Reciplace

Spelt risotto with beetroot and greens

Here's a quick little after work knock-up I made.  It's funny how sometimes, when you least expect it, you can create a dish in a hurry with whatever scraps you have in the house, and it turns into something worthy of the Masterchef finals.

I'm really into spelt lately... it's got some great health benefits over wheat, and a fab nutty flavour that works really well in bread. 

Risotto is a great after-work-too-tired-to-cook-need-to-finish-off-this-weeks-veg-box kind of meal.  So I decided to trade in the Arborio rice for some pearled spelt.  I then threw in some garlic, red onion, greens and cooked beetroot.  A little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to finish it off, and shabam!  Another quick, healthy weeknight meal accomplished. 

Sweetcorn Relish

BBQ season is over now, but I still had a glut of sweetcorn from my vegbox.  Luckily, this stuff keeps for a while in the fridge, so I'll serve it with sausages or fishcakes on a week night.  Here's this lovely corn relish recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine.

Fresh from the oven: Edible Bread Bowls

Here is my first challenge from "Fresh from the Oven".  I noticed in August that they were baking the English Muffins from the River Cottage Bread book that I make all the time! 

This month's challenge was Edible Bread Bowls from Richard Bertinet's book, Dough. (Thanks to Corry from bakeitoff.blogspot.com for setting the challenge!) I have to admit, this is one of the less well worn books in my bread book collection.  It's full of beautiful photos and practical advice; but the recipes just don't seem to inspire me like my River Cottage bread book.  

These soup bowls were an exception, though.  I've had my eye on this page in the book for MONTHS.  What more of an excuse did I need?  Oooh - and the day the challenge was announced... wait for it....  I was already planning to make soup for dinner.  It's like the stars had aligned, and the bread gods were cheering me on!

This is a super easy recipe.  It's basic dough that you shape into bowls and bake.  I had two major obstacles:

1)  I can't roll dough into a circle to save my life.  I just can't.  How does one maintain a circle shape when the rolling pin goes back and forth in a straight line?  I'm going back to Panary next week, and I'm going to demand Paul Merry gives me an hour long master class in rolling circles. 

2) What to bake these bowls in?!?  I don't have a lovely set of matching Le Creuset bowl shaped dishes, and I don't own more than one Pyrex dish in the same size. 

So I rolled the dough out into oblong elephant shaped replicas of New Zealand. It was as close as I was going to get.

Then I checked the bottom of my Noritake soup bowls, and they said "Oven Safe", which was a relief, and quite scary at the same time.  I actually put my normal everyday soup bowls into the oven.  !!!!   I stood back a bit when they came out....  it was fine.

Here's the final bread bowl with a lovely butternut squash and coriander soup in it.  It held the soup better than I thought it would, and didn't soak through before we could eat it all.  The outside was a little less smooth than in the book photo - perhaps I could have greased the bowls a little better?   All in all, a fun experiment that I would probably try again!  .... Once I know how to roll dough circles out properly.

Tuscan Spinach and Bean Soup and my favourite vinaigrette

To me, there are two rules of soup:  It must be made in winter, and it must take a long time to cook.  I love throwing a pile of veg into my slow cooker during the cold months, and letting it bubble away until I return from work to a warm and steamy soup-smelling kitchen.

But those rules go out the window for my beloved Tuscan Spinach and Bean Soup.  It's quick and easy (quick enough that you can throw it together on a weeknight), and it's a summer soup, without being served cold, like Gazpacho.

I always make this soup when I've bought an entire bag of spinach, left it in the fridge, it starts to wilt, untouched.  This recipe uses a whole bag, and it doesn't matter if it's not at its freshest.

Soup and salad is a complete meal at our house, and with only a few crisp lettuce leaves in the house and not much else, I decided to put them together with some croutons (from the crust of some stale rye bread) and my favourite salad vinaigrette. 

This salad vinaigrette is friggin' amazing.  Really.  The Husband didn't even eat salad when I first met him, but he will now sit and devour a bowl of salad with this vinaigrette on it like it's a bucket of fried chicken. 

Tuscan Spinach and Bean Soup

1tbsp olive oil
1 chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 large carrot, diced
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tin chopped tomatoes (those new tinned cherry tomatoes are particularly nice)
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tin cannellini beans
1 package of spinach leaves, chopped
100g grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, heat up the oil and add the onion, garlic and carrot.  Cook gently for 5 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and oregano and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Stir in the beans, and bring the soup to a boil.  Turn the heat off, and add the spinach.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with ribbons of Parmesan and fresh basil.

