SOME LIKE IT HOT!

Achy tired feet, such a busy day at work! So pleased that not long after I got up this morning I threw another healthy  spicy curry into the slow cooker.  Courgettes, potatoes, onions, chillies and fragrant coriander from the garden join a tin of tomatoes,  carrots, chicken stock, chicken breasts and garlic. A couple of spoonfuls of  lentils help to produce a glorious thick sauce just crying out for nan to be submerged and devoured!
 

The pictures aren't great as enticed by seductive aromas I'd already ravenously commenced eating before I remembered that I had nothing to illustrate this blog with!  It was well worth waiting for the whole day to savour the end result! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't appear to be able to find a link for this recipe but my scrumpled piece of paper tells me that the meal is worth   

two and a half weightwatchers points so this one is great for those of you who are calorie counting! 

 

 You can be flexible with the ingredients, the recipe calls for an aubergine but I've never fancied it would work that well.  The following ingredients makes enough for two good portions and one for the freezer, just play around with it if you have guests.

 

• 3 chicken breasts
• one onion
• 3 medium potatoes
• one large carrot
• one large courgette
• a garlic clove
• one green chilli
• one and a half tbsp of medium curry powder
• couple of tbsp of red lentils
• 400g tin of tomatoes
• half a pint of chicken stock
• fresh coriander to serve

 

ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO

Bonnie potatoes come highly recommended.   The rest of our potato harvest was pretty underwhelming this year, but big, bold and brassy with a touch of blush, this second early spud has plenty to say for itself and is one to watch out for next season!

 

Ideal for a simple supper from the Waitrose weekend magazine.  Mix two fillets of omega three fuelled peppered mackerel with a couple of spoonfuls of  low fat yoghurt, chives and some tinned sweetcorn.  The words 'meal for one' conjure up pictures of  a T.V. dinner gobbled down while lazing on the couch but magically these few ingredients elevate the ordinary jacket potato to another level!  And so economical!

 

 

 

'One potato, two potato, three potato, four, five potato, six potato, seven potato more!'  Who remembers chanting that one as they skipped or enjoyed a game of two ball in the sixties and seventies?

DISH OF THE DAY!

If anyone out there is considering becoming a vegetarian then this recipe is going to force the issue!  How a few simple ingredients can transform into something so rich and indulgent is beyond my comprehension! Outstanding!

A smug self satisfied feeling ensues as you know you've just eaten so much goodness - fibre, vitamins, nearly your full quota of your five a day - you should be positively glowing at the end of this meal!

 

 

There seems to be a bottomless pit of recipes to help you use your surplus courgettes and this veggie lasagne with its voluptuous sauce made from butter beans, leeks and goats cheese is one of the best - if not the best!   Enough to convert the staunchest of carnivores to the other side!

 

http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/-courgette-and-goatscheeselasagne.html

RHUBARB, RHUBARB!

We don't fight a lot but one source of conflict, apart from the aforementioned slugs - is that if the rosy pink sticks we pull from the garden aren't made into into anything other than a crumble, it's a waste of perfectly good rhubarb!

However I think he conceded defeat when he tried the following recipe, a quirky take on a traditional bread and butter pudding.  I think it was the richness of the cream that sold it!  And there was one for another day too!

K

Only used half the recipe to make these two puds and didn't spend a fortune on vanilla pods either,  just popped in a few drops of vanilla essence.

http://goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/rhubarb-bread-and-butter-pudding/

MMM!!

A couple of hours at the garden justifies reward.  We are both partial to a spicy curry but it doesn't have to be unhealthy, full of ghee or from the takeaway down the road.  In just over half an hour it's simple to rustle something up that does the trick.

 

 

I parboil some slices of earthy new potatoes from the allotment.  While these cook in the microwave I brown 500gs of turkey mince.  Add two tablespoons of madras paste (or korma if you prefer it milder - about 5tbsp is needed then), a large tin of tomatoes and half a pint of chicken stock.

I add the potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes before adding generous handfuls of freshly harvested mineral rich spinach.

 

 

 

 

It may be low in fat but it doesn't stop this recipe being laden with flavour!

No words need to be uttered - just 'mmmm!'

 

 

 

This recipe also works really well in the slow cooker - great if you have guests or indeed if you just fancy something lovely to look forward to when you come home from work.

 

 

 

 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1258/indian-turkey-with-spinach-and-new-potatoes

IN A PICKLE!

My first forays into the world of chutney making, planned to use up a glut of green tomatoes, were unsuccessful and totally unforgettable for all the wrong reasons!  Pungent vinegary aromas that had spurted from the pressure cooker hung in the air in the house for days and after all that effort the end product was pretty inedible and not to everyone's liking anyway.

Fortunately when I nervously decided to give it one  more go several decades later it was worth it.

Chunky courgette chutney, given a kick with a couple of good shakes of chilli flakes was a great accompaniment to sizzling sausages on the barbecue. 

 

 

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8062/courgette-chutney.aspx

 I used half the amount of courgettes, vinegar, sugar and mustard but kept everything else to the same measurements to give the chunky effect.  It didn't need salt either as the chilli flakes and mustard  added plenty of flavour.

GETTING FRUITY TWO!

Viewers of the post 'Getting Fruity' may be wondering by now which other summer fruit is one of the front-runners in our house.  (Or perhaps they are happily out getting a suntan in the garden instead!, or indeed getting a life!!)

