is it worth waiting for?

red curry of duck and pineapple

2012-03-03T18:57:00.000Z

scattered sporadically amongst a field of seasonal crops and foraged fodder, we also intend to continue to explore food to its international maximum. we have recently treated ourselves to a new cookery book; a manifesto of asian cooking so exquisite and profound that we broke our cardinal rule and spent more than our £15 spending limit. we were incredibly excited to try this recipe for red curry of duck and pineapple which had our mouths watering from the start.

the recipe is designed to utilise a whole ready prepared chinese roast duck. however there was just two of us dining, so i took the two duck legs we had and artificially recreated the combination of ingredients evident in chinese roast duck with the elements we had to hand. firstly i rubbed a liberal quantity of sea salt combined with sichuan pepper deep into the skin of the duck legs. i then arranged some crushed star anise, broken cinnamon sticks, light soy sauce, palm sugar and finally some rice vinegar around the duck legs and put them into a pre-heated oven at 120°c.

at this very low temperature the fat inherent within duck slowly renders out into the pan and helps to preserve the bird in a technique called confit of duck. the duck mellowed away slowly for two and a half hours; at regular intervals i basted the skin with the duck fat to ensure the meat didn't dry out. the smells in the chicken were incredible, and i would have happily eaten the resulting duck portions without bothering with the thai red paste if i had been less determined to try out the recipe preselected.

the paste was very easy to create, and then required just heating it up to release the full depth of the spices within. as the duck was already cooked all the recipe required was for the shredded meat and the pineapple chunks to be added to spice paste to warmth it through. my mouth is watering as i write this, with the vivid memory of the smells still bright in my mind.

is it worth waiting for?

as our initial impression of the book thought, this was truly a special recipe. the shredded duck peeled from the outer element of the leg was crisp and crunchy, whilst the flesh closer to the core was moist and delicate. the depth of flavour from the two stages of cooking was evident in every single mouthful; the deep dulcet tones of the red thai paste were contrasted by the sweet high notes of the juicy pineapple chunks. magical.

regards, chris.

from start to plate : 3 hours 45 minutes

orange cake with an orange butter cream filling

2012-02-26T17:37:00.000Z

apologies if my prose is a little rusty, its been a while. like the seasons, our blog has lain dormant now for a while, but under the surface things are starting to stir. as we previously mentioned, the liberation from our previous labour of love has given us more time to explore new elements of cooking.... and that has included the dark art of baking.

i stand by my statement that baking cakes is a science, which requires absolute accuracy and timing, and is therefore not suited to all. however, in the last few weeks i have attempted three different sponge cake recipes, and i can confidently say that my reluctance to bake has been overcome in a big way. it all started with this recipe for an orange cake with an orange butter cream filling.

i specifically chose this recipe with our commitment to be more seasonally aware at the forefront of my mind. although not native to the uk, oranges are at their best during this time of year on the continent; spain, cyprus and turkey for example. although supermarkets enable us to eat oranges all year round, there is a significantly different flavour to those available from the above compared with those from further afield.

as well as being a virgin to baking, it was also the first time that i had used our kenwood chef with intent. under the watchful eye and tutelage of my fair lady, i was shown the basics of this wondrous machine. the only variation i made to the recipe was to follow a priceless tip from lou's friend who stats that;

instead of the basic formula of two eggs, and four ounces of butter, sugar and flour. this tip is to measure the two eggs, in their shells, and then equally match this weight with the remaining three ingredients. that tip was passed on by a professional baker, so its a top tip.

unfortunately my naivety of baking then manifested itself in a fundamental error; as i baked the resulting cake in an oven at 180° instead of 160° - the recipe of course was referring to a conventional oven, as opposed to our fan oven. the resulting sponge was slightly too firm, despite lou's diplomatic reassurance that it wasn't.

the orange butter cream however was a triumph. instead of a typical butter cream which has water added to bind the icing sugar, this recipe used freshly squeezed orange juice. the resulting cream was devilishly sweet and punchy.

is it worth waiting for?

the density of the sponge was deplorable, but the butter cream filling and the orange frosting dragged the resulting cake kicking and screaming into the realms of respectability. the inherent sweetness and tanginess of the oranges, found in all three elements of the cake, was at its best and lifted the cake above a plain sponge. i learnt a lot from this cake, and i won't make the same mistake twice.

best, chris.

from start to plate : one hour (with time to cool)

seasonal ingredient : seville oranges

when one door of happiness closes, another opens

2012-02-18T20:26:00.000Z

free from the shackles of our year long social experiment, we have been granted more autonomy and time to pursue other culinary avenues. during the last year we were constantly searching for unique flavour combinations and recipes which would stand out and attract interest from our readers. it was from this concentration of research that we became more and more interested in forgotten ingredients. influenced by fashion, socio-economic consciousness and profit margins, large supermarket chains are determining more and more what ingredients are available to us.

