Roast Chicken Dinner Provençal

Roast Chicken Dinner 2, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Our first full day in Nice was very domestic - we went shopping in the local supermarket and cooked and ate at home.

On our first shop this visit at the local Monoprix, I was very impressed with the Meat and Poultry section - the meat was very fresh-looking (and included veal, fresh brains and pig trotters among its many delights) and the poultry didn't look anything like what I've become accustomed to living here in Britain: besides the usual chickens (which were all 'corn fed') there were chickens from several different farms. While I didn't spot any 'poussin', (the British equivalent of the 1-2 person Rock Cornish game hen we have in the States), there was something called a "coquette" which was just a little bit larger and perfect for 2 - 3 people.

Duck (both mature and duckling) appeared in several forms in the poultry cabinet - there were, in addition to whole duck and duck breast, duck drumsticks and duck wings (the latter, presumably, used to make stock). I was in heaven!

I can't overstate the freshness and delights of the "wet fish" counter - everything 'delivered daily'... or the deli counter with its salami, saucisson and fois gras... or the meat counter - a groaning board of veal, fresh farmed rabbit, pig tails and things I'd never even seen before (but wouldn't shy away from trying to cook).

Hmmmm... I digress.

To sum up this particular evening: we bought a regular, farmed chicken, some (really good, La Molisana) pasta, and some screamingly fresh-looking lettuce and tomatoes for a salad.

Once home we decided to prepare the chicken simply with salt, pepper, butter and herbs de Provence. We ended our meal with a fresh salad, simply dressed, with home-made vinaigrette...

Voilà!

Ham hocks and beans

Ham hocks and beans, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Okay! Last post of a heavy day of blogging and Twittering and all that...
In amongst all the internet activity, I managed to cook dinner for us. This was thanks, in no small part, to the pressure cooker (once again):

Because I've recently been so distracted and doing too much at once, I hadn't soaked the red kidney beans beforehand, so I cooked them in the pressure cooker with an onion and six peppercorns before I started cooking the ham.

Once they'd cooked for 10 minutes, I let them cool at their own pace until the pressure dropped and I could remove the lid.

Then I added the ham and some bay leaves and 4 cloves of garlic. I let them cook (with slow rocking of the weight on my cooker) for 15 minutes and let them cool. This turned out to be insufficient time for the meat to be 'falling off the bone" so I put the pot back on the heat and let it cook an additional 10 minutes. That seemed to do it.

I served this with rice and Romanesco cauliflower (from the vegetable box!) and my "must have " side salad/salsa of chopped tomatoes and red onion mixed with olive oil, vinegar and salt.

Scrummy!

Have some.

Lemon Sole à la Lisa

Lemon Sole à la Lisa, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

Tonight's repast... Lemon sole from the fishmonger in Cambridge Market, baked on a bed of lightly sautéed chunks of vegetables - Zucchini, tomato, red onion, scallion and garlic seasoned with lashings of (very good) balsamic vinegar and olive oil:

Cook the vegetables until they begin to 'give'. Once softened, use them to line a baking tray and lay the fish on top. That done, 'garnish' the fish with a flurry of freshly ground black pepper and flakes of sea salt. Scatter everything with a half dozen fresh bay leaves and a generous handful of flat leaf parsley and the zest of a lemon. Anoint the tray with further lashings of olive oil, the freshly squeezed juice of a lemon and some more balsamic vinegar. If you're feeling frisky, add a splash of white wine, too!

Bake in an oven (pre-heated to 200˚C) for 17 minutes. Test for doneness - the fish should separate from the bone when poked - and allow to rest for 2 minutes.

Serve with roasted Jerusalem artichokes and sautéed vegetables.

Mmmmmm! Now, isn't that good?

Love, laugh, cook, eat.

Wednesday's Chicken

Wednesday's Chicken, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

This could almost be called "Kitchen Sink Chicken" or "Chicken Whatever" but that wouldn't do it justice, really. This was an invention necessitated by the need to use up sweet red peppers and onions - and a taste for an easy, warming and fresh-tasting chicken dish. The basic elements of this repast were:

Chicken legs and thighs
1 large red pepper, sliced into strips
2 medium onions, sliced
250 ml white wine
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cloves garlic, bashed with a knife
100 ml olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
2 bay leaves, crushed

These are the basics - see what you make of it OR tune in a few days time to see what I did with them!

Cooking is such good fun!
--

A Provençal Daube

A Provençal Daube, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

More midweek madness - made possible by the miracle of pressure cooking!

This lovely recipe appears in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's comprehensive book about meat called, well, "Meat"! Quick and ridiculously easy if you've got a pressure cooker - it just takes a little bit longer if you haven't got one. We keep returning to this recipe so I think it ranks as a 'favourite'. Unusually, Hugh recommends macaroni for the starch -and we think it works well. The ingredients are very simple and we like to raise the stakes (!) by using organic topside of beef cut into 2 x 3 inch chunks instead of stewing beef.

