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! 

TIP: Get more out of your potatoes

I've just got back from my holiday and haven't been to any shops yet so have been cooking from what we have left in the cupboards for the last few days. 

I had some mince in the freezer that I bought on offer in lidl before the holiday (£1 for 500g!!! I bought 6!). And I had some potatoes left so I've just made a big cottage pie which should last is a couple of days. 

When I was making the mash, I decided to steam the potato peelings over the potato pan. I was really doing it to give them to the hens (spoilt chucks) but it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to do it other times too as most of the nutrition is in the skins so I guess some of this goodness should have worked it's way into the pan below. Just using common sense, so I may be wrong!!

I had a load of leeks that I dug before I went (to make way for new plants) that I didn't get a chance to cook so I desperately needed to use them. So I decided to make leek and potato soup for our lunches this week. 

To try and use fewer potatoes in the soup and to avoid losing any of the potential nutrients that I had (hopefully) just created in the mash water, I used all the potato cooking water in the soup. That way I would get the potato flavour and the starch needed to make the soup thick and creamy. 

It seems to have worked as it's super-creamy and really tasty! Fabulous!

Right, off to the shop to get some veg. Won't be long until I'm eating from my garden again. Can't wait!

Northumberland Gazette Article 1st May 2014

I've done it! My second month of £50 grocery shopping is complete. Now I need to check out my cupboards and get inventive again! 

It's also time to get planting. In all honesty, I should have done this earlier but it just means that some things will be ready a little later than usual. 

If you've been inspired to get your gardening gloves on for the first time, why not start with the really fresh, perishable ingredients such as lettuce, salad leaves and herbs? This is a great way to keep you out of the supermarket and they are the easiest things to grow, absolutely anywhere. Use pots, windowsills, borders or, if you've got the space, create a vegetable garden. Some leaves, like rocket, are so hardy that you are rewarded all year round. And some herbs will also stay throughout the year while others will pop up again every spring. It's a great feeling going out to the garden to get your own ingredients.  I have rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, oregano, parsley, chives, dill and tarragon. I have a constant great supply and all from a couple of hours work, a few years ago. Basil and coriander are great windowsill or greenhouse herbs and give you an instant taste of sunshine. Freeze herbs so that you have a year round supply. Either freeze them whole in freezer bags or chop them, put them into ice cube trays and cover with water. Freeze and you'll have lots of herby ice cubes at your disposal. 

Why not give radishes and spring onions a go too? They are also quick and easy to grow, anywhere. 

If you've got a small patio, you could grow a tomato plant in a sunny spot or you could stick some seed potatoes in a pot and have panfuls of buttery, minty new potatoes in the next few months. A top frugal tip is to plant out any potato skins that have started to grow shoots. Just peel them carefully, use the potato as normal and put the skin in some compost. Et voila, free potatoes!

If you would like to make your own compost, get savvy about what you can use. All our egg shells, tea bags, peelings etc make it onto the compost heap, along with any fresh things that the hens won't want.

Once you start growing, you'll want to grow more and more. It's therapeutic, rewarding and, most importantly, cheap!

Why not upcycle to create your own, unique, pots. An old sink, bath, watering can, bucket... The list goes on. You don't need to spend money on new pots. I'm going to use some old broken drawers to grow lettuce and herbs this year. Why not check out freecycle and get creative?

With grow-your-own in mind, here is a nice little potato recipe to whet your appetite. You can play around with the ingredients to use up any leftover meat or veg so it's a great way to avoid wasting anything. 



Rosti with poached egg

I love a rosti. I often make them for Saturday lunchtimes or Sunday suppers. 

Grate about 6 raw, peeled potatoes (I use the food processor), squeeze the excess water out of the potatoes, add a beaten egg, 1.5 tbsp flour, pinch of salt and pepper, some chopped herbs, a handful of grated cheese and any chopped veg and meat. I used some chorizo, an onion, a green pepper, a celery stick and a carrot. You could add a spoonful of Dijon mustard, if you fancy. 

Shape into balls and squash them down to about 1.5cm thick. 

Fry them in some oil on a low heat. Turn over when browned. 

While they're cooking make some poached eggs.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt and a capful of white wine vinegar and then break your eggs into the pan (I tend to do 2 at a time). Turn off the heat immediately and cook for about 3 minutes or until the yolk is at your desired consistency. 

Put an egg on top of each rosti and serve immediately. Call us Northern but we had it with some sweet curry sauce and it was lovely!

Northumberland Gazette Article 16th May 2014

Eggs are one of my go-to ingredients when I want something on the table quickly and without too much thought. They're cheap and nutritious and the kids love them. 