one significant event occurred towards the final quarter of our last experiment which sent us off in a different tangent we knew would make for an interesting new challenge. that event came in the form of lou's birthday; where i booked us in at sat bains and rooms to undertake a day in their professional kitchen as part of their kitchen workshop experience. amongst many hugely talented chefs, including the big man himself, we spent some time foraging with nanna vestergaard. originally from denmark, nanna arrived at her interview armed with a bounty of unusual ingredients gleaned from the surrounding locality.

in a tale of almost legendary proportions.... to the people of nottingham anyway.... nanna then preceded to seduce sat's culinary taste buds with a recipe which soon found its way onto the kitchens menu, titled simply ng7 2sa after the restaurants postcode. during our foraging expedition with nanna she introduced us to jack by the hedge, ground elder and dead nettles. each of these ingredients had once formed important roles in the post-war kitchen, but the uses of each of them has been forgotten and sometimes lost from the modern larder.

nanna also introduced us to her foraging bible, food for free by richard mabey, which is packed full of forgotten ingredients. the majority of these ingredients are supported by a few suggestions on how they can be used in cooking. as a consequence of that day foraging, and reading food for free, we realised how many ingredients we were surrounded by. nestling in the undergrowth, perched upon the canopy of local trees and inconspicuously hiding in plain sight for all to see.... and pick for free.

our intention for the coming seasons is to explore the forgotten ingredients around us and to source unusual recipes which utilise their potential. coupled with the concept of foraging for ingredients, is the importance of seasonality. as produce found and harvested from the wild can only be sourced when it is in season. therefore we intend to be more seasonally aware, and to try to choose ingredients when they are at their prime. preferably, but not exclusively, ingredients which have been grown and / or reared in the british isles.

we intend that the results of this year to be less intensive, and therefore the entries on this blog will be less frequent. however we hope you'll enjoy the experience, and continue to contribute to its success. our new challenge is born.
when one door of happiness closes, another opens.

the end of an era

2012-02-05T16:35:00.132Z

so that is that!...our 12 month social experiment to see whether we could manage not to cook and eat the same evening meal twice within a year has come to an end. to reflect on the last 365 days, and to gain some necessary closure, we have decided to write a little round up of the year....and also let you know what our future plans are!

ever since we started to get within touching distance of the years finishing line people have asked us, 'are you going to have all your favourites in the first few weeks?!'....well the answer is yes, and no. the selection of new recipes is now so second nature to us that it'd be impossible to stop doing it; instead we plan to have one or two of our classic, or new found, favourites each week but with new meals as the proportional majority.

by circumnavigating the globe with our cookbooks we have learnt a huge amount this year; we've discovered some new favourite food destinations, including vietnam and homemade chinese and japanese cooking. inspired by these, amongst others, we've been introduced to a plethora of new cooking methods. each with its own host of new exotic ingredients, once alien to our kitchen cupboards, but now considered staple 'must haves'; such as tamarind, chinese black vinegar, palm sugar and mirin to mention but a few.

medically we've also learnt a lot during the past 12 months! through a careful series of tests, i have found out i'm not intolerant to shellfish, such as prawns and scallops, as i once believed i was (although it is still an ongoing test!). chris on the other hand has discovered he's not 'allergic' to mushrooms or nuts, he just used to be a fusspot! in fact through this year of trials and tribulations we have each pushed our own personal boundaries of what we 'like' and 'don't like', with us both discovering that ingredients/dishes we historically have avoided, we in fact enjoy. i for example has unearthed a love of soup, whilst chris can't imagine life without mushrooms.

finally, thanks has to go out to everyone who has contributed this experiment, and those that have offered their comments/feedback and even their own recipes and recommendations. as much as we've enjoyed our own selfish journey of discovery, to receive your messages of support made every recipe and every word we wrote even more enjoyable.

every journey has to eventually reach its destiny, and despite numerous requests for us to continue, we've decided to draw a line under this experiment. fear not however, we're not going anywhere we've got another concept we're going to pursue for the foreseeable future. it won't involve a similar volume of blog entries, but we believe you'll enjoy it all the same....we'll explain more shortly.

sausages with apples in cider

2012-02-03T20:11:00.000Z

writing this post is emotional for two reasons. firstly, this recipe of sausages with apples in cider is an old taylor family recipe which chris has very fond childhood memories of eating, and so was nervous it wouldn't live up to the expectations. and secondly, as this is the last post we're going to cook as part of this year long experiment.

this recipe, which is actually called 'bangers braised in cider', comes from a very old delia cook book called frugal food (buy it....it's a penny on amazon!) and was a cooking bible in the thrifty taylor household of the 1980's. chris's mum actually found us a copy of the little paperback book in a charity shop recently, so we now have our very own copy; packed full of meals on a budget, and with a photograph of a very young delia on the cover!

it is one of those great winter one pot recipes that we all love; brown the sausages, fry the bacon and shallots and then whack everything in and let it simmer away for a while before popping it in the oven. the only slight change i made was to swap the button mushrooms for the more flavourful chestnut variety and to caramelise the sliced apples with a bit of brown sugar before adding them to the casserole dish 10 minutes from the end.