Marvellous! Bon Apétit.

Sunday Dinner

Sunday Dinner, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

It's been a good weekend, full of fun and food and, er, photography!

Yesterday we went to the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens so that I could try out my new camera on something other than food. The trip was a success and we both enjoyed our day out in the fresh air. After uploading a (very) small selection of my photographs to my Flickr site, I decided that the best way to keep track of the photos was to start a new blog. Sorting through 300 photos didn't leave any time for that this weekend. When I get the new site up and running I'll post a link here.

Today we did somewhat of a reprise on last weekend's Chinese style meal:
Steve bought, at my behest, a piece of belly pork from the Farm Market on his way home from work on Friday. It was the last one on the shelf and it turned out to be quite big so I decided to separate the belly from the rib portion and have the ribs tonight. I did them Chinese style (again!) and served them with a medley of stir-fried vegetables - mange tous (snow peas), bak choi and bean sprouts. The verdict from Steve was "delicious!" It wasn't bad, really...

Plenty of left-overs means that we're due a quick meal during the week - something that we both appreciate with our hectic schedules.

Enjoy cooking, eating, drinking and living!

Calamari and Linguine

Calamari and Linguine, originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg.

The weariness that we feel at the end of a long week spent working and keeping the cats happy is no excuse not to cook a really great meal to celebrate the beginning of the weekend!

This afternoon I sneaked off to Market Square to do some shopping for the weekend: First stop - the fishmonger. Stephen Wright's stall is our first stop for really fresh and delicious fish in Cambridge. Recently, too, they've been undergoing something of a renaissance; the range of fish on offer has expanded and the fish seems even fresher and more delectable than it has been in the past (if that is indeed possible!) As the week before, I found myself almost overwhelmed by the rich variety of seafood on offer - in weeks to come I shall list some of them here...)

I eyed the fish and chose a beautiful wild bream for Saturday and a huge, incredibly fresh-looking squid for this evening.

Squid is an easy meal from my point of view - I only really know one way to cook it:

Squid and Linguini

First, clean the squid and slice it into thin rings.

Then, finely chop 4 cloves of garlic and a handful of flat leaf parsley and set them aside.

Heat a large pot of water to cook your pasta (we recommend linguine or buccatini). Cook your pasta before you cook the calamari and drain it while it is al dente. Chill it down with cold water before you begin cooking your squid.

Heat an iron skillet 'til very hot and add 4 tbsp olive oil, heat until nearly smoking and immediately add the chopped garlic and the calamari rings.

Stir-fry these, briskly and when the calamari start releasing their fluid, continue to stir fry until about half of the fluid has been absorbed (about 1 minute longer).

Add 150 mls of dry white wine and salt and pepper to the pan.

Stir fry for a further 2 minute then add 1tbsp butter to the calamari, and a handful of chopped parsley.

Stir and fry for an additional 1 minute. Check seasonings and....

Serve!

Saturday Night Chinese Feast

 

Sichuan Stir-fried Aubergine Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Saturday night at our house means more time for cooking! After a very lazy day (too lazy for words...) we were inspired to cook something out of the ordinary. A careful examination of the refrigerator revealed lots of ginger, garlic, an aubergine ('Eggplant' to you 'mericans) and a head of Chinese cabbage. Together these ingredients suggested the perfect foil for the belly pork I'd picked up from the Farm Market in Lensfield Road Friday evening.

Braised Pork Belly Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

We decided to braise the belly pork Chinese style and in the absence of a recipe I winged it - based on having watched our friend Emma prepare this this dish for us one evening. As I've been trying my hand at using the pressure cooker lately, the belly pork seemed a perfect candidate for this method - it would cut the cooking time down considerably.

To accompany this darkly flavoured, meaty dish we made Spicy Sichuan-style Aubergine (top) - a quick and easy dish that has become one of my favourite dishes from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian Cook Book.


White-cooked Chinese Cabbage Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

We needed a simple vegetable dish to round off the meal so I chose White-Cooked Cabbage from Kenneth Lo's New Chinese Cookery Course cookbook.
The resulting meal was very good and I'm committing the recipes herein - so I don't forget them!

---

Hot and spicy Sichuan-style aubergines

450g aubergines (the best ones to use, according to MJ are the long thin Japanese kind)
3 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil
2 spring onions (white and green parts) cut into fine rings
3 thin slices fresh ginger, peeled and cut into fine dice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
5 tsp soy sauce
2-3 tsp chilli bean sauce
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt, if needed
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

• Roll cut the aubergines or simply cut them across, at a diagonal at 4cm (1-1/2 inch) intervals.
  
