Vegetable Cream Cheese

I've not been venturing far from the house these past couple of weeks.  Between the heat and my looming D-Day I haven't had the energy or the desire to do much of anything.  I've been watching a lot of The Food Network and slowly making my way though the entire Poirot discography...resulting in many a craving for pastries, art deco tea parties and frantically adjusting the symmetry in my living room. I don't have the energy to make eclairs or croissants...even though I'd happily sit down and stuff my face full of them, weep.  

On Friday (or was it Saturday?) The Barefoot Contessa whipped up a quick brunch for her and her publisher...as you do...and I immediately started craving bagels and cream cheese.  Back in Canada, in my teens and twenties I used to love a trip to the bagel store to get fresh bagels and really thick and slightly tart cream cheese...siiigh 

Anyway, Ina made her publisher bagels with vegetable cream cheese and smoked salmon (drooool) and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for...well...a day!  Luckily bagels and cream cheese were to hand (a pregnancy staple of mine) and with a little fine chopping I was well on my way to satisfying my craving.  

I mixed together half a container of plain soft cream cheese with a finely chopped small carrot, some spring onion, finely chopped cucumber, a handful of chopped coriander and salt and pepper.  Slathered very generously on toasted multi-grain bagels...this was HEAVEN.  

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Harvest Time Mac n Cheese

You all know how much I love a good mac n cheese (not that I've ever come across a bad mac n cheese) and that I could pretty much eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few snacks in between.  I've met the odd person over the past few years who can't stand the stuff...but for the most part I think that people just love mac n cheese.  I don't know what it is about a warm bowl of cheese covered pasta but it just warms my heart, like a big comforting hug.  Mac n Cheese just does it for me.  

This week my MIL and SIL were up visiting and on Monday while I was at work (sob sob) the wonderful David treated them to an afternoon on the beach at North Berwick. Keeping in mind that this is Scotland and it is October I planned our meal wisely...what better to come home to after a day of walking in the wind and rain than a steaming dish of mac n cheese.  

I wanted to make this mac hearty, filling, rich, creamy and above all different.  Ages ago I made a mac n cheese with chunks of roasted butternut squash, which was a big hit...so I thought I would tweak that a bit.  Added veggies must negate the calories in the cheese...right? The chunks of squash in the mac I made before were great, but I wanted something silkier...I wanted a really smooth and creamy dish.  

I cut a butternut squash in half length wise, scooped out the seeds and put it cut side down into a baking dish and then into the oven (180f ish) for about 40 mins.  I wanted the squash to be soft enough to just scrape it out of the skin.  While the squash was roasting I put a huge pan of water onto boil and then cooked and drained 500g of elbow macaroni (I feel very strongly about only using elbow macaroni for my mac).  

I like to make my cheese sauce right in my shallow Le Creuset casserole because it can be used on the stove top, plus it saves on washing yet another pot and I can generally tell if there is enough sauce for all the pasta.  My basic cheese sauce is 50g of butter melted until bubbling and then 2 tbsp of flour whisked in for a couple of minutes.  I then add 300ml of milk and stir until nice and thick.  I usually add a pinch of cayenne and mustard powder and a good crank of pepper and salt.  For this mac I used a extra mature cheddar, but sometimes I use a mixture of cheddar, edam, gouda, mozzarella...whatever is on hand.  About 200g grated (a handful reserved for the topping) goes into the white sauce.  To make the sauce creamy I added 150ml of creme fraiche (full fat), and then scraped out the squash (once it was  really soft) using a fork and added it to the cheesy mixture.  

Then in with the pasta and mixed it all up.  If the pasta wasn't really covered I would have added a bit more creme fraiche or some more milk...but luckily this time I had made just the right amount of cheese sauce.  I topped the dish with the cheese I had saved, a naughty sprinkle of store bought breadcrumbs (I just happened to have in the cupboard) and a quick drizzle of olive oil to help the bread crumbs brown.  Into the oven it went (180f ish) for about 20 mins until it was crisp and golden on top.  Between 4 greedy adults there was barely a scoop left.  

I have to say this was hands down the best mac n cheese I've had for a long time.  I christened it my Harvest Mac since pumpkins and squash are in abundance at the moment, but seeing as I can get butternut squash all year round at the supermarket I think it might just become my not-so-boring  standard.  

