THAI TO DIE FOR!

 

A large quantity of the pounds and pounds of runner beans we have harvested this year have had to be given away as they really don't freeze successfully.  (I'm sure someone out there is going to dispute that fact! )  Thankfully the dwarf variety can survive an icy spell so I decide to retrieve some and embark on making a simple thai salmon curry for supper.

 It never ceases to amaze me how just a few ingredients can yield such depth of flavour.  Mopped up with coriander and garlic nan, if you don't mind eating two lots of carbs together,  this is another speedy one to put together after a hard day at the coalface or the library in my case!

I combine two recipes to end up with this supper  but only have a link for one. The other recipe also adds a quarter pint of vegetable stock, lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, half a chilli and sliced new potatoes. Have a play with the ingredients and see what works for you.



http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4728/red-thai-salmon-curry

THE LAST HURRAH

The mange tout are having a last hurrah at the garden.  As I pluck them from their curly tendrils their unique fragrance makes me reminisce about how the summer seemed endless as a child and  reminds me of hours  of contentment as I sat in the garden shelling peas for my Mum before dinner.

  The recipe I make calls for sugar snaps but I substitute the mangetout and use some chillis from the allotment too. 

 Their startling colour shouts out at you each time you walk up the path almost as if they are calling 'pick me, pick me!'

 

This  blog mixes and matches two BBC Good Food recipes.  The Thai-style duck recipe no longer appears on the website so unfortunately I can't provide a link.  I marinated two duck breasts in 2tsp soy sauce, 2tsp rice wine, 2tsp sesame oil and 2tsp of cornflour for 15 minutes and then stir fried until cooked adding a stick of lemongrass towards the end of cooking.

 

As per the following link I also marinated a fillet of salmon

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crispy-asian-salmon-stir-fried-noodles-pak-choi-sugar-snap-peas

and then used the fish recipe to create the gorgeous aromatic noodles to go with both dishes.  On  that particular day I didn't have any pak choi or spinach but none of that matters the secret of having fun with cooking is to experiment.

 The flavours just sing from the plate - you can almost taste the essence of the dish just by looking at the photographs! 
I have to say it might be simpler and a lot less washing up if we both liked duck!

 

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE!

The perpetual spinach is so living up to its name!  It just seems to go on and on forever.  Therefore  I need to find something to cook so it isn't wasted.  I have been making this Ross Burden recipe for years (where is he now?!) but because it was lacking vegetables, other than red onions,  over time I decided to add spinach to the curry sauce to make it healthier and it has worked really well.  Try it and see.

Chop one red onion and fry with two cloves of garlic.  Then sprinkle in ground cumin and coriander to your taste and three tablespoons of medium curry powder.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add two tablespoons of tomato puree and a can of light coconut milk.  Leave to simmer.

 

 

Make 500grams of pork mince into small patties.

 and brown in a frying pan while the sauce is cooking. 

 

When they are cooked add them to the sauce

 

and then pop in as much spinach as you like just before you are ready to serve as obviously it wilts down quickly.  Scatter with chopped coriander before serving.

Delicious!

 

My curry posts seem to be among the most popular at the moment so this is one for all you connoisseurs of spicy food!



CURLY WURLY

I may be in my fifty eighth year but that doesn't stop me enjoying playing with toys!  I was lucky enough to get a Kitchen Craft spiraliser for my birthday recently and have been having great fun getting to grips with it.  It is early days but last night after work I had fun making some healthy parsnip crisps from a recipe in the book Spiralise Now by Denise Smart.

 

I added one tablespoon of rapeseed oil to the vegetables and rather than sea salt as the  book suggested I used some fresh thyme from the garden.

  I cooked them at 150 degrees for about half an hour turning once and then left them to crisp up in the oven as it cooled down.

 

 

 

A snack that makes you feel quite virtuous!  I'm now looking forward to trying sweet potato with smoked paprika!

On a sweeter note - using a recipe from the book 'Crops in Pots' by Bob Purnell, I then spiralised three ounces of courgette and the same amount  of carrot and added this to a basic sponge mixture with sultanas, ground almonds, mixed spice and orange zest and the resulting buns were incredibly moist and moreish. 

 

I'm thinking playtime in the kitchen  and the garden should be on prescription!

