October 8th,2008

Tomatoes
The homegrown tomato have been doing exceptionally well after the initial panic of the plants not setting fruit. I think there were lots of folks having the same problem with their plants as I did and they set fruit rather late. These were started from seed back in February here and I nurtured them and tended their every need until it was time for them to go outside in their grow bags. This year I had even bought special grow bag supports to help them on their way to huge plants. And that they were!!! One was so tall it was twining into the honeysuckle bush! And this was my prize tomato!!!

I went out every day and inspected it and could hardly wait till it ripened. And we could enjoy it. Every visitor to the garden had to witness it's growth and oooooh and aaaaaaaah over it. And yet I waited for it to turn red.... well it started to turn a bit cold here and I thought hmm not warm enough at night for it to turn red.... So I picked it and some others that were just starting to turn.... and it ripened inside and turned a lovely shade of red with it's tiger stripes.

And yes it was well worth the wait and how else to eat this but just on it's own. No adornments, no cooking involved.... just as it was and it was very lovely and had a flavour all it's own to just savour.

The garden has produced quite an abundance of crops for me to use in my cooking and if you could just see our little garden you would be amazed at what I get from it.

The tomato plants that I worried over are now finally gone, but we are still enjoying their fruits and I am already thinking of next years crop and I may well start this next lot in January!!!

Sweet Corn and Potato Veggy Cakes

The tiny sweet corn is from our garden. Again next year I plan to start these a bit earlier and maybe try more than just the three plants that I had. The potato cakes were a bit of an experiment. I took some mashed potatoes and added some leftover veggies from the supper the previous night. With the way the economy is and all the talk about recycling and using up food and stuff I thought I would have a go at trying to do my part. To the mash just mix in any leftover chopped veg you have and an egg. Mix together and add a handful of shredded cheese. Form into patties and dip into an egg wash and then into flour. You can let sit for up to an hour or so in the fridge to firm up. Then fry in hot oil until heated through and golden. I made a tomato red pepper sauce to go over them... Just heat some chopped tinned tomatoes or use fresh and some chopped red pepper and some chopped onion. Heat through with a tsp of sugar and some balsamic vinegar. You can add some oregano and black pepper too if desired. Serve hot over the potato veggy cakes.

Veggy Fritters or Veggy Pancakes

Again trying to do my bit and using up some leftover veg I mixed the chopped veg with some chopped fresh chard leaves and some finely minced garlic to about a cup and a half of bisquick mix (it is an American flour shortening mix that is a base for all sorts of things like cakes, pancakes, scones, breads, etc.... A very versatile mix.) an egg, and some milk to make the right consistency. Fry in batches in olive or vegetable oil. Keeping them warm in the oven until ready to serve. You can serve with the tomato sauce as described in the potato cake recipe, but I just love them plain. And are great cold the next day. Again a handful of grated cheese is also very nice as is your choice of herbs.

Grilled Goats Cheese and Beetroot Stuffed Peppers

Okay first off you start by planting and growing some beet root. Sorry, you can buy some too... But this was from our garden. And was just boiled until tender. Then sliced. Take some Romano peppers and cut a slit in the side and deseed. Then rub with olive oil and place in the oven to partially cook.... take out and fill with alternate slices of beetroot and goats cheese. Sprinkle over some balsamic vinegar and some olive oil and a sprinkling of pine nuts and a grinding of fresh black pepper. Then back under a grill until melted and golden. Serve with salad fresh from the garden if possible with more fresh tomatoes and some cucumber chopped.

Gingersnaps
For some strange reason I have been craving ginger lately. Maybe it is because the weather here has turned cool and we have had several days that would rival any winter day we have had since I moved here. So maybe it is the warming qualities of ginger that I am wanting to rid the chill of the approaching winter chill. There is one thing that I think could make these even better and I have yet to try it, but I am thinking maybe some chopped up chunks of stemmed ginger mixed in right before baking. I will report back on this when I remember to by some stemmed ginger from the grocery store.

Gingersnaps
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter or margarine
1 egg
¼ cup black treacle or molasses
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking soda(bicarbonate)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon or more ground ginger
Preheat oven to 180C. Cream sugar and butter. Beat in the egg and treacle. Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed. If desired, chill dough for easier handling. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet(I use the non stick Teflon sheets). Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until the edges are set. About 48 cookies.
If you use self rising flour, omit the bicarb and salt.