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The forgotten jar....Tahini

I have a jar of tahini in my fridge...it is waaaaaaay at the back of the top shelf, behind some curry pastes and tom yum paste and a couple of different mustards....it sits there unused, forgotten.  Every once and a while I remember about it and wrack my brain for ways to use it up.  It was pretty expensive considering I have probably used one tablespoon maximum from it in the last however many months it has been since I bought it.  I don't even remember what I bought it for...it is just there.  

I hadn't planned on using it in last night's Asian inspired supper...but as I was waiting for the water to boil to cook my soba noodles (I know...get me) I spied the recipe on the back of the package for a miso tahini dressing...ah ha! I didn't have miso but I sure had some tahini...and an idea.  

I loved this dinner the moment I started daydreaming about it on the bus...soba noodles tossed in some sort of asian dressing with shavings of a soft cabbage, red endive and spring onions...piled high on a plate and served cool-ish.  The cabbage and endive part came from an Asian slaw my aunt made while I was visiting her...with napa cabbage and radicchio...perfect for mixing with buckwheat noodles.  The dressing was the component with the most potential of letting me down...the part that would either bring it all together or have me ordering a pizza.  

Brown sugar, soya sauce, lime, oil, tahini and a pressed garlic clove...easy. 

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Return of the Risotto

It was a scorcher of a weekend...you know, the kind of weekend when all you want is a salad and a never ending bowl of ice cream...it was gorgeous, we had all the windows open, the sun was shining bright...the bread rose oh so fast and...I made a risotto for dinner.

That's right...it was hot hot hot and I decided to stand over a hot stove stirring my little heart out.  Those of you who have been reading for yonks will know that I love a good risotto and I am rarely happier than when chopping and stirring one up for myself.  I won't give you the whole tirade again, but for me the perfect risotto is a personal thing.  I can't abide by food snobs telling me that my risotto should be loose and al dente and...even worse...eaten with a fork.  I like it the way I like it (and will rarely order it at a restaurant).  

Right, so...way back before this freakish heat wave attacked us I was busy menu planning in single digit weather and came across a pretty spectacular sounding (and looking) recipe for fennel risotto in my copy of Jamie's Italy.  While fennel isn't technically in season at the moment in those dreary middle days of May it just screamed summer.  A fennel risotto, how perfectly different. 

If you like fennel and risotto this is a sure fire winner.  I made a few adaptions to the recipe...like I couldn't find firm ricotta so used the stuff in the supermarket and substituted chilli flakes for ground dried chillies at the end, but for the most part it was pretty easy to whip up (in the time it takes to slow cook fennel and make a risotto) and even easier to devour.  

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A Sweet Potato Kind of Day

The weather up here has been horrible, it has been cold and wet and windy and on the few recent days the sun has come out...it has still rained.  I am wearing my winter clothes for the most part and have just realised that the heating bill will definitely be eating into my social money this month.

On the way home from work yesterday I mentally zipped through my meal planner to determine what would be perfect for a Friday night dinner in front of the tv, wrapped up in a number of blankets.  On a Friday we usually make a pizza and settle in for the night, but this week the pizza has been reserved for the big football match Saturday night...so something else needed to jump to the rescue.

Sweet Potato Cakes.

Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet Potato Cakes are delicious, filling and comforting. Think about it, soft sweet sweet potato mashed up with chili and green onion and then pan fried in blobs until crispy on the outside. A plate piled high with these orange fritters, tangy greek yoghurt herb sauce, a big salad and some fresh homemade flatbreads just screams "it's the weekend" to me.  

The recipe says to steam the sweet potato in large chunks.  I don't have a steamer and I did my best to steam them in about a cm of water in a saucepan...but next time I think I would bake them in their skins in the oven and then scoop out the flesh still leaving it a little bit chunky.  

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Falafel at Home

I am terrified of shallow or deep frying at home...that or I am too cheap to pour a vat of oil into a pot...I haven't decided yet.  Anyway, due to that I shy away from making all sorts of things that I would love to try.  One of them is falafel.  I love love love falafel.  I love the falafel themselves and I love the mixture of sauces and pickles and...if you are lucky cabbage...but I've only made them at home once before, and on that occasion they were baked.  

Trawling the internet last week I came across this recipe for pan fried Falafel Burgers.  Despite not having a food processor to whizz all the ingredients up I thought I would give it a go.  

