Bacon & Cheddar Twice Baked Potatoes - jackets with knobs on!

When I decided to put these twice baked potatoes on the menu plan for this week, I imagined that I would have a recipe here on the blog to consult where quantities were concerned.  Well I was wrong!  I seriously can't quite believe that I haven't blogged the recipe for these little darlings, mostly because they're so NICE!

Now, having made them again without following any recipe but relying on my (patchy, at best) memory of what to use and how much, I appear to have made the best version of these baked potatoes, to date.  All of which necessitated a blog entry, so that I can re-create them in future.

They are very simple to make and don't take much longer than a standard jacket potato.  You just need to allow a bit of time for filling the potato shells and putting them back into the oven to finally bake.  Making the filling is a little bit fiddly, but can easily be done while the potatoes are baking, so no worries there.

In this instance, I served the potatoes with some leftover gammon ham, juicy tomatoes and homemade coleslaw.  However, finding something to serve them with really shouldn't be difficult - they can be lunch, the star of the show, a side dish or even a standalone item in a finger buffet (so long as you let them cool down a bit!).

So the next time you find yourself with two rashers of bacon (or some ham) that are homeless - break out the twice baked potato and do yourself a super-tasty favour.

BACON & CHEDDAR TWICE BAKED POTATOES   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

3 large baking potatoes (floury are best - I like Marabel type)
a drizzle of rapeseed or olive oil
sea salt & ground black pepper
2 rashers of smoked back bacon
1 heaped tsp of sour cream or mayonnaise
1 tsp of wholegrain mustard
2-3 spring onions, sliced finely on the diagonal
200g & 50g mature cheddar cheese, grated.

Method :

Pre-heat your oven to 200degC/400degF/Gas 6.

Taking each baking potato, cut each in half long-ways.  If necessary, shave a tiny amount from the underside of each half, so that it will sit level and steady on a baking tray.

Drizzle each half with oil and season lightly with sea salt & black pepper, then place into the oven - on a high rack - to bake for 45mins.

While the potatoes are baking, make the filling.

Grill the two rashers of bacon until cooked through and the fat rendered, but not crispy.  Set them aside to cool.

Into a large heatproof bowl, place the spring onions, sour cream, mustard and bulk of the cheese.  Reserve the 50g of cheese for sprinkling over the filled potatoes.  Cut the bacon into tiny pieces and add to the bowl.

When the potatoes are soft and baked golden brown on top, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool slightly in order for them to be handled.  Using a teaspoon, gently remove the bulk of the cooked flesh from inside each half and add it to the filling bowl.  Replace the empty shell onto the baking tray.  

Break up the potato flesh using a fork and mix lightly into the rest of the ingredients.  Taste for seasoning and add more if necessary.

Spoon the filling back into the shells, making sure not to pack it down.  Leave each spoonful light and airy for a deliciously luscious look.  Once the filling is evenly distributed, divide the remainder of the grated cheese between each potato half, sprinkling it over the top.

Place the potatoes back into the oven for 15-20 mins until golden brown and delicious.

Serve with your choice of accompaniment.

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Tomato & Bacon Bruschetta - majorly epic flavourness

Is there such a word as "flavourness"?  If not, then there needs to be, if only to describe truly epic loveliness in the epicurean department such as this tomato and bacon bruschetta.  Oxford English Dictionary - in the words of the inestimable Captain Picard, "make it so!".

There now, having dealt with that, let's have a closer look at this Italianised bacon & tomatoes on toast.  Because that's what it is, really.

It all came about from our weekly staff meeting (that is, hubby, myself and the dogs) when I posed the question "what would you LIKE to eat, if you could".  Having got around the "lark's tongues in aspic" and "T-bone steak", not to mention "a Pavlova as big as my head", we came down to things that were rather more achievable.  Hubby mentioned the griddled sourdough that we had a little while ago, (that time with Coronation chicken on board) and we promptly had a bit of a brainstorm as to what you could put on griddled sourdough.

Well, the end result of pan fried, chopped bacon rashers with roughly chopped raspberry tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, all cooked in olive oil, just made my mouth water.

Now, if you're tempted to give this a go (and why wouldn't you be - it's beyond fab!), don't be put off by the fact that you can't source any raspberry tomatoes.  Just find the best flavoured tomatoes you can - any combination thereof will work.  Raspberry tomatoes are approximately the same size as a big old beefsteak tomato, but with 100% more flavour.  I reckon three or four normal sized vine ripened tomatoes would equal one raspberry tomato, if that helps.  If your tomatoes wind up being a tad acidic, never fear, just add a teaspoonful of honey to the pan and they'll taste like they were picked in the middle of summer.

