Crumpets and cheese

After a rather disturbing conversation with a certain person I know, it has come to my attention that some people don't think cheese on crumpets is a good idea. This is quite obviously nonsense. I am now going to explain why.


This is a crumpet with butter on it. That's fine. Perfectly alright. Here's a picture of me eating it.


I'm content.The butter is nice and melted, it is stodgy, warm and comforting. It's a lovely early evening snack and I'm quite happy with the state of my crumpet. But, and this is the important part, it's just a crumpet. To really make this worthwhile you're going to need something on top of that crumpet. Something with enough saltiness to cut through the stodge but enough fat and creaminess to keep the whole thing in the comfort food arena. That something is cheese.


Cheddar is good, but a soft cheese or a nice stringy melting cheese would be best. Beaufort is my favourite, as it's quite fruity but mild and very stringy. In the picture I've gone for Munster on the left and Taleggio on the right. Once the crumpets are toasted put a generous slice of cheese on the top and pop under the grill for 30 seconds so it starts to melt but doesn't go too crispy.

If you want to go in a slightly different direction, take a hot crumpet and spread on a thick portion of a creamy goats cheese. The heat of the crumpet will warm it slightly, but the variation in temperature is very satisfying. Boursin works well for this, but I went to a cheese and wine tasting the other day where I tried a cheese called Cerney. I think this would work very well. This is a young ash-covered goats cheese in the shape of a pyramid. It's sweet and tastes of sour cream with a hint of goatiness. I intend to try it on crumpets as soon as I can get my hands on some.

For the sake of scientific comparison, this is a picture of me eating the crumpet with cheese.


Do you see? Do you see how much better that is? I hope that this clears up any confusion on the subject. Bronners out.

Mmmmeat. It includes, but is not limited to: Sticky Chicken Legs

As I mentioned my father's rejection of meaty funtimes in my last post, I thought I would tell you a little about my own thoughts on the subject.

I like to think of myself as a fairly ethically minded person, and I’m certainly horrified by many of the farming practices that supply us with meat, but I’ve never been able to bring myself to give it up. I can’t even argue that it’s all part of the circle of life and it’s ‘natural’ to eat meat. Not because I don’t believe it, but our food has developed to a stage where what was or is intended by nature has become rather beside the point. If I had to stick with what was natural then I’d probably have to give up Prawn Cocktail flavour Skips, and I’m afraid I’m just not prepared to do that. If there is a healthy way to cut meat out of your diet (and my father is proof that there is), then is there really any justification in continuing to eat it?

Well, mayhaps there is and mayhaps there ain't, as Mother Abigail says (and she still bakes her own biscuits). I am full of admiration for vegetarians as it requires a level of self discipline that I don't believe I'm capable of. I reconcile my moral vanity with my carnal (in the food sense) desires by trying to avoid intensively farmed meats. Fortunately I am lucky enough to live close to what is probably the best butcher’s in the country.

Aubrey Allens in Warwick Street bases its reputation on getting the best meat possible. Yes, it’s more expensive, but it’s also a lot better, and you can sleep easy on a bellyful of happy meat. Also, if you don’t buy meat too often (vegetarian meals are meals too, remember), the price works out about the same as cheap meat every day. I know I'm coming off as a touch on the snobby side here, and I can't promise to never touch farmed meat again (a girl's got needs, you know). I just likes it, is all.

I can highly recommend the pork rolls served here at lunchtime. I had to stop eating them if I had to go back to work in the afternoon as they’re so big they made me a little sleepy. Aubrey Allen’s is also right next door to Richard Clarke’s greengrocers, which means a bi weekly shop down Warwick Street and I can more or less stop going to the supermarket entirely. Which is AWESOME.

On Mondays they have some decent offers on, and recently I bought a big ole load of chicken legs for a lot cheaper than I was expecting. I'm usually not too fussed about chgicken as I find it a little bland, but this was the good shit. I squashed them into a roasting tin and poured over a marinade of honey, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, crushed garlic and grated ginger. I left the whole lot in the fridge for a day and cooked them for 45 min at Gas Mark 6. I'd show you a picture, but I forgot to take one, so here is a picture of a chicken.

Mmm, delicious.

Vegetarianism, with a side of cheese pie

My father was born at a time when his parents had decided to give up meat for ethical reasons. They later changed their minds after remembering that meat is tasty and delicious, and gave Dad the choice to switch to meat eating or stick with being a veggie. He was so unaccustomed to eating meat that it made him feel ill, and he’s been vegetarian his whole life as a result.

