Northumberland Gazette Article - 20th November 2014

Northumberland Gazette Article - 20th November 2014

I've had a lovely month since I last wrote. We've enjoyed Halloween, with the kids revelling in trying to scare the neighbours, and bonfire night which ended up with no bonfire (well, a very flame retardant, damp one) but lots of fun with friends and neighbours and fireworks! Of course, the best thing about both of these occasions is always the food. The leftover (on purpose) pumpkin that makes it's way into soups, cakes, pasta and pies, and the traditional delights that we have to enjoy on bonfire night - for me it has to be tinned tomato soup, from a flask, and hot sausage sandwiches. It's the law. It makes me feel so nostalgic about lovely bonfire nights on the farm, as a child. Frugal or not, sometimes nostalgia has to reign.

I have been incredibly frugal this month, actually. I am always, of course, but this month was such a busy one that I didn't make it to the shops until today. And that was under duress. I had a few cherry tomatoes, some mushrooms, half an onion and a few spinach leaves in the fridge (not another veg to be seen. Oops) and I'd even run out of my staple tinned tomatoes in my store cupboard. Regular readers may be able to feel my panic. I found some pork mince and decided to concoct a recipe. It had to be something that the kids would eat as well so I decided to base it around pancakes. I've always got flour, milk and eggs so that's easy enough. Although even my flour ran out so my batter was rather runny! I added a little grated cheese so that we could have cheesy pancakes and decided to use these to layer up the mince.

I created a sort of pancake lasagne with mushrooms and pork mince! It was not bad at all. I cooked the onion and mushrooms in butter, oil and garlic and then added the mince. I turned the heat up to brown it and added lots of thyme, a splash of white wine vinegar, a squirt of tomato ketchup, a crumbled beef stock cube and some salt and pepper. I found some soft cheese with herbs that needed used and I mixed that in.

I had some natural yoghurt so I mixed in a beaten egg, salt and pepper, and a grating of nutmeg. I would have loved to have made a proper bechamel sauce but a) time was against me, b) I wanted to make it healthy and c) even though I'd have overridden points a) and b), I couldn't override the fact that i had run out of flour. So, healthy version it was! It worked pretty well, really!

In a buttered oven dish, I started with a layer of the mince, a sprinkling of tomatoes and spinach then added a layer of cheesy pancakes. I poured some of the yoghurt mix on top of this and then repeated the same steps, ending with a final layer of yoghurt and the best pancake that I'd made (obviously the last one. Why is that always the way?) on the top and a sprinkling of cheese for good measure. I baked it for 20 minutes (longer would have been better but my kids were ready for bed. I served it with some green beans I found in the freezer.

If I was to make this again I'd add some breadcrumbs to the mix to soak up some of the juices.



Whether you want to admit it or not, Christmas is almost upon us. Homemade Christmas cake, pudding and mincemeat just can't be beaten. It might feel like an initial outlay getting the dried fruit etc but it's so worth it when you're enjoying your own fare. And you can be enjoying mincemeat for months and months (or years! I’m still using mincemeat from 2 years ago!) to come and it makes a lovely gift too. Before you hit the shops, make sure you’ve delved right to the back of your cupboards as you might just find some of the ingredients there and they last for so long that I can almost guarantee they’ll be fine!

I'd especially encourage you to make your own mincemeat. I have to force myself not to eat it directly from the jar. It really is that good.

I make mince pies throughout the festive season but I also use it to jazz up ice cream or to make desserts out of apparently nothing. Try making a mincemeat sponge pudding - it gives a real wow factor yet fabulously frugal off-the-cuff pudd - or use it as a lovely addition to bread and butter pudding. Create little mincemeat sandwiches when you're assembling it.

I sometimes make individual sundaes as a sweet treat during the winter. It is rare that I wouldn't have ice cream and some frozen fruit in the freezer. Frozen cherries are great to have in the house for delicious impromptu puddings.

This is my go-to mincemeat recipe. I've made this for far too many years to mention. It's Delia Smith's and it's still the best. I'd encourage everyone to make this or to get children to make it. It's a fun and easy recipe to make as it's really just assembly and stirring, whilst surrounding yourself in the most amazing Christmassy smells imaginable.