It is important to drizzle the sourdough bread with a tasty extra virgin olive oil and rub it with garlic, but don't worry if you don't have a griddle pan.  Just toast it under the grill and it'll do the same job.  I adore my cast iron griddle pan and grab any excuse to use it, but I do appreciate that not everybody has one.

I paired our bruschetta up with an avocado based salad because it was served as a dinner.  However, this bruschetta recipe is perfectly adequate as a lunch without the salad.  A glass of something refreshing alongside is all you're likely to require for a fabulous lunch.

My favourite thing, apart from the gorgeous bacony, tomatoey, garlicky olive oil flavours, is the relationship between the sourdough and the tomato juice.  The toasted sides along with the chewy crust maintain the integrity of the bread whilst the gorgeous tomato juice just soaks, willy nilly, into the centre and shuffles around causing the bread and garlic to instantly fall in love with it.  Chunky salty bacon and sweet tomatoes on juice soaked garlicky toast with flakes of parmesan cheese on top.  Serious, extra large deliciousness.

TOMATO & BACON BRUSCHETTA  (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
345g smoked back bacon, chopped into chunks
2 extra large raspberry tomatoes (6-8 vine ripened tomatoes would do), chopped into chunks
6 sweet cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small garlic clove, sliced finely and 1 large garlic clove, left whole
half a tsp of freshly ground black pepper
half a tsp of dried basil (oregano is good, if you don't have basil)
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp runny honey (just in case your tomatoes need help in the sweetening department)
3 good, thick, slices of sourdough bread
extra virgin olive oil
shards of Parmesan cheese
finely chopped fresh parsley
a mixed salad, to serve.

Method :

If you are serving salad alongside, prepare said salad before you begin to cook the bruschetta, as it really doesn't take long.

Heat the olive oil (not the extra virgin olive oil) in a frying pan and, once hot, add the chopped bacon.  Fry on a moderate to hot heat, so evaporate any water and begin to caramelise the bacon.  Once the pieces have begun to take on a golden colour, add all the tomatoes, the sliced garlic (not the whole garlic), black pepper, dried basil, tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and stir from time to time as the mixture cooks.

The juice will escape from the tomatoes, which is good.  However, you want this liquid to reduce so as to intensify the flavour so keep the heat fairly high and stir regularly.  You are aiming for a fairly thick, chunky tomato sauce kind of texture.  When the tomato liquid has reduced by at least half, taste for acidity and add the teaspoonful of honey if necessary.

Once the consistency of the bacon & tomatoes is to your liking, reduce the heat to a tickover and turn your attention to the toast.

Taking the whole garlic clove, rub both sides of each slice of bread liberally with the clove.  Make sure to rub around the edge as the crust will help to shred the garlic.

Next, drizzle generously with the extra virgin olive oil on both sides.

Heat your griddle pan (or grill) and toast each slice on both sides to your own taste.

Place each slice of toast onto the plate you're going to serve them on and pile the bacon & tomatoes on top.  Make sure to catch the juice as you're piling as that's where a lot of the flavour is.

To finish, sprinkle the top with shards of Parmesan cheese and finally with the chopped parsley.

Serve with your pre-prepared salad and a glass of something refreshing.  Be happy!

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Kievs, devilment, soup and salads ... meal planning in reverse!

I thought, because I haven't posted much in the way of anything just lately, that I'd give a quick rundown on what has come out of my kitchen recently.  With both successes and failures - sometimes both at once, depending on everyone's preferences - it makes an interesting mix!

So let's start with one which everyone liked at least one part of - my devilled sausages.  I served these little lovelies (see recipe here) with some home made coleslaw (white cabbage, carrot & onion all sliced finely, mixed with some raisins, Greek yoghurt & mayonnaise), beetroot and a really tasty rice salad.  The rice salad was made with a simple mix of cooked cooled white basmati rice, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sweetcorn, chopped rocket and small cubes of cheddar cheese.  Once a lovely dressing had been added, along with seasoning to taste (I used a Suzanne's fat free dressing of blackberry, cardamom & chilli), the whole thing came together beautifully.  You can guarantee that even with a rice salad disliking teenager at the table, the sausages and coleslaw will go - and some rice salad went along with it, so I call that a success.

Travelling back on the school run one morning, hubby and I both were overcome with a mushroom lust.  Fortunately Sainsbury's is en route, so a quick stop for supplies meant we could have mushrooms on toast for brunch upon our return.  Yum.

Cooked until softened in a little butter, then seasoned with salt and pepper and given a quick splosh with a little mushroom ketchup, these little lovelies were gorgeous on some sourdough bread we had left over.  Toasted and buttered, it was simple and delicious.