we served the sausages and apples with some creamy thyme mashed potato which we used to help soak up the juices, and also a large helping of nostalgia.

is it worth waiting for?

this was a great way to end the year, childhood favourite aside, it was blooming marvelous and just what this cold weather snap required! the herby lincolnshire sausages went perfectly with the thyme infused mashed potato. the large slices of bramley apple had an inherent, gorgeously sweet, crunch that was amplified by the brown sugar content and the sweet somerset cider.

from start to plate : 1 hour 20 minutes

good for : going out with a bang(er)!

gnocchi with bacon and shiitake mushrooms

2012-02-02T17:46:00.000Z

number 2 in the countdown to our last* post for this experiment came in the form of a naughty ready-made ingredient that is great to keep in the fridge for last minute emergencies....gnocchi. neither of us was feeling particularly sprightly, so we turned to this italian form of fastfood with a recipe for gnocchi with bacon and shiitake mushrooms.

whilst i made fresh gnocchi for the first time this year, and undoubtedly it is far superior than the ready-made variety you can buy in the shops. the pre-prepared little potato based nuggets are pretty damn good and are perfect for busy lives!

i started by frying off some yellow onions alongside some large pieces of smoked bacon. i then combined these with some slices of meaty shiitake mushrooms, and softened the ingredients before adding some single cream to form a sauce. the dish came quickly together; having introduced the gnocchi, cooked in advance, before briefly wilting the fresh rocket in the pan and then serving.

*just so we're clear, its not going to be our last post ever, but the last dedicated to this years experiment.

is it worth waiting for?
gnocchi is such a satisfyingly yummy creation! coupled with other moreish ingredients such as bacon and cream, this is a guaranteed to be a gorgeously memorable evenings meal. the rapid speed to cook gnocchi is another great reason why every household should have an emergency packet in the fridge!

from start to plate : 20 minutes

good for : emergencies

aloo muttar paneer

2012-02-01T19:54:00.003Z

so...three meals left before the 'end'! coming in at number three, with sunday curry in mind, we of course chose a recipe from the awesome rick stein, and his vegetarian aloo muttar paneer; translated....spicy fried-potato curry with paneer cheese and peas.

this is the second time we've cooked paneer as the focus of a curry; we previously tried a recipe by atul kochhar of saag paneer which wasn't wholly successful. i used the lessons learnt from that experience to ensure the sections of paneer were slimmer (approximately 1x1x2cm) in proportion, and then i lightly fried them all round to create a crispy outer coating to the cheese. coupled with the crispy potato, which was cut with a similar shape, this created a good foundation to the recipe.

the green vegetable introduced a fresh juiciness not present in the other ingredients. we actually didn't have the allotted amount of garden peas, so added some green beans that we had in the freezer to compensate. this happy accident worked out quite well, and visually the green beans looked great.

is it worth waiting for?

having learnt from the previous time we cooked paneer, this meal was streets ahead in flavour and texture. because of the crispy outer coating of the paneer, the texture of the cheese felt less artificial and alien. as with all rick stein curries, the spices were perfectly balanced and was gorgeously aromatic. finally the freshness and juiciness of the greens were crucial to provide a contrast to the soft potatoes and cheese.

from start to plate : 45 minutes

good for : lessons learnt

lychee and vanilla ice cream

2012-01-31T21:02:00.000Z

sweet and sour chicken skewers, spare ribs and spring rolls done, slow cooked sichuan chili beef with egg fried rice devoured, next came dessert. to finish off quite a filling meal, we decided a light dessert of lychee and vanilla ice cream would be a nice way to wrap things up.

although we've recently made sorbet, we have never made ice cream before, and do not have a mechanical ice cream maker to help us....but we ploughed on anyway! i cannot find the recipe online but it simply consisted of double cream, pureed lychees, vanilla extract, fresh vanilla seeds and sugar*. once mixed together we popped it into the freezer and then made sure to whisk after two hour intervals until frozen.

after two hours, the ice cream was still a liquid and fundamentally the fresh vanilla seeds had sunk to the bottom of the container. so we set the timer for another hour and then whisked again, we did this twice more and then went to bed, hoping for the best! by the morning it was set, and importantly the vanilla seeds were evenly suspended in the ice cream....who needs expensive machinery!

