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Posts Tagged ‘easy supper’
Monday, October 27th, 2008 by urban foodie
 As I have mentioned here before, I probably spend a bit more time and money than I should in the lovely Leon restaurants, brainchild of Allegra McEvedy, cook and charactere par extraodinaire. So imagine my excitement when they decided to bring out their own cookbook, proving again that they aren’t precious about their gift (it is even being serialised in the paper). Here is one of my favourites, gobi curry, which I am making with a rather psychedelic romanesco cauliflower that was in the box this week.
Recipe serves 4 (at least!)
Ingredients
From Allegra McEvedy’s fabulous restaurants and cookbook
1 medium onion
1 carrot
2 tbsp sunflower or peanut oil
1 to 1.5 red chili(s) (go for a bird’s-eye if you like it hot)
2 thumb-sized pieces of root ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 large tsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black onion seeds
1 medium sweet potato
4 heaped tbsp ground almonds
A good handful of sultanas
½ a small cauliflower
400ml tin of coconut milk
150g frozen peas
Juice of ½ a lemon
A really big handful of coriander
Salt
2 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut, to serve
1 chop the onion in half and into thick slices, cut the carrot into thick chunks and add to oil, salt and cook over a low heat, covered, for 15-20 mins (stir occasionally)
2 blitz the chili, ginger and garlic to a paste in a food processor and add to pan, cook for further 5 mins
3 wash and chop sweet pot into 2.5 cm chunks, add to pan with ground almonds, mix well
4 turn up heat and add 250ml water and sultanas, bring to a simmer and bubble for 10-15 mins (lid off) stirring occasionally
5 break cauliflower into florets and it and coconut milk to pan, simmer for further 10-15 mins, covered.
6 check veg is cooked and then turn off heat and add peas, more salt, lemon juice, the coriander chopped and the coconut sprinkled on top. I serve it with white rice, rotis and some lime pickle. Some sharp apple cider would be a great partner too.
Note, the veg in this recipe is quite flexible, for instance I am replacing the peas with some spinach that I had left in the fridge, and I have used a whole small romanesco head - the beauty of a dish that will actually get made is often it’s flexibility. To make it child friendly just leave out the chili and about half of the spices, see what I mean, felixible.
Tags: cauliflower, Coconut, curry, easy supper, peas, sweet potato
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 by urban foodie
 This is such a cinch to make but tastes fabulous (my sister demands it when she comes over for supper). You probably have all but the sausages hanging around at the back of the cupboard. Nigel Slater scores again with this simple, hearty recipe.
Ingredients
(ever so slightly adapted) from Nigel Slater in the Observer
1 medium onion
2 large cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
5 sausages
500g passata
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can butter beans (plus a half/small can if you can find it, no biggie if not)
Serves 2-3
1 Peel onion, cut in half, then into 6 or so thick segments
2 Warm a 10cm pool of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes
3 Add fennel seeds, bay leaf and garlic (crush or chop) and sausages, brown lightly all over
4 Add passata and 1 tablespoon mustard, bring to boil and then put in drained and rinsed butter beans and S&P
5 Simmer for 20-25 minutes (I like to chop sausages up into 3 pieces after about 10 minutes - just to be sure they cook through)
6 Stir in last tablespoon of mustard and serve with a bit of green salad, a hunk of bread and a spicy wine.
Tags: butter beans, casserole, easy supper, passata, sausages
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | 5 Comments »
Saturday, August 16th, 2008 by urban foodie
 Smoked Mackerel is a great fish, really good for you (ok maybe a bit too much salt but think of all those fish oils), cheap as chips and sustainable to boot. I really love it and enjoy it in many forms, from a home made mackerel pate on toast (just mix with creme fraiche and a tiny bit of butter) to a simple baked potato topping or a buttery, fishy foundation to a spinach salad. Last night C invented another great addition to the smoked mackerel repertoire.
Really simple and really quite delicious, make extra and you can have it for lunch the next day (or even the one after that) just add a few drops of balsamic before you eat to make it more lunchy salady.
Ingredients
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
Really big handful of parsley
250g farfalle pasta
3 smoked mackerel fillets
1 yellow pepper
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 tub (100g) creme fraiche
Pinch each dried thyme & dried basil
Olive oil, Pepper (no need for salt - mackerel is plenty salty)
Serves 2 with a portion left over for lunch
1 Chop onion then put pasta on to boil
2 Put onion and crush garlic into pan, fry gently in olive oil
3 Chop yellow pepper and add after 4 minutes
4 Chop parsley, flake mackerel
5 When pasta is done drain (but not too well) and mix all ingredients - pop a lid on and let it sit for a minute or two whilst you prepare the plates/set the table
6 Serve with a green salad and lots of ground black pepper on top - goes well with beer (apparently, although I hate the stuff myself…)
Tags: easy supper, horseradish, pasta, peppers, smoked mackerel
Posted in Recipes | No Comments »
Thursday, August 14th, 2008 by urban foodie
Well we had a bit of a glut on courgettes this week (C picked up 3 from the ‘help yourself’ box not realising there were already 3 in our veg box) so courgettes may be a bit of a theme over the next few days.
