PAW's Recipe of the Month February 2018 - Raspberry and White Chocolate Tart

It is a perpetual quest to remember that you don’t need to think “outside the box”, but that there is NO Box! This of course is emphasised by the long-established development of fusion food primarily where East meets West. My recollections of having Foie Gras filled Wantons in a Michelin Starred Restaurant in Lyon some years ago.

The challenge on many occasions is of course to create something delicious and edible by seeking ingredients in the fridge and cupboards. Perchance I spied Sunday Lunch leftover vegetables into which I carefully folded some softened Cream Cheese put into an ovenproof dish toped with grated Cheese and baked in the oven till golden. Served with the sliced Cold Roasted Lamb and some Mashed Potato – job done. Leftover mash and vegetables mixed together either by hand or in a mixer or food processor can quickly be shaped into bubble and squeak potato cakes. Crisped either side in a frying pan and then finished in the oven – go a stage further and coat them with breadcrumbs for that extra crispiness. If you make too many freeze them for another day.

The most popular title of Cookery Days has always been Dinner Parties Simple but Impressive with an ethos of everything done in advance – a nice bath and a drink before guests arrive and serving lovely food feeling as confident and as cool as a cucumber. To this end it is well worth having that special folder of Dinner Party show stoppers that you can produce at a click of a finger with no effort at all – and beyond the usual repeated old favourites. It is more than worth writing your menus in a book with accompanying recipes / ingredients and guests who attended so repetition doesn’t happen too often.

What is your Dinner Party Entertaining regime if you have one that is? Friday Supper nights are always good as they make the weekend seem longer for some reason. Mid-week Suppers are usually two courses Main with Pudding and or Cheese there may even be a nibbly starter like a Guacamole or some other concoction blitzed up and served with

Melba toast or some other crispy something. Saturdays evenings tend to be more formal and of course one cannot ignore the institution of Sunday Lunch. How many of us still do it I wonder?

For this month a little something to whizz up

Raspberry and White Chocolate Tart

8ozs Ginger Nuts broken up and crumbed

2- 3 ozs Melted Butter

5ozs white chocolate – melted

250g Mascarpone

200g Crème Fraiche

3 punnets of Raspberries

Red Currant Jelly or Seedless Raspberry Jam

Combine the Ginger Nuts and butter and press into a loose bottomed sprung cake tin (I line the bottom with baking parchment)

Cream together the Mascarpone and Crème Fraiche – then fold in the melted chocolate

(it mustn’t be too hot)

Refrigerate – a few hours or overnight

Top with the Raspberries and then glaze them with melted Redcurrant Jelly or Raspberry Jam.

(You could of course add some Blue Berries of other Berries / Fruits of your choice)

PAW's Recipe of the Month January 2018 - Ratatouille

How often do you sit and analyse your culinary variance? In many instances our menus through a week become repetitive, boring and uninteresting. Often the convenience of sticking to the tried and tested favourites lead to ‘Menu Fatigue’. This often happens in restaurants too, when the Daily Special (often a source of creating dishes to use up special purchases or combining foods in need of use) ends up being on the menu for a month or more. So many times, I have commented that the Daily Special should not be there day after day – It is NOT a Daily Special but a menu addition. Enough of that soap box gripe!

So perhaps I can divert you to the humble Aubergine (Eggplant in some countries) It is a good source of dietary fibre, Vitamin B1 and Copper. It is also a good source of manganese, Vitamin B6, Niacin, Potassium, Folate and Vitamin K. It also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid. That’s enough of the scientific stuff. However, I would alert you to magnesium deficiency which is often left unchecked.

Clearly the Aubergine tends to feature more in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern cooking and there are no shortages of recipes that can be followed. In Sicily it features as Caponata whilst in Southern France we know its use as Ratatouille. I have to say there a host of variations that can be found for what is essentially a Vegetable Stew.

It can be eaten on its own with Rice – as an accompaniment for a Meat Dish or if slightly wetter as a hearty Soup. I have sometimes used it as a base for a Meat Stew by adding Beef or Lamb or Chicken (all of which can have been cooked before –  for example left over Sunday Roast)

Basic Ratatouille

2 tbsp Olive oil

2 Onions, large

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

2 Courgettes, medium, roughly chopped

2 Red peppers, deseeded and chopped

1 Aubergine, roughly chopped

2 cans Chopped tomatoes, 400g

1 tbsp Mixed herbs

4 tbsp Fresh basil, chopped

1.    Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes.

2.    Stir in the courgettes, peppers and aubergine, and cook for a further 5 minutes until lightly coloured.

3.    Add the tomatoes and herbs, cover and cook over a low heat for 30-35 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season and sprinkle with chopped basil.

Serve with Rice – Pasta – Jacket Potato – as a Side Dish.

PAW's Recipe of the Month December - North African Left-Over Turkey Pie

Remembering past journeys to Thailand I am reminded of one of the Amazing Thailand promotional clichés ‘The Sights and Sounds of Thailand’ which we added –‘ and the Smells!!’ Unless you have been to Thailand you will never have such and experience.

