The oven is your friend: roast pork belly with braised red cabbage

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Louise

If ever there was a week when fast and easy food was required, it’s this one. Most people will be finishing work, or travelling, or writing and buying the last Christmas cards and presents or, poor sods, all of the above and many will be feeling a combination of a) exhaustion at the prospect of too much to do and b) elation at the thought of a few days spent having very little to do. I am, for once, going nowhere and, having spent the last two years at the mercy of the awful combination of snow and closed airports the prospect of stasis is wonderful. Right now, though, I am still moving and cooking, bar heating up leftovers, is something I am looking forward to rather than doing. At times like these I turn to the simple acts of roasting and stewing and this combination of pork belly and red cabbage is a perfect example of how something delicious doesn’t necessarily require hours in the kitchen.
Continue reading →

Posted in Pork recipes, RIver Cottage Everyday, Riverford Farm Cook Book, Winter vegetables | Tagged , | 6 Comments

An easy pre-Christmas pad Thai for the chronically disorganised

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Louise

I have my Twiglets and my Mini Cheddars. I have stocked up on Roka Cheese Crispies and some delectable smoked duck. I even have a large tin of Quality Street. However, I seem to have missed the Wine Society’s Christmas deadline, I have yet to buy any proper food and my present shopping is way overdue. I am, then, ready for a Christmas full of snacks and bad chocolate, but not much else.

However, this evening, although I ignored all the Christmas organising and tidying that I was supposed to be doing, I did discover why I really love Bill Granger’s work. Because in the space of an hour I learnt how to shop for and cook pad Thai and feel confident enough to do it again for others. It is not, as I have always thought, a complex and long-winded dish to make (so don’t be put off by the ‘how to’ below). In fact, apart from a bit of judicious shopping and chopping, it takes about ten minutes from beginning to end and if, unlike me, you remember the sugar, it will taste very very close to the stuff from your local takeaway. That, as far as I’m concerned, is the mark of a good, no great, cookery writer: someone who can simplify a recipe so that any old blogger can make it quickly and easily. Now could someone please write me a recipe for Christmas organisation…? Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Granger, Wheat-free | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Birthday treats: Dan Lepard’s pear turnovers

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Louise

A little off-piste post today. It’s my birthday and, well, it’s all about the treats. First, a little light baking: Dan Lepard‘s delicious and never-before-tried sugar-crusted pear turnovers. Easy-peasy and just yum with a homemade latte. No, I didn’t spend hours folding my own puff pastry (sorry Dan) although he does make it sound very simple; these are still lovely with a bit of Jus-Rol. Then, later on, there will be a trip to toast the Lego Christmas tree at St Pancras with some champers, followed by dinner at Moro. Somewhere inbetween I have to queue in the Post Office to send Christmas pressies and cards to far-flung places (the bane of a December birthday) but, no matter, that will all be forgotten by the time I’m indulging in a fizzy glass or two. I encourage you to try these, birthday or no; they’ll take you about thirty minutes but you’ll remember them for a lot longer. Back to normal tomorrow! Continue reading →

Posted in Cake recipes, Short and Sweet | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Mushrooms with lemon, garlic, parsley and potato purée

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Louise

I proofread the new edition of Richard Mabey’s Food For Free last week and I was rather in awe of the number of delicious things that can be had for nothing in the British countryside. First published in 1972 years before anyone had even thought up convenience food and the all-night supermarket (at least in Britain), let alone the notions of local food or foraging, it is an amazing book, full of inspiration, beautiful drawings and fascinating descriptions of the history of the plants’ uses. Apart from the obvious (fruit, seafood, mushrooms) there are tons of other interesting foodstuffs just waiting to be ‘scrumped’. Alas, I fear I won’t be the one to do it, because although I love the thrill of coming home with a bag full of blackberries, knowing that I have just saved the environment and a packet by not buying them in little plastic boxes from the supermarket, I am a bit of a scaredy-cat about picking the wrong thing, and not having time to regret it… Continue reading →

Posted in Potato recipes, Winter vegetables | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

An amazing leek and Parmesan soup

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Louise

What lingers in your fridge? What are the foodstuffs that you either a) always have too much of and/or b) hang on to because it/they will, of course come in handy at some point? I am guilty of always having too much dairy. Too many pots of cream and crème fraîche, too many types of cheese and, as I discovered this weekend, too many Parmesan rinds. Ever since I read (first in Nigel Slater then in Locatelli) that you should never throw away the fag-ends of a lump of Parmesan, the bits of rind that still have a bit of cheese on but are impossible to grate, because they are perfect for enriching soup, I have been diligent about keeping them. Unfortunately, however, I have not been diligent about using them and, when I defrosted my fridge this weekend I found about six. Continue reading →

