Mum's Birthday Meal (Part 2)

So I re-read what I posted yesterday in preparation for writing up the rest of the meal and was struck by something. I referred to myself as a student, which, effectively, I'm not anymore.

Obviously after hyperventilating and having a mild panic attack regarding my rapidly oncoming middle-aged-ness (I mean I have a job interview next week, like for a real grown up person J-O-B, Lordy.) i’ve got back to this post but felt that I should point out my mistake.

Aanyway, this is the dip/condiment post of the meal.

First up, the spiced aubergine. This is how I would envision an Italian Caponata would end up if it had a roll around in your spice cupboard. Essentially it is a spiced auberigine stew, but cooked and reduced down so its more of a condiment to pile on crusty bread, I’m pretty sure you could also reduce it even further than I did and chutney-afy it. Might actually try that sometime soon. Good Idea.

Serves 10 (as a tbsp sized dollop)

2 tbsp olive oil

25mm cube fresh ginger, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed

800g aubergines, roughly chunked

1 can chopped tomatoes

1tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1tbsp ground corriander

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/4 tsp salt 

1. Toss the aubergines in half the oil and put under a hot grill turning periodically until brown on all sides.

2. Sweat the garlic and ginger until fragrant, then add the spices, cook for another minute then add the browned aubergines and tomatoes with an extra can of water and the salt and some pepper. 

3. Simmer until reduced and aubergines are soft. Can be served hot or at room temperature. 

 Next we have the sweet potato dip. This recipie, as are many that I feature on this blog are from the cookbook I received when I carried out a professional cookery training at The Grange Cookery School in Frome. From the entire month of cooking and eating, this is one of the dishes I made and ate which I really remember falling head over tastebuds in love with.  Like most dips it takes some palate intelligence, tasting and adjusting to your liking but its dream worthy when made well.

Serves 10 (again as a tbsp sized dollop)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 kg Sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 small bunch mint, chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tbsp tahini

juice of a lemon

1/2 tsp cinamon

2 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

salt and pepper

1. In an oven pre-heated to 220 degrees roast the potato tossed in the oil until soft.

2. When roasted blitz all the ingredients apart from the pine nuts in a food processor.

3. Taste and adjust with more lemon/salt/pepper if necessary and serve with the pine nuts stirred in and drizzled with some olive oil. 

And finally we have some good old tzatziki. My little sister was appointed tzatziki lady for the day as she seems to have serious preferences when it comes to the dip. The cucumber has to be diced (rather than traditionally grated) and it can’t be too garlic-y in her book. Personally I’m more down with a slightly more traditional version but in all honesty there was SO much garlic knocking around this meal perhaps it was good that the tzatziki wasn’t of my usual garlic-bomb variety. Abbie didn’t really follow a recipe for this but this one I’m sure would suffice if anyone is looking to recreate this meal - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tzatziki_13049

I’ll post the dessert recipe element of this blogging-meal-extravaganza tomorrow. 

Mum's Birthday Meal (Part 1)

It was my mum’s birthday on Thursday and she was having a crowd of friends over for dinner. Being the thrifty (and admittedly broke) student that I am I offered to cook the dinner so she could just relax and have a nice evening with a friends and I could give her a gift which I didn’t have to pay for.

I opted for a Greek vibed meal, well, ‘feast’ might be the more accurate term. We were hosting a vegetarian so there had to be enough of a veggie option meaning that the meat I did cook was more token than a centerpiece but nonetheless it all went down a storm. I’m gonna split the recipes between a couple of posts since otherwise the size of this could get a little out of hand.

The token piece of meat present for the carnivores was a small, slow roasted leg of lamb. The recipe can be found here: http://www.ocado.com/webshop/recipe/slow-cooked-greek-lamb/1490

The combination of the slow cooking with the spice rub created a really sumptuous piece of meat which was really worth the time and effort of cooking and basting it for so long. I got overexcited with eating/serving it so forgot to take a picture of the carved meat but trust. It was goood.

Next on the agenda were two salads, firstly a green bean mint and garlic salad. For this I simply lightly steamed the beans, and fried off some slithers of garlic in a tbsp of olive oil then added some more oil and balsamic vinegar to taste and then lots of chopped mint. I tossed the beans in this and scattered the dish with some toasted pine nuts. Simple but again, good. 

