Category Archives: Food

Pancakes!

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Fluffy Pancakes

I love pancakes, and we often make them at the weekends as part of a lazy breakfast.  So, given today is officially Pancake day it would seem unsporting not to indulge!

I had a wonderful stack of pancakes during the summer in Cornwall, and I decided to recreate them this morning.  I used the following recipe for Fluffy American Pancakes that I found on the BBC website and then sandwiched some fresh Strawberries and Greek yogurt in between – yum!

Fluffy American Pancakes (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients
135g Plain flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. Caster Sugar
130ml Milk
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. Melted Butter (allowed to cool slightly), plus extra for cooking

Method

  • Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl.
  • In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
  • Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing.
    Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
  • Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter.
  • When it’s melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be.
  • Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.
  • Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.

The good thing about Pancake Day is that its OK to eat Pancakes all day!  Crepes for dinner I’m thinking!

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

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Today Celebrates the Chinese New Year, we are leaving the Year of the Dragon behind and moving into the Year of the Snake.  Apparently those who were born in the year of the Snake are regarded as intelligent, but can also be somewhat unscrupulous!

Having never really cooked any Chinese food (except for the odd stir fry!) I decided to take this opportunity to cook two of my favourite dishes from scratch – Vegetable Dumplings and Crispy Chilli Chicken

Vegetable Dumplings

This vegetable dumpling recipe makes 16 and has been created with the dumpling dough from Ken Hom and the filling from Ed Baines Vegetable Dumpling Recipe

Ingredients

The Dough
140g Plain Flour
125ml Very Hot Water

The Filling
2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
50g Spinach
50g Pak Choi, finely sliced
50g Shitake Mushrooms, finely sliced
1 small Red Onion
50g Bean Sprouts
Small handful of Fresh Coriander
1 Red Chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper

The Dipping Sauce
3 tbsp. Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tsp. Chilli Oil

Method

  • For the dough, put the flour and hot water in a bowl and mix until a dough ball is formed
  • Knead the dough until it is smooth, and leave to rest covered with a damp tea towel for about 20 mins
  • For the filling, heat some vegetable oil in a wok and add all the vegetables and cook until soft
  • Remove from the heat and add the coriander and chilli.  Season with salt and pepper and leave to cool
  • Now take your dough and shape into a long roll about 25 cm long and 2.5 cm wide.  Cut into 16 equal pieces
  • Roll each piece into a ball and then use a rolling pin to roll out the pieces into a circle about 8 cm in diameter
  • Arrange the dough on a lightly floured tray and cover with a damp tea towel until ready to use
  • Place 1 tsp. of filling in the centre, fold the dough in half and pinch together with your finger (repeat)
  • Heat a lidded-pan until its very hot, add some oil and place the dumplings in the pan and cook until lightly brown and then flip them over until the other side is golden.
  • Then add 75ml of water to the pan and place on the lid.  Cook for 12 minutes or until the water has all been absorbed.
  • Uncover the pan and cook for another 2 minutes
  • For the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well.

Vegetable Dumplings

Crispy Chilli Chicken

The actual recipe for this from BBC Good Food is for Beef, but I just did a direct swap for chicken! This recipe serves 2 hungry people!

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts very thinly sliced into strips
3 tbsp. Cornflour
2 tsp. Chinese Five-Spice
100ml Vegetable Oil
1 Red Pepper , thinly sliced
1 Red Chilli , thinly sliced
4 Spring Onions , sliced, green and white parts separated
2 Garlic Cloves , crushed
Thumb-sized piece of Ginger , cut into matchsticks
4 tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 tbsp. Sweet Chilli Sauce
2 tbsp. Tomato Ketchup

Method

  • Put the chicken in a bowl and toss in the cornflour and five-spice.
  • Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until hot, then add the chicken and fry until golden and crisp.
  • Scoop out the chicken and drain on kitchen paper. Pour away all but 1 tbsp. oil.
  • Add the pepper, half the chilli, the white ends of the spring onions, garlic and ginger to the pan.
  • Stir-fry for 3 mins to soften, but don’t let the garlic and ginger burn.
  • Mix the vinegar, soy, chilli sauce and ketchup in a jug with 2 tbsp. water, then pour over the veg.
  • Bubble for 2 mins, then add the chicken back to the pan and toss well to coat.
  • I served the chicken on rice with prawn crackers, scattered with the remaining chilli and the green parts of the spring onions.

Crispy Chilli Chicken

These were both super tasty, and they didn’t really take that long or much effort to make.  It has made me think of rustling this up in future instead of reaching for the takeaway!

Goodbye Christmas, Hello New Year!

