The Cookery Thread

[LAT]

That recipe sounds delicious Bunny. I don't suppose there is any left - I could set out now?

[Bunnylump]

Well, there are some left, but I keep returning to them...so probably not for long!

[LAT]

I could get there in an hour...........

[Bunnylump]

Today's extremely random "using up" recipe...

This time, it was beetroot and shallots which were sitting in the fridge looking at me. A bit of lateral thinking later...this was nice and very red. We had it with some salmon fillets.

Very Red Beetroot Rice Salad

whole beetroots, scrubbed.
Cumin seeds, crushed a bit
olive oil
Carmargue red rice
Horseradish
Shallots
Dill
Grated rind and juice of one lemon

Oven gas 5

Brush the beetroots with olive oil.
Sprinkle some cumin seeds over some tinfoil in a baking tray.
Roll the beetroot in the seeds, then fold the tinfoil round the beetroot. Bake in the oven for 45 mins.
Meanwhile, cook the rice for 30 mins in boiling water, and chop and fry the shallots.
Drain the rice, and stir in a spoonful of horseradish plus the lemon rind and juice.
Chop up the beetroot and add it to the rice.
Sprinkle with dill and serve.

PS You will end up with hands like you are a cast member of chain saw massacre, but hey.

[Bunnylump]

Just looking at this recipe again and thinking "if I saw this, there's no way I'd make it, it sounds revolting." But it isn't, honestly! I ate the rest today for lunch with some cubes of feta mixed in.

I should, perhaps, remind you that it's a bad move to forget that you've eaten this the day before. You could be forgiven for dialling 999 after your ablutions otherwise...

[Bunnylump]

This was nice, sort of sharp and bitter, gooey and anniseedy, went well with roast chicken.

Braised red cabbage with apple, bacon and balsamic vinegar

olive oil
2 rashers higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon, finely sliced
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, bashed
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 eating apples, peeled and chopped
1 red cabbage, outer leaves and core removed, chopped into irregular chunks
salt
freshly ground black pepper
150 ml balsamic vinegar
1 small knob butter

Put a little olive oil in a saucepan, get it hot and add the bacon and fennel seeds. Cook until golden then add the onion and continue to cook, with the lid on, for a few more minutes until golden and sticky. Add the apple, followed by the cabbage chunks, salt and pepper and the vinegar, and stir everything together well. Put the lid back on and continue to cook on a low heat for an hour, checking and stirring every so often.

[Bunnylump]

OK so this isn't cookery but I'm putting this here anyway. We're currently sitting on the patio in the sunshine and I've resurrected the random liqueurs etc. we had left over from K's hen party #1. I just made up a cocktail, which I think deserves recording before I get too sozzled to remember it.

Afternoon Delight
1 capful black raspberry liqueur
I capful blackberry liqueur
2 capfuls peach schnapps
Large dash of lime juice
1 finger of blueberry juice
2 fingers cranberry juice
crushed ice
Large dollop of sunshine

Mix everything together and enjoy.
Cheers!

Yum.

[Bunnylump]

Mnmm, this was nice. I'm not laying any claim to the recipe (it's Nigella's) but I found spelt to be a good alternative to farro (which I couldn't find anywhere.)

If you like that sort of stodgy baby food quality of risotto and like mushrooms, but would like a bit more flavour, try this. I found organic pearled spelt in Waitrose.

Spelt Risotto with mushrooms

10G dried porcini
4tbs olive oil
1 leek, washed and trimmed, halved lengthways and finely sliced
60ml marsala
500g pearled spelt / farro
1.25 litres of veg stock.
250g chestnut mushrooms
Leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed
4tbs ricotta
4 tbs grated parmesan
3 tbs fresh parsley, chopped, to serve

Cover porcini with 125ml boiled water and leave to soak for 10 mins.
Soften leeks in 2tbs olive oil for about 5 mins.
Drain porcini (reserving soaking liquid) chop them and add them to the leeks.
Add spelt and stir. Add porcini soaking liquid and marsala and bring to the boil.
Add stock, stir, put on lid and cook for about 30 mins until liquid is absorbed.
While spelt is cooking, fry the chestnut mushrooms in 2tbs olive oil for 5 mins. Add the thyme and garlic and cook for a further 5 mins.
Stir the mushrooms into the spelt, add the parmesan and ricotta and stir to melt.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

[Bunnylump]

...and for pudding...

