Pasta, grains & greens

When I first introduced soup Monday I made a wonderful barley soup inspired by Alison Holst & I returned there this week.  This had two pleasing consequences.  I discovered I had more pearl barley in the cupboard than I needed & remembered a barley salad I had been meaning to make.  You could serve this with anything really but we had lamb meatballs which worked well.  Just make your favourite meatball recipe.  We included onion, garlic & cinnamon.  For the salad cook 1/2 cup of pearl barley for about half an hour until tender.  It may take a little longer.  Drain, toss through 2 tbsp olive oil & set aside to cool slightly.  In the meantime mix a cup chopped parsley, 1/4 finely diced preserved lemon, a few black olives, juice of 1/2 a lemon, crumbled feta & some finely sliced mint leaves.  Mix in the cooled barley & top with meatballs.  Good as lunch leftovers later in the week.  Look forward to lots of barley on these pages in the coming weeks.Are you wondering what the second consequence was - did you think I had forgotten?  The soup requires a can of creamed sweetcorn & I only needed 1/2  a tin for two.  We added the remaining corn to the Friday night omelette.  Try this - it was delicious.  I have a real soft spot for creamed corn.
I often think of the green vegetable first & then come up with a way to fit a meal around it.  For a simple weekday meal you can't go past Hugh F-W's macaroni peas.  Cook pasta - we used macaroni but penne or whatever shapes you have to hand would do as well.  Cook some frozen peas.  While the peas are cooking gently soften a clove of garlic in a little butter.  Blend half the peas with the butter, garlic, 25g Parmesan & enough of the pea cooking water to make a puree.  Think pesto.  Combine with the rest of the peas & pasta, add more Parmesan & mix through basil or parsley.
Roasted roots crumble seemed like a good accompaniment to leeks & greens this week.  Roast a selection of pale root vegetables - potato, parsnip, swede, celeriac - cut into smallish chunks & some sliced onion, with a mustardy dressing.  Mix equal quantities of wholegrain mustard, honey & olive oil with a good quantity of chopped rosemary and toss the veg around in it.  Cover the veg & roast at 180 for 45 minutes then uncover & cook a further 20 minutes at 200.  You want the vegetables well cooked & golden but not browned.  Pour a few tbsp cream over the vegetables - this is just to meld them together a little so you could omit if you don't have cream in the cupboard.  Top with a crumble made of a handful of rolled oats, 2-3 slices of crumbed bread, toasted hazlenut roughly chopped , grated cheese & a little melted butter.  Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes to crisp up the crumble.
We made way more than we could eat & there was a little cranbapple sauce in the fridge so the next day we had lamb rack with the left over crumble mixed with the left over leeks & greens.
If we are planning to eat mixed greens it seems impossible to buy only what we need for a single meal so another pasta & greens meal was called for.  Again this can be whatever pasta & greens you have to hand.  In our case penne & cabbage with beetroot leaves.   Soften an onion in a little oil then add finely chopped garlic & chilli & cook a little longer.  Cook the pasta in the usual way & a few minutes before the end of cooking add the shredded greens.  Drain the pasta & greens & toss with the onion mix & some grated Parmesan & a drizzle of olive oil.
There was still some spinach & beetroot leaves to use so out came that meal of the moment  - spicy potatoes with greens.  Top it with a poached egg and you have a splendid meal.
This week a work colleague gave me 5 kilos of windfall apples.  Look out for apple recipes next week.  If you have any ideas post them here.
You may remember that when I go to the market every Sunday & have a cup of chowder from Yellow Brick Road for Breakfast.  I occasionally try something different but always return to chowder.  Nothing else quite measures up - until now.  I may have found a new favourite - Vicky Ha and The Dumpling House.  Try those dumplings.  She now sells them frozen by the dozen and I am planning to buy a dozen tofu & spinach dumplings to treat a vegan.  I think my favourite is the pork & cabbage but the Nepalese lamb & veg is a close second.

