Meals from my Brexit Cupboard

My parents were children in the Second World War. They knew what it was like to be short of food, and to never know what was round the corner. Subsequently, for as long as I can remember they had a 'siege' cupboard under the stairs where they kept a supply of tins, packets and bottles to sustain them in the event of an unexpected crisis.







Many of us came round to that way of thinking at the start of 2019, when Brexit loomed- and we began to stock our cupboards with tasty Euro treats like pasta, pulses, sauces and tinned fish.
Well, the 29th of March came and went as a damp squib- as did June 2019 (Damp Squib 2), and October 31st (The Return of the Damp Squib).
Now however the 31st January looks like Damp Squib is back- and this time it means it.
So we are un-celebrating the date by eating a meal from my stock of tins and packets.

If you feel like un-celebrating with us, or just want some storecupboard ideas to use whilst camping or travelling- look no further.

I am making Moroccan Soup and Vegetable Chilli with flatbreads, plus Butter Bean Mash and Smash-ing Gnocchi.

For the Moroccan Soup, you will need 1cup of leftover vegetables or 1 tin of ratatouille, 1/2 jar fruit chutney ( plum or fig are good here) 2 tbsp red lentils, 1 tin mixed beans in tomato sauce, 1 tbsp Moroccan seasoning (ras-el-hanout) and 1 tsp chilli paste ( or harissa paste if you prefer).
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a deep pan or pressure cooker, and coat the lentils before adding the spices. Then pour in the contents of the tins. Fill the tins with water, swirl around to rinse and add this to the soup.
Stir in the chutney and taste- add more salt, chilli or seasoning to get the flavour you like.

Mix all together in a deep pan

Cook in the pressure cooker for 5 minutes or simmer in the pan for 15 minutes until the lentils are cooked.

Moroccan Soup

This soup goes well with pitta bread or homemade flatbreads:

Just blitz 220g of wholemeal flour and 1 tsp salt with 2 tbsp rapeseed oil in a food processor ( or rub in with your fingers).

Blitz flour, salt and oil

Gradually add hot water until you have a soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface

Turn it out on a floured board, divide into four portions and roll out thinly.

Roll into four thin flatbreads

If you are not going to eat these straightaway, freeze them with a piece of greaseproof paper in between each one. You can cook them straight from frozen.

When you are ready to eat, fry them in a hot dry frying pan until the surface bubbles slightly. Turn them over and fry the other side for a couple of minutes and serve.

Fry in a hot dry pan and serve

These flatbreads go well with a vegetable chilli- again made from tinned goods.

You need 1 tin brown or green lentils, 1 tin kidney or borlotti beans in chilli sauce, 1/2 tin Eazy onions, 1 tsp minced garlic or garlic powder, 2 extra tsp chilli powder (optional), 2 tbsp tomato puree.

Bring the onions up to a sizzle and add the minced garlic.
Drain and rinse the lentils and add them to the pan along with the kidney beans.
Add the tomato puree and some salt and pepper to taste ( you can add extra chilli powder here).
Add some more water and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Adjust seasoning before serving.

Vegetable Chilli

The leftovers make a great filling for baked potatoes the next day too.

Veggie chilli Baked  Potato

And talking of potatoes- do you remember these guys?

Well, I'm making a case here for the return of Smash ( instant potato ) to our stock cupboards.

Instant mash has fallen out of favour here- but the French have no such fashion fads. They love their pomme purée  and rightly so. Added to soups, it thickens and adds flavour- and in this gnocchi recipe, it's as good if not better than it's fresh rival.

Mix 40g potato powder rehydrated with 150 ml boiling water to 1 egg yolk ( freeze the white for later use ), 1 tsp salt and 1-2 tbsp plain flour. Add more flour as necessary to achieve a soft workable dough.

Mix mash, egg yolk, salt and flour in a bowl

Turn out the dough onto a floured board and roll it into a long sausage, like you used to roll Playdough.

Roll out into a long sausage

Slice at 2cm intervals and then flatten with the tines of a fork to give the gnocchi their traditional appearance-but also to help with them carrying a sauce.