Tying for first place the humble gooseberry - traditionally turned into a divine cheesecake - I love it so much I am salivating as I write - and joy of joys it can be frozen to be enjoyed with visitors as well. 

 

 This recipe also harks back to one of my oldest cookbooks, 1000 Freezer Recipes, published by Octopus Books, so tatty that it no longer has its cover, pages are falling out and bits of the index are tucked into the front, some are gone forever! 

 

Everyone's favourite bread pudding recipe is in there as well, but that's one to look forward to another day.

It says the cheesecake serves eight but as we get greedier I think probably six is a better estimate.

When I made it this weekend the mixture seemed to go on forever so I popped the remainder in some pretty ramekins from Poundland.  These can then be sprinkled creatively with biscuit crumbs when they come out of the freezer to make an upside down version of the cheesecake (I would use the word  deconstructed if I was being fashionable!) or alternatively whip up a few shortbread biscuits and dunk in for utter deliciousness!

 

 

 

• Crush four ounces of digestives and mix with two ounces of marg and two ounces of Demerara sugar.

 

• Stew one pound of gooseberries for a very short while (the recipe says to use uncooked but I think they need a little cooking.)  It suggests rubbing them through a sieve or pureeing them in a blender but I don't do any of this, I just add them to three ounces of sugar and half an ounce of dissolved gelatine.  I used three leaves on this occasion.  Just soak them in cold water and add to the mixture.

 

•  Then beat in ten ounces of cream cheese, I always use a light version, and fold in a quarter pint of double cream which has been lightly whipped.  Spread over the biscuit base and chill.  This makes great individual cheesecakes if you have some of the metal rings in your kitchen cupboard.

 

SUNNY DELIGHT!

 

 

For an eternity I thought they would never ripen, but now sweet juicy cherry tomatoes tumble and cascade gracefully from the hanging baskets outside the conservatory door.  As I collect them their distinctive scent instantly transports me back fifty years to my Grandpa's little greenhouse at the bottom of his garden where he hid from my Grandma throughout the summer!

Layer the tomatoes in the bottom of a dish with courgettes (sorry they are rearing their head again!) and a touch of thyme from the herb trough.  Stuff succulent chicken breasts with salty goats cheese and encase in crispy bacon and voila! (still got the French influence going here!) you have summer on a plate!

Looking for a perfect partner for this dish?  Still got some of those early new potatoes stashed away?  Parboil them - I usually zap them in the microwave briefly, then drizzle them with healthy rapeseed oil and roast on a high heat.  Nice with a bit of crushed garlic too, but to be honest there is plenty of flavour in the main dish.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3925/goats-cheese-and-thyme-stuffed-chicken

WAXING LYRICAL

Sometimes this blogging business can be difficult.  I keep getting distracted, accosted by words and phrases as I iron or dry my hair.  (Although my family will attest that there has always been a touch of the verbal diarrhoea about me!  There's not much I'm not eager to spout on about or share my opinion on! ).  Anyway I have to rush to scribble them down and he just gives me what he calls 'my patronising smile' as he wanders into the garden to mow the lawn.

Sometimes we regress as adults and throw off the shackles of the grown up world getting so much pleasure from things we enjoyed as a child.  Crafts, the wonder of nature and even when we play In and Out The Dusty Bluebells with the little people!  What's the harm if it helps us to feel safe and sane in this mad, crazy world?

So enough rambling, I think the idea is I am supposed to present you with a recipe each time I blog!

 

Mr Fothergill's rocket romps away at the garden.  How to make the most of it?  A fresh zingy pasta dish from a free giveaway Tesco magazine combining it with peppery salami is spot on for a summer evening.

 

• Cook between  six and eight ounces of penne pasta.
• Fry an onion with a red chilli, the recipe says deseed but we like it hot!
• Add one clove of garlic and 100grams of salami (easier to work in grams here as the packets are detailed that way).  Cook for one minute.
• Add a large tin of tomatoes, the zest and juice of a lemon and a pinch of sugar.  I know the sugar police will balk at that but it is really needed for the flavour here.
• Simmer for a few minutes then toss in tons of rocket and wilt.
• Serve over pasta and top with parmesan and you have a simple summer treat!

GETTING FRUITY!

The arrival of summer fruits is always synonymous in my head with the shedding of your winter wardrobe.  As you shed the layers of woolly jumpers, boots and thermal socks there is the promise of something exciting in the offing.

Two fruits vie neck and neck for the top spot in our house.

Referring to my tried and tested *Pies and Flans book from M and S, each year the excitement mounts as I combine tart blackcurrants with sharp cooking apples to make an old fashioned topsy turvy pie.  It is never particularly aesthetically pleasing but dive beneath the surface and top with unctuous clotted cream and it becomes a delectable delight.

Rub four ounces of margarine into eight ounces of plain flour and then add one ounce of caster sugar.  Use one egg yolk and some cold water to bind together.  Transfer to a pie plate and fill with 1lb of blackcurrants and a couple of cooking apples .  It says to dot with one ounce of butter -  I tend to just use olive spread  -and two ounces of light muscavodo sugar.   Fold the overlapping pastry and brush with egg white and dredge with caster sugar. Cook at 180 degrees (fan oven) for 35 to 40 minutes.

Watch out for a future post to discover which humble fruit ties for first place!

(*published in the mid 1990s and written by Mary Cadogan who interestingly now writes for the BBC Good Food magazine)