As tragic as his story is, growing up with a vegetarian father meant that our dinners would often be vegetarian to save having to cook two different meals. A lot of people are shocked when I tell them this, as if a meal can’t possibly be complete without meat in it. I remember I once had a choice between eating a chicken tikka sandwich, or a cheese and pickle sandwich. I chose the cheese. A friend of mine then asked if I was vegetarian, because he couldn’t understand why I might choose not to eat meat out of a personal preference rather than an ethically enforced choice.

Even these days when going veggie is a much more acceptable lifestyle choice, people seem to focus on finding a replacement for meat in a meaty dish rather than one that just doesn’t contain meat. After re-reading that sentence I can see how that may not make much sense, but I’m not editing it because, dammit, I know what I’m talking about.
This is a nice light dinner I made the other day. You’ll notice there is no meat in it, but it is still a proper meal.


Feta Cheese Pie
1 block of feta
1 tub of ricotta
2 eggs
Pepper
Choice of herbs (I would recommend just sticking to one type. Mint, thyme or rosemary all work well)
2 -3 large sheets filo pastry

Oil the bottom of a terracotta pot or small casserole dish. Place the filo pastry in the bottom leaving plenty of pastry overlapping the sides.

Mix the cheeses, eggs and herbs in a bowl, and pour into the pastry dish. Flip the excess pastry over so it covers the pie. Sprinkle olive oil over the top and season with salt and pepper.

Put in a preheated oven at around GM 6-7. Cook for 30 min, then take out and flip upside down onto a baking tray. Put back in the oven for a further 5-10 min. This will ensure its cooked all the way through and make the pastry at the bottom extra crispy.

This is great as a light lunch or supper. I add the ricotta to keep the filling smooth and make the feta stretch further, but if you have enough feta you can leave the ricotta out completely. Just make sure that the consistency of the pie filling is about the same as thick cake batter. If it’s too thin it will take ages to cook through properly.

I served this with salad and rosemary flowers, because I can be fancy if I want to.

Red Pepper Soup

If I'm having soup I generally want it to be comfortingly stodgy, with enough substance to it to make it worth my while at dinner time. The only exception I make to that rule is with my Red Pepper Soup. It's warming but a good deal lighter and fresher tasting than most soups of my acquaintance. This is a summer soup.


Ingredients
2 Sweet red peppers
1 large (preferably red) onion
1 clove of garlic
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Chilli oil or teaspoon chilli flakes
Salt
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or any light tasting vinegar)

Put the whole peppers under a hot grill until the skin is charred and blistered. Turn over to make sure they are done on both sides. Like this:


Once they are done stick them in a plastic bag to cool down. The bag helps keep the steam in and makes it easier to remove the skins.

Fry the onion and garlic in the chilli oil, or vegetable oil with added chilli flakes. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle remove the skins and roughly chop them. Stir the cooked chopped peppers into the fried onion. Add the salt and vinegar and keep stirring until the mix looks like it's all melding together.

Add the chopped tomatoes and a further can full of water. Simmer for a further 10 minutes and check for seasoning.

This makes two extra large or three regular sized portions. I'd recommend it with something lactic and creamy on top, like a dollop of creme fraiche or some mozarella.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

EDIT: I have just found out that this is also rather nice served cold with a couple of spoons of lemon pearl barley mixed in and taken in a pot as a packed lunch.

Stew, stew, barley and nibs

I have done SO much cooking this weekend. I got a load of groceries in on Friday to make up for all the time I’ve been away and immediately started cooking. Here are a few examples of what I’ve been up to.

Pearl Barley with lemon. You boil up a load of pearl barley along with a generous pinch of salt and the juice and rind of a lemon. It takes about 20-30 minutes to cook through. I like making up a big batch and using it for various things during the week. It’s a nice little side dish to anything meaty, but also good thrown on top of salads or added to stews or soups at the last minute. A really quick meal can be made by frying up half an onion and adding a couple of spoonfuls of the lemon pearl barley and a mug full of chicken stock. It’s not far off a pot noodle for speed, but doesn’t make you feel dirty and soulless inside.

Stewed apple and rhubarb. 3 small sticks of rhubarb and a couple of eating apples stewed with a little sugar. I’ve been having this with yoghurt and granola for breakfast the past couple of mornings, but I fully intend to make a crumble with it as well. When I do, I will be featuring cocoa nibs as part of the crumble mix.