Posted in Cheese recipes, One pot, Soup recipes, The Kitchen Diaries | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Roasted poussin, or chicken, with lemon and sumac

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Louise

I went to a party to celebrate (rather than, as is more usual, launch) Dan Lepard’s Short and Sweet the other night. It took place in the newest Comptoir Libanais, in South Kensington, a very simple yet striking restaurant, canteen-like and yet full of very non-canteen touches. That woman on my header, for example, smiles massively across all proceedings. Sack after sack of Dari couscous, and tins of Le Phare du Cap Bon harissa line shelves and walls and look, at least to my eyes, rather beautiful and, amongst the food, there are lots of overpriced bags and knick-knacks that you would be better off not buying in South Ken. In fact, having seen the raffia basket prices I’d suggest that a cheap flight to Morocco to buy said bag might leave you with more change… Anyway, enough of this. The party was amazing (got to say hello, can’t really dress it up as ‘meeting’, Yotam Ottolenghi) and there was tons of food, a rarity for a book ‘celebration’. And Lebanese food at that; one of my absolute favourites.

Continue reading →

Posted in Arabesque, Chicken recipes, Claudia Roden, One pot, Yotam Ottolenghi | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Baked onions with cream and Parmesan

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Louise

One of the quickest, and to be fair yummiest, dinners on the planet has to involve buying a ready-roasted chicken from the supermarket rotisserie and eating it with some salad. But, although that’s fine in the summer, in the winter, I want something a bit more soothing and warming with my ‘take-away’ and these Kitchen Diaries onions are the perfect solution. What’s not to like about the combination of onions, cream and cheese? Especially since the ingredients are ones you may have knocking about anyway. This doesn’t take very long, tastes amazing and, with a bit of either just-bought roast chicken or leftover roast beef (Nigel’s first choice) the humble allium becomes the star of the show for once. I’ve started thinking about how to make an onion dauphinoise now…

Baked onions (adapted from Kitchen Diaries) 

For each person you will need:

Cupboard (or things you may already have)
medium onion
sea salt and black pepper

Shopping list
double cream, 50ml per onion
Parmesan cheese, about 25g per onion

How to
1. Peel the onions and top and tail them, taking care to keep them whole. Put them in a pan of water, bring to the boil then lower the temperature to a simmer and cook them until tender (about 20 minutes).
2. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan-assisted/gas 4 and grate the cheese.
3. When the onions are cooked, take them out of the water with a slotted spoon, cut them in half from root to tip and lay them cut-side down in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the cream, season and then sprinkle over the cheese.
4. Bake until bubbling and golden brown (another 20 minutes or so).

Posted in Nigel Slater, The Kitchen Diaries, Winter vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Proper Chicken Couscous

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Louise

Couscous, in the summer, is a perfect match for tomatoes, feta, lemon juice and coriander. But in the winter I want what I think of as ‘French’ couscous: some lamb or chicken, cooked slowly in a spicy broth full of hearty vegetables. and served with the steamed grain. It is rare, if not impossible, to find the equivalent in Britain (please tell me if you know of anywhere!) where couscous tends to mean a thick, sauce-heavy stew, with maybe a few vegetables or dried fruits on the side. Some of my friends think it’s a bit weird that I always have it when I go to France: in a country full of much more exciting food it’s a bit like eating the ethnic equivalent of chicken tikka masala. But to me this is a dish that is central to France, just as that masala is central to Britain.

Continue reading →

Posted in Around My French Table, Chicken recipes, One pot | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Really easy pork loin with endive

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Louise

In Paris the other week Jerry and I spent a lot of time talking about chicory, or endive. We both love it and marvelled at the way its bitter leaves melt when cooked for a long period of time and I came back, as I said, determined to make more of this very seasonal, very wintry leaf. Mr Simon Hopkinson, he of The Good Cook fame, is also a fan and has a couple of rather tempting recipes for it, the classic of baking it with ham and cheese and this, a throw-it-all-in-the-pot-after-browning affair that is going into my winter repertoire for good. Continue reading →

Posted in One pot, Pork recipes, Simon Hopkinson, Winter vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Party and Christmas food: Sardine rillettes

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Louise

Christmas is coming, I’m going to get fat…or rather I am probably going to eat more than is strictly necessary. That is usually because I start to think about what are commonly known as ‘nibbles’ (horrid word) and ‘dips’ (not much better). Whereas for most of the year I tend to eat a one- or, at a push, two-course meal, December tempts me to other delights. What’s a few twiglets between friends after all? And, even though I rarely throw parties and, as a freelancer, am unlikely to be attending any office bashes I love discovering, and making, little treats. Like these sardine rillettes for example. Continue reading →

Posted in Fish recipes, Party recipes, Seasonal store cupboards | Tagged , , | Leave a comment