These falafels were really good.  The ingredients are minimal, and there is no tahini involved (something that I don't like buying cause it sits at the back of the fridge for ages).  The only down side to pan fried or oven baked falafel...they are patties instead of lovely little crisp balls.

Oh...the flatbreads...they are Dan Lepard's Corn Oil Flour Tortillas...incredible as always!


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White Chilli

I love chilli, really love it...I love the heat, I love the beans and I love the sour cream and shredded cheese topping. Oh! and the tortillas of course.  My problem is that of the few meat chillis I have attempted in the past I have never really been impressed.  It is most likely because I have gone for speedy versions and a really good chilli takes hours for the meat to really break down.  For this reason I usually stick to making a vegetarian chilli that calls for Bulgar Wheat to thicken it. 

Last night I tried something different...

White Chilli.  I am not exactly sure why it is called white chilli, since it is more of a greeny colour.  I can only assume the name comes from the fact that white beans provide the bulk of the meal.  

If pressed I wouldn't actually call this a chilli.  It does have all the heat and punch of a good chilli but...as a description I would say that this is more of a Mexican spiced bean stew...but hey, that's my opinion. Regardless of what it is called this is a good recipe.  You use a bottle of Corona (the recipe says Mexican Beer but I think that Corona, or Sol, has a very distinct flavour) to boil chopped peppers, jalapenos and onion with some chilli flakes and ground cumin to make a stock...that is gorgeous on its own (I'm trying to think of ways I could use it...shredded chicken soup maybe?).  

This chilli recipe calls for a lot of liquid...the bottle of beer and 400ml of stock.  It looked far too wet when I added the beans in so at the same time I sprinkled in 4 Tbsp of Bulgar Wheat.  I think that the addition of the bulgar really made a difference, with out it the chilli would have been far too liquidy.  The next time I make this I'll make up the whole 400ml of stock but only add half at the beginning and then I can add more if it seems to dry.  Or, more beans. 

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Random Recipes: 1st Birthday

I can't believe that the Random Recipes challenge, hosted by the fantastic Dom over at Belleau Kitchen, is 1 this month! The theme this month? To return the first book used...and as I scanned the past year's posts in my archive I was surprised to see that it took me a whole 3 months to actually jump on the RR bandwagon.   How horrible is that?! 

My shame at being so awful was quickly tossed aside when I discovered that the first cookbook I used way back all those months ago was the totally adorable Peter Rabbit's Cookbook.  This is one of the sweetest cookbooks ever...hands down.  There is something so pure about it.  Every time I pick it up I feel healthy, I feel cleansed...I feel like a little bunny.  

Who could resist recipes for Squirrel Nutkin's Banana-Nut Loaf (a family favourite), Tabitha Twitchit's Spicy Raisin Dessert, Cat and Rat Tomato Soup or Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle's Tomatoes stuffed with cottage cheese? 

The writing is aimed at little bunnies, reminding us that knives, electric blenders and mixers can be dangerous.  And there is even a chapter entitled "How to like Onions", giving advice on the best onions for little bunny palates. 

My recipe this time? Mr. Pricklepin's Cream or Cottage Cheese Sandwiches

While it appears like mush, I can promise you this is a fantastic little sandwich.  Mr. Pricklepin's recipe has 3 variations.  The one I chose was cottage cheese, finely chopped celery, finely chopped green onion and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds all mashed together and then spread over bread.  I'll admit I added some salt and pepper to the mix (I am an adult bunny after all) and toasted my bread.  Other variations suggest cream or cottage cheese mixed with raisins and seeds, or finely diced cucumber and chopped dill.

The crisps might not be in keeping with the healthy natural foods theme of this cookbook...but it is a birthday party after all! Happy 1st Birthday Random Recipes!


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mac n cheese...with a twist...and a crumb!

I don't have to tell you how much I love mac n cheese...in fact I think that I have told you all more than enough how a meal or snack of mac n cheese just does it for me.  I am not a huge fan of messing around with a classic like mac n cheese...i mean...if it ain't broke and all that...but when I saw this recipe for a funked up (no you didn't just read that...read it again...slowly...)version of my all time favourite I just knew that it was time to get off my mac n cheese snobby high horse and try something totally different (butternut squash AND a crust!!!). 