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And so the Christmas festivities are over.  The few days of gluttony have passed and it’s onto New Year preparations and planning what resolutions we won’t be keeping!  For us, this Christmas was about celebrations, spending time with friends, family and each other, and generally enjoying having almost 2 weeks off work to do guilt free nothing!

Our festive celebrations started with our friends wedding in Peebles, in the beautiful Cringletie House Hotel.  It was a great day with fantastic food, great music and a bar with an impressive whisky selection!

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We then had to rush back up to Edinburgh as my parents were arriving.  The next few days seen us have a nice family Christmas Eve lunch at Centotre, a lovely Christmas Day walk in South Queensferry ending with hot chocolate in Orocco Pier, and Stuart’s family joining us on Boxing day for another feast!

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As we aren’t big Turkey fans, Christmas dinner is not ‘traditional’ for us!  This year, having bought Jamie’s 15 minute Meals, we went for Golden Chicken, Braised Green and Potato Gratin (it definitely didn’t take 15 minutes!), followed by this quick and easy Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding, using some Panettone I brought back from Italy with me in October!

Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding (From BBC Good Food)

Ingredients

50g Butter, softened
250g Panettone (about 5 medium slices)
2 Eggs
142ml Carton Double Cream
225ml Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp. Caster Sugar
Icing Sugar, for sprinkling

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 160 C / Gas 3 and grease a 1.5 pint shallow baking dish with a little butter
  • Cut the Panettone into wedges, leaving the crusts on
  • Butter the slices lightly with the rest of the butter
  • Cut the slices in half and arrange them in the dish, buttered side up
  • In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla extract and sugar
  • Pour evenly over the Panettone
  • Put the dish in a roasting tin and pour hot water around it to a depth of about 2.5cm / 1 in.
  • Bake for 35 minutes until the pudding is just set (it should be yellow inside and nicely browned on top)
  • Dust with icing sugar and serve with whipped or poured cream or even ice cream!

This is also nice done with Pain au Chocolat instead of the Panettone!!

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After a few days break of gluttony, its now back on the wagon for the New Year Feasting!

Jamie’s Golden Chicken

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It seems that we are the only people on the planet not to own a copy of Jamie’s 30 minute meals, or at least within our circle of friends! and therefore I have felt a little left out!  So when he brought out 15 minute meals I made sure I got my copy!

Christmas dinner is not a traditional affair in our household, with two of us not liking Turkey and one being the smallest eater ever, there is little point in cooking up large joints of meat.  So, I turned to Jamie and his 15 minute meals and found this recipe for Golden Chicken with Braised Greens and Potato Gratin.  He serves it on platters for sharing, which is great as everyone can take as little or as much as they like!

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Golden Chicken, Braised Greens and Potato Gratin (From Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals.  Serves 4)

Ingredients

800g Potatoes
3 Onions
Olive Oil
1 Chicken Stock Cube
1/2 bunch of Fresh Sage
100ml Single Cream
30g Parmesan Cheese
4 skinless Chicken Breasts
a few sprigs of fresh Rosemary
2 rashers of Streaky Bacon
200g Baby Leeks
200g Baby Spinach
200g Frozen Peas

Method

  • Finely Slice the potatoes in a food processor, then tip into the medium pan and cover with boiling water and the lid
  • Peel the onions, finely slice in a food processor, then tip into a roasting tray with 2 tablespoons of oil, crumble the stock cube and season with salt and pepper
  • Tear in the sage leaves and stir regularly, adding a splash of water if they start to catch
  • On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with salt, pepper and the rosemary leaves, then fold the paper over and bash and flatten the chicken to 1.5 cm thick with a rolling pin
  • Put into the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, turning after 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through
  • Drain the potatoes well in a colander, then tip into the onion pan, stir together and arrange in a flat layer
  • Pour over the cream, then finely grate over the Parmesan and pop under the grill on the top shelf
  • Halve the leeks lengthways, rinse under the tap, then finely slice
  • Put into a pan on a high heat with 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, stirring often
  • Finely slice the bacon and add to the chicken pan, tossing regularly
  • Stir the spinach and peas into the leeks and once the spinach has wilted and the peas are tender, pile onto a board or platter with the chicken and bacon on top
  • Serve with the gratin

Beef Bourguignon a la Delia

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For Boxing Day Stuarts family joined us and I wanted to make something that wouldn’t involve me spending hours in the kitchen but could feed 8 of us! I turned to Delia, the queen of cooking and of Christmas!  This is her recipe for Beef Bourguignon, and it was mighty tasty with minimal leftovers!

