Friday 31 January 2014

Keith Floyd's garlic chicken

My sister-in-law showed me this recipe when I last saw her on New Year's Eve. I have to admit I didn't pay that much attention to it at the time (I was watching Julie and Julia), so when O suggested I make it, it took a bit of online searching to find it. Eventually I came across it on this cycling forum:

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/pot-roast-chicken-with-100-cloves-of-garlic.86254/

It is an incredibly blokey recipe, I admit. I could not Cope with the amount of Capital Letters used in the Recipe and had to Correct them in my version below, which also includes little more detail than the bike shop boys give. The cycling forum version also suggests that wind (or, as they call it, Wind) might be a consequence of eating this recipe. I don't think you are actually supposed to eat all the garlic that you cook - in fact I think we stopped at 1 or 2 cloves. 

The cycling forum also suggests the chicken is served with tagliatelle and a balsamic-dressed salad. I served this with rice, and forgot to take a photo. Unfortunately, I don't think there will be a next time. 


Ingredients for Keith Floyd's garlic chicken


  • 1 large chicken
  • 12 bulbs* garlic
  • 250 ml red wine vinegar
  • I bunch fresh thyme

*Yes, bulbs.

How to make Keith Floyd's garlic chicken


Heat the oven to 180 degrees C
Break up the garlic bulbs into unpeeled cloves, keeping 2 bulb's worth of cloves separate from the rest.
Place these 2 bulb's worth of garlic inside the cavity of the chicken along with the thyme.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then rub all over with olive oil.
Place the remaining garlic in a large casserole dish for which you have a lid.
Put the chicken on top of the garlic.

Pour in the red wine vinegar.
Cover the pot with the lid and place in the oven for 60-75 mins.

Take the lid off and cook for another 30 to 40 mins - if it looks like it is drying out, add a little water.
 

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Soda bread

To go with the easiest soup in the world, here's the easiest bread in the world. It contains no yeast and so doesn't require proving and there's no kneading. Instead, bicarbonate of soda is used as the leavening agent, hence the name 'soda bread'.

I based my soda bread on the Delia Smith recipe which can be found in Delia's How to Cook Book 1. I haven't been able to find her recipe online so have outlined the differences between mine and Delia's versions here. My variations were based entirely on what ingredients I had in the kitchen. The resulting loaf made a pretty amazing accompaniment to leek and potato soup.


Soda bread* ingredients


*Delia calls hers Irish soda bread. 

  • 175g wholemeal flour (not wholemeal bread flour) plus extra for dusting
  • 50g plain flour
  • 50g medium oatmeal (Delia uses pinhead oatmeal)
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 275ml buttermilk or yoghurt - Delia specifies buttermilk since but I only had about 50ml I topped it up to the full amount with yoghurt.

Delia includes 25g wheatgerm in her recipe. I don't. Apparently it's very good for you. 


How to make soda bread

  1. Butter a 450g loaf tin.
  2. Heat the oven to the Magic Cooking Number, 190C.
  3. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  4. Add the egg to the buttermilk/yoghurt and beat together.
  5. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix together to form a stiff dough.
  6. Put the dough into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
  7. Sprinkle with a little additional flour.
  8. Bake for 50-60 minutes. 

Alternative soda bread recipe


Alternative soda bread

Following on from last weekend's experimental baking, I decided to have a go at another soda bread recipe. Again, the ingredients and quantities used were mainly based on what was in the cupboard, so I think a degree of flexibility is perfectly acceptable. 

