Wednesday 20th of March 2013

Tonight was, most definitely, a risotto night. Comfort food at its finest.

Risotto alla Carbonara

That is all....

Cath xx

Monday 18th of March 2013

Another slow-cooker meal tonight and, feeling a little stuck in a recipe rut, I've decided to try out a couple of new ideas this week.  Tonight's meal, luckily, turned out well; a layered concoction of chicken, ham and cheese topped with a crust made using shop-bought stuffing.  I used one with lemon and garlic, but choose whichever you fancy, natch...

295g can condensed cream of chicken soup
125ml milk
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped
5 thickish slices of ham, cut up roughly
200g Gruyère,thinly sliced
130g pack stuffing mix (and see above)
30g butter, melted

Mix together the condensed soup and the milk.  I think I might try using white wine instead of milk the next time I cook this.  Smooth a thin layer of this mixture into the bottom of your slow-cooker pot, then add the chicken, in as much of a single layer as you can manage.  Next, a similar layer of ham, and finally a layer of cheese.  Pour over the remaining 'sauce' and smooth the top.  Scatter the dry stuffing mix over the surface, then drizzle with the melted butter to help it crisp up a little (as always, you can 'fridge it all night at this point).  Cook on LOW all day.

I served this with (yet) another batch of the herb butter-tossed potatoes that I mentioned last Wednesday and a bowl of peas.  Delicious...

Cath xx

Sunday 17th of March 2013

I find it hard to believe that I've never posted a recipe for good old macaroni cheese but, probably assuming that it isn't beyond the reach of anyone over the age of about 10, I just appear not to have bothered.  In any case, that is what we had for lunch today, accompanied by a very simple tomato salad.  I cannot urge you enough to consider mint as well as basil, in your tomato salad, these two herbs in combination, along with a smattering of flaky sea salt, make for a truly superlative salad (even if the tomatoes you have are slightly less than desirable perfection...)

Macaroni Cheese (just in case...)

250g macaroni
40g butter
30g flour
2 tsp mustard powder
500ml milk
100g grated strong cheddar
50g grated parmesan

Cook the macaroni in plenty of salted, boiling water.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large-ish saucepan and stir in the flour and mustard powder to make a roux.  Pour in the milk, still stirring, and bring the sauce to the boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer the sauce until it thickens.  Remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheddar.  Drain the pasta and tip it into an ovenproof dish.  Pour over the cheese sauce and mix thoroughly to coat the pasta completely.  Top with the grated parmesan and bake at 190ºc for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is crisp and golden.  I like it to be slightly scorched in places, too... Leave the dish, out of the oven, to rest for five minutes.  This will improve the flavour, as it won't be napalm-hot when served.

Cath xx

Friday 8th of March 2013

Hooray, it's Friday!  Our supper tonight was one of those dishes that I first started cooking to use up leftover meat from a roast chicken, but, in common with quite a few of our favourite 'leftovers' meals, has become so popular in its own right that I now have to contrive the necessary leftovers (i.e. cook them specially the night before).  Having said that, I did take the 'Distracted' option this week and buy a ready-roasted chicken from a local shop.  The other advantage of this being that the carcass of a 'rotisserie' chicken does make really wonderful stock, so that'll help with another supper later this week.  Sometimes, there seem to be so many different containers of homemade stock in our 'fridge that there's hardly enough room for any other food!  I can always find space for some cheese, though, funnily enough. 

You need ready made tortillas, or 'wraps' for this recipe.  These are easy enough to find; even our village shop carries them now.  I prefer to get mini-sized ones if I can (and the Co-op stocks good ones), just for ease of serving, but the more usual, larger ones can easily be used.  It's a long list of ingredients for me, but as it's only a stir-together job, I don't mind.  Anyway...

200g cream cheese

150g bought 'salsa' dip 

squeeze of lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

3 spring onions, shredded

60g parmesan,grated

200-300g cold cooked chicken, shredded

chopped parsley

Combine all these ingredients in a large bowl.

