Plum & Pomegranate Clafouti

This is one of those recipes that I included on the blog but didn't ever complete the post, so it didn't reach the stage of being published.

It reaches back to 2012 (and it's now 2019), so you'll forgive me if I've forgotten the true in's and out's of the recipe, but what I do remember is that the end result was gorgeous.  What reminded me about it was the fact that we're about at the end of plum season again and I really haven't made the most of the little darlings, this year.  Hence, I was pondering on what I could make that involved plums - and suddenly remembered this Clafouti.

Well, here it is.  The recipe itself couldn't be any easier, in fact the hardest bit about it as I recall, was finding the right dish to put it in!  LOL  It certainly didn't stay in that dish for long - we made a serious hole in it that first serving.

Somewhere between pancakes and sponge pudding, a clafouti definitely fits into the "comfort food" brackets that you know I so love.  Go on, indulge yourself!




PLUM & POMEGRANATE CLAFOUTI  (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

500g red plums, stoned and quartered
2 tbsp of runny honey
1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
1 tsp orange flower water
20g unsalted butter
2 medium eggs
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 heaped tbsp self raising flour
50g semi skimmed milk
3 tbsp greek yoghurt
a pinch of sea salt.

Method :

Place the plums, honey, pomegranate molasses and orange flower water into a bowl and mix until the plums are liberally coated, then tip the plum mixture into a large wide, shallow tart dish and level out.

Melt the butter either in a pan, or in the microwave.  Take care not to let it burn.

Into a large bowl, place the sugar, eggs and flour.  Whisk together until creamy and whilst whisking, add the milk, yoghurt, salt and melted butter.  Whisk until all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour the batter over the plums and place into a pre-heated oven at 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is slightly domed and a pointed knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Serve warm with cream.

Printable version

Citrus & spice chicken

I've been going through a whole heap of old paperwork recently - which included my many and various files and folders chock-a-block full of collected recipes.  In doing so, I have re-discovered several favourites from pre-Rhubarb & Ginger times, one of which being this citrus & spice chicken.

The recipe has developed over the years (as recipes are wont to do) but I note from the paper recipe in my folder, that the original was adapted from the Good Food Magazine's "40 Best Chicken Recipes" booklet.  Well, it's been adapted yet again - and very much for the better.  The very first recipe was basically a traybake, my first version added several ingredients such as the honey and chilli powder.  This last incarnation has separated out the vegetables to be cooked on the hob instead of in the oven, which I much prefer.

Marinate, my little lovelies!

Oven cooking the vegetables inevitably led to burned ends and undercooked middles, as the sheer quantity of meat and vegetables in the tray didn't really allow for even cooking.  Plus, it is nice to have a small degree of char on the chicken, but not so nice on the peppers and mushrooms.

This way, the chicken has plenty of air space around each piece and the cooking is much more even - particularly if you place the larger pieces to the outside and the smaller pieces to the inside of the tray.  The surface attains nice little charred corners, while the chicken itself stays moist and delicious.

Cooking the vegetables in a frying pan enables much more degree of control.  Inevitably the leftover marinade isn't enough moisture to see them through the entirety of the cook, but adding a little water from time to time not only allows the vegetables to steam, but also keeps the marinade saucy.  This way, you have the relatively dry chicken, accompanied by the saucy vegetables - which provides a lovely balance and completely without burned ends.

Ready for the oven - Bacofoil's non-stick aluminium foil is great for this!

Another huge positive to this recipe - apart from the flavour which is really tasty - is its speed.  Provided you get the chicken on to marinade in advance, it is a really simple task to prepare a couple of salad veggies, cook some rice, put the chicken in the oven and pan cook the vegetables.  From taking the marinating chicken out of the fridge to dishing up, probably only took around 45 minutes in total.  I love that - especially when there's such a pay-off by way of flavour.

So what's the flavour like?  The chicken flavour is there, no one flavour overrules it and because the curry past is used fairly sparingly and is very much tempered by the use of the yoghurt, it doesn't take precedence.  The honey gives a quiet sweetness and the garlic helps to savoury it all up nicely.  In fact, don't tell anyone, but if you add the yoghurt, then the lemon juice, then the honey, stir it all together and have a taste - mmmmn, it would make a smashing dessert!