Alternative soda bread ingredients

  • 50g medium oatmeal
  • 125ml water
  • 75g Greek yoghurt
  • 75ml milk
  • 1 teaspoon soft brown sugar
  • 175g wholemeal flour
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 15g butter

How to make alternative soda bread 

  1. Add the oatmeal to a large pan and cover with the water.
  2. Bring to the boil then turn off the heat.
  3. Cover with a lid and leave for 50 minutes.
  4. Beat the yoghurt, milk and sugar together and keep in the fridge till needed.
  5. After 50 minutes, add the butter to the oatmeal and beat until it disappears.
  6. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C (the Magic Cooking Number)
  7. Add the yoghurt mixture to the oatmeal and beat until smooth.
  8. Add the flour, bicarb and salt to the mixture and beat together to form a sticky dough.
  9. Butter and line a loaf tin.
  10. Tip the dough into the tin and cover the top, either with silicome paper if using, or tin foil.
  11. Bake for 15 minutes.
  12. Remove the foil/silicone and bake for another 30 minutes.



Monday 27 January 2014

Leek and potato soup

This has to be the easiest soup in the world to make, and surely one of the most satisfying to eat - it feels like putting on a big fluffy pair of slippers.

Goes perfectly with homemade soda bread. 
 

Leek and potato soup with homemade soda bread


My brother told me how to make this soup after having made it when he was in primary school. He is 33 now so does that mean I can call it 'an old family recipe'?


Leek and potato soup ingredients


  • Rapeseed oil*
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 large leeks
  • 2 medium floury potatoes
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • Plenty salt and pepper
  • A little grated Cheddar, to serve

*I doubt my brother recommended using rapeseed oil so feel free to substitute for olive or butter. 


How to make leek and potato soup


  1. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a large pan.
  2. Chop the onion finely and add to the pan.
  3. Put the lid on the pan and sweat the onions over a low heat while you prepare the leeks.
  4. Remove the outer leaves from the leeks, then chop into long batons. Slice each baton lengthways, then run under the cold tap to remove any soil.
  5. Slice the cleaned leeks into smaller pieces.
  6. Add to the onions and sweat until both are soft (about 10 minutes)
  7. Peel the potatoes and cut into even sized pieces.
  8. Add the vegetable stock to the pan.
  9. Add the potatoes and season with plenty salt and pepper.
  10. Put the lid back on the pan and bring everything to the boil.
  11. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender.
  12. Leave the soup to cool slightly, then either liquidise in a food processor or mash with a potato masher.
  13. Check the seasoning. 
  14. Sprinkle over a little grated Cheddar to serve.

Sunday 26 January 2014

Carrot and lentil soup

It's been raining for what seems like a year so I need to stock up my freezer with a selection of soups for lunch at work. While the best soups always contain cheese (cauliflower/broccoli and blue cheese, leek and potato with cheddar), lentils can turn an essentially dull vegetable soup into a satisfying meal, while still being healthy.

I was feeling lazy when I made this soup, and couldn't be bothered to dry roast and crush any fresh spices so I used pre-ground spices instead. The result was disappointing, until I upped the quantity used considerably. 

 

Carrot and lentil soup ingredients

  • 3 large carrots, peeled and grated
  • 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
  • 1/2 swede or a turnip
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 3 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric 
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon asafoetida
  • 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or other chilli sauce
  • 2 JOTs fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
  • I teaspooon fresh ginger paste
  • 150g red lentils, rinsed
  • 2 teaspoons Swiss bouillon stock powder
  • Rind of 1 orange
  • Plenty salt and black pepper
  • About 1 litre water 

 

How to make carrot and lentil soup


  1. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a large pan till hot.
  2. Add the chopped onion and celery and fry till soft and golden.
  3. Add the grated carrot and ginger, and cook for about 5 minutes over a low heat.
  4. Add the spices, approx 1 litre cold water and the lentils.
  5. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
  6. Add some boiling water to the Swiss bouillon stock powder and mix till dissolved and you have a watery liquid then pour this in the pan. 
  7. Add the grated orange zest and ginger paste. 
  8. Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before tasting and adding seasoning. 



Thursday 23 January 2014

Really complicated dahl soup

I made a really complicated dahl recipe by from the Guardian by Urvesh Parvais (me neither) when some friends came round for lunch on New Year's Day. As usual, I had tons left over, and as usual I turned the leftover dahl into soup.