August 18th, 2008

Pastry
There is one thing that I rarely buy here and that is shortcrust pastry premade. I more often than not make my own. I will buy phyllo or Puff, but not shortcrust. And at this point in time I haven't made the watercrust pastry that pork pies are famous for. I guess I need to give that a go sometime.
I hardly ever measure my flour, butter, salt and water for my pastry. There are loads of recipes out there on quantities to use. Once you find the one that works best then stick to it and practice. So make pies!!!! This day I wanted to make a vegetable and ham quiche to use up some of the garden produce.

First off make sure you rub your butter and salt into your flour. Until it looks like this....

I tend to only use the tips of my fingers on my right hand. As someone somewhere said that if you need to answer the phone or do something then have one hand clean. So I try to stick to this rule.

Next add just enough cold water to get your dough to come together into a ball. At this stage you can cover it with cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator. But I never have that luxury of time to let it rest.

Make sure your surface and your rolling pin have plenty of flour on them. Turn the pastry a quarter of a turn and I even turn mine over while rolling out to the desired thickness.
Oh you may see specks in my pastry. By now you should know I never leave well enough alone or follow a recipe to the letter. Since I was making a quiche I added in some dried herbs with the flour and butter. You can add all sorts at the beginning. Sugar for extra sweetness in desserts and to help in the browning and crisping. Or Cheese for a savoury crust too. These little things are what make the dishes special.

Once the pastry is rolled out to the desired thickness and size then fold it in half.

And then half again.

My grand mother taught me this trick.... Bring your dish to the pastry.

And just put it over the edge like this. I have seen where folks use the rolling pin but I always have trouble with that method. This one seems to work for me.

Then basically unfold your pastry into your pie dish.

You can make adjustments if need be.

Now gently lift the edges and lightly pat down so the pastry doesn't tear. If you should happen to get a tear, not to worry. Take a bit of the over hang and brush the tear with water and gently press the extra bit into the tear. Don't be afraid to work with pastry. The more you do it the better you get.

You can flute the edges or just leave to over hang and then trim after wards. I just basically pushed mine up a bit and made a lip.

Next line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. These are little ceramic beads that you can get at any cooking shop. Or just use dried beans to keep the pastry flat. I never prick the bottom of my pastry as I plan to pour a liquid into it and I don't want it seeping out if possible. This by the way is called Blind baking. Put into about a 180C (350F)oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it as you don't want it to brown, just set a bit. Then remove the beans and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Now for the quiche bit..... This is really nice with layered Phyllo pastry too. With herbs between the buttered layers of phyllo.

Either blanch or saute your vegetables first. I had broccoli, courgettes, Chard stalks and some sugar snap peas that I cooked for a minute or two in the microwave. Just to soften a bit. Then sauteed some mushrooms, onion, and red pepper with a bit of garlic. And at the last minute I put in some Chopped chard leaves just to wilt.

I next tucked in some sliced torn ham, and some cubed pieces of Gruyere cheese. And sprinkled over some fresh herb leaves and flowers. You can use dry too. Here I used thyme, Oregano, basil and some chive and sage. Then sprinkle over the top some grated cheese. This again is according to taste and to what is at hand. I used some Cheddar and some Parmesan.

Next is the custard mix..... Take a large measuring jug, mine is 500ml. Put in 3 to 4 eggs, I should have used 4 as the vegetables were a bit on the juicy side. Add in about 2 heaping tablespoons of creme fraiche or double cream and then top up to the measure with milk.

You can add some salt, freshly grated black pepper and herbs to this mix too.


Next pour this mixture into the quiche. Making sure to get evenly poured around the dish.
Bake in a 190 to 200C (375-400F) oven for about 30 to 45 minutes. Testing it for doneness by sticking a butter knife in to see if it comes out clean in the middle. If not then stick it in longer.
Ideally you should let your quiche set for at least 10 t0 15 minutes before serving. But when you have three hungry adults who have been smelling it baking, well.......

As I said it was a little on the juicy side. The remedy to that would have been to add another egg and it would have helped. Also I think if I had used double cream instead of cream fraiche too that could have helped also. But as you can tell there was nothing at all wrong with the flavour. That piece was wolfed done by me the next day for breakfast. YUM!!!! Quiches can be eaten either hot or cold.

Sliced White Bread
All of a sudden Brian and I have been buying loaves of sliced white bread. It started out because of the summer puddings I have been making. We haven't bought a loaf in years, not since we started doing our own baking in the bread machine. And if we did it was never just plain sliced white bread.
But we have been really bad here lately and I expect we have gone through at least 4 loaves in the last few months. Besides the summer puddings, we have been enjoying good ole peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! And who can resist a good ole grilled sarnie!!!

