Sunday 14th of April 2013

The final weekend of the school holidays has been, for me, split between relaxing before the chaos hits and cooking up a bit of a storm to prepare for busy days ahead.  We enjoyed my Lamb Stew with Summer Flavours on Friday night, helped along by a steaming mound of couscous, some salad and a scattering heaping pile of my Herby Cheese.

Saturday Lunch was a courgette and goat's cheese tart; made to my usual recipe, but using my lovely new rectangular tart tin from Lakeland.  The new tin made the tart much more presentable and neater to slice, though I found it rather more difficult to get the tart out of this tin than with my workaday round tins.  We ate the tart with some salad and steamed new potatoes (I normally eschew potatoes with party, but I ran across these spanking Charlotte potatoes and was irresistibly drawn to them...  In the evening, the boys and I enjoyed a casual supper of cheese and biscuits with salad and fruit in front of Doctor Who and The Voice.  I like a cheeky weekend fix of Sir Tom, I do (even if his tendency towards name-dropping is worse than ever!).

Now, with school bags packed and ready for the morning, I can truly relax, having cooked an enormous batch of Slow-Cooked Onions (and I used red onions today) to see us through the next couple of weeks, prepared a very nice-looking vegetable curry to go in the slow-cooker tomorrow and served up a bacon and mushroom risotto for lunch.  In advance of school starting tomorrow, the boys and I are looking forward to a 'last supper' of mussels in garlic butter sauce with some crusty bread before it's back to metro, boulot, dodo. Back to the grindstone...

Cath xx

Pudding Emergency!

Required at short notice to provide a pudding for today's lunch, I fell back on a favourite which can be conjured up pretty quickly from mainly storecupboard ingredients.  This is, I suspect hardly the 'proper' way to make frangipane, but hell, it works for me.  If it's easy and it tastes good, I'm one very happy Distracted Housewife!  The shop-bought sweet pastry cases are a storecupboard staple (actually, they live in the bread bin) and I cannot see that there is any point in being snobbish about them; while I never buy shortcrust pastry in the supermarket because I find it easy to make, I always buy puff and filo because, you know, eek!  Sweet pastry also gives me the heebie-jeebies, I have never managed to get the desirable shortbread texture without everything disintegrating into infinitesimal crumbs like, well, shortbread...

Tinned pears (in juice, never syrup for my tastes) happen to be a fruit that I keep in the cupboard habitually as I love their grainy texture.  They are wonderful with whipped cream or ice-cream and a quick, hot, chocolate sauce as a very basic Poires Belle Helene (which, after holidaying in the Loire Valley as a youngster, remains for me the most respectable way to fill a crêpe).  Pears and chocolate is a classic combination for me; hence the chocolate included here (although you can happily leave it out if the idea doesn't fill you with the greedy excitement that it does me!).  I would have rather like to have a scoop of ice-cream with this pudding today, rich yellow in colour and flecked with vanilla seeds, but sadly no amount of praying to the freezer could force some into existence so we 'forced it down' without...

Pear and Almond Tart with Chocolate

1 ready-made sweet pasty case from the baking aisle at the supermarket
50g dark chocolate, grated or very finely chopped (I used the processor)
1 tin of pear halves in juice, drained
2 eggs, beaten
80g each butter, ground almonds and caster sugar

Heat the oven to 180ºc.  Put your unwrapped pastry case onto a baking sheet.  Scatter the chocolate over the bottom of the pastry case.  Thickly slice each pear half widthways, but keep it 'together', as it were, and arrange them on top of the chocolate.  Melt the butter and stir in the ground almonds and sugar. Mix in the eggs, forming a nubbly paste with the consistency of double cream.  Gently (although this is a counsel of perfection for me, being both clumsy and impatient) spoon and spread this over the pear-and-chocolate filled pastry case and pop it in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Take it out and leave it to rest for a few minutes as this is SO much better warm than hot.  Any leftover slices (ha!) are perfect with a cup of tea later, but don't put them in the 'fridge, something awful seems to happen to them if you do!

