Cauliflower, coconut and lentil curry

One thing that you could be almost guaranteed of never getting in Scotland was consistent, warm weather. Moving to Europe, specifically a part lower in latitude than Scotland, means that I should see a summer at long last. Today the temperature crept to over 20 degrees and the sun beating down was very welcome. It introduces a time when I can make a variety of salads utilising all the very best, fresh vegetables form this area. Tonight though, I looked into the fridge and saw a cauliflower looking lonely so I decided that as it was Friday, and as it really wasn't too hot just yet, a Friday night curry was in order.

This recipe comes from an old edition of the UK Delicious. magazine and is still available on their website. I began by frying cumin seeds in oil and then adding small florets of a medium sized cauliflower until they were golden brown. These were removed from the pan, more oil and cumin seeds added and also, after a minute, chopped onions. These were cooked for around ten minutes until softened and then chopped garlic, ginger and chillies were added. After two minutes there were the spices - cumin, turmeric, curry powder and coriander seeds - which were cooked off for another two minutes. The cauliflower was then returned to the pan along with a tin of coconut milk and two large skinned, chopped tomatoes. This mixture was cooked until the cauliflower was softened, about ten minutes. Meanwhile 150g of lentils were cooked until thick and pureed for around twenty minutes. When the cauliflower was softened, I added the lentils to the pan and stirred them through. A bunch of chopped coriander with salt to taste was the finishing touch.

Unfortunately in my haste to eat this delicious concoction I neglected to take a photo to show you. Maybe next time.

Enjoy.

Tomato, Spinach and Mascarpone Gnocchi

This recipe is an old favourite of mine, first published in Olive Magazine in August 2007. It is warming, satisfying and utilising a good quantity of spinach and tomatoes while limiting the mascarpone is quite healthy.

Click on here to see the recipe on BBCGoodFood.com

Even though I have made this recipe several times over the years, I have only made one change and that is I make my own tomato sauce by frying 2-3 crushed cloves of garlic in some olive oil, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, salt and sugar and cooking for 20 minutes.After 20 minutes or so, fill the pan with spinach and wilt down completely. Add cooked gnocchi and mix well. Turn into an ovenproof dish and dot with Mascarpone and scatter finely grated Parmesan. Grill until the cheese is melted.




Enjoy.

May day.....and a hangover

I forgot what hangovers felt like....arrgghhh.

I woke up today with a sore head and feeling so sluggish that I did not want to move. However, I had a lunch date so I had to drag myself out of bed, shower and drive over the border to Germany for 12pm. Unfortunately, what neither of us planned was that May day is a holiday in Germany and therefore everything was shut. We had planned a light lunch at a German bakery - Landbakerei Stinges. You can choose your type of bread roll, and then cheese, ham, salad, remoulade etc. however you want it. The bread rolls they have really are superior to what you get in a standard, national bakery in the UK. And the best part is the price. All for around 2 euros 50. But, today was not the day for a sandwich.

As luck would have it, we quickly found a small Turkish restaurant which was open. I had aubergines and cheese for starters and a lamb kebab for a main course. It really was too much food, especially as I was feeling a bit delicate, but it was very tasty. The starter was a definite yes, but the lamb/doner meat was fatty and had been fried or cooked rather too well. I would try the place again but go for real lamb or beef next time.

Feeling replenished, I went stopped at one of the many farms in this region to buy spargles - white asparagus. I also replenished the fridge with lots of vegetables and fruit, bearing in mind my so far unsuccessful promise to myself earlier in the week to eat more vegetables.

Spargles

By the evening though, I felt completely drained and nearly contemplated a frozen pizza for dinner. This is what excessive alcohol does to my system. I spent 3 weeks without any alcohol in April and I had energy spilling out of me. Now, I couldn't even contemplate getting up off the settee. The thought of that afternoon's shopping spurred me on though and instead of waiting 20-30 minutes to heat up the oven and cook pizza, I devised a Mediterranean flavours asparagus recipe.

