Pounti, Patates and Pointy Cabbage

Autumn harvest is done.

Everything has been eaten, stored, bottled, frozen or given to the neighbours.

A few new recipes for you, using up my autumnal produce and then I hope you'll love your veg as much as we do.





Pounti is an Auvergne dish- traditionally made to use up leftover cooked meat. It can be eaten warm or cold, served as a main course, side dish or with an apéritif.

We made it at Cookery Workshop, using cooked ham- but use any meat you have.

Ingredients:
200g leftover cooked meat
100g bacon lardons
1 bunch of parsley
3-4 Swiss Chard leaves ( or 1/2 bag spinach)
1 onion
6 eggs
300g flour
2 tsp baking powder
500 ml milk
200g prunes (soaked overnight in water or tea)
butter for greasing, salt and pepper to taste

1. Blitz or finely chop the meat, bacon, parsley, onion, chard or spinach

Blitz the meat, veg and herbs

2. Add the eggs, flour, baking powder and milk and mix well

Mix up your eggs, flour and milk and add to the veg mixture

3. Pour into either a large greased cake tin, or several small tins for individual cakes

Pour into cake moulds

4. Drop in the stoned prunes

Add the prunes

5. Bake at 180 degrees for approximately an hour ( for a large Pounti ) or check smaller cakes with a skewer after 30 minutes.
6. Eat warm from the oven if poss.

Pounti

I also experimented this year with two new crops- cabbage ( pointed variety) and sweet potatoes.

I asked my local cooks how best they liked to cook their cabbage, and got this suggestion from my Romanian neighbour who says it is her husband's favourite. We loved it too, so I have named it after him.

Cabbage Alexi
1 head of cabbage
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 jar of passata
2 apples
1 pack of lardons
chipolatas or pork chops
red wine

1. Gently fry the chopped onion, crushed garlic, and chopped apples

Gently fry onion, apple, garlic - and add in the lardons

2. Blanch the cabbage for 4-6 minutes in boiling water, drain and chop

Blanch the cabbage heads

3. Add the lardons to the frying pan and fry until lightly golden
4. Add the chopped cabbage, stir fry and add a glug of red wine and plenty of seasoning

Add the cabbage, red wine and seasoning

5. Cook over a high heat for a few minutes, then add the passata and turn down to a simmer
6. Brown the chipolatas in a frying pan

Brown the chipolatas

7. Tip the cabbage mixture into an oven dish, add the chipolatas, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 170 degrees.

Cabbage Alexi

And finally, to the sweet potatoes (Patates Douces). I only grew two plants, but they yielded well- if a little wonkily shaped.

Meet Sweetie, Knobby, Curly and pals

They nevertheless made two meals, each for 4-6 people.

I scrubbed the potatoes, pricked them all over with a knife and baked them in the microwave until soft when pressed ( about 6-10 minutes depending on your microwave). I then peeled them easily.

The first meal was a Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry and the second was a Vegetable Lasagne- made with layers of lentil ragout, Swiss Chard and leeks, creamy pesto sauce, sweet potatoes and a Welsh Rarebit topping.

A layer of sweet potato 

Welsh Rarebit Topped Lasagne
http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.com/search?q=lasagne

For the curry: fry onion, garlic, chilli and ginger, add 1-2 tbsp of your curry paste of choice, add the chopped sweet potato and 2 cups of cooked lentils some vegetable stock and a can of coconut milk and simmer together.

Lentil and sweet Potato Curry

And that's it for now...

Hope you're feeling the love!

Kohlrabi, Kale and a Kitchenful of Veg

A trugful of treasures

Just look at all this glorious vegetable bounty. It's the result of a visit to my friend's allotment where she invited me to help myself to anything and everything that needed harvesting.
So, I have a trugful of green beans, Swiss chard, kohlrabi, curly kale and ruby chard to take home.

I feel inspired- and about time too as I have been suffering from blogger's block recently.

What did I make? A stir-fry, 3 soups, fritters, stuffed leaves, lasagne and a gnocchi bake. Not bad eh? Here's how.