Many moons ago, we made the mistake of introducing our son to chicken Kiev.  Not home made chicken Kiev, but the supermarkets' own version of chicken Kiev - one which is made of munched up and stuck back together again chicken, made into a dome with a tiny teaspoonful of garlic butter inside the cavernous waste that is each Kiev's centre.  He loved them then and every so often he requests them again.

Now for all that I have described them with an element of disdain, it is fond disdain as I really quite enjoy a Kiev myself.  It takes me back to when I had the horses and would come in at 9pm starving hungry.  I'd throw a couple of Kiev's in the oven and a packet of savoury rice into the microwave and 20-30 minutes later, sit down to a hot dinner.   I thoroughly enjoyed the Kiev dinner that hubby rustled together, as pictured above.  I know - I should be ashamed of myself and somewhere under the "Mmmmnnn...", I am.  Honest.

Surely everyone likes a jacket potato, don't they?  Even my hubby likes a twice baked Jacket Potato (more on those, in another post!).  In this instance, however, I was suddenly overcome with the desire for mackerel and as I had some salad left over, it made sense to combine the lot for lunch.  The mackerel came out of one of these little tins of mackerel fillets, but I'm fairly sure it still qualifies as being good for you!  In fact, if you totted up the inflammatory -v- non-inflammatory points, just putting the mackerel on the plate cancelled out any non-inflammatory points the remainder might have had!  A scrummy lunch.

So, how do you like the look of my thick chicken and vegetable soup?  It was intended to be chicken and dumpling soup, however like Topsy it kind of grew in the making and it seemed to us that dumplings would be overkill.

I basically emptied the vegetable drawer of the fridge onto the tray upon which I carry ingredients about the kitchen - and only put back things like cucumber and beetroot.  Following a quick rummage in the freezer, which gleaned the sweetcorn and peas, I was good to go.

The chicken was pan fried to a light golden colour, then shredded and finished its cooking in the soup stock.  Done this way, you gain flavour from the caramelisation on the chicken, but retain the softness that is inherent with chicken breast.

I included such lovely winter warmers as pearl barley and red lentils for thickeners and of course used the lovely Essential Cuisine Chicken Stock as the stock base.  Making the soup was a simple matter of chopping the vegetables to a suitably small size and putting them into the pot in the right order, depending on how long each took to cook!  I started off with the classic onion and garlic, followed by the celery, carrot and potato, then the stock, barley and lentils - finishing up with the softer vegetables and herbs.  With some crusty sourdough bread, the soup made a lovely hearty meal and it truly is the kind of soup that you can throw just about anything at.

Lastly - for this instalment, anyway - we have the sad case of the Merguez sausage.  Oh dear, what a tale of uncertainties, changes of mind and mistaken identities.  You see, hubby had a risotto in mind.  It involved lamb and possibly preserved lemon.  At this stage, it was just "in mind", you know - evolving.  I suggested to him that Merguez sausage might be good as the lamb component.  I knew that Asda do 4 or 5 Merguez sausages within the right price range and also knew that they were, to a large part, lamb.  However, what I didn't realise then was that Asda's Merguez sausages were, to a large part, beef.  ~rolls eyes~  I suppose they have to keep the price down somehow and there are cuts of beef that are a lot more economical to use than lamb.  However, being this charitable is with the benefit of hindsight.  That wasn't what I was saying once they were in my fridge and I'd read the ingredients list.

Being such a large part beef, made them useless for hubby's risotto.  So there they were, sitting in the fridge with no job to do.  Not only that, but because we'd never had them before and the ingredients list was unexpected, we had no idea how they tasted to be able to include them in a recipe somewhere.  There was only one thing to be done - cook them and eat them for lunch with a salad.

As it turned out, they were entirely wrong for the risotto hubby had evolving in his head - but would be great for another kind of risotto some other day.  They leach a gorgeous spicily flavoured, coloured oil once heated up - in the same way that chorizo does - and have a hint of lambiness in their flavour, but to be honest, I'd have been hard pressed to have told you what meat they tasted of.  They are certainly spicy - but not in a chilli sort of way.  More of a paprika and cumin sort of way that would make them ideal for all sorts of dishes.  So now we know - and I'm sure one day they'll appear in a more creative concept than beside some salad!

So just to whet your appetite, for my next instalment of meal planning in reverse, we've got some BBQ, more mackerel, that risotto and an awesome roast pork dinner amongst other things.  Can't wait!

Quick lunch : sausage & vegetable pot

Lunch - two sausages, each broken into three pieces and fried, then removed from the pan and three mushrooms and half a sliced courgette went in to cook.  Once softened, a huge handful of curly kale went in, a shake of Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of sea salt and a tablespoonful of double cream.  Toast a pitta bread, return the sausages to the pan for the last 30 seconds, then decant into a bowl and eat with a huge smile on your face.