These contained nice slices of smoked ham, mature cheddar and slices of onion and a good Dijon mustard. We do try to limit ourselves to just one sandwich per lunch. I serve with a fresh salad of lettuces from the garden so feel it is a little healthy.

And these lovely toasted slices are covered in grilled portebello mushrooms that have been drizzled with olive oil, minced garlic and some slices of mozzarella cheese. Again served on a fresh garden salad.
Well besides my tagine I bought us a slicer..... Now I just need a decent white bread recipe.... And we will be back to baking our own. I did make a Delicious loaf of rye bread this past week and another of light wholemeal. So we are going back to the healthy bread baking. The slicer works brilliant by the way. And hopefully soon I can get a roast and try it out on that.

Lamb Tagine

I am really enjoying Tagine cooking!!!!! Talk about easy!!!! I bought some lamb steaks and just pan fried them in a little olive oil and the spice blend from Barts (Baharat). Then added some sliced carrots and onions and some garlic chopped. Added this to the tagine base and poured some orange juice into the pan to deglaze. Added to the lamb and carrots... Little salt and pepper and a cinnamon stick, and 4 whole cloves and sprinkled more Baharat over. Then into the oven 180 for 1 hour. While that was cooking soaked some dried apricots and prunes. Then put into the tagine with a good drizzle of honey. Back into the oven for another 1/2 hour. You can take the lid off and cook for a bit longer if your liquid hasn't thickened or cheat like me and add a bit of chicken bisto (gravy mix) to the pot and stir and back for another 5 to 10 minutes. While this was cooking I made some plain basmati rice. Brian cleaned his plate and gave his approval by saying we could have it again.

August 10th, 2008

Tagine

Well Brian and I haven't gone away on holiday this year, so I thought I would treat my self to a new kitchen gadget and maybe have an exotic meal right here at home. So I bought a Tagine from Lakelands. First off for those who don't know what a Tagine is, it is a Moroccan stew and you cook it in this funny shaped pot. The purpose of this weird shape is to keep the stew moist because the liquid steam actually ends up running back down into the cooking vessel keeping the food moist while it is cooked slowly. While I was at it I also treated myself to a new spice blend. It comes from Bart and is called Baharat. If you haven't tried this spice blend I can recommend it. Wow!!!! It is spicy and sweet and exotic all wrapped up into one. I have fallen for it in the short time I have used it and I know it will be used more often in my cooking.
I read the little pamphlet that came with the tagine. And one of my French cooking magazine to see how you go about using this pot and cooking a tagine. And came up with my own recipe with things I had on hand. Alot of tagines combine meat, vegetables and fruit it seems.... So this was my very first one....


First I made some meatballs by taking a packet of mince and putting the mince in a bowl. To this I added about a tablespoon of the Baharat spice blend, a teaspoon or so of cinnamon, some smoked paprika, a crushed clove of garlic and about 1/4 cup or more of bread crumbs and mixed all together by hand. Shape into meat balls and fry in a non stick skillet with a little olive oil.
Now in the base of the tagine, I opened a can of chopped tomatoes and put those in and sprinkled over some sultanas. Then put the cooked meatballs in. Then next I added some sliced onion wedges and some green and red pepper slices. A handful of green olives that had been pitted and the juice and zest of a lemon. I cooked this at 190 for about 45 minutes. I think it could have gone for a bit longer, but it was really lovely served up with some hot basmati rice. And some fresh garden vegetables served alongside.

These lovely beans are from my friends allotment. She asked me to watch over it while she was away and to pick some of the veg. Aren't these beans just a beautiful colour!!!!

The next night I had to try this tagine cooking again. Brian wasn't overly keen on the first recipe, but this one he complimented me on it, saying he would have that again.

Pork Chop Tagine

Okay this one I started by coating the pork chops in some of the Baharat spice blend and pan frying them in a little olive oil. While they were browning I chopped up three carrots and put in the base of the tagine. The added chopped onion, some dates, some dried apricots, some lemon slices some whole almonds, sprinkled over some of the baharat spice blend and then added two quartered tomatoes. Then the chops on top. The pan I deglazed with a little brandy and water. Poured this over the chops and vegetables and then baked in a 180C oven for about 1 and a half hours. This I served with mashed potatoes. And it was a definite winner!!!!

I think possibly this combination would also be nice with lamb. And as if this weren't enough to eat we had some summer pudding for dessert. Let's just say I had a very hard time sleeping that night from being over stuffed.

