give it as much love and attention as you want it to give you. A risotto that has not been prepared with care will never sing in the way one that has been lovingly stirred and seasoned will do.

My verdict on the matter is to pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy watching the magic of the rice swell as you add stock. I do at least, but then again I am a mega food geek.

Anyway, I’m of the opinion a risotto should be oozy but not too wet. However a trick I usually employ is to always make it a bit wetter than it appears to need to be. This way while it stands at the end of the cooking process and as you eat, it doesn’t dry up leaving you with a bowl of stodge.

I would also advise you to season with black pepper liberally, it really adds an extra dimension and some bite to this silky and comforting plate of loveliness. I am unashamed to say that despite making enough with which to intend leftovers I ate the lot. I enjoyed it so much I simply couldn’t resist.

Serves 3

2tbsp olive oil

A large knob of butter

1 pint of chicken or veggie stock.

200g risotto rice.

Half a large onion, finely chopped.

1 clove of garlic, crushed.

A large leek chopped.

2 tbsp cream cheese or mascarpone.

Two handfuls of sugar snap peas, quartered.

 A glass of dry white wine.

1 tbsp thyme leaves.

 Large handful of freshly grated parmesan.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To start with get your stock hot.

Secondly in another pan melt half the butter and then add the olive oil to raise the butters burning point. Over a low heat sweat the leeks until really soft then stir in the cream cheese or mascarpone.

In different wide based but tall sided pan add rest of the butter and olive oil and sweat the onion until it looks slightly translucent, then add the garlic and continue to sweat until fragrant.

Increase the heat, add the rice and fry until it looks slightly translucent then add the wine and simmer until you can’t smell the harsh alcohol scent coming off the ingredients and the liquid has absorbed into the rice.

Turn your heat back down and ladle by ladle add the stock adding the next after the previous one has been absorbed. During this process continue to stir. This will massage the starch out of the rice resulting in a creamy, oozy risotto.

After 8 minutes throw in the peas and a further 2 minutes later check the rice, if it is cooked but with a slight bite then it is done. Stir in the creamy leek mixture, thyme, parmesan and season. 

At this point I feel it is crucial to cover the risotto and let it sit for 5 minutes. This helps it relax and helps the flavors to mingle. Loosen with some water if necessary and serve immediately. 

Bacon and Onion Potato Gratin with a Crunchy Rainbow Salad.

A couple of weeks ago I started investing in a vegetable box scheme, again, like this blog,  it's been something i've been meaning to do for a long time and only just got around to. I did it recently when spurred on by the need to write a food orientated article for a student publication some of my friends were creating at the time and the body of this post is taken from that article.

I ordered my Veggie box from  Baracome Nurseries in Lewes for £10.70 and three days later I had half an allotment sitting by my front door. As my housemates can testify I was hugely excited about the arrival of my veggie box since the contents of it were a surprise and I am pleased to say it didn’t disappoint.

It featured potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, a Chinese cabbage, two red cabbages, carrots, tomatoes, a leek, potentially the largest beetroot I’ve ever seen and a bunch of hugely exciting rainbow chard. Pretty good value i say.

To kick off my week of vegetable joy I started off treating my housemates to this gratin and salad. The potato bake is sufficiently indulgent with the bacon and lashings of cream whilst the fresh crunchy vegetables dressed in olive oil and lemon juice cut through all that luxury leaving your palate clean making the dish lovely and wintery but not leaving you feeling like you've had your arteries clogged.

Serves 4-5

For the Gratin:

4 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced.

5 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped into small pieces.

1 large onion, sliced.

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced.

A couple of pinches of dried or fresh thyme.

1tbsp of olive oil.

a few pea sized knobs of butter.

250 ml Single or double cream

For the salad:

A selection of crunchy root vegetables and cabbage, I used beetroot, carrot, purple cabbage, and Chinese cabbage, grated or thinly shredded respectively.

½ the juice of a lemon

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp of sugar

Preheat your oven to 180°

First, get you gratin on, in a wide, but deep pan, on a high heat fry of your bacon in the olive oil and as it starts to brown, then reduce the heat and add your onions.

Sweat the onions until they are soft and slightly caramelized then add your cream, chopped garlic, thyme and bring it to a simmer.

Simmer for a couple of minutes to infuse then turn the hob off, season to taste, add the potatoes and give it a gentle stir to coat the potatoes in the cream, garlic and onion mixture without breaking them up.

Empty the contents of your pan out into a gratin dish and shake to level out

Dot the top with the knobs of butter and place in the oven covered with tin foil for the first 30 minutes and without for another 15 or until golden on top and soft all the way through.

While the gratin is in the oven put your grated and shredded crunchy vegetables in a salad bowl and make your dressing in a separate smaller bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil, sugar and some salt and pepper, mix it up, check the taste and add more lemon, oil, sugar or seasoning if needed.

When the gratin is golden, and bubbling remove it from the oven, dress your salad and serve. 

yum.