• Put the aubergines in a colander or on a steaming rack and steam for 15 -17 minutes or until tender*.
  
• Put the oil in a large well-seasoned (or non-stick) wok or frying pan and set over high heat. When hot**, put in the spring onions, ginger and garlic, Stir-fry for 1 minute. Put the aubergines in the pan and stir for another minute, Next add the soy sauce, chilli past, sugar and vinegar, Stir and cook for 3 minutes, Taste and add a little salt, if needed, Add the sesame oil and stir once.
  
• Remove from the heat, Sprinkle the coriander over the tip before serving. Serves 4.
  

*I found the aubergine too soft to retain their shape during the subsequent stir-frying step after this amount of steaming so I recommend reducing the steaming time to 12 - 15 minutes.
**Make sure the oil is very hot (but not smoking) before cooking commences.

White-Cooked Cabbage

1-1/2 tbsp dried shrimps
1 medium Chinese white or Savoy cabbage
2 slices fresh root ginger
4 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil
20g butter
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
8 tbsp good stock (I used some pork stock from a cube)
1-1/2 chicken stock cubes (or equivalent of powdered stock)
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation:
Soak the dried shrimps in hot water to cover for 15 minutes.
Drain. Remove the cabbage stalk (I didn't!) and any discoloured leaves before cutting to 6X5 cm pieces. Finely shred the ginger.

Cooking:

• Heat the oil and butter in a wok or large saucepan.
  
• When hot,. stir-fry the ginger and shrimps for 15 seconds.
  
• Add the cabbage and sprinkle with salt, pepper, stock and crumbled stock cubes. Bring to the boil.
  
• Toss a few times and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
  

Sprinkle with sesame oil before serving.

Braised Pork Belly (Pressure cooker method)

2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
300 ml stock (I used pork stock)
3 slices fresh ginger, finely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 small or 1 large onion, sliced
4 tbsp chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
2 tsp castor sugar
2 pieces star anise
salt to taste (approx. 1/2 tsp, to start)
freshly ground pepper to taste

• Wash the pork belly and cut into large 3X4 cm (or larger) pieces. If the meat contains ribs, cut the ribs away from the main meat, cut into 2 or 3 pieces and cook with the rest of the meat.
  
• Put the pork into the pressure cooker, fill the pot with water to cover the meat and bring to the boil. Boil for 8 minutes.
  
• Remove the pork from the heat, pour the meat into a colander discarding the water, and wash the scum from the meat.
  
• Return the meat to the pressure cooker and add all of the remaining ingredients. The liquid should come 1/2 to 2/3 the way up the meat in the pot.
  
• Close the lid of the pressure cooker and turn the heat on high to bring the pot to the boil. When boiling rapidly, turn the heat down until a steady rocking of the weight is achieved. Set a timer for 20 minutes.
  
• After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the pot to cool gradually. This will take an additional 20-30 minutes, during which time the meat will continue to cook.
  
• Once cool and returned to atmospheric pressure, remove the lid and poke the meat. It should be soft enough to break with a pair of chopsticks. [If not, return to the heat, boil again and cook under pressure for an additional 10 minutes.]
• Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings.

Serve in a heated casserole with the juices poured over the top.

Rigatoni Bolognese

Rigatoni Bolognese
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Tonight we had left-overs. Bolognese over rigatoni - my current favourite pasta! It had been a long day and I was in no mood to cook - in fact, I was going to msg Steve that we should skip the whole 'dinner at home' thing altogether and give ourselves over to the convenience of eating out. Alas, I ran out of energy and enthusiasm to do even that! So I resigned myself to the tender mercies of whatever was in the fridge at home.

Ah! But I reckoned without recall of an earlier conversation with Steve, only the day before - we'd planned to savage the left-overs of the bolognese from last week. No sooner had I got home than Steve arrived and our plan was reconstituted. Talk about 'easy' - this was... well, easy! I tweaked the sauce a bit (okay, quite a bit - I just can't help it, honest!) and Steve boiled water and timed the rigatoni perfectly. I made dressing and we had a simple green salad to go with the meal.

Delicious and comforting. Mmmmm.

More later... Cook. Eat.

xx

Leek & Pea Risotto with Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Baked Chicken and Leek & Pea Risotto
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Tonight!
This was a kind of 'store cupboard' meal - chicken drumsticks from the fridge, seasoned, floured and roasted in olive oil and Leek and Pea Risotto. Yum. 

I confess I didn't feel 'up to' cooking this yesterday but today, it was a breeze. The risotto was made even more creamy by finishing the risotto with  3 tbsp double cream and 1 tbs butter.  The addition of the usual dollop of more parmesan cheese than was necessary at the very end didn't hurt, either... The risotto was very good with the chicken, and, well, I'd do this again...

