-
Roasted summer vegetable soup and fried brains
We’ve been seeing some pretty strange behaviour here over the past few days – perhaps the effect of the sudden inferno-style heat? First I caught my husband chatting to one of the hens: ‘hello gorgeous, how are you today?’. I thought initially, rather immodestly, that he was talking to me, but quickly deduced he wasn’t when he went on to ask: ‘have you laid an egg today sweetheart?’. Since this blatant come-on, she’s hardly left his side (does this mean he has a chick on the side ;-)); I found her perched on a chair in the kitchen this morning while he ate breakfast.
An unknown rabbit gave birth to five babies in the horses’ hay a few days ago – luckily we realised before they got pitch-forked. Don’t rabbits have tunnels or dens or something to use as maternity units? Or is this the equivalent of giving birth on the hard shoulder of the motorway? Maybe she was caught short. Now of course I have to keep rushing over every half hour to check they haven’t been terrorised by our psychotic mare (she has rabbit issues).
And then last night, just to tip me over the edge and despite lengthy negotiation, Hugo steadfastly refused to go to bed, preferring to sleep on the electric cables under my desk. I obviously haven’t escaped the brain-melt either though because I made this piping hot soup for dinner the other evening when the temperature hadn’t dipped below 35°C all day.
Ingredients (serves 8)
1 sweet potato, peeled
1 red pepper
2 onions
2 courgettes
4 tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika (or piment d’Espelette)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 sprigs of rosemary
1.5 litres organic vegetable stock
5 fresh basil leaves
Chop the vegetables into chunks (leaving the cloves of garlic whole), toss in the olive oil and arrange on a roasting tray. Add the seasoning and rosemary sprigs and roast in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 minutes. Once roasted, transfer to a large saucepan/casserole dish, add the stock and bring to the boil. Cook for a further five minutes, add the basil and purée. -
Sweet potato crab cakes and lettuce pilfering
Not only is this recipe extremely appetising, it also has the advantage of being very nutritious: sweet potatoes are bursting with vitamin C and are also high in calcium, folate, potassium and beta-carotene. They have a low glycemic index, far lower than that of regular potatoes. Crab meat is high in protein and Omega 3, as well as being a potent source of vitamins and minerals.
Young delinquent horses, on the other hand, are less beneficial from a nutritional standpoint, particularly if they break into your vegetable garden and steal all your salad while you’re out to lunch. In an ideal world (a world in which horses do not kick down fences), a crisp green salad makes a delicious accompaniment, but they may also be served alone with a spicy chilli sauce.
Ingredients (serves 4)
350g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
¼ red pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
350g crabmeat (I used tinned)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
Flour for coating the ‘cakes’ (I used quinoa flour)
2 tablespoons peanut oil for frying
Place the sweet potatoes, red pepper and garlic cloves on a roasting tray and douse with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 25 minutes. Mash the vegetables with a potato masher until you obtain a rough purée. Add the crabmeat, parsley and chopped onions, mixing well. Shape into individual cakes (roughly 8 cakes 5cm in diameter) and coat with flour. Fry in peanut oil (you could use another oil but I find peanut oil gives a lovely crisp result) until golden brown on both sides (roughly 4 minutes on each side). Serve with or without salad, depending on your animals’ disposition. 😉 -
Curried prawns in agar agar and how to pluck a hen
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
I’ve had quite a relaxing week because The Noisy One has been away on a sailing trip. I expect he’ll be quite hoarse by the time he gets home from barking orders at adjacent boats (did you like my animal imagery there?). Anyway, it’s nice to have some time off from being shot at and tackled to the ground. There has been one thing that’s been bothering me a bit though: two of the hens are nesting (and very unpleasant they’re being about it too), which leaves one hen wandering around alone looking a bit pathetic; even more so than usual ;-). I’ve been trying to keep her spirits up by grabbing her for a cuddle and an affectionate chew of her wings, but I just get yelled at by old Bossy Boots. Life can be very complicated sometimes *doggie sigh*.