Just for information the tin of Baharat spice blend says it contains Paprika, Coriander, Black Pepper, Cumin, Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg, and Cardamom.


Little Yellow Plums
Last year, my friend Fiona over at Cottage Smallholder had written a blog about hedgerow gathering and plums that made me envious. I had spied some little yellow globes of fruit that year too on one of our walkways around the estate, noticing them just rotting on the ground. So I questioned her and her commenters as to what these could be. I had never seen yellow plums. To me plums are purple or red. These little gems are upon closer study are called Mirabelles or Mirrabelles in German cooking. I think either Fiona or a friend called them Cherry plums. Well this year I wasn't going to let them all rot on the ground. Brian said I would get into trouble taking them as they belong to the school whose property they are growing on. But they overhang the fence and these were on the pathway. To me fair game, besides school isn't in session and I don't think they even know they are there if they did want to come in and pick them. Besides I only had about a cup or two of them. Not like I picked all the trees clean.

Once I brought my little treasures home the thinking of what to do with them started.... Fiona said back then why not pick them and do something special..... Well I did. I found a recipe for a plum chutney and I cut it in half. Besides if it wasn't going to taste very nice who would want all that chutney?
So here is my recipe for my special plums. The original says it makes 2 lbs of chutney, but I got one and a bit of a jam jar with my version.

PLUM CHUTNEY
151 g. cooking apple (I used 2 small to med sized braeburns)
76 g. onion chopped
76 g. sultanas chopped
227 g. chopped plums
95 ml malt vinegar
1/4 tsp nutmeg(I probably used a bit more)
1/4 tsp each ground ginger, cayenne pepper and dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
2 whole cloves
30 g. soft brown sugar
Peel and core and chop roughly the apples. Peel and chop the onion. Place each in separate sauce pans with lids and put in a bit of water and boil at a simmer until they are translucent and soft. Chop the sultanas and stone and chop the plums. Place onions, raisins, plums and apples into one of the saucepans(I used the larger of the two pans). Add 1/2 of the vinegar, all of the spices and salt. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer very gently, uncovered, stirring frequently for about 45 minutes.

Next add in the remaining vinegar and the brown sugar and continue cooking as before for a further 45 minutes to an hour, or until thickened. Remove the cloves. (I still have mine in!!!)

Pour the hot chutney into hot dry jars and seal.


Now I know you need to let chutney mature..... so I have stuck mine into the fridge for a week or so before we try it. But if the pan scrapings are anything to go by.... This is going to be very nice with a bit of cheddar cheese and biscuits and a nice glass of wine.

June 11th, 2008

Okay we have finally had some lovely weather here so that means salads and BBQs. I have posted before about how to do the corn on the BBQ, so I won't do that again, although my friend Fiona at Cottage Small holder has come up with a yummy idea I want to try for my next BBQ. She posted on her blog about doing some stuffed vegetables and I don't see why you couldn't do them and then cover in foil and put on the BBQ. So going to give that a go next BBQ we have.
Quinoa
I have seen this ingredient here and there in different cooking magazines and food blogs so I had to try it. It is a grain that you cook very similar to cous cous and Bulghar wheat. Only this one has a neat curlyque.

First you need to rinse it well in cold water. Now this isn't very easy as the grains are really small.

I have adapted this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine.
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed well. Place into a sauce pan along with 3 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium low once it comes to the boil. and simmer until the water is absorbed about 10 to 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and then spread onto a shallow plate or baking sheet to cool.
When cool, fluff again and transfer to a large bowl.
To make the salad:
1 1/2 cups finely diced tomato, you can deseed if you like, but personally I prefer the seeds.
1 cup finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 cup finely diced cucumber
1/2 cup thinly sliced spring onions or chopped onion
Mix well with the Quinoa in the bowl.
To make the dressing:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, juice of 1 whole lemon or more to taste(I would include the zest next time too and maybe some lime zest and juice), 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and toss with the salad. Let the flavours mingle for 2 hours before serving or over night. Adjust seasoings to taste. I also added a bit of dried oregano.
This was nice and refreshing for a change to a lettuce salad. I will be trying different recipes using this grain again.

