Meal planning through Easter

Not quite an Easter bunny - but so cute!

Easter has been a bit of a non-event for us, so far, in the planning.  I suppose we don't really make a great deal of Easter now that son & heir is beyond believing in the Easter Bunny (more's the pity - I had great fun making paper bunny pawprints to put all around the house!).

In days gone by, the family would all assemble at someone's house (usually, when we were in the country, my Nanna & Gramps' house in Kingston) and there would be a re-creation of Christmas, except without the presents but with Easter eggs.  We'd have another Turkey - usually with a Roast Beef alongside - and so Easter would be marked.

These days, having been through a phase of attending either my parents' place or my Aunt & Uncle's place, Easter seems to have fallen off the map somewhat.  I can remember enjoying Easters in the past, so I feel a bit guilty that we're not making those family memories for son & heir - but circumstances change and the wider family just isn't there any more.

Also, I've contracted son & heir's sniffles - which have developed into a full blown (and "blown" is the right word) cold.  I am so fed up with not being able to breathe and with being either too hot or too cold.  As a consequence of all that, when I sat down on Sunday to work out the week's menu plan, it came as something of a surprise to discover there was an Easter Sunday in the middle of it all!

So, after all that whining and whingeing (apologies for that!), here's what we wound up with :

Tues : Asparagus tart & pasta salad

Wed : North Indian Chicken Curry with rice

Thurs : Bacon couscous stuffed red peppers with potato wedges

Fri : Sherried chicken casserole with broccoli and crusty bread

Sat : Smoky pork & black bean wraps with salsa and sour cream

Sun : King prawn & Peppadew risotto

Mon : Five spice beef & sugar snap peas with noodles.

Mmmmn, nom nom!  Sounds lovely, I think!

The Asparagus Tart is modelled on a tart recipe I saw in the latest BBC Good Food magazine.  I can't remember what they used for their tart, except for the asparagus laid from one side of the tart to the other, like a louvred window.  I liked that idea, so pondered on what could be used underneath the asparagus.  In the end, I opted for Philadelphia cheese (their sundried tomato & basil version) with some streaky bacon, tarragon and parsley.  It looks lovely in my imagination - we'll have to wait and see what the end result is!

Wednesday's meal will be one from the redoubtable Anjum Anand.  Her Classic North Indian Chicken Curry looks perfect for the job.  It's one of those very simple to produce types of curry - just assemble all the ingredients and slowly put them into the pan one by one, heating them in succession and in various ways, until an hour or so later you've got a curry.  Sounds right up my street!

Thursday's stuffed peppers is a bit of a departure from our normal type of meal.  For all that I've done a stuffed pepper dish previously, it's been hard to find a stuffing that satisfies hubby's flavour requirements - as in "it needs to have BIG flavours".   I've decided to use couscous on this occasion because I've been fairly successful in getting big flavours into it in the past, so fingers crossed.  I've also chosen the Pointed Sweet Red Peppers as opposed to the Capsicum type, as these don't seem to have such a tough skin.

I'll have to investigate the freezer as to whether we've beaten down the potato wedge mountain that occurred when we bought another bag by accident.  If we've cleared them out, then I'll be making some home-made wedges to go with the peppers.

Now Friday's Sherried Chicken Casserole is one of those recipes that I'm vaguely excited about making.  Again, it originated with the BBC Good Food Website as Chicken, red onion & mushroom stew with sherry & butterbeans, but there are a number of alterations I know I'll be making to the recipe, so it will be a "based upon" rather than a "followed to the letter" job.

In a bid to make the cooking this week an easy matter, it is another "sit by the cooker and add stuff to the pan in sequence" recipe.  The ingredients seem to have the promise of combining really well and I think by Friday - if this cold weather continues - we'll be very happy to have a casserole/stew type meal!

Black beans

Saturday's Smoky Pork & Black Bean wraps will actually be Smoky Pork & red kidney bean wraps, as it seems to be impossible to source black beans around here!  However, I'm reliably informed by my friend Melanie (who is an ex-pat, living in Canada), that red kidney beans are an acceptable alternative.

Hubby steps into the fray for Easter Sunday, and will be making a King Prawn & Peppadew Risotto - which sounds gorgeous and I can't wait to try it.  The prawns arrived with the shopping yesterday and I was seriously tempted to thaw one packet right there and then.  

Monday's five spice beef - interestingly - uses minced beef instead of some hugely expensive cut, which I thought was intriguing (and makes a change from using turkey mince!).  Again, it is a simple dish which relies on browning through to caramelisation of the beef, for much of its flavour.  Now I absolutely love caramelised minced beef and will admit to - in my younger and fitter days - eating just that with mashed potato and some veggies for dinner.   So long as you drain the mince of its fat very well, it will be no more fattening than any other meat that uses a tablespoonful of oil for the frying, so it could almost be classified as healthy.

