Kitchen diary: Butter potatoes

Buttered potatoes - should they be fried or is the butter just supposed to dress the potato?

I've looked through my food diaries and my array of recipe books and depending upon the cook, the style or the country which the recipe comes from, it would seem that butter and potato have a close relationship wherever they are.

The most popular coupling seems to be frying your potato in butter.  Whether raw or cooked, the purpose of the potato is key.  If as an accompaniment to a roasted or braised meat, the potatoes seem to be raw at the outset or at least partially cooked.   This method seems to be a very northern European and Scandinavian trait. 

Fully cooked whole potatoes, albeit small potatoes generally, seem to be a mediterranean trait.  One recipe for Valencian potatoes, uses half butter/olive oil to first soften onion, garlic and tomatoes, then the cooled cooked potatoes are added with a sweet wine and then braised slowly.  The butter and wine making a relatively thick golden sauce.

Further east, cooked potato, rough cut into pieces are added to butter or gee that has been weighted with cumin and mustard seeds first along with a little turmeric and finished off, once cooked thorough, with chopped parsley.

And then there is the question about gnocchi, this lovely Italian creation was first served to me simply coated in a sage butter and, strangely, just a week later, and completely separately, new potatoes were also served in a similar way.

So, the question remains, are buttered potatoes supposed to be fried?

Quick Suppers: Spiced Lamb Pinches

These are highly spiced and a great alternative to meatballs.

Preparation time is just 15 minutes and cooking time is for a similar length of time, so whether you have these with a salad or with a batch of savoury or plain rice, this can be a very quick supper.

This quantity should be just right for two people or with a small salad as a base and topped with a little yogurt, just great for 4 starters.

Ingredients:

12 oz (300 grams) of minced lamb
2 tablespoons of dried marjoram and thyme
1 tablespoon of Ras El Hanout
1 finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 oz of salted butter
2 large tomatoes (cored, and diced)

Take a large bowl and place the dried herbs and spice in the bottom, combined together.

Drop small pinches of the lamb, and drop into the mixture, toss lightly and leave to stand.   The dry mixture should fully coat the pinches.

Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan on a medium heat.  Add the pinches to the pan and brown adding the onion and garlic at mid-point.

When done, toss the diced tomatoes into the pinches and serve.

Puy Lentils with Roasted Beetroot & Red Peppers

Lentils with roasted beetroot

One of my favourite accompaniments, although I love mashed potato, sometimes a lentil or three hits the spot just a little bit more.

With this recipe, the beetroot and red peppers are sweet and the earthy lentils compliment them marvellously.

Ingredients:

• 1 large overgrown organic beetroot or three or four regular sized ones (peeled and cubed if the former, cut into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the latter)
• 2 medium sized red peppers (roughly chopped)
• a good glug of olive oil
• a good pinch of ground sea salt
• 2 ozs of salted butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
• 1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 dessert spoon of dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 4 dessert spoons of chopped fresh sorrel, plus a few ripped leaves set aside for later
• 6 oz of puy lentils
• 1 pint of stock
• 1 large glass of white wine

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade and prepare the beetroot and red peppers in a bowl,  adding the salt and oil and tossing in the bowl before placing on a baking tray and place in the oven on the middle shelf for about 30-40 minutes.  The beetroot should a little crisp on the outside and soft centred.

In a deep sided frying pan (with a lid) or a saucepan, soften the onions and garlic over a medium heat with the butter.  Add the lentils and stir through to evenly coat with the onion mixture and then add the dry herbs and half of the chopped fresh sorrel.  Stir well and then add the stock and cover the pan and lower the heat.  When the liquid is simmering slowly, uncover the pan and continue to cook through until almost all the liquid in gone.

Add the wine and recover.  Again, as the liquid comes to simmer uncover the pan and this time add the remaining chopped fresh sorrel. Continue cooking until almost all the liquid has gone.  Take off the heat and recover the pan.

Test the beetroot and if ready add these to the lentils.

Serve with the remaining ripped leaves.

This goes very well with many kinds of protein and non-protein pairings.  Handmade sausages, pan fried fish, as do halumi and falafel.