Oh yes.

Minty mustard lamb's liver pitta bread - a spur of the minute lunch

I'm currently going through a phase of loving pitta bread.

Now I've always liked pitta bread, but just recently I seem to have taken to them in a big way.  I suppose the fact that my tummy seems to accept them more readily than ordinary bread (~sob~ I love my bread!) has made all the difference.

There are a number of other benefits to pitta bread, as I've discovered.  For instance, there's very little on this earth that can't be put into one for a yummy and fairly portable lunch.  Everything from steak and chips, through stew, to trifle can be contained in a pitta bread.  Although why anyone would want to put trifle in a pitta, is another matter.  Anyway - I do think that soup is really the only thing that won't go into a pitta bread - but you can dip your pitta bread into soup, so it still wins!

Pitta bread is also self-limiting, quantity wise.  As an example, I was making scrambled egg to go in my pitta this morning.  As I was just scrambling the one egg, I used just the one pitta.  Now had I have been making scrambled egg on toast, I might have felt I should just use the one slice of bread - but you could guarantee that I'd have put two into the toaster because of habit.  With pitta, just one comes out of the packet at a time and just one does the job with no reason to feel hard done by.

Creamy, minty, mustardy - what's not to like?

The whole butter question is another thing that is improved by the use of pitta bread.  With a sandwich, you would butter both slices of bread.  Not so with a pitta.  Very often it isn't necessary to use butter at all - but if you do, then just butter the one side and the job is done with half the amount.  How good is that?

With regard to quantity, putting a whole bucket load of salad into a sandwich just results in your having to use two hands to hold the whole collapsing mess.  Not so with a pitta.  Jam the salady loveliness in there as hard and fast as you can!  You might need two hands as you go, but only because of the sheer weight of health giving salad inside your cheese or egg pitta.  *wink*

So, when we picked up a little pack of fresh lamb's liver from the Ferndene Farm Shop at Bashley, Hampshire the other day, it got me wondering what to do with it.  Naturally, "put it in a pitta" was right up there as a suggestion.

I was in two minds whether to go down the "devilled, mustardy" route with it, or the "redcurrant and rosemary" route.  They both seemed as enticing as one another, but I could tell from the way my mouth was watering at the idea of the mustardy version, that this was the one.

I love mint sauce with lamb and felt that just the mustard sauce wasn't going to be quite enough.  I didn't have any fresh mint (the awful weather has terminated our mint plant's delusions of grandeur) but suddenly remembered putting mint sauce onto cooked new potatoes and how good that is.  So, if I use Dijon mustard for its piquancy, then add a little mint sauce for the sweet/sour thing it brings with it, hmmmn.  What can I use to lengthen and de-intensify the sauce with?  Aha!  I've a teensy tiny bit of double cream in the fridge looking for a home.  Perfect!  And it was.  The cream - only a dessertspoonful at the most - was sufficient to just saucify (is that a word?  If not, it ought to be) all the lovely flavours.

My friend Suzy Bowler entitled her brilliant food blog "Sudden Lunch" and I had her in mind all the time I was making this lunch, as apart from a little thought, it came together in a twinkling.

MINTY MUSTARD LAMB'S LIVER PITTA BREAD    (serves 1)

Ingredients :

1 pitta bread
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
sufficient lamb's liver for one person, trimmed and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
half tsp Mint sauce (the vinegary kind, not Mint jelly)
1 dessertsp of double cream
small handful of rocket leaves.

Method :

1.  First of all, put your pitta bread in the toaster - put it in diagonally (or as diagonally as you can muster) so that as much as possible of it sees the heat.  Once toasted, split down one side and turn your attention to the liver.

2.  Heat a little rapeseed oil in a frying pan and chuck in the liver pieces.  Fry hard and fast - I like mine to have completely stopped bleeding, but I know there are others who can cope with a little red stuff, so it's up to you how long to cook it for.  A few seconds before finishing and adding the sauce ingredients, throw on a little sea salt and a lot of black pepper.  Then turn off the heat and leaving the pan on the hot plate, add a teaspoonful of Dijon mustard, half a teaspoonful of mint sauce and a dessertspoonful of double cream.  Stir to combine.  Pack the rocket leaves into the pitta and pour in the liver mix.

I can recommend either something tangy to drink with it, or a nice big mug of tea or coffee.  Mmmmn, glorious!

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Frittering away - Gordon Ramsay's Sweetcorn Fritters

I don’t know about you, but I find I am becoming increasingly susceptible to suggestion.  No don’t go raising your eyebrows like that – not THAT kind of suggestion – I’m thinking more along the lines of suggestions regarding food.

