Category: Side-dishes

Celeriac and Potato Mash

This is good with sausage and game stew.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large celeriac, approx 1 lb
  • Equal weight of potatoes
  • 150ml milk
  • 50g butter
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Peel and chop the celeriac, and boil until tender
  • Meanwhile, peel and chop the potato, and boil in a separate pan until cooked
  • Warm the milk, butter, salt and pepper until the butter has melted
  • Purée the celeriac with the milk and butter
  • Add the purée to the cooked potato and mash with a potato masher (don’t try to purée the potato)

I’ve seen similar recipes elsewhere, using cream or créme fraiche, which I am sure would be delicious as well.

Mashed potatoes and pears with ginger

This is an astonishingly good combination to serve with pork.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Enough potatoes for the number of people being served
  • About half that quantity of hard pears
  • Salt, pepper, butter
  • A tiny amount of finely chopped crystalised ginger

METHOD:

  • Peel and boil the potatoes as you would normally for mashed potatoes. Drain them, saving the boiling water
  • Peel and core the pears, and poach them in the potato water until they are soft
  • Mash the pears and potatoes together with salt, pepper, butter and the chopped ginger

Broccoli with pine-nuts and cheese

I had a lot of broccoli. Children bought it, chopped it up, and then went to the mainland on the ferry. What else do I have to say. This is very easy.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Broccoli, cut into small florets
  • About 30g butter
  • A handful of pine-nuts
  • Salt and pepper
  • About 50g grated hard strong cheese

METHOD:

  • Steam the broccoli for about 5 minutes
  • Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan and fry the pine-nuts until slightly browned
  • Mix the butter, pine-nuts, salt, pepper and broccoli with the cheese

Green beans with onion, garlic and tomato

This is a recipe from the Philippines. It is great with rice.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 700g fresh green beans
  • 2 onions
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 can of organic chopped tomatoes
  • 4tbsp organic vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Black pepper to taste

METHOD:

  • Trim the beans and cut into 3cm lengths. Cut the onions in half and slice crosswise to fine slices, and chop the garlic very fine.
  • Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic for a few seconds, before adding the onion slices. Stir and fry for another 3 minutes or so, until the onions begin to turn translucent.
  • Add the tomatoes, beans, salt and pepper and 100ml water
  • Bring to the boil, cover, and then simmer for around 15 minutes until the beans are cooked.
  • Remove the lid, turn up the heat and reduce the sauce until it is quite thick. Stir while you are doing this to stop it from sticking.

Spinach with chickpeas

This recipe and the spices are from Seasoned Pioneers, who do a range of organic spices.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tsp Baharat spice mix
  • 1 can of organic chickpeas
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 can organic chopped tomatoes
  • Around 500g spinach
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint.

METHOD:

  • Rinse the chickpeas, and set aside.
  • Chop the garlic, and fry for 1 minute in the olive oil.
  • Add the onions and fry for a further 5 minutes.
  • Add the spices and fry for another 2 minutes.
  • Mix in the chopped tomatoes and chickpeas and bring to a simmer, cook for around 15 minutes, adding water or stock to keep the mixture moist. The chickpeas should be hot through, the tomatoes should have a good cooked flavour, and the sauce is reducing down a little.
  • Meanwhile, bring some water to the boil, and cook the spinach for 5 minutes until wilted.
  • Mix the spinach into the tomato mixture, and put into a serving dish
  • Combine the lemon juice, olive oil and mint, and dribble over the top just before serving.

This was very tasty indeed.

Kohlrabi with garlic & parmesan

I have successfully grown a lot of kohlrabi in my garden, and I have a number of recipes. I have usually sliced it thinly and braised it in butter and a little stock, but this is much more delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 apple-sized kohlrabi, peeled and sliced into batons
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 200ml stock
  • salt and pepper
  • parmesan cheese, grated

METHOD:

  • Heat the butter in a small pan, and add the kohlrabi and garlic, and cook for around 3 minutes
  • Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes
  • Season with salt and pepper, stir in parmesan cheese

Quick-braised celery

I got this recipe out of ‘how to cook’ book 2 by Delia Smith. Word of warning – takes a little longer than I anticipated.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 head of celery, trimmed and cut into 5cm batons
  • 25g butter
  • 75g carrots, cut to match the bits of celery
  • 1/2 large onion, finely sliced
  • 200ml marigold stock
  • Salt, pepper, chopped parsley

METHOD:

  • Melt the butter in a pan, and cook the onion over a medium to high heat, until golden
  • Add the carrots and celery, and cook for another 5 minutes, until beginning to brown
  • Season with salt and pepper, and add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for around 15 minutes
  • Take the lid off and boil the juices down to a reduced and thickish stock.
  • Serve with the juices poured over the celery and garnished with chopped parsley

I served this with Roman Beef Stew.

Mashed Cauliflower and Kohlrabi

Kohl rabi grow well here, in spite of the neglect I mete out to them.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cauliflower, chopped into florets
  • 1 kohlrabi, well peeled and diced
  • 60ml (4 tbsp) Plain greek-style yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp horseradish
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 tbsp chopped chives

METHOD:

  • Steam the vegetables, until the kohlrabi is tender
  • In a pan, mash the vegetables, and add the yoghurt, horseradish, salt, pepper and chives
  • If you want a smoother texture, use a soup wand, but we just went for the rougher texture, and it was lovely.

Roast Kohl Rabi

A revisit – just about to start going through the posts from the old site and adding them back in.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Kohl rabi, peeled and chopped to 2cm chunks
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Thyme leaves

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to high (gas 8, 230C)
  • Coat the kohl rabi chunks in the oil and season with salt, pepper and thyme. I do this by putting all the ingredients into a large plastic freezer box and giving this a shake
  • Roast for 45 minutes.