Once the curry paste, oil and garlic are added though, I wouldn't recommend tipping it on top of your strawberries.  The oven adds the last element of flavour to the chicken, in the small degree of charring as the tops of the chicken pieces catch in the oven.  It all amounts to an absolutely scrumptious whole.

Now, as for Cook's Tips, I don't have many but there are a few worth mentioning.

The recipe calls for the juice of half a lemon.  If, however, you don't have a lemon but do have a lime - then no worries, use that instead!  You will need the whole lime's juice and the flavour will be slightly different, but no less nice.  I have used both in the past and can't decide which one I like the best.

Where the chilli powder is concerned, feel free to add as little or as much as you like.  However, if you're new to chilli powder and curry spice, I'd suggest you err on the side of caution to begin with - you can always add a little bit more the next time.

You can certainly freewheel a bit where the accompaniments are concerned.  I think the chicken and vegetables would be lovely served in a soft Indian flatbread with some salad alongside.  On this occasion, I served the chicken with some basmati rice that I had cooked in chicken stock and turmeric, along with the cooling influence of avocado and cucumber.  For my son, who isn't keen on avocado, I served a sliced juicy tomato and cucumber.  The chicken is certainly flexible enough in flavour profile, that there are a whole host of accompaniments you could serve with it.

Calories are in the range of 398 per portion, it is low in sodium and high in Vitamins B6 and C, so it could be worse!

I am so happy to have rediscovered this recipe.  I think it is going to appear fairly regularly on the menu plan and I recommend it to you.  Without the chilli powder, it would be great for children, too.

CITRUS & SPICE CHICKEN   (Serves 3)

Ingredients:

For the marinade :

150ml natural yoghurt (I used Greek yoghurt)
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp runny honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used sunflower)
2 generous tsp curry paste or powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
chilli powder to taste (I used 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder).

Other ingredients :

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into large chunks
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into large slices
half a green pepper, deseeded and cut into large slices
1 onion cut into large slices
6 medium chestnut mushrooms , quartered
1 tbsp olive oil.

Method :

1.  Mix together the marinade ingredients in a bowl.

2.  Add chicken chunks to the marinade, stir to coat and set aside to marinate for as long as you've got - from 4 hours to 30 minutes.

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

4.  Place the chicken chunks onto a baking tray, taking care to leave as much of the marinade in the bowl, but without scraping any off the chicken.

5.  Bake the chicken for 30 minutes, remembering to turn the tray half way through to ensure even colouring.

6.  Add the vegetables to the bowl and stir to coat them in the marinade.

7.  Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the vegetables, marinade and 200ml water.  Cook, covered, on a medium heat until the peppers are softened and onions are cooked through.  You may need to add more water, but only a little at a time.

8.  Once the vegetables are cooked, remove the lid and allow the sauce to reduce and thicken, which will only take 2-3 minutes if you haven't added too much water.

9.  The chicken is ready once the chunks are cooked through and they have gained a little bit of charred colour.

Serve with steamed basmati rice, avocado and cucumber.

Printable version

Prawn curry with tomato & coconut

This curry represents my first dabble into using Tikka spice mix.

Now, before you all raise your hands in despair and start telling me how much better it is to mix your own spices (which I agree, it can be), let me explain.  Tikka is a very different kettle of spices to your standard curry.  The mix is different, it contains different spices.  Now, before I start trying to formulate my own mix, I like to play around a little with a commercially prepared spice mix, just so that I can get the flavours, aromas and textures set in my head.  It's a bit like covering other people's songs before you record one of your own.  Or maybe not - but that's what it feels like, anyway.


I began this curry with an idea, a goal, in mind.  I wanted it to be creamy without being heavy, kind of middling-hot (enough to satisfy hubby's chilli tastebuds, but not so much as to make us gasp) and not just prawns.  I wanted there to be something else in the curry sauce, but not necessarily a vegetable like potato, or okra.


