'Forgotten Vegetables'

The 25th January has come and gone for another year- and again we found ourselves celebrating Burns Night with French friends: this time in the Auvergne.

Although last year's Haggis Parmentier and whisky went down well in the South of France, this year the traditional triumvirate of haggis, neeps and tatties enjoyed even greater favour with our fellow Lavoutaises.* This is partly because the local hearty food is not dissimilar in many ways.


Gourmets from other parts of France, dismiss the cuisine of the Auvergne as 'peasant food' but, as a good Burns Supper shows, humble dishes should not be underrated.

In fact, vegetables like turnips, swede, squashes and heritage carrots are becoming very popular and indeed a bit trendy.
A stall at my local market in fashionable Cassis specialises in what are called 'forgotten vegetables'(legumes oublies), and they feature on many a restaurant menu in the expensive little streets of the port.

For Burns Night, I refined my Parmentier dish of last year by making individual portions in little dishes- just haggis, topped with mashed potato and grated emmental cheese and baked in the oven until golden- but well received.

Individual dishes of haggis

Topped with mashed potato and grated Emmental

Individual Haggis Parmentier

I accompanied these with purees of carrot and swede.

All three of these purees can enjoy a bit of an Auvergne makeover- the local speciality is Aligot- a delicious combination of mashed potato and Tomme cheese ( which is stretchy, creamy and slightly tart like a good Mozzarella). You can make this from scratch ( as in the recipe below) or use the cheese to jazz up leftover mashed potato by beating it in as you reheat.

Aligot:

Bring peeled mashing potatoes (like Maris Piper) to the boil, and then simmer until tender.
Drain and add a splash of milk, a knob of butter, salt and pepper, a grating of nutmeg and 125g of Tomme fraiche, cut into small pieces.

Aligot

Beat in vigorously with a wooden spoon until the cheese has melted and the mixture beomes sticky and stretchy- it is ready to serve.

Carrots are another simple veg that can be made glorious with a few added ingredients- boil them until tender in stock rather than water, drain, add a knob of butter, plenty of salt and pepper and a good splash of cream. Puree in a food processor, adjust seasoning and serve.

Vibrant carrot puree

Swede are known as rutabagas or navets suedois (Swedish turnips) in France and until recently were very difficult to find (other than as animal fodder!) They are now having a bit of a renaissance - and I found a recipe which marries them with apple.

Swede and apple- a marriage made in heaven

The combination is excellent and you should try it.
Just slice and boil your veg and fruit, drain, mash with a potato masher and season with plenty of salt and pepper.

I came back with quite a haul of 'forgotten veg' last Friday from the market, and used them in a variety of ways.

My veggie basket

Firstly, I roasted them all in the oven for about an hour at 180 degrees ( peeled and chopped into even sized pieces, tossed in a little olive oil along with plenty of salt and pepper and 4-5 whole garlic cloves).

A colourful trayful

A lovely accompaniment to meat dishes.

Oven roasted 'forgotten' veg

The colourful leftovers went firstly into a soup, not unlike the Clapshot Soup I've featured after Burns Night before. Beware of using purple carrots in leftover dishes though as they do turn things a funny colour!

Clapshot Soup

I also made a Squash Risotto:

You need- leftover roasted squash (abut 150-200g), 200g short grain or risotto rice, 1 litre hot chicken or vegetable stock, 1 glass white wine, 2 leeks or small bunch of spring onions, 1 clove of garlic- crushed, 50g Boursin or other cream cheese with herbs.
Soften the garlic and leeks/onions in some olive oil.
Stir in the rice to coat the grains with oil.
Pour in the wine and bubble.
Add ladlefuls of hot stock as the mixture begins to dry- stir in and continue until the rice is tender
( about 15 minutes).

Stir in the cream cheese and serve with optional extra grated cheese (Parmesan or Emmental.)

Squash Risotto

Finally, back to haggis and I have an Auvergne version- no, although this is a hunting area, they haven't started trapping the little beasts there yet- this is a vegetarian version which uses the delicious Puy lentils from the region:

Grate 2 carrots then pulse together in a food processor- 2 shallots, 1 clove of garlic, 50 g mushrooms, a pinch each of cayenne or paprika and salt, 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, a grating of nutmeg, 2 cups of cooked Puy lentils, juice and zest of 1/2 lemon, a sprinkling of thyme and a small can kidney beans (drained and mashed). Tip into a bowl, mix in the grated carrot and add 1 egg and 50g of oats. Shape into patties and fry like little burgers.

