Category Archives: mains

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!

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.

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!

 

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.

Mushroom Miso Broth

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Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten free 

This is another modified Jamie Oliver recipe from his great new book ‘Superfoods’. I am a great Jamie fan and he makes a chicken and mushroom miso broth – which is delicious – but we found this simplified veggie version to be just as tasty. Curiously, I think the way the onions are cut into quarters is a key element in achieving a more authentic taste. No idea why.

I use large breakfast mushrooms here but you could experiment with a mix of mushrooms, adding rehydrated, porcini or wild mushrooms.

Ingredients for two people seeking a modest meal 

  • Sliced mushrooms – quantity to suit desired waist size, 300g is fine
  • 1 or two onions, depending on size – red if possible but white works too.
  • 1 tbsp Sesame oil
  • 1 x 5cm piece of ginger – peeled and cut into matchsticks
  • 1 heaped teaspoon miso paste
  • 800 m stock – water at a pinch
  • 1 good handful of curly kale – essential goodness
  • Basmati rice – wild rice might be better. 175g is about right

Method

  • Peal the onions and chop lengthways into quarters or eighths.
  • Heat the sesame oil in a medium pan and add the onions. Cook for a few minutes stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in the chopped mushrooms to coat with oil and continue frying gently.
  • Then add the ginger, miso paste and stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
  • This is the time to get your rice on. Plain boiled is best
  • Tear the kale into small pieces, removing any tough stalks and add to the broth, simmering for a further 5 minutes or so.

Serve and enjoy

 

Meat option

If you want to include chicken, use skinless boneless thighs/breasts and cook in the sesame oil before adding the mushrooms. With this meat option, chicken stock would add even more flavour.

Feijoada – Black beans, squash, peppers with rice and a fresh salsa

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This is based on a Jamie Oliver recipe from his ‘Superfoods’ book. It is a great book, by the way, although not everything in it works. His gluten free seedy loaf, for example, looked good when we made it but was inedible.

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This recipe, however, works well with a few adaptations along the way. We left out the okra, for example. We have never tried black beans before we saw Jamie’s TV ‘Superfoods’ programme. We were surprised to get cartons of organic black beans in our Sainsbury’s Local!

Vegetarian

Vegan version leaves out yoghurt

Ingredients – based on a meal for 2

  • ½ a smallish butternut squash , (600g)
  • olive oil
  • 1 level teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 level teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 2 small mixed-colour peppers
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
  • 1 x 400 g tin/pack of black beans
  • tablespoon natural yoghurt
  • fresh chilli to taste or use chilli flakes
  • 1 bunch of fresh coriander , (30g)
  • balsamic vinegar

for the salsa

  • 1 ripe tomato
  • 1 lime – lemon works well too
  • Serve with…
  • rice for 2. Jamie used wild rice. I used basmati with cumin seeds (see savoury rice)

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

  • Halve and deseed the squash , chop into 3cm chunks. I prefer to remove the rind but then I am fussy.In a large roasting tray, toss it with olive oil, the ground coriander, a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
  • Deseed the peppers and cut into 3cm chunks. In a separate tray, toss and massage them with olive oil and the smoked paprika.
  • Place both trays in the oven for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile….

  • Roughly chop the onion, retaining a quarter to finely chop for the salsa
  • Add dash of oil to a pan and add the roughly chopped portion of oinon.
  • After 5 mins simmering, add a splash of water.
  • Crush in the garlic, add the bay leaves and a good splash of balsamic vinegar. Slow cook for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
  • Tip in the beans, juice and all, then half-fill empty tin with water, swirl and pour into the pan. Simmer until the time is up on the squash and peppers, then stir both into the pan. Simmer for 20 mins until the feijoada is dark and delicious, loosening with an extra splash of water, if needed. Remove bay leaves.
  • Cook rice

To make a quick salsa….

  • Finely chop tomato and some coriander leaves with as much chilli as you like. Place in a bowl and add the reserved finely chopped onion.
  • Toss with the lime/lemon juice and season

Serve Feijoada with the rice and salsa, a spoonful of yoghurt and a sprinkling of the remaining coriander leaves.