Firstly, I’ll start off
with saying how nice it is to hear from people who enjoy the recipes or make a
comment even if sometimes it is retrospectively. ‘Oh, I tried your recipe a month
ago and it was delicious!’ or ‘I got your recipe just at a time I needed
inspiration’
Many apologies for a
rather few sparse months of communication. Life at Nelson Road has been rather
busy with anew adventure that has taken up a rather lot of time and continues
to do so at the present time. However here is a bumper pack of ideas for you to
have your own adventures.
I have no shame in sharing
some of my rather bold cheats and ideas that are often conjured up on the spare
of the moment. Unexpected guests who need feeding or finding something to
present when I can’t be bothered to go to the shops.
This of course means that
you must have a store cupboard of goodies that can be relied upon for such
occasions.
Only this week – surprise guests
for supper. Two Roasted Chickens – jointed. Then dressed with a homemade tomato
sauce with onions and garlic then I added mushrooms. A collation of Roasted Sweet Potato, Potato.
Roasted Cauliflower – tossed with Olive Oil and sprinkled with Japanese Panko
Breadcrumbs and Kenya Beans.
So, to pudding. The newly
added store cupboard jar of Mincemeat would add flavour to an Apple Crumble
with other ingredients. I always try and keep a tub of Vanilla Ice Cream in the
deep freeze.
Apple and Mincemeat Crumble
6 Eating Apples – I used Braeburns
1 large Jar of Store-bought
Mincemeat
Marzipan – grated
Cinnamon
1 large Packet of
Store-bought sweetened Crumble mix
Demerara Sugar
Core the Apples and cut
into cubes or pieces
Mix with the Mincemeat and
turn into an ovenproof dish.
Top with grated Marzipan -
quantity to your preference (this can be missed out)
Sprinkle with Cinnamon or
Mixed Spice
Top with the Crumble mix
then sprinkle with some Demerara Sugar
Bake in a pre-warmed oven
till browned about 30 – 45 mins and serve with crea – Custard or Ice Cream
-o0o-
Faced with trying to find
other alternatives to Rice and Potatoes my thoughts ventured to Barley and
using it instead of Arborio Rice to make a Risotto. It worked a charm and I
found it is now quite fashionable to do so. The method is the same. I make a
Stock with Chicken Stock Cubes and Saffron for colour and flavour.
Quantities are as follows
and a little goes a long way – for about 8 people I used 500g Pearl Barley.
Barley Risotto
500g Pearl Barley
1½ pts of Stock with a pinch
or two of Saffron
1 medium Onion peeled and
chopped finely
Zest of a Lemon
1 tsp Olive Oil
1. In a large pan warm the Oil and then add the Onion –
sweat to soften, then add the Barley and stir to coat all the granules.
2. Add the Stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for
about 45 minutes or till cooked. Stir from time to time and add more liquid if
needed. (You can use white wine if you like)
This is the basics. Serve
instead of Potatoes or Rice. You can treat much like any other Risotto and add
Mushrooms, Roasted Squash, Asparagus or whatever you think you would like.
-o0o-
Following on from that I
would remind you of the versatility of the basic White Sauce or bechamel and it
is known classically. The constituents I remember in my mind are
4ozs butter –
4ozs Plain Flour
1pt of milk.
These days I usually make
it in the microwave – no burnt pans or brown flecks in the sauce from the milk
catching and the bowl is easy to clean as well. Add grated cheese for a cheese
sauce for lasagne – Cauliflower Cheese – Macaroni or other blanched Pasta such
as Gnocchi. How about coasting Broccoli or even a collation of Blanched Vegetables
especially those left over from a Sunday Luncheon thus a Vegetable Gratin.
Cauliflower & Barley Bake
1 Whole Cauliflower cut
into florets and blanched.
1 pt of Cheese Sauce with
1 Tbsp of Grain Mustard – season well
Cooked Barley or Pasta –
maybe Gnocchi (cooked)
1. Mix the Cauliflower and Barley or Pasta and put in an
ovenproof dish
2. Coat with the Sauce – top with Grated Cheese - you can
add some Breadcrumbs if you like.
3. Bake in a hot oven about 180 C till golden brown 30 –
45 mins and serve.
-o0o-
It was only recently I was
faced with a wine tasting of some challenge. Several bottles of red and I
needed a pudding to stand up to that challenge. So many do not think of it but the
ideal wine for chocolate is chilled or cooled red wine, so I came up with a chocolate
pudding. Intensely rich and complimented with a compote.
Chocolate Ganache Tart
250 – 300g Ginger nuts –
crushed
6ozs melted butter
Combine and press flat
into a loose bottomed sprung cake tin
250g Dark Chocolate –
buttons or broken up into pieces
90g Honey
300ml Double cream
30g Butter
1. Put the Cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil
2. Pour over the combined Honey and Chocolate and stir
till all melted and combined
3. Add the butter in cubes and again combine well
4. Pour over biscuit base – cool and refrigerate. Remove
from Fridge at least 30 mins before serving.
You don’t need huge slice
of this, and it should be soft enough to slice – you can dredge the top with
sifted Icing Sugar for a contrast of colour.
-o0o-
The wonderful intense
flavour was very decadent and interesting, but I did feel it need something to
break the richness, so I chose Rhubarb and Raspberries.
Rhubarb and Raspberry Compote
Bunches of Fresh Rhubarb –
trimmed and cut into wedges
Honey
Rosemary
Zest of Orange
Raspberries
1. Prepare the Rhubarb put into a saucepan. Add two small
sprigs of Rosemary and the shaved rind of an Orange – use a vegetable peeler to
do this.
2. Poach very gently and slowly till the rhubarb is just
cooked. You may need to add a drop of water but be sparing with it as the
juices from the Rhubarb maybe enough. Try not to boil.
3. Cool then add the raspberries and chill till required.
-o0o-
As Easter is now upon us
perhaps a thought to Lamb as this is often the joint of choice for Easter Sunday.
The old-fashioned accompaniment for Roasted Lamb or better still Mutton was
Onion Sauce. This is made using the same principles of White Sauce. Sweat diced
fresh onion with butter (I do it in the micro wave) add the flour and milk.
Stir and put back into the micro wave – stir from time to time and check the
seasoning and texture. You may need a little less milk if you prefer it
thicker. You could also infuse the milk before with an onion studded with cloves.
I also like to steam
potatoes and parsnips – them mash them. Season with the usual salt and pepper
and or fresh grated nutmeg and then butter. Place in a buttered oven proof dish
and bake in a hot oven till crisp and golden – this of course can be done in
advance.
Please also remember to
try not put items for cooking in the oven straight from the fridge. Let them
stand to get to room temperature for about an hour or two so that your oven
doesn’t have to work hard raising the temperature from 4 degrees of so. This is
very important when calculating cooking times for Roasting Joints.
I hope the Easter Bunny
brings you and your family joy and happiness