 

Aha!  Speaking of draining minced beef of its fat - look what hubby made for the birdies after cooking the chilli.  He drained the beef fat off and kept it, then the following day melted it down and mixed it with wild bird seed which he then packed into the empty half coconut shell.  Following half a day in the fridge - bingo!  A yummy birdy feeder that the dogs have been hankering after, something wicked.  I guess they're thinking "hey! That fat was supposed to have been in our dinner!", which they'd be absolutely right about.  Well, there's no point in clogging up the sewers when you've three waggy-tailed dustbins around.

Come and get it, you birdies!

As for additional cooking plans, well, I've every intention of making a Pea, mint & chilli dip for the weekend.  So often, I sit there in the evenings as hubby tucks into his packet of Sensations crisps and son & heir wades his way through a bag of Doritos, feeling a bit left out but not wanting to add to the fat load that my poor old body has to contend with.  So, when I found the recipe in the current Good Food Magazine - which uses a fat free yoghurt and that's it (apart from the peas, mint, chilli & a little cumin), it seemed a terrific answer to my little problem.  I can make some carrot, celery and apple sticks to eat it with - and shouldn't feel left out at all!

I'm also very conscious of the Watercress Festival at the end of the month and have promised to enter a soup into the competition.  I've been pondering on the recipe(s) for the last month or so and have a few in mind, so I'll be starting to make them with a view to finding the best one, which I'll then submit to the Festival competition.  It's a bit different, this competition, in that you actually make your soup and parcel it up, it gets collected and taken to the competition, whereupon it is judged.  I can't help thinking that a cold soup might be the best option, as it rules out any mishaps with re-heating!

Who knows, if I feel better as the week progresses, I may even make a cake for Easter Sunday.

Plus, our rhubarb is growing like a proverbial weed and is just about ready for its first crop.  I've been saving rhubarb recipes, but simply have got to make a recipe including rhubarb with ginger - I can't believe I haven't done that yet!

.   

Pesto crusted cod with roast vegetable giant couscous

As you no doubt know, I've been looking for low calorie, healthy recipes with a view to us all trimming a little of the Christmas-induced waistline width.

I am also very keen to include more fish in our diet.  Amazingly, we all like fish - and we just don't make as much of it as we could do, because of the price in the supermarket.  We do have a fishmonger down in Lower Parkstone that we've spotted, but disabled access to the shop is quite difficult.  I think I'm going to have to send hubby in there to have a recce before I try staggering across the road and standing up long enough to view all the fish on offer (and absorb some of the prices!) before attempting to stagger back to the car, without bursting into tears or hyperventilating.  It'd be great to find a fishmonger (or fishmungler, as they're known in this house) because then I won't be restricted to cod, haddock or river cobbler.  I'd absolutely LOVE to get my hands on a crab or two, plus sardines - well, all manner of fish and shellfish!

In the meantime, however, I've been attempting to make something of the frozen fish on offer at the supermarket.  It is, at least, almost affordable in price even if it does require copious amounts of kitchen paper in order to squeeze the water from it!

I had decided to make some oven-baked fish - and cod won the toss, in this instance.  You could just as easily use any other type of firm fleshed white fish - haddock is perfect.


The preparation is really easy - just take a nice pesto and spread a teaspoonful across the top of each fillet or piece of fish.  Then, mix together some grated parmesan and breadcrumbs with a little black pepper and pat onto the top of the pesto.


After some 20-25 minutes in the hot oven, the fish was opaque and the crust crunchy.  Delicious!


I'd originally decided to make a roast vegetable couscous, however during the week I'd found some Mograbiah (or giant couscous) and decided to use some of that instead.

I had diced some parsnips, carrot, onion, courgette, red pepper and a baby aubergine which I roasted in olive oil, together with some thyme and garlic.  I cooked the Mograbiah in vegetable stock and simply tossed it together with the vegetables, a little lemon juice and some chopped mint and parsley.  Of course, you don't have to use Mograbiah - normal couscous would do just fine.  As such, I've written the recipe for normal couscous as it's more easily found in the shops.


The two recipes worked very well together.  Hubby found that the mint was a bit too heavy, however I was perfectly happy with the flavours - but then, I love mint!


Considering that the two recipes were either conceived on the spur of the moment, or with fingers crossed (as to whether the fish would be soggy), I was very pleased with how it came out.  Son & heir ate all his fish but was selective about the couscous.  Hubby would eat it again, but with less mint.  I would eat it again, just as it was!

PESTO CRUSTED COD with ROAST VEGETABLE COUSCOUS   (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

3 fillets of firm fleshed white fish
3 tsp pesto
a handful of breadcrumbs
a handful of grated parmesan
freshly ground black pepper
150g couscous
120ml vegetable stock, boiling
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced 
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 courgette, diced
1 baby aubergine (or another courgette), diced
1 red pepper, cut into 2cm squares
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried thyme
small handful of parsley, chopped finely
2-3 sprigs of mint, leaves removed and chopped
sea salt.