Try adding 100g crushed amaretti biscuits to crumble mixture for a plum crumble. Mmmm.

V. good with Cornish ice cream.

[gill216]

I never knew you could put strawbuggars in the oven! They don't go mushy like I imagined.

Strawb and almond crumble. Throw a few whole or half almonds in a dish with the strawberries and make a crumble mix with half the amount of flour replaced with ground almond. Yummy.

Today is going to be strawberry pie. Just strawbs with a little sugar and the pastry.

[Bunnylump]

What time should I be round for tea?

[Bunnylump]

Mmmmm. Rhubarb cooked with a couple of star anise. Yum.

[Bunnylump]

Liquorice Ice Cream

This is the kind of thing you'll either love or detest. I loved it. It's certainly not for the faint hearted (or weak hearted, come to that, probably an artery-clogging nightmare.)

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle ... se-recipes

BUT I didn't bother with the orange zest, and doubled the liquorice. I also added some small chunks of soft-eating liquorice chopped small which didn't melt.

I also didn't churn it (the ice cream maker broke and it was too much like hard work to keep taking it out of the freezer and whisk it.) So I just whisked it as it began to freeze then stuck it in the freezer and hoped for the best. It was fine.

Just fed some to my son and he told me I should sell it.

[Bunnylump]

As you may have guessed from the last post, I've been baking. This is an amalgamation of several recipes and with some of my own tweaks. It's quite tart and very fruity, but that's the way I like it. Not namby-pamby.

Raspberry curd

Ingredients
350g raspberries
100g butter
200g granulated sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
150ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
5 large eggs, lightly beaten

Method

Purèe the raspberries in a food processor.

Microwave the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice for 4-5 minutes, stirring once, until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Let the mixture cool a little.

Put a sieve over the butter and sugar mixture. Put the eggs and raspberry purèe into the sieve and push through into the bowl. Stir well. Return to the microwave and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the curd begins to thicken, removing every minute and whisking to prevent scrambling.

Spoon the curd into sterilised jars.

[Bunnylump]

If anyone wants a really yummy, cheap and easy soup recipe for bonfire night, this one is great. Just tried it, and thoroughly recommend.

RED LENTIL, CUMIN AND CORIANDER SOUP

Serves 6 (easily - and you could easily stretch it by adding more water)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 Level teaspoon ground coriander
I level teaspoon ground turmeric *
1 level teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of ground cloves
350g split red lentils
1.2 litres veg stock (I just used cubes)
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
20g fresh coriander (but don't imagine this is essential!!)

1 large green chilli chopped, to garnish (optional. I didn't add this and it was fine without it.)

Heat the oil in a big pan, add the onion, then cover and cook gently for 5 mins, without browning. Add the dried spices, then cook, stirring frequently, for a further 5 minutes.

Add the lentils and stock, cover, then bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender (it only took about 14 minutes when I did it.)

Add the tomatoes, then simmer for 10 mins. Blend with the fresh coriander leaves until smooth. Season to taste.

Fry the green chilli for 2 mins and use to garnish soup (if you want to.)


You will find that if you let the soup go cold and heat it up again, it gets really thick and starts to form a crust. Just add a bit more water and stir, and it sorts it out (plus makes it go further!)

[giraffe]

Why is there a * by tumeric

[Bunnylump]

Oh, sorry, forgot to come back to that. I was going to put a warning - in case anyone isn't familiar with its STAINING properties! Whatever you do, don't get it in a white sink!

[Bunnylump]

Has anyone tried making the Nigella Lawson "Easy Action Christmas Cake" by any chance?

[LAT]

I don't think I have ever made a Christmas cake of any type.

[giraffe]

I haven't made one for years, because hardly anyone eats it.