!6 'mini', or 10 'standard' tortilla 'wraps'

Dollop filling onto the bottom edge of each tortilla (warm them briefly in the microwave, a few at a time, to make rolling them up easier).  I reckon on about 2 tbsp for a 'mini' tortilla and about 4 tbsp for a standard one.  Roll up as tightly as you can, then place on a lined baking sheet.  When all the tortillas are filled and rolled, brush with oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake the filled tortilla rolls at 180°c for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are crisp and tinged with brown at the edges.   Incidentally, if you like, you can make up a batch of these and freeze them, unbaked (but still brushed with oil and sprinkled with salt).  Cook from frozen, at the same temperature, for 25-30 minutes. We like to eat these with a green salad and bowls of soured cream and guacamole.  They go down very well, so don't be shy! Happy Friday, everyone!

Cath xx

Thursday 7th of March 2013

The weather dropped much colder again today, so we were all in need of something warm and soothing for supper tonight.  This lamb and barley soup is one of those nourishing bowlfuls that are not-quite-a-broth, but not-quite-a-stew either.  The soup is straightforward,  but it does take a little while to make.  Nothing taxing, though...

1 onion,  chopped
4 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced
2 sticks of celery,  sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1.5 litres lamb stock
350g diced stewing lamb
75g pearl barley, rinsed and drained

Put the chunks of lamb in a small roasting tin and pour over about 100ml of the lamb stock.  Place in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fry the onion in a little fat until soft,  then add the carrots and celery to the pan. Sprinkle over the dried thyme,  then add the remaining lamb stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer, then tip in the lamb from the roasting tin, along with the stock.  Add the pearl barley and cook for at least half an hour or until the barley and lamb are tender and cooked through.

This herby cheese that I like to serve with this soup, among others, can be scattered over the top or stirred through as those at the table see fit, is one of those last-preparations that takes hardly any effort yet lifts the meal to a different level, somehow. I like a  big handful of herbs, and a really good mixture; tonight I used lots of mint and parsley and just a few leaves of basil and thyme

200g block feta cheese
chopped fresh herbs (and see above)

Crumble the feta into a nice bowl and stir in the herbs.   Set aside until you're ready to serve it. Yes, that's it; the trick is finding the best combination of herbs for you and your family.  Try it, too, with lamb steaks still sizzling from the grill, or my Lamb Stew with Summer Flavours.

Cath xx

Luscious Leeks

I really, and I mean REALLY, love leeks.  I adore them and would happily eat them, cooked in all sorts of ways, several times a week.  I rather rate them, too, chopped raw into salads in place of spring (or aren't we now supposed to say 'salad') onions.  Leek soup is fab and there is no easier, nor lovelier, side dish to a roast chicken than a tin of chunked up leeks, roasted with a little oil and some chestnut mushrooms chucked in halfway through cooking.  Anyway, I digress...

I remember eating something rather similar to this as a child, though only vaguely.  'Baby' (i.e. early) leeks wrapped in prosciutto, with hollandaise sauce was also quite a regular first course for entertaining in my newlywed girl-about-the-kitchen days.  Leeks and ham, or bacon, are a marvellous double act in whatever guise you choose.  See also:

• Chicken, Leeks & Bacon with a Crumble Topping (June 2007)
• Leek, Bacon & Caerphilly Tart (March 2007)
• Bean & Bacon Soup with Small Pasta (January 2011)

Leeks with Ham & Cheese

I like to use 'Black Forest Ham' in cooking more and more these day; I love the smoky flavour and find it drier and less greasy than a lot of cured hams.  It tends to be cheaper than prosciutto too, which is always nice these days!

6 slim leeks, washed, ends trimmed and cut into thirds (and see picture)
50ml dry vermouth
9 slices of ham, halved (and see above)
75g butter, plus some for greasing the dish
50g plain flour
1 tsp mustard powder
400ml milk
125ml double cream
50g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
100g fresh (i.e. stale) breadcrumbs
100g Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 180°c.  Put the chunked up leeks in a big pan, slosh in the vermouth and top up with water.  Bring to the boil and cook until just tender.  Drain and set aside.  Melt the butter in the same saucepan, then stir in the flour and mustard powder.  Cook briefly, then pour in the milk and cream, stirring continuously.  Simmer until thickened, then add the cheese, remove from the heat and whisk like b**gery, until the cheese has completely melted into the sauce.