Method :


1.  Pre-heat the oven to 200deg C (fan)/400deg F/gas 6.


2.  Place the parsnip and carrot cubes into a bowl with the garlic and thyme.  Drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of sea salt.  Toss to mix thoroughly, then turn out onto a baking tray and put in the oven for 15 minutes.


3.  Add the remaining vegetable cubes to the bowl you've just used (which should still be a little garlicky) and drizzle with olive oil, to wait its turn in the oven.


4.  Place the fish into a baking dish, allowing a little space between the fillets.


5.  Spread a tsp of the pesto over each fillet, then in a small bowl mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan and pepper.  Pat the breadcrumb mix into the pesto, taking care to leave the crumbs loose enough that they will crisp in the oven.


6.  Remove the carrot & parsnip from the oven and add the remaining vegetable cubes to the tray, spreading to an even layer.  Replace to roast for 20-25 minutes.


7.  Put the fish in the oven for the same 20-25 minutes.


8.  In the meantime, in a deep bowl, add the boiling vegetable stock to the couscous.  Cover with cling film and leave to absorb the stock for 10-15 minutes.


9.  Uncover the couscous and fluff up with a fork.

10. Remove the fish from the oven and keep warm whilst you finish off the couscous.

11.  When the vegetables are fully roasted, browned and lovely, add them to the couscous and gently stir through.


12.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice and the chopped parsley & mint.  Taste and add a pinch of sea salt, if necessary.


13.  Serve.

Charred Vegetable Couscous

I managed to get a reasonable shot of the leftovers from last night's yummy Couscous dish!

There was just enough for lunch today - and by way of experimentation, I added a little Balsamic & Red Pepper Dressing over the top of it.  Mmmmn, it certainly added the sharpness that the lemon juice had hinted at, but not particularly delivered but that the red wine vinegar would certainly have delivered, had I have used it.


But I'm rattling on too fast.

Owing to the success of the Ottolenghi Green Couscous, I was filled with enthusiasm to try another recipe now that I know the kind of degree of flavour that makes Couscous good.  I found Jun Tanaka's recipe for Charred Vegetable and Couscous salad on the Good Food Channel's website and it definitely looked a likely candidate - with the added benefit that it allowed me to play with my new griddle pan, too.

However, I was a teensy bit concerned over the addition of red wine vinegar to the mix, as Son & heir is completely anti-vinegar at the moment.  In truth, I should have just added it, as he left all his vegetables and just ate the couscous.  I can't think it would have mattered.

However, the char-grilled veggies were glorious just on their own - and deliciously yummy when added to the moistened couscous.  I kept half of the aubergine aside for another day (char-grilled) as the aubergine I'd been sent with the order was humungous and would have fed an army, I suspect.

I am just SO glad I've found my way with couscous now!  It's always good to have an extra string to your culinary bow when trying to set the dinner menu for the week.

Here's Jun Tanaka's recipe.  I made it as is except for the garlic & vinegar, which I omitted.

CHARRED VEGETABLE COUSCOUS  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

150g couscous
50ml extra virgin olive oil
half a tsp of dried thyme (or a sprig, if fresh)
175ml water
half a chicken stock cube (or vegetable, for a vegetarian option)
1 red pepper, seeds removed and cut into small cubes
1 courgette, cut into small pieces
1 aubergine, cut into small pieces
8 asparagus spears, trimmed & cut in half lengthways
75ml red wine vinegar
6-8 spring onions, trimmed and sliced finely
small handful of parsley, chopped fine
small bunch of basil, chopped fine
lemon juice to taste.

Method :

1.  Place the couscous in a bowl.  In a small saucepan, heat the water, 25ml of the olive oil, the thyme and the stock cube until the stock cube is dissolved and the whole thing comes to the boil.


2.  Remove from the heat and pour the contents over the couscous, tipping the bowl this way and that to ensure all the couscous is made wet.  Cover in cling film and leave to steam for 20 minutes or so.


3.  (I did stages 3 to 4 lots earlier, as it took a long time - longer than the 20 minutes you've got for the couscous to steam).  Place the pepper, courgette, aubergine and asparagus in a large bowl.  Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the remainder of the olive oil.  Toss to ensure all are coated evenly.


4.  Heat a griddle pan and cook the vegetables on the griddle for 8-10 minutes, turning them over occasionally.  Once all the vegetables are cooked, put them back in the bowl and cut the asparagus into 4 smaller pieces.


5.  Add the red wine vinegar and the spring onions.


6.  Remove the cling film from the couscous and fluff it up with a fork.  Add the vegetables and mix well, together with the parsley and basil.


7.  Taste to check for seasoning and add a good squeeze or three of lemon juice.  Give a final stir, and serve.


.