First things first- a super fresh summer stir fry is in order- radishes, spring onions, kohlrabi, beansprouts, chard stems and green beans.
Freshly picked, the kohlrabi can be sliced and stirfried as it is- but if you prefer, you can steam or boil it until tender first. Do so in its peel though, to keep its delicate flavour (and then peel it afterwards)
Once prepped, the veg can be simply cooked in some hot oil in a wok, then some cooked noodles, sweet chili and soy sauce mixed in.

Veg all prepped

Super Summer Stir Fry

The leftovers make a substantial soup, added to miso or chicken stock.

Leftover noodle soup

Kohlrabi has been described as 'part veg- part alien' because of its otherwordly colour and knobbly appearance.

Allotment Aliens!

It is really a form of turnip and has the same creamy and slightly spicy flavour. For that reason it does well in Indian dishes. For something a bit unusual - try these fritters, made with shredded kohlrabi and spring onions.

Shred the raw kohlrabi in a food processor. (Incidentally, it would make a great slaw like this with shredded carrot, apple and spring onion).

Kohlrabi Slaw

Chop 2-3 spring onions and mix in with the kohlrabi. Add a teaspoon of curry powder, a pinch of turmeric and a tablespoon of flour. Season well with salt and pepper and then mix in an egg to make a batter.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and shallow fry spoonfuls of the mixture until golden on both sides.

Fry in hot oil

You can eat this as a starter like a bhajia  with raita or hummus or as a side dish.

Kohlrabi fritters

Next- the Stuffed Ruby Chard leaves. (The red stems went into the stir fry).
These are steamed for a few minutes and then drained on kitchen towel.

Steam the chard leaves quickly

I made a meatball mixture from breadcrumbs blitzed with fresh parsley and garlic (keep a tablespoon back to sprinkle over the top), minced turkey and an egg. Season and mix the ingredients well, then form into meatballs using wet hands.

Turkey meatballs

Fry the meatballs to caramelize the outside, and when cool enough to handle, wrap in the chard leaves, lay in a gratin dish and pour over some tomato sauce. (I used a ready-made tomato and mascapone sauce and it went really well). Sprinkle on the remaining breadcrumbs and bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbling in moderate oven.

Stuffed Ruby Chard Leaves

The green chard leaves I blanched for 2 minutes in boiling water, then into cold water to preserve the colour. I squeezed them out in a J Cloth and used them as a layer in a lasagne:  leftover bolognaise ragu, then pasta, then chard leaves

layers of leaves, pasta and ragu

ragu, pasta, bechamel sauce, grated cheese and a dusting of nutmeg for the final layer. Baked for 40 minutes again in a moderate oven until golden.

Meat and 2 Veg lasagne

Time for another soup- this time using the chard stems. Chop these and use them exactly as you would celery. I softened some onion and garlic in a soup pan, added the chard stems, a few chopped new potatoes and 1 1/2 litres of chicken stock. Simmer until the veg is all tender, then blitz with a stick blender, add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and adjust seasoning to your taste.

Swiss Soup

Now, the gnocchi.
Cook these little potato dumplings according to the instructions on the packet- usually for just 2-3 minutes or so in boiling water. Drain and set aside with a tea towel over the top.
Make a bechamel sauce, season well and add 100g of grated spicy cheddar with chilli.
Meanwhile blanch and squeeze the kale as for the chard leaves above, and then chop and fry with a crushed clove of garlic in a deep frying pan or wok.
Add the gnocchi and toss together, then mix in the chilli-cheese sauce.

Ready for the oven

Pour into a gratin dish and bake until bubbling and browned on the top ( 20 minutes or so in a hot oven).

Chilli-Chard Gnocchi Bake

Last, but not least- if you have leftover cooked veg I often put it all into my Use-it-Up minestrone- vegetable stock simmered with tomatoes (or leftover pasta sauce) soup pasta, any cooked veg such as green beans, courgette, peppers, kale or spring onions and- the secret ingredient- any leftover baked beans. Season well- a kick of hot sauce goes well with it too, I am told.

