Smoked Haddock & Asparagus Quiche - mellow deliciousness.

I'm not really sure what made me choose smoked haddock for this quiche, other than the fact that white fish is one of my "safe havens" where the risk of gout is concerned and as such, bacon, ham or sausage were out.  Obviously, I fancied making a quiche and I think I've become quite passably good at them over time.  It is unusual for me to pick fish as a quiche ingredient, but this combination of smoked haddock and asparagus worked really well.

(It is worth bearing in mind, if you - like me - have to watch gout triggers, that asparagus is also a very famous gout trigger.  However, I think that the amount of asparagus in each portion of quiche isn't at danger point for me.  Do judge that for yourself, though).

If you're looking for a quiche in the style of Quiche Lorraine, i.e. super cheesy and stuffed with bacon, then you may need to up the cheese quota and/or change from Gouda to mature Cheddar.  However, I didn't want the primary flavour to be cheese in this quiche, so I opted for the milder Gouda.

The smoked haddock is poached in milk, which also tends to mellow out the flavour a wee bit - although I used some of the poaching milk in the filling, to catch as much flavour as possible.  I have issues with throwing good flavour away down the drain!

A very good point with making any quiche, is that you can get on with the making and baking in the morning, then take it relatively easy where putting dinner together is concerned.  Just assemble a few tasty salad ingredients and maybe add a few buttered new potatoes - or in our case in this instance, chips - and you're done.  A good one for those make-ahead days!

SMOKED HADDOCK & ASPARAGUS QUICHE   (serves 4-6)

Ingredients :

Sufficient shortcrust pastry to line an 8" loose bottomed sandwich tin or quiche dish
125g asparagus tips
250g smoked haddock fillets (chunky ones are best)
250g or thereabouts semi skimmed milk
2 whole very large or 3 whole large eggs
150ml single cream
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper
half a tsp onion granules
75g Gouda cheese, finely grated
a pinch of dried parsley, to garnish.

Method :

Pre-heat the oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.

Carefully line the sandwich tin or quiche dish with pastry, ensuring the pastry doesn't become pierced.  Cover the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill the case with baking beans or ceramic pellets then bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the greaseproof and baking beans and bake again for another 3 minutes.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

In the meantime and in a small saucepan, boil some water and add the asparagus tips.  Cook for 3 minutes, then drain and run under cold water to arrest the cooking process.  Set aside to drain fully.

Place the smoked haddock into a small lidded frying pan and add the milk.  The milk shouldn't cover the fish, but come two thirds of the way up.  Place on the heat to simmer with the lid on until the fish is just cooked.  Set the pan aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, add the eggs and quickly whisk them together.  Add the cream, sea salt, black pepper and onion granules and whisk them all together.

Cut the asparagus tips to fit the surface of the quiche in an attractive pattern.  Cut the excess into small log shapes and add them to the egg mixture.  Set the decorative pieces to one side.

Remove the fish from the milk and take off any skin.  Flake the fish into the egg mixture and add the grated cheese.

Judge the quantity of egg mixture according to the pastry case and add a little of the poaching milk.  Gently stir everything together, so as not to break up the fish any further.

Using a slotted spoon, spoon the solids from the egg mixture into the pastry case and spread evenly.  Pour the egg mixture into the pastry case, but make sure it doesn't overflow or the quiche will argue about coming out of the tin once baked.  Any excess can be poured into a ramekin and baked for a cook's bonus taster.

Arrange the remainder of the asparagus spears attractively over the surface of the filling and press lightly so that they are partly submerged.  Add a light sprinkle of dried parsley and a grind of pepper, then bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and firm to the touch.

Serve with a side salad and buttered new potatoes or chips.

Printable version

Chicken, asparagus & tarragon risotto - light, fresh and lovely

This, dear reader, is a blog post of note.  Not because the risotto under discussion was particularly brilliant - although it actually was - but because of who thought it up and who cooked it.

Me.  This was my first ever main course risotto.

Yes, I do realise that dear Hubby is the Risotto Chef Extraordinaire of the family.   However it occurred to me that it was all very well him knowing how to produce a good risotto, but perhaps it would be a good idea if I knew how to, as well!

Just as an aside, I did have an additional motivation, which was that poor Hubby has hurt his back and can't spend ages in front of the cooker stirring a risotto.  I miss my risottos - they're another comfort food and you all know how much I love my comfort food.

In fact, this recipe began life in my head as a pie.  Chicken, asparagus and tarragon pie - sounds good, eh?  Well, that's what I thought.  Then I had something of a tummy conniption (knew I shouldn't have had chilli con carne, followed by curry the next day!) and have had to steer clear of spicy or particularly fatty foods and let my poor old tummy settle.  So that was the pastry option out of the equation - and when you start thinking about what else you could do with chicken, asparagus and tarragon, it's a short step to a risotto.

