Versatile vegetables

Phoebe is always doing interesting things with cauliflower but I've never done much other than cauliflower cheese, curry or soup until now. This week I branched out with two new cauliflower ideas.

On Sunday we had lamb kofte with cauliflower "couscous".  To make the kofte for two, combine 300g lamb mince, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, chilli flakes, 1 clove crushed garlic, finely chopped parsley, zest of half a lemon, 1/2 tsp dried mint, salt and pepper.  Make little meatballs - I made 6 - and poke a pre-soaked bamboo skewer through each one, then shape into sausage shapes on the skewer. Set these aside while you prepare the couscous.
Break half a cauliflower head into florets and grind to a fine crumbly couscous-like texture in the food processor.  Spread these out on an oven tray and bake at 200 for 5 mins.  You could microwave in a bowl for a few minutes but I can't as I don't have one.  Set them aside to cool and cook the kofte on a tray in the oven for about 12 minutes.
While they are cooking mix finely diced cucumber, chopped tomato, a small quantity of finely diced red onion, chopped olives, chopped mint and parsley, and crumbled feta with the cauliflower. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil.  Serve with yoghurt and a little chopped dill.
I used the other half of the cauliflower to make a pizza base.  Crumble the cauliflower and lightly cook as above then wrap in a tea towel and wring out any moisture.  I didn't do this and mine was a little soggy but still delicious.  Mix the cauliflower with a little beaten egg, crushed garlic and a little grated parmesan, mixed dried herbs, salt and pepper.  Shape into a pizza shape on an oven tray lined with baking paper.  Make it quite thin - about 1/2 a centimetre.  Bake at 200 for 30-40 minutes.  It should be firm and golden.  Take it out of the oven and turn up to 220.  Spread the base with passata or a similar kind of tomato sauce, halved cherry tomatoes and blobs of mozzarella.  Grate over some parmesan and sprinkle on a few basil leaves.  Bake another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and serve with a few more basil leaves.
I will definitely be trying other things with cauliflower.  Any suggestions?
I returned to a favourite from this winter.  The charmingly named Dr Feel Good winter salad.  This is a brilliant recipe and although it looks fiddly is well worth the effort.  I save a bit of time by using roasted capsicum in a jar rather than roasting from scratch.  These are great and can go in many dishes.  Try them with the cauliflower couscous.  On this salad occasion Phoebe was coming for dinner and got there first so I phoned ahead for her to turn on the oven and put the beetroot on to boil.  That was useful.  You will really like this salad and you can be flexible with the ingredients.
I also made brilliant little apple puddings that I was alerted to on Facebook.  When I told them at work they all cried, "too hard", but in fact they were "too easy".  And they did taste delicious.  I sprinkled with icing sugar mixed with cinnamon because I had some pre-mixed which had been left over from a cake I had taken to work.  It was a great combination and a little dollop of whipped cream is the perfect finishing touch.
Now that asparagus season is upon us I like to eat them as much as possible.  A great idea for a spring Saturday lunch is salad greens, thinly sliced radish and steamed asparagus piled on a grilled slice of sourdough that has been spread with mayonnaise.  Add egg boiled just enough to peel with the yolk still soft and drizzle over a little lemony vinaigrette.