Wrap each chunk of leek in a piece of ham and arrange these little parcels in a reasonably shallow ovenproof dish which you have greased with a little lump of butter.  Pour the cheese sauce over the top and smooth it out as best you can.  Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan together, add a few grindings of black pepper, then scatter these over the dish.  Bake for 25 minutes.

I rather like a bit of salad with this but, apparently, I'm weird.... (how rude!)

Cath xx

Friday Night Fakeaway: Meatball Pizza

My eldest son came home from school a week ago, having been on a field trip to taste the food at a local Italian restaurant (I know! How good is that? We never had cool trips like that in my day! *feels old*).  One of the dishes the children had tried, which had made a very serious impression on my lad, was "a really nice pizza with meatballs and lots of stringy cheese, Mummy".  It soon became clear that the mere notion of this full-on 'man' pizza was enough that the males of the household; from the tallest to the shortest, would pester me mercilessly until I caved in  ask me very, very nicely if I would please make a similar pizza for the Friday Night Fakeaway this week.

Pizza is, it has to be said, a favoured option for Friday nights; I have used my bread machine pizza dough recipe for almost as long as I have had the machine itself, and this simple no-cook pizza sauce is easily thrown together and left to do its thing morning, noon or night.

Love-It-and-Leave-It Pizza Sauce

1 tube tomato purée
250ml water
4 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
fresh black pepper

Stir everything together in a bowl.  Cover it with clingfilm (which I hope, by now, you have learned to keep in the freezer) and then pop the dish in the 'fridge for a few hours; overnight or all day is fine too, just leave it for a bit for the flavour to really develop.  Spread liberally onto your prepared pizza base and cook as normal.

Meatball Pizza

For tonight's meatball pizza, I defrosted some meatballs that I already had, as is my habit, in the freezer, but you can use whatever you have, buy some or make some specially.  Use as many or as few as you like, naturally.

Cook the raw meatballs in the oven at 180°c for 15 minutes until cooked through, then remove from the oven and set aside.   Turn the oven up to 220°c.  Dust your baking trays with cornmeal (polenta) or regular flour, then place the rolled-out pizza bases on to the trays.  Prick all over with a fork, then spread evenly with the tomato sauce.  Dot  the sauce-smothered pizza bases with the meatballs.  Cover the pizzas with grated mozzarella (for the 'stringy cheese' of my son's description), sprinkle with a few mixed dried herbs and finish with some grated parmesan for an extra 'cheesy' flavour.

Transfer the trays to the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked; crisp around the edges with the golden, sizzling cheese settled around the nubbly forms of the meatballs.  Throw a salad of some kind together (I'm still very keen on my Black Bean & Sweetcorn Salad).  Remove the pizzas from the trays to a board,  and slice them into wedges.  Pour a glass of something lovely and enjoy the start of the weekend.

Happy Friday, everyone!  Cath xx

Friday Night Fakeaway: Homemade Cheeseburgers

I've written before that I can't go very long without getting major cheeseburger cravings.   Having instituted the concept of the 'Friday Night Fakeaway' at home recently; feeding our cravings for curries, burgers, pizza, fried chicken and the like, without flaking out too much on our 'homemade is best' principles or busting out on our food budget.  It's proved so popular that, quite often, the menu for the following week's 'Fakeaway' is discussed and decided while, or occasionally even before, we eat this week's! I used to make beef burgers exactly as below, but using salt and pepper for seasoning, until I read Nigella Lawson's Feast and was wholly won over to the Zuni Café method she writes about in that book.