Slice and shape the gnocchi

Bring a deep pan of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi in batches. They cook quickly.

Gnocchi are cooked when they rise to the surface

Remove with a draining spoon and leave to cool (if you are not using them right away).

These little pillows are easy to freeze and refresh in boiling water when you need them.

Baked Gnocchi

They are lovely with olive oil and grated cheese on their own, or in a tomato sauce or baked with a cheese sauce and spinach as a main dish.

They are also tasty fried to accompany steak or chops.

If you want a change from potato or rice to accompany your dishes- try making a mash from tinned butter beans.

Gently cook 1/2 tsp minced garlic in some olive oil, then add the drained beans with lots of salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and a tsp of grated lemon zest.

Add lemon zest and juice to beans

Mash with a potato masher for a coarse puree or use a hand blender for a smoother one. You can flavour the mash with chopped chives or spring onions,

Mash to a coarse or fine puree

or leave out the lemon and beat in some Tomme cheese and nutmeg for a Butter Bean Aligot. Coarse grain mustard makes a good flavour combination too.

Butter Bean Aligot

So whether you are celebrating or un-celebrating this 31st January, I hope some of these recipes are useful.

And remember in these dark January days - you never know who will really have the last laugh.

https://www.google.com/search?q=smash+advert+robots&oq=smash+&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l3j69i61l3.4719j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Mellow Fruitfulness

Autumn is well and truly here- damp and dreary, wild and wet.

Luckily there is still plenty of colour in the Autumn fruit and veg bowl to brighten spirits and plates over the coming month.

Pears, squashes, pumpkins, marrows, tomatoes. parsnips-plenty to feel good about there.






First of all, I wanted to use up the last of the pears from my crop this year. Of course the trouble with pears is getting them just right- not too hard and unripe and not past their best ( which happens all too quickly). Eddie Izzard summed it up in his famous fruit bowl sketch- ( apologies for the over-fruity language)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVTDwq2q3Ak

Well, I find the best way to treat these 'gorgeous little beasts' is to poach them- in 400ml red or white wine, or sugar syrup, or Earl Grey tea or even ginger beer ( according to your preference). Just make sure the poaching liquid is sweetened to your liking and I would always recommend the addition of 2-3 star anise to the liquid too. You can poach them for as long as it takes- but they are ready when a knife slides easily into them.

Pears poached in wine and star anise

Poached pears are lovely on their own- but even better when added to a trifle like my Sugar and Spice Trifle:

Sugar and Spice Trifle
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/23/trifle-recipes-swap-speculoos-biscuits-breakfast-dale-berning-sawa

Click on the link for the full recipe.

I use Speculoos biscuits for this easy pud- but ginger biscuits do just as well.

The soft pears also go well in a Tarte Tatin- laid in a caramel sauce in the base of an ovenproof dish or pan and topped with puff pastry then baked at 180 degrees until the pastry is golden and the caramel sauce bubbling. Turn out on a plate when warm.

Pear Tarte Tatin

Keen to try out the first of my butternut squash crop, I used half in a soup with parsnips and half in a Baked Risotto.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...who is the fairest of them all?

Peel and chop your veg into even sized pieces, add a handful of red lentils and then cook until tender in a litre of good vegetable stock. Blitz once the veg is tender and serve with cream or yoghurt swirled in.

Parsnip and Butternut Soup

The remaining squash is going into a baked risotto- but you could just as easily serve it roasted and stuffed ( like these marrows stuffed with leftover Bolognaise sauce and baked with cheese )

Bolognaise Stuffed Marrow

or as a traybake with sausages,  potatoes, onions,  coarse grain mustard, olive oil and a handful of peas thrown in at the end. (Or just use up whatever you have in the fridge!)

Use-it-up Traybake

                  

And so to the other half of the squash- made into a Baked Risotto.

This recipe is good if you are serving it at a dinner party and prefer to spend more time with your guests, rather than constantly stirring the risotto.

