Month: November 2018

Apple and Date Chutney

Dear Angela. Here is the original recipe for the chutney. I got this from Christina at the surgery, whose mother got it from a friend. The quantities are quite ‘loose’ and depend on what is in the store cupboard.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2  lb cooking apples
  • as much garlic as you like
  • 1 3/4 pints malt vinegar
  • 1 lb dates, stones out and chopped
  • 1 lb raisins
  • 1 lb brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • ginger, peeled and grated, if wished

METHOD:

  • Chop the unpeeled apples, garlic and ginger, and simmer in a pan with the vinegar, until soft.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring regularly.

Makes about 6 jars. The recorder of the recipe advises keeping your fingers crossed; I suspect because she is free and easy with the quantities.

Grilled chicken breasts with harissa, mint and yoghurt

We had some bits of boned chicken, mostly breasts in the freezer, and some home-made harissa sauce. We found this recipe in Nigel Slater’s Kitchen diaries. And that is what we had for tea, with boiled potatoes and a little salad.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Boned chicken, chicken breasts, chicken wings
  • 2 tsps harissa paste
  • 100ml greek yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp organic olive oil
  • a handful of mint leaves
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Stir the harissa into the yoghurt and then beat in the olive oil with some salt and pepper to taste
  • Roll the chicken in the thick sauce, and then grill it until tender inside, with some slight browning on the outside
  • Done. I think this would work well on the barbeque in the summer, or with lamb chops. We are going to try it with goose breast as well.

Apple and pecan pudding

For the person who left us some apples.

We came home to find a line of cooking apples marching across the kitchen table. Tonight we had apple and pecan pudding.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
  • 2 oz organic pecan nuts or walnuts, chopped
  • 4 oz organic dates, stoned and chopped
  • 4 oz self-raising flour, organic/wholemeal for preference
  • 4 oz fairtrade soft brown sugar
  • 1 oz melted butter
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 free-range egg, beaten

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 200C
  • Mix the flour with the chopped fruit and nuts, then add all the other ingredients and stir well
  • The mixture should be scraped into a greased 8 inch square baking dish, and baked for half an hour

We had this served with cream. The pudding had a wonderful mixture of flavours and textures.

Lamb curry with whole spices

We have made this using left-overs from roast lamb, but the original recipe came from Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Curry Easy’. The book is very easy to use, the recipes easy and delicious and fresh. The resulting curry would easily serve 6.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 tbsp organic vegetable oil
  • 8 cardamom pods
  • 1 x 10cm cinnamon stick
  • 8 whole cloves
  • 1 tsp whole cumin
  • 1 tsp whole fennel
  • 1 finely chopped onion
  • 900g diced local lamb (or goat)
  • 300ml natural organic yoghurt (2x150ml)
  • 2 tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 180C
  • Heat the oil in a large oven-proof pan and set over a medium heat. Once it is hot, add the whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon,cloves, cumin and fennel) and give them a stir before adding the chopped onions, and fry until the onion is beginning to brown.
  • Add all of the other ingredients, stir and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan with foil and then the lid to seal, and then bake in the oven for 1 1/4 hours until the meat is tender.
  • Uncover, and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the meat is drier and slightly browned. Stir occasionally to disperse any liquid evenly.

Serve with a vegetable dish and pita breads.

Spinach and Feta Pie

Spinach grows well in the Uists, and it is also often available in the co-op.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg spinach
  • 1 small onion finely chopped, or six spring onions
  • 50g butter
  • 125g Feta Cheese
  • 1 dsp chopped fresh fennel or dill
  • 100ml cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • flaky pastry
  • Small grating of nutmeg

METHOD:

  • Gently fry the onion in the butter until soft, then add all the spinach, and cook until it has all wilted down
  • Mash the cream, herbs, and cheese together
  • Mix the cheese and the spinach together, and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg
  • Put the spinach and cheese mixture in a pie dish, and use the flaky pastry to cover
  • Bake in a medium hot oven for 30-45 minutes until the top is crisp and golden.

If you were going to be really authentic, this would be made with filo pastry to create little triangular packets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQITqEJ-TvQ shows you the technique.

Fig and Rhubarb Jam

Noms. I made this because I had the ingredients. It turned out very tasty and set well. The recipe is from Marguerite Patten’s book ’500 recipes for jams, pickles and chutneys’ price 2 shillings and sixpence. I thought it would be out of print, but NO it is really available on Amazon, newer edition than mine though.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb dried figs
  • 2 lb chopped rhubarb
  • 1 pint of water
  • 3 lb sugar
  • Juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon

METHOD:

  • Soak the figs in the water for 48 hours, then simmer until soft
  • Add the rhubarb, and cook to form a thick pulp
  • Add the sugar and lime juice, simmer until the sugar is dissolved
  • Boil hard to setting point
  • Then put it in jars.

Nettle risotto

A recipe from the spring.

I know that nettles are supposed to be tasty and nutritious and free, but I’ve always struggled with the recipes that I’ve tried, usually ending up with something that looks wrong. But the scent of blanched nettles suggests an affinity with gooseberries, elderflowers, mackerel, and a wonderful hint of spring. I was out foraging for seaweed on the day I made this. At the end of the walk, I scrambled up a bank of dried kelp and pebbles, then silverweed, and then a great abundance of freshly sprouting spring nettles. 