Cath xx

Puff the Magic Dinner

Much as I love making pizza, it can be a step too far on a weeknight to start mixing, kneading, resting and rolling out the dough base.  While I sometimes have the organisational capacity to make the dough during the day, or even the night before, the suicide hour usually calls for a meal that can be quickly banged together and plonked on the table, with the confidence that it will taste great and keep everyone happy (for now, at least...).  This is, I suppose, a kind of midweek variation on a Roasted Vegetable Tart which I used to make all the time.  In fact, as I've remembered about it now, I'll have to make it again very soon!

Sheets of frozen, ready-rolled puff pastry are often on special offer at the supermarket and I always take the opportunity to stock up, as they make all sorts of meals that feel 'special' with not too much actual work.  Even I am organised enough to transfer a rolled-up sheet of frozen pastry from the freezer to the 'fridge before going to bed, so that I can use it the next evening.  Make sure you take it out of the fridge for a bit before you try to unroll it though, as the pastry is apt to crack it's too cold when you handle it.

Pesto Chicken 'Pizza' Tart

You can, of course vary this by changing the chicken for something else, such as roughly chopped salami, shredded lamb (though I prefer to use red pesto with lamb) or some sliced mushrooms.  You could even just 'do' a tomato and cheese version, I suppose.


1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
2 tbsp pesto (from a jar)
3 tomatoes, sliced
200g cooked chicken, shredded
100g mozzarella, grated

Preheat the oven.  I admit that I don't bother for most recipes, but with some things it really does seem to make a difference to the end result.  Unroll the sheet of pastry and place it on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Gently score a narrow border about 2cm from the edge, and prick with a fork.  Spread the pesto across this centre area, then lay the sliced tomatoes, in a single layer, on the pesto-smeared base.  Top this with the chicken and the grated mozzarella and bake at 180°c for 15 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and golden, with a lovely, browned and bubbled cheesy surface blanketing the delicious filling below.  Allow to cool slightly, then cut into slices to serve.

I like to accompany this with salad or a green vegetable; tonight I served steamed broccoli. Another reason why I love the puff pastry is that my family are learning to adapt to my no-potatoes-with-pastry edict (though, of course, I break my own rules on occasion), so no peeling needed.

Cath xx

Old Tarts

Still getting back to normal after #operation roof, I'm cooking really 'proper' meals again, but I must admit that the heat is stifling the family's appetite somewhat, not to mention fraying the children's tempers!

Tonight we ate my (immodestly) super Courgette and Goat's Cheese Tart, which was just enough cooking to satisfy my needs, but not too much, if you know what I mean....  This is a regular summer supper for us; it's filling and delicious without being heavy or stodgy in any way.  Really needing very little in the way of accompaniments, it makes a lovely portable dish for a contribution to a picnic or any other communal meal at this time of year  I made the pastry this morning and blind-baked the case so that I only had to fry some sliced courgettes and throw the rest together at five o' clock.  Blind baking is a contentious old thing,and I must admit that I don't usually bother for a midweek meal.  I will, however, confirm that the tart is almost always nicer if you do.  Sorry!  Do be sure to dice, or crumble, any cheeses that you add to the filling of a tart; this avoids the problem of 'cheesy cement' sinking to the bottom of tarts and coming to rest on the pastry case.  Grating cheese over the surface of the egg-custard mixture is, however, fine and dandy.

Cath xx

(In fact, the tart was so good tonight that I'm seriously considering making another tomorrow, for snacking on during the week!)

Foundations

This is a really useful base for building meals on - so many things seem to start with cooking onions down until soft and flavoursome. More often then not, that's the pain with cooking meals; the time-consuming and tedious bits that seem to get in the way of the enjoyable main event (and I do mean the cooking and not just the eating, honestly). Try this, then. These slow-cooked onions can be used as the foundation for several meals and even kept in the freezer. If you take the package out in the morning to defrost, you can then skip quite a few steps when it's time to prepare supper. Six onions is quite a nice quantity to do - it will easily provide for three or four meals and doesn't take much work from you.

Slow-Cooked Onions

6 onions, halved and thinly sliced
25g butter
200ml dry sherry

Melt the butter and turn the sliced onions in the fat. Bring to a sizzle, then stir well and pour in the sherry. Mix thoroughly and cover the pan. Turn down the heat and cook for an hour or so, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and bubble to reduce any excess liquid. Allow to cool, then divide into portions and chill or freeze.


