Asparagus Tart

Just been on a lovely trip to the beach with Barney's class!  Thank you for taking me - I hadn't been to Birling Gap and it was beautiful!  The boys were all very pleasant to be with and very well-behaved.

As we were walking to the sea, I spied some sea kale, which I had read about but not recognised before.  While no-one was looking, I picked a handful and we ate it for tea this evening; more iron than Pop-eye could shake a stick at!  (Barney declared it poisonous and didn't eat any.... )  Jake and I thought it was lovely; a cross between spinach and curly kale.

Moving on (!), I cooked this tart last Friday, adapted from a recipe by Lucas Hollweg.  As I love to cook as much asparagus as possible during it's short season, I am always keen to try new ways to eat it.  It is very simple and very tasty.

Asparagus Tart

250g asparagus, ends snapped off

a knob of butter

2 leeks, thinly sliced and washed

1 clove of garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

1 packet of puff pastry

1 egg

100ml cream

50g parmesan cheese, grated

Some prociutto ham, torn

Heat the oven to 220 degrees/Gas Mark 7.  Par boil the asparagus in a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes.  Drain and cover with cold water for a few seconds to stop them cooking, then drain again.  Cook the leeks and garlic in a knob of butter until soft. 

Roll out the puff pastry into a recangle, about 40x15cm.  Score a  line around the edge without cutting through about 1 cm wide.  Bake for 5 minutes until a little raised.  Remove from the oven and press down the centre rectangle.  Mix the egg, cream, cheese and seasoning. 

Spread the leeks over the base of the tart, then pour in the cream mixture, making sure it doesn't spill.  Arrange the asparagus in lines on the cream and place the ham on top.

Cook for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden.  Leave for a few minutes before eating!

A variation on the theme is Asparagus and Goat's Cheese Tart.

Use the same method, but instead of the cream mixture, us 250g goat's cheese, such as Chevre, thinly sliced and arrange over the pastry.  Top with the asparagus, brush the border with milk or beaten egg and bake for about 15 minutes.

Lamb Koftas and Home-made Naan

My son, Jake (nearly 12) had a cookery session at school last week.  He loves to cook and was very enthusiastic about the ladies who were running the class, Kids Can Cook (Find them at www.kidscancook.com).  A group of about nine boys produced Lamb Koftas, with Naan Bread and Raita and then ate the lot!

So, I decided he could produce it for our tea yesterday.  What a stress (for me!), and what a Success!

Very easy to assemble and to cook, we managed it in around 30 minutes, probably eating within about 40 minutes - pretty good for a weekday!  Have a go.  The Naan taste very authentic because of the onion seeds, and they are So Easy to make.

Lamb Koftas

300g minced lamb

half medium onion, finely chopped

1.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, grated

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

olive oil for frying

Grated carrot and finely chopped lettuce

Raita

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat.  Grate the ginger and garlic and add all the ingredients to the bowl.  Wet your hands and roll into balls, just smaller than a golf ball.

Gently fry in the olive oil until browned and cooked right through.

Serve with naan bread.

Naan Bread

350g self-raising flour

1 tsp black onion seeds

3/4 tsp salt

25g butter, melted

230ml half yoghurt/half water

Mix all the ingredients until just combined.  Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat another frying pan (or heat the grill).  Cut the dough into 4-5 pieces and roll to 3-4mm thick.  Dry fry in the pan.

Split and serve with the koftas and raita.

Raita

250g plain yoghurt

10cm cucumber, chopped finely

pinch salt

pinch cumin

handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Mix all the ingredients and serve.

Felafels
I also had a go at these again!  And this time was quite successful!


A can of drained chickpeas
A small onion, chopped
splash of olive oil
1 egg
2 grated carrots
salt and pepper
pinch of cumin powder


Whizz everything in a food-processor until pureed.  Fry in oil until browned on each side, then serve with the above.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN COOKING:

Somerset Apple Cake

What a delicious cake!  It is moist enough to be a pudding, and the cider-soaked sultanas and lemon zest lift this cake to something really special. You have to start this the day before and soak the sultanas in the cider overnight. The recipe is from long ago in my recipe book, hence the imperial measurements! 

8oz caster sugar

6oz butter

10oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

zest of a lemon

2 large Bramley apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

6oz sultanas

5 floz dry cider

Heat the oven to 160degrees/gas mk 4.  Cream the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Fold in the dry ingredients, lemon zest and thinly sliced apples.  Add the sultanas.

Tip into a lined 20cm cake tin and bake for about 1 hour until golden brown on top.

Cool and serve with sweetened, whipped cream!

Chocolate Crispy Squares

Last, but not least, I rustled up some of these for a sweet treat.  They take all of 10mins to make!

3 Mars Bars

2oz butter

3oz rice crispies

Melt the butter in a medium pan.  Add the Mars Bars and stir until melted.  Add the rice crispies and coat thoroughly with the chocolate.  Tip into a 20cm square tin and put in the 'fridge to set.  Yum!