Happy eating!

L
x

Parsley Root Soup

Parsley Root Soup
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

I must blog. I must blog. I must blog - now!
I've been remiss in keeping up with my blog. As the weeks slip past, the idea of getting back into the swing of it becomes more and more difficult to contemplate. A friend of mine suggested I restart my blog with a fun topic of mine - FOOD! Since we were talking on the phone I couldn't see her tongue wedged deeply in her cheek - as it must have been! But I got the point - a week later and here I am - writing my first post in many months:

Several months back, our Able & Cole vegetable box contained a surprise - deep in the box was a bunch of what looked like immature parsnips. On closer inspection, we noticed that the tops resembled (very closely!) flat-leaf parsley. What was this? There was a slip of paper in the box that promptly put 'paid' to the mystery - these were parsley roots! WTF?? The piece of paper as helpful as we could want - herein was a recipe - for Parsley Root Soup. Alas, the recipe has been recycled! Not to worry, though, if you're a cook you can see what's involved: Carrots, potatoes, kielbasa sausage, celery, tomatoes, vegetable or chicken stock and, of course, parsley root. Suffice it to say, it was unusual and very tasty. I'm grateful to know, too, what to look for under the earth when my parsley plants get woody, leggy and shuffle off this mortal coil finally - they have more to offer, yet.

Home Cooking with Friends

Pork and Leek
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

This weekend we had another "Come Cook with Us" dinner party. The theme today was Chinese food and our friends were two graduate students in the department where I work - both from Taiwan and both working in the same laboratory. We'd originally invited more people but for one reason and another the others hadn't been able to come. So ours was an intimate affair and all the more relaxing for me as a result.

Braised Pork Ribs
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Steve and I got a late start on Saturday as Friday had been a particularly intense work day for me and I'd been on my feet for the better part of 10 hours. We got up, dressed, had a cooked breakfast and went out foraging on Mill Road for supplies for the dishes I'd decided to prepare for the party - braised pork ribs, home-style stir fried aubergine and slow-braised chicken.

I am a great lover of meat but for reasons unknown to us we seldom eat pork. Pork is a very popular meat in Chinese cuisine. So we came away from our trip to Andrew Northrop Butcher's with a whole lot of pork ribs and pork mince (made from the meat under the ribs). Our next stop was Seoul Plaza where we bought some tofu and spring onions. From there we went to Al Amin and got a small chicken.

Back at home I started on the ribs. Chinese-style ribs are usually cut into 1.5 - 2.0 inch pieces for ease of eating with chop sticks. I set to chopping the ribs with my cleaver with glee - what a racket I made! After I'd finally chopped them all I froze some and plunked the others into a pot of cold water and brought that up to the boil. These were boiled for 3 minutes and the water then poured away and the ribs rinsed of any residual scum. Then I added some water back to the pot, tossed the ribs in, added some seasoning and let that come back to the boil. I simmered the ribs in the sauce for about an hour, partially covered, stirring every so often so that all of the meat spent time in the sauce.

Next I chopped up the chicken and following the recipe in my favourite Chinese cookbook, the New Chinese Cookery Course by Kenneth Lo, I prepared the Slow-Braised Chicken dish.
While I was cooking, Juching and Chantal arrived. They'd brought their supplies and had between them 3 dishes they wanted to cook.

Beef Mince with Barbecue Sauce
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Chantal was first up at the stove and she prepared a very tasty fatty pork and leek stir fried dish while Juching prepared her vegetables and assembled her ingredients. Juching's contributions were a beef mince and barbecue sauce dish AND a sticky rice cake and vegetable stir fry. I'd never had sticky rice cakes before and these were a real revelation! They were chewy and tasty and very satisfying to eat. Chantal's pork dish was 'to die for' - subtle and very moreish. Juching's beef with barbecue sauce was very unusual because the barbecue sauce was nothing like American barbecue sauce. It was spicy and contained fish sauce or fermented fish. It was delightful and strange to eat.

Stir-fried Pak Choy
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

All in all we had seven dishes between us - including a wonderful Korean tofu dish, from the book Korean Cooking by Young Jin Song. Steve has made this subtle, deceptively simple and stunning dish one of his specialities and it is one of my favourites.  The vegetable box gave us bok choy so I made stir fried bok choy, naturally.  In accordance with the sheer volume of food before us, we spent quite a long time eating - going back again and again to the dishes arranged at the centre of the table. The chat was about food and cooking and they paid me the best possible compliment in the world - they said that my dishes tasted very Asian and that they wouldn't have guessed that they had been cooked by a Western person. Wow... that was indeed a fantastic compliment!

We chatted long after we'd finished eating, lingering over the drying rice grains and solidifying pork fat. Slowly we extricated ourselves from our reverie; I served chocolates and tea. We were so buoyed up by our evening together that we all agreed to have a repeat performance of the dinner sometime soon!

