Author Archives: billstewart007

Paté aux pommes de terre

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We first came across this dish when camping in the Auvergne region of France, earlier this year. The campsite owners hosted a dinner, featuring locally sourced food and wine where Paté aux pommes de terre made an appearance. The hills and vineyards of Burgundy were within eyesight so the wines were an excellent accompaniment.

The recipes for French regional food vary a little from place to place, each of course being exquisite and claiming to be the most authentic. We think that this is a fairly representative version which, for us, brings back wonderful memories of the wild Loire, remote and upstream of it’s tamer, more popular navigable sections.

Potatoes
Lardons
Pate
pate

Ingredients:

  • 4 or 5 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into 2mm thick rounds
  • frozen puff pastry works well – 1 pack is enough for top and bottom,
  • one onion or two shallots – chopped finely
  • fresh parsley – finely chopped
  • crème fraîche – one tub of full fat is generous (it must be full fat to melt)
  • one egg yolk for glazing the pie
  • smoked ham lardons – one pack

Method

  • Gently fry lardons in olive oil until they take on a colour
  • Par-boil the potatoes for 10 minutes
  • Meanwhile, roll out the pastry and line a tray/dish
  • Layer the potatoes sprinkled with onions, parsley and cooked lardons, seasoning with salt and pepper. Easy on the salt though – the lardons are salty.
  • You should aim for about four layers
  • Cover with a sheet of rolled pastry, crimping the edges and brushing with egg to give that golden glaze so loved on a pie.
  • Cut a small hole in the pastry top to let out stream while cooking
  • Place into a pre-heated oven at about 190C, gas mark 6/7, for about 45 mins.
  • When it is done and while still hot, cut off a big circle (saucer/sandwich plate size) in the top of the pie and add a large carton of full fat crème fraîche (you want it to melt over the potatoes – it won’t if it’s not full fat), replace the pastry top and serve!

Orange polenta cake

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Gluten free – if you use gluten free baking powder

Vegetarian

cake
cake ingredients
serving

 

This excellent cake is based on one we tasted and enjoyed at a branch of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants. He describes how to make it on his website. We increased the amount of polenta and reduced the quantity of ground almonds. Being naturally lazy, we also just put everything into one bowl so it super-easy to make.

The texture is soft and moist yet has a crunch. Really worth a try

 Ingredients – for the cake

  • 200 g unsalted butter , at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
  • 200 g demerara sugar
  • 3 large free-range eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 100 g ground almonds
  • 200 g coarse polenta
  • 2 oranges , zest of
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Ingredients for the syrup

  • 200 ml orange juice , (from about 2 to 3 oranges) You can use the oranges used for the zest
  • 125 g sugar

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/gas 2½.
  • Grease a 20cm tin, line the bottom and sides with baking

paper.

  • combine all the the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Providing the butter is not too cold, this is easy to do with a power whisk. If it looks a little too stiff add a slurp of orange juice
  • Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40–50 minutes, until the surface is light brown and the cake is coming away slightly from the sides of the tin.
  • Remove the tin from the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. This cake will be quite moist and a little fragile, so handle carefully as you remove it.
  • To make the syrup, put the sugar and orange juice in a saucepan and simmer over a low–medium heat until reduced and thickened slightly, it should take about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  • Prick the cake all over with a skewer, then brush generously with the syrup.

 

Serve in slices with a dollop of crème fraîche, yoghurt or ice cream.

Crêpes – delicious savoury and sweet pancakes

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20160730_082643This summer, we spent some time camping in France accompanied by our little blind cat, Tolly. Crêpes feature in all parts of France but here, on the campsite, our inspiration for crêpes came from an unlikely source.

We were fortunate enough to have both wonderful weather and great neighbours on a campsite in the Auvergne region of central France. We spent a very pleasant evening where Gerrit, from the Netherlands, made pancakes on his gas-fired outdoor cooker for us and our fellow campers, Tanika and Peter, also from the Netherlands. Accompanied by excellent local wines, it was a delightful evening with savoury and sweet versions interspersed.

We were inspired to buy a crêpes pan in Carrefour before returning home – not expensive but great to use.

Here is our take on the French/Dutch classics!