Chicken dinner

We don't eat chicken as often as we used to.  Not even to make stock because we can buy frames at Moore Wilson.  Recently we needed to replenish the stock and I recalled a wonderful chicken recipe with orzo and leeks, which I discovered last year.  This is such a simple way to serve a roast chicken meal with minimum effort and put at least one more meal on the table during the week, as well as replenish your stock stores. 
Sit a chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up.  Pour over the juice of a lemon, rubbing some into the skin, then stuff the lemon skins into the cavity along with some sprigs of thyme and rosemary, and tarragon if you have it.  Ours has died back for the winter. 
Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and dot with a little butter.  Chop some more of the herbs and sprinkle over, then season with sea salt and black pepper.  Add about 2cm of water to the pan and lots of unpeeled garlic cloves.  A dozen would be good.  Roast at 200 for 70 minutes or until done. 
Transfer the chicken and garlic to a plate, cover with foil and keep warm while you prepare the accompaniments. Add about 1/4 cup white wine to the pan juices, bring to the boil on the stove top and reduce to a pouring cream consistency. 
Meanwhile, and I would start this just before taking out the chicken, boil a saucepan of water for the orzo and sauté in a little olive oil a finely sliced leek in a heavy bottomed frying pan.  Cook the leeks until they are soft and sweet then add 2-3 bunches of finely sliced spinach.  Cook the orzo (or risoni or any rice shaped pasta) according to the instructions on the packet and mix with the leek mixture.  Pile the orzo mixture onto a serving plate and top with the chicken and garlic then drizzle over the reduced winey pan juices.  This will become your go to chicken recipe. 
Next day make stock.  The left over orzo makes a good weekend lunch  - just heat and add any other left over greens you have in the fridge.  You could add some cooked puy lentils if there is not so much orzo and more of you.
During the week you could use up the left over chicken in a pasta dish.  Make a tomato sauce by gently frying chopped garlic in a little olive oil then add a crumbled dried chilli, 2 tsp dried oregano and 3 tins of tomatoes.  Simmer for an hour then add a tbsp. red wine vinegar and stir well to make sure all the tomatoes are broken down.  You can use what you need now and freeze the rest in batches for later.  Once you've set aside some to freeze add the shredded left over chicken and maybe some blanched broccoli or whatever green vegetable you have to hand.  Serve with penne or fusilli pasta topped with grated parmesan. Or your home made tagliatelle.  But that is another story.

Vegetable wonders

We still have plenty of beetroot and radishes.  I found a delicious new way to serve squid which has the added advantage of using some of the beetroot leaves along with spinach.  For four, saute a finely chopped red onion in a little olive oil then add 500g squid sliced into rings, with 1/4 cup white rice.  It may not seem like much rice but it is enough.  You don't want the rice to overwhelm.  The squid & spinach are the stars here.  Cook 3 minutes or so then add a tin of tomatoes and a handful of roughly chopped spinach & beetroot leaves with 2 tbsp chopped parsley.  Simmer 10 mins or until rice & squid are cooked.  Delicious.
Remember spicy bean stew?  This a herby version.  Saute a sliced leek in olive oil until soft then add 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook a minute or two.  Add a tin of tomatoes and a good handful of finely chopped herbs - parsley, thyme, chervil.  Cook about 10 minutes and if it looks dry add a splash of water.  At the end add some finely sliced spinach & beetroot leaves with a drained tin of canellini beans and cook until the greens are wilted and the beans are heated through.  Add a sprinkling of herbs to serve.
We went to friends for dinner, were served a wonderful meal and sent home with a bag of freshly picked runner beans.  I cooked these with herbs and served with steak and a corn and avocado salad.  For the beans, slice them thinly and cook in water about 10 mins & drain.  There were about 400g.   Heat a little olive oil & add a good handful of chopped mint, parsley, chervil & dill with 4 tsp capers, juice and zest of  a lemon, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 small shallots finely chopped.  Stir in the beans & serve.  Add any leftovers to a salad the next day. 
For the corn salad, combine kernels from 2 cooked corn cobs or about 2 1/2 cups frozen, 4-5 tomatoes cut into wedges, 2 diced avocados & handful of basil leaves.  Toss with a herb dressing made by mixing in a food processor 3 handfuls basil leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, zest of a lemon, 1 1/2 cups olive oil & a pinch of salt.  This will keep in a jar in the fridge for a week & is also great with fish & freshly dug potatoes.
The garden is certainly serving us well.  On Sunday I tried to finish up odds and ends.  We bought some fish from the market & served with the last of the potatoes & aforementioned oil, a corn cob mixed with the last of the peas and the lone leek sauteed with the lone courgette.  The courgettes got off to a slow start but are coming on now.  I think it may have been the lack of sun as there was a shortage of female flowers on the plants and apparently they appear as the weather warms up.
I have been reading about Isabel (Mrs) Beeton's carrot jam which was intended as a kind of substitute for apricot jam.  On further investigation, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of vegetable jams from our old friend Hugh F-W.  Not chutney, but vegetable jams.  I started with the carrot version, which resembles a spicy marmalade with lots of peel and is delicious.  I am keen to try the green tomato but we didn't put in any tomatoes this year.  I may be able to muster up the pumpkin jam as we have a splendid crop and if the courgettes improve look out for courgette and lemon jam.
With the pumpkin I have already made what looks like the winter's supply of pumpkin soup.  I will be looking for smart ideas for pumpkin shortly. 