For instance.  There we were, the other day, sat in the car outside the supermarket discussing whether to go for tiger prawns or chicken for our meal that evening.   Suddenly there’s a great waft of seaside fish & chips smell from some fast food joint or another.  There and then, we gave up all ideas of a healthy meal and were lusting after a piece of cod in golden crispy batter, chunky chips and lots of salt and vinegar.

In fact, common sense prevailed and we opted for tiger prawns and had a very acceptable home made curry – but that quiet yearning for crispy fish & chips is still there in the background.  Sooner or later it’s going to rear its ugly head in a moment of weakness.

I suppose a lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m continually working with food – be it looking for recipes, thinking about what flavours will go with what and considering what alternatives I can substitute in recipes I like but that have elements that I know wouldn’t suit our palates.  I can bring to mind what a flavour is like very easily once I’ve sampled it – so whenever a delicious aroma occurs, I am instantly analysing it for the component parts.

It’s the same with cooking shows on the t.v.  There are times when I can totally imagine how a finished dish would taste.  Now this is sometimes  very useful, as I can “tuck the recipe behind my ear” and bring it back out again when assembling the menu plan for the week.

Take this week, for example.  I had a little bank of five recipes that I’d accumulated for consideration.  Ultimately, I only went with two of them (a Chicken Buttermilk Stew and a Cumberland Pie), but we were also required to devise something yummy to go with a couple of interesting sauces that I’d managed to pick up en route.  Add that to a couple of dishes that had fallen over from last week – and bingo, the menu plan is done.

However, there are some occasions when something so apparently delicious and wonderful attracts my attention in a way that says “Eat me! Eat me now!” – and such was the case with Gordon Ramsay’s Sweetcorn Fritters – as demonstrated on his Ultimate Cookery Course show (Ch.4) a couple of weeks ago.

I paid attention to what he was using by way of ingredients, because I’m perpetually interested in what goes with what by way of flavours.  However, I didn’t exactly pay attention to the quantities.  So, when I eventually buckled and thought “I’m having those for lunch today”, I was a little bit stuck as there was no evidence of a recipe on the internet.

The recipe isn’t difficult – which might explain my being able to remember it.

You quite simply take a small amount of flour (around 100g) and add a small amount of baking powder (which I couldn’t be bothered to hunt for, so I used self-raising flour), an egg and a small amount of milk.  Whisk them together to form a fairly thick batter, then add a couple of sliced spring onions, a tin of drained sweetcorn, a chopped chilli and a small amount of freshly chopped coriander.  Add a little seasoning and fry gently in small spoon-sized dollops.

Fix yourself up with a pot of sweet chilli dipping sauce (or just tomato ketchup would do, in a pinch) and hey presto – lunch is served.

Now here’s your test.  Are you as susceptible to foodie suggestions as me?  Because those fritters are just To.Die.For.  So simple, so easy to make, relatively good for you too (especially if you use rapeseed oil to cook them in, as I did) – and they kept the hungry wolf away right up until dinner time.

I have a feeling that the fritter is going to become the new flan.  You may well be seeing many, many different versions appearing over the ensuing months!  After all, how’s about a griddled courgette, cherry tomato & feta cheese fritter?  Or a chorizo, potato & pea fritter?  Maybe even a curried chick pea and prawn fritter?

Uh oh!  That’s done it - where’s that frying pan?

(Previously published at Bournemouth Echo's Taste Section : "Jenny's Week" blog)

GORDON'S SWEETCORN FRITTERS   (makes approx 10)

Ingredients :

100g self raising flour
1 egg
2-3 tbsp milk
3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced diagonally
1 chilli (red or green) seeds removed and chopped finely
a small handful of coriander, chopped roughly
326g tin of sweetcorn, drained
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp rapeseed oil.

Method :

1.  Into a bowl, place the flour, egg and milk.  Using a balloon whisk, mix them well until combined into a sticky, thick batter.

2.  Add the spring onions, chilli, coriander and sweetcorn, plus a little seasoning.  Stir until all the vegetables and herbs are covered with a light coating of the batter.

3.  Pour the rapeseed oil into a frying pan on a medium heat.  Once the oil is heated through, add tablespoonfuls of the fritter mixture - four usually makes a good number without cooling the frying pan and stopping the cooking process.

4.  Once the underside of the mixture has set slightly, spread the blob out a little and continue to cook until golden brown.

5.  Turn the fritter and press down with the back of the spatula, just for a moment or two.  Continue to fry until this second side is also golden brown.

6.  Place the fritters onto kitchen paper and keep in a warm place until they are all cooked, then serve with some sweet chilli dipping sauce - or whichever type of sauce you fancy!