Beef Burgers

700g lean 'steak' mince
3/4 tsp caster sugar
3/4 tsp salt



Split rolls, sliced cheese and Special Burger Sauce (and see below), to serve



Put the meat in a large bowl, sprinkle it with the salt and sugar, squidging it all together with your hands. Form the meat into six burger patties.  Place them on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cover with clingfilm and chill them in the 'fridge until just before you need them, but do give them a chance to return to room temperature before cooking them. Brush them lightly with oil (I, almost exclusively, use British rapeseed oil in cooking now, but I just use the ordinary stuff here and save the cold-pressed for 'best') before cooking them under a medium-hot grill.  You could also fry them in a dry non-stick pan, barbecue them (though maybe not in this dismal weather) or even bake them in the oven. Keep an eye on them, though - you want them only just cooked through, still juicy and possibly, even, still slightly pink in the middles.


We like to eat our burgers in split rolls (cut-sides lightly toasted, please) with slices of Monterey Jack cheese and dollops of Special Burger Sauce, the recipe for which is taken from The Takeaway Secret by Kenny McGovern; a lovely book and an absolute must for any 'Fakeaway' aficionado.  The brand recommendations given in this recipe are Mr McGovern's; I have to say, I agree with him.


Special Burger Sauce
(American Fast-Food Style)


4 tbsp mayonnaise (recommended brand: Hellman's)
2 tsp yellow mustard (recommended brand: French's)
2 tsp tomato ketchup (recommended brand: Heinz)
1 tbsp finely chopped gherkin


In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yellow mustard and ketchup.  Add the chopped gherkin and mix well.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before use.


I also cook some Real Oven Chips to go with burgers; while I have never been especially enamoured of chips, the same cannot be said of the rest of the household who LOVE them.  I would possibly be ousted from the pedestal I happily occupy if I ceased my provision of bowls of chips!

Happy Friday, everyone! Cath xx

Feeling Greeky

I have been remiss with trying out recipe ideas recently, so I've taken advantage of the latter, less busy, part of the half-term holidays to try out some new things.  Now, I know that this kind of pie is nothing new (sorry spanokopita), but I like to think that there is a place for my distracted version; mainly just stirring stuff together, but with a nice bit of pastry layering to feel like I've done some 'real' cooking (what a ludicrous phrase that is - all cooking is real cooking, unless it's merely re-heating, I suppose... but what else am I supposed to do with leftovers?)

'Greek-Style' Cheese & Spinach Pie

For the 'hard cheese' specified, I use a roughly half-and-half mixture of parmesan and cheddar, but either would be fine on its own, or use a different, well-flavoured hard cheese.  I do wonder about blue cheese as an idea, too, maybe with walnuts replacing the almonds?  Perhaps another day...

600g spinach, (2 big bags from the supermarket)
handful flaked almonds
good pinch dried oregano
3 eggs
200g feta cheese (or similar Greek-style' or 'salad' cheese)
150g hard cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
good grating of fresh nutmeg
50g or so butter, melted
1 (supermarket) packet of filo pastry - 12 sheets

Wilt the spinach in a couple of batches by plonking it in a colander and pouring a kettle-full of boiling water over it.  Remove it to a big bowl and leave to cool.  Repeat with the second batch.  When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as you can, being careful in case there are any 'hidden' pockets of hot water.  Set aside.  Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until just golden, remove to a dish and add the dried oregano immediately.  Stir, and the delicious aroma of the herb will be released. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the cheeses, the garlic, a little black pepper and plenty of nutmeg (lush with spinach).  You don't need to add salt, the cheese is plenty salty enough.  Finally, add the nuts/herb mixture and the roughly chopped spinach.  Mix well.

Brush the inside of a pie dish with melted butter and lay a few sheets of filo over to cover the base and overhang at the sides.  Brush with butter again, then top with some of the spinach mixture.  Repeat with another layer of buttered filo; another layer of spinach filling . Finish with a nice thick layer of buttered filo sheets.  Sprinkle with another pinch of dried oregano, for pretty, if you like.  Bake at 180°c for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.  Serve with a cucumber or tomato salad (or both, or something else entirely, if you like, hehehe).  We nibbled on some black olives and feta that I'd marinaded in garlic oil beforehand.