*for the exact recipe please email us at isitworthwaitingfor@hotmail.co.uk

is it worth waiting for?

this. was. divine! it was sweet and packed full of flavour equally from the lychees and vanilla. we dressed the ice cream with a single physalis, still in its papery casing, which added a sharp bitterness to contrast the sweetness of the ice-cream. the best part, was that there were leftovers!

from start to plate : between 3-8 hours

good for : homemade ice-cream diy

slow cooked sichuan chili beef with egg fried rice

2012-01-31T20:38:00.000Z

following the starter of sweet and sour chicken skewers, spare ribs and spring rolls, we progressed joyously onto the main course of slow cooked sichuan chili beef with egg fried rice*.

this stew like dish was another one of ching-he's recipes and she boldly claims that this is one of her personal favourites. due to the long cooking time required, and in order to ensure less stress during an evening of hosting, we cooked this the night before and then reheated it the next day.

whilst with most stews, you take time to brown the meat before frying other ingredients and collating everything together, this recipe involved putting everything in a single casserole dish and leaving it to cook! the perfect one pot dish.

the meat was served with egg fried rice; there are many recipes for this that can include prawns, peas etc., but i included just egg, rice, spring onions and light soy sauce. as well as the rice, we served the beef with some steamed chinese mantou buns from our local chinese supermarket. these had a similar consistency and flavour to the outer casing of the char-sui buns we've had in the past.

*unfortunately we haven't been able to source this recipe online. so you have two options available to you, if you want to try this at home, either drop us a line at isitworthwaitingfor@hotmail.co.uk or buy ching-he huangs cookery book chinese food in minutes; its an excellent introduction into chinese cooking and is packed full of excellent ideas.

is it worth waiting for?

unfortunately this didn't live up to the high expectations; it tasted ok, and the beef was very soft and tender, but it didn't blow us away at all. whilst it clearly included chinese elements, its dominant impression was too similar to a standard western stew....with added chilli! our guests were incredibly polite about the dish, but our disappointment could not be contained; you can do that when you've cooked it!!

from start to plate : 2 hours

good for : west meets east flavours

sweet and sour chicken skewers

2012-01-31T19:43:00.000Z

to help us mark the end of our experiment, we invited a few friends round to celebrate with us; andrew and rosie lent us their fondue set and also their wagamama cookbook, and james and his wife carole have supplied us with numerous home grown lovelies from their home garden. this meal was a nice way to thank them for their support during the past year. we decided upon a three course chinese inspired meal and went with recipes from one of our favourite cooks, ching-he huang.

in summary our evening consisted of sweet and sour chicken skewers, spring rolls and spare ribs to start, sichuan chilli beef stew for our main course and then finished off with a lychee and vanilla ice cream. so, first up was the starter of sweet and sour chicken skewers.

when we have people round for dinner, we love to serve food that can be eaten in a social manner; by that we mean 'put it all on a platter in the middle of the table and tuck in!'. serving three starters allowed us to do this, and helped everyone relax into the meal.

the skewers were really simple to make, and it started the night before when i marinated the meat in its ingredients. as you can see from the photo (taken before being cooked), 24 hours later the meat had completely soaked up the ingredients and its appearance had been transformed from light pink flesh to the dark brown meat that you see. i threaded the meat onto skewers with a mixture of pineapple, peppers and cherry tomatoes.

i chose to cook the skewers in the oven along with the spare ribs and spring roils*; this caused a slight problem as all three needed different cooking times! this resulted in the spring rolls not being as crispy as they should have been....damn our single oven!

*the spring rolls and spare ribs were a slightly different recipe to the ones we have cooked before....now whilst this may appear to be 'cheating', the recipes were adapted and we served them alongside a completely new dish....so there!

is it worth waiting for?

on the whole the starters went down very well with everyone, but i personally didn't like these skewers as much as the others. for me, the cinnamon was too overpowering and the salty flavour from the soy sauce felt slightly alien on the texture of the chicken. one of the highlights was the sweet and sour sauce which accompanied the skewers; it had a gorgeously aromatic depth which worked with all three components of the starter.

from start to plate : 45 minutes (plus at least 1 hour for marinating)

good for : dinner with friends

baked cauliflower and broccoli cannelloni

2012-01-29T17:25:00.032Z

wanting to use some of our favourite cook books/chefs in the last week, we went for a dish from the jamie oliver book, jamie at home. we have made some rather yummy dinners from this book and so with a craving for both cheese and vegetables, we chose baked cauliflower and broccoli cannelloni.

i have put the label 'veggie' and 'pork', whilst this is technically a vegetarian meal, i did add some cheeky smoked bacon to the passata base! i made a few other changes to the recipe....

passata base; i started with frying some bacon, onions, garlic and thyme before adding the passata and cooking for a little while, adding a teaspoon of sugar to counteract the acidity. i then poured this is in the bottom of the baking dish.

cannelloni; as i had added the onions and garlic to the passata for texture, i omitted them from the cannelloni and just boiled the broccoli and cauliflower before mashing and stuffing into the pasta tubes.

cheese sauce; instead of the advised crème fraîche, i made a cheese sauce (roux, milk and cheddar) that i poured on top of the other ingredients and finished off with basil leaves and mozzarella.

is it worth waiting for?
whilst my method took slightly longer to do, i believe that it had a far superior taste. the passata base had not only additional flavouring but also added texture. the cannelloni filling still had enough flavour to break through, and the homemade cheese sauce was delightfully creamy and packed full of strong cheddar.

from start to plate : 1 hour 15 minutes
good for : vegetarians (and cheeky meat eaters!)