Dutch pancake mix
Our batter
into the pan
toppings
fold
ready

Basic batter

 100gm plain flour

300ml milk

2 eggs

pinch of salt.

(Tanika had a secret ready-prepared mix which Gerrit used. just requiring the addition of water/milk, making it ideal for camping, If the ingenious Dutch mix is not available, the more traditional materials shown above always work well).

  • Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to a creamy consistency.
  • Ladle onto the pan and attempt to get an even covering
  • Allow to brown before turning, then…….

For Savoury toppings – we chose

Onion –chopped

Grated cheese

Salami/chorizo – vegetarians could leave this out

  • Sprinkle onion/cheese and salami (if using) then fold over.
  • Allow enough time to melt cheese and to brown a little, turn the pancake over and serve

For Sweet toppings – choose from chocolate, honey, jam etc. We opted for the traditional sugar and lemon

  • Sprinkle with granulated sugar and lemon juice

I love butter but it is almost superfluous here. Just enjoy!

A regional diversion here – Normandy Crêpes

Moving from the extraordinary Auvergne to Normandy, we returned to a favourite campsite and, yes, more crêpes. A classic is the Normande – stewed apple with a little cream inside the crepe then flambe with calvados. Mmmmmm!

Morlaix
The best bar

Cycling from the campsite to the local village of Morlaix to stock up on supplies was unexpectedly rewarded in the local bar. Agreeing to help promote local events by simply posting a flyer in the campsite resulted in a complimentary sweetly sugared crepe to accompany our beers. What could be better!

We are, as you may have gathered, crepes enthusiasts.

Freya and Hermione’s gorgeous gluten free cup cakes.

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Vegetarian

Gluten free

This is a basic sponge recipe, enlivened by creating whatever you want to celebrate! Freya was making cakes decorated for Easter with some plainer ones for her dad. All were delicious and, gluten free flour, made these tastier than their gluten full counterparts.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 170g self raising gluten free flour
  • 170g butter
  • 110g caster sugar –170g if cakes are not iced to avoid sugar overload
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • splash of milk

Bung in bowl and mix. I usually have to add a splash or two (technical kitchen language) of milk because the GF flour makes a drier mixture.

Line a cupcake tin with pretty colour cases. Dollop (more jargon – hope you can understand) about a desert-spoon of mixture into each case.

Place into a preheated oven at 180C (gas mark 4) for about 15 minutes until risen, lightly golden and spongy (keep up, now!) when prodded.

Even if small people are desperate to ice these cakes they must wait until they are cool or else the icing will melt and run away. These will be the longest minutes of your life (listen to the mantra – are they cool yet? are they cool yet? are they cool yet?).

Make the icing. This is not a true butter icing – we only use a bit of butter to make the icing soft – the kids are not keen if it tastes too buttery. This comes down to personal taste: you might prefer to use loads of butter and to cut down on the icing sugar! Anyway…

Place a generous knob of soft butter in a bowl. Add in loads of icing sugar (remember that when you add water in a minute it will magically shrink to no icing sugar at all!) using a spoon if you just want to get the job done, or with a sieve if you like a thin layer of sticky snow over your kitchen. Don’t forget kids have to suck in the icing smoke around the bowl!

Use the back of a spoon to press the butter and sugar together until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add a few drops (or more!) of the craziest colouring you can find and a drop or two of vanilla. Add in some hot water A TEASPOON AT A TIME and mix after each addition.

If you are going to pipe the icing then it needs to be thick enough to hold its shape. If you are going to drizzle then you can add more water. Here is the magic part. Leave the children in the kitchen with the icing, the cakes and a selection of sweets and sprinkles. Go and have a cuppa where you can’t see. When you return there will be the most creative, delicious cakes you have ever seen (worth a quick count to see if they are all there) and a kitchen that you just won’t believe!

Hermione’s Child Friendly Veggie Chilli with spicy potato wedgies

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This is a family recipe for children and adults that can be easily adjusted to cope with individual tastes. You can use whatever peppers take your fancy, red, green or orange. Don’t like peppers? No problem. Substitute courgettes, aubergines or simply leave out altogether. The carrots and sweetcorn will do the trick!