Leave these lentils to go cold and this is a very tasty packed lunch.  Add some pine nuts and some chopped feta.

Leftover Mondays: Boiled Ham and Roast Chicken pasta with Puntarella

Leftover Monday, such a treat after the weekend!
 
Ingredients:

• 8oz of dried trompetti pasta
• 2oz of salted butter
• one large clove of smoked garlic, finely chopped
• one small onion, finely chopped
• one head of Puntarella, divided and chopped as described below
• one glass of white, dry wine, a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
• 10oz of boiled ham, roughly chopped
• 6oz of roast chicken, roughly chopped
• 2 dessert spoons of chopped sorrel
• 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil

Puntarella, an Italian chicory, for those in the know has a bitter quality.  Although not unpleasant, the beautiful celery like stalks surround a heart of under-formed stems that look a bit like pyramidal arrows pointing to the sky.

The shape of the leaves look a little like rocket, although attached down the sides of the celery like stalks.  Overall the plant tastes like mild aniseed so the overall experience to the cooked vegetable is rather lovely I think.

I cooked this like I do rainbow chard, stripping the greenery off the stalks, roughly chopping them and placing them aside for later use.  The stalks I chop to inch lengths and with the heat I cut away the base and separate the buds.  In this case there were a little over twenty of these.

As I am doing this, I am bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and start cooking the pasta.

Separately, in another large saucepan, I melted the butter over a medium heat and whilst this is warming through I add the chopped garlic and onion.  As these soften, I add the chopped stalks and the baby stems, stirring the mixture until evenly coated with butter mixture.  As this is warming through, I lower the heat slightly and cover with a lid.

At this point I test the pasta to see if just under cooked.  Depending on how rapid your boil, this may almost be done.

As the Puntarella mixture has had a few minutes covered, I now add the meat and the wine.  Stirring well and waiting until the mixture is heated through.  Again cover and lower the heat a little more whilst you drain the pasta, sprinkling a with a little olive oil to help separate the pieces.

Check on the vegetable and meat mixture to ensure this hasn't begun to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Now add the pasta to this, mix through with the chopped leaves and half the sorrel.

If the leaves are fresh then at this stage, just take off the heat and leave covered to rest for a few minutes below serving.  If the leaves have wilted or are couple of days old, keep the heat on for two minutes more and then take off the heat.

Divide the pasta between three plates for generous portions and dress with remaining chopped sorrel. 

Almond cream - a simple taste of heaven

Almond cream, a very simple accompaniment for almost any dessert, but especially nice with Easter Cake or with any cake really.

Ingredients

• 300 ml of double cream, whipped just before stiff
• 60 grams of ground almonds
• a teaspoon of black current liquor
• three dessert spoons of icing sugar

Mix all the above together thoroughly.  Different liquors for different occasions and indeed, different ground nuts are just as good.  Avoid ground walnuts however, as this can make the cream very bitter and no amount of sugar will mask it.

Easter Cake

Easter is a wonderful time, not just for the obvious reasons, the reassertions of rebirth and forgiveness, but its Spring after all, and the evenings are lighter and blossom has come out to give us all hope that fresh life brings.

My Easter is probably the same as everyone else's, chocolate, Roast Chicken on Sunday and cake, in all its different forms.

The Easter cake I normally bake is based on a Victorian cherry and almond cake, just topped off with a soft marzipan cover.  It's not a traditional Simnel cake, simply because it doesn't have orange zest or the eleven marzipan balls on top.  Also, because I still have lingering nightmares of marzipan from the 1970s and 1980s, the hard, firm and dry, bright yellow marzipan of my youth, the marzipan I top this cake with is just firm enough to roll out.

This is a relatively low temperature baked cake which probably needs a little greaseproof "hat" for the first half an hour of cooking.  Before taking off the hat, turn the heat up by 10 degrees for a few minute before, and then after a few more minutes once the oven has been closed again. 