Whenever I'm thinking about a recipe that involves chicken, I immediately find myself being resistant to the idea of cubes of chicken meat.  I haven't a clue what a cube of chicken meat has done to deserve it, but I really don't like it cubed.  Cubes or chunks are okay for curries and some casseroles, but not for everything.  Thin slices are good for stir fries and small chunks work in a pie.  Risotto, however, now that demands shredded chicken.  Don't ask me who made these rules, I'm sure I didn't.  ~whistles innocently, whilst dragging one toe in the dust~  

The chicken flavour I could imagine in my concept risotto, was a gentle, fresh chicken flavour.  Not pan fried, or roasted.  Too heavy.  There was really only one choice left to me, which was poached.  Now I've never poached a chicken breast before - well, there are so many "firsts" involved in cooking! - and had no idea how the flavour would wind up, but if my imagination was saying it would be just the job, ~shrug~, I'd go with it.  I'd poach the chicken in the stock I was going to use for the risotto until just cooked, then shred the meat.  That way, I'd be saving and using every ounce of flavour it was possible to achieve, from the chicken.

It is true to say that the most important ingredient in a risotto, is the stock.  It is the stock that flavours the rice - and not just by providing the moisture around each grain, but by soaking into the rice and flavouring it from inside to outside.  Thus, it is of paramount important that every flavour you want to be uppermost, is reflected in the stock.

I had the chicken flavour from the use of chicken stock (I used the fabulous chicken stock powder from Essential Cuisine, my favourite stock people) and poaching the chicken.  The asparagus flavour is boosted by the addition of the offcuts from each asparagus spear, which are broken up so as to access all the flavour available.  The addition of several full stems of fresh tarragon with leaves attached (plus the bald stems that you've taken the leaves from) makes sure that the three primary flavours are right up there.

If I relied upon the addition of the asparagus and tarragon at the end of the dish, the flavours would be nothing like as pronounced or established.  Both ingredients do not have long enough in the pan to make sufficient impression upon the flavour of the whole.  Hence, it is very well worth that little bit of extra work to include them in the stock.  It is true, it does make finding the asparagus tips a bit like fishing in the undergrowth when it comes to blanching them - but it is worth it! 

Now, let's discuss the basic stock.  For goodness' sake, if you're going to use a commercially produced stock, don't use anything other than a reduced salt stock powder or stock cube.  The pinch of salt that you add to the stock is sufficient and much, much less salt than you will get from a full-salt version.  Bear in mind that the nature of a risotto is to absorb and reduce the stock.  If you're reducing a full-salt stock, that can get hellishly salty - and once over salted, it is impossible in the time you have available, to bring it back.

So get yourself a good quality low salt stock - and if you're using home made, you might like to reduce it by boiling in a pan for a while, so as to achieve good, highly flavoured chicken stock.  Oh, and when using home made chicken stock, you'll need to use your knowledge of how much salt is in it already, to decide whether you'll require the pinch or not.

A quick cook's tip, is to blanche your asparagus tips for no longer than 2 minutes or you stand the chance of losing the bright green colour when you re-heat them, prior to serving.

I know the recipe looks terribly complicated, but it really isn't - it's just that each stage took a lot of description, but is really quick to achieve!  The end risotto is a lovely, light but satisfying, bowl of comfort food that - for once - doesn't leave you feeling all heavy and bloated.  Now there is a place for heavy and bloated, I'll not deny that, but there is also a place for a lighter texture of comfort food.  Food that gives you a big hug, whilst still letting you fit into your trousers, or behind the wheel of your car.

Having said all that, I won't go into too much detail about the ice cream, home made rhubarb jam, blueberries and amaretti that we had for dessert.  ~kof~  (It was lovely, though!).


CHICKEN, ASPARAGUS & TARRAGON RISOTTO   (serves 3 for a main course)

Ingredients :

2-3 tsp low salt chicken stock powder (or sufficient low salt stock cubes) made up to 1 litre stock
a pinch of sea salt
a large pinch of ground white pepper
1 bunch (7-8 stems) asparagus
4-5 full stems of tarragon, plus 1 tbsp chopped tarragon leaves
2 skinless & boneless chicken breasts
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
a large knob of butter
2 banana shallots, peeled and chopped finely
300g arborio rice
100ml white wine (any kind, sweet works as well as dry)
a handful of defrosted frozen peas
grated parmesan cheese, to taste and for sprinkling.

Method :

1.  Make up the chicken stock into a saucepan and place on the heat.  You are aiming to bring the contents to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently.