Now bear in mind that this was a Monday curry - which means that the fridge and larder are at their leanest for little bits of this and that, leftovers which could be press-ganged into use.  However, I had a tin of coconut milk specifically for the curry and part-way along the recipe I suddenly remembered the two vine ripened tomatoes that made all the difference.


The end result was a delightfully light curry which made a real change from the heavy, rich, dark curries that we're used to.  We ate it with some peppered poppodums which went with it perfectly.

PRAWN CURRY WITH TOMATO & COCONUT  (serves 3)

Ingredients :

a knob of butter

2 onions, chopped fine

2 cloves of garlic, grated

3 tsp of tikka curry powder

half a tsp of cumin

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped fine

200ml fish stock or water (if you're concerned about the salt content)

400ml can of coconut milk

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp plain yoghurt (I used Greek)

a handful of fresh coriander, chopped

sea salt & ground black pepper

300g frozen prawns (defrosted)

Method :

1.  Melt the butter in a deep frying pan and add the onion.  Cook gently until softened and golden.

2.  Grate in the garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes then add the Tikka powder and cumin.  Stir to combine and allow to cook down for 1-2 minutes.

3.  Add the tomatoes and stir to combine.  Increase the temperature a little, so that the tomatoes start to soften.

4.  Add the stock or water, mix it in, then add the coconut milk, tomato puree, yoghurt, coriander and sugar.  Season, stir well and bring to a boil.

5.  Allow to reduce until you are happy with the consistency, then add the prawns and allow to heat through.

Serve with white rice and puppodums.

.

Greek Lamb & Orzo Bake - what a triumph!

I just couldn't wait to tell you all about tonight's dinner.  It was such a success!

It was one of those dishes that starts smelling wonderful and continues to get better and better the more of its ingredients you add.  Just so with this Bake.

Now I'd seen Orzo in various recipes on t'internet and got curious about what it was.  So that led me to discovering that it was a particular type of pasta-like carbohydrate, shaped like tiny grains of rice.  Curious!  As is my wont, I'd "tucked it behind my ear for later" and kept an eye out for it in the shops, along with dozens of other things.  It just so happened that while I was browsing the World Foods aisle in our local supermarket, amongst all the other noodles and tiny pastas, there it was - Orzo!  Now I knew where I could get it, all I had to do was find a recipe that looked delicious enough to warrant its use.

So along came "Greek Lamb & Orzo Bake".  I found the recipe in a general type of cookbook that I borrowed from the Library.  I had taken two or three recipes from it, but on the whole it was a book that I wouldn't bother taking out again.  However, I am so glad I found it in the first place, or I would never have discovered how well this collection of ingredients could shape up!

I was amused, when cooking the Orzo, to discover how slippery they can be!  The first time I tasted some (to work out whether they were soft enough to be included in the casserole) I took four or five of them into my mouth and bit down - only to have two of the little devils shoot out from between my lips and disappear into the farthest reaches of the kitchen!  They're like tiny torpedoes.

The mince mixture, as you combine each ingredient, tastes rather gorgeous right up until you include the chopped mint - whereupon it is just lifted somewhere up into the stratosphere.  Now we all know that mint and lamb are a match made in heaven - but my goodness, doesn't this recipe just demonstrate this!

Son was, initially, a teeny bit challenged by the Aubergine pieces.  Right up until I told him that they were just sponges full of the tasty gravy.  That encouraged him to stop picking them out and eat them instead.  Hubby loved the whole thing and, like me, wondered about including a little Feta cheese in the yoghurt/egg mixture.  Son was appalled by that idea, saying it would render the mix too sour.  He may have a point there - but I think it's rather worth trying!

 Edited to say that I included the Greek Lamb & Orzo dish on the menu list again, in April 2011.


This time, I used two eggs in the yoghurt/egg mixture which covered rather better - and I left it in the oven to brown a little more.


You'll see how lovely it looked when it came out of the oven from the picture here.


I can confirm that it was no less tasty, with lots of "mmmnn's" and much eye-rolling of appreciation as the first forkfulls went in.
 

As you can see, this time I served it with  baby corn and sugar snap peas, which were lovely.

It may look as though it has the possibility of being a little dry, but in fact the tomato sauce is just hiding under there.  We didn't require anything more than a little butter on the vegetables, to make a perfect meal.