Cath xx

Fakin' Bacon

OK, so it's only just barely a recipe, but it is very useful especially if, like me you do your supermarket shopping after school and then get home needing to prepare supper.  These mushrooms are super quick to prepare; if you use the soya bacon chips I specify, it takes less than five minutes to get it all ready and then you can just bung the dish in the oven.

The other rather amusing(well, to me anyway!) thing is that this dish can be serve to vegetarians as the 'bacon-flavour' soya chips are 'suitable for vegetarians'. If you know a veggie who (rather oddly, in my opinion) wants to eat something bacon-flavour, then this could be just the ticket. Obviously you could replace the soya chips with real bacon if you're somehow 'spooked' by them, just grill until very crisp and crumble or chop when cool.  I rather love them and have mentioned this before, plus anything that saves a bit of time is always welcome in my kitchen...

Cheesy Baked Mushrooms

500g white mushrooms
about 10 tbsp BAC~Os
fresh parsley, finely chopped
150g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
black pepper

Grease an ovenproof dish, which will just take the mushrooms in one layer, with a very little oil.  Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and - don't waste them - set them aside to use in another recipe (I'm planning to add them to a veggie lasagne I'll make later this week).  Lay the mushrooms, hollow-side up in the dish and add a good pinch of BAC~Os to each mushroom 'cup'.  Scatter chopped parsley over all the mushrooms and cover with the grated cheese.  Season with pepper.  Bake at 180°cfor 20 minutes.  All you need to go with are some nice bread rolls and a green salad.

Cath xx

Colourful Cookery

Sometimes, changing just one thing can make something rather dull into something really rather fabulous.  On a shopping trip last week, the children and I popped into the local heath food store to buy some spices.  While we were there, we spotted this gorgeous-looking lumaconi (meaning: snail's shells) pasta.  Unable to resist any sort of novelty, we just had to bring some home...

This red-and-white pasta bake is something I have made for the children before,  but trust me, it has finally achieved greatness and become all that it can be with the introduction of the new pasta; the sauces pool inside them, still remaining pleasantly separate and allow the surface to crisp beautifully.

 Red-and-White Pasta Bake

I usually have keep tomato sauce in the freezer in 500g portions, but you could just as easily use 400-500g's worth of some ready-made stuff.

300g lumaconi
500g tomato sauce
25g butter
25g plain flour
1 tsp mustard powder
3/4 pint milk
40g Red Leicester Cheese, grated
80g Cheddar cheese, grated

Boil the pasta in lots of salted water until just al dente.  Meanwhile, put the flour, mustard powder and butter into a saucepan with the milk and bring to the boil, whisking continuously.  When the sauce has thickened, stir in half the Cheddar cheese and set the pan aside.  Mix the rest of the Cheddar and the Red Leicester together.  Drain the pasta into a colander and transfer it to an ovenproof dish (the pasta should, ideally, sit in one layer).  Pour the tomato sauce unevenly over the pasta, leaving some areas bare, filling some of the hollows and not others, etc.  Repeat with the cheese sauce; you should have a pleasant 'patchwork pasta' effect (or something like that, anyway!).  Scatter the mixed cheeses over and bake in a 180°c oven for 20-30 minutes, until the surface is crisp and browned.

The great thing about a pasta bake like this is that you can assemble it, up until the point of baking and then either pop it in the fridge for the next day, or even freeze it.  In that case, I suggest lining the ovenproof dish with a large piece of heavy-duty kitchen foil.  Once, cool, overwrap the food and pop it all in the freezer (only if your dish is freezer-safe; most are, but do check!).  Then, once the food is frozen solid, you can slip the food out of the dish with no difficulty and transfer the foil-wrapped parcel to a big ol' freezer bag.

Cath xx

Comforting Food. Again.