Vegetarian Potluck Dinner!

Aubergine and Tomato Curry 3
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Where do I begin? This was an idea that all of us had one night, walking back to the department after a celebratory meal in town. The occasion was Anbu's successful thesis defence. Steve and I wound up walking with a group of Indian friends and talking about food (my favourite topic!). It was then that we decided to have (and host!) a vegetarian Indian potluck dinner. As we were all merry and buoyed up by Anbu's success, Steve and I were quick to agree - it would get us started on, what we hope will be a sociable Winter. It was only later that I got nervous - cook curry for Indians... was I nuts??!! I guess I was. 

Cavalo Nero, Carrot and Coconut
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Steve sent out an invitation to this 'event' to friends via Facebook. Unfortunately Anbu, whose party had inspired us, couldn't make it. But he sent me a recipe for a spicy Aubergine (a.k.a. Brinjal, Eggplant) and Tomato curry (above).  I decided to make that and having received a bunch of Cavalo Nero for the THIRD straight week, I substituted it into a recipe for cabbage and carrot and coconut.  I decided to make coconut ice cream, too, since I didn't really know who would be bringing what, as well as some fragrant rice and a pot of dal.

Vegetable Rice by Saroj
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Steve and I shopped and cooked for most of the day before our guests arrived. In the evening, Saroj (who seems to be the 'elder brother' of the group!) arrived first with his contribution of a vegetable rice dish ('pilau rice') and a large tub of rice pudding for dessert.  The others dribbled in a bit later.  Once we were all together, we got busy warming and assembling our dishes and taking photographs. 

Vegetarian Indian Potluck dinner
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

One by one the dishes made their way to the dining area until we had a veritable 'groaning board' of different dishes on the table; the melange of colours delighted the eye while the aromas wafting up from the table sharpened our already-keen appetites. It looked like a Thanksgiving day spread. As it happens, this day was the first day of Navratri a 9 night/10 day Hindu Festival celebrating the female divinity. Our gathering could hardly have been set for a more auspicious date.

We gathered around our table and passed dishes around, talking and laughing together like old friends. The dishes were remarkably different in style and flavour and complemented each other (while the diners complimented each other's efforts!). What looked like much too much food for six turned out to have been rather well-judged.

Swetha, Saroj and Samir
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Sriram
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

After the meal, our guests surprised us by taking over the kitchen and doing the dishes! (Thanks, guys!) They left us the left-over food, too, so we will be having a reprise tomorrow evening. A request for a 'pause' before dessert was agreed to by all after which we devoured the desserts; Saroj's rice pudding was fragrant and delicious and my coconut ice cream, a nice addition to the pudding.

All and all we had an excellent time and, judging by the smiles and laughter, so did our guests.

Enjoy food and friends!

xxx

Anbu Paramasivam's Aubergine and Tomato Curry

Ingredients:

1 large aubergine (or 4-5 smaller aubergines, in large chunks)
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 green chillis, de-seeded and chopped
20 curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 - 1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp fennel powder
4-5 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes)
water of tamarind pulp (see below)

---

For the Tamarind water:

2 tbsp dried tamarind
3 tbsp hot water

Soak the tamarind in hot water for 10 min.
Mash the pulp till the water turns brown.
Discard the pulp and add the water to the recipe, as above

(ALTERNATIVELY -
Mix 1 tsp tamarind paste with 2- 3 tbsp hot water and add this to the recipe...)

Method:

1. In a heavy cast iron frying pan heat 1 tbsp of the oil then add the mustard and cumin seeds and fry for 10 seconds. Once they are popping, cover quickly and remove from the heat for a moment. Return to the heat and add the onions, chillis and curry leaves.

2. Stir and fry until the onions have softened then add the turmeric, chilli powder (depends how hot you like it) garam masala and ground fennel.

3. When the spices become fragrant and have lost their 'raw' quality, add the chopped tomatoes and tamarind water.

4. Add the tomato purée and bring up to the boil and stir to combine the flavours.

5. Add the diced aubergine and salt. Cover and simmer until the aubergine pieces soften and absorb the flavour of the spices, about 20 minutes.

Check the seasoning, adding more garam masala, salt or pepper if required.

Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Fried Rice and Spareribs

Fried Rice
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Today was 'shopping day' for us - we went up on Mill Road (on a week day, for a change - we are still in 'vacation mode'...).   I bought a long-desired (very garish!) striped broom and dustpan set, a teapot (red!) and a much-needed new tea cosy (and learned that they don't sell tea cosies in Switzerland and so are kept in stock at small shops all over Britain!). After a day spent cleaning and shopping, I wanted to cook something that was easy (but not necessarily 'quick'...). 

