recipe Archives - Page 29 of 35 - All That I'm Eating

Kohlrabi and Carrot Salad with Broccoli Stir Fry

March 30, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

I get a seasonal vegetable box delivered. I like it because it forces me to try new vegetables and recipes to make the most out of what I have. I shouldn’t admit it but I’m going to: there are some vegetables I could live without. It’s terrible I know but I could happily frolic through life without missing celery or leeks. There are also some vegetables that I adore for a short time but when they turn up in my fridge over and over again I’m tempted to put them on the compost. There’s only so much cabbage a person can eat without genuine fear of becoming a brassica. This recipe was devised because of the cornucopia of vegetables residing in the fridge. You know it’s time to use up as many as possible when you can no longer close the door.

Kohlrabi was the most intriguing vegetable of the lot; it looks a bit like an octopus. Dinner was to be designed around a loving partnership of kohlrabi and carrot. Toasting sesame seeds is one of my favourite smells.

For two people:

For the carrot and kohlrabi salad:

a quarter of a kohlrabi, peeled and julienned
three small carrots, peeled and julienned
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
black pepper
2 tbsp of toasted black sesame seeds

For the broccoli stir fry:

Handful purple sprouting broccoli, woody ends removed and chopped
1 large red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 sachet miso soup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Oil for frying

2 noodle nests

I always remove the ends of the purple sprouting broccoli as I can find them to be a bit woody. You could leave the broccoli stalks in their entirety but they might be a tad tricky to consume gracefully at the table. read more

Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Garlic Infused Olive Oil and Parmesan Pasta

March 24, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

Purple sprouting broccoli has to be one of my favourite vegetables. Its arrival on my plate with the warmer weather tells me that in a few weeks time I will be enjoying asparagus. It’s delicate appearance and slightly sweet taste is brilliant with so many foods. I like mine nice and simple; with copious amounts of garlic infused oil and coronary shattering piles of Parmesan. read more

Rhubarb Sorbet and Shortbread

March 19, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 22 Comments

Rhubarb has been making a few appearances of late and there are only so many crumbles you can eat without wishing for a little variety. Rhubarb has so far featured on here as Rhubarb and Custard and Rhubarb and Blood Orange Compote. It’s been with something else; something to cushion the blow of its out and out sourness. Now is the time to embrace the wonderful cheek puckering that rhubarb provides with a decadent rhubarb sorbet.

I managed to get hold of some delicate Champagne rhubarb and set about making my sorbet. Two large sticks of rhubarb weighed around 500g which turned out to make enough sorbet for four. Discard the ends of the rhubarb before cutting into inch sized pieces. Put the chopped rhubarb in a pan with small amount of water and about 80g in total of sugar. When I make sorbet I always add a tablespoon of glucose syrup and half the sugar I think I’ll need. The glucose syrup gives it a certain texture; it sort of makes it sticky and gives a thicker mouth feel. read more

Sausage Rolls Four Ways

March 14, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 20 Comments

A good sausage roll is like a hug from an old friend. There’s something about its warmth, flaking pastry and well seasoned squidgy middle. I thought that interfering with something so simple would be a travesty but it was in fact a revelation. I like to think of them as spruced up sausage rolls or sausage rolls with attitude.

Originally I was just going to put a few caramelised onions in with the sausage meat but then I started thinking of other flavours; rosemary and fennel to start. With these new found thoughts I made a batch of eight sausage rolls, two of each of the following flavours; caramelised onion, herbs, fennel and olive. I think a nice spicy tomato chutney would have been brilliant too.

First of all make the caramelised onions. I used a whole onion, fried gently in butter for 20 minutes until soft and starting to brown then added sugar, salt and pepper. They were wonderfully sticky. While the onions are cooking; crush some fennel seeds, chop a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, parsley and chives and finely chop a few olives. read more

Jerusalem Artichoke Gratin, Buttered Spring Greens and Sausages

March 3, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

The daffodils are out which means Spring has sprung. Now is the time you might be considering giving your home a Spring clean. Coincidentally, Jerusalem artichokes are in supply at the moment and can assist with your Spring cleaning; that is, if you are also planning to clean your…for want of a better word…insides. Jerusalem artichokes will never win most attractive vegetable of the year but for what they lack in manners and appearance they more than make up for in taste.

The sausages I had for this were some lovely, local chipolatas from a fantastic butcher. My butcher not only knows everything there is to know about meat, he knows a fair few things about vegetables. I heeded his advice about cooking the spring greens and they turned out brilliantly – see below.

Jerusalem artichokes aren’t very big and to make the most of them I needed a helping hand from the potato. In total you need 450g finely sliced and peeled artichokes and potatoes. You don’t have to peel the artichokes if you give them a good scrub but I did. They have a tendency to go brown very quickly once peeled so speed is of the essence here.
Layer the finely sliced potatoes and artichokes in a baking dish, seasoning between each layer. Mix together 120ml cream and 180ml milk and pour this over. Place in an oven at 170C for an hour and twenty minutes. read more

Spring Green and Bacon Potato Cakes with Cheddar and Chive Sauce

February 27, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 23 Comments

Spring greens offer so much in their name. They suggest that either spring is here or is just around the corner, they have disguised their cabbage relations with their seasonal pseudonym. I happen to think that spring greens also deliver a lot. They look shrivelled and unwelcoming with their leaves closed to the outside world but once you start to snap them off and slice them up they are wonderfully versatile. As a relation to the cabbage, spring greens lend themselves particularly well to a pairing with bacon. Spring greens and bacon are a delectable combination but don’t make for much of a meal on their own. However, when mixed into some mashed potato and smothered in a rich cheese and chive sauce, what a meal it makes.

