Goodbye winter, hello spring!

Spring is finally here! Our garden is full of beautiful daffodils that N planted at the end of last year. Every time I look out of the window they make me smile and remind me that although a quarter of the year has passed in the blink of an eye, the best is definitely yet to come. But before I start to really celebrate the change in season I felt I needed to say a goodbye to winter. Because apart from the fact I leave home for work when it's still pitch black and it's so cold N forces me to wear a hat (which I hate), I actually quite like winter. Dark cosy evenings, roaring log fires and best of all guilt-free comfort food. As the weather improves I feel obliged to eat more salads or fish and vegetable dishes but the fact remains, I am a glutton for stodge! 

So as a farewell to the winter season I allowed my baked lamb chops with tomato and aubergine to have one last appearance on our dining table. This recipe is inspired by none other than my food writing guru, Nigel Slater. I stumbled across the recipe one evening whilst reading his Kitchen Diaries. He describes it as 'a loud-flavoured plate of (hearty) food...to restore your faith in the pleasures of plain, simple eating'. I think that really says it all. 

Baked Lamb Chops with Tomato and Aubergine

(Serves 2 generous portions | total prep and cooking time 1 hour 20 mins)

Ingredients

4 lamb chops

6-8 new potatoes -halved

6-8 cherry tomatoes - halved

1 medium aubergine - cut into thick chunks 

6 mushrooms - thickly sliced

6 garlic cloves - peeled but left whole

1 medium onion - cut into wedges

1/2 butternut squash (optional) - cut into thick chunks 

2-3 sprigs rosemary 

Approximately 5 tablespoons olive oil

Seasoning

Method

- heat the oven to 200 degrees fan

- place the potato halves, tomato halves, aubergine chunks, butternut squash chunks, mushrooms, onion wedges and garlic to a large shallow oven proof dish

- poor over the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper

- toss everything together so the vegetables are covered with the oil and seasoning

- tuck in the rosemary sprigs and bake uncovered for 20 mins

- rub the lamb chops with olive oil and season

- after the 20 mins remove the vegetables and place the lamb chops on top 

- return the dish to the oven for approximately 40 mins (or slightly less if you like your lamb pink inside)

- serve as it is or with gravy 

Have your pie and eat it

One of the things I have never attempted to make is pastry. It's always scared me a little as it takes quite a while and it can go so wrong. It's quite unlike me really as normally I am happy to step out of my comfort zone and try something new even if it doesn't quite work out the way I planned. After all, if at first you don't succeed....but for some reason making pastry is one if the paths I have never ventured down. I've always known that ready made pastry is available but it felt like too much of a cheat so I stayed clear. Until I watched Lorraine Pascal. She said that one of the things she rarely makes is pastry as the shop bought versions are so good. Hey, if she can do it so can I! So I bought some Jus Rol puff pastry. Not only can you buy pre-prepared pastry but you can also get it ready rolled. Now that's a shortcut I was ready to try!

Pastry ready and waiting I had one more problem to tackle. And this one was more tricky. N doesn't really like pies! However on further questioning I discovered he isn't strictly anti-pie but rather he has an issue with ready made and restaurant pies as he finds they have the wrong pastry to filling ratio. Most of these pies have a full pastry case making the overall effect very stodgy. Luckily I had some individual pie cases lurking at the back of my cupboard which I was just waiting for the opportunity to use. Using individual pie dishes meant I could just make a lid out of pastry. The end result were a couple of elegant chicken, leek and mushroom pies. To get a neat result I cut round one of the pie dishes before I had filled it and to go that step extra I used a cookie cutter to cut a star out of the excess pastry. They really were comfort food at its best. 

Individual chicken, leek and mushroom pies

(Serves 2 | total prep and hob cooking time 40 mins + 30 mins in the oven)

Ingredients 

- 1 sheet Jus Rol ready rolled puff pastry

- milk to brush pastry

- olive oil

- 1 small onion - diced

- 3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

- 1 chicken breast fillet - cut into small pieces

- 1 leek - trimmed and sliced

- 5-6 mushrooms - sliced

- approx 300ml chicken stock

- herbs such as thyme, tarragon and parsley

- level tablespoon of cornflour

- black pepper

Method

- preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan

- cut round the top of the pie dishes to make 2 lids. Use a cookie cutter to cut a optional shape out of any excess pastry. Keep these aside

- heat some olive oil in a saucepan

- fry the chicken for approx 10 mins until it looks opaque. Don't worry if it is not completely cooked as it will cook more later. Remove from the pan and set aside

- add some more oil and soften the onions. Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes

- add the leek and mushroom, stir well and cook on a low heat for a few minutes

- return the chicken to the pan and add the herbs. Stir well

- add the stock, cornflour and black pepper

- cook together on a low-med heat for approx 10 mins until the sauce has thickened up. If it is too runny increase the heat until some liquid evaporates. If it is too thick add a little boiling water and stir well

- allow to cool slightly and transfer into individual pie dishes leaving a few millimetres of room at the top of the dish

- brush the edge of the dish with some milk and place the pastry lid on top. Pinch the edges so it sticks to the dish and produces a nice fluting

- brush the centre of the pastry lid with a little more milk and place the pastry shape on top

- pierce a hole in the centre if the pastry lid with a knife or a fork

- brush the top of the pastry with more milk

- place in the oven for 30 mins until the pastry is golden brown

Singapore Style Noodles

Asian style noodles are probably one of the easiest things to make and are regularly my back-up meal if I don't have time to think of anything else. But I have to admit my recipe is pretty formulaic. Noodles...check. Prawns...check. Broccoli, mushrooms, pak choi...check, check, check. Throw in some onions, garlic, ginger, chillis, five spice, oyster sauce, soy sauce and thai fish sauce and there you have it, house noodles at Chez Singla. But when I go to a Chinese restaurant, or on the very rare occasion we get a take away, we tend to opt for Singapore Noodles. I guess it's because they seem a bit exotic and given the number of ingredients they seem to have in it's not a dish I have ever thought of making at home. Until earlier this week. My aim wasn't to create an exact replica of a Chinese restaurant Singapore noodle dish, as that would involve much thinner and crispier noodles, which I don't really love. More than anything I wanted to bring the Singapore noodle flavour into my classic noodle dish. The flavour that N describes as 'smokey'. Believe it or not that flavour is achieved by the use of none other than curry powder! Bizarrely, even though I have a drawer stocked full of Indian spices I actually had to go out and buy curry powder specifically for this dish. That's because when I cook Indian food I use all the spices individually as I find it gives you a better control over taste (and my mum would laugh at me if I didn't)! The rest of the recipe is very similar to my standard noodle recipe so it is amazing how just the use of one ingredient can change the flavour so much. I have to say my version of Singapore noodles actually tasted pretty authentic, and served with stir fried broccoli in garlic sauce it actually made me feel like I was sitting in my favourite Chinese restaurant. The problem is, if I keep re-creating the restaurant experience at home I doubt N will ever take me out to dinner again!

Singapore Style Noodles

(serves 2 | total prep and cooking time approx 45 mins) 

Ingredients

• 2 nests of fine egg noodles
• 1 large egg
• 200-250g cooked jumbo king prawns (whole or chopped)
• 1 chicken breast - cut into small pieces
• 1 onion - finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves - finely chopped 
• 2 inch piece of ginger - finely chopped or grated
• 1 small chilli - de-seeded and finely chopped
• 2 spring onions - sliced
• 1 red pepper - diced
• 5 mushrooms - finely chopped 
• Any other vegetables e.g. Chinese lettuce - finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Japanese rice wine vinegar
• 1 heaped teaspoon Chinese five spice
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• Drizzle of toasted sesame oil
• Groundnut oil for frying
• Sprinkling of coriander

Method

• Cook the noodles in boiling water for approx 2-3 mins. Drain and run under cold water. Keep aside in a colander to cool, tossing occasionally so they don't stick
• Heat some groundnut oil in a wok
• Whisk together the egg, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of the curry powder in a bowl. 
• Place the egg mixture in the wok and scramble.  Remove from the pan and set aside
• Heat a bit more oil and fry the chicken pieces until cooked. Set aside with the egg
• Heat a bit more oil and add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli to the pan. Fry for a few minutes and then add spring onions, red pepper, mushrooms and any other vegetables. Stir fry for a few minutes.
• Add the prawns and the cooked chicken and mix well
• Add the soy sauce, vinegar, five spice, and  and remainder of the curry powder stir well
• Add the noodles and scrambled egg and toss everything together with the coriander
• If you like the noodles crispy you can cook it for a bit longer
• Ideally eat with chopsticks, unless of course you're really hungry like me then use a fork!

Celeriac Soup

Celeriac. Often referred to as the unsung hero of the vegetable world. I had heard so much about it, with every celebrity chef these days making celeriac mash or celeriac puree or some such thing, but to be honest it had never even occurred to me to buy one. But then last week I opened my organic vegetable delivery and there it was. Staring up at me from deep within the box was without a doubt the ugliest vegetable I have ever seen. So how would I describe a celeriac...