Pork Spareribs and Fried Rice
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

I had some spareribs that we'd bought on Saturday from Andrew Northrop and, digging around in the fridge discovered some left-over rice from several days ago. I rarely cook fried rice because it's supposed to be a dish to be prepared from leftover rice (which Steve and I rarely have!).  So on discovering this 'rare' ingredient in our fridge, we just knew we had to make fried rice. More rummaging turned up some panchetta (destined for a cabonara, no doubt!) and a couple of lovely "golden yolked" eggs; these are produced here as a speciality item and are recognisable by their (very) bright yellow yolks which distinguish them from the usual, anaemic-looking, pale-yolked eggs that have become the usual fare here. We combined these ingredients with some onions and green peas and created a beautiful fried rice dish to accompany our slow-cooked pork spareribs. The spareribs themselves benefited from a seasoning mix brought back from China by a friend.  I browned the spareribs (which I first seasoned with salt and 5-peppercorn mix) in oil, garlic and ginger.  Once browned, I added boiling water to cover, Chinese cooking wine, Chinese sugar "candy" - a dark brown sugary substance - dark soy sauce, a bit of MSG (which, I read recently, is widely - and shamelessly - used in Chinese cooking in China) and some salt.  This was left to gently simmer for about 1-1/2 hours, and checked regularly to make sure nothing stuck and the level of the cooking liquid was sufficient to keep everything cooking together.

After this time, the meat looked about ready to leap off of the bones. I checked the seasoning and adjusted according to taste, thickened the sauce a bit with a couple of tablespoons of corn starch (corn flour) mixed with cold water and served it with the rice.

And was it delicious? :)
Of course.

Eat!

Lisa
xx

Chicken in Tomato and Sweet Red Pepper Sauce

Chicken in Tomato and Sweet Red Pepper Sauce
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

This evening's offering is an invention involving chicken, tomatoes (the canned variety), Ramiro peppers and dry white wine. An "invention" because I had something in mind but couldn't find a recipe that really seemed to fit the bill. We had these two gigantic free-range chicken legs - far too big for two people (and which seemed perfect for a richly flavoured casserole) and a couple of (equally gigantic!) Ramiro red peppers that really wanted using. I suppose another time I might use a whole chicken. The rest of the ingredients are store-cupboard items for those of us who host a larder. So that I can refer to it later, I reproduce the recipe here - written down by Steve while we were cooking!

Here it is:


Chicken (Legs) in a Tomato & Red Pepper Sauce ("Chicken 52")

Ingredients:

4-5 tbsp olive oil
1 free range chicken, skin on, cut into 8 pieces
(or 4 chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks, for 4 people)
2 thick-cut rashers of smoked streaky bacon or pancetta
2 medium onions, cut into eighths
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 "Ramiro" red peppers, deseeded and cut into 2cm pieces
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp herbes de Provence
1 handful flat-leafed parsley, chopped
6 oz/200ml dry white wine (vin de pays d'Oc chardonnay)
3 tsp five-pepper mix, ground
2 tsp rock salt
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp tomato purée (paste)
3 anchovy fillets

Method:

1. Coat the chicken liberally with the salt and pepper.

2. In a good sized sauté pan, heat the olive oil until shimmering and brown the chicken pieces, in batches, if necessary. Remove with a slotted spoon when golden and set aside.

3. In the same oil, fry the onions until soft and translucent then reduce the heat, add the garlic and the bacon or pancetta and continue to fry until the onion is just golden.

4. Add the wine to the pan along with the herbes de Provence and the bay leaves. Turn up the heat under the pan and reduce the volume by half.

5. Stir in the canned tomatoes and the sugar; add the chopped red peppers and the remaining ingredients and bring up to the boil. Stir well, reduce the heat and gently simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes.

6. When the chicken is tender, remove the chicken to a plate and strain the cooking liquids into a bowl. Retain the solids, return the liquid to the pan and boil rapidly reducing by about a third or until the sauce just coats the back of a spoon.

7. Return the chicken and the solids to the pan and stir them into the sauce and warm through.

Serve on a bed of coarse old-fashioned polenta with buttered French beans.

Serves four.

Happy eating!

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Happy birthday to me! Today is my birthday. How to celebrate? Well, if you're me, you want to be outdoors - but not stressing yourself too much! So we got up late, had brunch (scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and home-baked bread rolls) and set off with "No Particular Place to Go".

We walked into Fen Ditton, then back along the river as far as the Cambridge Museum of Technology, continuing along the river to Midsummer Common, returning along Maids Causeway.  We called in at the Zebra pub on the "home stretch".  It was a lovely afternoon.