For the potato cakes:
600g potatoes (Maris Piper are ideal)	£0.54
Milk and butter (for the mash)	£0.20
6 rashers smoked, streaky bacon	£1.50
4-5 big leaves savoy cabbage (or Spring greens)	£0.20
Salt and pepper	£0.02

For the cheese sauce:
25g butter	£0.15
25g plain flour	£0.02
300ml milk	£0.10
75g strong cheddar cheese	£0.85
Small handful fresh chopped chives	£0.40


Total	£3.98

First and foremost make some mashed potato. Maris Pipers I found to be particularly good; they are fluffy enough to make mash like a cloud and yet waxy enough to hold the greens and bacon in. Mash your potatoes as you see fit; add milk, butter, cream and anything you fancy but don’t forget the salt and pepper. While the potatoes are boiling away, slice some bacon and fry in a pan. Snap the leaves of the spring greens off and shred it finely. Add to the bacon and carry on frying until lovely and golden. For two people I used four rashers of bacon and five large spring green leaves. read more

Classic French Onion Soup

February 23, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

For some reason I have a bit of a thing for French food. It’s the food that never fails to put a smile on my face; partly because of the flavours but also because it’s a great excuse to showcase local, British ingredients in different ways. It’s a funny time of year, I feel it’s almost time to crack out a salad but at the same time I still want comfort and warmth. What better than the absolute classic French onion soup?

There’s nothing quite like it, it wraps you up from the inside out but at the same time remains quite clean and almost guilt free. Considering it’s basically boiled onions in beef stock, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, it delivers on so many levels. There’s sweetness, depth and texture with every mouthful. There are so many different ways of making French onion soup/onion soup and after looking at several versions I was able to ascertain the most important ingredients are: onions, beef stock, alcohol and Gruyère. I went into soup making with full gusto. read more

Boeuf Bourguignon with Dauphinoise and Purple Sprouting Broccoli

February 9, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 12 Comments

Beautiful, traditional and French; a perfect meal for Valentine’s Day. This one’s a winner because the bottle of wine you need for the boeuf bourguignon you can then drink with the meal or yourself during the preparation as a reward for all your hard work. Being a slow cooking dish means once it’s on the go you don’t need to worry about it and you can get on with other things. If that wasn’t enough, it’s also incredible and actually quite cheap.

Preparing the meat can be as difficult or easy as you like. Valentine’s Day brings out our flirtatious side and, not that I would advocate it of course, projecting a little of this new found eyelash fluttering on your butcher may result in your chosen cut being prepared for you. I’m not sure it would work with your greengrocer though. I used brisket for mine which needed a fair bit of trimming and preparing but I quite like doing that. read more

Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

February 7, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

This is the first of a three part post for Valentine’s Day. It’s designed to be seasonal, sumptuous, divine and stress free. The quantities are meant for two. The dessert is one that can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge; the main is meant for long cooking so you have ample time to make the simple starter. All this spare time means you’re not rushing around desperately trying find that Barry White CD at the last minute. After all, it’s your Valentine’s dinner too. read more

Sloe Port – how to use leftover sloes

February 4, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 34 Comments

Luscious sloe gin will inevitably result in spare berries when sloes and gin are separated. There is only so much sloe chocolate you can eat and extra sloe gin you can make. I was informed by a kind friend that sloe port was worth a try but receptacles were thin on the ground. Fortunately my Granny had given me a Rumtopf a while back which was perfect for transforming my gin soaked berries into deep red port. This port takes around four months from start to finish and it really is worth the wait. Depending on when you pick the sloes, make the gin and start the port the whole process can take six months or more but you end up with something rather special.

Top Tips

First and foremost separate the gin from the berries. Not as easy as it sounds; one kilo of sloe berries fills a much larger space than the average sieve provides. I would recommend the bath rather than the kitchen sink to help stop any escaping berries and gin. Once this task has successfully been completed, make the sloe port. When making my sloe gin I ignored the advice to use cheap gin. I’ve tried sloe gin using cheap gin and nicer gin and it does seem to make a difference. I applied the same rule to the port; I used wine I would have been happy to drink.

Variations

Sloe port is a brilliant way to use up leftover sloe berries and makes something a little different. If you want to use the sloe berries another way, you can simply add more gin and sugar and make another batch of sloe gin.

To find out what the sloe port turned out like you can find the taste test here. It also makes a fantastic sloe port jelly to serve with cheese.

After the sloes have been decanted from the port, they can be used again to make some sloe chocolate truffles.

Pin my Sloe Port recipe for later! read more