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Boeuf Bourguignon (From Delia Smiths Complete Cookery Course.  Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

900g Braising Steak, cut into 2 inch chunks
3 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 medium Onion
1 tbsp. Plain Flour
425ml Red Burgundy Wine
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
350g Shallots
2 x 130g Cubetti Pancetta
110g Mushrooms
Salt and Pepper

Method

  • Pre-heat oven to 140 C / Gas Mark 1
  • Bring 1 1/4 tbsp. Olive Oil to a sizzling point in a casserole dish or pan and sear the beef, a few pieces at a time, so its rich dark brown on all sides
  • Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a plate
  • Add sliced onion to the casserole or pan and brown a little too
  • Return the meat to the casserole or pan and sprinkle in the flour, stirring to soak up the juices
  • Gradually pour in the Burgundy, again stirring all the time
  • Add the chopped garlic, herbs and seasoning
  • Put on the lid and cook very gently on top of the stove or transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours
  • Using a bit more of the Olive Oil, fry the Shallots and bacon in a small frying pan to colour them lightly
  • Add this to the casserole after 2 hours, together with the mushrooms, then put the lid back on and cook for a further hour

I served this with a big dish of creamy mashed potatoes and roasted Parsnips and Carrots, oh and of the course Brussels Sprouts!  It can also be served with rice but it also goes well with Potatoes Boulangeres and a green salad.

Cherry Baby

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Cherries are currently in season, and I bought loads of them planning to be all healthy and snack on them during the week. I failed on that! So I made this Cherry Clafoutis which I got from Nigel Slater in the Guardian instead.  You can’t go wrong really with cherries and batter can you?

Cherry Clafoutis (serves 4)

Ingredients

350 – 400g Cherries
80g sugar
2 large eggs
90g flour
150ml milk
drop or two of vanilla extract
30g butter
icing sugar, for dusting

 Method

  • Set the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4
  • Grease a 20cm diameter baking dish, and dust with a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar
  • Stone the cherries and tip them into the dish
  • Put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl and beat
  • Add the flour, milk and the vanilla extract and whisk.
  • Melt the butter in a pan and then stir into the mixture.
  • Pour the batter over the cherries and bake in the oven for 35 minutes until puffed and golden
  • Remove from the oven and dust with icing sugar
  • Serve with ice cream, cream, custard or whatever else you fancy!

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From Farm to Jar

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Last weekend we eventually visited Craigies Farm in South Queensferry. We have been talking about it for years and now I eventually have collected enough old jam jars, so it was time to go!

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We had a spot of lunch there to build up the energy to go fruit picking. A lovely bowl of homemade Lentil Soup and Paninis were the order of the day, and both of us enjoyed our choices.

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After lunch we picked up 2 large baskets (though stupidly didn’t ask how much each basket held!) and went off into the fields. The first section of strawberries seemed to have been affected by the weather and there weren’t as many pickable fruits, and a lot still to ripen. However the polytunnels at the end of the field were bounteous in supply, and I got a little carried away and picked nearly 3kgs as it turned out when we went to pay!

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There was a small section of gooseberries, but the bushes were plentiful and again I got a little carried away but not as bad as the Strawberries – only 1kg this time! We also passed blackcurrant and redcurrant bushes which both looked full of fruit, but since I already took 2kgs of blackcurrants from Stuart’s Dad, I don’t think I’ll be needing any for a while!

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The raspberries unfortunately had taken a bit of a battering by the weather, but we managed to lift a punnet of pre-picked ones.

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My plan was to make jam, though with the amount of fruit we picked it was going to be a lot! So wisely I froze the gooseberries and blackcurrants and followed this simple recipe from the BBC website, to make Strawberry Jam. It produced a tasty jam, full of the lovely juicy flavour and also not too sweet with the added sugar! 2kgs of fruit made me 5 jars (which was strange given the recipe said 1kg of fruit would give you 4-6 jars – must be different sized jars!)

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Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

1kg /2lb 3oz strawberries
1kg/2lb 3oz granulated sugar or caster sugar
½ lemon, juice only
small knob of butter

Method

  • The day before you wish to make the jam, hull and halve the strawberries (discard any berries with bruises or that are overripe)
  • Place the strawberries into a large bowl with 500g/18oz of the sugar and turn carefully to mix and coat well, then cover with cling film and place into the fridge overnight.
  • The next day, place a saucer into the freezer to chill (used to test the setting point of the jam)
  • Sterilise the jam jars (by washing the jars in soapy water, rinse in clean warm water and allow them to drip-dry, upside down, on a rack in the oven set to 140C/275F/Gas 1. Leave them there for at least half an hour while you make the jam)
  • Pour the strawberries, their juice and any residual sugary juices into a very large pan or preserving pan, remembering that the mixture will rise as it boils, and add the remaining 500g/18oz sugar and the lemon juice.
  • Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.
  • Bring the strawberries up to the boil then boil hard until the jam reaches setting point. Check the setting point every ten minutes, although it may take up to half an hour to reach setting point.