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 ozs (100 grams) of salted butter
• 4 ozs (100 grams) of caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs (thoroughly beaten)
• a teaspoon of orange water
• 4 ozs (100 grams) of glacier cherries
• 4 ozs (100 grams) pre-soaked in natural yogurt
• 4 ozs (100 grams) ground almonds
• 2 ozs (50 grams) self raising flour
• half a teaspoon of baking powder

3 dessert spoons of marmalade (to set aside)

A 7 inch (17.5 cms) baking tin, approximately one and half inches (4cm) deep

Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees centigrade (320 F), Gas mark 2

Cream together the butter and caster sugar until light.  Add the beaten eggs gradually.  If doing this by hand add a dessert spoon of the ground almonds at this point and this will help bind the eggs and butter mixture more evenly and easily.

Add the orange water and fruit next until the mixture is well combined and only then add the remaining dry ingredients through a sieve.

Fill your tin and place in the oven on the middle shelf.

Remove the hat after 30 minutes and then continue baking for another 30 to 40 minutes.  Use a metal skewer to test if done.  The skewer in the cake at the 30 minute mark and if it comes out clean your cake is done.

Let your cake cool in it's tin for the first 30 minutes or so before turning it out to a cooling tray.

Soft marzipan ingredients
(makes about 8 ozs or 400 grams)

• 3 quarter cups of caster sugar
• 5 quarter cups of icing sugar
• 8 quarter cups of ground almonds
• 1 desert spoon orange water
• 1 large egg (beaten well)
• additional icing sugar for rolling out

Sift the dry ingredients together and add the orange water and egg to make a soft dough/paste.

Work the dough until it is smooth and then place in a bowl and over and put in the fridge for at least an hour.

When rolling out this marzipan, be generous with your icing sugar, ensuring there is plenty on the work surface as the softness of this paste makes it stick readily.  Use a tea plate to make a round to place on the top of your cooled cake.  The disk of marzipan should be slightly larger than the width of the cake.

Heat the marmalade so that it can be brushed onto the now cooled cake.  Place the disk of marzipan on top of this.  Then, using the end of the handle of a teaspoon, flatten the overlap of the marzipan against the edge of the cake to give a scalloped edge.

Serve with Almond cream

Thank you Susan and Australia

 

First my apologies, for the length of time between my last posts and now.

 

I have my partner's best girlfriend to thank for reigniting my outlook on food and also to Australia for giving me a fresh outlook on my passions. 

 

Both Susan and her husband Michael made us feel so much at home.

 

We only had time to go part-way on the Great Ocean Road, but we found a lovely country brewer on the way back to Geelong, to refresh us.

 

The Melbourne food market was vast, but still made me think of London's borough market.  At least there was room to walk about, just like everywhere we went in our visit, there was so much space.

 

Melbourne was definitely an inspiration in so many ways, the fusion of old and new and amazing blue skies!

 

And finally, just a final mention of a great Australian tradition (apparently!), the chicken parnie... this one was a Mexican ...

Summer Tomatoes

Summer Tomatoes

With seasonal tomatoes arriving in all their varieties now, its the time to celebrate their flavour with herbs that enhance them.

This simple, yet strong flavoured dressing is perfect for the larger varieties, remembering always to store your fruits at room temperature to maximise their smell and taste. 

For a generous serving for two people or as a simple starter for four:

Take one kilo of ripe tomatoes, the beefier the better.  Cut them in in half and take out their cores, then slice into wedges and place in a large bowl.

Take two large red peppers, core them and then cut them in into strips and also add these to the bowl.

The dressing is a simple affair, with two large cloves of garlic, three dessert spoons of capers and a handful of black pitted olives, all chopped roughly and put into a screw top jar.  Add some of the preserving vinegar from your jar of capers and add a similar amount of balsamic.  Then add two to three times this volume of good extra virgin olive oil. 

Add the cap to the jar, shake virgorously and pour over your summer fruit.  Toss and serve with toasted bread or some crumbled feta.

Tomatoes - keeping it simple

As the first flush of ripe tomatoes come through what could be better than a fresh tomato salad, served at room temperature and with all the flavour of Summer?