Ingredients (makes 6 mini terrines)
250g frozen prawns
juice of half a lemon
25g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
150ml fish stock
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, chopped
1 bay leaf
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon mango chutney
4 fresh basil leaves
4g Agar-Agar powder
Place the prawns steeped in lemon juice in a frying pan and add the olive oil and butter. Fry gently, gradually adding all the other ingredients with the exception of the Agar-Agar and basil leaves. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the prawns are cooked through and the liquid partly evaporated. Once cooked, add the basil, blend briefly in a food processor and set aside. Dissolve the Agar-Agar in a small amount of water and bring to the boil (according to the instructions on the packet). Once boiled, add to the prawn mixture and distribute into moulds (I used silicon muffin moulds). Compact the mixture well. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and serve chilled.
Health benefits of agar agar
Agar is a good source of calcium and iron, and is very high in fiber. It is an excellent aid in digestion and weight loss and also carries toxic waste out of the body. Other benefits include its ability to reduce inflammation, calm the liver, and benefit the lungs. -
Cheesy G8 muffins
The G8’s recent mufti extravaganza prompted me to create these American-style savoury muffins as a tribute to Obama, the only leader able to carry off the ‘my tie’s being laundered following a messy run-in with tomato ketchup’ look with any panache. I’m not altogether certain that the main objective of the summit was to evoke a Monty Python sketch, but that, to my considerable amusement, was the result.
Allison Pearson, writing in the Daily Telegraph, summed it up perfectly:‘Let’s be clear. You can wear a suit without a tie, on two conditions. One, the suit needs to be of the highest grade, woven from the chest-hairs of privately educated sheep. And two, you need to be Barack Obama. Otherwise, you end up with the deeply uncomfortable gallery of statesmen who were photographed at Enniskillen, as in a police line-up. David Cameron looked as if he had left his tie in the car; Vladimir Putin looked as if he had left his tightly knotted around the throat of a political opponent; the Japanese prime minister, unhindered by any tie, had had a rush of blood and opted for deck shoes as well, and may have to be dissuaded from wearing a ripped T-shirt and winklepickers next time. François Hollande, as usual, looked like a misplaced maître d’, who needed not just a tie but an apron and a white napkin over his arm to complete the look.’
These are adapted from a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe.
Ingredients (makes 12 muffins)
250g German spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon Italian olive oil
2 organic eggs, beaten
80g butter, melted
200ml Russian kefir (or yoghurt)
75g strong English Cheddar, grated
75g French Comté, grated
75g courgettes, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, peeled and chopped into small pieces
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Fry the onions in olive oil over a gentle heat until golden. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and paprika. In another bowl combine the eggs, butter, kefir and Worcestershire Sauce and stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Last, fold in the onions, courgettes and cheese. Spoon the mixture into a muffin tin (greased if you’re not using a silicon mould) and bake for 18 minutes. -
Chickpea flour cauliflower cheese (gf) and the case for the defence
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
I’ve decided that I’m a dab paw at blogging, so off I go again. I’d like a chance to set the record straight; I felt the last post was rather slanderous (I found that word in the dictionary I got for my birthday). First of all, I do not dribble. And second of all, I only toot the car horn when I feel that The Bossy One has talked to whoever it is she’s talking to for quite long enough and it’s time to get home. She seems to forget that I have things to do: keep the hens in order, bark at the horses if they’re in the wrong field (or for no good reason whatsoever ;-)), check the boundaries for stray deer, wild pigs and badgers, empty the rubbish bin in the kitchen… I could go on – a dog’s work is never done. Especially if he sits in the car all day *sigh*.
Anyway, I think she must have felt a bit guilty for bad-mouthing me because this was produced last night and she let me ‘clean’ the dish. 🙂
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1 cauliflower
25g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
60g chickpea flour
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon mustard
200ml milk
100ml chicken or vegetable stock
50g comté (or other hard cheese), grated
50g parmesan, grated
Begin by cooking the cauliflower florets in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
For the sauce, place the flour, butter, olive oil, seasoning and milk into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat. Whisk until it reaches a gentle simmer. Continue whisking, adding the mustard and then the stock little by little, for just under five minutes. Add half of the cheese and whisk again until it melts. Pour over the cauliflower florets which you will have arranged in a baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese over the top and add a little more paprika. Cook for about 45 minutes. -
Mini salmon terrines and getaway strategies
It’s starting to be tricky to escape in the car alone; Motoring is Hugo’s absolute favourite. He prefers the front seat and I have, in the past, resorted to belting him in rather than take on the chore of coaxing him out of the car. Naturally, he takes it very badly if I kick him out. If, on the other hand, I leave him in the car and need to stop off somewhere, he presses on the horn with his chest if he feels I’ve ‘abandoned’ him for too long. He also dribbles on the seat. So it’s a toss-up between his being put-out and potentially depressed at being ditched, and my being mortally embarrassed by a high-maintenance, disruptive dog and wet front seat. I’m spoilt for choice.