This mac and cheese is fantastic! It is jammed packed with roasted butternut squash that just seems to flake apart when mixed with the cooked pasta...and then topped with a crunchy green crust.  When I bought the ingredients to make this Mac I was prepared to follow the recipe to the T...but one thing lead to another, cheese got eaten, basil totally wilted and well...you know.  So when it came down to actually making the Mac I had to get a little bit creative, actually a lot creative.  

The crust was made by finely chopping a handful of broccoli tops and an end piece of seeded bread and mixing that with a fair shake of chilli flakes and some olive oil.  The pasta was no problem, but seeing as I halved the recipe I decided that half the pasta wasn't going to be enough for my greedy guts and upped it to 200g.  The cheesy mixture was 100g grated cheddar and then about 3/4 of a cup of sour cream (2 Tbsp just didn't seem enough). Everything else was followed more or less to the letter.

I will definitely be making this again and urge you to too!


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yum yum aubergine with buttermilk sauce

My visit to Ottolenghi last weekend has had me furiously flipping through Plenty selecting and prioritising new recipes to try.  Hands down number one just had to Aubergines with Buttermilk Sauce especially after the amazing aubergines I had last Sunday.  

I love aubergines, but sometimes I find that I have trouble cooking them just right...you know, so that they are soft and not spongey or bitter...anyway, this recipe is simple to follow and totally worth the effort it takes to bash the pomegranate seeds out.  

This dish is meant to be served as a starter, but it is so easy to eat as a main course with some...oh I don't know...falafel or couscous...I halved the recipe, seeing as I'm home alone this weekend...but kept the whole clove of garlic in the sauce (good thing I'm sleeping alone...that's all I have to say)! I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

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Ottolenghi cravings satisfied...

After work on Friday I hopped on a train, armed with 4 slices of cake, and made my way down to London for...what I can only describe as...a weekend of food, friends, and laughs.  It was my first real trip back to London since we moved up here, and I realised that there are a few things I really do miss about the city...and a heck of a lot of things that I don't...but in the short time I was there I managed to visit a few favourite haunts and discover one or two newbies.  

I won't bore you with all the details...but highlights include Lebanese dinner at Meza Restaurant in Tooting Bec (highly recommend...you must book ahead), a not so relaxing wander around Borough Market with a chorizo sandwich and still cider, a 45 minute queue for Monmouth Coffee, homemade cottage pie (thank you Hannah), a posh night out in Putney, battling the Arsenal fans at Highbury & Islington station, buying veg at Newington Green Fruit and Veg...and finally an incredible lunch at Ottolenghi Islington.  

Those of you have been following for a while will know (and appreciate) my total obsession with Ottolenghi's food...making it at home and devouring it as take away or in the restaurant.  There is something just so magical about the platters of gorgeous salads and equally hypnotising cakes displayed in huge piles in the windows.  How could you NOT stop in? 

Imagine standing in a queue for an hour with this within easy reach? I am surprised I didn't clammer over the servers and start my feeding frenzy! I did manage to control myself and mentally prepare all the different combinations of possible meals...once seated I was able to really focus on the task at hand and select the ultimate salad combination...

If you haven't been to Ottolenghi before there are basically 4 options for a sit down meal...3 or 4 salads or 2 or 3 salads with a main.  The portions are totally generous (I had been watching with my eagle eyes while in line remember) and with an amazing selection of desserts 3 salads is my ultimate option.  I've had a main before...and while they are totally yummy and offer a meat option...I prefer to gorge myself on aubergines and tahini and squash and lentils and cheeses and all those amazing ingredients...plus...did I mention the desserts?? 

  

Roasted Butternut Squash with figs and feta, aubergine with tahini (to.die.for) and a red cabbage, beetroot and apple slaw...really hard to decide the best of the three.  In most cases aubergine wins hands down every time, just because it is something that I find really hard to get just right at home...but in this case I think the butternut squash and figs came out on top...figs are a total budget blowing treat! 

Dessert was my all time favourite flour-less lemon polenta cake...for which the recipe is a closely guarded secret! This cake is amazing, and I have sung its praises before...moist, pistachio filled and so lemony...perfectly teamed with a latte.  

Dearest Yotam...please oh please come up to Edinburgh and open a restaurant...it would be welcome with open arms, eyes, tummies and mouths! 