Having started here I am mindful of the Sights, Sounds and Smells of Christmas, many of which are sitting in our memories of days past invoking all sorts of emotions and feelings. When it comes to food our senses are an integral part of the digestive process that can prevent indigestion and eating disorders. How so you may well ask.

You will know when starting a car engine, it is important that you prime the engine as it is cold, and you need to wake it up with a bit of kick start to get all the parts lubricated and working to be efficient. So too with the body. Smells alert the brain and in turn that starts the gastric juices into action further stimulated by the sights and sounds (cooking, cutting) – once you start to eat you have touch and tastes. Food cannot be absorbed if you do not break it down and that will not happen if the correct juices are not lubricating its passage. Remember we chink glasses to give wine sound!

Without this process you may suffer from indigestion, acid reflux, heartburn and often happens when you eat on the move or too quickly – in car mechanical terms you flood the engine and it can’t cope – so please be mindful to not ‘flood’ your engine this Christmas time……

North African Left-Over Turkey Pie

2tsp Coriander Seeds

2tsp Cumin Seeds

Pinch of Ground Cinnamon

Olive Oil

2 Aubergines cut into dice

2 Med Onion peeled and chopped

2 tbsp Harissa Paste

2 Bell Peppers prepared and diced

Can Chopped Tomatoes

Chicken Stock Cube

Leftover Turkey – cubed

Filo Pastry and melted butter

1.    Warm the spices in a pan for a few minutes (do not burn) Add a glug of olive oil, the aubergines and shallots – turn all over in the spices and gently sweat until softened.

2.    Add the harissa and peppers and the tomatoes and stock cube. Stir and simmer for about 20 mins till all softened and cooked and mixture is thickish.

3.    Add the Turkey meat and stir in. Set aside to cool

4.    Put the mixture into an oven proof pie dish.

5.    Lay out your filo sheets – brush a sheet one at a time with melted butter, scrunch up (not too tightly) and place on top of filling. Repeat the process with little parcels of scrunched filo until covered completely. Add a little more melted butter to the top if needed.

6.    Bake in hot oven 180 degrees until golden and serve.

PAW's Recipe of the Month November - Herb Baked Salmon

Whilst the weather cannot make up its mind quite whether it is autumn or winter one should be mindful that Christmas is looming. Cries I here of how it all comes too soon, and everything must be on hold till the very last moment. Seems to me as ever, how short our memories are. One thing I do know is that shops – and commerce put their Christmas dates in their diaries a year in advance and the same time every year and not earlier as it often seems.

My old harp sings ‘planning’ I know some who buy their Christmas Cards in the January sales for the following year, whilst others have a box or drawer and add specially purchased gifts for Christmas presents as they are on special offer. All this with thoughts in advance as too must be the festive food arrangements. Things that can be stored or put in the deep freeze to negate that last minute expense and panic. Menu planning and lists, an absolute necessity for a calm and managed time. You can also be sure to have the right quantities of everything preventing excessive waste – or certainly plan to use up leftovers in culinary creations with a selection of store cupboard basics.

What would you find in my cupboard that would be of use to you. Well here are some suggestions for you. Tinned or cartons of ready cooked Pulses. Chopped Tomatoes, Passata, Tomato Puree, Mayonnaise, a selection of Pesto’s, Breadcrumbs, Tinned fruits like Pears and Fruit Pie fillings, Pasta of varying sorts – rice selection too. Stuffing mixes can be useful. Oils and Vinegars, Oriental Sauces, Tinned Tuna, Sardines, Coconut Milk. Chocolate White and Dark, Baking Flours, Dried Fruits, Sugars, Nuts, Semolina, Powdered Potato mix, Ground Rice, Cornflour, Custard Powder, Stock Cubes.

Having pondered - time for a recipe I guess. Light but flavoursome and easy to do.

Herbed Fish Bake

Chunky Fish Fillets – Cod – Haddock (this is enough for two)

4 tablespoons of Natural Low-Fat Yoghurt

2 Tbsp Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

2 tbsp chopped Parsley or Dill

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Mix together the Yoghurt, half the chopped Herb and Pesto

Place fish into a shallow oven proof dish

Pour over mixture

Bake in Oven for about 15 – 20 mins till cooked

PAW's Recipe of the Month October - Asian Salmon

Only the other day I was asked what my signature dish was. I am always dumbfounded by this question as I tend to create food of the minute depending on ingredients available and the occasion. Ah you might say that slightly contradicts my often table bashing comments about planning and kitchen management. There is always a plan in the air and the store cupboard and fridge stocked with temptations for diversion. So there will be a key ingredient like fish or meat with a temptation of what to do with it. Occasionally there is a plan and sometimes creation develops according to weather, time available and my mood. I might be inspired by something I have seen on TV or in a magazine. With eyes open and sensitive to any stimulation that might spark a flavour, colour or aroma.