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.

Easter Eats

This year's Easter menu is almost the same as last year & the year before.   Good Friday means hot cross buns, hot from the oven around 11.30.  Dinner is smoked fish pie.  I like the predictability of traditional festive eating.  It reminds me that we do have food traditions although they are mostly ignored these days & some people are unsure where they came from.  Most relate to the old agricultural year so although they are seasonal are not always relevant to modern city dwelling.  I do like to bring them out on high days & holidays.  I'd like to do more of them.
Saturday was an unbelievably hot Wellington day.  Possibly the warmest of the summer & there was no wind in our garden so we dined outdoors, mezze style, for lunch.  We had sourdough with carrot hummus, flatbread with leafy greens & goats' cheese, a tomato salad & spicy potatoes with spinach.  This has become one of my favourites.  It is really quick & would do as part of a spread, a meal on its own or as I did with the leftovers, topped with a poached egg.
Boil some small waxy potatoes & set aside to cool enough that you can handle them.  Heat a little oil in a pan & soften a thinly sliced onion.  Add a clove of crushed garlic, 1 finely chopped chilli, a knob of grated ginger, 2 tsp garam masala & cook for a couple of minutes.  Thickly slice the cooled potatoes into the pan & heat through.  Thinly slice a handful of spinach & add it to the pan.  Stir through until wilted then season with salt & pepper.  If you are not feeding a vegan think about adding a little cream to bind or you could use coconut cream.  I like it both with & without cream.
Easter lamb is one of my favourite meals of the year.  This year we did a very simple slow cooked shoulder of lamb served with roasted vegetables and leeks & greens.  We included beetroot leaves with the greens.  Keeping with the rosemary theme of the lamb, I roasted carrot, parsnip & swede coated in mustard, rosemary & honey.  Cut an appropriate number of vegetables for your table into bite size chunks & toss in a mixture of wholegrain mustard, honey & olive oil.  Use 2 tbsp each per 1 kg veg.  Season & add rosemary sprigs, then tip everything into a roasting dish & cover with foil.  Bake for 30 mins at 180 then uncover & turn up to 200 for another 30-40 mins.  You want them tender & beginning to caremelise.
To complete the meal I made a sauce with the 15 crab apples off our trees.  This was a variation of something I found on the internet called Sassy Crabapple and Cranberry Chutney.  I found there are heaps of recipes called Sassy crabapple and/or cranberry  - who can say why?  I named mine simply Cranbapple.  Use a ratio of 2:1 crab apples to cranberries.  We didn't have enough crab apples so I included a couple of windfall apples as well.  Peel and core the apples and add the cranberries.  For 750g fruit, add grated ginger, a clove of crushed garlic, a cinnamon stick, zest & juice of a lemon, a sprig rosemary, 1/4 cup muscovado sugar, 1 tbsp apple syrup (you could use maple if you have it - use real syrup not maple style syrup).  Put it all on the stove and cook until the fruit is soft - 20 mins or so.  Remove the cinnamon stick and rosemary before serving.

There were leftovers of the roasted roots.  Later in the week I heated them in the microwave, pureed in the processor then mixed with a freshly mashed potato.  We cooked up a fresh batch of leeks & greens.  A savoy cabbage is a pretty big thing and will stretch to quite a few servings.  We served with sausages & cranbapple sauce.  There is still a little sauce left - maybe a lamb rack over the weekend? 