For those of you in London, or passing through...if you haven't experienced Ottolenghi yet...just do it! But be prepared to queue (it is totally worth it)!  For now I am saving my pennies for my next trip...they have recently opened a Brasserie off of Regent Street called Nopi and from the menus on line it looks like I will be breaking into the piggy bank! 

Cheese and Onion Pie

I went a bit The Good Cook mad when I planned my meals for this week...not that that is a bad thing...I like his style and most of the recipes from his last series were things I would try...and so after the success of  the tattie soup Tuesday night I clicked through to the recipe for Cheese and Onion Pie.

I'll admit right now...I didn't make my own pastry...I bought a block of ready made shortcrust pastry...I have no shame in it...have you seen the price of butter???

So...readymade pastry at hand I cooked up the onions, grated the cheese and assembled.  The preparation part was pretty easy...the putting it together part...not so much.  I found it really difficult using pastry in my cake pan...I found it difficult to get the top on properly...let alone seal it with the back of a fork....but...in the end....it turned out pretty good...nothing like the picture on the website...but pretty good.

I also substituted Red Leicester cheese (that was about as "regional" it got on the internet shop selection)...which doesn't seem to get overly gooey in the oven and still has a sharpness to it.  

The pie tasted great...and the couple of slices we managed to leave were excellent cold today from the fridge.  

Veggie burgers...and a moment to relax

Last night we managed to have a moment to relax in between visitors and work and our other commitments.  Friday nights at our little pad is normally reserved for a pizza party or burger night...our schedule has been a little out of whack lately with guests and stuff so last night it was a welcome treat to return to normal...except for the running around trying to hang out bedding to dry, tidying and general catching up on other chores...

I am slightly spoiled...work finishes at 12:45 on a Friday, allowing me some "me" time to catch up on some tv I've missed during the week that David isn't interested in...some knitting...and giving me the time to actually take my time to prepare dinner.  Not that last night's dinner needed much time to prepare...

I've been searching for a good go-to Veggie burger for a while...I often just grill giant portobello mushrooms with some garlic, thyme, oil and vinegar...but after Sue's Soyburger Post last month I've been craving a proper beany chunky burger.  I searched as hard as I could manage to find dried soy beans, with no luck (there are two organic markets I need to try when I have the time)...but remembered I had bookmarked the incredible looking Ultimate Veggie Burger post over at 101 cookbooks...ages ago...

I've settled for chickpeas this time around...but am determined to find those evasive soy beans for the next time.  

Using both recipes as inspiration and guidance I whipped up a batch of 8 burgers in no time...6 wrapped and popped into the freezer and 2 chilled until it was time to EAT! I used 2 tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed...I don't have a food processor (yet) so I whizzed up one tin with my stick blender and kept the other tin of chickpeas whole...to those I added 4 eggs, about 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs ( i just kept adding them until it seemed like the right consistency), one giant carrot grated, 1 red onion chipped finely and a huge handful of chopped coriander and chopped basil....oh and some salt and cayenne pepper.  The mixture was wet, but I was really happy with the end result.

Slathered with mayo and topped with lettuce, avocado and sauteed mushrooms this burger totally hit the spot! No buns this time around...owing to a disastrous internet shop (itty bitty buns instead of burger sized!).  Served with crinkle cut oven chips this burger was a great, and indulgent, way to end the week.

Our next guests arrive in 3 hours....

Super Lemony Pasta

Lemon, Cream, Parsley, Butter, Parmesan, Pasta...it doesn't get much more simple than that.  

Last night I made this quick no-brainer pasta dish from the fantastic River Cafe Cookbook Green.  I don't actually have the cookbook...I have a number of recipes furiously scribbled on scraps of paper.  Following my copied out recipe this dish took the time it takes to cook the pasta to bring together...so it is important to make sure that your lovely hubby is actually home and ready to sit down at the table...other than that, it is so easy! 

The original recipe serves 4, so I just halved it and it worked a treat...For two lovely people...cook up 200g of dried egg tagliatelle.  While the pasta is cooking gently warm 150ml of double cream (small pot) in a saucepan, when it starts to bubble just chuck in 60g of butter and the juice and grated rind of two lemons.  Remove the cream from the heat and stir until butter is melted.  By this point the pasta should be cooked...drain it (reserve a little cooking water) and combine with creamy sauce and a huge handful of parsley, salt and pepper and a generous grating of parmesan cheese (if the sauce seems a bit thick add some of the reserved cooking water). Serve...enjoy...and lick the plate! 