 
 
 

PICKLE POT

 

It has been like tomato city here for the past few months.  Since July little dishes overflowing with tiny crimson treats have littered my worktop.  Everytime you throw a handful into something there are more to replace them!  Its like a bottomless bucket!  So the  search was on for a chutney to utilise as many as I could.  I found a great relish in The Preserving Book by Lynda Brown.  The added bonus is that it also used some of the surplus courgettes and a yellow pepper I had lurking in the fridge and it was  so easy.   Just chop your veg and throw everything in the pan together for three quarters of an hour

 

 

and hey presto two jars of chutney to store for the winter with the pickles! 



           

Look out for the courgette and tomato relish recipe!



   







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MAKING A SPLASH!

 

New white T shirt covered in soy sauce but hey ho no worries as we may have a conversion to the reviled sprout!   Always been one of my favourite vegetables but one I usually eat solo.

 

Admittedly we had to disguise it - and no we didn't have to puree, blend or hide them in a soup - but a Waitrose oriental chicken stir fry a combination of sweet, spicy and sour did the trick.   Even better the Vanish got rid of  the stains!  Give it a go - but don't forget your apron! 

 

 

 

Can't find a link but the following  recipe serves two with noodles.

 

Trim and halve 250g of sprouts, then steam for three to four minutes. (I sometimes do this in the microwave)

 

Stir fry three chicken breasts and then set aside.

 

Fry a couple of cloves of garlic, add the sprouts and a couple of chopped chillis, depending on how hot you like it. 

 

 Add two tablespoons of nam pla fish sauce and one of soy sauce and a spoonful of dark brown sugar.   Return the chicken and cook until sticky and syrupy. Then add a squeeze of lime juice and chopped coriander before serving.

 

SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE

 

 

A colourful medley of Mediterranean vegetables adds a quirky twist to this perfect pie.  Straightforward to make - all you have to do is layer up one pound of sausagemeat, some jarred peppers, fragrant basil leaves, a bunch of chopped spring onions,

 

 a pack of salty halloumi

 

and three chopped courgettes.

 

  It's not worth making the pastry - Aldi's shortcrust is just right for the job.  Cook at 170 degrees in a fan oven for one hour. 


                                                                                                                                                                    














 





This recipe is from the M and S Pies and Flans book mentioned in my previous blog 'Getting Fruity'
 

 

Don't be put off by Mary Cadogan's wonderful layers. Mine didn't look nearly as beautiful as this but it tasted delicious.  I would suggest serving with some roasted tomatoes, just to add a little moisture.  You could perhaps include them in the pie but not sure if it might then become too soggy.

Enjoy!

BLACKBERRY WAY

If like me you enjoy foraging you might have been a little disappointed this year.  The changeable weather has meant pickings from the hedgerows are sparse - blackberries are tiny and few and far between but we managed to get enough together for a few favourite autumnal desserts.

 

On balmier days try a  simple shortcake, the  clotted cream adds such a glorious  dimension to the dish.  Heaven help my cholesterol levels!
 
 
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2857/blackberry-and-clotted-cream-shortcake-

 
Or for those chillier days when you want to hunker down with something consoling, sticky and treacly try  these  little mini sponge puddings .

 
This is another ancient recipe, torn from a magazine while I was in hospital I believe! I have another I saved from an aeroplane journey! I'm told this tearing out of recipes is one of my geriatric tendencies!  Still hopefully you can excuse my eccentricities when you taste the end result!

 

Grease four mini pud moulds.

 

Divide six ounces of blackberries between the moulds.

 

Share 2tbsp of soft brown sugar and one and a half tbsp. of golden or maple syrup between them.  I prefer the taste of the golden.

 

  Beat together four ounces of marg, one and a half ounces of soft brown sugar, one and a half tbsp of syrup, two eggs, three ounces of self raising flour, one of plain, half a teaspoon of baking powder and two and a half tbsp of milk.

 

Spoon into the moulds and cover them with foil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake at 160 degrees in a fan oven for about 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One for you!                                                       

 

                                                           One for me!

 

Pudding heaven!

 

 

This can be made in a large pudding basin too - my original recipe requires double the ingredients I have used here and then doubles the cooking time.