italian chicken and polenta

2012-01-29T15:31:00.000Z

as the 'experiment' is drawing to a close, we thought we would share with you one of our favourite recipes, that we have had....a lot; italian chicken and polenta.

we were first introduced to this dish at our friends rachel's house. she is wheat intolerant and so the polenta gives her an alternative to the pasta etc. the recipe immediately captivated us, and we know instantly it was going to become a firm classic in our household too. for those unfamiliar with polenta, as we were when rachel first served us, it is made from ground corn/maize and can either be bought in grain form or ready made which comes in solid form.

for those of you who are aware of polenta, you will know that without careful preparation and selection of accompanying flavours polenta can be insanely bland! in this recipe for example it is crucial to add a generous amount of parmesan cheese (i add a little bit more than the suggested amount) and of garlic (i also add a tad more of this too!). the only real alternative that i make to this recipe is basil instead of rosemary; it is not that the rosemary does not taste good, it is just that i like to place a basil leaf under each cherry tomato to allow the flavours to infuse together.

is it worth waiting for?

in both summer and winter, this a great one pot dish for a hungry mid-week pair! all the ingredients are thrown into a single dish, and left to their own devices whilst the flavours combine. although on its own polenta is rather non-descript, it has that quality of ingredient which absorbs the best of the flavours around it. a thoroughly satisfying dish.

from start to plate : 30 minutes

good for : one pot dish

the 365 club

2012-01-26T20:40:00.000Z

we are about to join a fairly exclusive club; the 365 club. regular visitors to our little electronic world will know that for almost a year now we have not eaten the same meal twice.

before we started on this path of discovery we found ourselves stuck in a culinary rut, repetively relying on a limited stock of favourite recipes. this social experiment has pushed us out of our comfort zone, pushed us beyond the limits of our cooking knowledge, but ultimately as pushed us to become better and more confident cooks.

when people first find our what we're attempting they often respond in distress.... "aren't you missing your favourite meals? " we calmly respond that of course there are recipes we miss, but instead of lacking our old favourites, by cooking so many new dishes, we've simply gained a whole plethora of new favourites.

i digress, the reason for this post is that we've recently been added to an exclusive club of members who have all undertaken a daily challenge for a complete year. these have been painstakingly assembled and collated by noah scalin, an artist and designer, based in richmond, virginia. the result of this anthology make something 365 and get unstuck is a fascinating insight into the human psyche; and the dedication that somethings borders obsession.

we would like to take this opportunity to thank noah for including us within his fascinating collection, and deeming our efforts worthy of inclusion has been a humbly experience.

goats cheese baked potatoes with beetroot salsa

2012-01-25T19:13:00.000Z

i leave for work in the dark, and i arrive home in the dark. if it wasn't for the weekends i think i'd forget what the outside of our house looks like! on a busy, and cold, mid-week evening after work you really need comfort food, and complex carbs are usually the best way to go! with some goats cheese and fresh beetroot lurking in the fridge i decided to make goats cheese baked potatoes with beetroot salsa.

my initial thought was just to simply top the baked potato with the goats cheese and beetroot, but we decided that may be a tad too simple for our last week! so instead i split the two main ingredients up in an attempt to make a more elaborate and elegant looking dish; to be honest having consulted the photos of the finished dish i'm not sure how successful i was! we just enjoy tasty food, there's nothing pretentious about what we eat.

the potato....i baked two large jacket potatoes in the oven at 200°c for one and a half hours and then scooped the flesh out into a bowl with the crumbled goats cheese, egg yolk and seasoning. i put this mixture back into the skins and popped them under the grill until golden brown.

the salsa....cook your beetroot (or buy it ready done like i did!) and simply dice along with red onion. i mixed the two together with some seasoning, olive oil and a splash of lemon juice.

is it worth waiting for?
this recipe is only a small step up from simple, but what the addition of the egg does do, is give the potato a light and fluffy texture. the creamy goats cheese and the accompanying slightly tangy salsa worked in perfect harmony with the creamy potato mixture.

from start to plate : 1 hour 45 minutes
good for : cold wintry mid-week evenings

babi guling (balinese slow-roast pork)

2012-01-24T19:39:00.000Z

we are now within the last 10 days of the blog* and so we wanted to cook a few recipes from the chefs/cooks/websites that we have enjoyed the most. for our last sunday curry we turn to no other than rick stein and his bloody brilliant far-eastern odyssey cook book (if you do not own it....buy it!) and his dish of babi guling (balinese slow-roast pork)**.

chris, of course cooked this one, so take it away....

i've never been to bali, nor could i afford to visit it at the moment. but i would willingly swim to bali in search of this stupendous dish. here's where the joy began;

the recipe is actually for a huge hulk of pork shoulder, which would probably have fed about 8 people. however we just had a measly small amount of leftover pork shoulder in the freezer that we wanted to use up. first things first....i made the spice paste, which consisted principally of shallots, ginger, lemon grass and palm sugar. the recipe calls for this to be added to the pork, and then rolled with the skin on the outside. however we didn't have enough for these purposes, so i simply coated the meat and left it to marinate for a few hours.

i then roasted the pork as dictated, and let the magic happen. we served it with some plain steamed rice and a sweet naan bread.