Last night I used a good 400g of the onions to form the basis of a simple onion tart; a ravishing supper for a cold autumn evening. Put your slow-cooked onions into the bottom of an 8" pastry case, then pour over two eggs beaten with seasoning and a small carton of crème fraîche. Bake for 30 minutes at 200°c and serve warm.

Tarts - Always a Good Option

Well, that's what I think anyway, hee hee. Make the pastry , line the tin and you're laughing. All you need to do then is fill it - and you can do the pastry case in the morning or even the day before - just put it in a sealed plastic bag to keep it fresh in the fridge.

When you're ready to cook it, find some bits for a filling - tonight I fried some bacon bits and cut up half a camembert (which had been rather disappointing on the cheeseboard, but worked fine in this) - then beat 3 eggs and a 200g tub of crème fraîche together and pour into the pastry case, covering the filling. Bake at 200°c for 30 minutes, then leave to cool slightly before sliding it out of the tin and onto a serving plate.
I had intended to serve the tart with steamed potatoes and a green salad, but found that we'd actually run out of potatoes. Grr! This rice salad made a more than acceptable substitute, however, and reminded me how much I love rice salads (unlike pasta salads which, with limited exceptions, are pretty foul).

Colourful Rice Salad

I use Morrisons' Frozen Special Mixed Vegetables, defrosted, for this. There's not really anything that 'special' about them, but it's the sort of mix; peas, corn, carrots, broccoli and peppers - rather than those packs of diced mixed veg for stews - that you're looking for here.

300g brown rice
350g vegetables (and see above)
handful raisins
garlic & herb dressing (recipe follows)

Cook the rice. Chop the vegetables up, if necessary, for a nice finish to the completed salad and combine with the cooked rice. Stir in the raisins, then pour over as much dressing as you need to evenly coati, but not swamp, the salad. Chill until needed.

Garlic & Herb Dressing

5 fl.oz olive oil
2 tbsp garlic vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
handful fresh herbs - your choice - chopped finely

Whisk it all together, or whizz in a blender. You'll need only 1/3 to 1/2 this quantity for the rice salad, but thisis one of my absolute favourite salad dressings, so keep it in the fridge and use it whenever you might otherwise use a vinaigrette.

Mulling It Over

It's been a really busy weekend for us; my parents came to visit and, as we won't see them over Christmas, I wanted to give their stay a bit of festive spirit. We went to Aberystwyth on Saturday afternoon and visited the Christmas market; Mum and I both bought some mutton for the freezer and I also brought home some big slices of Welsh Black braising steak. We nipped into Ultracomida to get some cheese before driving home. I was able to pick up my annual cheese treat, a Vacherin Mont d'Or.

Mulled wine is a Christmas favourite, so a good home recipe is helpful if you want to avoid buying the supermarket alternatives of ready-mulled bottles, or teabag things purporting to be an 'easy option'. If you want to take a shortcut (always useful at this time of year), I would suggest the cloth-tied mulling bundles available from Julian Graves. What I would do without JG at this time of year I really don't know, a big sortie for snack foods and spices is de rigeur. This year we are mostly eating their gorgeous (and very moreish) Garlic and Herb Grissini.

Mulled Wine

This makes a lot, but you can use half of it for the chicken recipe below (which freezes very well). Nor do you have to drink all of it in one evening (ahem). If you strain it into a jug it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days to be reheated. You can even microwave it by the mugful if you like... Please don't try to use cheap nasty wine for this, you need something halfway decent or it will just be foul.

2x 75cl bottles red wine
500ml water
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced
inch of root ginger, sliced (no need to peel)
2 cinnamon sticks
pinch of whole cloves
pinch of whole black peppercorns
1/2 nutmeg
50ml brandy
50g caster sugar, or to taste

Bung everything into a big pan. Bring to boilking point, then turn the heat down and keep the wine just below simmering point for about 20 minutes. Either dole it out straight from the pan, or decant into a punch bowl if you have one (we were lucky enough to be given one as a wedding present). Either way, serve in heatproof glasses or nice chunky mugs. Mulled wine and good cheese is a great combination on a cold winter's night.