This salmon terrine is an attempt to recreate a dish we had in our hotel in the Pyrenees this winter, as requested by Léo. It is, according to him, ‘quite edible’; Praise indeed. 🙂
Ingredients (makes 6 mini terrines)
2 salmon filets (250g)
juice of half a lemon
25g butter
150ml cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, chopped
½ teaspoon ginger, freshly grated
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Pastis
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons of diced cucumber
4 leaves of fresh mint
2g Agar-Agar powder
Place the salmon filets steeped in lemon juice in a frying pan and add the butter and cream. Bring to a gentle simmer and add all the other ingredients with the exception of the Agar-Agar, cucumber and mint leaves. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and the liquid partly evaporated. Once cooked, add the mint leaves, blend briefly in a food processor and set aside. Dissolve the Agar-Agar in a small amount of water and bring to the boil (according to the instructions on the packet). Once boiled, mix into the salmon with the diced cucumber and distribute the mixture into moulds (I used silicon muffin moulds). Compact the mixture well. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and serve chilled.
-
Spelt flour pizza base and stark-raving lunatics
The moon is full tonight. If you have animals anything like ours and had intended sleeping through the night, a word of warning: it ain’t gonna happen. 🙂
The horses will spend all night ‘partying’ (galloping from one end of the field to the other, whinnying to anyone who will listen and ‘fighting’ on their hind legs). They’ll be exhausted by the morning (thank God) and spend the whole day sleeping it off.
The hens are, at his very moment, on the terrace table doing a sort of flamboyant chicken tango, which involves much flapping, flirting, fluttering and hissing. In fact it’s so flamboyant that one of them fell off the table *snigger*.
Which bring me to Hugo. Being a bit of a primo uomo, Hugo makes sure that his behaviour trumps that of the other animals. Having pulled his chair away from the wall with his teeth, he has created a little game for himself. He charges the chair, throwing himself into it heavily to see how far it will ‘skid’ across the tiles. After several good ‘skids’, he runs dementedly around the house, blanket over head, seeking praise for his talent. Just shoot me now.
There are times when only pizza will do. This base, being made from spelt flour, is light, tasty, nutritious and more easily digested than a regular pizza base.
Ingredients (6 slices)
250g spelt flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sachet bakers yeast (dilute in lukewarm water 10 minutes before use)
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Beat or knead for about 6 minutes, progressively adding a tiny bit of water, teaspoon by teaspoon. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will become sticky. Leave the dough to rise at a temperature of 25°C to 35°C for an hour, then re-mix (or re-knead). Put it in the fridge for an about an hour and then roll out ready to apply the topping. I used fresh tomato sauce, black olives, chorizo, anchovies and parmesan. Cook in a preheated oven (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. -
Savoury chickpea pastry parcels and dog walking, matador-style
If you ever happen to be in the ‘Landes’ forest and spot someone dressed in full body armour, brandishing a big red cape, matador-style, that’ll be me. Hugo’s 30 kilos of muscular dynamisn, a by-product of daily triathlon training, plus an ardent passion for ‘walkies’ have become a mortal combination. He charges back and forth like a bull, playing ‘chicken’ with my unsuspecting shins and leaving it to the very last possible second to swerve to avoid them (or not as the case may be!) He also grabs my shoes in his jaws, willing them to move faster. I’ve been knocked flying on several occasions, which unfortunately has only ever served as a pretext for much guilt-induced licking which, frankly, I could live without…
These savoury parcels are finger-licking good, as well as being very nutritious and quick and easy to make. They are wheat-free.