When tomatoes are in season, you simply want to celebrate their taste.  So any accompaniment should be a partnership to the tomato's natural flavour.

• four large ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (if you've bought these from the supermarket, leave them on the side to bring to room temperature - this will maximise their flavour)
• one small red onion, halved and sliced thinly
• a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
• two dessert spoons of salted capers, chopped roughly
• 2 good glugs of extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, add all the above and using your hands, make sure that everything has a coating of oil.  Cover with clingfilm and leave on the side for an hour or more.

Use as salad on its own, as a filling in crusty bread or, add olives and feta and gorge yourself whilst sitting in the sun...

Slow braised Rabbit with mint and parsley

A relatively simple dish especially good as an alternative to a Sunday roast. 

Depending on the size of your rabbit, portion wise, one saddle is generally fair for each person. 

For four, simply increase all the ingredients by a similar ratio, although the amount of parsley should only be increased by half. 

Marjoram and Thyme are also great additions to the herb mix for this particular recipe and if using either, I would tend to use 15 grams of parsley to 5 grams of either of these herbs; i.e. still maintaining a 20 gram portion of fresh herbs in total.

For two saddles of Rabbit:

• Four dessert spoons of good olive oil
• 10 grams of mint, chopped finely
• Three large cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• Two good pinches of salt
• Two good pinches of caraway seeds
• 20 grams of flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
• Two large onions, sliced
• 500 mls of good vegetable stock, reduced by half
• 50 mls of good balsamic vinegar

Place your Rabbit in a large bowl.  Add the oil, mint and garlic, the salt, the caraway seeds and the sliced onions and ensure the meat is evenly covered.

Place to one side, covered, at room temperature for 30-40 minutes or, in a sealable plastic bag in the fridge overnight, taking the bag out about an hour before you need to start cooking.

Pre-heat oven to 160c.

Reduce your stock and allow to cool slightly, then add the balsamic.

In a heavy oven dish, scatter a little more oil in the base and put half your parsley/herb mix onto the bottom.  Place the rabbit and onion mixture and the remaining parsley scattered on around and on top.  Add the liquid to the side rather than pouring over the top of the meat.  Cover tightly with oven foil and place in the in oven, for an hour.

At the end of this period, uncover, increase the heat to 180c and cook for a further 25/35 minutes, depending on the size or the number of rabbit pieces you have placed in your oven dish.

Take out of the oven, cover loosely and allow to stand in its juices for 20 minutes. 

Serve on a bed of Spring greens or puy lentils.

If you are serving with roast potatoes and want a thicker gravy, I would transfer the remaining juices into a saucepan and whisk in a little butter and flour, perhaps adding a little pinch of ground black pepper at the end.

Kitchen diary: Party secrets

Ever invited a dozen people around for drinks and had those sinking feelings just before people are due to arrive?

 

Well, a little under 25 years ago, a certain elderly, ex-Actor was entertaining upwards of ten people at a time in a room no more than twenty feet square in Soho, in the West End of London.

 

Afternoon tea at Eliot's flat was a grand affair, or rather it seemed to be, it wasn't until much later that I was taken aside in confidence (especially as my liking of French and Italian cooking was by then well known to my friends) after a particularly splendid Sunday afternoon. 

There were only nine or ten of us, including the host, but the little flat accommodated everyone with ease, the Edwardian daybed was a perch for two and an intricately carved Persian long, but quite low, stool was topped with cushions for another two.  Chairs in many different styles, although two rather grand Gothic charges stood out like thrones, completed the eclectic seating arrangements.  Small tables and terracotta drums held small bowls and platters with an varied assortment of nibbles, some of the regular nut and crisp variety but there were also some little plates of less expected offerings.

To put this in repast in context, it was the late eighties, probably 1988 or 1989, flat, as I've said before was just a room with a small separate kitchen and bathroom.   The fact that it was just off Charing Cross Road in London's theatre land just made it (for me anyway) that much more boho.

Every 20 or 30 minutes for about 2 hours Eliot came out with two small silver trays with small offerings, some sweet and savoury and others simply savoury.  We were then all, very politely of course, ushered out of the flat for the next event, which normally ended up in a small bar or café owned or managed by one of his friends.