Well to be blunt, it is brown, knobbly, odd shaped and slightly hairy. Sounds like a treat doesn't it! But don't let that put you off. A root vegetable similar to turnip, celeriac has a light peppery celery-like flavour with a slight hint of nuttiness. As well as making it into mash or puree it can be thinly sliced and fried to make vegetable chips or roasted with parsnips or butternut squash. With N's scepticism at trying new things I thought the safest and simplest way to try out this vegetable was in the form of a soup. My veg box also contained some lovely fresh spinach so I though this would make a great pairing. And some pancetta gave it a bit of texture. It turned out to be a delicious, hearty dish perfect for a cold wintry evening. If you want to make it even more creamy add a dollop of cream or swirl in some yoghurt.

I have to admit I am loving my vegetable and fruit box delivery. It has pushed me to think outside the box and experiment with some new flavours and recipes. I have a couple of cards offering a free trial box so if anyone is interested email me your address to singlapa@gmail.com and I will pop one in the post to you.

Celeriac and Spinach Soup

(serves 4 - total prep and cooking time 40 mins)

Ingredients

• 1 med-large celeriac - peeled and chopped into small pieces
• Approx 100g fresh spinach - cleaned and chopped (or 5-6 cubes of chopped frozen spinach)
• 1 onion - diced
• 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
• 500ml vegetable stock
• Small pack or pancetta (optional)
• Handful of fresh chopped parsley
• Tablespoon of cream or yoghurt (optional)

Method

• Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes
• Add in the chopped celeriac and stir
• Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the celeriac is soft. Stir in the spinach and parsley and cook for 2-3 minutes
• Transfer to a blender and whizz until smooth. Transfer back to the saucepan
• In a small frying pan fry the pancetta for a few minutes until cooked and crispy and add to the soup
• Stir in the cream or yoghurt and serve with black pepper

A Mathematical Vegetable

I like most foods and will eat almost anything, but the one vegetable I can take or leave is cauliflower. It tastes bland and produces a slightly dodgy smell while you cook it. Every now and again I feel like I should give it another try and I look up some recipes, but the only ones I can ever find have it smothered in cheese, I think that says a lot! The problem is it is in season at the moment which means it regularly makes an appearance in my vegetable box. A few weeks ago I had a beautiful orange cauliflower. A friend of mine suggested a recipe for cauliflower couscous. It worked well. I blitzed the cauliflower in a food processor till it resembled couscous and then pan fried it with spring onions, tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, and some herbs. I kept it a bit crucnhy for texture. I was elated, I had finally found a way to make cauliflower that I actually liked. It was a great accompaniment to some fish and meant we could have a carbless dinner for a change.

Then last week there was yet another caulifower in my box. Only this wasn't just any cauliflower, it was probably the most amazing vegetable I have ever seen. If you've ever seen it before you will now what I mean. It's called a Romanesco cauliflower. This beautiful vegetable forms a logarithmic spiral where each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral. This repetitive pattern continues at several smaller levels forming something called a fractal. It amazes me how nature can produce something so mathematical and so astounding.

The minute I saw it it reminded me of the scaly skin of a dinosaur. A friend compared it to an alien! It looked so fantastic I couldn't bear to put it through I chopper and turn it in to couscous. I had to find a way of keeping the florets whole. I ended up adding some to my French fish soup and throwing a few in a stir fry. I think they would also make a great vegetable side dish particularly at Christmas as the florets look like mini fir trees! I wonder if it will still be in season then...

I still have some left so I am on the look out for some other ways to use it. If you have any suggestions for this wonderful mathematical cauliflower please do leave me a comment. Or if  you have any other cauliflower recipes that don't involve masking it with melted cheese I'd love to hear them!

Muffins for an Autumn Day

Autumn.  It is without a doubt my favourite season. I'm not exactly sure why though. At the moment the only way I can describe the days are generally cold, wet and dreary. But there is something about the way the nights draw in and the leaves change colour that makes saying goodbye to summer a little easier. And on the rare occasion that we get a sunny day, like today, it reminds me why I love it so much.

The other great thing about the season is the variation in fruit and vegetables that becomes available. Normally I buy whatever I want whenever I want it, that's the beauty of supermarkets. But I am vaguely aware of how many miles my produce has travelled and how fresh it really is. And there is something very special about eating things grown on our home soil and supporting our local farmers. For this very reason I decided to sign up to receiving a weekly organic fruit and vegetable box. So far I am loving it. I have had so much fun finding new recipes and coming up with new ideas, especially because N is a creature of habit and often reluctant to try different things. My only real complaint is the boxes always seem to contain a cabbage and some apples! I guess it's because they are seasonal and grown abundantly in the UK but the cynic in me is convinced it's because they are cheap!