2.  Take the thick, woody ends off of the asparagus and smash by laying the side of the knife on top, then hitting with the heel of your hand.  Add them to the stock pot, along with the tarragon stems (which should still have their leaves attached), salt and pepper.

3.  Remove the tips from the asparagus and set aside, then cut each spear into small pea sized logs.

4.  Cut each chicken breast into three evenly sized pieces and add to the hot stock.  Cover the pan and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the chicken is just cooked through.

5.  Remove the chicken pieces, retaining the stock, and shred the chicken.

6.  Place the asparagus spears into the stock and blanche for 2 minutes, then remove and set aside.

7.  Into a deep pan, add the oil and butter and heat gently.

8.  Add the shallots and cook on a gentle heat until soft and yielding.  Do not allow them to colour.  Remove using a slotted spoon so that the majority of the buttery oil falls back into the pan, and set aside.

9.  Increase the heat under the pan to high and add the rice.  Stir the rice well, making sure every grain is covered in the buttery oil.  Allow the pan to reach as hot a temperature as you dare, without burning the rice.  Each grain should be taking on a slightly golden hue and screaming for mercy, whereupon you add your first ladle of stock.

10.  The first ladleful will disappear in a great exhalation of steam from the pan, so be ready with a second.  Stir the rice gently but constantly, allowing it to absorb the stock and release the starchy creaminess that epitomises a risotto.

11.  Add the white wine and the cooked shallots and stir through.

12.  Once the rice has just about absorbed all the stock, add the next ladleful.  Stir, stir, stir.  Risotto is not something you can leave to cook while you read a book.  Continue in this vein - ladleful of stock, stir stir stir, pan dries out, ladleful of stock - until the rice is soft yet al dente.  Patience, that's the key!

13.  With your last ladleful or two of stock, add the chicken, tarragon leaves, asparagus logs and the peas.  Place a lid on for a minute or so, then stir, replace the lid, then stir, replace the lid, until the asparagus has lost its raw crunchiness (but is still firm and bright green) and the chicken is heated through.

14.  Put the asparagus tips back into the stock pot, to heat through and finish cooking for their last minute.

15.  Add some grated Parmesan cheese - to taste - to the risotto and stir through.

16.  You can adjust the texture of the risotto by adding a little more stock if you think it requires it - and having had a taste, adjust the seasoning by adding a little more white pepper or a pinch of sea salt, if required.

17.  Finally, add the asparagus spears and serve with a light grating of Parmesan sprinkled over.

Scrummy.

Printable version

Chicken, asparagus and peas in a Marsala cream sauce : a "once in six months" dinner dish!

I am quietly very proud of this recipe.  To me, this represents a little of where I am in regard to my cooking experience.  Put in Masterchef terms, this is "my own food" - but not everyday food.  Because of the quantity of double cream, this is very definitely a "once in six months" dinner!

Even so, I'm still proud of it.

You see, at one time, I'd have cooked this a) from a recipe instead of following my own thoughts and b) if I had have been making it up from scratch, I'd have done it a totally different (and not so successful) way.

To put not too fine a point on it, we've been having a few tummy issues in the family just lately, which has resulted in our relationship with food being a bit hit and miss.  We either just haven't wanted to eat - or what we could eat has been a short list!  Still, we're getting a bit better on that front now - exhibit A being the Tapas meatballs, which had been on the menu list for probably three weeks or more.  We eventually got around to being able to face them and were jolly glad we did.

I wanted something "nice" for our Sunday dinner.  Something a little out of the ordinary, something inoffensive and unchallenging to eat, that would tempt the taste buds and satisfy the tummy.  I had a number of favourites to choose from, as anything involving cheese, bacon, curry or chilli usually gets a thumbs up of approval.  Also on that list is anything in a cream sauce, which doesn't get made that often because of the general naughtiness of the cream sauce.

The obvious choice for a cream sauce was chicken and the minute I had decided on that, the rest of the recipe just fell out of my head with virtually no amendments once I'd written it down.

Now, in days gone by, I'd have sweated off the onion and garlic, then added the chicken and in so doing would have burned the garlic, making it bitter.  I'd have then added the cream and tasted, only to find it was bland and too gloopy.  So I'd probably have added the vegetables in the hope that they'd cheer the flavour up and when they didn't, I'd probably have added something completely random like Worcestershire sauce.  The end result would have been a slightly bitter sauce with overcooked vegetables and reduced cream - all of which was pretty horrid.

Well, I reckon you have to fail at making something (and probably several times) before you begin to work out where you went wrong.

This time, I browned (or maybe that should be - more correctly - "goldened") the chicken and removed it.  Then I sweated off the onion and garlic (without burning it) and added the Marsala wine, then some stock.  (Wouldn't have thought to use stock in the past!).  I re-introduced the chicken, which cooked as the stock reduced.