Sticking with the fruity theme we had apple & blackberry pie & vanilla ice cream for pudding.  I had hoped to get fresh blackberries but we had to settle for frozen.  If you have a favourite pastry recipe use that or buy good short pastry.  We used this recipe and recommend making pastry with lard.  My mother-in-law does this & she is the queen of pastry.  Phoebe hopes to follow in her footsteps.  Mix slices of apple & blackberries (about 1 kg fruit) with 1 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp each nutmeg & cinnamon then turn into a pie dish.  Cover with pastry & bake for 40 mins at 200 until golden.

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.

New season

Try a spicy tagine with a variety of earthy sweet root vegetables, such as kumara, yam or pumpkin, and beef.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and saute a small piece of grated ginger & 1 onion, finely chopped.  Add 700 kg lean beef, cubed & seer then add 1-2 tsp ras el hanout.  Add enough boiling water to barely cover the meat, cover the tagine & put in the oven at about 180.  After an hour, add your root vegetables cubed - the equivalent of about 2 medium kumara.  Season and cook another 20 minutes or until the meat is tender.  Add 1/2 cup frozen peas and half a tin of chopped tomatoes.  Cook another 10 minutes until the peas and vegetables are cooked.  Sprinkle with chopped preserved lemon & flat leaf parsley.  I made some Turkish flat breads & served with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.
Last Sunday was a very fishy day.   Chowder at the market and whitebait fritters for lunch - the first of the season are always such a treat, served with a squeeze of lemon.  For dinner we bought a beautiful piece of bluenose from the market and pan fried it with za'atar then served with a pinenut dressing, on a bed of hummus.  To cook the fish, brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with za'atar and quickly cook in a hot pan on both sides.  To make the dressing, combine 2 tbsps pinenuts, toasted & roughly chopped, 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped, 1/4 red onion finely chopped, 1/2 red chilli finely chopped, 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses, 1 tbsp lemon juice plus a grating of zest.  Mix together & pour over the fish.
New season's Chinese greens are just beginning to appear at the market.  I plan to really experiment with them this year.  This week I just played it safe and had choy sum with pork fillets. 
Now that Zany Zeus is making paneer, I find we are having it more often.  It is one of my favourite cheeses. Try it with chick peas, spinach & tomatoes.  Heat a tbsp vegetable oil in a pan & cook 1/2 tsp each cumin seeds & yellow mustard seeds until they pop.  Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 finely chopped red chilli, 1 small onion thinly sliced, 1 clove garlic crushed, 1/2 tbsp grated ginger.  If you don't have a chilli (and they are not quite in season yet) use dried or flakes.  Season with salt & cook until the onion is soft.  Add a tin crushed tomatoes & a tin of chickpeas & simmer 15 minutes.  In the meantime, slice the paneer (about 150g)  into 2 cm thick chunks and saute in a little oil until golden on both sides.  Cut into bite sized pieces.  Wash a handful of spinach & chop roughly.  Stir into the tomato mix to wilt along with a tbsp tamarind concentrate.  If you don't have tamarind (but you should try & get some) add a squeeze of lemon juice.  Toss through the paneer.
The new season's asparagus is in.  One of the first things I like to do is asparagus in French bread with ham & Gruyere.  This has been a great favourite in our house for many years and was something we often had for lunch when Mum & Dad came to stay in the spring.  They were great asparagus fans. Lightly steam the asparagus then fill a baguette with a slice of Gruyere and a slice of ham & 2-3 asparagus spears.  Toast in a medium oven for about 10 minutes.  We cut our baguette into 3-4 portions depending on the size and appetite of the diners.