Really complicated dahl soup
As I said, this dahl was really complicated. To give you an idea how complicated, here's the list of ingredients:


Complicated dahl ingredients

  • red lentils 250g
  • sunflower oil 3 tbsp 
  • dry chilli 1 
  • cumin seeds 1 heaped tsp 
  • asafoetida ¼ tsp 
  • garlic ½ small bulb, sliced 1mm 
  • onion ½, finely sliced
  • turmeric ½ level tsp 
  • salt 2 level tsp (then add to taste) 
  • ginger finely chopped 1½ heaped tbsp 
  • green chilli 2, finely chopped (adjust to your taste) 
  • dhana jeru (2 parts coriander seed, 1 part cumin seed) 3 heaped tsp 
  • fresh coriander ½ bunch (reserve a little for garnish), roughly chopped 
  • tomatoes 100g, roughly chopped 
  • jaggery (or sugar) 1½ level tsp (add less to begin with then adjust to taste) 
  • garam masalo ½ level tsp

I could go on to explain the extremely complicated method for making this dahl, but my guess is you're not going to bother making it, so I'm not going to bother writing it. If you fancy giving it a shot, go to the Guardian website.  

My friends did say that it was lovely dahl, though it was a little too thick for my liking. However, when I turned it into soup and had some at work it was way too garlicky. When I first read the recipe I wasn't sure if it really meant 1/2 bulb garlic, or if this was a typo and was meant to read 1/2 clove garlic. Deciding a clove was too little and a bulb too much, I think I settled on about 4 cloves. The garlic is sliced, not crushed, and half of it is added in the last 5-10 minutes' cooking time. It was these slices that I picked out of my soup, though admittedly they were slightly larger than the recommended 1mm thickness. Guiltily, I threw away the remaining portion of soup.

Polenta with tomato sauce


This recipe comes from the River Cottage Veg Book, my favourite (only) vegetarian cookery book. You can find the original recipe here.

However I used my own Magic Number tomato sauce recipe rather than the one in the book. As a rule, I never add even a pinch of sugar to tomato sauce.


Polenta. Meh
I hate any recipe that requires frying (other than onions etc) - I can't stand oil spluttering all over the place, hate things getting stuck to the pan and seem to have real problems flipping food over. So maybe this wasn't the best choice of recipe for me, but I wanted to give it a go.

As I anticipated I found the whole frying thing pretty stressful. I had to use way more oil than I'd like and the polenta slices still broke up. I found the results a bit 'meh', but was surprised that Ollie really liked it.

Having bought a pack of quick cook polenta especially to make this recipe, I now have an almost full packet left. So expect some more culinary polenta adventures soon.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Pumpkin soup

This soup turned out to be really quite hot - perfect for the first week in January back at work.

Pumpkin soup ingredients

  • 1 medium onion
  • 1/2 medium pumpkin
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1/2 tablespoon ginger purée 
  • 1/2 tablespoon homemade curry powder
  • 1 small hot red chilli
  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 200ml vegetable stock
  • Handful sweet corn

  How to make pumpkin soup

  1. Heat a little groundnut oil in a large pan.
  2. Chop the onion finely and sweat in the pan till soft (about 5 minutes).
  3. Chop the pumpkin into small chunks.  
  4. Grate the carrot. 
  5. Add the ginger puree and curry powder and stir for 30 seconds.
  6. Add the pumpkin and carrot and sweat for a couple of minutes.
  7. Pour in the coconut milk and vegetable stock.
  8. Pierce the chilli and add to the pan.
  9. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
  10. Simmer until the pumpkin is soft and beginning to collapse - about 20 minutes as a guide but the time will depend on the size of the pumpkin pieces. 
  11. Turn off the heat and leave to cool slightly.
  12. Fish out the chilli.
  13. Mash the pumpkin with a potato masher. You could liquidize the soup if you prefer, but I like a bit of texture.
  14. Sprinkle the sweet corn over the top of the soup before you serve. 
 