This chicken casserole, which we had for dinner on Saturday night, is something that I first made a few years ago when Hubby's parents came to visit just before that Christmas. Most of the work can be done a day or two in advance, then finishing it off takes only about ten minutes of hands-on work and half an hour in the oven, making it ideal if you want to spend time with your guests rather than your stove.

Mulled Wine Chicken

half-quantity of mulled wine recipe above
5 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
6 small onions, quartered
400ml hot chicken stock
6 chicken legs

Boil the mulled wine, reducing the quantity by half, to concentrate the flavour. Heat a knob of butter and a drizzle of oil in a large casserole and fry the bacon and onions until just browning. Add the hot stock and the (strained) wine, bring to the boil, then lay the chicken legs in the liquid. Cover the pan and transfer to a 200°c oven for an hour.

*At this point you can quickly cool and then chill the chicken for two days, or freeze it for up to a month. Defrost thoroughly, bring to the boil and then proceed as below.*

250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered.

Stir in the mushrooms and return to the oven for 30-40 minutes. Serve with steamed potatoes or rice and some green vegetables. We had broccoli and sprouts from this week's veg box.

Pudding was another Christmas favourite of ours; Mincemeat Meringue Tart. This is my bastardisation of Michael Barry's 'Mince Pie Royale' from his lovely Radio Times Cookery Year. I make an almond pastry for the base, top it with my homemade mincemeat and then pile on meringue made according to the original recipe in the book. Dust it with icing sugar and serve with dollops of thick cream.

A Picnic By the River

Hubby had a really early start at work today, the up side of which was that he was home early in the afternoon. James also had his nine-month check at the baby clinic today, which meant a tedious hour spent hanging around before we were seen and told he was just fine (which I already knew). My mood was not improved by having to go to the supermarket on the way home to stock up on tins, cartons of fruit juice, bags of rice and all that sort of gubbins.

For a more cheering end to the day we decided to take our supper out and have a picnic. I made a Bacon, Pea and Mint Tart and wrapped it, still in the tin, in a double layer of foil. We packed it into the hamper along with some washed Gem lettuce leaves and tomatoes, then drove down to Black Covert near Trawsgoed and sat at one of the tables by the river. The tart was very successful, I was a little worried about how the inclusion of mint would be received, but it worked really well and every last crumb was eaten, Bang go my lunch plans for tomorrow!

Bacon, Pea and Mint Tart

300g plain flour
150g butter
cold water to bind

Make the pastry, roll it out and line a 20cm deep fluted tart tin.

150g bacon, chopped
100g frozen peas, defrosted
few sprigs fresh mint, leaves only
200g crème fraîche
2 large eggs
25g cheddar cheese, finely grated

Preheat the oven, with a baking tray already on the shelf, to 200°c. Fry the bacon in a little oil until just starting to brown. Put the bacon and peas into the bottom of the pastry case, then scatter over the chopped mint leaves. Beat the crème fraîche and eggs together with some black pepper and pour this into the pastry case. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and transfer the tart to the oven, putting it on the hot baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the surface is nicely browned and the centre of the tart still a little wobbly. Best eaten warm, not hot.

After we'd eaten we played 'football' with Christopher for a bit, then walked down to the edge of the river. Chris was very impressed by his Dad skimming stones over the surface of the water so that they 'bounced'. He was even more impressed by the large splashes he could make by lobbing large stones into the river himself. Poor James was a bit jealous that he couldn't really join in, I think, he got quite cross with us in the end. I had already had to resort to chasing the football around with him in his pushchair (which he loved), but I wasn't taking it into the river, oh no.

A bit Enid Blyton? Probably, but we had great fun and it is definitely something we'll be doing again soon.

Tasty Tarts

I spent today, in the few minutes available between sorting the boys out and doing an unprecedented massive amount of laundry, trying to get the house back to some semblance of order. It amazes me how just one or two days away from my usual schedule can reduce the house to an unbearable tip. But at least the worst of it is sorted and the rest can be dealt with tomorrow when we get back from playgroup, as Hubby has the day off.