Mediterranean Tomatoes and Asparagus

Slice three or four tomatoes and place in a roasting tin which has been sprayed with oil. Thinly slice one or two garlic gloves and press these slices into the sliced tomatoes. Drizzle over olive oil and seat salt and roast for 30-40 minutes at 200 degrees C.
20 minutes before the tomatoes are ready, peel the white asparagus and cut off 1-2 inches. If using green asparagus, snap the woody end off. There is no need to peel green asparagus.
Rub the spears in olive oil and place on a heated grill pan or frying pan and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft.
To serve, place the tomatoes on a plate, top with the asparagus spears and then sprinkle with chopped olives and capers. Drizzle over the juice from the roasting pan and a good balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy.

Queens day.....Kings day

Queen's Day in Holland was extra special this year due to the abdication of Queen Beatrix and crowining of her son Willem-Alexander. Out and about, flags were waving, people were wearing a substantial amount of orange clothing and generally celebrating with large amounts of alcohol.

However, while I participated in the celebrations (it was hard not to) I don't feel I fully embraced the day from a food point of view as for lunch, I resorted to making a simple dish from Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. I felt that I should have tried a Dutch classic but in my ignorance of the whole Queen's day/King's day celebration I forgot that shops would be closed and therefore with no fresh food, I resorted to raiding store cupboards.

The dish I chose to make was Couscous with Tomato and Onion. It has 5 main ingredients - onion, tomato puree, tomatoes, couscous and stock - which I had readily to hand. After gently sauteing the onions in oil, you add the tomato paste and then two chopped tomatoes, cooking for a total of 15-20 minutes. In the meantime I soaked the couscous in Magi chicken Stock for 10 minutes. I know using a stock cube is a short-cut but I really think that the Magi cubes are superior to what I used before in the UK and add that bit of extra taste. Also, I remember that I am a cook, not a chef, and I am certainly not conceited enough to believe that conveniences such as stock cubes are inadequate. After everything is ready, the tomato sauce and couscous is combined and then butter is melted in a frying pan. The couscous mixture is added and pressed down to resemble a thick pancake. This is cooked until the base and sides are crispy. These parts were definitely the most tasty.

The book describes this simple recipe as comfort food and it really is. I would definitely make it again either as a light lunch on its own or as an accompaniment to grilled meats or fish and a middle eastern salad.

Enjoy.

Beef Rendang the Hairy Bikers' way

I have made Beef Rendang only three times, once from Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey recipe and twice from The Hairy Bikers' Great Curries. While both were excellent, the Hairy Bikers' recipe, pictured above, was my favourite.
It was extremely easy to prepare, with first using a mini-blender to create a paste from red onions, garlic, chillies, lemongrass, ginger and galangal. Then frying the paste off and adding ground cumin, coriander and turmeric. Follow this with chopped beef, seared with all the spices and then add coconut milk, water, kaffir lime leaves, cinnamon stick, tamarind paste, palm sugar, soy sauce and salt. Simmer for 2.5 hours.
I took their advice and made this the day before I was due to eat it and it was a wonderful, warming dish.

I have cooked with both books several times and all the curries I made were fantastic. I hear that Rick Stein is publishing a new Indian cookbook in July to tie in with his new series exploring Indian curries on the BBC. I will be pre-ordering mine and will bring you more of his recipes in due course.

Rick Stein Far Eastern Odyssey - Amazon
Hairy Bikers' Great Curries - Amazon

A tiny update on a classic BLT

I wanted to add more vegetables to my diet as when I looked back over the past week, I'm barely getting 2 portions a day. It is not for lack of trying, I've just made recipes that have been heavy on meat and carbs such as rice. Last night was a chicken tikka with sauce and rice. Other than onions in the sauce the only concession to something green was coriander.
So, with this in mind I chose to add a little something colourful to my post workout gym session this morning. Therefore the classic bacon "butty" turned into a BLT or to be more accurate a BST as I substituted spinach for lettuce. I was quite happy with the result and even though I love the ultimate bacon butty this still did the trick.
Ok, ok it wasn't a huge amount of vegetables but better than nothing.