Beetroot and carrot salad

This year has been a good year for me growing beetroot and carrots, so I made this salad. I think you could also add other root vegetables, for example celeriac. I also thought about adding pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Around 600g of root vegetables, for example carrots and beetroot
  • 1 red onion or 2 shallots
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • mixture of chopped herbs – parsley, mint, coriander leaves
  • 1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:

  • Peel and grate the vegetables on a coarse setting, and mix in a bowl
  • Finely chop the onion, and mix them with the grated vegetables
  • Toast the cumin seeds for about a minute and add to the vegetables
  • Chop the herbs and add them to the vegetables
  • Mix the salt, olive oil, lemon juice and pour over the vegetables. Let the mixture sit for around half an hour before serving. 

This is good with a sharp cheese. 

Nettle soup with blue cheese

I finally found a nettle soup recipe that I really like. This needs to be made in early spring, when the nettles are small and soft. Pick the nettle tops wearing washing up gloves and push them into a measuring jug until you have around 400ml. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 400ml nettle tops
  • 40g plain flour
  • 80g blue cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp butter

METHOD:

  • Wash and chop the nettle tops finely
  • In a large pan, bring 1 litre of water to the boil, and add the nettle tops and flour. Cook and whisk together for around 10 minutes. I like to use my soup blender.
  • Add blue cheese and simmer until it has melted into the soup, and then season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat
  • In a small bowl, whisk the egg, add a couple of spoonfuls of the soup and mix together well. Pour the egg mixture back into the soup gradually, stirring as you go. 
  • In a small pan, melt the butter gently and cook until the milk solids in the butter start to turn brown. 
  • Serve the soup with the butter drizzled over the top. 

 

Raw courgette salad

Guess what – it is courgette season. This recipe is so easy. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • a handful of rocket leaves
  • 4 small courgettes, chilled, washed and sliced into small rounds 
  • salt and pepper
  • Dressing of lemon juice and olive oil
  • Shavings of parmesan

METHOD:

  • Wash the rocket and spin dry in a salad spinner
  • Put the rocket and courgette slices in a bowl, dress with salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and garnish with a good amount of parmesan shavings. 

Pasticcio – Greek baked macaroni with lamb mince

This feeds about eight people, or six very hungry teenagers. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 450g lamb mince
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 450g macaroni
  • 250g ricotta
  • 75g parmesan
  • 50ml cream
  • 2-3 eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • nutmeg

METHOD:

  • In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, and very gently fry the onion for around ten minutes. Towards the end of the cooking, add the chopped garlic. 
  • Add the lamb mince, and turn the heat up to medium. Stir it into the hot oil to brown it, around 5 minutes. Add the oregano and cinnamon as you cook the mince
  • Add the tinned tomatoes and the stock cube, stir and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes, then take the lid off and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper at the end of cooking. 
  • Next, cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the pack. 
  • In a bowl, combine the ricotta, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg and eggs. Stir in 50g of grated parmesan. Stir in the cooked macaroni
  • Pour the mince into a large lasagne dish, and then top this with the macaroni. Sprinkle the top with around 25g grated parmesan. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 

I served this with a green salad. It is good the next day served at room temperature. 

Duck eggs, toast and summer vegetables.

Hello all, and thank you to the person who gave us delicious fresh duck eggs. They are lovely fried in olive oil. I made this with courgettes from the Tagsa Horticulture Project. I made it without aubergines on this occasion, as there were none in the shops. It should serve around six people. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Olive oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 onions, chopped (mix of red/white is good)
  • 2 aubergines, diced (optional)
  • 4 sweet peppers, chopped (mix of green and red)
  • 2 large courgettes, chopped
  • 4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • duck eggs, one per serving

METHOD:

It is useful to remember that you are aiming to caramelise and brown the vegetables, so the cooking is done over a medium heat, and keep a close eye, stirring to prevent things from catching, and adding around 50ml olive oil from time to time to keep things cooking well. 

  • Heat around 100ml olive oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the chopped garlic, cook for around a minute and then add the onions, cooking and stirring for around ten minutes. The onions should be soft. 
  • Add the aubergines and peppers, cook for two minutes and then add the courgettes and keep cooking for another two to three minutes. Add a little more oil if necessary. 
  • Add the bay leaves, paprika and cook for another ten to fifteen minutes, stirring from time to time. Then add the tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook for another ten minutes, topping up the olive oil if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  • When the dish is cooked, turn the heat off. Fry the duck eggs in hot olive oil, one by one in a small frying pan. 

Serve the vegetables on a plate with a fried egg on each portion, and with crusty bread. We had some home-made white bread, toasted. 