Goodbye summer, hello autumn

Only a couple more tagines to go.  This week it was butter beans with cherry tomatoes & olives.  I use the jars of Spanish butter beans.  Heat some olive oil and butter in a tagine.  Stir in 4 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 sliced red onions, 1 sliced green chilli.  Add 2 tsp crushed coriander seeds, a knob of grated ginger & a pinch of saffron.  Cover & cook 5 mins.  Add 20 or so cherry tomatoes with 2 tsp each sugar & dried thyme.  Cover & cook until the tomato skins begin to wrinkle, not long.  Toss in the drained butter beans & a handful of black olives.  Squeeze on some lemon juice, cover & cook until the beans & olives are heated through. Sprinkle with parsley & serve with some crusty sourdough & a dollop of thick yoghurt.
Sunday night was a lovely piece of gurnard & an unexpected treat from the market - samphire. Luckily the fishmonger was able to tell us how to cook it.  I cooked the fish with the potatoes a la Hugh.  First roast the potatoes in a roasting dish big enough to hold the fish & when they're nearly done add the fish.  I often do this & serve with a garlicky minty pea puree.  The samphire is easy.  You do need to pick through & remove the woody bits.  The bottoms are quite twiggy & not nice to eat.  Think asparagus of the sea & you will get the idea.  You just boil for 3-4 minutes & toss in butter with black pepper & lemon juice.  Think seafood+lemon.  Don't salt without tasting.  It grows in the salt water.  Keep an eye out for it next year - this was the end of the season.  I think this lot came from the Hawkes Bay somewhere. 
Try this soup with the last of the courgettes & corn.  Heat some olive oil with a knob of butter in a large saucepan & add 2 thinly sliced onions & 400g floury potatoes peeled & diced.  Cover & steam for 10 minutes or so.  Keep an eye on them to ensure the potatoes don't catch.  Add 500g roughly chopped courgettes & the kernels off 2 sweet corn cobs with 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 cloves crushed garlic & cook for a couple of minutes.  Add 5 cups chicken stock, season & bring to the boil.  Simmer 10 minutes ensuring the potatoes & corn are cooked.    Transfer 1/3 of the soup & 1/2 cup basil to a food processor & blend until smooth.  Tip the puree back in the pan & reheat if necessary.  To serve top with a dollop of yoghurt, some extra basil & a drizzle of olive oil.  This is delicious reheated for lunch on a day you happen to be working from home.
It's the new leek season so we had spaghetti with leeks & bacon with chilli crumbs.  Remove the crusts from 3-4 slices of sourdough bread & tear into large crumbs.  Lay on a baking tray & spray lightly with olive oil.  Add 1/2 tsp chilli flakes & 1/2 tsp sea salt.  Mix them well & bake at 180 10-15 minutes.  Keep a close eye & toss occasionally.
Meanwhile heat some olive oil in a pan & add finely sliced onion & leek with a tbsp finely chopped rosemary.  Cook slowly until the alliums are soft.  Stir in 200g crumbly goat's cheese.  Grill a couple of rashers of bacon & chop into the onion mix.  Cook the spaghetti  and put everything together with some grated Parmesan.  Hold back  a few of the crumbs & sprinkle on the top.
As you know, I am very fond of lentils & I got the idea of making a spicy lentil stew from Nigel Slater.  I thought that this would be nice with mashed potatoes, then I found a parsnip in the fridge & thought parsnip & potato mash but that seemed a little insipid & carrot seemed like a colourful addition.  The trick is to cook the potato separately.  So cook the potato in one pot & the parsnips & carrots in another then puree them with a little butter in the food processor & mash the potato with a little warm milk.   Whip them together with a fork, season & add a little grated nutmeg.  There was some spinach in the fridge with the parsnip but not quite enough for two so I added the beetroot leaves.  Remember to always use your beetroot leaves.  I just like them in salad but I now know that they are also good cooked.  Just roughly chop the spinach & beet leaves & put in a dry pan.  The water left from washing the leaves is sufficient.  Cook them down, season - nutmeg is also good here - & stir through a little olive oil or cream if you find some in the fridge.  This meal was my favourite of the week although I did use every pot and pan in the house.  One for the lentils & another for the caramelised onion topping, two for the mash & another for the greens.  I did struggle to fit everything on the hob.  Phoebe would have had something to say about this.  There was more than enough but my plan is to add the left over lentils to the intended left over lamb & quince tagine for a Moroccan shepherd's pie.  The sweet orange mash should be perfect & I think I have some frozen mashed potato to add to it.  Return next week for the thrilling conclusion.