 One of my favourite courgette recipes is this gorgeous and super quick curry recipe. So quick that it keeps all the freshness of its many green elements which beautifully compliment the seawater and sweetness of the prawns. Thanks Madhur for a firm family favourite.
Now we just need to make sure the new house guest (a lost ginger cat who is residing with us until we can find his owner - long story) doesn’t get to the prawns before we do…
Ingredients
From Madhur Jaffrey’s Illustrated Indian Cookery (a cookbook with the powerful accolade of having heavily stained pages)
2 med courgettes
1/2 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil (groundnut is good)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 packet coriander
1 green chili
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 heaped teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
tin chopped tomatoes
2 inches ginger
1 tablespoon lemon
1 Cut courgettes lengthwise into 4 then each strip across into 3, chop coriander, grate ginger, measure spices
2 Heat a 20cm pool of oil in medium high heat, crush garlic into pan and fry gently until golden brown
3 Add all other ingredients to pan except prawns and coriander bring to simmer
4 Add prawns and coriander simmer for 3 minutes, turn up heat and boil away a little of the liquid so that the sauce is thick
5 Serve on a bed of white basmati rice with a glass of chilled white Rioja and a little spoon of lime pickle on the side
Tags: courgettes, curry, easy supper, prawns
Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »
Sunday, August 10th, 2008 by urban foodie
 This is a full hearty brick red stew, the paprika seems to capture the sun in it’s warm spice and, as the rain falls outside (in August… love this british summer) it is perfect for soothing and warming. Foil the rich sweetness of the stew with some nutty brown rice and a green salad.
Oh and, of course, it is very simple to make - not that quick (1h30 in all) but with minimal contact time.
Ingredients
(adapted) From Delia Smith’s essential kitchen classic Complete Cookery Course
2 big chicken legs (or 4 thighs/drumsticks) - approx 5/600g
1 tin chopped toms
1 medium-large onion
tablespoon of Paprika (preferably hot smoked or snazzy spanish/hungarian, but any really)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 clove garlic
1 small-medium green pepper
Creme fraiche/soured cream to swirl (approx 100g)
S&P, Olive Oil
1 Put oven on to heat up 170 C. Chop onions roughly
2 Heat up a puddle of oil (15cm or so across) in a casserole dish with a lid (leave this off for now) on the hob. Brown chicken until skin is just starting to colour, remove to a plate and replace with onions, cook gently for 10 mins
3 Add Paprika, cayenne and crushed garlic, fry for a minute then add tinned toms (rinse out tin with about 1/3 again of water into casserole)
4 Bring to simmer and put chicken back in, cover and put in oven. Cook for 45 minutes
5 Take out of oven and mix in green pepper sliced into long thin bits. Put back in oven for 30 mins
6 Take out of oven and swirl in creme fraiche/soured cream, serve on a bed of nutty brown rice with a crisp green salad and a bit of bread if you have it. Oh, and an unsophisticated but cosy red is a perfect accompaniment
Tags: Chicken, easy supper, Paprika
Posted in Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 by urban foodie
Aubergines are back! The veg box this week had a gorgeous chubby purple one in there and I’m making ratatouille, one of my favourite dishes. Simple to make, colourful, bursting with goodness and flavour - I serve it with sausages and mash, on pasta or with brown rice and crumbled feta on top.
Ingredients
(slightly simplified) From Delia Smith’s essential kitchen classic Complete Cookery Course
1 plump aubergine
1 large or 2 small courgettes
1 bigish onion
1 red/yellow or green pepper (or 2 if you have them)
1 tin whole toms
1 fat clove of garlic
Splash red wine or tablespoon of baslamic vinegar
Tablespoon or 2 of Basil, olive oil, S&P
Serves 2 very well
1 Chop up the onion roughly and fry gently in olive oil for 10 minutes
2 Chop (and de-seed) the pepper into medium chunks, add to pan
3 Chop aubergine and courgette (Delia says to salt and drain but I’ve never thought it necessary) and add to the pan, stir once, S&P and simmer gently, covered for 30mins
4 Add wine vinegar to pan and stir. Crush garlic and add to pan, stir. Drain toms and add to pan, stir. Chop basil and add to pan, stir
5 Simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes, serve with any of the above, even nicer if you let it sit overnight and reheat
Tags: aubergine, courgette, easy supper, peppers
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | No Comments »
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