Ingredients for chickpea pastry (makes about 4 parcels)
80g spelt flour
50g chickpea flour
50g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly 6 tablespoons of cold water
Ingredients for filling
1 courgette, grated
1 potato, boiled and chopped into cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons pine nuts
6 fresh mint leaves, cut into pieces
Sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
To make the pastry, begin by cutting the butter and into small cubes. Sift the flours and a pinch of salt together into in a mixing bowl, also adding the cubes of butter. Rub in and blend by hand until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the olive oil and combine well and then add the cold water, mixing rapidly with a spoon. Remove the mixture from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you obtain a ball of pastry (if the mixture isn’t ‘sticky’ enough to form a ball, you may need a drop more water). Wrap in a clean cotton tea towel or some cling film and leave to ‘rest’ in the fridge for about two hours. This relaxes the dough and makes it easier to use.
To make the filling, combine the ingredients in a bowl, mix well and then press a little with your fingers so that the mixture gains in density.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll the pastry out on a clean, dry, floured surface. Cut into squares of approximately 15cm, put a good tablespoon of mixture into
the middle and then fold back the edges to meet in the middle and form a parcel. Press the edges together until the pastry sticks.
Place the parcels on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for 20 minutes. -
Tandoori chicken and shameless squatters
I’ve arrived at the conclusion that our animals need to be brought to heel. When we were first married, someone actually suggested my husband bring me to heel (yes, really :lol:), but don’t let’s go there today. The hens, having been told in no uncertain terms that hoarding is NOT on, have now taken up squatting. I suppose bad habits are never really eradicated, just replaced with other bad habits – they’ll no doubt be smoking and chewing gum next. Unfortunately they are particularly fond of squatting the most comfortable chair on the terrace, the only one we own that doesn’t dig menacingly into your back. Having made Tandoori chicken yesterday, I’m thinking of investing in a Tandoor oven and was wondering whether they would understand the veiled threat 😉 ?
A Tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven, typically found in Central, Western and Southern Asia. The heat source is a wood or charcoal-burning fire and temperatures can reach over 450°C. If you don’t have a Tandoor to hand, obviously a hot regular oven will do.
Ingredients (serves 4)
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 red onion, chopped finely
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the marinade :
150ml greek yoghurt
1 piece of fresh ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon sea salt
Slash the chicken thighs several times then cover them with the lemon juice and chopped onions. Set aside in a deepish dish. Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over the chicken, making sure that all bits are well covered. Leave to chill for at least an hour or overnight if possible. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Carefully place the chicken thighs on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for about 25 minutes, depending on the size of the thighs. They are cooked through properly when the juice runs clear when prodded with a fork. May be served with basmati rice, naan bread, chickpea pancakes (recipe here), or vegetable curry. Delicious with chutney too. -
Olive, red pepper and anchovy cake and a volatile hoarder
To follow on from this post, unfortunately our black hen died. Hens seem to be so vulnerable to attack from disease, foxes, dogs and perhaps even other hens. I imagined she was suffering from depression when maybe she was just sad to be sick. 🙁
We were (when I say ‘we’ I suppose I mean ‘I’ as, unlike me, neither husband nor son obsesses about our animals) rather worried about the white hen who had disappeared suddenly. We eventually found her over a week later under two enormous bales of hay in a little-used barn, sitting on no fewer than 23 eggs; The little minx had obviously been hiding, laying and hoarding! Don’t ever let it be said that hens can’t multitask. So to add to our animals’ extensive list of mental disorders, we now appear to be the proud owners of a compulsively hoarding hen. Can anyone tell me where I can get my hands on an animal that doesn’t have ‘issues’?
This savoury cake is based on an old French recipe and goes beautifully with soup or hors d’oeuvres. It’s quite light and crumbly and, being made with spelt flour, healthy, wheat-free and low GI.
Ingredients
175g spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pot of yoghurt (125g)
3 organic eggs, beaten
100ml olive oil
50g red pepper, finely chopped
40g black olives, stones removed
50g sun dried tomatoes
6 anchovies
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and paprika and add the eggs and yoghurt, mixing well. Continue mixing and add the olive oil until you obtain a homogenous paste. Stir in the other ingredients and once well combined, spoon the mixture into a medium-sized, oiled loaf tin. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean.