Angel Bread and Orange Chocolate Marble Cake

I had a very complicated school/train station/cricket match run tonight - enough to test anyone's sanity!  What for tea??  Well, not very adventurously, all I could think of that a) I had the ingredients for and b) the kids would actually EAT, c) I could fit in around running people here and there, was a plate of Birdseye fish fingers (I always have a pack in the freezer, just in case....) with homemade chunky chips and sweetcorn.

Then I thought (as I often do under extreme pressure!), what else then?  I had decided to bake some chocolate cakes, but as I was mixing, I changed my mind to make Barney's favrourite Chocolate and Orange Marble Cake.  Easy as easy and very lovely, the sighs of delight were reward enough!

(But to make it all better, my little doggie, Pepper, was a star at her puppy class afterwards!)

And I have discovered, in a LOVELY book called, 'Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids' by Jill O'Connor, a GREAT breakfast for those of us who can sometimes Be Prepared!  They are called Heaven-Sent Angel Biscuits, and are a cross between a scone and a sweet bread roll.  Make the dough the night before (no kneading required!!) and just pull bits off in the morning to bake.  My kids loved them, and so did I.........

Orange and Chocolate Marble Cake

150g soft butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
0.5 tsp  baking powder
150g self-raising flour
2 tbs good cocoa powder
zest of an orange and 2 tbs of juice


Set oven at 180 degrees/Gas mk 5.


Whizz the butter, caster, eggs, baking powder and flour in a processor until smooth. (If your butter is cold, whizz the butter and sugar first until creamy, then add the rest).
Grate the zest into the mixture, add the juice and whizz to mix.  Spoon half the mixture in blobs over the bottom of a base-lined and greased 7" cake tin.  Add the cocoa to the remaining mixture and whizz again until mixed.  Blob this randomly into the tin.  Take a wooden spoon handle and gently make figure-of-eight swirls in the mixture - less is more though; don't overdo it!


Bake for about 35 minutes, until the top of the cake looks cooked and a skewer or sharp knife comes out clean.

What I have been cooking:

Heaven-Sent Angel Biscuits (from the above book)


1 tbs dried yeast
one cup warm water (maybe more if too dry)
5.5 cups of strong bread flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
14 tbs butter (you'll just have to guess it!)
2 cups buttermilk or natural yoghurt


Measure out all the dry ingredients, then rub in the butter, leaving some pea-sized pieces.  Add the water and buttermilk and mix to a stiff bread dough.  Place in a sealed plastic bag and put in the fridge overnight (leave some room for expansion in the bag!).

In the morning, before you shower, grab ping-pong ball sized pieces, roll into balls and place on a greased baking tray.  Leave to rise while you shower, then place in the oven for 12-15 mins until lightly browned.
Eat with butter and jam - Angelic!!

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Chicken and Chips and Felafels

Squash and Ginger Soup

Felafels (on a Scooby Doo plate...... classy!)

Being a veggie is sometimes a lonely existence.  Bombarded with meaty delights from TV chefs such as Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay, us poor herbivores are left wondering what on earth we can slap on the barbie, and what to cook for tea tonight alongside meat-eaters' chicken and chips!

I have also been searching and searching and trying felafel (chickpea patty) recipes, without a satisfactory result.  So, tonight, as I had a bag of chickpeas in the fridge waiting for something.... I tried a patty-type mixture which turned into felafels!  The result was a little dry, and I have yet to adjust this, but the taste was just right for me; subtle and delicious!

Chicken and Chips   (serves 5)

1 chicken portion per person (I used breast pieces with skin on)

Olive oil

Floury potatoes, cut into 1cm chip lengths

Clove of garlic, crushed

Seasoning

Heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas mk 5.  Brush the chicken portions with oil and crushed garlic.  Season well.

Coat the potato pieces in oil and spread out on a baking tray.  Put into the oven and set the timer for about 35mins.  Put the chicken in to cook for the required time (my pieces said 30 mins approx).

Meanwhile make the felafels:

Felafels

300g chickpeas, soaked and boiled, or one can, drained and rinsed

1 onion, very finely diced 

Olive oil

1.5 tsp salt

Pepper

0.5 tsp ground cumin

4 tsp chopped, fresh mint

1 egg

Splash of olive oil to mix

Fry the onion in 1 tbs of oil until softened.  Keep the frying pan on the heat.  Tip into a food processor and whizz with everything else until well mixed and still a little coarse.  Taste to make sure the seasoning is ok.

Now I was a bit cheffy!  Make quenelles of the mixture - take a dessertspoonful, and scoop it off the spoon with another spoon, until you have a sort of three sided, spoon-shaped patty.  Place into the oiled frying pan and cook until golden on all three sides (about 10 mins).  You may have to add some oil during the cooking.

Slice the chicken into pretty slices and serve with the chips and mayo and ketchup.  I added a handful of spinach and rocket to my plate with my felafels.  Yum!

What I have been cooking:

I read a recipe a few weeks ago for Squash soup with Ginger.  Could I find it again??  So, I had a go.  SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS!!  Here it is:

Squash Soup with Ginger

1 butternut squash, or some kind of pumpkin, peeled and diced

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

A knob of butter

500ml  or so of vegetable stock

2 tsp grated fresh ginger (peel it first!)