Use-it-Up Minestrone

Phew! I think it's time to stock up on some more veggies!

Turning Over a New Leaf

Everyone starts a new year with new hopes and sometimes new resolutions. I start each new year now with a feeling of anticipation of new adventures to come.
No more so than this year, which promises to be full of new experiences and hopefully plenty of good things.

The market bursting with green veg

For one thing, we are back in the land of lovely fruit and veg, markets and salads so where better to begin this year's blog posts but with a leafy green theme.

'The land of lovely fruit and veg, markets and salads'

Salade Italienne in a local cafe

I came back from last Friday's market with a good haul of veg- all of it still with it's leafy tops on as you can see.

My vegetable shopping

The turnips, radishes and heritage carrots were going to be roasted to have with chicken but their green tops (radish and turnip tops that is) are a much underused ingredient.

Just wash them thoroughly, chop and steam. I like to add spring onion tops or leeks to this and pop a teabag (Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong) into the steaming water for a sweet and aromatic accompaniment.

Tea steamed greens

Roasted roots and radishes

Any leftover radishes, onions or greens went into a Miso Noodle Soup the next day: cook a nest of egg noodles per person, drain and reserve the cooking water.

Add a heaped tablespoon of miso paste and another of soy sauce to the water and place to heat.

Stir fry the veg you want to use- radishes, peppers, carrot, spring onions, green tops or even lettuce, add leftover chicken if you have it and then assemble your dish.

In the bottom of each soup bowl, put noodles, chicken and veg and then spoon over the hot broth. Serve with extra soy sauce on the side.

Miso Noodle Soup

Whilst we are talking about cooking lettuce, here are a few ideas for using up tired salad leaves:

Fry an onion with some garlic and then add the lettuce to the frying pan and cook until wilted.

Meanwhile, put a few potatoes on to boil (or use up any leftover cooked ones), warm up some chicken or vegetable stock (I still had leftover miso broth from last night), add the potatoes, the lettuce and onions, some chopped parsley or any other leafy green herb you have, blitz with a stick blender or in a liquidiser, add a little milk or cream to serve.

McGregor Soup

I've called this McGregor Soup, as it has the flavour of sorrel and parsley, or even watercress - delicate but very tasty - and would appeal to the discernng human or rabbit alike!

Cooked lettuce is quite cheffy these days. I saw them serving it on Professional Masterchef. Cos or Little Gem seem to be the thing, blowtorched to give them a caramelized look and then added to other veg. Just mix it into peas or leeks for a fresh tasting dish- and no leafy greens wasted!

Quiche aux Blettes
http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.fr/2015/09/food-from-friends.html

I have finished up the week with some old favourites: Endives with Ham and Cheese Sauce ( I promised my husband that I would make this as soon as we were back in France) and Quiche aux Blettes (Swiss Chard tart). Click on the link below the pictures for the recipes.

Endives with Ham and Cheese Sauce
http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.fr/2015/01/comfort-food.html

I hope this has inspired you to eat up your greens, and certainly not to throw them away. If any of you resolved to try to lose weight in 2016, then I hope these recipes help with that too.

Perhaps not the ones smothered in cheese sauce though.

Food from Friends

What a summer it's been- and made all the more special thanks to friends. We've had get-togethers and adventures with old friends, but have also enjoyed making new friends along the way, (especially in the Auvergne), which was a lovely surprise.

On returning from our travels, one more surprise for me- a 'Welcome Back' present awaiting us on the doorstep- from a friend's allotment.



When I opened up the bag- this is what was inside:

Welcomed home with veg!

So this week's blog is all about how I made four main dishes- and the same again of leftover lunches- from this bountiful bagful.

I started with the Swiss Chard ( or blettes as it is known in French).

This excellent vegetable is a story of two halves: the leaves which are like spinach and can be used in the same sort of dishes, or can be stuffed like cabbage leaves; and the stems which are like celery and make lovely soups but also gratins and tasty side dishes too.