Soup and snow

August was all about illness and snow. One we could have done without and the other was fun. As a consequence soup has been the staple for the month. One non-soup meal I recommend is spicy meatballs baked with Zany Zeus paneer. An Indian style version of the cheesy meatballs we usually do. Mix 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, 1/2 small red onion or shallot grated, 1/2 tsp each ground allspice, cumin & cinnamon, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 egg, salt & pepper together in a bowl. Add 500g minced beef and combine. Roll the mixture into smallish meatballs and brown them all over in a pan. Transfer them to a plate & set aside. In the unwashed pan, add 1 finely chopped onion, 1 small carrot, grated, 2 cloves crushed garlic & 1/4 tsp chilli flakes. Cook gently until the onion is soft. Add a splash of water if necessary. Tip in 2 tins crushed tomatoes & simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add the meatballs along with any juices left on the plate. Cut the paneer into cubes & add to the pan in between the meatballs Cover & simmer about 10 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with a spinach raita. Soak finely chopped shallot or 1/2 small red onion in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes - takes away the raw sharpness. Wilt a couple of handfuls of baby spinach & chop finely. Mix 1/2 cup thick yoghurt (I like Cyclops for this kind of thing) with a clove of crushed garlic & a handful of chopped mint. Season the yoghurt & layer in a small bowl with the spinach & onions. Grind over a little black pepper.
And back to soup. Try a spinach soup with poached egg - this sounds weird and even looks a little weird but tastes delicious. Melt a little butter in a pan & soften 1 finely chopped onion, 1 thinly sliced leek & 2 sticks finely sliced celery. Stir in a generous tbsp flour and gradually add 1.2 litres chicken stock. Bring to the boil stirring all the time so the flour doesn't turn lumpy then cover & simmer 1/2 an hour. Stir about 500g baby spinach into the soup & blend until smooth. Return to the pan & season with grated nutmeg & salt & pepper. Poach an egg per person, gently reheat the soup & ladle into bowls. Gently slide a poached egg into each bowl. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.
A good choice when you don't feel well is a soup packed full of restorative greens. It was when I was out picking broccoli to make this soup that the first snow fell in Wellington. Gather together about 700g of greens - broccoli, spinach curly kale, sorrel, corn salad, flat leaf parsley, chervil, celery with leave - just whatever you can find that you like. Saute in a little oil 1 small finely chopped onion, 2 rashers finely chopped bacon, 1 diced potato. Cook until tender then add 4 cups chicken stock & simmer 10 minutes. Add the greens and simmer 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach & sorrel at the end so it doesn't lose its colour. Blend until smooth then return to the heat to warm through. Mix a little feta & sour cream to a smooth paste & swirl over the top.
On a cold night a bowl of pumpkin soup with white beans will warm you through. Soften 2 shallots & an onion finely chopped in a little duck fat or olive oil. Duck fat is wonderful if you have any in the fridge. It keeps well and makes fabulous chips. Peel & cut a butternut pumpkin into largish cubes & add to the onions. Just cover with water, season & add a bouquet garni of bay, parsley, celery leaf & thyme. Cover & cook on a medium heat until the pumpkin is soft. When it boils bring it down to a gentle simmer. Remove the bouquet garni & add about 1/2 cup cooked white beans - I use tinned. Blend until smooth & serve with crusty bread. Season & garnish with a spoonful of the remaining white beans, a swirl of sour cream and a grating of fresh nutmeg.
When it is snowing outside a glass of mulled wine might be the answer. For one bottle of red wine - roughly cut up 3 oranges (skin on) with 225g sugar, 1/2 tsp each ground cinnamon & nutmeg & a tsp whole cloves. Bring to the boil, simmer gently & strain through a fine sieve. Bring the syrup up to the boil and add a bottle of red wine. Warm through but do not boil. Serve in warmed glasses.

Pumpkin, pasta & pesto

I keep thinking about bringing soup Monday to a close for the year and maybe moving to salad Monday. If you were in Wellington last Monday you will know why I didn't. We had the coldest day of winter. Temperatures didn't rise above 4 degrees! If it's cold in your town, try this delicious heartwarming pumpkin soup. Soften finely chopped onion (2), carrot, garlic (2), ginger (2 cm) in some olive oil with 1 tsp ground cumin & 1/2 tsp each cinnamon, turmeric & cayenne (maybe less cayenne if you're not a fan of spicy). Stir in a tin of tomatoes, 6 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock, 1 cup red lentils & about 800g pumpkin chopped into 2cm pieces. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat & simmer until the pumpkin is tender. Break up some of the pumpkin so that the soup is a rough lumpy texture. Season & serve with a dollop of sour cream & a pinch of cinnamon.