GREEK LAMB & ORZO BAKE (serves 5)

Ingredients :

500g lean minced lamb

1 onion finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 aubergine, cut into 1cm chunks

200ml lamb or vegetable stock

400g tin chopped tomatoes

15g fresh mint, chopped

300g orzo

300g natural low-fat yoghurt

1 large egg

salt & pepper

half a tsp sugar

Method :

Brown the lamb in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and remove the fat once it has rendered.

Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft.  Then add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Then add the aubergine pieces and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until the aubergine is tender.

Stir in the stock, tomatoes and the mint.  Season -including a little sugar if the tomatoes need it - and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the lamb is tender.

Preheat the oven to 180deg C/gas 4.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo according to manufacturers’ instructions, until al dente.  Drain.

Beat together the yoghurt and egg in a small bowl.

Stir the drained pasta into the lamb mixture, then spoon into a large lasagne dish.  Spoon the yoghurt mixture over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes until piping hot.

Serve with green beans & baby corn, or for summer dining, a green bean salad with a fresh lemony dressing.

Plum & Fig Jam ..... Naan Bread

Not both on the same plate - although I don't see why it can't be done, with the right ingredients in either!


The Plum & Fig Jam came about because of a gift of six figs from Willie - who comments on the blog regularly - and a lack of opportunity to use them in a dessert before they became too ripe to use.

I wanted the jam to have a good colour and had three plums which had seen better days, so combined the two fruits.

Here you see it adorning a little bowl of natural yoghurt - a princely dessert, prepared at a moment's notice.  We've since found that it is exceptionally good on Cornish Ice Cream, too!

Now next, we have hubby's second go at Naan Bread.  This one, instead of having cumin seeds in the dough, had Kalonji (also known as Nigella or black onion seeds) in the dough.  The Kalonji gave the dough a really authentic flavour and these were by far the best Naan he's produced yet.

I think we're both agreed that they could have done with a little more colour from an aesthetic point of view, but they didn't appear to lose anything by way of flavour.

Their soft fluffiness is infinitely preferable to the hard, dry old things you get in the supermarket.

Fruit Scones

As we're a bit limited on culinary options at the moment, my mind - in the shape of a large question mark - wanders into the storecupboard, to see if anything in there strikes me as a possibility.

Couple that with a Tweet from Dan Lepard regarding scones, and there you are.

After exhaustive research, a.k.a. around half an hour or so of looking at various recipes, I chose a recipe which intrigued me for it's use of yoghurt in the scone dough.

Everything went rather well, apart from a moment when I paused to yell at son for climbing all over my head whilst trying to get his lunch instead of just waiting *sigh*, but once I got going it all came together fairly easily.

FRUIT SCONES

Ingredients

350g self-raising flour
quarter of a teaspoon of salt
1 tsp baking powder
90g cold butter, cut into cubes
4 tbsp demerara sugar
100g sultanas
150g natural full-fat yoghurt
4 tbsp full-fat milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
milk to glaze

Method

1.  Cut a piece of baking paper to fit your baking sheet, then place just the sheet in the oven to heat up at 200deg C fan/220deg C/gas7.

2.  Put the flour, salt, butter and baking powder into a food processor and whizz until the butter disappears.  Add the sugar and give it a second's whizz to combine, then tip into a large bowl, stir in the fruit and make a well in the middle.

3.  In the microwave or a saucepan, warm the yoghurt, milk and vanilla together.  It should be hot and may well go slightly lumpy but tip into the bowl anyway and mix well (first with a knife, then with fingers) to combine with the flour/fruit mixture.

4.  Once the dough has all come together, give it a couple of folds to make sure it's smooth, then tip onto a sheet of cling film, flatten to around 1.5cm and begin cutting the scones out.  Repeat by pressing the dough together and cutting again, until you are left with a scrap which can be formed by hand.

5.  Quickly, remove the baking sheet from the oven, place the baking paper on board, then the scones on top of that.

5.  Glaze the tops of each scone with some milk and place in the oven to bake for 12 minutes or so, until risen and golden.

Then, it's just a matter of keeping the children at bay until you want to eat them!