Then, when the stock had reduced sufficiently that adding the cream wouldn't affect the texture of the sauce, I added the asparagus (no, not the chicken - it would have taken up too much room and the asparagus wouldn't have cooked properly) and cooked that for 2-3 minutes in the stock.  Then I re-introduced the chicken (so that it could re-heat), then the peas (as they only need seconds in which to heat up), then in the final few minutes, the cream.  Leaving the cream until last means that the ingredients all cook and exchange flavours with the stock - so it's essential to use a good stock.  It also means that the cream doesn't have time in which to reduce, so maintaining the integrity of your sauce.  Bring it all back up to temperature and serve.  Perfect.

I made a couple of mistakes with the accompaniments though.  Firstly, I used rather too much thyme on my garlic and thyme roast potatoes and parsnips.  This is purely a personal taste issue, as I find too much thyme to be redolent of disinfectant.  Hubby and son & heir enjoyed them though.  Oh, and they'd have been a lot more crispy if the oven hadn't decided to turn itself off (for some reason, it switched over to timer-controlled.  I lost some 15 minutes of cooking time, thanks to that!) half way through.

Secondly, I decided to make a variation on Vichy Carrots.  I didn't want the sweetness that a Vichy carrot brings with it, so decided to use vegetable stock to cook them in, but omit the sugar - adding the butter that makes the glaze and cooking them in the same way as Vichy carrots.  Well, it kind of worked.  They tasted great, albeit a teensy bit overcooked as I used too much stock which took too long to reduce and the use of stock instead of water gave them an odd colouring.  That one needs further work, I think!

However, there were murmurs of appreciation all round as the family tucked into their chicken.  The chicken breasts were still tender and moist - not overcooked - and deliciously flavoured from being cooked in the stock and Marsala wine.  The asparagus was perfectly cooked with just a teensy bit of bite left in each piece and the cream sauce was just delicious.  Real lick the plate stuff!

If we had three more chicken breasts, I'd be perfectly happy to eat that again for dinner tonight, it was that good.   Aaah, happy sigh! 



CHICKEN, ASPARAGUS AND PEAS IN A MARSALA CREAM SAUCE   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced finely
150ml sweet Marsala wine
200ml chicken stock, using 1 tsp stock powder or 1 stock cube
150g asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1" pieces
3 handfuls of frozen peas, defrosted
sea salt & black pepper
150ml double cream.

Method :

1.  In a deep frying pan or wok, heat the oil over a moderate to high heat.  Add the chicken breasts and fry, undisturbed, on each side in order to gain a little golden colour.  Reserve on a plate.

2.  Add the onion to the frying pan and reduce the heat to moderate.  Stir fry, not allowing the onion to brown, until demonstrably softened.  Add the garlic and continue cooking for another minute.

3.  Quickly add the Marsala wine and allow to frizzle for a moment or two.  Add the stock (or water and stock powder) and bring to a boil.

4.  Gently return the chicken to the pan and maintain the boil so that the stock begins to reduce.  Cook like this until the stock has reduced to a third of its original quantity.

5.  Remove the chicken breasts back to the plate and add the asparagus and black pepper to taste.  Cook for 2-3 minutes or so until softening, then return the chicken to the pan.  Continue to cook for another minute or so to bring the chicken back up to temperature.

6.  Add the peas and as soon as the sauce has returned back up to temperature, add the cream and, once again, bring back up to temperature.

7.  Check for seasoning, adjust if necessary and serve with roast potatoes and a selection of vegetables.

Printable version

Risotto Primavera with herby glazed chicken

The emphasis of this recipe is on the Risotto Primavera, as I will admit to having used a shop bought chicken glaze.  Now don't you go telling me that you never use such a thing, I refuse to believe it.

The glaze we used was one of the Maggi range of "So Juicy" cook-in-a-bag products.  In fact, it was really not bad at all.  We tried the mixed herbs one, which seemed to have a significant amount of tomato in its mixed herbs, but with no artificial colours, flavourings or Aspartame in its ingredients, we were prepared to give it a go.

Owing to the cooking method, which involves your cooking the chicken sealed into a cook-in bag, the chicken comes out the other end enticingly moist and tender.  I'd definitely give others of the same range a go.

As a fairly foolproof and easy way of obtaining a very acceptable chicken dish, I recommend it to you!

Now the big question was what to put with it.  I'm always on the lookout for interesting and easy vegetable dishes that can be use as a side to a meat dish, for just these moments.

We had a number of meals planned that included potatoes already - and owing to hubby's antipathy towards the 'umble spud, I needed to find something else to use as the carbohydrate in this dish.