I have discovered a pasta recipe that I feel will become a regular at our table over summer. This week I made 2 versions - one for vegans & one for not. Both were delicious

For vegans blend a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves with a little olive oil & a handful of toasted pinenuts. You could use basil but I had lots of spinach. Genoese pesto for the non-vegan version. Put to one side.

Thinly slice lengthways one courgette per person with a vegetable peeler or mandolin & saute in olive oil. Steam a bunch of asparagus. Cook your favourite pasta according to the instructions. I used spaghetti for the vegans & egg tagliatelle for the non. Stir the sauces through the pastas, mix the courgette & asparagus and a chopped up avocado through both. Top the vegan one with breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil (often known as poor man's Parmesan) & the non version with Parmesan. Serve with a leafy green salad.

Cannelloni & cake

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned cannelloni. I found some in the pantry & thought I'd better use it. I filled them with pumpkin. It was so delicious that I made it again the following week with spinach which was even better and easier. A really good after work meal. In your food processor blend 2 bunches of washed spinach about 150g ricotta, a couple of cloves of garlic & a sprinkling of salt & pepper. To make a piping bag get a plastic bag & snip off a corner. Fill the bag with the spinach mixture and pipe into the cannelloni then lay in a greased dish into which they will fit snugly. Pour over a jar of passata - passata is an Italian tomato sauce that has been passed through a sieve to remove the seeds. It is like puree but fresh - not concentrated. I buy it in jars from Moore Wilson. On top of the sauce put slices of Clevedon Valley buffalo mozzarella, then sprinkle over a layer of Parmesan. Make lots and take leftovers to heat up for lunches. If you have left over spinach mix freeze it. I think it will be nice in little crispy pastry cases. I'll let you know when I get around to it. I made the pumpkin in a similar way but you need to cook the pumpkin first -I rubbed it with cumin & roasted it. And if you put a hot filling in the cannelloni then pour on the passata it cracks so you need to wait for the pumpkin to cool. Spinach is quicker.

Phoebe made a lovely spicy chicken one day and I have must tell you about lentils with poached eggs but it is the film festival and having been to 2 movies today as well as the market, a walk and weeding the garden, I'm feeling a bit tired.

A couple of weeks ago Leonie sent me this recipe for Whole Orange and Almond Friands - note no butter or flour.
2 large oranges (try to get home grown ones for a tarty flavour or you could use 3/4 mandarins)
5 eggs
220g/7oz white sugar
250g/8oz ground almonds
1tsp baking powder

Lightly grease friand tin/muffin tin with butter.
Pre-heat oven to 350f
Scrub oranges.Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil for about one hour. Remove and set aside to cool.
Cut oranges into quarters, catching any juice, only discard pips, do not discard skin. In a food processor/blender, puree to a pulp.
Separate the eggs. Beat whites till lightly fluffy (not stiff) beat egg yolks till fluffy and mix lightly into egg whites. Add the orange pulp and juice, ground almonds, sugar and baking powder and mix thoroughly but lightly. Pour into cases and bake for about 20mins to half an hour or until lightly golden. Bake longer if wet. Cool in pans for a few minutes before tipping onto cooling rack.
Options:
Drizzle with passion fruit syrup 10 minutes before taking out of oven.
Drizzle with melted Mars Bar when cool and top with a mandarin segment
Dust with icing sugar

And on the topic of butterless cakes, I met a wonderful yoghurt maker, Ad Sintenie, at Moore Wilson this morning. He is from Clearwater's organic dairy farm in Geraldine. You must buy this yoghurt. It is indescribable. Ad gave me a recipe for a yoghurt cake and it is in the oven now. You can buy the yoghurt at plenty of locations in the South island & at Nosh in Auckland. It is cheaper and considerably lower fat than any comparable youghurt. He doesn't do flavours because if you add fruit you have to add other stuff to the yoghurt. I could just sit down & eat the whole pot. Perhaps I shall put a dollop on top of my cake. I did