Jen's Favourite Salad Vinaigrette

salt and pepper
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
75mL rapeseed or sunflower oil
1 tbsp hot water

Grind some salt and pepper into a shallow bowl.  Add the mustard and vinegar, and mix to dissolve the salt and pepper.  Slowly add the oil, whisking at the same time to create an emulsion.  When it's really thick, add a spoonful of very hot water (from the kettle if it's on) to thin the vinaigrette out a little.  Pour over crisp salad leaves and crunchy croutons.

Tofu and vegetable superfood skewers

Here's another superfood extravaganza for the books. And... I'm starting to sound like a broken record here.... it's from those lovelies at Tesco magazine.... but using ingredients delivered by Ocado! There just doesn't seem to be any editorial control over these people! Do they even talk to their colleagues in the products department? All of their recipes call for things like buckwheat and chinese 5 spice paste, which Tesco doesn't actually sell.

This one makes use of lovely soft fresh tofu. If you actually had to restrict yourself to Tesco ingredients, you'd have to use that awful long-life Blue Dragon tofu in a cardboard box. Retch.

This is pretty quick and easy - perfect for a weeknight. The tofu is a tad under-flavoured, but not too bad if you make sure it's grilled properly. The salad bit is gorgeous.

Ingredients

* 250 g pack tofu, cut into pieces
* 1 large courgette, cut into rings, then halved
* 2 small red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
* 8 bamboo skewers
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* juice of 1 lemon
* 1 tsp Chinese 5-spice paste
* 300 g quinoa
* 250 g cooked broccoli florettes
* 30 g fresh parsley, finely chopped
* 2 tsp harissa paste
* 100 g pack pomegranate seeds

1. Place alternate pieces of tofu, courgette and onion onto 8 bamboo skewers and brush with half the olive oil. Grill for about 15 minutes until browned, turn regularly. Then drizzle with half the lemon juice and sprinkle with 5-spice powder.

2. Cook the quinoa for 15 minutes, according to packet instructions, draining off any excess water. Mix in the broccoli, parsley, rose harissa or harissa powder, the remaining lemon juice and olive oil, then sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

3. Divide the quinoa pilaf between four plates and place two skewers on each to serve.

Black Salsify, Spinach & Gruyere Gratin

Here's a lovely recipe I was sent by my veg box people, We Love Local.  They send me all kinds of mad things every week, most of which I have some kind of idea what to do with.  But not this week!  I opened the box to find a pile of long brown sticks I had no idea what to do with.  I'd read about salsify (scorzonera) before, but never seen it up close.

Lucky for me, We Love Local had included instructions and a nice sounding recipe to go with it.  The recipe matched a ton of things I needed to use up, so half an hour later we were tucking in to a gorgeous bowl of creamy veg.  I didn't even tamper with the recipe like I usually do!

We're moving up to London in two weeks - I don't know how I'm going to live without my beloved veg box company.  I'm sure there will be plenty to choose from in London, but I will be surprised if they come close to offering the quality and variety that We Love Local do.

Black Salsify, Spinach & Gruyere Gratin

30g of butter plus extra for greasing the gratin dish
450g black salsify, peeled or scrubbed
250g baby spinach
300ml vegetable or chicken stock
300ml single cream
Gruyere or edam cheese (no exact amounts here as it depends on how much cheesiness you like!)
White breadcrumbs, a couple of handfuls

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and butter the inside of your gratin dish.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.

Peel the salsify and cut into the desired lengths, then drop straight into the boiling water. Cook until just tender (around 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your salsify).

Meanwhile, mix the stock and cream together and season.

Place a layer of salsify in the bottom of the dish and then add a layer of spinach. Grate over some gruyere cheese then finish with the remaining salsify and spinach.

Pour over the cream-stock mixture then mix the breadcrumbs with a generous amount of grated gruyere and sprinkle over the top of the gratin.
Bake until golden and bubbling.

Mackerel and Broccoli Superfood Salad

Here's yet another fab idea from those poor foodie writers stuck working for Tesco at Tesco Food Club Magazine. (Come on - apply for a job with me UKTV Food! We can talk cooking all day, it'll be fun! We won't pretend that Tesco frozen value lamb chops are a legitimate ingredient!)

This was a great after work hearty salad that The Husband had mostly ready by the time I got home, 2 hours late from battling the trains.  It's one of those meals where every single ingredient is a super healthy one, but somehow they come together to form something that's as moorish as pie and chips. 

• 300g (11oz) bulgar wheat (I used buckwheat)
• 1 broccoli head, cut into small florets
• 1 lemon
• 250g (9oz) smoked mackerel
• 410g cannellini beans (dried soaked beans are always best)
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Cook the bulgar or buckwheat as normal, but add the broccoli to the boiling water during the last 5 minutes.  Cool under running water and put in a bowl.