So this week my fruit bowl contained an awful lot of apples. And as they are not my favourite fruit I had to find a way of using them up. Normally I'd make a crumble but I find it's too much for just N and I to eat so I thought I'd make something that could be distributed. I decided to make some apple and cinnamon muffins. I had some raisins in the cupboard so I threw those in for good measure. I looked at a few recipes to get some ideas and then made one up based on the ingredients I had at home. A lot of recipes said to grate the apples but I found cutting them into chunks makes the muffins much more interesting and the taste of apples more noticeable. I invited a friend round for a coffee and we ate them warm, straight from the oven. The warmth of the cinnamon and the juicyness of the apple gave me a feeling of comfort from top to toe. If autumn could to be described by something edible then this would definitely be it.

Apple, Cinnamon and Raisin Muffins

(Makes 12 | Total prep and cooking time approx 50 mins - 1 hour)

 

 

 

Ingredients

Melted butter or margarine (optional), for greasing

300g plain flour
1 tbs baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
120g golden caster sugar
2-3 medium apples, cored, peeled, chopped
125g seedless raisins
125g butter or margarine, melted, cooled
2 eggs, lightly whisked
185ml milk

Method
 - Preheat the oven to 180 degrees- Grease a 12 hole muffin tin or line with cases- Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a large mixing bowl.- Stir in the sugar, apples and raisins until well combined- Whisk together the butter, eggs and milk until well combined. Add this to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until the ingredients are only just combined. Make sure to not over mix- Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin tins- Sprinkle each with a little sugar on top- Bake for approx 20 mins until golden brown and cooked through. Check that a skewer comes out clean to make sure they are done.- Cool for a few minutes before transfering to a wire rack  

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A Taste of the Coast

Some of the best dishes I cook have been inspired by things I have eaten on holiday. This summer N and I decided to have a staycation. We drove down to Sandbanks to spend a few relaxing days by the coast.Walks along the beach, hours of reading books in a cafe (far too cold to sit on the balcony sadly) and long leisurely dinners of fresh seafood. Bliss.

One of the restuarants we went to was a very trendy place called Club Shore. If you've ever been to Sandbanks I am sure you know of it, from talking to people it sounds like it's the place to be! We managed to book an table right by the window so our dining experience was accompanied by an unrestricted view of the sun setting over the sea. The view was beautiful and with the sun warming my face through the glass I honestly could have sat there forever.

 

The special of the day was crab linguine with chilli and lime. I'm not a big fan of crab. I find it a bit bland and if the only way to make something taste good is for it to take up the flavour of something else I personally can't see the point. But it came highly recommended by the waiter so we tried it. I am so glad I did otherwise I would have missed out on discovering one of the easiest and tastiest dishes I have ever made. The linguine at Club Shore was made with white crab only which makes it look very elegant. The first time I made it at home I did the same and it tasted great.  But then someone suggested I use brown crab as well, as although it is a lot cheaper and hence food snobbery made me turn my nose up at it the first time, it really does turn this great dish into a fantastic one. It doesn't look as good but what it loses in aesthetics it makes up for in flavour. I now make it with a mixture of brown and white crab and throw a few prawns in to add some texture. This dish is quick and delicious and makes a regular appearance on our dinner table. I ration it to once a week as if I let N have his way I'm sure he would request it every night!

 

 

Crab Linguine at Club Shore

 

 

 

Crab Linguine Chez Preeti (not as beautiful but very very tasty!)

 

Crab Linguine with Chilli and Lime

(serves 2 | Total prep and cooking time less than 30 mins)

 

Ingredients

 

- Olive oil

- 120g dry linguine

- 100g brown crab meat

- 100g white crab meat

- 150g cooked king size prawns

- 1 lime - squeeze the juice out of half and keep other half for garnish

- 2 sping onions - chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

- 1 small chilli - finely chopped

- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

- 125ml white wine

 

Method

 

- Cook the linguine according to the packet instructions

- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the garlic and the spring onions until softened

- Add the chilli and stir for a few moments

- Add in the brown and white crab and the prawns.Stir well

- Add the white wine and cook on a high heat for approximately 4-5 minutes until most the wine has evaporated

- Stir in the lime juice and the parsley

- Drain the linguine, reserving the cooking water

- Add the linguine to the crab mixture and stir well. Add a little of the pasta water to loosen the dish and mix well on a low heat.

- Serve with a simple salad and a wedge of lime