The Med in Winter

Roast chicken on Sunday? We started the week with risotto to use up the leftover chicken. On Tuesday we did a delicious mushroom and tomato pasta. We added the rest of the left over chicken. That worked well. A colleague at work rears little piggies in the Wairarapa and I got 3 of her free range loin chops. We pan fried them and made a sauce with cider, wholegrain mustard & a little cream. We served them with potato & celeriac mash, flavoured with a hint of horseradish & steamed Brussels sprouts. That is a problem with all these one-pot meals. They are not really conducive to Brussels sprouts. And Brussels sprouts are one of my best winter friends. I just like them steamed and then dressed with a little olive oil and a grinding of black pepper and a grating of nutmeg.

I have still been thinking spicy after last week's middle eastern focus and on Thursday we went back to an old favourite, Harira. This is a middle eastern lamb & chickpea soup. There are many versions so experiment until you find something you like. I start with the usual suspects, onion, celery, garlic, carrot, softened with 1/2 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, allspice & chilli flakes. Take out the sofrito and brown about 500g diced lamb. When done, squeeze on a generous splodge of tomato paste and return the sofrito to the pan. Add 2 cups beef stock and 2-3 cups water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat & simmer v gently for about an hour. You just need the lamb to be very tender. Add 1/2 cup couscous and a tin of chickpeas, cover simmer a further 5 mins, then turn off the heat & leave to sit for 10 mins for the couscous to finish. Stir in some flatleaf parsley & serve with homemade Turkish bread topped with nigella seeds. You will return to this again & again.

I bought a Gourmet Traveller Magazine (Best of Italy edition) and was inspired by the "Battle of the Bol" article to try to perfect the classic Italian ragu. My pasta mentor is Giuliano Hazan, son of the renowned Marcella. I learned from Giuliano about adding milk or cream and using a ribbon pasta such as pappardelle instead of the more familiar spaghetti. I followed Emma Knowles' recipe, substituting beef for veal. I asked our butcher to mince the beef coarsely & he put it through the mincer only once. I finely chopped the pork myself with the pancetta. I used white wine instead of red because I had a bottle open, and I used a bit less cream but otherwise this turns out to be the ultimate pasta Bolognese. I recommend using pappardelle which is much easier for people with braces to eat and altogether nicer. Make sure you buy good dried egg pasta, not "fresh", unless you've made it yourself.

Sunday we were back in the Middle East with home made Merguez sausages. I made the sausages with the harissa sauce & aromatic pumpkin along with steamed spinach & broad beans dressed with olive oil & feta cheese.

To prepare no-fail spinach, wash & dry thoroughly - I use the salad spinner. Add the spinach in handfuls to the pan, pushing to the back as it begins to wilt. When it is all wilted, add a knob of butter and grate on some nutmeg with a grind of pepper. Even Phoebe likes this.

The sausages were such a success and delicious the next day on toasted leftover Turkish bread with the harissa and some green tomato chutney. I thought that you could experiment with other spice and herb mixes, such as Italian. I thought these might be good for people with heart conditions as they used lean mince. I thought they might disintegrate without skins but they held their shape beautifully and didn't even stick to the pan.

Tonight's dinner was my signature fish stew. Again make this how you like it. Experimenting has got me to this place. Make the usual sofrito. I usually add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, capsicum, fennel if I have some (or a sprinkling of fennel seeds), chilli flakes and a few saffron strands. When softened add 1 or 2 finely chopped Agria potatoes -cook for a minutes or 2. Then add a tin of tomatoes & 2 cups fish or chicken stock. Bring to the boil & simmer until vegetables are cooked. Add a selection of frozen sweetcorn, frozen of fresh prawns and scallops, and about 100g white fish per person. I sometimes include steamed mussels, clams or pipis at the end. This is about whatever you have in the cupboard or happen to fancy on the day. This is best quite soupy and eaten with a soup spoon, mopping up the liquid with some home made ciabatta. (or buy some if you are busy). As usual sprinkle some parsley on at the end.

This afternoon I made a fruit loaf for those fruit toast emergencies and a Madeira cake for school lunches.