Tasty Taters...a not so quick light supper

Wednesdays after work David plays football with his new friends from work...so dinner is delayed and after running around for 90 mins he doesn't really want much more than a quick bite.  On nights like that I like to find something that isn't too filling but not necessarily quick to make...seeing as I have an extra two hours to make dinner and often more time on my hands than I can bare!   

Last night I made my version of something my MIL makes...that I love! Stuffed baked potatoes...yum yum!

These are by no means quick...they took an hour and a half to make...but, they are super easy and super lazy.  Just pop the taters in the oven and leave to bake for about an hour or so until super soft (nothing worse than half cooked middle tater) and then scoop out the inside...mash it up really good and add in whatever you want! Last night we had red pepper, spring onion and goats cheese.  I brush a little bit of oil over the top of the taters just to make sure they crisp up...and pop them under the grill! 

A perfect and light dinner taking up just enough time to keep me busy until David came home.  

My take on Pasta alla Norma

I first ordered Pasta alla Norma at a little Italian Restaurant off the Blvd. Saint-Germain in Paris and instantly fell in love with it...soft aubergines stewed in tomato sauce and topped with ricotta cheese (at least I think it was soft ricotta).  Aubergines are something that I am forever trying to make taste great at home (when I have the courage and time) but more often than not they tend to taste better (for me) when cooked in a restaurant...so when we go out for Indian, Chinese, Italian...I often order something with aubergines.  

Last week I made a salad with aubergine and last night I tried my hand at my own version of Pasta all Norma, substituting the ricotta for goats cheese.  

Please forgive the splatters on the side of the bowl...I barley had time to snap this pic...I was starving! 

My Norma sauce is made by sautéing half a chopped onion in olive oil until soft, ( I've started adding a Tbsp or two of boiling water from the pasta pot to the onions at this point...it is supposed to help break them down...I've been watching Lidia Bastianich on Food Network and she always adds some water to the onions) then in with half an aubergine cut into little cubes (spongey middle bit cut off) and a pinch of chili flakes, and fry that (stirring, stirring) for about 5 mins until soft and just starting to turn golden.  Then in with half a tin of chopped tomatoes and a pinch of sugar, and simmer until the aubergine is nice and soft (I usually add a few Tbsp of pasta water now and a again as the sauce cooks down).  While the sauce is simmering I cook the pasta, and just before it is ready to come together I stir in about 50g of soft goats cheese and a handful of basil leaves.  The goats cheese makes the sauce really creamy and gives the sauce that little zing....you know....that zing that goats cheese has.  

Belleau Kitchen Random Recipe Challenge: My Favourite Cookbook

This month's Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by the wonderfully talented Dom over at Belleau Kitchen, saw me fickly tossing cookbooks aside to choose my favourite.  Seriously...this was one tough decision...I love all my cookbooks equally (I do) and I tend to obsess over one at a time, greedily flipping thorough pages and selectively cooking my way from cover to cover.

Currently, as you know, I am obsessed with Denis Cotter's For the Love of Food...but I can't say that it is my favourite...just my flavour of the month.  Sticking with the veggie theme...I can't deny that my mostest favouritest cookbook on my shelf is....the fabulous...Plenty by the incredible Yotam Ottolenghi.  Many of you will know that I publicly drooled my way through this book when I was gifted it last year, and have been quietly exploring recipes missed out the first time round.  I have a few standby recipes...soba noodles with aubergine, stuffed onions, broad bean burgers...you know...standbys.

I have to admit now...that I kinda sorta cheated a bit...sorry Dom.  The original random recipe that was chosen (gimme a number David...) was OKRA....I'm sorry...I just couldn't do it...I couldn't...so random selection number two was the incredible looking Multi-Vegetable Paella.  I hadn't made this recipe yet, so that was a bonus!!