The Best Mincemeat Ever (thanks Delia)

450g cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped.
225g shredded suet
350g raisins
225g sultanas
225g currants
225g mixed candied peel
350g soft dark brown sugar
Grated rind and juice of 2 oranges
Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
50g sliced almonds
4 teaspoons ground mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ nutmeg, grated
6 tablespoons brandy

Just mix all the ingredients, except for the brandy (although I sometimes add a little here too), together in a large bowl very thoroughly. Then cover with a cloth and leave for 12 hours. Place the mincemeat, loosely covered with foil, in a cool oven, 120c or gas ¼, for 3 hours. This process slowly melts the suet which coats the rest of the ingredients and prevents fermentation taking place if too much juice seeps from the apples during storage. Then allow it to cool, stir in the brandy and spoon into sterilised jars. Cover with waxed discs and seal.

Leave it for as long as possible before using but if you can actually stick to this, you’ve got more will power than I have!

Mincemeat Sundae

This usually comes about when I'm desperate for pudding but haven't got anything in or the time (or inclination) to create something from scratch.

As I mentioned earlier, frozen cherries are very handy and they form a base for this. They go nicely with the orangey, brandy flavours that come from the mincemeat.

I melt a knob of butter in a saucepan over a low heat, add about a tablespoon of honey and a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Stir until it’s a smooth consistency and add a handful of the frozen cherries. Stir frequently. I also add an extra squirt of orange (or Satsuma as they’re always in my kitchen at this time of the year).

Put a spoonful of the mixture in the bottom of a glass, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a spoonful of mincemeat, another scoop of ice cream and then I mix about a teaspoon of mincemeat with the remaining cherry sauce and pour it over the ice cream. If I had some amaretti biscuits I would have crumbled some through the layers or on the top with some toasted almonds but, alas, I had neither! It was still delicious though!

Northumberland Gazette Article 25th Sept 14

Hello again! It's been a while! I'm afraid my busy life has interrupted my column a bit and I'll be writing on a monthly basis for a while. Thanks for all the great feedback I've had. It's lovely to hear!

Without a doubt the key to lowering your food budget is to learn to love your leftovers and use every last tiny bit of your ingredients and leftovers, not wasting a single thing.

Roast dinners are definitely the best way to work this strategy. Spending a few pounds on a joint of meat will give you multiple delicious meals, each one completely different. It will also provide you with the most amazing cooking fats and stocks.

I often buy joints of meat that are in the reduced section of the supermarket or I buy them when they're on special offer and freeze them for later. A roast dinner makes everything better so it’s good to have one in the house for when you need some TLR (tender loving roast).

I hope you were all able to get out and support theAlnwick Food Festival last weekend! It was great. The market place was a hive of activity with lots of delicious food and gorgeous crafts for sale.

I did a budget cookery demonstration on a Sunday which was terrifying and brilliant in equal measures!  There was a great turn out so I wanted to thank everyone for supporting the festival, to Karen Larkin for asking me to take part and to all the lovely people who were there helping me, particularly my lovely friend Gail for braving the stage with me!

I had a lovely time cooking for a lovely audience and chatting away – the hour went by very quickly.

I showed how to make some quick and easy meals from a leftover roast chicken. I promised that I would share the recipes with you all. So here goes!  Now you’ve got no excuse for wasting any of your lovely roast chicken from now on! 

Chicken Stock

Simply put the chicken carcass in a large pan and cover with boiling water.  Add carrot, celery and onion, roughly chopped into large pieces, along with 2 bay leaves and about 1 tsp of whole black peppercorns.

Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and leave it to simmer for about an hour and a half.

Sieve the stock into a large bowl and leave to cool before either using for a recipe straight away or freezing for later.

Chicken Rogan Josh

Heat some oil in a large frying pan or wok. Groundnut or vegetable oil would be best.

Add a chopped onion, a chopped red chilli, 2 chopped garlic cloves and 1 tsp of salt to the oil and cook over a low heat until the onion has softened.

Add the following spices to the pan: garammasala, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and mild curry powder. Stir in to the onion to create a paste, adding extra oil if necessary.

Let it cook for a few minutes and then add the chopped chicken and some leftover gravy, if you have some. Stir it all together. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a little water. Let it cook for a few minutes and then add about 5 or 6 tbsps of natural yoghurt. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Use this time to get your rice on.

Add 1 or 2 tbsps of mango or apple chutney and a handful of chopped coriander. Stir in and remove from the heat. Sprinkle more coriander over the top and serve with the rice.


Chicken and broccoli gratin

Steam some broccoli and reserve the cooking water.

Heat some butter in a large frying pan or casserole over a very low heat so as not to burn the butter.

Add a couple of tbsps of flour and stir into a roux. Let it cook off for a few minutes and add the chicken. Stir it all together well.

Add the cooking water, gradually, stirring all the time. Season with some salt and pepper.

Add about 1 heaped tbsp of wholegrain mustard and a large handful of grated cheese. I used a mix of grana padano and cheddar.

