Month: January 2024

Cauliflower, almonds, broad beans stir fry

This is a very easy stir fry recipe, with a lovely crunch from the almonds and cauliflower, and the gentle taste of sesame oil and ginger. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 small cauliflower
  • 200g broad beans
  • 1 1/2 tsp cornflour
  • 1 tbs dry sherry
  • 1 tbs sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 60g flaked almonds or blanched almonds
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 slices of fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp salt

METHOD:

  • Prepare the cauliflower; chop the florets so they are around 5cm long and 2cm wide. Put the florets in a bowl of very cold water to freshen up. 
  • Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and boil the broad beans for around 5 minutes. Drain when cooked. 
  • In a small bowl, combine the cornflour, sherry, sesame oil, and 2 tbs water to make a smooth paste. 
  • Heat the oil in a wok. When it is hot, fry the almonds. Keep a close eye on them, and as soon as they look as if they are about to turn golden brown, fish them out and set aside. 
  • Next, lightly bash up the garlic and ginger, and add to the hot oil for 10 seconds. 
  • Add the drained cauliflower, broad beans, and salt. Fry for 2 minutes
  • Add 2 tbsp water, cover, and cook for another two minutes
  • Remove the cover, lower the heat, and add the cornflour mixture from the cup. Stir in for 30 seconds. Add the almonds and stir once. 
  • You’ll need to fish out the ginger and garlic before serving. 

This works as a delicious dish along with a range of other dishes, to share. It makes around 4 small portions. 

Kale, coconut, chard, haddock palusami

I was watching Mary Berry’s Christmas programming, and saw this recipe, which I thought was do-able. I think I have managed to recreate the dish; quantities weren’t given on the program. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 tsp madras curry powder
  • 300g mixed kale and chard, washed and with the tough kale stems removed
  • 2 cans full-fat coconut milk, around 800ml
  • 150g smoked haddock, chopped into bite-size chunks
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Put the oil in a deep skillet or shallow casserole dish, medium heat, and then fry the onion. When it is almost cooked, add the garlic and cook for a minute more
  • Add the curry powder, stir this in and then add the kale and chard
  • Pour over the coconut milk and season to taste. Add the chunks of smoked haddock.
  • Bake at 180C for 30 minutes

Serve with warm bread. 

Rabbit with saffron, almonds and pine nuts

We used some wild rabbit to make this, which takes quite a bit of cooking until it is tender.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 large rabbit, jointed into five or six pieces
  • 600ml stock (vegetable or chicken stock)
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 6 cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground mace or a blade of mace
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 50g pine nuts
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • a pinch of saffron
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

METHOD:

  • Rinse the rabbit pieces, and drop them into boiling water. Bring the water to the boil, then drain and rinse the rabbit in cold water.
  • Put the blanched rabbit into a saucepan with half of the stock, and simmer over a low heat. Check from time to time, and top up with a little water if there is a risk of the dish boiling dry. I simmered our rabbit for an hour. 
  • Mix the rest of the stock with the ground almonds and bring to a simmer. I used a stick blender to ensure that the almonds and the stock were well blended and finely mixed. 
  • Mix the rabbit and the almond mixture, and add the mace, cloves and cinnamon, as well as the pine nuts and sugar. Bring back to a simmer, and cook until the rabbit is tender. 
  • Meanwhile, put the saffron in a small glass or jug and add a couple of tablespoons of boiling water, and let this stand for twenty minutes. 
  • When the rabbit is cooked, add the saffron water and the red wine vinegar, bring back to the boil briefly, before serving. 

We had this with celeriac and potato mash, and some root vegetables. 