I am not a huge fan of paella...I find that the rice is never cooked properly for me...even in a restaurant.  Then again, I have never been to Spain...so I reserve final judgement for when (and if) that day ever comes.  This recipe was alright.  In theory I loved it...lovely rice cooked with onions and peppers then topped with grilled artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, olives and broad beans (Ottolenghi loves broad beans)...I just wasn't convinced....but I think that comes down to my genetic disposition to stir rice...I can let long grain rice mellow...but when it comes to Paella and Risotto...anything slowly cooked in stock...I need to stir (I'm half Italian...so...it figures).

Final verdict....I still love Ottolenghi, and this dish looked stunning...it just wasn't for me.  I would, however, take the different components and transfer them to a risotto without cheese (or is that sacrilege?).

A Wilderness Adventure, River-side Picnic and a Gorgeous Tart

What an adventure! We took the bus out to Dalkeith Country Estate this weekend and spent a good chunk of time wandering (sometimes aimlessly) around the trails and through the forest and fields and along the riverbank.  We managed to take a wrong turn at some point...and there was a moment where I was like...ok just keep following the river...we'll be ok...and then...the next trail marker appeared out of nowhere! Phew!

We made the wrong turn after we had stopped for our picnic lunch on the banks of the river.  I'd like to think that the reason for the wrong turn was because we were still talking about how great our picnic was...but it probably was because we had been turned around and weren't really paying attention.

Picnic Grub: Toast with butter, picante sardines, lemon sardines and rice salad...and raspberries picked from the hedgerows along the path!

Returning home exhausted, hot, sweaty and a little bit grubby neither of us felt much like eating.  I had planned to make a quiche and salad for supper (to last us two nights) so I went ahead and made it thinking that if we didn't eat any it was no big deal...

Needless to say by 7:15 we were both more than happy to sit down and stuff our faces!! This quiche is made with ricotta cheese, it is light and fluffy and creamy.  The pastry is smeared with dijon mustard (mummy's trick),topped with chopped cooked spinach, the ricotta mixture (3 eggs, 250g ricotta, 1tbsp chopped basil and 100ml milk) and then finished with halved cherry tomatoes.

For two people who weren't hungry...we still managed to eat half of it!

Veggies Veggies Veggies (and a bit of cake!)

Yesterday was all about the veggies...well...anything not sweet.  I think I actually had a headache from sugar withdraw!! I only managed four small slices at the Cake Club but that was enough to totally crash my system...amazing! 

I turned to the trusty For the Love of Food and greedily flipped through the salad pages to find something...anything...that would restore balance to my body (and prepare me for a cake treat in the evening...yes I managed to hold off until then!).  The weather somewhat forced my hand (cold, wet, dreary) to choose Denis Cotter's Warm Broccoli, Aubergine and Chickpea Salad.

Like most of the recipes in this book the ingredient list is exhaustive, and I used pretty much every pot and pan in my cupboard...but the finished product was...as always...amazing!

The aubergine is roasted in the oven until soft (and crispy?), the broccoli is steamed, and the chickpeas are warmed through with garlic, chilli and cumin seeds...this is all tossed together with bulgur, spring onions and chopped tomatoes and then dressed with a yummy lemon yoghurt dressing.

My favourite bit was the addition of toasted sunflower seeds coated with soy sauce...amazing in this salad and a new "trick" to add to my repertoire.

DO NOT FEAR Cake Eaters...we enjoyed two largish portions of left over devil's food cake last night! Enough to return me to a sugar coma...

bowls...

I love eating out of bowls...actually, I rather eat out of a bowl....even with a fork and knife! Weird, I know! The problem is...the bowls I have...just aren't big enough! Seriously, they aren't....I need some largish shallow bowls...I'm on a mission now to find some.

Yesterday I made a perfect bowl meal...Denis Cotter's Crushed New Potatoes with Courgettes, Cherry Tomatoes and Broad Beans.  Like most of the recipes I've made from For the Love of Food the ingredient list is long, and I used two pots and one large pan...a true labour of love (for food!).

The new potatoes are crushed with melted butter and sauteed spring onions (yum in its own right) and then topped with a sort of summer stew. For the veggies (which are also delicious in their own right...maybe over couscous? maybe served with fish?...) sautee thinly sliced courgettes in a couple of Tbsp olive oil for a few minutes until they start to look soft, then add in a sliced red onion, handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half and a few cloves of garlic thinly sliced...sautee it all for a few mins longer until soft and tomatoes are breaking down...add in 1/2 a cup or so of water and some chopped basil and let stew...then put it all together and devour!