Hubby suggested vegetable rice, but son & heir isn't always terribly keen on that.  As hubby was the one who was going to be cooking this meal, I suddenly hit on the idea of a risotto.  Well, he is the Risotto Cooking King!  I remembered that I had picked up a baked Risotto Primavera recipe from a magazine, but knew he wouldn't be struck on the idea of doing a baked risotto (being a newly crowned risotto purist, and all that).  So we just used the recipe as a guide for the amounts and types of vegetables to use - and he made a straight, cooker top, in a saucepan, ordinary risotto - but using frozen peas, asparagus, fine green beans, tenderstem broccoli, mint, chives and parsley instead.

The combination of the highly flavoursome chicken and the clean, fresh flavours of the risotto with its herbs, were just perfect together.

Hubby even reserved a few asparagus spears for decoration, which was good because although it is great in a risotto, I do love the flavour of asparagus and it was a treat to have some to enjoy on its own.

I'll have to remember to use vegetable risotto in this context again in future.  I have used Risotto Milanese (saffron risotto) in this way in the past and it worked exceptionally well there, too.  The light and springlike flavours were a lovely break from the somewhat heavier mid-winter flavours that we've been enjoying before and since, thanks to the awful weather.  Hopefully, we'll get a chance to put them to the test in another combination very soon!

RISOTTO PRIMAVERA  (Serves 3)

Ingredients :

150g asparagus spears

2 handfuls of frozen peas

150g tenderstem broccoli

50g fine green beans

3 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

2 banana shallots, very finely diced

25g butter

300g Arborio or Carnaroli rice

100ml of white wine

1.5 litres of vegetable stock (we used Essential cuisine vegetable stock powder)

10g fresh chopped parsley

10g fresh chopped chives

10g fresh chopped mint

50g grated parmesan

sea salt and finely ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to a rolling boil and prepare the asparagus by snapping at the weak point (around one third of the way up the stem from the cut end).  Retain the woody ends for use in the stock and blanch the tipped ends for 60 seconds.  Drain (retaining the water) and then plunge into bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.

2.  Repeat with the frozen peas, tenderstem broccoli and green beans - blanching for 3 minutes and adding them to the same iced water.

3.  Prepare the stock by adding the stock cube or powder to the cooking water and add the woody ends of the asparagus, cut lengthwise.  Bring up to a simmer and keep the stock over a very low heat until required, not allowing it to boil.  Remove the asparagus pieces just before use.

4.  Heat the olive oil and butter gently together in a large pan.  Add the shallots and cook until they are soft and transparent, not allowing them to brown.

5.  Add rice to the shallot mix and stir well to coat with the oils, then turn the heat up as hot as you dare - without burning - before quenching the pan with the white wine.

6.  Cook until the wine has reduced by two thirds and add a ladleful of the vegetable stock (minus the asparagus pieces).  Reduce heat to a simmer.

7.  Continue adding ladlefuls whenever the mixture runs dry, stirring well and keeping it moving to avoid catching on the bottom of the pan.

8.  Continue in this way until the rice is cooked al dente.  You may find you have stock left over, which is normal as different rices require different amounts of liquid.

9.  Drain the vegetables from the iced water and add them to the risotto to warm them through, stirring gently so as not to break them up.

10.  Add the parsley, chives, mint and grated parmesan, reserving a small amount of parsley for garnish.  Stir gently through and taste for seasoning.

11.  Serve and garnish with shaved parmesan and chopped parsley.

Printable version

Sirloin Steak & Broad Bean Salad - just jaw-droppingly good

I have to own up and say that this meal is seriously jumping the queue where blogging about various dinners is concerned.

The reason for this is the fact that these two steaks - both Westin Gourmet, one Hereford Sirloin steak and one Aberdeen Angus Sirloin steak - were just divine and went so well with the salad I had devised for them.  When a meal is so good that you're day dreaming about it for days afterwards, it demands to be shared.

The two steaks were part of the One Time Offer pack that I had received from Westin Gourmet to trial for them.  They were both just 5-6oz each, but their steak sizes include an 8-9 oz if you're after one a little bigger.

The steaks arrived vacuum packed, which always presents them in a not terribly flattering light as they tend to look a bit pulverised and grey.  They are obviously gasping for breath, as within fifteen minutes of being let out of their bag, they are re-inflating and looking a lot healthier as a rosy blush spreads across the meat.  By the time they were ready to be cooked, they looked as mouthwatering as any steak could.

Hubby isn't terribly keen on steak, so he opted for some peppered mackerel with an identical salad to the one accompanying the beef, which worked perfectly.

