Je Goûterai - I will taste
28.6.12 - 52 recipes done!
Next target, 104 recipes to reach by the end of the year!
Saturday:
This was the one day I didn’t have poached eggs for breakfast, I felt I needed a change so went for the full English. For the rest of the day I wanted to go for healthier options and ended up carrying on my day with vegetarian dishes which were all delicious
For Lunch I wanted to show Ryan the island and go to Gorey for lunch but it was pissing it down. We waited in the pouring rain for our bus for around half an hour and upon arrival, it carried on past our stop because it was full. I wanted to cry. We ended up heading back into town and went to a reasonably priced café called Café Society. It was dark and raining outside so I wanted something warming and comforting to help the mood so went for the soup of the day, Sweet Potato and Parsnip soup with slices of white and brown baguette . The soup was nice, wasn’t too sweet neither did it have an over powering parsnip taste, it could have been a little thicker but the main thing I wanted to talk about was the bread. Well not the bread, the butter.
Each morning at breakfast we have toast with those little butter portions and jam (English butter) and with my baguette was Jersey butter portions. You could instantly taste the difference. The colour was a richer and darker yellow, it was so much more creamier and I had forgotten how perfect it was. Dipping it into the soup and feeling it melt from the heat of it when biting into the submerged piece was heavenly. If you ever get the chance to have Jersey butter, preferably salted, try it. Simply on bread or toast, a jacket potato or on some Jersey Royals, perfection.
We later went for dinner with our friend Bruce/Hollie and her boyfriend Patrick at this restaurant named The Green Olive which I think used to be a Vegan and Vegetarian restaurant but now had expanded to having poultry and fish dishes on the menu. I decided to pick a dish from the specials menu; there were loads of lovely looking fish dishes and a gorgeous looking duck dish but I wanted veg veg veg! I went for the Butternut Squash and Sun Blushed Tomato Risotto with Honey Roasted Parsnips and Carrot and Parsnip crisps on top (along with a big unnecessary bunch of Rocket on top). It was amazing! It was so creamy and sweet from the squash and the tomatoes were rich and deep in flavour. It was nice to have the honey roast parsnips on top as they added extra texture as well as the crisps which almost melted when eaten with the risotto. The risotto had been perfectly cooked and every texture and flavour was perfectly combined!
No. 34: Coq au Vin with Herby Dumplings – 21.4.12
Oh Gizzi how I’ve missed you!! I’m sorry I left you for Rachel Khoo but you know I’ll always love you!
My big sister bought me Gizzi Erskine’s Kitchen Magic for Christmas and after already loving Gizzi through her tv shows I fell in love with it. Then watching Rachel Khoo on tv made me instantly fall in love with her, making me buy her book as soon as I could. However I’ve been cooking a lot of Rachel Khoo recipes recently so I’m going back to Gizzi!
And yes, I know I’ve already had ‘Coq au Vin’ this week but I don’t care. I really wanted to try the traditional stew version of a Coq au Vin because I adored the flavours of the skewer version I had tried so felt I should give the traditional version a go. And yes, I know dumplings aren’t traditionally French and this is stated in the recipe but they work really well with the stew and add a lovely extra dimension of texture (they’re also really good at wiping up left over sauce at the end of the meal!). This recipe is from her book “Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic”.
Serves 4, preheat the oven to 180oC!
(This list is in the order you use the ingredients)
For the Stew
2 tbsp Olive Oil
8 free-range chicken thighs, boned, skinned and halved (if you’re not sure about removing bones or removing the skin, just ask your butcher to do it)
Pinch sea salt and ground black pepper
16 button mushrooms
4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped into lardons
2 banana shallots, finely sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp plain white flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
600ml red wine
300ml chicken stock
1 bouquet garni (This is a bundle of herbs tied together to flavour stews and soups which is removed at the end of cooking) Made of Bay leaves, fresh thyme and fresh parsley tied in a bundle.
For the Dumplings
100g Self raising flour
½ tsp salt
1 and ½ tsp olive oil
a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped
3 tsp snipped fresh chives
60ml semi-skimmed milk
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Heat1tbsp of the oil in a large heavy-based, lidded casserole dish. Season the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper and brown these in 2 batches. Cook for 4 minutes on each side and set aside. Throw in the mushrooms, cook in the oil and chicken juices for 5 minutes or until golden and set aside with the chicken. If the bottom of the pan seems dry, add a little boiling water to scrape the bottom of the pan.
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Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the bacon on a high heat for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the shallots and carrot. Cover with a lid and sweat these for 10 minutes on a low heat, throwing in the garlic at the last minute. Add the plain flour and tomato purée and stir to coat all the vegetables for a minute.
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Slowly pour in the wine, stirring continuously to emulsify the sauce (you’ll see it thicken up as you stir). Add the chicken stock, chicken thighs, mushrooms, bouquet garni and give it a good stir! Cover, place in the oven and cook for an hour, stirring it half way through cooking.