Here I served it with Pork medallions cooked in a creamy onion mustard sauce with Butterbean mash and steamed asparagus and some cherry tomatoes. Very filling! But very Yummy!!!
I also made a plum ginger cake but we were too stuffed to even have a piece of it.
But here is how I did the cake.
Plum Ginger Cake
Makes one 9 inch square cake.
Preheat ove to 160C. Prepare your cake pan, by greasing with butter and dusting with flour.
Take 100 g softened butter and mix with 100 g caster sugar. Beat in 2 eggs one at a time. Mix together 100 g self raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder. Sift the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. I also added about a teaspoon or so of chopped fresh peeled ginger. Mix well and then place in baking tin. Bake for 10 minutes and then top with this mixture....
4 small plums sliced, 1 tablespoon of flour, 3 tablespoons of brow sugar and about 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger. Mix together and then drop onto the part bake cake. Back into the oven for about 20 minutes or so until the cake tests done with a toothpick. I made a quick little icing to drizzle over the cooled cake. Melt about a teaspoon or so of butter in a jug mix well with some icing sugar and then thin with some milk to desired consistency. Drizzle over cake.
This is lovely served with vanilla ice cream.

Grilled Goats Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Take two long red peppers and slice a bit open so you can take out the seeds and membrane. Leave the stem on. Rub with olive oil and place some goats cheese slices inside. Drizzle with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and place under the grill. Grill till cheese is bubbly and peppers are al dente. Sprinkle with some pine nuts and drizzle with some pesto. Serve with some grilled ciabatta and fresh salad leaves.

Like I said we have been having quick salad types of meals. Hope you enjoy!!!

June 6th 2008

Hi all...... Well I am still here.... and still blogging. They say that most blogs don't last more than a few months.. Well mine is now a few days over a year old!!! I have met alot of lovely new friends in this past year and we all have at least one thing in common, our passion for food. So hopefully this blog will be here again in another year's time with more recipes and more new friends.

The past few weeks have been not very adventurous in the cooking department. Although I did make flour tortillas from scratch....

My Mexican cookbook says to take 2 cups (250g) of sifted plain flour and with 1/2 teaspoon salt place in a mixing bowl. Rub in 60g margarine or butter(traditionally you would use lard)with your fingertips until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add enough water to mixture to for a soft dough. About 1/3 to 2/3 (80 to 160ml) warm water. Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 equal portions and shape into balls. Brush each ball with a little vegetable oil to coat and place in a bowl. Cover with a dry cloth and allow to stand for 15 minutes. (This is an important step in it allows the dough to relax.) Roll out dough portions on a lightly floured surface to form tortillas about 20 cm in diameter. (the size will depend on your frying pan)

Preheat a dry, heavy-based frypan over a medium heat. Cook tortillas for about 30 seconds each side or until speckled and cooked through. I think mine took a little longer. Stack cooked tortillas into a basket or bowl lined with a cloth to keep warm and flexible. I only did 8 tortillas so mine were a little larger in size which I wanted to use as Wraps for sandwiches later on.

But 4 of them made these lovely Burritos.


How I made my burritos was take some butter nut squash and pan fry along with some chopped onion. Mix into 1 tin of chili beans in a sauce pan and then fry up some chopped halloumi cheese. You can add some herbs and spices to taste. I used a bit of garlic chopped, oregano, chili powder and fresh ground cumin seeds.

The rice was easy to fix too.
Cook long grain rice in Chicken stock along with a tin of chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, some frozen sweet corn and frozen peas. Add a few spices and herbs and when rice has cooked serve with some grated cheddar cheese.

This was a really quick and yummy meal. The leftover tortillas make great wraps for any sort of sandwich filling you desire. We just had salad and sliced ham in ours.

I may experiment a bit more with the tortillas and make my own tomato and possibly spinach ones.

I did come across a new product at the grocery store a few weeks ago...

sorry for the lousy photo..... The camera decided not to play ball that day. Anyway it is Maldon Smoked Sea Salt....... Ohhhhhhh the smell is soooooooo lovely. The only problem I have had with it is if you cook with it, you loose the flavour of the smoke. I just love the smell..... like a campfire on a lovely autumnal evening. I have been having fun trying it on all sorts of dishes. But personally, I think if you are to use it I would use it sprinkled onto the food at the table. Brian and I don't salt our food at the table so seems a bit of a waste. Although it says it is a good seasoning for fish. Any way I can recommend just getting a box to have a good sniff occasionally.
Hmmmmm wonder what it would be like on a baked potato.....

April 29th, 2008

Retirement is keeping me on the busy side here. I thought when you retired you retired.... well it seems to be busier here than before I retired, but one thing is I am not feeling so tired. Well except for the late nights we have been staying up watching telly. I still get up fairly early but take the mornings in my stride so far. So yes, I am enjoying the retirement.