In the interests of taste testing, son and heir and I had half a steak each - which was quite convenient. It meant I could cut the fatty end off for me and leave the leaner end for son & heir, who has followed his father in not liking fat on his meat.  We were both bowled over by these steaks - and the look on son & heir's face when he heard it was steak for tea, was a picture.  He even ate every little bit of his salad!

The base salad, prior to including steak

The salad I devised comprised a nest of lamb's lettuce, liberally sprinkled with hulled broad beans (partly cooked, then cooled and taken from their leathery jackets), quickly cooked and chilled peas, chargrilled baby sweetcorn, chargrilled asparagus, baby Sweetfire chilli infused beetroot and some of those completely gorgeously adorable little Tomberry tomatoes.

With the addition of the Mary Berry (yes, THAT Mary Berry) and Daughter's Caesar Salad Dressing - which is our current favourite, the salad was perfect in substance and flavour to accompany something as strong as steak.

I do try to put some carbohydrate or another on the plate, as I find that unless I have some kind of carbs, I'm looking for something else to eat within an hour of dinner.  In this instance, I had found some baby Apache potatoes which I cooked in their jackets then tossed in butter and a small teaspoonful of mint sauce.  This is my method of choice for small potatoes (new potatoes included) when I don't have fresh mint to hand.  Apache potatoes are very jolly in their look, as they are a kind of skewbald colour (red and white) on the outside (well, dark red and light brown, in truth!) and the pinkness travels through to the inside of the potato.  The only negative I could find with these little lovelies was that the pinkness inside tends to translate to grey once cooked, but their flavour is very mild and goes well with more highly flavoured accompaniments.

The Aberdeen Angus side of the salad

So - getting back to the steak, both these steaks were utterly gorgeous in flavour and texture.  I cooked them both on a blisteringly hot griddle pan, having sprinkled one side with a little seasoning and a few drips of rapeseed oil.  They had probably around 3-4 minutes on one side, then 2-3 minutes on the other, which rendered them a perfect medium rare.

I rested them both for some 5-10 minutes while I assembled the salad, then sliced them and served.

The Hereford Steak side of the salad

There was a time that I could no more have eaten a medium rare steak than fly to the moon.  In those days, unless the steak was utterly ruined (also known as cooked all the way through - "well done" and then some) it wasn't going anywhere my mouth.  These days, I have learnt to appreciate both the flavour and the tenderness of a steak which has been treated a little better.  As time goes on and the ole teeth aren't what they used to be (and probably the jaw muscles, too!), a tender steak is a must.  These weren't quite butter-soft, but they weren't far away from that.

I began my taste test with the Hereford, which had the kind of beefy flavour that you have come to expect from a steak and that - for those meat eaters amongst us - renders you with half closed eyes and a beatific smile on your face while you chew appreciatively.  I really didn't think that the Aberdeen Angus could trump that - but it did.  My first taste was very definitely an "ohmagawd!" moment, with accompanying wide eyes of surprise.  I just wanted that steak to last for ever, it was THAT good.

Currently, the price on the Westin Gourmet website for the 5-6oz Aberdeen Angus steaks - two to a pack, is £13.17 for the two.  Not the cheapest of prices, but then not the most expensive I've seen, either.  As a treat - and boy, are they a treat - I'd say they were worth it - and don't forget, if you've someone in the family who isn't keen on steak, just serve them something else like the peppered mackerel, or maybe some sausages.  It all depends what you'd prefer.

SIRLOIN STEAK & BROAD BEAN SALAD  (serves 3)

Ingredients :

2 x 5-6oz Sirloin steaks
a drizzle of rapeseed or olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
a bag of Lamb's Lettuce leaves or salad leaves of choice
a small cupful of frozen or fresh broad beans
a smaller cupful of frozen or fresh peas
9 or so baby sweetcorn (fresh)
6 asparagus spears (fresh)
a pack of Sweetfire beetroot, or baby beetroot of your choice
a pack of Tomberry tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes.

Method :

1.  Boil some salted water in a medium sized pan and add the broad beans.  Cook for some 3-4 minutes, then remove from the water with a slotted spoon into a colander and run under the cold tap to stop the cooking process.  Set aside.

2.  Add the peas to the water and cook them for 3 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon, run under cold water in the same way as the broad beans, and reserve in a separate bowl to the broad beans.

3.  Add the baby corn to the water and cook for some 3-4 minutes.  Drain, discarding the water, and set the corn aside to cool.

4.  Take the broad beans and, pinching out an end of each bean's jacket, pinch the inner green bean from the jacket.  Keep the inner green bean and discard the leathery jacket.  This process does take time and will make your arms ache - but it's worth it!

5.  Heat a griddle pan on a high heat and, while it is heating, cut the baby sweetcorn into two longways.  Drizzle a little rapeseed oil over them and season lightly.