I picked this bag up from Rococo on a recent trip to London, and I’m so glad I spotted it. I used to have a big bag of nibs that I brought back from a trip to Paris but I ran out a few months ago and hadn’t found anywhere local that supplied them. If you haven’t seen them before they are broken up pieces of the unprocessed nut, or nib, of the cocoa pod. They taste nutty and chocolatey without being sweet, and you can use them for sweet or savoury dishes. They really help a crumble topping along but I’ve been known to put them in everything from porridge to chilli. Toast them with a handful of nuts for something earthy and aromatic to snack on.

I also made some Greek Lamb Stew, but I don't have a photo of it yet, so here is an artist's impression.

This is my stand-by stew recipe. If I’m in the mood to make stuff I stew up a big batch of this and let it feed me on and off through the week. It gets better after a couple of days, so making it ahead of time is really the best way to go.

Take a about ½ - 1 pound of diced lamb. The cut of meat isn’t hugely important, but the fattier the better (in my opinion). Sear the lamb in hot oil, then remove and leave to rest. Fry up some spices in the same oil. I’ll leave the exact combination up to your own preferences, but cinnamon and cloves are essential. I also add ground coriander seeds and cracked black pepper. Add crushed garlic, 2 roughly chopped carrots, 2 peeled and chopped potatoes, and 4 – 6 small shallots or onions. Try to leave these whole or just cut in half. Stir these through the spices, then put the meat back in the pot. Add 2 tins chopped tomatoes and a little extra water so that everything is covered. Leave on the stove, lid off, on a very low heat for at least a couple of hours. By this time it should be reduced and sticky, and the meat should be falling apart.

I have lots more to write about, but I think I should pace myself. Join us for the next exciting episode of Eat It! Guest starring Dirk Benedict as Lt. Columbo.

Chilli Oil

I'm finally back in Leamington and I can't wait to get back to some proper cooking. Just a quick post today, but more frequent updates should follow.

Chilli Oil

Isn’t it pretty?

Flavoured oil and vinegars are moronically easy to make, but I hardly ever get round to it. Firstly it starts with the lack of decent size glass bottles, but clean out an empty spirit bottle and you’re good to go. This bottle once contained a bright orange M&S Clementine Christmas Punch that was a gift at a party held by an old housemate. When she moved out, the bottle stayed behind, a couple of years older and still unopened. Eventually curiousity got the better of me and I had to try it. I wish I could tell you that I can’t describe the taste, but unfortunately I can. When I was little and feeling poorly my mother would whip out orange Calpol as the old stand by. On one occasion my sickly body rebelled against this attempt to cure it, and I vomited. That taste of overly sweet and medicinal orange combined with the rancid bitterness of rising bile is PRECISELY what this tasted of. The booze went down the sink, but I kept the bottle.

Secondly, making flavoured oils does not produce the instant gratification that I crave when I cook. It will take at least a month, preferably more, to get all the flavours absorbed into the oil. Last time I made chilli oil it only started getting really powerful after I’d already used a lot of it up. This time I intend to top it up as I go along.

You will need:

About a dozen small Bird’s Eye Chillis

1 litre cheap olive oil (it’s going to be flavoured anyway, so don’t splash out).

Any other herbs or spices. I usually don’t bother with these any more as smaller particles tend to float to the top and come out when you use the oil. Sticks of rosemary have worked well for me in the past, but it goes very soft and is really difficult to get out of the bottle once it’s finished.

Instructions:
Put everything in the bottle. Put the bottle in the back of the cupboard to forget about it. Once you remember it a few weeks later it should be quite pokey.

This is really good for adding just a touch of heat and flavour to dishes without too much hassle. Definitely one of my kitchen staples.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup

Serves 4.

This is really, really good, and much easier than people think.

Ingredients:

1 litre beef stock. The better the stock the better the soup, but an oxo cube is perfectly acceptable.
3 large white onions or equivalent amount of shallots.
1 glass red wine
Butter
Seasoning

To serve: A few slices French bread and some grated melting cheese, like gruyere or comte.

Finely chop the onions while you heat the butter in a large saucepan. Don't stint on the butter. You want it to start frothing and smelling sweet and nutty before you add the onions. Sweat on a low heat. Add the seasoning, and keep cooking until soft and translucent. This will take about 20 min. Add the wine and stir through. Add the stock and cook for a further 20 – 30 min. Serve with the bread and cheese on top.

Did I mention this was good? It is. Really good. Mmmmmm. Soupy and delicious. And proper classy if you're having people round. But then, I'm naturally classy so that's not really a surprise, is it?