Pumpkin soup




Tuesday 7 January 2014

Chicken noodle soup


Not leftover roast chicken risotto

I'm so bored with being told that you can make a roast chicken last 3 days by making risotto with some of the leftover chicken and homemade stock. For me, risotto is monotonous stodge on a plate.

Go for something light like this healthy soup instead. You'll still have plenty stock left to freeze or use for thick chicken soup, and leftover cold roast chicken is a fine addition to any salad. 

Chicken noodle soup ingredients

 

  • 2 bowls homemade chicken stock
  • A handful mange tout
  • A handful kale leaves, roughly chopped
  • 4 spring onions, diagonally sliced
  • A splash dark soy sauce
  • A tiny splash nam pla
  • 1 bruised blade  lemongrass
  • 1/2 lime
  • 1/2 teaspoon chilli paste
  • I nest dried thin noodles
  • As much leftover roast chicken as you want to add

How to make chicken noodle soup


  1. Bring the chicken stock to a rolling boil in a medium-sized pan.
  2. Add the splashes of nam pla and dark soy sauce, together with the bruised lemongrass stalk and chilli paste.
  3. Add the noodles then after 1 minute drop in the vegetables and the cooked chicken. 
  4. Simmer for a minute or 2, until the chicken is warmed but the vegetables remain crunchy.
  5. Remove from the heat and ladle into individual bowls, then squeeze 1/4 lime into each bowl.

Thick chicken soup

For this soup I used the leftovers and stock from New Year's Eve's roast chicken with tarragon, so if you don't have any tarragon wilting in your fridge you can do without. 

  Thick chicken soup ingredients

  • About 700ml homemade chicken stock
  • 1 large leek
  • 1 large banana shallot
  • About 200ml milk
  • 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
  • 1 handful cooked chicken per person
  • About 3 sprigs tarragon
  • 1 medium potato

How to make thick chicken soup

  1. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a large pan.
  2. Finely chop the shallot and leek, add to the pan and sweat gently till soft.
  3. Add the stock to the pan.
  4. Peel the potato, chop into small cubes and add to the pan.
  5. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for about 20 minutes.
  6. Chop the tarragon very finely and add to the soup along with the milk and crème fraîche.
  7. Simmer for another 10 minutes - the potato should have collapsed completely and the soup thickened. If the soup is not as thick as you'd like, turn the heat up a little and continue to cook till it reduces and thickens.
  8. Add the cooked chicken, torn into pieces, just before you want to serve the soup to warm through. 
If you've made a big batch of soup to freeze or have later and only want a portion or two now, heat just enough soup and chicken as you need in a separate pan - if you heat then reheat the chicken it will get tough and taste awful. 

Salami and vegetable pasta with feta



Another really quick and easy pasta dish that can be ready in the time it takes your pasta to cook (unless you use fresh pasta which cooks in 2 minutes).  

Pasta with salami, vegetables and pasta ingredients

  • 1 medium or 2 large fresh plum tomatoes, chopped into 8th or quarters
  • 1 large handful frozen grilled mixed veg (from Waitrose, others may exist, I haven't found them if they do)
  • 1 large slice from a pack of feta (or half fat feta), crumbled
  • 1-2 tablespoons homemade pesto
  • 4 or 5  salami (I used a few slices of mixed salami from Aldi - some were actually a bit spicy)
  • Enough spaghetti for 2 people 

How to make salami and vegetable pasta with feta

  1. Put the pasta in a pan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes under the cooking time stated on the packet.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a frying pan to a high heat then add the frozen vegetables.
  3. Cut the salami into strips. 
  4. Cook the vegetables for a a few minutes till cooked through then turn off the heat.
  5. Add the tomatoes and salami to the vegetables and stir through. 
  6. Drain the pasta then tip it back into the pan and stir through the pesto.
  7. Add the vegetables and feta to the pasta and stir through.