Printable version

Tom Yum Paste from Sainsbury's new "Speciality Ingredients" Range

Sainsbury's have introduced a range of "Speciality Ingredients" to their product line, including such interesting things as Porcini Mushroom Paste, Umami Paste, Tom Yum Paste, Mirrin and Tempura Batter Mix, amongst many others.

When I was asked whether I'd be interested in receiving a selection of these new products, it didn't take me long to say "yes please!".

So, I've been sent the following to try out :

-  Mirrin;
-  Porcini Mushroom Paste;
-  Harissa Paste;
-  Tom Yum Paste, and
-  Chipotle Chilli Paste.

These products all range from around £1.18 to £2.99 and aren't so desperately expensive as you might imagine.  In fact, I'd say they are well worth the money to be able to "play" with them and find out whether a) you like the flavours and b) whether you like what you can do with the ingredients.  All this goes towards whether you'd be prepared to go one step further and create the same thing from scratch at home, or whether you'd be happy to let Sainsbury's do that bit for you!

At the moment, we're still considering what to do with the Harissa, Porcini and Chipotle pastes - so watch this space.  Where the Mirrin is concerned, that has a certain future as we often use it and I was just running out in my current bottle - so fortuitous timing, Sainsbury's!

The one I was exceptionally keen to try, was the Tom Yum Soup Paste.

Now I'm continually looking for a low calorie lunch option.  I have discovered in later life that I do, contrary to popular belief, love soup (who knew?) and I am happy to drink broth type soups, or eat thick hearty soups - and anything in between.

I went through a phase of eating Ramen noodles - the pre-packaged, just-add-water-and-your-own-ingredients version.  However, I had to back off on those because the degree of salt was just too much for my blood pressure and the degree of chilli was too much for my ... well, you know, "digestion", let's call it.

So I could see a happy future for this Tom Yum Paste, so long as it wasn't too chilli hot and equally, wasn't flavoured with lemongrass and that's it.  Today, being shopping day, I laid in the requirements for an acceptable soup i.e. some fresh beansprouts, a few mushrooms and a cheapo bag of prawns.

The instructions on the label are simple to follow and gave me an opportunity to try out some of the Essential Cuisine Fish Stock that I had also been sent to try.  I have to apologise to Essential Cuisine, for it has taken me an unfeasibly long time to try any of their stocks (they sent me six - beef, veal, vegetable, fish, chicken and pork), but summer intervened and I stopped using stock!).

I was jolly impressed by how the plain old water changed as soon as I sprinkled in less than a teaspoonful of the Essential Cuisine stock powder and a wonderful aroma immediately rose from the pot.  There was no stirring and stirring, waiting for the powder to dissolve - it was gone as soon as it hit the water.  Excellent, when you're whipping up a quick lunch!  I had a quick taste before I added anything else and the flavour was really lovely.  Now bear in mind that this is fish stock - you would be forgiven for thinking "yeuk!" at the idea of supping a spoonful.  However, the flavour is really lovely - rounded and full flavoured, reminiscent of creamy shellfish and meaty cod.

Next to be added was supposed to be a tablespoonful of the paste, but as I was cautious of the chilli heat - it IS very red! - I used a little less.

Immediately, the kitchen filled with those lovely Thai aromas of lemongrass, coriander and chilli.  The paste seemed to separate a bit, in that the oil floated to the top of the stock and stayed there - but I could forgive it that if the flavour was good!

End result - first try-out!  Mmmn, nice!

I chose to add the prescribed prawns and mushrooms, but opted to include an additional handful of beansprouts.  I was glad I did, as they made for an interesting crunch which gave what was basically a broth-type soup, some welcome texture.

Plus, I was agreeably surprised at the flavour.  Immediately I realised that the chilli heat wasn't oppressive but in fact is well balanced against the other spices involved.  The paste isn't salty and in fact is absolutely perfect for my favoured low calorie lunch.

It is very possible to ring the changes with this soup, as it all depends what flavour stock you use - and the additional ingredients you include - as to how the final bowlful tastes.

As the first of Sainsbury's Speciality Ingredients, I'd say this one is a big hit!  I shall have to investigate what else is in the range, next time I'm in the shop.

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Tenderstem & Smoked Haddock Stack - more Tenderstem in 10!

Hubby and I just couldn't think of a suitable name for this one which described all of its attributes in one snappy title.  It is, after all (and from the bottom up) toasted sourdough bread, tenderstem broccoli, smoked haddock, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.  I defy you to think of some sharp-sounding title, we couldn't!

This is another recipe for the Tenderstem in 10 challenge, where bloggers have been asked to dream up a recipe that can be put on the table in 10 minutes, using 10 or less ingredients - one of which is lovely Tenderstem Broccoli.

Now, this Tenderstem in 10 recipe is entirely reliant upon you having some leftover Hollandaise sauce available - although I'm quite sure it would work just as well with a knob of butter on top!