Seasoning

Fry the onion in the butter until softened.  Add the squash pieces, stir, then add the garlic and stock and simmer for 15 mins.  Add 1 tsp of the ginger and season well, then taste.  I found that 2 tsps gave the kick I wanted without overpowering the squash, but you can do what you like.

Enjoy!

Salade Nicoise

 (You'll have to use your imagination to picture today's recipe due to technical difficulties!!)

So, my son, Barney, told me the other day to stop worrying about my weight, cos he thinks I am just fine as I am!  What a love!  Fact is, my jeans are just a little on the tight side just now, and here we are, with the 'Expose All at the Beach with All and Sundry looking on' season almost upon us!  Thanks Barns, and I am still going to cut down a little for a while to reduce the damage that a very Prolonged and Damp winter has done!!!

With that in mind, tonight I made Salade Nicoise.  I am sure that everyone who reads this will know exactly what one is, but here is my recipe!

Have fun!

Salade Nicoise   Serves 2

1 tin tuna, in olive oil (tastes sooooo much better than in brine)

2 eggs, hard-boiled

half a packet of thin, green beans, boiled for 4 minutes

half a pack of baby spinach leaves

a little gem lettuce, ripped

2 ripe tomatoes

a handful of olives

Dressing:

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs wine vinegar

1 tsp grainy mustard

1 tsp clear honey

piece of garlic, crushed

salt, pepper

Layer everything in a pretty salad bowl.  Mix the dressing ingredients and shake well.  Drizzle over the salad then toss when you are at the table.  Serve with some garlic bread for the more hungry amongst us!

Noodles, noodles, noodles!

We visited our beach hut again today - bit of a northerly breeze, and not enough clothing, but a great day nonetheless.  What joy I feel when I am down by the sea: the expanse of it all, the wilderness, the wind and the sun - I love it!

So, arriving home ravenous, as always, I thought of a quick noodle stir-fry.  You will note, again, from the picture just what my kids ate!  I do my best!

Have fun and be happy!

Stir-fry with Noodles  

(serves 4)

1 packet of dried noodles (use four or five sheets)

2 carrots, chopped into matchsticks

4 spring onions, chopped

8 mushrooms, sliced thinly

handful of frozen prawns

1-2 tbs vegetable oil

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 knob fresh ginger, grated finely

2 tbsp soy sauce

1.5 tbs sesame oil

Cook the noodles according to the packet.  Drain and set aside.

Heat a wok or frying pan.  Add the oil and the carrots and stir-fry for a few minutes, then add the onions and mushrooms.  Cook for a few minutes until some juice is released from the mushrooms.

While this is happening, grate the ginger and the garlic and mix with the soy and the sesame oil.  Whisk to mix thoroughly, then tip half into the noodles and mix carefully, and the other half into the stir-fry mixture.  Add the prawns to the stir-fry while you dish out the noodles, then, making sure the prawns are defrosted, tip the vegetables on top.  Yum!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

You will see from tonight's picture that I wasn't fibbing when I said my children won't eat half of the goodies I produce for them - the blighters!  But, undeterred, I battle on, with the shining, golden thought in the future of that wonderful day when everyone will eat everything and LIKE IT!  (sorry, I'm suddenly feeling a little unwell....)

So, tonight's delish dish was Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Garlic Bread.  Usually, I make tuna polpettine which are tuna meatballs, but tonight I had bought some beef meatballs from Waitrose (I don't even have to touch the meat!) and I just had the tomato sauce - perfect for Vegetarians, Fussy Monsters and Foodies alike!




Spaghetti and Meatballs  (serves 5)

1 packet of spaghetti
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
a splash of red wine
1 tin tomatoes
sprig of basil, torn roughly
Seasoning
1 packet of fresh meatballs
oil for cooking

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, and add some salt.  Heat a frying pan for the meatballs and heat a saucepan for the sauce.
Put a tbs of oil in the saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins or so until golden.  Add the splash of red wine and cook to reduce the liquid for another 2 mins.  Tip in the tomatoes and basil, season, and leave to cook while you get on with the rest.

Add a tbs of oil to the frying pan and add the meatballs.  Cook them, turning, until they are browned all over (about 12 mins).
At the same time, tip the required amount of spaghetti into the water and cook for 8 minutes (never mind what it says on the packet!).

Whizz the sauce to a puree.  Drain the spaghetti, add a few knobs of butter or a splash of oil (to stop it sticking) and serve with a spoonful of sauce and meatballs on the top.


Homemade Garlic Bread

Now, I was a bit of a super-woman tonight!  At the same time this was going on, I put about 5 tbs of soft butter (Lurpak spreadable) into a dish, and added two crushed cloves of garlic and a tbs of dried parsley, then mixed them together.  I had half a french loaf in the bread bin, so I sliced it almost through into 2 cm slices, then spread both sides of the slices with the butter.  I baked it in a 200 degree/Gas mk 5 oven for about 10 minutes.