As we set out, I was in the mood for colour - and I found plenty of it. Late berries, leaves, trees - all contributed to the spectral symphony. I snapped away for a while before admitting that I could never capture it all. We walked along the river, looking at the narrow-boats and wondering about the life inside them; watched the Colleges' early-arrivals get their first taste of the oars - some would go on to race in The Bumps in May, no doubt - and artfully dodged joggers and cyclists - all of whom seemed to have woken up this day and realised its potential.

Steam Cylinder of Headly Mill Engine
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Before we knew it, we'd been walking for over 2 hours. Up ahead, the Cambridge Museum of Technology was showing signs of life - in times previous,  it has seemed dormant - our curiosity got the better of us and we couldn't resist the urge to go inside. We bought tickets in the little gift shop attached to the site and went in to explore.  What an adventure it was!  We were transported to another time, another era.  The age of mechanical things; the smells of oil and gas mingled with those of the WD-40 and metal polish used to restore the titans to their former glory. It was immense and a real testimony to the art and science that was the industrial era of the 19th century.

Soon the sun began to recede and it was time to think about winding up. We headed homeward with the intention of stopping at a pub along the way for a pint. We wound up at a place called the Zebra - one we'd passed by, on many occasions, but never gone into. It turned out to be a kind of 'ageing hippy' kind of joint - the staff and clientele ranged in age from 30's to 60's. The music was FABULOUS - The Stones, The Who, The Faces, Hawkwind, Fleetwood Mac and Simon & Garfunkel, to name but a few. Before we knew it our 'pint' had turned into two.  We left after our second pint, our steps more determined now, as our thoughts turned to our plans for dinner.

Steak, Mashed Potatoes with Cavolo Nero
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

For dinner we had a couple of fantastic sirloin steaks from our trusted local butcher (thanks Andrew Northrop!!) with potatoes and Cavolo Nero from our organic box - which we decided to mash together with butter and olive oil. The result was exquisite! With this, we drank a bottle of 2005 Château Haut-Nouchet, an organic Pessac-Léognan claret. Wow.

And so, it was, that I celebrated another year gone by.

Fig, Prosciutto, Orange and Parmesan

Fig, Prosciutto, Orange and Parmesan
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Today we woke up to a glorious Autumn morning - it was sunny and warm... a world away from the weather we'd experienced for most of the so-called Summer. We put together a brunch of prosciutto, orange and parmesan which I had bought presciently on the market the day before. Just to draw a line between the early Autumn and the late Summer mood I was feeling,  I paired the dish with a bright and summery salad of fresh, organic vine tomatoes, mozzarella, olives and basil. The olives were Nicoise olives I'd been saving from our trip to Nice last March.

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil, Olives
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

  All of this was accompanied by olive grissini from the shop attached to the new branch of Carluccio's restaurant that recently opened in Cambridge's Grand Arcade.  The prosciutto San Danielle was also bought from Carluccio's; the figs came from the local market.  This was Steve's first experience of fresh figs and as a result he is now as confirmed a fan of them as I am.  

It was a really fresh, lively and tasty way to start my birthday weekend!

Cavolo Nero Risotto (Black Kale Risotto)

Kale Risotto
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

What! O, what - to do with cavolo nero? These organic vegetables boxes; they do try us! Okay, so today, Steve suggested this - and we also got to use some leeks from LAST week... 

Risotto With Tuscan Kale 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
3 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 lb Tuscan kale (also called cavolo nero or lacinato kale)
1 1/4 cups finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 oz)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3/4 oz)

Preparation:

Bring broth and water to a boil with 3/4 teaspoon sea salt in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan. Meanwhile, cut stems and center ribs from kale and discard.

Stir kale into broth in batches and simmer (all of kale), stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer kale with tongs to a large sieve set over a bowl and gently press on greens to extract more liquid. Add liquid in bowl to simmering broth and keep at a bare simmer, covered. Chop kale.

Cook onion in oil and 1 tablespoon butter with remaining 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in a wide 4-quart heavy pot, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to moderate, then add garlic and cook, uncovered, stirring, 1 minute. Add rice and cook, stirring, 1 - 2 minutes.

Add wine and simmer briskly, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Stir in 1/2 cup simmering broth and simmer briskly, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed. Continue simmering and adding broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until rice is creamy-looking but still al dente (it should be the consistency of thick soup), 17 to 18 minutes. (There will be leftover broth.)

Stir in kale, cheese, and remaining tablespoon butter and cook, stirring, until heated through and butter is incorporated, about 1 minute. Season risotto with sea salt and pepper and, if desired, thin with some of remaining broth.

It was a fine risotto - we used this recipe (from the web - Gourmet magazine - Sept, 2002) and modified it by adding 1 sliced leek, after the onion had softened,  Later on we pureéd a portion of the kale after softening it and adding it to the risotto after it had softened a bit. That was a good idea as it prevented the risotto from becoming overwhelmed by the leafy kale and added colour to the dish, in general. The chopped kale and the rice were both 'al dente'. It was oh-so-very flavourful - and the flavours balanced very well. We had it with a salad of lettuce, radiccho and red onion.