OK, Back to it.  This is what I cooked tonight, making use of the contents of the 'fridge... After using it as an accompaniment for my Fruity Spiced Chicken last night, I had loads of leftover brown rice sitting in a box, waiting to be used, so that had to go somewhere.  Rootling around in the depths of my brain, I decided that it would be just the ticket for a vegetarian 'baked rice' recipe.  So I dug some garlic butter out of the freezer (I always make masses at a time and freeze it in portions to use, not only for more garlic bread, but also in more general cooking),  and got to thinking about mushrooms and what sort of binding sauce would be good.  Obviously, you can just use regular butter and add in a few cloves of minced garlic when you fry the 'shrooms, then add some chopped herbs to the dish later, but the ready-homemade-and-frozen garlic butter plan is, I beseech you, truly the way forward.

Cheesy Mushroom Rice

700g cooked brown rice
50g garlic butter (with herbs, if possible)
400g mushrooms
40g butter
40g plain flour
1 tsp English mustard powder
500ml milk
200g Cheddar cheese

Melt the garlic butter in a large frying pan and cook the mushrooms until very brown and what I call 'squeaky'; there should be no liquid left in the pan at all and you will know just what I mean when the mushrooms, almost, seem to squeak  Meanwhile, make an all-in-one white sauce by putting the butter, flour, mustard powder and milk into a saucepan and, whisking continuously, bring it all to the boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer briefly, then remove from the heat.  Add half the grated cheese and stir well until it has melted into the sauce completely.  Put the cooked rice into an oven dish, add the mushrooms and mix the cheese sauce in thoroughly.  Top with the remaining cheese and bake at 200°c for 30 minutes or so, until the top is somewhat crisp.

It was really, really nice - I cannot sufficiently explain how much I wanted to eat, well, ALL OF IT.  This one is definitely a keeper...

Cath xx

Simply Sinful

These cheesy scones go really well with LOADS of different meals, or stand alone as a super snack,.  They are easy enough to make, provided you don't get too bothered by the (very tasty but, OK, admittedly unhealthy) butter and cheese factor.  Tonight they sat beside a mixed bean chilli that I put in the slow-cooker this morning, but we also eat them with soups, stews, and breakfasts.  They are extremely good cold too, so don't fret about having any left over (as if!).

Cheesy Scones

If you fancy, you can add 100g sweetcorn kernels to the scone mix before stirring in the milk.  This is particularly nice to add texture if you want to eat them with something like scrambled eggs and bacon.

350g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp mixed dried herbs
4 tsp baking powder
200g butter, diced
200ml milk + 1 tsp
175g grated Cheddar cheese

Put the flour, salt, mustard and baking powder into a bowl.  Rub in 150g butter, then stir in the milk and mix to make a soft dough.  Roll out to about 1cm thick and cut rounds with a 5cm cutter.  Re-roll and keep cutting to use up all the dough.  Placethe scone rounds in a greased roasting tin.  Melt the remaining butter, the cheese and 1 tsp milk together in a pan and pour this over the scones, getting a little mixture over each piece.  Bake at 200c for 15 minutes until golden and crisp on the top.  Remove them from the tin CAREFULLY, with the aid of a spatula and/or palette knife.  Serve while still warm and pull the scones apart at the table.  It doesn't take much...

Cath xx

Easy as Pie

Let's face it, sometimes it just has to be pie.  However, at the moment I'm suffering from a nasty cold and don't feel much like elaborate, constructional cooking so tonight I opted for an easy route to pie pleasure.  Ready-rolled puff pastry is yet another of those ingredients that the modern home cook can give thanks for and for a quick assembly job like this, it's the perfect kitchen helper.  Something of a wellington, but much less of a fancy, formal meal... more of a pixie boot, really!
 
Easy Mushroom 'Pixie Pie'

2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
4 portobello mushrooms
150g soft cheese with garlic & herbs (I used Boursin)
1 egg, beaten with a splash of water and a pinch of salt

Cut the sheets of puff pastry in half widthways, and place a mushroom on each piece.  Spread the soft cheese over the mushroom 'gills', then brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and fold the corners into the centre to cover the filling.  Place on a baking sheet, then brush with more egg wash.  Cook at 180ºc for 40 minutes or so, until crisp and golden.