When I got home, I blanched my pickings of nettle tops, and found I had 75g, enough to make myself a tasty wee risotto for one. You could easily multiply up for more.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 mild onion, finely chopped
  • 1 lovage sprig, finely chopped (leaves not the stem)
  • 25g butter
  • 75-100g blanched nettle tops, finely chopped
  • 100g arborio rice
  • 1 glass white wine
  • 300ml hot vegetable stock (I used marigold bouillon)
  • 1 oz parmesan, grated
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Fry the onion in the butter until it is soft and nearly browning.
  • Add the chopped nettles and chopped lovage, and stir in, frying, for a minute.
  • Add the rice, keep stirring and frying, until the rice looks glazed and shiny.
  • Pour in a glass of wine, and bring to the boil.
  • Slowly add the stock, bringing to the boil and waiting until the stock is absorbed before adding more.
  • Once the rice is tender, but still a little firm, add the salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Stir in, cover, and leave to stand for 3 minutes before serving.

Could you serve fish with this? Not sure. It was very good on its own.

Wild goose breast with wine and leeks

Courtesy of a greylag goose culler, we had goose in the freezer.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 goose breasts cut into 3cm chunks
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup of good red wine
  • 2 leeks
  • 1 pint of marigold stock
  • 1 small celeriac, diced
  • 1 bayleaf
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp flour

METHOD:

  • Set the oven to 150C
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet or frying pan, and fry off the onions, leeks and garlic until they are nearly browning, and soft. Transfer to a casserole dish.
  • Fry off the goose in the same oil and transfer to a casserole dish.
  • Stir the flour into the remaining oil, heat through, and then slowly add the wine and the stock to make a sauce, and then add to the casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add the celeriac and bayleaf, and mix together. Put the covered casserole dish in the oven and cook until tender. Goose is variable in toughness, so check at intervals to see how it is going – could be an hour or two.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable, such as kale tops.
You could add fried mushrooms to this. Or truffle oil. Very good.

Squat lobster risotto

We had the usual debate through the late afternoon about what we might do for a meal, when the spouse mentioned that we had some squats, and I said that I liked risotto. We used Valentina Harris’s book, Risotto Risotto to give us the technical details. This is what we did.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 an onion, finely chopped
  • A lovage leaf (or a little bit of celery)
  • 50g butter
  • 200g arborio rice
  • 1/4 bottle vinho verde (or any dry white wine)
  • 500ml boiling hot vegetable stock
  • 500g squats, cut in half (peeled weight)
  • 25g freshly grated parmesan
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped flatleaf parsley
  • Salt and pepper

My rule of thumb, for a good sized portion per person I allow 75g rice and 225ml liquid. For a starter, 50g. This recipe depended on how much weight of squats we had, and we got three servings.

METHOD:

  • Fry the onion in half the butter until soft, then stir in the risotto rice and lovage.
  • If you are using celery, chop it finely and fry it with the onion.
  • Stir the rice into the frying onion until it looks opaque and is hot. Then stir in the wine, then start adding the stock a little bit at a time, allowing each bit of stock to be absorbed before adding the next.
  • With the last little bit of stock, add the squats. When the stock is fully soaked in, remove the risotto from the heat, and add the parsley, the rest of the butter and the parmesan, add any salt and pepper that is needed, and then cover. Leave the risotto to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

Boned wild goose breast with limes and herbs

I think I may have cracked this wild goose recipe challenge again: A Persian herb stew with goose in it. I adapted the recipe from one in ‘A Taste of Persia’ , very tasty. I prepared it one evening, then finished off the cooking the next night.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 small onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 pair of goose breasts, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp saffron in 1 tbsp hot water
  • 1 whole dried persian lime, punctured with a sharp knife (lime was mail order)
  • 1 can red kidney beans, drained
  • 3 tbs sunflower oil
  • 2 cups of mixed chopped herbs including fresh coriander, parsley, dried fenugreek leaves OR
  • 1 cup Gormeh Sabzi (from seasoned pioneers)
  • 1 cup chopped spring onions or chives
  • juice of one fresh lime
  • 1 litre of water

METHOD:

  • In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, and add the onions. Cook on a medium heat until they are translucent, about five minutes.
  • Add the garlic and continue to fry for another 20 minutes on a low heat, stirring intermittently.
  • Add the salt, pepper, turmeric, saffron, the kidney beans and the whole dried lime, and fry together for another couple of minutes
  • Add one litre of water, and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
  • Meanwhile, mix the herbs and chopped chives/spring onions together, and fry in the sunflower oil for 20 minutes, stirring all the time. The smell from the fenugreek will be very strong.
  • Add the fried herbs to the pot along with the lime juice, and cover. At this point, I took the stew off the heat and stored it ready to finish cooking the next night. This is optional.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook for another 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, flash-fry the strips of goose meat for around five minutes, and add to the pot to heat through, around five minutes before serving.
  •  Serve with rice.