Hedgerow Pesto

Food wise, I don't think autumn can be beaten. I love big salads and super-fresh tomatoes in the summer, but as the nights start to draw in the comfort food can come out. I've also been exploring what nature has to offer, to pair with some of the more unusual ingredients that are arriving in my weekly veg box. This pesto creation is one of my usual slightly off-the-wall concoctions, but it is tasty so I'll share anyway. It isn't really a recipe as such, as I definitely didn't measure anything!

Tasty fresh ingredients are the key, so lots of fresh basil, which I have miraculously kept alive on my window sill. I used a good couple of handfuls, plus lots of good olive oil, a bit of garlic and some parmesan.

I whizzed everything up in a food processor, not forgetting the key ingredient, foraged hazelnuts. There are absolutely loads round here at the moment, and I think if they are picked when a bit green they work really well as a pine nut substitute. Plus they are free!

I got some beautiful fresh borlotti beans in my veg box, and didn't have much of a clue what to do with them, so I boiled them for about 45 mins until soft, in well-seasoned water with mixed herbs. I then mixed the pesto and beans together with some gnocci, sundried tomatoes, raw cucumber and a little greek yoghurt.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I will never be a food blogger ;)

Winter Roast Veg Salad

After a rather indulgent weekend last week I felt the need for a good dose of vegetables. After a bit of aimless internet browsing I decided on a wintery salad, making the most of some in season root vegetables. This is a fairly standard Julia recipe, nice and easy! And of course completely flexible as to what veg goes in.

Ingredients (serves 2):
2 carrots
1 pack pre-cooked beetroot (not in vinegar), or could use fresh
2 parsnips
2 small red onions
Couple of handfuls of spinach
Handful of rocket
4 spring onions
Olive oil
Mixed herbs
2-4 Eggs

1. Chop the root veg into even chunks

2. Put in a sandwich bag with a tablespoon of olive oil and some mixed herbs, tie closed and give a good mix by shaking around. this is a nice and easy way of coating the veg in oil without using too much!

3. Empty the oiled veg into an oven dish, stick in a preheated oven (approx. 180C) until well roasted, stirring occasionally. I left mine for about an hour as I was on Skype, and they came out great :)

4. Serve on a bed of spinach, rocket and chopped spring onions, top with one or two fried/poached eggs. You could add some feta or goats cheese too.

 One on my eggs was seriously orange, it tasted good!

Tasty Broccoli and Egg Tart

Food! This broccoli and egg tart was a really easy and tasty dinner for this week, and as I used pre-rolled pasty, super-lazy! Loosely inspired by the recipe here, This is an infinitely adaptable recipe, and a nice alternative to pizza, although much the same concept.

I'll give you a basic recipe, but you can put on any topping really!

Ingredients for mine:
pack of pre-rolled puff pastry
1 head of broccoli
1 avocado
1 yellow pepper
1 medium red onion
roughly 100g goats cheese
3 eggs
Wholegrain mustard

Spread out the pastry on to a baking sheet, prick with a fork and blind bake for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, boil the broccoli until cooked to how you like it.

Fry the onions until softened and add the yellow pepper and cook for a couple of mins, then stir in a teaspoon of mustard.

Once everything is cooked, spread the onion mix onto the pastry, then pile of the broccoli, avocado and cheese. Try to leave wells for the eggs. Crack the eggs into the gaps, then bake the whole thing for another 10 mins or so, until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

I had it with salad and yoghurt on the first day, then baked beans the next!

What would you put on yours? :)

Don't Just Consume, Create.

It seems quite probable that I can only be considered supremely uncool as I like to spend my evenings making and creating. However, I AM OKAY WITH THAT. Ha! Perhaps a true sign that I am over my teenage years (er, at almost 26), I do not give two hoots what others think of how I spend my time, my housemates can give me funny looks and entertain themselves with pointless football, I shall make things. So there.

Well I suppose the point is I am incredibly pleased with myself because I have just completed my first patchwork quilt. It is not by any stretch perfect, but those imperfections are because I hand-crafted it and it is beautiful and I love it :)

Just in case anyone is interested, here is a quick run through of what I got up to. See also this great blog and also this one for some great tutorials and lots of inspiration. I spent a few hours searching the good old net and then I was away. I love the internet, and all the wonderful bloggers that put out amazing information for curious people like me.

This selection of tools makes life significantly easier, though of course a ruler and scissors would do. I went for a very simple design of lots of half-square triangles, made up from 10 different colours and patterns of fabric. I got half a metre of each fabric to make a double bed-sized quilt. There are plenty of tutorials for HST out there so I won't bore you, I cut 6.5" squares of each fabric (the size of the grid ruler!) for mine, then trimmed to 6" when I had sewn then into HST. I made up a whole load of squares, then laid them out on the floor to concoct a design. I went for 13x13 squares because I'm awkward :)

Make sure you label the rows when you gather them back up! I just piled them up left to right then pinned a row number to the top of the pile and kept them together in a plastic sleeve.