[To test the setting point, remove the pan from the heat. Take the saucer from the freezer and place a drop of jam onto the cold plate. After a few seconds push the jam with your finger. If the jam surface wrinkles then it has reached setting point and is ready. If it slides about as a liquid, then it hasn't reached setting point and should be returned to the heat and boiled for a few more minutes before testing again.]

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  • When setting point has been reached, turn off the heat. Stir in the butter and skim off any scum on the surface of the jam with a large spoon
  • Let the jam cool and thicken in the pan for ten minutes, so that the strawberries don’t all sink to the bottom in the jam jars.
  • Carefully remove the sterilised jars from the oven with oven gloves
  • Stir the jam, then ladle it into the sterilised jars. Use a jam funnel, if you have one
  • Cover the top surface of the jam in each jar with waxed paper discs that have been cut to size
  • Cover with a lid while still hot, label and store in a cool, dark cupboard for up to a year.

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Chorizo Omelette

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Our fridge was a little bare this evening, with little to inspire on first glance.  But with a closer look I spotted more eggs than two people would ever need and 3 little tiny new potatoes. Suddenly I was inspired  – a Spanish Tortilla especially since there was also an aging Chorizo buried at the back of the fridge.  Its so easy to make and I served it with one thing we weren’t short of – Lettuce, courtesy of my father-in-law’s garden, the bottom bit of the fridge is a sea of green because there is so much!

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Tortilla (adapted from Jamie’s Chorizo and Potato Omelette)

Ingredients

3 small new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large free-range eggs
60g Spanish chorizo,  cut into 0.5cm thick slices
Dried rosemary
1 large white onion, finely sliced

Method

  • Preheat the grill to get it nice and hot
  • Boil the potatoes in a pan of salted water, once cooked drain them
  • Slice the potatoes
  • Cook potato, onion and chorizo in a frying pan.  The chorizo will release tasty oil to cook the potato and onion
  • Once golden in colour remove from the pan and set aside
  • Beat eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper
  • Sprinkle the dried rosemary into the pan
  • Quickly add the eggs and then the onion,chorizo and potatoes. Spread them evenly over the pan
  • Put pan under the grill for 5 mins or until golden brown and cooked in middle
  • Serve with a nice big salad

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Supper with Joanna Blythman

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Last Tuesday during a quiet moment at work – lets say lunchtime… I had a wee flick through twitter to see what was going on in the world, when I noticed someone had re-tweeted Taste Communications tweet about a 2 course supper with Joanna Blythman who has just launched her new book – What to Eat.  Even better, this was to be held at Earthy Foods at Canonmills on Thursday evening – a mere saunter from our flat.  It was a no brainer.  A covert operation ensued, as I snuck into a meeting room, phoned Earthy and in a hushed voiced ordered 2 tickets for Stuart and I, casually returning to my desk as if i was up to nothing.

Last Thursday evening saw a dash up the M9 from work to make it back in time. But once in Earthy with a glass of wine in my hand the stress of the journey home melted away.  We were a bit early, but people were arriving in a steady stream.  We were seated, with Stuart and I being by the window looking into the busy restaurant.  The evening started with a welcome and introduction to Earthy from director Pete Jackson, followed by Stephen Jardine talking with Joanna about her book.

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Joanna’s book – ‘What to eat’, is based on20 principles of eating well. She talked about some of these, such as not eating processed foods, doing away with faddy diets and eating the great local food that is available to us (especially here in Scotland).  The book goes on to cover various meats and vegetables etc., why, how and when we should eat them.

After this, we went onto the food itself, which was keeping to the principles of the book – local and unprocessed, and not to mention delicious.  For starter we had Chargrilled wild St.George’s mushrooms in a teriyaki marinade served on a bed of Phantassie Farm and foraged leaves and raw organic beetroot.  Finished with a foraged bittercress pesto.

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For main course we had Spicy Moroccan Tagine of Peelham Farm lamb shoulder and organic aubergine finished with a yoghurt mint dressing and flatbread, which had a certain kick to it!

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After dinner, Stephen opened up a discussion with Joanna on the topics covered in her book, it was very interesting listening to her views on the current thought that saturated fat is evil, fad diets and the increase of farmers markets, to mention but a few. The evening wrapped with a Q&A session from the diners, and then a chance to chat to Joanna afterwards.

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I had a lovely evening, including a nice chat with Joanna herself.  I came away feeling quite inspired by what she had said, some of the things echoed what I have felt myself over the the last while, especially around fad diets and seasonal eating.  Eat what your parents and grandparents ate, was what she said at one point, which for me rang true – I was definitely at my healthiest living at home eating my Mums fresh, seasonal and cooked from scratch food. Maybe its time to turn the clock back and cook like my Mum (though maybe not exactly she’s great at burning things!).