And the secret methodology to all this boho chic? 

"The only "homemade" bits "dear" are the toasted bread, the bean paste, the olive mix and a rather clever trick with potted dates.  I suppose you also need to know your audience and how to set up the smoke and mirrors, that's the easy part.  But ignore anyone who says you have to have even numbers of guests, odd is always more interesting.  We're lucky, you hardly ever meet an untalkative gay man or actor, but do try to have some quieter ones, otherwise you can't hear yourself above all that trilling and showing off."

Small party organisers note:

·        Know your venue and facilities well, in Eliot's case, he knew he couldn't cater for more than ten people and that feeding ten people would be difficult if everything wasn’t done totally in advance.  He had only a small half fridge, so two buckets with ice was used to chill the wine and another two buckets were used with ice to use for cooling trays.

·        Set your scene.  In Eliot's flat, the "smoke and mirrors" simply referred to what's the best use of the room, arranging the furniture so that everyone was facing one another, in a semicircle and with the main source of light at the open end of this arrangement - so no-one is squinting at the person opposite if they are sitting in front of an undressed window.  If you need to layer your seating arrangements place high/hard seated chairs behind much lower ones - the Gothic chargers were placed behind the Persian stool (as so the two people lucky enough to get this seat could easily swivel and chat to those behind them).  

·        Remember to allow for enough surfaces to put glasses and bowls on, hence the array of small tables and terracotta drums in this little Soho flat, there was always somewhere "to put a napkin".  In  the centre of the semi-circle, don't be tempted to fill it by putting a table there for example, after just a few minutes, it will be moved to one side anyway.

·        Food, make it simple and make it ahead of time.  See the mini-recipes below, but also go to non-mainstream food shops, in Soho, in London at the time, Eliot had a number of choices, including Chinese, Japanese and Jewish food shops but also a number of other middle eastern café's just a short bus ride away on the Edgware Road.  Having heavily spiced almonds, hazelnuts or olive mixes are very easily shopped for now but 25 years ago, shopping around for something special took a little more time.  Still if you are still wanting more snack ideas, I've a few ideas of my own.

·        Eliot bought olives and herbs and small jars of peppers and chillies separately and simple made a fresh mix every few days, having an afternoon tea simply meant that he made a large batch.

·        He made his "toast" by griddling thin slices of French bread but he "discovered" an Italian bakery in Farringdon he would go there specially to get ciabatta instead.

·        Know your audience.  Balance your invitations.  Yes, you will always have your extrovert guests, but make sure they don't drown out the ones who also have an opinion.  Remember, it's not just the extrovert who are loud, it’s the nervous ones who've breathed in that first glass of wine too, so know your audience, calm them, reassure them and if they are too quiet, give them something to do so it forces them to interact, perhaps ask them to take around the opened bottle of fizz to top up glasses or distribute a tray of treats and napkins.  They will have the excuse to joke about the service or explain about what's in the food or do some healthy flirting.

Stuffed dates

A simple and tasty, but fiddly, finger full of fun are these stuffed dates.  Remember those boxes of dates you always had at Christmas, well here's a tip on how to use them.  De-stone them (that's the fiddly bit and fill the spaces with some small wedges of a tart cheese - goats cheese, feta or even a little blue cheese too.  Put on a plate with sprinkling of finely chopped parsley, so easy.

Bean paste

My own involves cooking, Eliot's was a lot more straight forward.  A tin of pre-cooked pinto beans, drained with two dessert spoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of cumin and a teaspoon of hot smoked paprika, and mashed well.  The paste was then put on "toasts" and small additions were placed on top, a little ham, or couple of slices of tinned artichoke, or a little griddled chorizo.

Mixed olives

As above, but the possibilities are endless, not everyone likes olives, try making up a mix with small cherry tomatoes and/or with small balls of hard cheese.  I particularly like toasted chorizo chopped in large dice and mixed up with pieces of onion and sweet pepper.