I stitched all the squares in each row together, then stitched the rows together. Trimming and pressing as you go makes life significantly easier. All the sewing done on my trusty £3 1946 handcrank Singer 99k, sewing machines do not need to be expensive!

Top done!

Then it was time to do the actual quilting. I made a sandwich with a double sheet (cheaper than fabric and no joining!), and the wadding/batting, then used curved safety pins to hold it all in place. And I finally got my 'new' sewing machine serviced, it is a beast! It is a Singer 401G, 1965, works like a dream and does loads of fancy stitches, unlike my 99k which will only go straight.

Sexy sewing machine :)

Border time! I probably did it in a completely unconventional way but I like how it looks :)

The final product. Like I say, I am just a little bit pleased with myself!

Also, I made a damn tasty dinner of stuffed squash, so I am one happy bunny :)

Things I Ate and Liked...

Not all in one go mind! Just the highlights from a couple of weeks of food. Cooking for only myself does tend to result in ingredients getting repeated, I still haven't got through that entire packet of wraps, why do they come in eights?!

Anywho, wrap variation number 1, meat making a rare appearance in the form of very nice steak, mixed in with some kidney beans and caramelised onion, creme fraiche and salad keeping company. Yes I did use a spoon to keep it together, classy stuff.

Another wrap variation, no meat required this time, just a spicy red kidney bean and veg mix, some emmental, more creme fraiche and salad, and two wraps, must have been friday or something.

There might have been a cheeky cocktail keeping those company too, grapefruit vodka, orange juice and a hunk of lime, does that count as a cocktail? Served in a proper wine glass, more classiness right there...

Final, slightly left-field wrap-based meal. The topping is a recipe from Everyday Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, an aubergine curry, obviously with my usual tinkering of lots of extra veg. And I toasted the wrap in a frying pan so I could pretend it was a chapatti, kind of authentic. maybe. Then I added a vast quantity of creme fraiche...

Saturday! That means afternoon treats whilst out adventuring :)

The final, triumphant delight is this pasta creation, absolutely classic representation of my cooking, i.e. throw it all together and see what it tastes like. tricolore pasta, this pesto recipe (but with cashews not pine nuts), runner beans from the garden, red pepper, olives, goats cheese and the last of that persistent creme fraiche. Pretty tasty, although it isn't going to win any beauty prizes. I put a sprig of basil on for you though!

What do YOU eat and like?

Julia's 15 Minute Meals

Actually it probably takes less than 10 mins, and that is a win in my very lazy book. This is some sort of egg-fried noodle concoction, and it tastes pretty damn fine, even if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:
Noodles - Any will do but I used dried Nikko egg ones from the oriental shop near me, they take 3.5 mins to cook
Veg of choice - today I had 1 carrot and half a courgette, cut into thin strips using a peeler
Egg
Soy sauce
Roasted sesame oil
Fresh ginger
Garlic (I have the lazy stuff in a jar)
Coriander to garnish (oooh fancy), I also added in some radishes because I had some to use up and why the hell not? :)

1. Bring some water to a boil for noodles
2. Meanwhile, prep veg, and pre-heat frying pan/wok with a bit of sesame oil
3. Add noodles to the water
4. Fry up the veg in the sesame oil for a couple of mins, then add a generous slosh of soy sauce
5. Into the veg grate a bit of fresh ginger and add a bit of garlic, however much you like, and stir, cook for another couple of mins
6. Drain noodles once they are cooked, add to veg
7. Stir together well, then crack in the egg
8. Allow the egg to cook for a few seconds then break it up and mix it in with the noodles and veg
9. Mix in fresh radishes and lots coriander
10. Done! Although I would highly recommend adding a drizzle of this stuff, it is immense:

Market Fresh

I took the usual visit to the big farmer's market in Bath this Saturday, which of course resulted in lots of delicious things to eat. As I'm a total glutton I thought the best approach would be to put most of it in to a dish together...The result: Cauliflowerbroccolicheesebacon bake, it's a winner.

Simple too!

Ingredients:
Purple sprouting broccoli (couple of handfuls)
Small cauliflower
Excellent smoked streaky bacon (I only needed 3 rashers of the super strong stuff I got!)
Red onion
Stale bread crust
2/3 pint milk
Blue cheese (I used Bath Blue, very similar to Stilton)
Cream cheese (I used sheep cheese)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon plain flour

Chop up the broccoli and cauli into florets, boil until just soft. Meanwhile, fry off the red onion and bacon until crispy. Chop up the bread into small chunks. Crisp up the bread a little in the bacon pan.