If you have any chicken skin left, chop it into small pieces and fry in a dry pan until very crispy.

Pour the chicken mixture into an oven dish,sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs and cheese onto the top and dot with butter.

Grill under a medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Special fried rice

This recipe was used as a way of using left over chicken but also left over rice from the Rogan Josh. This can be adjusted to include almost anything you’d like and is great for left over vegetables from your roast dinner too.

This is a very basic and very quick recipe that you can have on the table within minutes.

Fry off some chopped chorizo in a dry pan and as the fat starts to render, add chopped mushrooms.

Let this cook off for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms start to soften.

Add the leftover chicken and heat through.

Now add some rice, spring onions and peas and stir to combine the flavours and heat the rice up. Season with salt, pepper and a few chilli flakes.

Finally, make some space in the pan and add a beaten egg.  Let it slightly set on the bottom, giving it a light stir, as if you are making an omelette.  When it’s still soft but starting to set stir it through the rice.  

 

 

 

Frugal dieting - super scrummy spicy soup

I just made such a scrummy lunch, I had to share it! It was SO tasty! So tasty, in fact, that I forgot to take a photo! I'll be making it again this week so I'll try and remember then!

Ok, you could definitely serve this to 2 people. Especially if you serve bread with it. I'm greedy though and am calorie counting and knew I was allowed all of it!

Total calorie count is approx 355 so you can indulge yourself and scoff the lot or share it (grudgingly) and only use 177 calories! 

I chopped the veg in the food processor so it was super speedy. 

Ingredients 

A little olive oil

1 onion, slices

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1/2 a yellow pepper, finely chopped

1 tsp of each: ground cumin, ground coriander, mild chilli powder, mild curry powder, dried thyme 

1/2 a tsp ground cinnamon, turmeric, crushed chillies

400g tin of tomatoes

Salt and pepper

1 heaped tsp coconut milk powder 

100g mixed bean salad 

1 tsp balsamic vinegar 

Method 

Fry the onion in the oil until softened. Add the chopped veg and all the herbs and spices. Cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes, keeping it moving. Add the tomatoes and about half a tin of water. Add the salt and pepper and the coconut milk powder and stir. Add the bean salad and balsamic, bring to the boil and reduced to a simmer for about 5 mins. 

Scoff!

Browsing the beautiful food at a Cretan market

I love a good wander round a food market. Especially in 30degrees heat in beautiful Crete!

Browsing the beautiful food at a Cretan market..

I love a good wander round a food market. Especially in 30degrees heat in beautiful Crete!

Northumberland Gazette Article 22nd May 2014

Tomatoes are such a staple store cupboard ingredient and, judging by the poll on my blog, tinned tomatoes seem to be most people's must-have ingredient. 

I love them too and am always thinking of new ways to use them. They're a seriously fantastic source of goodness, even more so when they're cooked, and it's easy to get them into most kids so they're a no-brainer!

It amazes me how many jars there are of tomato-based pasta sauce in every supermarket across the land. I understand that we all have busy lives and the odd jar of something to speed things up is handy, occasionally, but it is so easy to make a far superior pasta sauce yourself. If you have the time to let it simmer for ages to let the flavours mingle together for longer then all the better (the preparation time is still quick though) but if you've got 10 minutes from start to finish, that's fine too. The good thing about DIYing, as always, is that you'll know exactly what's gone into it so it's not overloaded with salt or sugar or preservatives and it's cheaper. 

Add whatever vegetables that you fancy (if you're feeling extravagant you could add a tin of artichokes, some sun-dried tomatoes and chargrilled peppers) but I'm going to keep it very simple and give you a basic tomato pasta sauce recipe which you can dress up or keep simple and you could also whizz up and have it nice and smooth as a soup. It's also good as a pizza sauce if you let it simmer for longer to make a thicker sauce. 

I've just been to Crete and, as always, the tomatoes have been to die for (and a ridiculously regular part of my daily diet). I know that sounds healthy but I'm not sure the mountain of creamy tsatziki I've been enjoying, on an also ridiculously regular basis, has been quite as good for me! 

If you can get some lovely, fat and juicy tomatoes keep it fresh and use them in a bread salad. Just combine tomatoes, salt and pepper, a sliced red onion and some roughly chopped stale white bread. Pour over 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and lots of fresh basil. I like mine very vinegary so I tend to add more vinegar. It's all down to personal preference. 

Once you've tasted the bread salad you'll be letting your bread go stale on purpose and growing your own tomatoes! As soon as you taste it you'll be transported to your favourite sunny idyll for a few minutes. 