6.  Place the sweetcorn pieces onto the griddle pan once up to temperature and char-grill until well marked.  Reserve onto a plate to cool.

7.  Take the asparagus spears and place them onto the griddle pan.  Cook until well marked on all sides and soft in the middle, then remove to a plate and leave to cool.

7.  Take your steaks (which should be at room temperature) and, using some kitchen paper pat them dry.  Season with a little salt and pepper on one side, then drizzle with a little rapeseed oil on both sides.

8.  Place the steaks onto the griddle pan and leave them where they fall for around 4-5 minutes.  They should be fairly easy to remove from the griddle pan (without sticking) if they are done sufficiently, in which case turn them and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes for a medium rare steak.  Don't be turning them this way and that - just place them and leave them to cook.  Obviously, if you prefer your steak more cooked, them leave them for longer on each turn - and less for a more rare steak.

9.  When the steaks are done to your satisfaction, put them onto a warmed plate and reserve somewhere warm (under the grill or a warm oven) to rest until ready to serve.

10.  Assemble your salad on the plate however you prefer, then take the steaks and slice into attractive looking slices and lay on top of the salad.

Serve with minted new potatoes.

Printable version

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Turkey & Asparagus Impossible Quiche - my response to the Lean on Turkey challenge!

Well, this Lean On Turkey challenge was a real brain teaser!

"Challenge 2: Cook a low fat/healthy turkey meal for just £10 (e.g. stir fry, risotto or salad).

It’s as simple as that. Simply choose a fresh low fat/healthy turkey recipe of your choice that costs under £10 (e.g. stir fry or salad). All we ask is that it needs to feed at least a family of four and CANNOT be a roast turkey dinner."

On the face of it, it does seem simple.  However, then you consider the "family of four" and it rules out an awful lot of chilli recipes.  After all, what if the family contains young children?  We also wanted to provide something a bit out of the ordinary, yet something that used relatively ordinary ingredients, because the whole point of this exercise is to encourage people to use turkey more often.  It'd be no good making some high falutin' dish that used several hard to get ingredients!  We needed something that would be easy to prepare, yet would look great served up on the plate.  Don't forget the healthy/low fat aspect, or the £10 budget, either!

Our ponderings took us from English pies through Cajun spicing to Chinese sweet and sour - but nothing really caught our imagination or seemed "right".  They were all too ordinary, or too spicy, or too boring.

Until hubby came up with the Impossible Quiche concept.  After all (as he said), we love Impossible Quiche - and we're a family of three, which is almost right!

So, how to include turkey into an Impossible Quiche?

Ordinarily, Impossible Quiche would include cheese and bacon, with onion and sweetcorn.  The basic mix is nothing more than a batter, which when baked, forms a firm edge rather like a frittata.  However, being baked and not fried, means that the fat element is reduced considerably - as is not using the cheese.

What goes well with turkey, that would be good in a quiche?  Well, the cheese was out, so I needed something that would give good flavour in the same way that the cheese did.  Turkey goes very well with bacon - so bacon was in.

What about the onion side of things?  Onion, shallot or chives?  I was conscious of having room for everything in the pie dish - which was only an 8" dish, but enough for four portions.  Hence, I ruled out the onion on the basis that it would take up too much room.  Shallot was good, but very sweet.  I wanted to retain the sweetcorn and with bacon & turkey also having a certain inherent sweetness, opted for the chives.

Thinking about the look of the Impossible Quiche, I needed something to inject some colour.  However all the colourful ingredients such as tomato and red pepper just didn't seem right in the context.  The red pepper was better than the tomato, but still not quite right.  I briefly considered peas - until I hit upon asparagus.  The asparagus would give the colour and the sense of indulgence that was otherwise lacking.

We had turkey, bacon, chives, asparagus and sweetcorn.  We had ourselves an Impossible Quiche recipe!

Next, I had to price up the shopping list.  I took my prices from www.groceries.asda.com, as Asda would be where we would be shopping, and apportioned the price according to how much of each ingredient we'd be using.  I felt that was the fairest way of doing it, as most people have (say) a container of milk in their fridge, or a bag of flour in the cupboard, from which they'd just take the required amount.  I hoped that the circumstance of someone buying the entire shopping list from scratch would be negligible enough not to worry about!  However, if someone had have bought the lot from scratch, it would have cost them £16.04p.