Make a cheese sauce, bechamel style. Melt the butter in a smallish pan, when bubbling add the flour, whisk in. Add the milk very gradually to avoid lumps. season and add a sprinkling of mixed herbs and nutmeg. Bring just to the boil, gently, stirring continuously. Turn off the heat then add the desired amount of cheese (lots). stir until the cheese is melted.

Combine everything in an oven dish, whack in the oven at about 160C for about 20 mins or so, until it is looking crispy on top. Enjoy!

Scones Are On

I am a lazy baker, but I love baked goods, so the inevitable result is a big ol' pile of scones, which are extremely low on the effort-front. This particular occasion resulted in both fruit and cheesy scones (have a hunt around here for myriad recipe options). The fruit ones were obviously enjoyed with clotted cream and jam, as I am from the Westcountry, so it would be rude not to! No pics of that though, they didn't last long enough for that sort of thing. I added cayenne pepper to the cheese ones, I like my cheesy savouries to have a bit of bite to them. Also, failed a little on the round cutter, so they had to be squares. Still tasted good though.

Science is not playing the game this week so I wish I had some of these left to console myself.

Mmmmm Food...

I haven't been out and about too much lately as I have been dealing with a bit of a cold, but I have been making some tasty food at home to occupy my time. First up, some lovely pizza, not made by me technically but by my lovely housemate and her boyfriend, thanks guys! Pretty easy really, just cheap pizzas with lots of extras piled on top, including goats cheese, marinated artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, salami, red onion and aubergine. I often make fresh dough but this way works well if a bit short of time/motivation.

I also made some easy stuffed peppers (not on the same night!) using a recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Everyday, which is a brilliant cookbook. I adjusted the recipe by using fresh basil instead of pesto, and I put in some chopped sun-dried tomatoes also, as I love them! I made fine green beans with a bit of garlic and olive oil to go on the side.

I hope I feel better for the weekend!

Food For Free

What could be better than food for free?! As spring has well and truly sprung, the woods that I cycle through on my way home are carpeted in wild garlic, so I thought it was about time I made use of this plentiful resource. I present to you: Mushroom and wild garlic omelette, in a wrap, because I am weird like that :)

Ingredients (for 1)

The omelette:
A few mushrooms, I used chestnut
1/2 medium red onion
3 medium wild garlic leaves
2 eggs (you could add a dash of milk, but I didn't have any)
chunk of butter

If you fancy some wrap craziness, chuck in whatever you want really, but this is what I had:
Wholegrain wraps
Spinach leaves
Very Lazy chilli (this stuff is a winner)
cheese! I had Port Salut in the fridge

Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat, fry off onions until translucent. Turn up heat, add mushrooms and seasoning. When the mushrooms are done (I like them with a bit of colour!) add in chopped up garlic leaves, stir up for a few seconds. add in beaten up eggs, mix about, flip it when the eggs look cooked on the bottom, or if you are making for more than one person, you can chuck more in the pan then stick it in the oven/under the grill for a few mins until the top is cooked. Assemble the wraps or plate up and add some sort of side salad/chips, get stuck in.

Open Sandwich Equals Cheese On Toast

Goat's cheese on multi-grain baguette, with beetroot and balsamic vinegar, toasted. Spinach, rocket, chorizo and sunflower seed salad. Posh? Maybe. Delicious? Yes. I love food. That is all :)

Happy Sunday everyone!

This Potato Will Change Your Life

Well, probably not, but it was damn tasty! This recipe is modified from a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall one from 'River Cottage Veg Everyday' and is pretty adaptable, here is my version:

Ingredients (for two):
2 Jacket/baking potatoes
Leek
Medium onion (could be white or red, I used white)
1 clove garlic
Approx. 20g butter
Approx. 100g Stilton (or if you fear the blue, any delicious cheese!)
2 tablespoons creme fraiche (I used half fat)

Salad:
Lettuce
Rocket
Coriander (I may be addicted)
Sunflower seeds
Balsamic vinegar

Oven bake the potatoes until soft in the middle and a little crispy on the outside, around an hour depending on size. Don't forget to stab them, and I usually season them as well. I also often give them 5 mins in the microwave to get them started, this cuts the cooking time by about 30 mins or so.

When the potatoes are nearly done, fry the onion and leek (quite finely chopped) in the butter until soft, add garlic, don't forget to season, I also chucked in some dried mixed herbs.

Take potatoes out of the oven, halve them, then scoop the flesh into a bowl. Return the Skins to the oven while you prep the filling. Add the fried leek and onion to the potato flesh, mix well. Add the creme fraiche and crumble/grate in the Stilton or cheese of choice. Mix well. Resist eating.