French mushroom omelette

This is a recipe from Elizabeth David, making the perfect quick meal this evening. I had a lot of eggs to start with. I bought some from a neighbour, and then my daughter called in with more. Then there were the reduced mushrooms in the co-op. I have quite a few recipes for eggs and mushrooms, and normally I would go and cook an omelette without a recipe. Anyway, Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking was out on the table, and this is how I interpreted her instructions to make one omelette. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Approx 60g mushrooms finely sliced
  • approx 30g butter
  • A grate of salt, black pepper and nutmeg
  • half a teaspoon of flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbs cream

METHOD:

  • In a small pan, fry the mushrooms very gently in the butter and season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg. As the mushrooms cook down, add the flour and cream and stir together. 
  • In a small bowl, beat together the three eggs. You really just need to mix the eggs, the mixture doesn’t need to be too homogenous. 
  • In a small frying pan, melt around 10g of butter. Turn the heat up high and before the butter really begins to brown, pour in the eggs. 
  • Add the mushroom mixture dotted around in the cooking eggs. Tip the pan and lift the edge of the omelette, so raw egg reaches the underneath. Keep repeating this move until the top of the omelette is about to set. Fold it in three and serve on a warm plate. 

 

Courgette and Yoghurt salad

It’s courgette season. I love raw courgette, so crunchy. I love it sliced into long strips and grilled, with lemon dressing. I love this salad, from Madhur Jaffrey. It is really easy and quick. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 courgettes, around 350 to 400g
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 red onion
  • 350ml plain yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • black pepper to taste
  • Cayenne pepper to taste and garnish. 

METHOD:

  • Use a food processor to grate the courgette coarsely. Put the grated courgette onto a tea towel in a heap and sprinkle with half a teaspoon of salt. 
  • Peel the onion, halve it and then slice thinly across the way. 
  • Beat the yoghurt in a bowl and add 1/4 tsp salt, a pinch of cayenne and a grate of black pepper
  • Wrap the tea towel around the grated courgette and wring out any excess water. Use your fingers to separate any clumps. 
  • Heat the oil in a pan, and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as the seeds start to pop, add the onion, and fry for a couple of minutes. 
  • Add the dried courgette, and fry for another three minutes or so. When it is done, turn the heat off and let it cool a bit, before stirring it into the yoghurt. Decant to a serving bowl and sprinkle with cayenne pepper. 

This can be served as a side dish with just about anything. It is as good cold from the fridge as it is warm.

 

 

The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

I borrowed this recipe book from my neighbour Angela and ended up buying another copy. The book recounts how Nigel has cooked through the year, talking us through his menu choices, the celebration of seasonal foods, and the way he adjusts recipes and ideas to suit. It makes great cooking easy. He suggests taste combinations, and he brings to life the joy of eating. 

The Kitchen diaries. There are several, I only have the first. 

Broad beans with bacon

This is a good dish to serve at room temperature along with a selection of salads, and other delicious things from the fridge. Fresh home-made bread is a good accompaniment. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g podded broad beans – Neillie’s has frozen broad beans that work well for this recipe
  • 150g rindless, smoked, dry cured streaky bacon
  • 50g butter
  • 1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • a handful of chopped fresh herbs – try dill, mint, or parsley
  • Freshly grated black pepper and salt

METHOD:

  • Cut the bacon across the way into strips around 1cm wide. 
  • Heat the butter in a large frying pan and fry the onion over a low heat until softening, then add the finely chopped garlic
  • As the garlic begins to cook, add the bacon and turn up the heat a little, stirring until the bacon is cooked. 
  • Stir in the beans, heat and stir until warmed through. 
  • Cover the pan and simmer for around 7 minutes until the beans are cooked. 
  • Remove from the heat, stir in the salt, pepper and herbs, and cover again to allow the flavours to infuse as the dish cools down to room temperature 

Maccheroni alla carbonara

This is one of the classic Italian sauces. I like to add tarragon but it is not essential. Here is a recipe to serve two, based on ingredients available locally. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 egg
  • Approx. 60g streaky bacon, not smoked
  • Approx. 120g pasta (spaghetti, macaroni, rigatoni)
  • 30g butter
  • 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
  • salt and pepper
  • 30g grated parmesan or pecorino

METHOD:

  • Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. When it boils, add the pasta and set the timer for 8 minutes (or cooking time on the manufacturer’s packaging), and set the dishes to warm.
  • Melt the butter in a small pan. Cut the bacon into small match-stick strips and fry on a low heat in the butter. 
  • Beat the egg with the tarragon, pepper and salt. 
  • When the timer goes, drain the pasta and return to the pan. Add the egg to the bacon pan and stir until they begin to thicken. 
  • While the eggs and bacon are still semi-solid, add to the pasta and stir to mix, along with half the cheese
  • Serve in warmed dishes with the rest of the cheese.