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To make the dumplings, add the the dumpling ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Then divide the mixture to make 8 small balls (these will double in size when they cook). When the stew has 20 minutes left add the dumplings and cover with the lid. Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes so they become golden brown on top.
Not tooting my own horn here, but I think this was one of the best meals I have ever made. It was absolutely amazing! The sauce was wonderfully rich from the wine and the chicken was so soft and tender from being cooked for so long. When you cut open the chicken thighs, they were a rich dark brown/red on the outside but a gorgeous white in the middle. I used Parsnip instead of carrot (due to my IBS) but my point is, is that the vegetables in the dish gave subtle little hints of flavours. There were a lot of different textures in the dish, the soft chicken, the silky sauce, the little pieces of bacon and the soft, chewy dumplings. The dumplings were a really nice addition! I’m not sure what it would usually be served with but they worked really well with the stew and soaked up some of the flavours whilst cooking. I loved this dish and it seems my boyfriend was pretty blown away by it as well!
No. 17: Turkey Bolognese – 9.2.12
Turkey mince is probably the best substitute for regular beef mince if you are wanting to cut down on fat and lose some weight! I always eat turkey mince with rice, cooking it in a mix of honey, soy sauce and spices which is delicious! I picked up a ‘Waitrose Recipe Card’ when I was in there shopping the other day; they have this ‘Love Life’ campaign of low fat healthy foods now (which some of it tastes so good) and this recipe was part of that. Turkey mince has next to no fat in it so is a really good change from beef mince or even chicken!
Serves 4
a spritz of olive oil spray
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 rosemary sprigs (or use dried rosemary if you have it!)
500g of Turkey Mince
800g of chopped tomatoes
6 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
300g of spaghetti or any pasta you have
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Spritz a large pan with the oil and add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to it and cook for 5 minutes. I would stir it from time to time to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn or the other ingredients don’t catch.
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Add the herbs and turkey and cook this for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
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Add tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and a splash of water (for this I used a bit of Passata which is sieved tomatoes which just adds a bit more liquid instead of the water), bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes or longer if you can. Until you have a rich thick sauce. Stir this from time to time to make sure it doesn’t burnt at the bottom of your pan!
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Whilst the sauce is cooking, cook the spaghetti/pasta in a large pan of boiling water for 8-12 minutes depending on what kind of pasta you are using. Drain this and mix the sauce in with the pasta and serve with some grated cheese. I used a dollop of cream cheese which makes it even healthier!
Such a good way to use Turkey mince! I’ve never used rosemary in a Bolognese before, it wasn’t over powering but every so often you taste it coming through and it really made a difference! It was a nice change from using basil all the time! This meal also counts as towards 2 portions of your 5-a-day! I left out the carrot and celery though as they set off my IBS so I just added more onion but if you use a larger range of vegetables, it will bulk up your Bolognese sauce and will stretch over more meals if you are trying to save your pennies! You can use the sauce in all sorts of things, for example:
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If it’s thick enough, add some kidney beans and you have a chilli you can use in burritos!
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Toast English Muffin, top with the sauce and some cheese and you have your own make shift mini Pizzas!
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One way I love to use left over sauce is to put the rest in the bottom of a baking dish, top it with mashed sweet potato, sprinkle a bit of paprika on top and bake to make a variation of Cottage Pie!
A few months ago I bought ‘Cooking Guide’ for my Nintendo DS and had my own go at California Rolls. I don’t have the recipe to hand but I will explain in brief how to go about making these beauties :) This will be to serve 1 person!
1 x Portion of Sushi rice
Half a sheet of Nori
120ml of water (Or follow manufacturer’s cooking instructions)
Sushi Vinegar
1 tsp of sugar (I use caster sugar)
1 tsp of rice vinegar
pinch of salt
Filling
This can be whatever you prefer, traditional would be fillings like Cucumber, vegetables and raw fish. I used:
1 thin strip of Cucumber (about 1cm wide and as long the Nori sheet)
A few shavings of Carrot
2 tbsp of Tuna Mayo, or whatever you like
A few strips of Tamagoyaki
-Firstly wash the rice and soak it for 30mins in a bowl of water. Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. You can use most all short grain rice, I liked to use Paella rice!
- In a little bowl, mix the sugar, soy sauce and salt together to make the sushi vinegar.
- When the rice has finished cooking and absorbed all the water, put into a bowl and add the sushi vinegar and mix it round the rice using a fish slice. Leave to cool, whilst cooling prepare the filling you’ve chosen for you sushi!
- Once cooled, lay out the sushi rice to the length and width of the Nori sheet on a sushi mat or a sheet of clingfilm if you don’t have a mat. Place the Nori on top of it and at the side closest to you, add your filling keeping it in a small pile along the length of the Nori sheet.
- Using the Cling film or mat, starting with the side closest to you, roll up the sushi and when getting to the end, give it a little squeeze to make sure the roll is tight.
- Using a sharp knife and a damp cloth, wet the knife so the rice does not stick to it and cut into 6 parts.