Red lentil and coconut curry

 
INGREDIENTS
 
    • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil or sunflower oil
    • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
    • 1 tsp ground turmeric
    • 1-2 fresh green chili peppers (you can omit these, depending on how hot you like your food)
    • 1 tsp ground cumin
    • 1 tsp ground coriander
    • 1 tsp chili powder, according to taste. We had kashmir chili powder
    • 2 tsp Madras curry powder
    • 1 tsp garam masala
    • 1 tsp salt
    • Black pepper, to taste
    • 200g red lentils
    • 500ml vegetable stock
    • 1 tin of chopped tomatos
    • 1 tin of coconut milk
    • juice of half a lemon
    • chopped leaf coriander

METHOD:

  • Rinse the lentils in cold water
  • Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once it is hot, add the garlic, ginger, and chili pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir to prevent the garlic from sticking and burning.
  • Add the other spices and stir for a minute, then pour in the stock, tomatoes and lentils, and stir to mix well. Make sure you mix in any spices that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. 
  • Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cook for around 20 minutes, checking from time to time to ensure that the mixture is not sticking. You might need to add a little more water and cook for longer, to ensure that the lentils are nice and soft. 
  • Add the coconut milk, salt and pepper, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the curry is thickened. 
  • Stir in the lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves, beat a little to break up the lentils slighty. 

Serve with rice, or a flatbread. You could serve this with a number of other Indian dishes with rice as part of a feast. 

Raf’s apple butter and caramel rolls

My lovely daughter had a party, and someone bought these delicious apple butter and caramel rolls. They are very sticky, and the cider vinegar elevates the apple butter to complement the caramel stickiness. The technique is a bit like making a tarte tatin, in that it is cooked upside-down and turned over to reveal the sugary fruity nutty topping. 

INGREDIENTS:

For the apple butter:

  • 4 tart eating apples, or cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
  • 115ml apple cider
  • 75g light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • a generous grating of nutmeg, around 1/4 tsp
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • a pinch of salt
  • 55g butter (use vegan ‘butter’ as a substitute)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

For the caramel

  • 175g dark brown sugar
  • 85g butter
  • 100g walnuts or pecans. If you are using walnuts and they are a bit bitter, soak them in water first.

For the yeasted dough

  • 480ml milk
  • 120g butter
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 8g dried yeast
  • 700g strong plain white flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 100g dark brown sugar

METHOD:

  • Mix the chopped apples with the spices, salt and cider and simmer slowly over a low heat, for about an hour. Check and stir regularly to make sure they are not burning. Add a little water if the mixture is beginning to stick. 
  • When the apples are very very soft, use a blender, and return the puree back to the pan and simmer it until it is a thick creamy consistency. 
  • Beat in the butter and lemon juice, to taste. Put it in a wee jar and chill in the fridge. This can be used as a spread in its own right. 
  • Make the pecan caramel sauce. Mix the butter and sugar in a saucepan and warm until everything is dissolved and smooth. Add the nuts and pour into a greased baking tray and leave to cool. The baking tray should be quite deep, and measure around 33cm by 23cm.
  • Make the dough. Melt the butter into the milk and sugar, and leave until it is just warm. 
  • Sprinkle in the yeast and stir it in. Leave in a warm place until the yeast is beginning to bubble.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the milk mixture and mix well to make a sticky messy dough. Don’t bother trying to kneed it at this stage.
  • Cover the dough bowl with a damp teatowel, and leave in a warm room for up to an hour, until it has puffed up. This is a good time to set the oven to preheat to 180C.
  • Knock back the dough, and kneed it until it is stretchy and elastic. Stretch and roll it into an oblong, about 30cm by 60cm, and about 1cm thick. If it is not behaving, leave it to relax for a few minutes and have another go. You might need a dusting of flour on your surfaces to stop the dough from sticking. 
  • Spread half the apple butter onto the dough and sprinkle on the dark brown sugar. Roll the dough up lengthways, swiss roll style, to make a long snake. Don’t squeeze at all, because the apple butter needs to stay in the roll. 
  • Slice the snaky roll up into 15 slices
  • Arrange the dough slices like rosettes on top of the nutty caramel, 3 rows of 5, and leave to rest for around 20 to 30 minutes
  • Bake at 180C for around 30 minutes. 
  • Turn out onto a larger tray, while hot, and before the caramel sets, and leave to cool. 
  • Serve with extra apple butter.