Yum... E A T !!!
xxx L.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Butter

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Butter 3
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

Our weekly organic vegetable box is really stretching my culinary skills these days. I'm finding that, more and more often, I have to resort to recipes to be able to use these vegetables in interesting and unusual ways. This week (and the week before!) we got a butternut squash. My only experience with this vegetable is in pies - as a substitute for pumpin (and delicious, too!) - and in creamy soups. Today, I went for something completely different. I was in the mood for something like pumpkin ravioli - but wasn't in the mood to go through the complicated motions of making home-made pasta - and filling it. So I trawled the web until I found this recipe for Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Butter on the Abel & Cole website:

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

1 butternut squash, peeled
225 g peeled potatoes
1 free range egg yolk
125 g plain flour
Salt and pepper to taste
125 g butter
2 tbsp fresh sage leaves
Parmesan shavings to serve

Cut the squash and potato into small cubes and steam gently over simmering water until tender.

Once cooked, mash together in a clean pan and place over a low heat for a few seconds to 'dry out'. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

Once cool, work in the egg yolk, flour, 1/2tsp salt and pepper slowly. Mix together to form a sticky dough.

Spoon the gnocchi mixture into a piping bag (like the one you might use for icing) and fit it with a large plain nozzle.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. When the water reaches a rolling boil, cook the gnocchi in batches.

Pipe about 12 bits of the mixture into the water, cutting them from the end of the nozzle with a sharp knife. Once the water returns to the boil simmer for around 1-1/2 minutes until the gnocchi start to soften around the edges. Remove and then cook the next batch in the same fashion.

Next melt some butter in a frying pan, add the sage leaves and fry gently until the butter turns golden.

Immediately add the gnocchi and stir over a low heat for around 30 seconds making sure all the gnocchi is covered in the sage mixture. Serve immediately on bowls and sprinkle generously with Parmesan shavings.

---

Okay. So there were problems - (1) No piping bag and (2) a pre-conceived notion that gnocchi are usually of the consistency of a soft dough which you can roll into a snake-like shape and cut into pieces for cooking.

Sceptically, perhaps, I followed the recipe as it was written. What I was left with was a mixture that would be perfect for either icing a cake or piping into a pot of boiling hot water - neither of which I planned to do. So I looked into other gnocchi recipes and began the process of adding more and more flour (and a second egg yolk) until I'd achieved the consistency I wanted. I also added about 1/4 tsp of grated nutmeg to the mix to bring out the flavour of the squash.

The upshot of the story is I can't tell you how much additional flour went into this recipe. I'd guess something like another 2-3 cups (I didn't weigh it). I achieved a light, soft dough that I could just barely roll out gently into a snake shape. I cut the pieces out with a knife, adding flour to the top of the 'snake' to help keep the knife from sticking.

We worked in batches, adding 12 - 15 pieces of the dough to a large pot of salted, boiling water at a time. When the gnocchi floated to the top, they were allowed another minute to cook before being scooped out with a slotted spoon. They were put in a dish and sprinkled with olive oil to prevent them from sticking together. This went on for a while as we had a lot of dough!

Finally, once it was all cooked, we melted the butter in a frying pan, added the sage leaves and made the sauce. Two to 3 portions of gnocchi were added to the butter, once it had browned, and stirred around to coat them with butter. Salt and pepper were added and then the gnocchi were served out onto pasta plates and liberally sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese.

It was very good. If I find a better recipe, I'll post it.

Enjoy eating!

Lisa
xx

Polenta with Cavolo Nero and Sausage

Polenta with Cavolo Negro and Sausage
Originally uploaded by Lisa Fagg

And this week's organic vegetable box surprise was...? Cavolo Nero!! Ding-ding-ding! (What is it? "Col nero. An Italian cabbage with very dark, elongated leaves.") What to do with it?? Consult your friendly cookbook - which in my case was the River Cafe Cook Book Green.

The recipe I used was polenta con cavolo nero e salscicce (which I'll post later in the year, when time permits). The result was a (very!) green, creamy polenta that was garlic-y and cheesy without being too rich. The sausages I used went well with it - but I would probably use a more sage-y, spice sausage next time. I compensated for the lack of seasoning in the sausage by using the full amount of bay leaves recommended for 6 servings in our 1/2 recipe. I also added some smoked pancetta towards the end because I particularly like a smokey taste with such dark green cabbage-y vegetables (my Southern American roots shining through and through!). It was delicious, certainly.

The moral of the story is, as always, use your cookbook as a guide for your cooking and always (always) make your own personal mark on everything you cook.

Enjoy cooking!
xx