Stir in a little olive oil and the juice of half the lemon.  Cut the remaining lemon half into 4 wedges and set aside.

Skin the mackerel and break into large flakes and stir into the bowl along with the beans, onion and toasted pine nuts.  Serve with lemon wedges.

Butternut Squash, Feta and Buckwheat - weeknight superfoods

My lovely veg box people have been bombarding me with winter veg lately.   Okay, so it IS January.  I'll admit that I'm impressed that anything grows in this weather at all! But crikey - what do I do with ten thousand Jerusalem artichokes?  What if I'm sick of celeriac mash?  

Squash, however, is one thing I never get sick of.  These lovely parcels of sweet flesh have been one of my favourite vegetables since carving pumpkins with my dad at Halloween.  They smell good, taste good, and are pretty darn good for you.

This is my favourite stuffed squash recipe.  I usually make it with butternut squash, but you can stuff any orange squash this way.  It's packed with healthy things, and tastes incredible. 

The recipe is originally from those geniuses at Tesco Healthy Living Magazine.   What a wasted talent!  It must be absolutely soul destroying for the poor writers of these recipes (who obviously know how to put together a fantastic dish) to be working for the UK's largest destroyer of local food and farmers.  They even call for buckwheat in this recipe - a stellar grain that ironically, Tesco isn't quite foodie enough to sell. Love it.

Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 50g buckwheat
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 40g broccoli, steamed (or rawif wished)
• 15g walnuts, chopped
• 1tsp harissa paste
• 25g feta, crumbled
• 1tbsp freshly chopped parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/Gas 6.


2. 02 Halve the squash horizontally and de-seed. Place in a roasting tray cut-side up. Bake for 40-50 mins, or until tender.


3. Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil, add the buckwheat, cover and simmer for 30 mins, until tender. Drain and place in a bowl with the remaining ingredients, mixing well.


4. When the butternut is cooked, scoop out the middle flesh, chop and then mix with the stuffing ingredients. Spoon back into the squash.


5. Return to the oven for 15 minutes then serve.

Salmon with crème fraîche

Don't you just love the internet?  You've got 4 totally random ingredients left in the fridge, the supermarkets are shut, and you've got a starving husband begging to be allowed out to the kebab shop....   Just type the 4 random ingredients into google.... and presto!  A fab meal awaits!

Tonight the ingredients were; salmon, fenugreek, crème fraîche, and green beans.  Surely this can become a meal, non?  Good ol' Google offered up Crème Fraîche Baked Salmon from a gorgeous blog I'd never seen before called A Gluten Free Day.  How do people take photos like that?!?  Must learn....

The recipe was easy-peasy - bake some salmon fillets with lemon and seasoning, then spread crème fraîche on top.  I threw the fenugreek into some risotto with white wine, and steamed the green beans and served with a simple oil/vinegar dressed salad.  Another night with no food in the house and the kebab shop avoided!  Really must finish that online grocery order.....

Squash, Tofu, Barley and Green Tea Soup (Superfood Mania!)

 When I saw this recipe, I had no choice but to try it!  The programmer boys at work made faces and gagging noises when I showed it to them, but I knew this type of recipe was right up my alley.  If there was some kind of competition for how many superfoods you can fit into one dinner, I would enter this one.

Not only does it have squash (or pumpkin as the original recipe calls for), tofu and barley, but the broth is actually flavoured with green tea bags!  Have you ever heard such a thing?

Lo and behold, it actually tasted good too.  You HAVE to use good quality firm tofu, don't bother with anything else.  It froze well too, so I took it for work the next week.  And one of those programmer boys asked what smelled so good!

Here is Peter Gordon's Barley, tofu, pumpkin and green tea soup with flax seed oil. 

50g pearl barley
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, sliced
1 small leek, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
300g pumpkin, peeled and cut into smallish chunks
2 green tea tea bags
2 tbsp soy sauce, or to taste
100g tofu, diced
2 tbsp flax seed oil

1. Put the barley in a pot with 1.2 litres of water, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a 3-litre pot. Add the onion, leek and garlic and sauté until the onions soften, stirring often.

3. Add the pumpkin to the pot of vegetables, then tip in the barley and its cooking liquor. Bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer until the pumpkin is just cooked.

4. Turn the heat off under the soup and stir in the teabags. Leave to steep for 3 minutes, then remove the teabags. Mix in the soy sauce and tofu then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, adding extra soy or salt if needed.

5. Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle with the flax seed oil before serving.