Secondly I made Nigella Lawson’s Ultimate Greek Salad: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/the-ultimate-greek-salad-220 

If you have never made this before. I implore you, do it. It has completely changed my perception of the world of Greek salads. The marinating of the red onions creating the chemical-reaction-type thing is inspired and it could almost be a meal in its self with some nice bread. Seriously. It’s the business. Big style. I'd even go so far as to say it might be my favorite salad ever. Yes, I went there. 

Right, that’s all for today, I’m feeling a condiment post tomorrow with the tzatziki, sweet potato and aubergine dips. So watch this space. 

Vietnamese Noodle Soup

So I’m back in the blogosphere! It has taken several years but amazingly (and rather terrifyingly) I’m done with my degree. Finally things can return to normal and I can return to blogging without the impending doom of deadlines or dissertation stress.

I had the house to myself last week so rather than spending the night periodically freaking out about monsters under the bed (and every other available dark space), I had a dinner date with a friend, she bought the wine, and this is what I cooked.

It pretty much is the perfect dinner party meal, it looks and tastes impressive and it’s a bit different, but it actually really isn’t effortful. You can prep everything beforehand and if you make the broth in advance and do all your chopping all you have to do is sweat the herbs and throw everything in a big pot. Occasionally I make this with chicken as well but since my friend is vegetarian/occasionally vegan I omitted the chicken in favor of tofu but in all honestly I’m not sure it needs either, guess it just depends if your feeling the need for some protein.

Serves 2

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ a hot red chili, chopped

zest of 1 lime

thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped

Enough tofu for 2, cubed

various green veg (I use pak choi and green beans)

Enough noodles for 2, cooked according to packet instructions

½ a can of coconut milk

1 veggie stock cube

500ml water

juice of 2 limes

large handful of coriander, chopped

large handful of mint, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

Heat the water and stir in the stock cube, add the coconut milk, soy and lime juice and taste/adjust to your liking so you get a good balance of salt, sour and sweet flavors  in the broth.

In a large pan or wok, fry the tofu until golden then sweat off the first 4 ingredients.

Add the veg and cover with the broth and simmer until everything is tender.

Add the noodles, bring back up to heat then stir in the herbs and ladle into large bowls. 

Roasted Vegetable Tart.

Amongst the final weeks of my degree I am really struggling to find time to cook, well more accurately, the time to go to the supermarket. After 2 weeks (don’t ask, I have no idea how I survived) I FINALLY went and turned to a family favorite for my evening meal along with a LARGE glass of wine.

I like to think that this dish has a lot of the satisfaction factor of a pizza, but is crunchier, quicker to make from scratch and somehow fools you into thinking it's healthier. In truth, I’m not sure it actually is given the butter laden pasty but I tend to choose to just not think about that. What ever it is, it's yummy.

Its also hugely flexible, the ‘sauce’ you use on the base could be anything from cream cheese, to tomato puree, to ricotta, to pesto and the topping can comprise of anything really - veg, meat, cheese, the options are endless.

I made individual tarts because I think they’re cuter, however the recipe below is for one big one for convenience factor.

  

Serves 4 (if very hungry)

2 tbsp Olive oli

1 sheet pre-rolled puff pastry.

½ tub cream cheese or ricotta

2 tbsp pesto

2 large sweet potatos, peeled and cubed

2 courgettes, cubed

handful asparagus spears, chopped

2 onions, wedged

2 cloves of garlic, whole

1 large aubergine, cubed

Freshly grated parmesan

Firstly get your veg on. Throw it all in a roasting tin with some olive oil and seasoning, roast until soft and you can easily push a knife through the potato.

While this happens get your pastry ready, score the pastry about 2 cm in from the edge to outline the edge of your filled section. Spread the cream cheese and then the pesto on top inside of these lines, leaving the 2cm boarder clear.

When the veg is ready pile it on top of the cream cheese and pesto then top with the parmesan.

Bake the tart until the edges of the pastry rises and turns golden. 

Veggie soba noodle soup.

Last week was crazy. No exaggeration. One of my two dissertations, a 15 minute documentary, was due last Thursday meaning I was literally chained to an editing booth at university for the entirety of the week. In all honesty I don’t think I had a real meal for about 48 hours over Wednesday and Thursday. Again. No exaggeration. Wednesday night saw a dinner of  a multi-bag of salt and vinegar chipsticks and an energy drink. Things were bad.

My body however was only on the road to further destruction with the celebration of my 21^st birthday on Friday night. Needless to say by Sunday after I’d finally sobered up I was feeling rather fragile and in need of some nourishment.