Here's the breakdown :

1.25 cups milk	0.16
0.5 cups self-raising flour	0.05
2 medium eggs	0.35
3 rashers streaky bacon	0.56
Fresh chives	0.20
Tinned sweetcorn	0.15
150g Asparagus	1.00
340g turkey breast steaks	2.73
Pinch of dried thyme	0.02
Salad leaves	1.19
Cherry tomatoes	0.75
Cucumber	0.20
Radish	0.10
Beetroot	0.10
Jersey Royal new potatoes	0.75
Butter	0.10
Total	£8.41

The preparation of the ingredients didn't take very long at all - around 30 minutes, including frying off the bacon and the turkey breast steaks.

The quiche took around 40-45 minutes to bake in the oven.  I took it out at 30 minutes and then had to put it back in for ten minutes longer just to set the very centre.

I'd say the entire process from taking the ingredients from the fridge to putting on the plate, took around an hour and a half.  Of course, you could probably do it quicker, as you no doubt can move around the kitchen far quicker than me!

I expect, after all that, you'll be wanting to know how it tasted?  Well, it tasted very nice indeed.

I kept the turkey pieces in small slices that were cut across the grain so as to make the most of their tenderness.  After all, they were going to be cooked twice (once in the frying pan, once in the oven) and I didn't want them going all hard and tough.  I fried off the bacon pieces and then added a pinch of thyme and the turkey steaks, as it seemed that was the best way of infusing the meat with as much flavour as possible.  I kept the turkey steaks whole at this stage, so as to prevent their drying out.

Each forkful was full of turkey flavour, along with the lovely asparagus which lightened the mix.  Every so often, you would come across a sweetcorn niblet which would give a welcome burst of sweetness and the chives added that background oniony flavour that just gave the flavours depth, as did the bacon.

The overall look of the Impossible Quiche was very green, which immediately gave son & heir cause to treat it with suspicion.  However, he ate every last bit of his piece and liked all the ingredients.  It was hard for him to be a-whooping and a-hollering about how nice it was, as his allegiance is very much with the cheese and bacon version.

Hubby enjoyed his piece so much, that he went back for second helpings!

I served the Impossible Quiche with a mixed side salad which included some more sweetcorn niblets and which helped to bring the salad together with the flavours of the quiche.  Some lovely buttered Jersey Royal potatoes just finished if off by adding the carbohydrate to the protein and vegetable matter and (hopefully) providing a balanced plate of food.

For more ideas as to how to use turkey, have a look at the Lean on Turkey website.


TURKEY & ASPARAGUS IMPOSSIBLE QUICHE    (feeds 4)


Ingredients :


3 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped fine
340g turkey breast steaks
a pinch of dried thyme
0.5 cups of self raising flour
1 cup of milk
2 medium eggs
1 tbsp of chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp sweetcorn niblets (from a tin is fine)
150g asparagus, trimmed and the stalks cut into 5mm logs, the tips retained.

For the potatoes :

750g (or less - it's up to you) of Jersey Royal potatoes, trimmed 
a knob of butter
1 tbsp of chopped fresh chives.

For the salad (for the sake of this recipe, I will presume that it is all washed and you will use the quantities your family like, of each item) :

salad leaves (I used lamb's lettuce & wild rocket)
cherry tomatoes
cucumber, skin removed and sliced finely
radishes, top & tailed and sliced finely
beetroot, trimmed and halved. 


Method :


1.  Place the chopped bacon into a dry frying pan and fry on a reasonably high heat, in order that the fat be rendered and the bacon begins to brown.


2.  Add the pinch of thyme, gather the bacon into a small pile in the pan and add the turkey steaks around it.  Make sure to keep the pan on a high heat, to brown the turkey and prevent it from poaching in its own juice.  Once browned all over and no pink can be seen if cut with a knife, remove the bacon & turkey and reserve to cool.


3.  In a large bowl, add the flour and milk.  Whisk lightly with a balloon whisk to combine, then crack the eggs individually into a small bowl (this way, if one seems not quite right, you can bin it without losing your entire batter mix!) and add to the batter.  Whisk again to incorporate.


4.  Add the chives, sweetcorn, asparagus logs, turkey and bacon to the batter mix and stir to combine.

5.  Carefully pour the mixture into an 8" pie dish, (preferably without fluted edges for ease of removal) and arrange the asparagus tips in an attractive patten on the top.  Transfer to a pre-heated oven (180degF/350degC/Gas4) to bake for 35-45 minutes or until browned and with a set centre.

6.  In the meantime, put a large pan of salted water on to boil.  Once boiling, add the Jersey Royals to it and reduce to a lively simmer.  Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until a potato, when pierced with a knife, falls easily from the blade.

7.  Drain, leave for just a minute or two to let the steam come off the potatoes, then add the knob of butter and the chives and replace the lid.

8.  Assemble the salad on the plates, then once the quiche has been removed from the oven and allowed to settle for a couple of minutes (it will deflate, but that is supposed to happen!), cut into four pieces and serve with the potatoes.

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