You will need: 1/2 butternut squash or potimarron roasted for 20 minutes or so in a hot oven, 1 leek ( chopped and softened in a little oil), 100g of risotto rice per person, 1 cup of cider, 1 litre of vegetable stock, 1 tbsp of Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs, some chopped fresh herbs, olive oil and Parmesan to dress the dish.

Begin in the usual way, coating the risotto rice and leeks with oil in a deep pan.

Coat the rice and leeks with oil in the pan

Add the cider and stir until the liquid has been absorbed.

Cook in the cider until absorbed

Carry on adding veg stock ladle by ladle, stirring as you go, until about half has been absorbed.

Add the squash, some fresh herbs and salt and pepper as necessary. 

Add the herbs, squash and rest of the liquid

Transfer to an ovenproof dish with a lid, add the rest of the stock and place to cook covered in a moderate oven (170 degrees) for 20 minutes or so until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Stir in the Boursin and serve with extra Parmesan and olive oil to dress it.

Baked Squash and Leek Risotto

Finally, if you have lots of leftover risotto- make Arancini (little risotto rice balls- usually deep fried but equally good baked in the oven).

Wet your hands and make golf ball sized patties from the cold risotto rice. Roll each one first in beaten egg

then in chapelure ( toasted breadcrumbs)

(I make mine from leftover biscottes blitzed up with a few Pringles  but it's also a good way of using up leftover toast if you've made too many slices.)

Place on a lightly greased oven tray ( or fry in hot oil) and bake until golden in a hot oven (180 degrees). They don't take long.

Serve with a spicy dipping sauce.

                               

                                                                                 Arancini

Time to put away the wellies. The garden can look after itself  until the Spring.The weather can do what it likes out there- I am cosy with soups, risotto and puds to keep me going.

                                                            Bon appétit!

Fifty Shades of Green

Well, maybe not fifty.

But there is still plenty of green stuff to harvest in the late summer potager- squashes, courgettes, salad leaves, apples, pears, sorrel, chard, herbs and kohlrabi to name a few.

Enough to inspire a green themed post today.




So, this month I give you recipes for vegetable fritters- using up some of your glut of courgettes perhaps- or making the most of other garden veg such as kohlrabi, broccoli or cabbage.
Also, a delicate flavoured soup made from lettuce and garden herbs.
And finally, an autumnal chutney using up the last of the apple crop, tomatoes, onions and pears.

At our Atelier de Cuisine this month, we made Palets de Courgettes (Fried Courgette Cakes).

Simply grate together 2 courgettes, 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic. (You can add whatever veg you like here- sweetcorn would be good or white cabbage or chopped broccoli)
Mix together in a bowl with 1-2 eggs, 100g of grated cheese ( eg Cheddar, Parmesan or Emmental) and plenty of salt and pepper.
We didn't add any flour on this occasion, but I would recommend adding a tablespoon of plain flour or cornflour to help bind the fritters and soak up the juice from the courgettes.

Grate together your veg into a bowl and add 1-2 eggs

Press spoonfuls into a pan ( with a dessertspoon of oil) and fry gently until golden on both sides

Press spoonfuls into a frying pan

We ate ours with macaroni cheese and a spicy chilli dipping sauce. Nice!

Fry gently until golden on both sides

I make a similar version with grated kohlrabi, if you grow it or can find it in the greengrocers:

Mix 2 grated kohlrabi with 3-4 chopped spring onions, a tbsp of curry powder, 1 tbsp plain flour, 1 egg and 2 tsps turmeric, plus 1-2 tsp salt:

Mix up your grated veg and spices with egg and a bit of flour

Fry spoonfuls in hot oil:

Fry in hot oil

Drain well on kitchen paper and serve:

Kohlrabi fritters

Next I am making my Mr McGregor Soup- so named as it uses lettuce and garden herbs, such as sorrel and parsley to give it it's delicate but delicious flavour ( and would appeal to both the farmer and to Peter Rabbit!)

If you haven't cooked with lettuce- now's the time to try it. It's a great way to use up a glut of salad  from the garden or some slightly sad leaves from the salad crisper which might otherwise go to waste.

