Seasonal Game(2)
Monday, January 24th, 2005Roast Partridge with Potato & Celeriac Gratin
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Seasonal game (1)
Thursday, January 20th, 2005There is a farm shop in the area! It is not actually in Tadley but in a six-house-hamlet that calls itself ‘Little London'(!). As soon as we could, we beat a path to its door. It was not strong on greens, but it has seasonal game. So for the time being, our Sunday dinners focus on that. And with fresh (if overpriced) vegetables from the farmer’s market in Islington, we are all set on the food front:
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Curry Night (2)
Monday, January 10th, 2005Lamb Dilpasand
A rich, oniony, nutty curry based on a recipe by Mridula Baljekar, Indian Cooking, Coombe Books (1993, ISBN 1 85813 130 8). A bit of an effort, but well worth it.
500g cubed lamb; 125g natural yoghurt (full fat); 1tsp tumeric; 2 tbsp white poppy seeds; 2cm root ginger, peeled and chopped; 5 cloves garlic, ditto; 2 green chillies, chopped; 3 small-medium onions; 3tbsp ghee; pinch chilli powder; 1 tsp paprika; 1tbsp cumin; 1tsp curry powder; 1tbsp tomato purée or juice from 1 can tomatoes; salt; 25g creamed coconut (or 100ml coconut milk); 2 tbsp chopped coriander
Mix the yoghurt and tumeric and stir in the meat. Marinate 4h to overnight in the fridge.
Dry-roast poppy seeds until just darkening, cool and grind to a paste.
Finely chop 1 onion and process with the ginger, garlic and chilli until smooth.
Chop the remaining onions and gently fry in the ghee until just golden—about 12 minutes.
Lower the heat and add the remaining powdered spices. Stir for 2 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium, add the processed ingredients and fry 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, to drive off the raw smell. If the spices stick, loosen with 1 tbsp of water.
Increase heat to high, add the meat and marinade and fry 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the tomato (purée), salt and just enough water to not quite cover (or the coconut milk, if using). Simmer, lid on, for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently towards the end as the thickened gravy may stick.
Chop up the dessicated coconut, if using and add with the poppy seeds. Simmer another 15 minutes.
Garnish with the coriander and serve.
Potato and Cabbage Curry
1 heaped tbsp ghee or 2 tbsp oil; 1 onion, chopped; 25g ginger, peeled and sliced; 5 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised; salt (use to crush the G&G); 1-2 fresh green chillies, chopped; 1 tbsp panj puran; 5-6 curry leaves; 2 cloves; 2 green cardamons; 1 large cardamon; 2 cm cinnamon bark; 1 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1/2 tsp tumeric; 1 small green cabbage, shredded; 2-3 medium potatoes, roughly cubed and par-boiled 10 minutes (still firm)
Sweat the onion, add the crushed ginger and garlic and fry off the raw smell. Lower the temperature, add the chillies and whole spices and fry 2 minutes. Add the powdered spices, fry another minute, then stir in the cabbage until thoroughly coated. Add the potatoes and a minimum of water, cover and steam (check it doesn’t boil dry) 15-20 minutes until the cabbage is just tender.
Served with Red Lentil Dhal and fresh coriander and lime relish: finely chopped tomatoes (seeded), cucumber and spring onion with lime juice, black pepper (or chilli) and finely chopped coriander (do not add salt as it draws out all the juices).
Walnut, Roquefort, Pear & Watercress Salad
Tuesday, January 4th, 2005I’m just tucking into some of our last Christmas leftovers. With our move to Tadley completed, I have been cooking again and it is time to revive my recipe column. So here it is:
Roquefort, Pear & Watercress Salad with Walnuts
1 soft pear (e.g. Williams), cored and chopped; ca 20g Roqueford cheese, cubed; large handful watercress; good tbsp coarsly chopped toasted walnut kernels
Dressing: 1tsp Dijon mustard, 2tsp red wine vinegar, 1tsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1tsp walnut oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper
Whisk together the dressing ingredients, mix salad and drizzle over. Easy starter.
Tadley’s National Dish
Thursday, December 23rd, 2004The Tadley Butty
1 large plate of chunky chips; 4 slices of buttered soft white bread; good handfull of sauce sachets
Liberally drizzle the chips with ketchup and brown sauce. Line them up on a buttered slice. Roll the bread top to bottom to resemble a hot dog roll (this only works if you give it a good squeeze so don’t be too liberal with the sauce). Enjoy with a pint of Best or a mug of tea (although the local youth prefer alcopops); but careful, the chips should be hot.
Wonderful—soft bread followed by a tiny crunch as I sink my teeth into the chips, then the steaming hot fluffy centre and the tang of sauce. Mmmmmh.
After a succession of dire motorway services, walking into the pub in Tadley felt like coming back to life: Oasis on the jukebox, Footy on the big screen and the lights twinkling on the Christmas tree. —We had arrived in our new home.
Dark Delights
Saturday, November 6th, 2004For his last night in Stirling before starting his new job, I cooked John a dark, dark dinner.
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Pumpkin gallore!
Wednesday, October 27th, 2004Just in time for Halloween, the shops are flooded with pumpkins. Halloween is a celtic festival, you know, and it is the Irish who brought the art of pumpkin carving to America. But apart from carving, you can always eat the things.
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Apple Nobby Cake
Friday, October 22nd, 2004We have a glut of apples at the moment. Before the birds and squirrels make short work of them, I sent John into the garden to pick a few for a quick autum treat.
I know some mean German cake recipes, but when it comes to apples, nobody can beat the Americans. This site is full of wonderful ideas: from soups and salads to cakes and desserts.
One of the easiest, and using a lot of apples in proportion to the other ingredients is ‘Apple Nobby Cake’. I made it this morning and it is really as easy as it looks. Use an electric whisk to mix the butter and sugar, then add the egg, whisking until pale. I cut the sugar to two thirds of a cup and it was quite sweet. Also, 2½ cups of apples (ca. 1.5 cm chunks) is plenty.
Enjoy!
Curry Night (1)
Thursday, October 21st, 2004Always a treat, if not quick to prepare, we aim to have a curry every week. As the chill of autum draws in, the chilli heat drives the cold away and earthy spices warm the body. During the drizzly Scottish summer, the flavours help to evoke memories of sultry tropical holidays — really, there is no excuse not to indulge. Once the ingredients are assembled, curries are easy to prepare and it is a wonderful way of cooking cheaper meat and veg.
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Stout, steak and kidney pie
Friday, October 15th, 2004Autum is here. The trees on the hills are blushing with the first colours of fall, mist creeps into the valley at night and the time has come for warm, comforting dishes.
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Denni