Thinking about what to cook for supper tonight was difficult - it was too warm to want anything too heavy and we fancied eating out in the garden again. Rummaging in th fridge I found some courgettes and the last bit of some St Helen's Farm goat's cheese that my Mum had brought with her, so decided to try doing something new; a courgette and goat's cheese tart. I made some pastry and lined a tart tin while James was having his afternoon nap, then Christopher and I made some little jam tarts with the pastry trimmings. He has a little set of baking trays that his Granny and Grandpa gave him, so it was a good chance to use one of them. We made three tarts filled with blackberry jam (homemade) and three filled with lemon curd (sadly not). One of them made a nice afternoon snack for Chris, and another provided a nice surprise for Daddy when he got home.

Karl took the boys to the park in the village for a bit before dinner, which gave me chance to cook uninterrupted, with The Beatles turned up loud, which was a lovely treat.

Courgette & Goat's Cheese Tart

For the pastry:

300g plain flour
150g butter
cold water to bind

Make the pastry, using whichever method you prefer. Roll it out and line a 20cm deep fluted tart tin. Mine are made by Silverwood™ and I recommend them wholeheartedly.

For the filling:

2 courgettes, sliced into rounds
knob of butter and a little oil
few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
150g hard goat's cheese, cut into small cubes
1/4pt milk
2 eggs
15g fresh parmesan, finely grated

Preheat the oven, with a baking tray already on the shelf, to 200°c. Fry the courgettes with the thyme leaves in the butter and oil until soft and just starting to brown. Layer the courgettes and thyme with the cubed cheese in the prepared pastry case. Beat the milk and eggs together with some black pepper and pour this into the pastry case. Scatter the parmesan over and transfer the tart to the oven, putting it on the hot baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is nicely browned and the centre of the tart just set. I prefer to eat tarts like this once they have cooled a little, warm but not hot.

It was very tasty, and for a first attempt I was thrilled with how well it had turned out. I baked some potatoes and cut up some salad vegetables (cucumber, carrots, peppers and the like) to accompany it. A glass of rosé wine, from a bottle we opened the other day, was a perfect addition to our meal in the garden. . It really feels like summer...

Tarting Around

Started trying in earnest to get the baby into some semblance of a routine today - a good time to try as hubby's shifts fit in well, and the teething powders - 'Ashton & Parsons Infant Powders', actually - do seem to be making a dent in the pain, even if it is nigh-on impossible to adminster 'half a powder' as specified by the directions - he gets whatever goes in his mouth instead of on his chin!

I spent the morning keeping him awake, bar a 45 minute nap, so that I could put him down in his cot properly after a late morning feed. He yelled for a while, but I kept popping up to reassure him and he went off to sleep by himself (sans dummy!) in time for his big brother and me to have lunch. I used the extra time to sort some toys out with Christopher, as he's had the same toys in his sitting room toybox for far too long and was getting bored with them. I also made the pastry and lined the tart tin in preparation for our evening meal.

James woke up just before one. A little sooner than I would have liked, but it's early days. I changed and fed him, then played with the boys for a while. I got some housework done, too, thanks to Christopher's new-found skill on his Kazoo, which entertained the baby no end.

Chris did some drawing for a while this afternoon, but when he needed to use his potty, he decided it would be much more helpful to run into the kitchen, slam the door and deliberately wee on the cat. Things fell apart a little after that. Oh well...nearly time for dinner

Leek, Bacon & Caerphilly Tart

200g plain flour
pinch of salt
100g fat (half and half butter and lard, for preference)

Make pastry and use it to line a 20cm deep tart tin. You can do this up to a day in advance and keep it, sealed in a large freezer bag, in the fridge.

2-3 leeks, shredded
150g smoked bacon, diced
100g Caerphilly cheese
2 eggs, beaten
150ml crème fraîche

Put a large baking tray in the oven and preheat to 200°c/fan oven 180°c. Soften the leeks in a little butter or oil. Fry the bacon until cooked, but not crisp. Allow these to cool a little.
Spread the leeks and bacon out in the base of the pastry case. Crumble the cheese over the leeks and bacon, then season with black pepper. Beat the eggs and crème fraîche together, then pour into the tart. Place the tin on the preheated baking sheet and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until cooked though. The tart should be browned on top, with the filling still a little wobbly in the centre.

Very good. We ate it with a bit of salad, which was nice and easy (open bag, wash, tip into bowl, etc). Hubby bathed the boys, read their story and then put Christopher to bed while I fed and settled the baby. Time for a drink, methinks?