*although fear not, we've got an idea for the next 12 months, it just won't involve uploading every night! watch this space. all will be revealed in february.

**email us for the recipe if you would like it....isitworthwaitingfor@hotmail.co.uk

is it worth waiting for?

nottingham to bali is approximately 7500 miles, and as i said previously, i'd be willing to swim that in search of this goodness; i'm not even a particularly good swimmer! even the poor adaptation of the recipe we concocted was gorgeous, and the results of the actual recipe would be simply heavenly. the pork was aromatic and sweet with spices, and kept you going back for more time and time again.

from start to plate : 1 hour 15 minutes plus 5 hours to marinate

good for : professional swimmers

mushroom carbonara

2012-01-23T19:44:00.000Z

carbonara is one of our favourite italian dishes, and although we can soon have it again whenever we wish, we fancied trying this vegetarian alternative of mushroom carbonara to get our fix.

now traditionally i follow my own recipe for the carbonara sauce, with impeccable results ever time. for this dish however i decided to make the bold decision of following the delicious magazine recipe. this unfortunately was a mistake, and we both paid a heavy price.

this recipe for carbonara sauce contained less eggs, single cream instead of double cream, and was also distinctly lacking the abundance of flavour offered up from the juices of the bacon used in a traditional carbonara.

is it worth waiting for?

the resulting sauce was thin, watery and bland. the mushrooms tried in earnest to raise the collective voice of the dish, but their operatic tones were little more than a muffled plea for help. instantly forgettable.

from start to plate : 15 minutes

good for : lessons learnt

breaded fish on ciabatta wih sweet potato chips

2012-01-22T19:09:00.000Z

we all secretly love those little frozen orange sticks that you hunt down in the freezer when the cupboards are desolate. that's right, that naughty little secret otherwise known as fish fingers. well in our house we love to make our own breaded fish on ciabatta roll, a.k.a 'posh' fish finger sarnie!

we simply cut potions of white fish (we used pollock this time) into pieces, big enough to give them a chunky appearance, but not too big that they fall out of the cob (in nottingham we call a bread roll/bap a cob!). you can also use fish goujons if you so wish. the fish is then dipped into a mixture of beaten egg, dijon mustard and seasoning, before being coated in breadcrumbs. the fish 'fingers' are then cooked in the oven at 180c (fan) for 20 minutes, making sure to turn them halfway through so they're crispy on both sides.

these are then served in the cob of your choice, we went for a warm ciabatta, and we made some sweet potato chips to serve on the side, along with a healthy rocket salad.

is it worth waiting for?

this was one of those dishes that we used to cook all the time; and having not had it for over a year, the memories came flooding back! the fish is lovely and juicy, the coating of mustard/egg mixture gives it a slightly spicy edge and.....the only thing i would suggest is toasting the bread slightly before making the breadcrumbs to ensure it's extra crispy. i usually do, but was planning on grilling the fish and this usually ends up burning the outer casing. in the oven, the heat is more gentle and so, whilst they were a light brown colour, they defiantly looked a little bit more anaemic than they should!

from start to plate : 40 minutes

good for : healthy, cheap eats

goan fish curry

2012-01-18T20:53:00.000Z

having been away at the weekend we missed our obligatory sunday curry, but we just had to have one! we don't usually deviate from rick or atul, in search of an excellent indian recipe, but this time we gave a bbc good food recipe for goan fish curry a try.

as we've found in the past fish curries have some great qualities. they're quick, light and packed full of the same great flavours as more common lamb or chicken based curries. like most bbc good food recipes this was a very quick and easy list of instructions to follow.

you basically create the curry sauce first, and then you quickly cook the white fish in the simmering liquid. we served it alongside some steamed basmati rice, and some garlic and coriander naan breads. little did we know that the naan bread was going to be the most flavoursome part of the meal!

is it worth waiting for?

when it comes to a good curry, we like bold explosions to erupt on your taste buds. preferably with some underlying sweetness, and some wild aromatic flavours. this recipe however was incredibly light, and subtle, but not in an elegant way. it was like the recipe couldn't make up its own mind; it needed to be more purposeful, and commit to the moment.

from start to plate : 25 minutes

good for : subtle flavours

risotto with porcini mushrooms, leeks and gruyère

2012-01-17T20:43:00.000Z

we have been away for the weekend and on the night before we departed for the wondrous capital city, we had light dish of risotto with porcini mushrooms, leeks and gruyère. in fact lou's dinner was incredibly light; she wasn't feeling well, so couldn't stomach any food.

several times in the past, the smells radiating from the kitchen whilst i sculpt my culinary magic has seduced lou into eating; despite her queasiness! however this time, my charm was less effective and i was left to chow down alone.