At Christopher's insistent request, I also served some small baked potatoes (though I personally feel that potatoes and pastry is de trop.  This garlic-and-lemon spinach is all I wanted...


Garlic-and-Lemon Spinach

So easy, and so fast.  I adore spinach any old how, but this is my absolute favourite way to cook it!

1 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves garlic, or to taste, chopped
200g leaf spinach, rinsed and just shaken dry
juice of 1/2 a lemon
black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chopped garlic.  When it is soft and fragrant, add the spinach, turning quickly in the garlicky oil, throw over the lemon juice and then clamp on the lid.  Let the spinach wilt, then give it a good grinding of black pepper and serve warm.

Cath xx

Regeneration

Back-to-school day turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax in the end; heavy snow overnight and this morning meant that the local schools were all closed and - yay! - my babes were at home for one more precious day of holidays.  With favourite toys out and happy sounds emanating from the sitting room, I retreated to the kitchen for my reward; a little pottering in anticipation of a lovely, leisurely lunch instead of the rather rushed affair of days ruled by the school-run.

For all the hand-wringing that goes on at this time of year about the leftovers from the festive season I, for one, love prinking bits of box-bound remains in the fridge to make something different and delicious.  To wilfully (and woefully, I'm afraid) paraphrase Dr Johnson "a woman who is tired of cheese, is tired of life".  However it must be said that at this time of year the cheeseboard which I usually fall upon with such enthusiasm begins to lose a little of its appeal.   Just a little, mind.  To remedy that, I like to make this little dish...

Potted Stilton

This quantity fills two ramekins, but increase the quantities as you like.

75g butter
150g stilton
1/2 tsp English mustard powder
pepper
2 tbsp port

Melt the butter in a small pan.  Meanwhile, mix the mustard powder and a little pepper into the port and set aside.  Crumble the stilton into the food processor or blender jug and pour over the port and, when melted, the butter.  Whizz to a smooth paste and scrape into ramekin dishes.

I like to eat this with my favourite tiny toasts and some chutney or, even better, the last of the Christmas cranberry sauce.  Now then, cheese is a real superfood...

Cath xx

Pastiche-eo

This is one of our real family favourite that, while it bears a slight resemblance to, and carries the name of, a classic dish, probably bears no real resemblance to the same.  I have never been to Italy, and I have no formal cookery training so attaching an Italian name to this dish is rather cheeky, to say the very least.  A slightly easier undertaking for a weeknight than lasagna al forno, but just as satisfying to serve and eat

Pasticcio

One quantity of meat sauce
couple of handfuls dried macaroni, cooked

When the meat sauce and the macaroni are cooked, mx them together and put into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish.  Set aside while you make a white sauce with;

1 pint milk
40g plain flour
40g butter, cubed
freshly grated nutmeg (we like LOTS)
ground white pepper, to taste

Put the milk, flour, butter and pepper into a saucepan and bring to the boil, whisking all the time. When it boils add the nutmeg, turn the heat down and simmer, still whisking, for a couple of minutes more.

Por this sauce on top of thre meat-and-macaroni mixture, then scatter over a topping of mixed breadcrumbs and grated cheese.  Pop the dish in the oven and bake for 30 mninutes at 180°c unmtil golden browen on top and really sizzling.  Leave the dish to sit and rest for a few moments before you serve.

This is one of those suppers that (all) my boys would eat and eat (and eat and eat!).  Leftovers are lovely reheated the next day for lunch, on the rare occasions that I manage to claw some back for that purpose...

Cath xx

Change of Plans

I was going to make stuffed pancakes today - until late this morning, when I remembered that (a) I had a pack of tortillas in the freezer that needed using up and (b) that making pancakes is a pain. So it became a tortilla bake. Spinach is one of my favourite vegetables, especially when paired with nutmeg. In a mildly cheesy sauce like this it even meets with approval from avowed spinach-haters.