A confession occurs to not being a great fan of Salmon. That being said there is always a time that it does fit the bill for fare of the day. Cooking it perfectly often alludes many when it is overcooked – dry, pale and hard to consume. Cooked till just the right moment is art to be acquired where flavour and succulence is maintained. So practice and get it right.

Asian Salmon

2 ¼lbs half side fillet

8fl oz soy sauce

2 fl oz rice vinegar

2 fl oz freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon toasted (dark) sesame oil

1½ teaspoons chilli paste

4ozs sliced Spring Onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (8 large cloves)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger

12 ozs Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Directions

Line an 8 by 12-inch baking pan with aluminium foil. Place the salmon in the pan.

In a mixing cup, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, lemon juice, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, chilli paste, spring onions, garlic and ginger.

Pour 1/3 of soy sauce mixture over the salmon fillet. Sprinkle the Panko evenly over the fillet. Pour the rest of the soy sauce mixture evenly over the Panko. Be sure to soak the Panko completely and if any runs off, spoon back onto the salmon. Set aside for 15 minutes, leaving all the sauce in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 200C . Roast the salmon for 18 to 20 minutes

Remove from the oven, wrap tightly with aluminium foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

PAW's Recipe of the Month September - Breakfast or Brunch Hash

Do you recognise arriving at a point in the week or day when you stop and realise you have lost the plot. Suddenly you panic forgetting what you were planning to do, or even didn’t have a plan but suddenly realise something has to happen. This is defined as panic management. So many people have it just about the time they realise that supper or dinner has to be on the table for the hungry vultures. Many resort to convenience foods or take-away.

So many times I have written about planning. A quiet moment constructing a plan for the ensuing week or two, where you at least have a structure of ingredients at hand to conjure up that little bit of magic. The other special magic of course is to prepare something for another day at the same time. A Casserole doubled and half frozen for another day. Double potatoes or vegetables and create something the next day. Extra baked potatoes can become stuffed potatoes or sauté. Blanched vegetables can become vegetable bakes with pasta or mashed and made into hash or cakes.

The other cross that is born is by one very simple question. “What would you like for Dinner?”  It starts at childbirth and then forever becomes a burden of life for the producers of food. If you are cooking, no one should be asked what they want, they should have two choices. Take it or leave it! And NO alternatives. That’s assuming you are not being paid for the production. The choice is yours to become a slave to the culinary diversities of your family or not.

Breakfast or Brunch Hash

Cubed Boiled Potatoes

Fine Diced Onion

Sliced Mushrooms

Sliced Chorizo

Worcester Sauce

White Wine

Eggs

Toasted Brioche

Olive Oil

Sweat off the onions till translucent. Add the Chorizo – a few shakes of Worcester Sauce and splash of White Wine. Bring to the boil and reduce the liquor to concentrate the flavour. Add the mushrooms – stir and cook. Finally add the Potatoes and heat them through slightly browning them taking care not to break them up.

Toast the Brioche slices and when ready pile the hash on top and serve topped with a fried egg to finish is all off.

PAW's Recipe of the Month August - Courgette & Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

If I only had a garden with sunshine and room for a vegetable patch, life would be blissful, but alas I don’t and that is that. An allotment plot also would be a huge responsibility for me but I do indeed enjoy the spoils of those who labour hard, home growing.

It does however puzzle me that all these efforts once fulfilled express such huge amazement at the quantity that is produced with little forward planning on what to do with it all. Perhaps sharing with a neighbour or giving it away is one remedy. Surely however the growing plan should also include storage and production for sustained supply during the future period. Tomato Sauces, Sauces, Pickles or simply freezing or drying. Some storage methods work better than others and have to be tried. Whether it be in boxes of moist sand for roots – or if you are salting as we used to do with runner beans. You must surely also have a collection of recipes ready at hand for pickling and bottling with containers ready and waiting.

Good Kitchen management and planning is as always essential. Of course you don’t have to grow, but can take advantage of farm shops and bulk buy produce for preserving yourselves when prices are keen and advantageous. Sitting in the garden on a summers day preparing produce can be a great past time and of course the labours enjoyed later in the year. This can be a good way to occupy young little people during holiday times.

So with a surplus on hand the produce arrived and here is my use of Courgettes courtesy of BBC Good Food.

Courgette & Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake

350g courgettes

(no need to peel them)

200g soft brown sugar

125ml sunflower oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

grated zest 1 orange

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g sultanas

300g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

for the frosting

200g full-fat cream cheese

100g icing sugar, sifted

good grating of orange zest

Method

1.    Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly oil and line a 1kg loaf tin with a strip of baking parchment. Finely grate the courgettes, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can with your hands (too much will make the cake soggy).

2.    Stir the courgettes with the sugar, sunflower oil, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and sultanas, then fold in the flour and baking powder until they disappear, but don’t overmix.

3.    Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 mins until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

4.    Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese with the icing sugar (don’t overbeat as this can make the mixture too soft), then chill. Spread over the cooled cake, scatter with the zest and chill until ready to serve. Will keep for a week in the fridge.