Fry 1 chopped onion and 1 minced clove of garlic in a little oil, then add a chopped head of lettuce, a handful of chopped sorrel or spinach, a bunch of chopped parsley or chives and either 2 diced potatoes or some leftover mash and 1 litre of vegetable stock.

Fry up lettuce, onion, potato, herbs etc

Simmer gently until the potato is tender and then blitz with a hand blender and adjust the seasoning:

Blitz until smooth

You will probably need to sieve the mixture as well, as some types of lettuce can be quite fibrous.

You can add milk or cream, but I think you will find it is delicious as it is.

Mr McGregor Soup

Finally, I made a big batch of my Autumn Chutney- using up the veg and fruits which are plentiful at the end of the summer.

Ingredients:

800g of  peeled, chopped tomatoes

450g chopped onions

1.25 kg apples, (peeled and chopped)

600g pears ( peeled and chopped)

4 minced cloves of garlic

100g fresh grated root ginger

1-2 red chillies or 2 tsp chilli paste

450g sultanas

1 tbsp salt

900 ml white wine or cider vinegar

750g demerara sugar

Put all the ingredients in a very large preserving pan and bring to the boil:

Put everythiing in a large pan

Boil for 2-3 minutes and then reduce to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer for at least an hour, then mash the fruit with a potato masher to reduce the size of the chunks, stir and continue to simmer until reduced in volume and nice and thick for spooning into sterilized jars.

This quantity made 10 pots of chutney:

A batch of Autumn Chutney

A perfect way to round off a September session in the kitchen.

Or garden!

Sauce and Spice

Or what to do with leftover curry.

I made a big batch of Chicken Korma the other day, and there was plenty left over.
I could just freeze it - and have the same meal again another day- but as there was more sauce than chicken left in the pot, I decided to use it up in different ways.



Firstly, I made a super quick dhal (using tinned lentils and tinned onions- but you could cook your lentils and onions in the normal way too of course.)
Just mix 1/2 tin onions( or 1 chopped onion gently fried) and 1 tin of green lentils ( water and all) with 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp minced garlic and 1 tsp finely chopped chilli. Add 300 ml leftover curry sauce and simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Green Lentil Dhal

Next I made a Goan Curry Soup. Just blitz the leftover curry with 300ml chicken stock, 1 tsp chilli, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp turmeric and 1 cup of apple juice.

Blitz together your ingredients

Serve with some cooked rice or coconut cream to thicken.

Goan Curry Soup

Lastly I had a choice of two dishes ( only enough leftover sauce for one- but here are both the recipes so you can choose.)

First of all, a Tarte à l'Indienne ( or Curry Quiche).

Mix your leftover curry sauce with 4 beaten eggs and a splash of milk or coconut/almond milk.

Pour into a pre-cooked pastry case ( 23 cm in diameter ) and bake at 170 degrees until set and golden. (Aprroximately 1 hour- but keep checking).

Tarte à l'Indienne

Lastly, try this Curried Gnocchi Tray Bake.

You can make your own gnocchi from leftover cold mashed potato or cooked pumpkin ( or use a storecupboard packet for speed).

To make your own, mix 2 cups of cold mashed potato or mashed pumpkin with 1 egg yolk and 1 cup of flour, salt and pepper.

Form into little balls and flatten slightly with a fork. 

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and drop the gnocchi in one by one. As they cook, they will rise to the surface. Skim them out with a straining spoon and put them in a buttered dish.

Cooked pumpkin gnocchi

Mix the little dumplings with cooked broccoli, chard, spinach or leeks and your leftover curry sauce.

Gnocchi ready for the oven

Sprinkle over some breadcrumbs and bake until golden and bubbling in a hot oven (180 degrees) for about 20 minutes.

This is a one-pot dish, and needs nothing else with it- so plate up and enjoy!

Curried Gnocchi Tray Bake

And so ends my tale of leftover curry sauce. I hope it inspires you to make some spicy saucy dishes yourselves.

Nothing left for me now except the washing up.