in my opinion there is only one thing worse than eating alone, and that's eating uninspired, bland food alone! unfortunately this fell solidily within the second of these two brackets. the recipe consistutes a basic risotto formula, with the addition of punchy porcini mushrooms, soft melted leeks and gruyère cheese turned through at the eleventh hour before eating.

is it worth waiting for?

the earthiness of the powerful porcini mushrooms mimicked the dulcet tones of the deep flavouring gruyère cheese; neither of these complicated under tones was punctuated by the humble sweated leeks, which meant the whole bowl was completely unassuming and instantly forgettable. i can barely remember eating it, but i can just distinctly remember the sensation of disappointment!

from start to plate : 25 minutes

good for : short term memories

slow cooked mexican chilli beef

2012-01-12T20:04:00.000Z

so far this winter hasn't been too cold....either that or our new house is far more more insulated than the last place! either way, as soon as we felt a slight chill in the air, we were straight in there with a great winter warmer of slow cooked mexican chilli beef.

this is quite similar to a standard chilli con carne made with mince beef, but with the addition (to my usual recipe) of ginger, cinnamon, oregano, chipotle paste and of course the braising steak. this was more like a stew and so the beef was cooking for over two hours before it was ready to be served. it is really crucial that you try the beef before serving; you need the meat to be falling apart and tender, so if you feel it needs a little bit longer, give it time. this type of cut needs slow cooking and it can take its time!

this stew can be made a day ahead and then reheated or, like i did, made earlier in the day, left for a while and then reheated at tea time whilst the rice was cooking. as well as the rice, i made a tomato salsa (deseeded tomatoes and red onions chopped alongside some seasoning, a splash of white wine vinegar and a glug of extra virgin olive oil) and no chilli is complete without soured cream!

is it worth waiting for?

as soon as this touched our lips we knew we would devour the lot! it had a sweet aroma from the cinnamon content (i added a tad extra) and was so deep and rich. the beef was wonderfully tender and melt-in-the-mouth. and finally the cooling salsa and soured cream perfectly balanced out the spicy heat from the sauce.

from start to plate : 3 hours

good for : one pot winter warmer

french onion soup with gruyère topped garlic croutons

2012-01-11T20:24:00.002Z

since we are on a roll with my new found love for soup, we wanted to try and re-create a fantastic french classic dish that we had last time we were in paris, good old french onion soup. the last time we were in paris chris proposed to me, so i have very fond memories of our time in this romantic city.

not long after coming back we tried to make the soup, but for some reason, that i cannot recollect, it didn't work out, and i remember it tasting pretty rubbish! this time we looked to queen delia for guidance, and her winter collection recipe book that we acquired from our wonderful local library.

the only alteration to delia's recipe i dared was to add a tad more sugar to the soup and omitted the cognac (purely because we didn't have any). with regards to the croutons, i topped them with gruyère and toasted them under the grill and then added to the soup being serving, rather then adding them as bread and then toasting; we only made enough for two people and so the liquid was rather low in the deep pan and the cheese wouldn't have melted.

is it worth waiting for?

this soup was far better than the first time we cooked it! the liquid was a gorgeous deep brown and the flavour was just as intense; the mellow juices had the sweetness of the caramelised onions and richness of the beef stock. being garlic fiends as we are, i added a little extra to the croutons which gave a smack of flavour as well as their crisp top and soggy underbelly. the whole thing took us straight back to paris! we will be glad to be able to have this again soon!

from start to plate : 2 hours

good for : time travel!

green peppercorn steak with parsnip dauphinoise and green beans

2012-01-10T19:52:00.000Z

there are a few things that make us choose the food we eat; what we have a craving for, what looks appealing and what we order two of by mistake in the food shop! it was the latter that was a driving force for this dinner choice but whilst this is classed in the 'beef' category, the main reason for choosing this dish was the inclusion of the parsnip dauphinoise....and that chris has been craving parsnip again!

we both really love parsnips and they are a great alternative to potatoes as we have previously found out. we came across a type of parsnip bake in a mark hix cookbook, we thought that the root vegetable would lend itself well to a dauphinoise....let's see! i made the dauphinoise in the same way that i make the potato variety, apart from i made sure that the parsnips were cut slightly thicker, as they cook a tad quicker then potatoes. i then topped each layer with a generous proportion of lancashire cheese (as the mark hix recipe suggests) and it was only in the oven for one hour, as opposed the the extra 30 minutes needed for potatoes.

the thick slab of fillet steak was marinated in a freshly made crushed green peppercorn and olive oil coating for an hour. and then it was cooked for one and half minutes on each side to make sure that it was nice a rare (don't forget to let it rest). i served some green beans alongside the steak and parsnip dauphinoise; i steamed them before sauteing them quickly in butter, garlic and seasoning.

is it worth waiting for?

the steak was juicy and rare, the beans which still had a slight bite to them were wonderfully garlicky....but as hoped, it was the parsnip dauphinoise that was the star of the show; it was rich and sweet and flavourful and and.....you have to make this!