I love poached eggs and since discovering that hubby makes a creditable Hollandaise, we've often got a little pot of it lurking in the fridge.  Poached egg on ham, on toast, with Hollandaise.  Oh yum.  Provided you are very, very careful and heat it through so, so gently and mix well, there's no reason why you can't have a little pot of Hollandaise too.  I generally put my little pot into the water I've just cooked the egg in, just to take the chill off of it.

So, this beautiful stack of loveliness is hubby's creation.  He is a great one for using fish in every which way he can - and my goodness but it worked well here.

Our local supermarket is currently selling perfectly sized portions of smoked haddock, all neatly packaged in a little microwaveable bag with its own pat of butter and quite affordable at the moment at a special offer price of 99p.  Just a couple of minutes in the microwave, slit the top and you've got a perfect piece of fish - which is just the job for this recipe.

So, once you've cut your bread and put it on to grill, chucked the fish into the microwave and got it twirling, the only thing left to do is put the kettle on for some boiling water for the tenderstem and the egg.  Once it boils (and I recommend getting the heat on under the saucepan, so as not to knock all the heat out of the water by pouring it into a cold pan) three to four minutes later your tenderstem is done and you've a lovely poached egg to go on top.  Drop your little bit of Hollandaise in its pot into the hot water and seconds later it's ready to drizzle over the top.  After that, it's just an assembly job!

You don't even need to butter your toast - depending on how much Hollandaise you've got.  Just pop it onto a plate, lay the tenderstem across the toast, then the fish on top of that, the egg crowns the lot and the Hollandaise drizzles beautifully across everything.  Knockout!

Hubby is sensitive to eggs - as you probably remember - so he made one for himself that didn't have the poached egg.  I reckon that it looks every bit as tasty and inviting as the poached egg version - so if you're egg sensitive too, why not go for the egg-free version and pop a knob of butter on top of your fish.  Delicious!

I can see this recipe appearing again at the weekends, for lunch.  Son & heir was distraught that he'd missed it because he was at school.  Ooops!

TENDERSTEM & SMOKED HADDOCK STACK  (feeds 2)

Ingredients :

2 slices of sourdough bread or some other robust bread
butter for spreading
4-6 stems of Tenderstem broccoli
100g of smoked haddock (microwave in the bag is perfect)
a capful of white wine vinegar
1 egg
a small amount of leftover Hollandaise sauce, or a knob of butter.

Method :

1.  Boil a kettle and, while it boils, place two saucepans onto a gentle heat.  (Not if they're non-stick, or you'll damage the non-stick coating).

2.  Put the bread into your toaster to toast, or under the grill - but remember to keep an eye on it!

3.  Place the fish into the microwave for the prescribed time.

4.  Once the water boils in the two saucepans, add the tenderstem to one and the white wine vinegar to the other.  Crack the egg into a ramekin and pour it gently into the water.  Cook for 3-4 minutes (or to taste).


5.  When the toast is done, put it onto the plate and spread a little butter onto it.


6.  When the tenderstem broccoli is done, drain well and lay 2-3 stems across the toast.


7.  When the fish is done, slit the bag carefully (those things are evil for scalds!) and tip the fish onto the tenderstem.


8.  Carefully lay the poached egg on top and drizzle over the Hollandaise.


9.  Season to taste and dig in!


Printable version
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Tenderstem Rarebit - a "Tenderstem in Ten" recipe!

Hubby will complain bitterly about broccoli appearing on the menu too often, but even he has been heard to exclaim that where tenderstem broccoli is concerned, "it is as nice as asparagus".  With which I completely agree.

I remember when son & heir was a little chap being weaned onto veggies, we used to call broccoli "trees" and he was sufficiently intrigued to eat them.  Since then, he's been accepting "trees" on his plate without too much complaint and has even been known to enjoy having "tall trees" (or tenderstem broccoli) for dinner.

For those who think that it is just a matter of difference in shape, rather than flavour, the tenderstem has a much sweeter flavour than "ordinary" broccoli, with less of a cabbage flavour than Purple Sprouting broccoli.  It is true that it is more expensive than your ordinary broccoli, but for a meal that you want to be a little bit special, it makes the grade beautifully.

So, when I was asked whether I'd like to take part in the "Tenderstem in Ten" challenge (to create a recipe that can be on the table in ten minutes or less), it seemed like it could be fun!

I had my first go at the challenge yesterday and my recipe for a lunch time Tenderstem Rarebit had a few teething troubles - none of which involved the tenderstem itself, I hasten to add - which sent it over time.  Add to that my inability to get around my kitchen with anything faster than a snail's pace - and you begin to realise that making anything edible within ten minutes is quite a feat!