 

Fish pate - another kitchen diary

 

Savoury pancakes

Do you need a quick cooked breakfast (or supper) with limited eggs in the store cupboard?

With just three small eggs, some ground almonds (four heaped dessert spoons), some finely chopped spring onions, two dessert spoons of fat (melted butter or oil) and your regular amount of seasoning, whipped to smooth batter, makes four good sized, thick pancakes.

I used a ladle to gently pour into a small non-stick frying pan (with just a little olive oil).

Takes no time at all, but remember to turn down your heat after the first one as your pan will be hot and you may burn the batter.

Served here with baked sausages and mushrooms.

Cod Loin with Sage & Celery Crunch

A mid-week simple supper paid a relatively healthy homage to the traditional fish supper.

A good sized cod loin is needed for this, ideally about 200 grams plus per person.  The loin should be evenly shaped if possible with a good thickness so that the cooking time - just under 20 minutes in a hot oven in its foil parcel - provides just enough residual heat to complete the task whilst it's resting on the side for a few minutes.

For two people:

• Four dessert spoons of good extra virgin olive oil
• 12 grams of sage, chopped finely
• Two small sticks of celery, approximately 15 cms in length, chopped finely
• Two generous pinches of sea salt
• One lime, topped and tailed and using the middle for three slices to set on top of the fish and the juice of the top and tail.

On an oven sheet, place a piece of baking foil, dull side facing you and use one dessert spoon of oil over this this.

Mix the sage, celery and salt together with a further spoonful of oil and lime juice and place a third of the mixture on the foil.

Place the loin on top of this and spread the remaining sage mixture as evenly as possible over the top.  Add the lime slices and then create a foil parcel.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with a fresh salad or vegetable of choice.

Salted black olives and tomato salad

A great accompaniment to many a main course, but especially served with risotto or grilled fish, this salad is more of salsa with its smaller pieces and with its mint, lemon and capers has more than just nod to Malta and North Africa.

For two generous portions:

• 150 grams of tomatoes, deseeded, cored and chopped into one centimetre cubes
• 100 grams of cucumber, deseeded, peeled and chopped, again into roughly one centimetre cubes
• A good handful, approximately a dozen, large black salted olives, chopped roughly (do not rinse)
• Six to eight large caper berries, thinly sliced
• 20 grams of fresh mint, chopped coarsely
• A half teaspoon of dried mint
• A half teaspoon of dried cumin
• Two dessert spoons of good extra virgin oil
• The juice and zest of half a lemon

Mix all but the lemon juice/zest in a bowl and allow to stand, covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Just before serving, add the lemon juice and zest, combine thoroughly.

Linguine with Kale & lime

A quick supper, normally defined by me as doable in under 30 minutes, is always a blessing, especially if you arrive home in the evening no earlier than 7pm most week days.

With coat off and cooker switched on; pan and water (and a good pinch of salt) on the hob and glass of wine in hand, not necessarily in that order, I can make dinner, change into more comfortable clothes and be at the table eating in 30 minutes with this dish.  You will need a second lidded saucepan and good eye for timing.

Whilst water is on, change and have a quick hand scrub.  Another slurp of wine, stripping the kale from its spine and roughly cutting into strips before thoroughly washing in cold running water, and we're off:
 

Per person:

• Salt
• Water
• Linguine - a handful/or your usual portion
• Olive oil - four tablespoons
• Kale - 150 grams, washed and cut into rough strips
• Garlic - a clove finely chopped
• Caper berries - five or six large juicy ones, sliced
• Lime - both zest & juice
• Parmesan - four table spoons, finely grated

Whilst your linguine is cooking your pan of salted boiling water, your second pan should be on a medium heat with a half your olive oil, a little pinch of salt, your kale and your garlic with the lid on.  After a few minutes shake the pan (with the lid on) and then continue to cook on a slightly lower heat for five to eight minutes.

When your pasta is ready, drain and add the other half of your oil so the strands do not stick together.

Once your Kale has had sufficient cooking time, add your pasta, caper berries and lime and mix together off the heat.  Add half your Parmesan and combine and then as you serve add the rest.