You're too late to raise your own tomato plants from seeds but you're not too late to buy a plant and grow your own delicious fruit. In fact, as it gets a little later in the season, you can often get some bargain plants that are desperate to be re-potted. Keep an eye out in your local garden centre. 

And if you're going to grow your own tomatoes, be sure to grow your own basil while you're at it!

I recently made an aubergine and chickpea lasagne. It was a massive hit with the kids and we all enjoyed it. It is really nutritious and something a little different. It takes a little preparation time but it's worth it. 

Or how about blitzing fresh tomatoes with garlic, chilli flakes, oregano, pesto and creme fraiche and having with prawns and pasta? Even better if you marinate your prawns in oil, garlic, lemon juice and more chilli!

A tin of tomatoes combined with loads of garlic and rosemary or oregano and some lemon zest is a lovely accompaniment to a slow roasted joint of lamb. Preheat oven to gas mark 6/ 200c. Smother a 2kg shoulder of lamb in the sauce, cover with foil, turn the oven down to gas mark 3/ 170c and cook for about 4 hours. I'll be making this soon to revive the Greek holiday memories!

Simple Tomato Pasta Sauce 

Serves4

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 red onion (you could use shallots or a white onion though), chopped

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 

1 tbsp tomato ketchup 

2 tbsp tomato purée 

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp chilli flakes 

Pinch of salt and black pepper 

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed 

Handful of fresh basil, chopped (optional)

Method

Heat the oil up in a large, heavy based, pan. 

Add the onion, garlic and salt and turn the heat to low. Cook until the onion is soft. Don't let the garlic go brown. The salt will help to soften the onions quicker. 

Pour the tins of tomatoes into the pan along with all the other ingredients except the basil and bring it to the boil.  Give it a good stir.  Lower the heat and let it simmer for as long as you can. If you are going to let it slow cook you'll need some extra liquid so just fill your used tomato tin with water and add that too.  Add the basil at the end, if using. 

Stir through cooked pasta and grate parmesan cheese over the top. 

Aubergine and Chickpea Lasagne

Serves 6

Ingredients 

For the tomato and chickpea sauce:

1 tbsp oil

A couple of inches of chorizo sausage, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

A handful of mushrooms (but I only had 3!), chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped 

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp mixed herbs

Half glass red wine

2 carrots, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

Salt and pepper

1 tin chickpeas

1 tbsp pesto (optional)

For the aubergine:

1 aubergine, finely sliced lengthways 

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tbsp oil

For the cheese sauce:

Approx 40g butter

Approx 3tbsp plain flour

Approx 500mls milk

Lots of grated cheese

Salt and pepper

A grating of nutmeg

Method 

Dry fry some chorizo and then add the oil, onion, celery, mushrooms and garlic in a large pan with chilli powder and mixed herbs.

If you have some leftover wine (see tip) add this now and let it boil for a couple of mins so the alcohol cooks off. Add the carrots and any other veg that you want to use. I used a yellow pepper. Add tins of tomatoes, stock cube, a tomato tin filled with boiling water, balsamic vinegar, sugar, tomato ketchup, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 45 mins - 1 hour. 

Add a tin of drained chickpeas 10 mins before the end. 

Stir in the pesto, if you have any. 

Slice an aubergine, lengthways, and pop the pieces in a freezer bag with the oil and oregano. (You'll probably have to do this in 2 goes) Give the bag a shake and make sure all the aubergine slices are coated. Now fry these in a hot pan on each side. I use a griddle pan. 

Prepare a cheese sauce - make a roux with flour and butter in a saucepan. Whisk in warmed milk, season with salt and pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Add lots of grated cheese and stir it in until it's melted.

When all of the components are ready, assemble the lasagne in a large oven dish. 

Start with your tomato and chickpea sauce, sprinkle some grated cheese over it, add aubergine slices then cover with cheese sauce and repeat. Finish with a good top layer of cheese sauce, some grated cheese and a sprinkling of oregano. 

Bake at gas mark 7, 220c for around 25 mins until golden and bubbling hot. 

Serve with garlic bread and a green salad. 

Tip: if you ever have any leftover wine freeze it in an ice cube tray and just use as many cubes as you need, as and when you need them!

Regrow your veg!

Have you tried regrowing veg before? I've  been trying it with celery and it's amazing! You can do it with lots of things. My friend, Victoria, has tried onions, spring onions and carrots and she's now trying pineapple! 

You just need to pop the root into water and watch it grow. The celery started growing almost immediately. I'm about to plant it out and start another one. 

Go try it!