This is one of those things that you eat and just know it’s doing you good, its like the cure-of-all chicken noodle soup but japanese-y, with a good kick of chili to clear out your sinuses. It’s very economical and because you cook everything in the broth you don’t loose any of the  good for you stuff  in the veggies. Plus it’s probably the easiest thing I’ve ever made.

Serves 2

2 bundles soba noodles

1 carrot, cut into battons

handful of sugar snap peas

1 onion, sliced

½ red pepper, sliced

thumb sized piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks

1 fat garlic clove, chopped

½ red chili, sliced

1 good quality veggie stock cube

½ tsp toasted sesame oil

lime juice

soy sauce

sugar

Literally throw everything apart from the lime, soy and sugar in a pan and cover with cold water.

Bring it up to the boil and simmer until the noodles are cooked, you want the veggies with a bit of bite left in them

Now add the last three ingredients to taste until it works for you, ladle into big bowls and nourish yourself.

Thai Sweet Corn fritters and Tom Ka Soup.

This is two components of a sharing platter at one of my favorite Brighton restaurants the vegetarian mecca that is Food for Friends. I bought my dad the cookbook a while back after he took me there for lunch and have been DYING to cook these recipes eversince.

Him, my sister and myself went to a friend’s for Easter Sunday lunch and we were asked to proved the starter and this is what we (meaning I) put together.

It is SO worth finding your way down to a local Asian food market and getting yourself the fresh kaffiar lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal and tom ka paste. It really adds a freshness and vibrancy to the final product that you will never get from the freeze dried varieties you can get from Waitrose etc.

Also I apologize for the quality of the photos – I’d left the camera I usually use in Brighton so was reduced to using my sister’s iPhone.

Adapted from the food for friends cookbook:

Serves 6

For the soup:

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 sticks of lemon grass, outer leaves removed and chopped

25g galangal or ginger, chopped

1 red chili chopped

1 small white onion, chopped

1 small bunch of coriander, leaves and stalks chopped

30g green curry paste

70ml water

1 veg stock cube

1 tin coconut milk

1 tblsp tom ka paste

3 tbsp tamari

50g palm sugar

2 kaffir lime leaves

juice 1 lime

handful coriander leaves

In a pan heat some oil and sweat off the onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, chili and coriander.

When that is soft, add the water, curry paste and stock cube, simmer for 15 minutes then ass the coconut milk and tom-ka paste.

After 15 minutes further simmering add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and blend until smooth.

Serve with a final squeeze of lime and scattered with black roasted sesame seeds.

For the fritters:

2 sticks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed and  bruised

4 tsp of ginger/galangal

3 cloves of garlic

4 kaffir lime leaves

small bunch of coriander

1 tblsp thai green curry paste

juice 1 lime

salt and pepper

600g fresh sweet corn, lightly steamed.

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg, beaten

a little plain flour

In a processor wiz up the first 8 ingredients then tip into a large bowl with the sweet corn, egg, seasoning and enough flour to create a very stiff batter:

In some vegetable oil fry dollops of the mixture, flattening them out a bit and only flipping when they have had enough time to properly set and brown on the first side:

Drain on kitchen paper and serve with a garnish of julienne of carrots, spring onions, green mango, and toasted cashews drizzled with some lime juice.

Basil, Mint and Pea Carbonara.

Now we all know I love my carbs. Bar home baked, really good, crusty bread, my favorite has to be pasta.

Fresh, dried, baked however it comes I will consume it by the bucketful. A housemate of mine actually gave up pasta for lent and I just don’t know how she did it (she caved earlier this week in the supermarket when faced with filled tortellini), but the period of time she managed for I must say was commendable, truly! I, on the other hand refused to give anything up for lent. Attempting to cut out anything of my diet would definitely result in my demise. I therefore pre-empted this failure by not bothering at all. Whoops.

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes, I think I originally got it from my Dad, where I get most of my cooking inspiration, who got it from a Jamie Oliver book. Adding chopped basil with the mint was my own prerogative and I think it works well but obviously leave it out if you don’t fancy it.

I’m going to do the lazy thing today and simply provide a link to the recipe on the Jamie Oliver website - my dissertation has literally pushed me to the cusp of insanity and I think staring at a computer screen for any longer may actually send me proper loopy, apologies.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/farfalle-with-carbonara-spring-peas

Enjoy.