Vegan

Gluten Free (check baked beans – Heinz are OK)

Serves 4-6, depending on greed factor

Ingredients – for the chilli

  • 1 medium onion – finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper – finely chopped
  • 3 medium to large carrots – grated or mix of grated/chopped
  • 1 cup of sweetcorn – tinned or frozen (we used frozen)
  • 1 400ml tin/pack passata
  • 1 400gm tin baked beans
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1tsp chilli powder – mild probably but feel free to up the heat if pain threshold permits
  • 1tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • splodge of tomato purée
  • salt

Ingredients for the wedgies

  • 4 Medium to large potatoes – cut into wedges
  • 3tbsp plain flour – use Gluten free (ordinary plain flour works too if Gluten is not an issue)
  • tsp salt
  • tsp ground paprika
  • olive oil – to drizzle

Method

For the sauce:

  • Add 1 tbs olive oil to a pan with a splash of water.
  • Add all chopped veggies and sweetcorn to the pan over a low heat and sweat for 15 minutes – veggies, not you!

Meanwhile……for the wedgies

  • Parboil the wedgies.
  • In a bowl, mix flour paprika and salt
  • Remove parboiled wedgies with a slotted spoon and coat in the flour mixture
  • Line a baking tray with parchment or just use the tray as it is and suffer the washing up. Drizzle with olive oil and fill with coated wedgies, adding a further drizzle of oilive oil over the top.
  • Place into the pre-warmed oven, 200°C for about 30 mins

Back to the sauce…

  • Add chilli powder and cumin to veggies
  • Pour in passata, beans and purée
  • Sprinkle with oregano and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with the wedgies and maybe some couscous and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

 

Beetroot salad

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Why bother to write about such simple dish? Well, not only is this raw food, packed with beetroot nutrients and therefore good for you but, it is simply delicious!

Vegan

Vegetarian

Gluten free

Raw food

 

Ingredients – for 2 as an accompaniment or light lunch

  • 1 medium beetroot – peeled and coarsely grated
  • ½ small onion – finely chopped
  • small handful of raisins
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar – use organic ‘with mother’ if possible
  • 1 tablespoonful extra virgin olive oil

method

What can I say – just mix together and serve.

A note – I had never heard of cider vinegar ‘with mother’.  In fact, ‘with mother’ simply means that the vinegar is unpasteurized and unfiltered with health benefits.

Look out for a separate section on this blog dealing with food nutrition  – coming soon!

Swedish scalded rye bread

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For a long time now, I have been trying to make bread – with mixed success it has to be said. Most bread failures were due to an obstinate refusal to rise, resulting in a series of high-density bricks. More recently, however, I have concentrated on making rye breads, variations of Nordic and North European breads. Generally, these have a denser texture than white breads hence more suited to my previous non-rising results. While we like thin slices of rye bread, particularly with cheese and pickles, we were less appreciative for the apparent need of a power saw to cut them. We had effectively created a new type of building material.

Then I discovered this recipe in a book ‘all you knead is bread’ by Jane Mason. I have altered it slightly by adding pumpernickel and molasses for extra flavour but the texture is delightfully soft. You have to battle with a sticky dough and there is an overnight stage involved but what a reward awaits.

Vegan

Vegetarian

 Makes one small loaf, as in the photo

Ingredients

  • 325g strong white bread flour
  • 1 tsp. instant yeast
  • 125ml tepid water
  • ¾ tbsp. salt
  • 1 rounded tsp. molasses/black treacle (optional)
  • 1 tsp. pumpernickel seeds (optional)

 

  • for the scalded flour,
  • 50g rye flour (dark if possible)
  • 150ml boiling water

Method

Day 1:

  • Add rye flour to a bowl and pour over the boiling water
  • Mix to a paste, cover and leave overnight

Day2:

  • Dissolve molasses in the tepid water and whisk in the yeast.
  • Leave for 15 minutes
  • Meanwhile, retrieve the bowl of scalded rye paste and mix in all the other ingredients, including the dissolved molasses/yeast mixture.
  • When mixed, tip out onto your work surface and knead for 10 minutes. It will be very sticky so use a scraper to turn the dough.
  • Put the kneaded dough back into the bowl, cover and place in a warm place for 2 hours.
  • Pull the dough out onto a floured surface.
  • Flour your hands – this is one sticky dough! Gently stretch dough into a rectangular shape about 2cm thick then fold as you might fold a letter to go into an envelope – first fold about 2/3rds of the rectangle. Second fold taking the top right over the first fold and firming gently down.