Swiss Chard- a story of two halves

I decided to make a Quiche Aux Blettes (Swiss Chard Tart- but it sounds tastier in French) with the leaves and a Lyonnais-style side dish with the stems.

Wash the leaves well and wilt down in a saucepan (with just the water clinging to them- no more) then drain and squeeze the leaves dry using a J cloth or tea towel.

Squeezed Chard

Fry some bacon lardons ( or toast some pine nuts for a completely veggie version) and lay in the bottom of a baked pastry case, add the chard and some grated cheese of your choice. 

Nearly there

Beat 3-4 eggs with 200 ml of milk and pour over the mixture in the pastry case. Bake at 170 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until risen, firm and golden.

Quiche aux Bletttes

With sweetcorn to start, and a green salad to accompany- the quiche was a real feast- and the leftovers made two lunches as well.

Likewise the side dish went beautifully with some poached salmon.

Slice the chard stems into bite size pieces. Fry 1 sliced onion and 1 clove of garlic (minced) in some oil, then add the chard pieces and brown a little. Add 1 tbsp white wine or dry sherry and a crumbled vegetable stock cube. Cover with a lid and simmer until the liquid has nearly all been absorbed. Just before serving boil quickly to evaporate the last of the liquid  and whisk in a knob of butter to make the dish glossy.

Lyonnais style Chard- bubbling away

Now for the big beast- that golden marrow!

First job- cut it in half- and use one half for a Mediterranean Tian and the other was to be stuffed and served with salad.

A marrow to be proud of!

I sliced one of the marrow halves lengthways, scooped out any large seeds to make a trench and filled it with beef ragout ( spag bol sauce basically!) 

Beef ragout

and topped with grated cheese-

Ready for the oven

Bake at 180 degrees until the marrow is tender and the cheese golden brown (abut 30 minutes).

Stuffed sliced marrow

The next dish- a Mediterranean Tian - takes a little more work but it's well worth it.

Ingredients:

1 courgette ( or half a marrow!)

400g bechamel sauce

1 aubergine

2 peppers

125g mozzarella

salt pepper and oil (for browning)

breadcrumbs and Parmesan for topping

First make your bechamel sauce in a saucepan (you can add a little grated cheese if you want too).

whisk up your bechamel sauce

Next slice your veg into rondelles and soften them a little in a frying pan with some oil.

slice your veg into rondelles

Spread the sauce in a layer in the bottom of a gratin dish

Spread out the sauce

Layer in the veg and the sliced mozzarella

Season well and place in oven.

Ready for the oven

Bake in a hot oven (200 degrees) until the veg are tender and the sauce is bubbling and golden. Next time I make it, 10 minutes before the end of the cooking I will sprinkle on breadcrumbs and Parmesan to make a crunchy, cheesy topping- so I suggest you do that this time too.

Mediterranean Tian

Any leftovers from this went into a glorious minestrone soup for lunch:

Use-it-All-Up Minestone Soup

Last but most definitely not least, the potatoes.

So many delicious things can be made from the humble spud- but this time I opted for a recipe I gleaned in the Auvergne- Truffade- which is a sort of cheesy, bacon and potato hash. This has to be one of the most delicious things- if you like bacon, potatoes and cheese. which I do- and I recommend it out of all the dishes on this post.

I par-boiled the potatoes until just tender and fried off the leftover bacon lardons ( from the quiche).

I added the potatoes and fried for a while, turning frequently to distribute all the golden crunchy bits from the bottom of the frying pan.

Fry the bacon and potatoes

Lay in a gratin dish with slices of either Tomme cheese ( a lovely stretchy cheese from the Auvergne) or mozzarella. Season well.

Lay in a gratin dish with cheese

Pour over a small carton of creme fraiche and bake at 200 degrees until bubbling and golden ( 20 minutes or so).

Truffade

Phew! Four main dishes, two sides and umpteen leftover lunches- not bad.

Many thanks to all our friends and family for making this summer such a special one.