Since this is a food blog, I thought I would mention a situation we are having with the cats and their diets. We took Cheeky in for his yearly check up and the vet has suggested we put him on a diet. Seems he is a bit overweight...and she is concerned about diabetes and arthritis in his later years. So we are trying to get his weight down here. The problem is we have two cats. And the other one is probably underweight. Jingles has an eating problem and has to have food little and often, so when he eats, Cheeky thinks he has to too. I have been desperately trying to exercise Cheeky too. We do a sort of push up the stairs and then run down them, catch the mouse on the string and feathers on a fishing rod. The thing is, Cheeky is just plain lazy. He lays down to play, I have to tap his back legs to get him to go up the stairs with my fingers and careful he doesn't sit on them in the process. So this is proving to be a challenge and if anyone has any tips on cat dieting I would appreciate them.


Miss Mag's Tea Bread
When I first moved to the UK I wasn't allowed to work for about 6 months or so, but when I did finally get my first job here I met a lovely lady that I dubbed Miss Mags. She was really sweet to me and this is a recipe she shared with me and when I bake it I always think of her.

Take 1 cup of Tea and soak 1 cup of dried mixed fruit in it for about an hour or you can do over night, mixed with 1 cup of brown sugar.
Once the fruit has soaked, add in 1 egg, 2 cups self rising flour.
Bake at 170C for about 1 hour in a well greased and floured loaf tin.
That is it. Really quick and easy and tastes lovely.
Now you should know me by now, I can't leave well enough alone and this bread can change from time to time to something totally different with different additions.
Sometimes instead of the mixed dried fruit, I will use dried apricots, or a mix of my own dried fruits. Fig is lovely in it. Also I will sometimes add nuts. And sometimes a big heaping tablespoon of marmalade is lovely, the one with lots of rind in it. Also you can top it before baking with some cinnamon and sugar mixed for a lovely coating. It is great served with butter or with cream cheese and a nice cup of tea. Thanks Mags!!!

Spinach

My spinach is doing really well in the garden and coming up with recipes to use it has been fun and challenging, because Brian doesn't like cooked spinach. I on the other hand love it. So I have been sneaking it into lots of different dishes lately.
Risotto is excellent for adding all sorts of veggies to that folks don't like as sometimes they really can't taste it separately from all the other ingredients.
This one I made with mushroom, onion, Smoked sausage, butternut squash and the chopped spinach and chard. It really turned out nice.

I have also been disguising it stuffed in chicken breasts. Take some cream cheese and mix with some sauteed onion and garlic, a few chopped herbs, and some quick stir fried spinach that has been chopped. Add in some pine nuts for texture. Cut a slit into your chicken breast and stuff. Place into a baking dish with oil and sliced onions, top the chicken breasts with bread crumbs and a drizzle of oil and herbs. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes at 180 to 190 C(Fan) until chicken is cooked.

I served on a bed of spinach and bean spaghetti.
For the spaghetti, I boiled a big pot of water and cooked the pasta as normal. For the sauce, take a large frying pan (I use my non stick wok) and saute some chopped onion and garlic, mushrooms and red pepper chopped. About 5 minutes, next add in a tin of Cannelini beans that have been drained and rinsed and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Add in seasonings and herbs to taste then toss in the spaghetti and right before serving toss in some spinach and cook just till wilted. Sprinkle over some fresh grated Parmesan and enjoy.

Now what to do with left over spaghetti. Usually I have it the next day for breakfast, but I accidentally cooked even more than I could eat for breakfast. So I had a look through my cooking magazines and found this recipe for using up the spaghetti. It is from an old copy of BBC Good Food Vegetarian, December 1999. Yes, I keep all my old cooking mags.

Courgette and Spaghetti Fritata

This is my version. Preheat your grill/broiler.
Saute in some olive oil a chopped onion, chopped clove of garlic and some chopped red bell pepper. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add in 1 large courgette that has been cut into long thin strips. Some fresh oregano. Toss in your leftover spaghetti. Mix well. (Now make sure and use a non stick pan for this or you will have a mess on your hands.) Add in 3 well beaten eggs and some grated Parmesan. Cook over moderate heat till the base is set. Then place under the grill and cook until golden brown. Garnish with shavings or gratings of fresh Parmesan cheese and some warmed up tomato sauce.
Really quick and a super yummy way to use up the spaghetti. And I could have added in some more spinach!!! Maybe next time.