from start to plate : 1 hour 45 minutes (plus 1 hour for marinading)

good for : a break from the norm

vegetable tempura

2012-01-08T19:11:00.000Z

yesterday was national tempura day in america, so we thought we'd join in and recreate this famous japanese dish. as lou is still scared of the deep fat frying, i was in control of this one.... and lou in charge of the timer!

we followed this superb recipe for the tempura batter. unlike the beer batter we created recently, or a breadcrumb based batter, tempura is incredibly thin and light. traditionally vegetables and prawns are the most commonly used ingredients for frying in tempura batter. we used broccoli, cauliflower, onion rings, mushrooms and carrots. an authentic tempura batter should lightly coat its subject with the majority sliding off back into the mixing bowl.

as important as the batter is the choice of dipping sauce. we made this gorgeously sweet and tart dipping sauce of soy and sherry (although we replaced the sherry with chinese black vinegar). we also had some pre-prepared wasabi and ginger sauce, that was given to us as a present, and some sweet chilli sauce.

is it worth waiting for?
the success of this recipe can be summarised in one simple fact; this was the first time during this experiment that we've ever finished our meal, and then cooked up some more! the batter was so delicate, with a light crispy crumble. each of the dipping sauces caused an explosion of sensations in the mouth, and we just couldn't stop. literally!! this may have been national tempura day, but believe us, don't wait until next year before you try tempura!

from start to plate: 15 minutes
good for : national tempura day

honey and mustard glazed gammon

2012-01-07T18:27:00.000Z

for some reason it took us a while to get into the christmas spirit this year. by boxing day however it was really starting to kick in, and with the tree coming down this week, we thought it would be a good idea to have one last festive inspired meal! in the uk christmas food traditionally involves turkey on christmas day and ham on boxing day; we opted for the latter as our farewell to the christmas season and went for a honey and mustard glazed gammon.

there are many recipes for sweet glazed hams, but i found it hard to find one for the specific small gammon joint that i was using. many of the recipes involved boiling it first and then roasting it in the oven. this is mainly because they are referring to larger ham joints that have lots of fat and a layer of skin; this small (750g) joint didn't have either.

not wanting the gammon to dry out (as the methods i found would have surely overcooked it) i firstly made sure to soak the unsmoked gammon over night in cold water to remove the excess salt, i then simply laid it on top of a trivet of sliced onions and basted with a half of the glaze. i believe that it is very important to place it on a bed of onions, as the extra moisture stops the gammon from drying out. i then covered in foil and cooked for an hour, basting once or twice. after the hour, i removed the foil, coated with the remaining glaze and then continued to cook it for 30 minutes before removing it and letting it rest for 10 minutes.

alongside the gammon i made garlic and rosemary roast potatoes and creamed carrots and savoy cabbage; i boiled the sliced carrots and shredded cabbage for 5 minutes before draining, returning to the pan with a little butter, seasoning, nutmeg and double cream and then heated through. seeing as gammon and pineapple are true partners in crime, we also served it with some homemade pineapple chutney (we made these as gifts for christmas presents and they went down well!).

is it worth waiting for?
the sweet tender pork had a slight saltiness that went perfectly with the creamy cabbage and garlic potatoes. the glaze wasn't as thick and crisp as it would have been on a bigger ham joint but it was still incredibly tasty. whilst the interior of the gammon had a subtle flavour, the outside was sticky and beautifully sweet. the added bonus being there was plenty of leftovers for sarnies the next day!

from start to plate : 1 hour 40 minutes (plus soaking overnight)
good for : christmas farewells!

portobello mushrooms stuffed with coffee infused rice and oregano

2012-01-06T20:26:00.000Z

we have used one of our cook books, flavour, a few times but have had mixed reviews so far....well, i haven't enjoyed the recipes as much as chris has. it was he who was perusing the book and rested his peepers on this recipe for portobello mushrooms stuffed with coffee infused rice and oregano.

if you have clicked on the link already you'll know that the actual recipe called for courgettes to be stuffed, but decided to embrace chris' new found love of fungi and use portobello mushrooms instead. this combination seemed even more natural together, with the earthiness of the mushrooms complementing the dark aroma of the coffee.

i simply grilled the mushrooms for a few minutes until they started to soften and then made the coffee infused rice mixture; which involved adding coffee granules to the stock before steaming the basmati rice. i decided to add roasted red peppers, but of course omitted the courgette flesh, and piled it onto the upturned mushrooms. finally i topped with crumbled goat's cheese and put them back under the grill until brown.

we actually made extra rice, as we only had a few mushrooms, so i served them with rice on the side, tomatoes and lettuce; although the lettuce was quite unnecessary.

is it worth waiting for ?

the coffee infused rice had a warmth and depth that did really go well with the large portebello mushrooms. the added roasted red peppers, as well as introducing some much needed colour, also added some sweeter tones to the more earthy flavours. the suggested side salad however just didn't feel comfortable, instead some sour cream or some creme fraiche would have been more well received. ultimately, not a superb dish, but still rather interesting.

from start to plate : 30 minutes

good for : earthy tones