Kale with mint, garlic, cumin and lime

I’m just getting to the end of the curly kale from last year. What a great vegetable to grow, it survives cabbage root fly, is edible through the winter and early spring, and Alex’s chickens will get a good feed off the old plants when I root them up. 

We’ve had a lot of stir-fried kale this winter, often with garlic and chilli flakes. If you haven’t enough kale, you can bulk it out with broccoli. This recipe comes from SIMPLE by Ottolenghi. He also sells a range of the ingredients from the book – cunning marketing. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g – 600g prepared kale tops or a mix of kale and broccoli
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 to 2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 10g mint leaves
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • salt

METHOD:

  • Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. When it boils, add the kale and cook for 90 seconds before draining and rinsing in cold water. You may need to do this in batches. Do the same for any broccoli
  • In a large wok or sauté pan, heat the oil and fry the garlic and cumin for a minute or two, until the garlic is browning. Fish the garlic out and set it aside. 
  • Add the kale and fry for around 3 minutes. Add half the chilli flakes, and a good pinch of salt, broccoli and keep cooking for another minute. 
  • Mix through the remaining chilli flakes, lime juice and mint, and garnish with the fried garlic slices. 

Tofu and broccoli

Another outstanding and adaptable recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s book, Eastern Vegetarian Cooking.  Tofu and any of the cabbage family is very good. A top tip from the recipe book, after chopping the broccoli, freshen it in cold water until you need it. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 tsp cornflour
  • 175ml stock
  • 1 tbs shaohsing wine or dry sherry
  • 2 tps soy sauce 
  • 1 tbs sesame oil
  • 1 spring onion
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 slices of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into strips
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced into strips
  • 225g broccoli florets and stems, all about 4cm long
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • roughly 225g medium tofu, cut into 2cm cubes or thereabouts

METHOD: 

  • Put the cornflour in a cup or small jug, and add 50ml of the stock, and mix before adding the sherry, soy sauce, and sesame oil. 
  • Cut the spring onion into 4cm lengths and then shred lengthways into strips. 
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat, and when it is hot, add the ginger and garlic. Stir and fry for 10 seconds, then add the broccoli and spring onion. Continue to fry for around a minute. 
  • Add the rest of the stock, cover and simmer on medium/low for a minute until the broccoli is hot but still crisp. Lift the broccoli out with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. 
  • Turn the heat to low, and add the tofu, heating it through. Once it is hot, stir the cornflour mixture in the jug, to ensure it is well mixed, and then pour over the tofu. Mix very gently, and then return the broccoli to the pan. Continue to cook on low, stirring very gently, until the sauce is thick and everything is hot. 

Broccoli and mushroom stir-fry with black bean sauce

This is a good basic stir-fry recipe, and you can use just about any vegetables. Finely sliced courgette, mange-tout peas, slivers of red and green pepper, all work well. At the moment the co-op in Creagorry seems to have lots of fresh egg noodles in the reduced section for vegetables, so we used those. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g egg noodles
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 250g broccoli
  • 250g mushrooms
  • 1-2 carrots
  • 2 tsp cornflour
  • 200ml vegetable stock (I used marigold stock)
  • 2 tbsp black bean sauce 
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2cm cube of fresh ginger (approx)
  • 1 tbsp dry sherry such as Tio pepe, or Shaohsing wine. 

METHOD:

Prepare the ingredients:

  • Cook the noodles in boiling water according to the instructions (some noodles are sold ready-cooked) – rinse in cold water.
  • Chop the carrots into thin slices, cut on a slant. Cut the broccoli into small florets, and the stems into strips 5cm long. Wipe the mushrooms clean, and slice with the stems still on. 
  • Finely chop the ginger and garlic
  • In a small bowl, put in the cornflour, then slowly add the stock, and mix to a paste. Add the black bean sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. If it has gone lumpy, you can remedy this with a soup blender. 

Start the cooking

  • Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok over a medium flame. When it is hot add the garlic and ginger, and stir a couple of times. 
  • Add the mushrooms, broccoli and carrots, and 3/4 tsp salt, and stir and fry until the vegetables are all hot, it doesn’t take long. 
  • Pour in the sherry, cover and turn the heat to low. Cook for a minute, so the vegetables are very lightly steamed in hot sherry. 
  • Uncover, and add the cornflour/black bean mixture. Turn the heat up a little and add the noodles. Keep stirring and mixing so that the noodles are hot and the sauce is thickened. 

An alternative is to fry the noodles separately, treating them like a large pancake in the bottom of a frying pan. Fry without stirring for 3-4 minutes, and then when the noodles are crispy on the bottom, flip over and fry the other side. When serving, put the noodle pancake on a plate and pour the vegetables and sauce over the top. 

 

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

Broccoli and cheese soup

Still in catch-up mode – 10 years of recipes to put back onto the site. This is an oldie and a goodie. It can be made using cooked brussel sprouts as well. The cheese thickens the soup and makes it so smooth.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 25g butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • Sprig of tarragon, chopped
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and grated
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1.75 litres of stock
  • 700g broccoli, cooked
  • 175g grated cheese, cheddar or similar
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley (could substitute chive flowers, or other herb garnish)

METHOD:

  • Melt the butter and fry the onion until soft, 5 minutes at least
  • Add the tarragon, potatoes, salt and pepper, mix and add enough stock to cover the ingredients.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Add the cooked broccoli and the rest of the stock. Bring the soup back to the boil, and then use a soup blender to liquidise, until it is completely smooth.
  • Stir in the grated cheese and herbs, and heat through without boiling, before serving.