Using a scraper to help lift this soft dough, place it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Flour the top and cover with a tea towel – or use cling film first and then a towel.

Allow to rise for an hour before uncovering and placing in an oven at 180C for 40 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and don’t be tempted to try it until it is cool! Delicious!

 

 

Tarka Dal

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Side Dishes
Vegan

Vegetarian

Gluten free

This is a recipe from Monisha Bharadwaj and is one that always delights as a component of a curry meal – a star in its own right.

Ingredients – for 2 as a main

  • 300gm red lentils
  • 2 tbs sunflower or olive oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • I large onion, sliced
  • 1 tbs tomato purée
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
  • thumb size piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • ½ tsp dried chillies
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • god pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • chopped coriander leaves (if available)

Method

  • Simmer lentils in a large pan of water for 20 mins and drain
  • Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds until they begin to pop. Add onion and fry, stirring until slightly crisp. Remove half the onions for use as topping later.
  • Add tomato purée, ginger, garlic, chilli and salt, heating and mixing through.
  • Add mixture to cooked lentils and warm through.
  • Serve in a bowl with the reserved fried onions piled on top, spinkled with coriander leaves.

This is great with plain boiled rice and a spoonful of yoghurt or naan bread but also makes a great side dish as part of a more elaborate meal.

Heaven on a plate – spaghetti, tomatoes and garlic

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Vegetarian

Vegan (if no cheese is used)

Gluten free (if gluten free pasta used)

This is the simplest and tastiest way to enjoy pasta and just great comfort food. It is also just about the cheapest meal ever. As with all simple meals, it is important to choose the best available ingredients as each one plays a key part in the flavour.

Ingredients

  • 400g tin of plum tomatoes – chopped will do but plum have more flavour
  • six or seven cloves or garlic – as much as you like, chopped or squeezed
  • liberal splodge of extra virgin olive oil
  • herbs – fresh or dried basil/oregano. How much is up to you
  • pinch of salt
  • grind of black pepper
  • grated cheese – I like grana padano but cheddar works well too. It is fine without cheese but, for me, cheese is my downfall (along with alcohol…..)

Yes, accompanied by a robust red Sicilian wine, makes this into a feast

Method

  • Pour a goodly splosh of olive oil into a pan.
  • Add garlic and gently heat for a minute or so. Don’t burn the garlic.
  • Tip in the tomatoes and stir
  • Add herbs, salt and pepper. Cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.
  • Boil pasta as per instructions – usually around 8 minutes to al dente.
  • Drain pasta and add to sauce.

Serve, maybe adding fresh basil leaves (if you want to be posh) with grated cheese in a bowl for those who wish it.

Just so good! You will wonder why you don’t have this more often or possibly you might just start looking at properties in Tuscany.

The best and easiest Carrot Cake

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Dairy free – uses oil but no butter

Gluten free option if Gluten free flour is used – still works well

This recipe originates from the BBC Good Food series with one earth shattering difference. The secret is that all the ingredients are just added to a bowl with one final mix with a fork before tipping your aggregate into a loaf tin ready for the oven. No separate creaming, mixing, beating or swearing – just add ingredients from the list in any order to a bowl!

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

The cake

  • 175g muscovado sugar – light or dark all work, dark brown sugar gives a lovely treacle taste
  • 175ml sunflower oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 140g grated carrots
  • 100g raisins
  • grated zest of a large orange
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp grated nutmeg

The Icing

I think this is essential to the success of this cake. (However, we eat this one in the photo before giving it a chance to be iced).

  • Juice from half an orange, the one used for zesting
  • Zest from a complete orange
  • Icing sugar

Method

  • Add all cake ingredients to a bowl and mix with a fork. This does not sound promising, I know. Rest assured, it’s a piece of cake!
  • Pour your concrete substitute into a loaf tin lined with baking parchment
  • Bake at 180°C for 40-45mins
  • Cool on a rack. Make icing by adding icing sugar to juice and zest, beating with a knife. Keep adding sugar until the mixture stiffens. Spread on cake
  • Eat and enjoy perfection.