For instance, is the time from when you set foot in the kitchen, or from when you start the cooking process?  If it's the former, then I've had it for all the challenges - but if it's the latter, then I'm in with a shout.

I often find, when I'm cooking something that involves a number of different processes, that my disabilities get right in the way.  Take the Tenderstem Rarebit, for instance.  I needed to grill the Ciabatta rolls to toast them, whilst the tenderstem simmered and the rarebit cooked on the hob.  Now, I forgot that I can't use the grill at the same time as the hob - it's one or the other, because I need to sit at the cooker.  Our cooker has the grill immediately under the hob and with the grill door open, I can't reach the back burners on the hob!  Anyway, I'm always scared I'll set my t-shirt on fire trying to see into the pans on the front burners.  That'd be a bit of a distraction, if ever that happened!

So, for you, you'll be able to combine operations in a way that was impossible for me - and save at least seven minutes doing so!  For me, I'll be grilling the cut rolls on a grillpan in future - at least then I can see what's going on without fear of combustion.

I can tell you that it is very worthwhile.  Hoooo, yes!  This Tenderstem Rarebit recipe is going to go on the list of "can we have it for lunch again soon" recipes.

I figured that as broccoli and cheese are natural partners, and cheese on toast is another natural partnership, that bringing them all together in this recipe might just work.  It did.  With bells on.  As a control experiment, I made one Tenderstem Rarebit and one just with the Rarebit topping - and the Tenderstem Rarebit was far easier to eat as the flavour of the tenderstem allowed some relief from the enormous (and gorgeous) flavours of the rarebit.  The sweetness of the tenderstem was a lovely foil for the big savoury flavours of the cheese, mustard and stout.

Son & heir thoroughly enjoyed his helping and munched his way stolidly through, murmuring in appreciation, uttering "gorgeous!" and "cor!" every so often - so I think he approved.  Hubby and I were both agreed that it was a do-again recipe that was much nicer with the tenderstem than without - and one that could easily be a substantial snack on those days when one has missed lunch!

Hence, I leave it up to you to have a go and tell me whether you managed to create your Tenderstem Rarebit in ten minutes.  I am quite sure it's do-able, so long as you do all your preparation (getting everything out, separating the eggs, grating the cheese, etc.)  before you start the ten minute timer!


TENDERSTEM RAREBIT   (serves 3)


Ingredients :


3 ciabatta rolls, cut in half lengthwise
12 stems of Tenderstem broccoli (or more if they are thin stems), cut to fit the ciabatta rolls
1½ tsp English mustard powder
4 tbsp stout
45g butter
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, to taste
 250g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
3 egg yolks
freshly ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Boil a kettle and pour enough boiling water into a saucepan to cook the tenderstem, and place on the heat.

2.  Place the rolls, cut side up, under the grill or onto a grillpan and toast until lightly browned.  Turn and toast the other side.

3.  At the same time, add the tenderstem to the boiling water and set a timer for 3 minutes.  When they are cooked (when a knife inserted into the stem goes through without complaint), drain and set to one side.

4.  Place the mustard powder, stout and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter is melted.  Add the worcestershire sauce and the cheese and stir until the cheese is all melted but take care not to let it boil.  Set aside to cool for a moment, while you rescue your rolls that are threatening to burn.


5.  If you've used a grill pan, now is the time to get your cooker's grill heating up.


6.  Place the roll halves onto the grill pan and distribute the tenderstem broccoli across the roll halves.


7.  Add the egg yolks to the cooled (and hopefully thickened) cheese mixture and beat them through until completely incorporated.  Add a little black pepper.


8.  Spoon the cheese mixture across the tenderstem and place under the grill until browned and bubbling.


Serve.

Printable version

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Quick lunchtime Smoked Mackerel Pate

Hubby has been trying to increase the amount of oily fish he eats in a week and, like me, he's begun to look at meals other than dinnertime.  After all, there's only so many dinners you can have in a week if they consist of smoked mackerel, nice as it is!

However, unlike me - who has opted for breakfast, he's opted for the lunchtime option.  He's also opted for the smoked mackerel route, whereas I'm alternating between tinned mackerel in tomato sauce and tinned mackerel in brine.


So, he invested in some three fillets of smoked mackerel and enjoyed two lunches from them.

This is one of those lunches - when he created a smoked mackerel pate to eat with some of my soda bread and a salad.  Looks good - and by all accounts, it tasted pretty fantastic.

The pate was a simple matter of flaking the fillets into a bowl, adding a teaspoon of horseradish sauce, enough mayonnaise to lubricate the mix, a squirt of lemon juice and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Pile onto a piece of freshly toasted soda bread - and eat with an accompanying salad.  Oh, and two ostentatious olives.  *chuckle*

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