Cheese & Spinach Tortilla Bake

6 flour tortillas
300g soft cheese
300g spinach
nutmeg
150ml soured cream
100g cheddar cheese, grated

Wilt the spinach by putting it in a colander and pouring a kettle-ful of boiling water over it. Cool, then squeeze out as much water as you can, Chop the spinach and mix with the soft cheese and about half the grated cheese, seasoning with fresh nutmeg and black pepper to taste. Divide the mixture between the six tortillas, roll them up and place in an ovenproof dish. Spread over the soured cream and scatter with the remaining cheese. Bake at 200­°c for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through thoroughly.

Another Popular Veggie Supper

I'm a manic clipper of magazines and newspapers. Anything that I think might come in handy in future gets torn out and goes in my cuttings drawer. This could be recipes, website URLs, ideas for kids' parties, or just pictures that i really like (though these normally end up on my collage wall upstairs). This pie was originally adapted from an ancient cutting from the Safeway magazine (telling you just how old it was). The veg I use most often are potatoes, carrots, leeks and swede, but vary them as you like. Chunks of squash are good in it, as are parsnips in place of the swede or potato.

Cheesy Vegetable Filo Pie

approx. 2lb vegetables (and see above), peeled and cut into smallish chunks
284ml double cream
50ml dry sherry
vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 50ml hot water
350ml cheese sauce (homemade, or use a shop-bought tub of 'fresh' sauce)
200g frozen peas
270g pack filo pastry, defrosted if frozen
melted butter
75g grated cheese

Heat a little oil in a large, deep pan and fry the vegetable chunks for 10 minutes until lightly browning. Pour in the cream, sherry and stock-cube water then add plenty of black pepper. Mix well, cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the veg are tender. Stir in your cheese sauce and the frozen peas. Transfer all this to an ovenproof dish. Brush the sheets of filo with melted butter and lay them on top, scattering on grated cheese as you go. Bake at 200­°c for 15 minutes until the pastry in browned and crisp.

Tonight's Dinner...

This is a slightly more upmarket version of my usual cheese strata. It occurs to me that, as a supper dish, it might be nice to layer some pieces of ham in the sandwiches with the Brie. I served it with a green salad and followede it with chocolate cake for pudding.

Baguette Brie Bake

1 baguette
250g Brie, sliced
4 eggs
300ml milk

Cut 20 slices from the baguette and use them, and the sliced Brie, to make 10 sandwiches. Put these in an ovenproof dish, with crusts facing up. Beat the eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper. Pour this over the bread-and-cheese in the dish, then leave for 10 minutes to soak. Bake at 180­°c for about 35 minutes until the eggs are just set, but keeping some wobble.

Summer? What Summer?

Well, the weather continues to be, frankly, crap. Neither cold and wet nor warm and dry; just kind of cloudy and damp all the time, with temperatures all over the shop. It sure makes it hard to know what to wear in the morning.

As well as my sartorial objections, the indecisive weather makes it difficult to know what to plan for meals, and some days everything just feels back-to-front. Tonight was a good example, when the dish was light, fresh-tasting and summery and the weather outside, well, wasn't. Oh well, it tasted good and that's the main thing. I used frozen soy beans for this, but you could substitute broad beans or peas. Equally the cheese could be ricotta, and feel free to use whatever tortellini filling you prefer. Think of it as a kind of moveable feast...

Summery (ha!) Tortellini

zest of 1 lemon and half its juice
50ml olive oil
handful fresh mint leaves, chopped
2x250g packs of 'fresh' spinach & ricotta tortellini
150g frozen soy beans (and see above)
150g soft(ish) goat's cheese

Put the lemon zest and juice in a small bowl with half the chopped mint and pour in the olive oil. Whisk together and set aside, while you put the water on for the pasta. Boil the tortellini and the soy beans until tender, the drain. Heat the lemony oil, then return the pasta and beans to the pan, stirring well to coat in the oil. Crumble the cheese in and mix through briefly, then tip into warmed bowls to serve.