Vegetarian Haggis- Auvergne style

Here's tae us!

* Lavoutaises is the name given to people who live in the village of Lavoute-Chilhac in the Auvergne.

Week 48- A Flash in the Pan

Not everyone wants to have the oven on- it's expensive and it takes time to bake things.

A lot of my recipes call for oven baking- so this week I have changed tack and deliberately sought out a menu which can be made on the stove top.



I'm starting with halloumi and chutney fritters, followed by cod wrapped in bacon with mushy peas on black pudding mash with a tomato butter sauce, and finishing up with chocolate brioche pain perdu.

Whilst I think all of the above components are pretty tasty, I'm particularly pleased with the halloumi fritters, the genius tomato sauce and the black pud mash- but take a look for yourselves.

Halloumi cheese is a lovely ingredient- salty and dense with a delicious crispy crust when fried. For this recipe, the chutney adds a salty-sweet contrast and the breadcrumbs add to the crunchiness.

First, beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Take out a large tablespoonful and put in another dish. Keep the majority of beaten egg for the pain perdu later.
Slice the hallomi into tranches about 1 cm thick. Dip them in flour. Mix the tablespoon of beaten egg with a tablespoon of chutney (fig, plum or even mango). Dip the slices into the egg mixture, then onto a plate of breadcrumbs. Coat well.

Flour, egg/chutney mix, breadcrumbs

Fry until golden

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non stick frying pan and fry the slices quickly until golden brown on both sides. Serve with a spinach salad.

Halloumi and chutney fritters 

For the fish dish, first make your tomato sauce. This is so simple- but it makes the best tomato sauce for pasta or fish. Gently fry 1 small finely chopped onion with a little minced garlic. Put it in a slow cooker or heavy saucepan along with 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, seasoning and 100g of unsalted butter. Cover and leave to simmer for as long as you like.

The result is an unctuous, creamy tomato sauce - which you can sieve if you like it smooth, or leave chunky.

Tomato butter sauce- three (or four) ingredients!

Now make your mash- fry some slices of black pudding (leftover from a breakfast fry perhaps) and crumble into a bowl. Add 300g of mashed potato (or the equivalent of 1 baking potato per person ) and combine the two. Adjust the seasoning to your taste and either keep warm over a pan of simmering water or microwave for 1 minute per portion when you are ready to eat.

Right- mushy peas. OK- I bought mine tinned. They are excellent as they are.

You can make your own by blitzing some cooked peas to a puree (this has a fresher taste and a more vibrant colour).

Fresh blitzed peas and tomato sauce

To make authentic mushy peas from scratch, you need  225g dried marrowfat peas.
Place the peas in a large bowl or stock pot, the peas will swell and so need plenty of room to expand.
 Add 2tbsp bicarbonate of soda and cover with 300ml / ½ pint boiling water and stir to make sure the bicarbonate has dissolved. Add the peas and leave to soak overnight, or for a minimum of 12 hours.
Drain the peas in a colander, then place in a large saucepan, cover again with cold water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for approx 30 mins or until the peas have softened and turned mushy. You could use your slow cooker for this if you prefer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

You can see why I prefer to use tinned!

Mushy peas- the easy way!

Finally, cook your fish. 
Wrap the fillet in bacon or pancetta and fry on all sides until the bacon is crispy all over. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid to allow the fish to cook through in the residual heat and assemble your dish.

Place a round of mash, topped with mushy peas in a dish. Place your fish on top and drizzle tomato sauce all round.

Bacon wrapped cod on black pudding mash with mushy peas and tomato butter sauce

Lastly, the pud.

Take 2 slices of chocolate brioche per person and spread one half of the 'sandwich' with Nutella, jam or fresh fruit puree. Sandwich together.

Beat the reserved egg with a splash of milk and some vanilla essence and then soak the sandwiches until all the egg has been absorbed.

Soak the sandwiches in the egg mixture

Melt a small knob of butter in a frying pan. Fry the sandwich quickly on both sides, cut in half and serve with cream, or ice cream and a dusting of icing sugar.

Chocolate brioche pain perdu

Any leftovers from this meal can be put to good use-  tomato sauce has a plethora of uses from pasta dishes to chilli to salsa to baked potato fillings and 

you can't beat fish and chips with mushy peas...