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Archive for February, 2022

Beef with Mangetout & Cashews

Posted in Asian, Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , on 28 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

Chinese New Year was on a Tuesday this year and we had to squeeze our Chinese food in between homework, swimming lessons etc. If that is you, then this recipe is for you. As ever you need to prep everything before you start cooking. We served with rice but noodles would be good too.

Beef with mangetout & cashews – serves 4

  • 50g unsalted cashews
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 1 ½ tbsp low-salt soy sauce
  • 4 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 280g rump steak, thinly sliced
  • a thumb-sized piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 200g mangetout, halved

Toast the cashews in a dry wok or frying pan, until browned, then set aside.

Mix the cornflour and soy sauce together to make a paste, then add the oyster sauce, rice vinegar and honey.

Heat your wok until very hot. Add the oil and swirl around to cover the base and sides. Use tongs to place the steak pieces into the wok in a single layer. Cook, without turning for 30 seconds – 1 minute, or until a dark crust starts to form. Add the ginger and garlic and toss everything together, then add the mangetout and the sauce. Cook for another 30 seconds – 1 minute or until the beef is just cooked through and the sauce is glossy. Sprinkle over the cashews and serve.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Red Pepper & Anchovy Spaghetti

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 21 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

Inspiration for evenings when you’re feeling uninspired. Ready in 10 minutes.

Wine Suggestion: A southern Italian red, especially those from Mt Etna and surrounds if you can as they tend to have both warm to match the roasted red peppers and a savouriness to comliment the umami anchovies. For us the Gulfi Cerasuolo di Vittoria, and Nero d’Avola – Frappato blend. Fragrant, silky and with a deep core of earthy red fruits; one of those wines that is both effortless and yet demanding of attention.

Red pepper & anchovy spaghetti – serves 3

  • 300g spaghetti
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus a bit extra to drizzle
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 8 anchovies, from a jar of tin of anchovies in olive oil
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 300g jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • a handful of basil leaves, finely sliced

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add lots of salt. Add the spaghetti and cook for 1 minute less than the timings on the pack.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil, garlic and anchovies into a large, deep frying pan and cook over a medium heat for a minute or until the oil is hot and the garlic has started to sizzle.

Add the peppers and tomato purée and stir well. Continue to cook until the spaghetti is ready, adding a ladle of the pasta cooking water to make a sauce.

When the spaghetti is ready, use tongs to transfer it to the sauce, you can add a little more water to get the right saucy consistency if you need. Cook for another 30 seconds, tossing to coat, then remove from the heat and stir through the basil. Serve drizzled with some extra olive oil.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Sprouting Broccoli with Mushrooms and Stilton

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 20 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

A nice side dish for a roast dinner.

Sprouting broccoli with mushrooms and stilton – serves 6

  • 500g purple sprouting broccoli or other long-stemmed broccoli
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • a knob of butter
  • 500g chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered
  • 50g creamy stilton, crumbled
  • a drizzle of best olvie oil

Boil the broccoli in lots of very salt water for about 3 minutes, or until bright green and not quite tender, then drain and rinse under cold water to stop it cooking further. Drain well and set aside (you can do this in advance if you like).

Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the butter is sizzling, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until golden.

Add the broccoli and toss with the mushrooms. Cover the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the broccoli is heated through and the mushrooms have softened.

Season well, then tip into a serving bowl, scatter over the cheese and drizzle over some of your best olive oil.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Norwegian Fish Chowder

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, Prawns, Shellfish, Soup, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 17 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

A lovely fiskesuppe with delicate flavours and delicious chunks of seafood. You can use whatever mix of fish and shellfish you like, clams would be nice. Serve with lots of steamed potatoes.

Wine Suggestion: Fish, cream, brandy … demands a richer white with a touch of oak and Quinta Soalheiro’s Alvarinho Reserva fitted the bill. Textured and buttery, but at the same time bone dry and vibrantly fresh and full of citrus fruit and salty crisp peaches. A wine so fresh and pure, and yet round and embracing.

Norwegian Fish Chowder – serves 4

  • 100g cooked shell-on prawns
  • 1 litre fish stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • a handful of flat-leaf parsley, plus a handful of parsley leaves, chopped, to serve
  • 12 peppercorns
  • 2 carrots, roughly diced
  • 2 celery sticks, roughly diced
  • 1 leek, thinly sliced
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 50ml brandy
  • 300ml double cream
  • 100g skinless salmon fillet, cubed into 2cm pieces
  • 150g haddock fillet, cubed into 2cm pieces
  • 20 mussels, cleaned
  • steamed potatoes (to serve)

Shell the prawns and put the shells in a large saucepan with the fish stock, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, carrot, celery and leek. Bring to the boil and cook for 10-15 minutes. Pour in the wine and brandy and boil for another 5 minutes, then strain into a clean pan.