Remove the potato skins from the oven. Fill up with the cheesy leeky mix, I like them piled high! Return to the oven for another 10 mins or so, until golden on top.

I served with a simple salad, but I fully anticipate this being immense with baked beans tomorrow night!

Bloody Salad

I really fancied something massive for dinner tonight, so I went for a big bowl of salad, as I am trying to live a little more by the words of Michael Pollan "Eat food, mostly plants, not too much". Simplest 'diet' EVER. This was not a boring salad though, this was a super-tasty salad!

It consisted of:

Spinach leaves
Mixed salad leaves
Beetroot (pre-cooked, in a vacuum pack)
Warm boiled new potatoes
Feta cheese
Sunflower seeds
Balsamic vinegar

Cut up new potatoes into preferred size, boil. Cut up/wash other ingredients as required. Chuck in suitable vessel. Drizzle balsamic. Drain potatoes, add. Eat (enjoy).

'Contents Of The Fridge' Cooking

I think I have mentioned before how bad I am at following recipes; it is a rare event when I buy all the correct ingredients and follow a recipe to the letter, although I usually stick to baking recipes - they have a habit of producing disastrous results if tinkered with too much. My usual method of concocting meals is to look in the fridge, then chuck the contents in a pan together and see what happens. Obviously this produces a rather wide range of results, but as I am usually only cooking for myself, so long as it is just edible then no worries! Sometimes I am actually pleased with what I end up with, and this was one such momentous occasion. I call it (unimaginatively perhaps), Hot potato salad:

Ingredients (approximately for 1):
New potatoes - A few, chopped smallish
Spinach - Couple of handfuls
Red bell pepper - 1/2
Onion (white or red) - To taste, but I used approx 1 tablespoon chopped
Creme fraiche - Couple of tablespoons
Wholegrain mustard - 1/2 teaspoon
Small red chilli - To taste
Garlic puree (or fresh if you are less lazy than me) - 1/2 tablespoon, less if fresh
Fresh coriander - loads if you love the stuff like me!

Boil the potatoes in seasoned water with a bit of mixed herbs chucked in if you fancy. Finely chop the pepper, onion and chilli. Mix together the creme fraiche, mustard and garlic, then mix in the chopped vegetables. When the potatoes are soft, drain and stir in the spinach, wilting for a moment if you want (I didn't). Stir in the creme fraiche mixture, season to taste, sprinkle (heap) fresh chopped coriander on top, et voila!

Barely a recipe, but I thought I would share anyway, plus, I won't forget it now either!

I Call That Curry O'Clock

I have never been much good at curries, I don't have the patience for anything that takes ages, and I have a bad habit of tinkering with recipes that have massive long lists of ingredients; substituting for whatever I have in the cupboards, which is an approach that does not produce tasty curry! However, I really did fancy a curry tonight, so I thought I would give this recipe from my new favourite cookbook 'From Season to Season' by Sophie Dahl a go. It was pretty simple, as I am lazy I used ready mixed garam masala, and there was no pumpkin in sainsburys so I used butternut squash, oh, and all the mangetout was better travelled than me, so I used broccoli (see what I mean about the tinkering?! ). I also didn't bother with the rice this time, although it does sound lovely.

Success! It was pretty damn tasty (if I do say so myself ), will definitely make it again, maybe with proper rice too.

Free! Giant Blueberry Muffin! *

Haha that got you clicking didn't it?! Now you are here perhaps you would like to take a look around the rest of my blog, and maybe make a comment or two...

* Unfortunately no actual blueberry muffin available, although I do look forward to the day when cake can be sent down internet wires. In the meantime, here is the very easy recipe, modified from a regular blueberry muffin recipe : )

Ingredients:
180g Plain Flour
60g light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 free range eggs
55g melted butter
175ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 teaspoons marmalade
170g fresh blueberries (or equivalent frozen)

Preheat oven to 400F/200C/Gas mark 6
Grease cake tin/loaf tin/muffin tin

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together

In a separate bowl whisk eggs until blended, add melted butter, milk, vanilla and marmalade

Mix liquids into flour etc, but leave it a bit lumpy

Mix in blueberries

Put into tin, put into oven, cook until a knife comes out clean, it took about 45mins for the large tin, but is supposed to take 25 mins in a muffin tin.

Enjoy!

15 Minute Feast

Not wanting to be arrogant or anything, but sometimes I impress even myself with my brilliance! Here is tonight's speedy dinner; just proper wholegrain bread, really lovely local pork sausages split in half, strong cheddar cheese, wilted spinach and fried eggs. TASTY! No recipe required.

Okay, that was a little arrogant :)