Add the double cream and bring back to a simmer. Add the salmon, haddock and mussels and cook for 3-4 minutes, adding the cooked prawns for just a minute to warm through at the end. Season and scatter over the chopped parsley. Serve in warm bowls and add potatoes.

(Original recipe by Signe Johansen in Olive Magazine, January 2014.)

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Baked Pumpkin with Roasted Garlic Chickpea Purée

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 12 February 2022| 3 Comments »

We had this for a main course but you could also have it as a side. Plus it tastes fab at room temperature for lunch the next day.

Wine Suggestion: Perfect with a youthful, oaked Chardonnay like the one we had to hand from Rustenberg in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Baked pumpkin with roasted garlic chickpea purée – serves 6

  • 1kg pumpkin (our favourite is crown prince), remove the seeds and cut into 6 wedges, leave the skin on
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 10 sprigs of rosemary
  • 8 bushy sprigs of thyme
  • 75g butter
  • 10g flatleaf parsley leaves
  • 1 tsp pink peppercorns

FOR THE CHICKPEA PURÉE:

  • 2 x 400g tins chickpeas
  • 1 small lemon, juiced
  • 150ml olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Lightly oil a baking tray and lay the pumpkin wedges in a single layer. Tuck in the cloves of garlic. Season with salt and black pepper and add the sprigs of rosemary and thyme. Drizzle with olive oil and dot the butter over, then roast for 45 minutes or until golden-brown and soft.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then bring to the boil in plenty of water. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until heated through.

Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skins into the bowl of a food processor. Drain and add the hot chickpeas and the lemon juice. Whizz, while gradually pouring in the olive oil, until you have a soft creamy texture.

Chop the parsley, then mix with the pink peppercorns and 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Spoon the purée onto a serving dish, arrange the pumpkin on top, then scatter over the parsley and peppercorns.

(Original recipe from A Cook’s Book by Nigel Slater, 4th Estate, 2021.)

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Spicy Pork & Fennel Polpette

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 3 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

We’re pretty sure we saw somewhere that Polpo, a cookbook by Russell Norman, has just turned ten years old which inspired us to get it out and cook something. We served these, at Russell’s suggestion, with some home-made focaccia but pasta would be good too. It’s an excellent tomato sauce to use for other purposes too.

Wine Suggestion: Given the Italian inspiration to this dish we had to open something to match. The cherry and berry flavours in Pico Maccario’s Barbera Tre Roveri really sing alongside the anise-fennel flavours and the wild herb, leather and truffle flavours lend a base note to the whole dish. Bravo!

Spicy pork & fennel polpette – serves 6

  • 1.5kg pork mince
  • 3 medium eggs (we only had large, all was well)
  • 150g breadcrumbs
  • a large pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 20g fennel seeds, lightly toasted and ground in a pestle and mortar
  • ½ tbsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped
  • ½ tbsp fine sea salt
  • ¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • a small pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 750g fresh tomatoes, quartered
  • 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • a small handful of oregano, chopped
  • caster sugar, if needed

Make the tomato sauce first, up to a few days in advance if you like.

Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat and sweat the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and chilli flakes for 15 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and the rest of the oil and continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, bring to a gentle bubble and simmer over a low heat for 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped oregano. Now taste and season if it needs a litle sweetness (we find it usually does). Blitz with a stick blender until smooth and you can also pass through a fine sieve if you would like it more passata textured (we don’t tend to bother).

Now make the meatballs. Heat the oven to 220C/Gas 8.

Put the pork mince, eggs, breadcrumbs, chilli flakes, ground fennel seeds, salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix together well with your hands. Roll in 45g balls and place on a greased baking tray, then roast in the oven for 10 minutes, turning once, until starting to brown.

Meanwhile, bring your tomato sauce up to a gentl simmer. Transfer the meatballs to the tomato sauce and poach for 10 minutes. Serve with some lightly toasted focaccia or pasta or whatever else you fancy.

(Original recipe from Polpo by Russell Norman, Bloomsbury, 2012.)

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Grilled Cheese & Kimchi Toastie

Posted in Cheese, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 1 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

Breakfast, brunch or lunch; it’s delicious!

Grilled cheese & kimchi on toast – serves 4

  • 4 slices sourdough bread
  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 200g kimchi
  • 120g cheddar, grated
  • 120g comté, grated
  • 80g mozzarella, grated
  • a handful of coriander leaves
  • 2 scallions, finely sliced
  • 1 red chilli, finely sliced

Heat the grill to medium-high.

Lightly toast the sourdough on one side until golden.

Mix the mayonnaise with the garlic and spread onto the untoasted side of the bread, then top with the kimchi. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle over the bread, pressing down gently. Grill for a few minutes until melted and golden.

Serve sprinkled with coriander, scallions and chilli.

(Original recipe from Australian Food by Bill Granger, Murdoch Books, 2020.)

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