We have 4 hens at the moment and we're getting a few more over the coming weeks. They're really easy to keep and they're lovely to have around. When I'm in the vegetable garden and they're clucking around me it's so calming. 

They're like our dustbins. They eat anything that is left on our plates along with fruit and vegetable peelings, grass cuttings and weeds and they turn it all into the most delicious eggs. 

As well as the obvious - fried, poached, scrambled and boiled eggs - I make omelettes and frittatas, pasta, pancakes, Yorkshire puddings...you name it. 

I make poached eggs for breakfast most days and add them to lots of other dishes. If you fancy a weekend treat with your poached egg, try my fail-safe hollandaise sauce and you've got homemade eggs benedict. It's certainly not slimming but it's seriously yummy. 

Melt 100g butter.

Separate 2 eggs. Put the egg whites in the fridge or freezer, for future use. 

Add the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper to the egg yolks. 

Using an electric whisk, beat the egg yolks on a medium speed until they go paler and start to thicken. 

Up the whisk speed and gently pour the melted butter into the egg mixture until you've got a nice thick, creamy consistency. 

Pour it over your freshly poached eggs and serve immediately. Now, shut your eyes and pretend you're sitting in a trendy cafe in downtown New York. That might just be my daydream, though.  Sorry. 

Want a good recipe to mop up the odds and ends that are hanging around and making your fridge look messy? A frittata is a great choice. It serves 4 and is really easy, fast and the added bonus is there is very little washing up required!

I like to use cooked potatoes, chopped into chunks, pretty much any cooked veg, chorizo, chilli flakes, spring onions and herbs. 

Cook the chorizo, potatoes, and veg in some oil in a frying pan. When the potatoes are starting to brown, turn the heat down and add 6 beaten eggs (seasoned with salt, pepper and chilli flakes). If you're not as greedy as we are, you might get away with 4!

Sprinkle in some herbs of your choice. Some chopped chives or dill, or dried mixed herbs or oregano are nice. 

I often pop in some halved cherry tomatoes at this point too. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Any cheese is fine. I happen to love feta though. 

Cook for around 8-10 mins until the the bottom and sides are set. Then pop it under the grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted and the egg is cooked. 

Serve warm or cold. It's great for picnics. 

Or how about this? Combine flour and an egg and you've got pasta. Add some herbs or wild garlic and you've got something really special. Tweaking it with whatever you fancy can create a unique dish that you'd be proud to serve to friends. 

This is so worth the initial kneading. It's so tasty and really easy. And really, you can't get much more frugal than this so your piggy bank will thank you too. 

Wild Garlic Pasta

Serves 2 people. Easily doubled. 

Ingredients

150g Plain flour

1 egg

1 tbsp oil

Handful of wild garlic

Salt and pepper

Method

Put all the ingredients in the food processor and whizz. It should be a nice green dough now. 

Pop it on an oiled surface and stretch it, turn it over and stretch it again to make it more workable. Then knead until your dough is nice and smooth and elastic. 

Roll the dough out as thinly as you can (if you have a pasta machine, you're luckier than me! Use it!) and slice it into the shape of your choice. I like long fat strands, a bit like tagliatelle. 

Pop it all in a pan of salted, boiling water and cook until you reach the desired texture. About 5 mins should do it. 

As it's already flavoured, I would favour a knob of butter and a scant sprinkling of Parmesan to a sauce but if you were desperate for a sauce, a tomato base would probably work the best. 

If you like pancakes (of course you do! Who doesn't?), why not try stuffing them (sautéed leeks or mushrooms are particularly good) covering with a sauce (I love a cheese sauce) and some crunchy breadcrumbs, and baking it. It's real comfort food and about as cheap as it gets. 

Talking about comfort food, toad in the hole is a particular favourite in our house. We often have it as a roast dinner substitute. I also like to add extra flavours such as sautéed leeks, onions or peppers into the dish just before I pour the batter in. You could also add some robust herbs to the batter - rosemary or thyme would both be great.  

Here is my basic toad in the hole recipe that always provides a fantastic rise and never hangs around very long in our household. We usually serve it with peas and gravy. It's the law, right? It is quite a naughty dish so feel free to serve with loads of veg to lessen the guilt! A nice walk might also be in order!

Toad in the Hole 

Serves 4

Ingredients 

8 fat sausages

3 eggs

115g/ 4oz plain flour

285mls/ Half pint milk 

Pinch of salt 

(This can be easily be doubled, and usually is in our house!)

Method

Preheat the oven to 230c/ gas 8.

Heat some oil in an oven tin. Add the sausages and cook them for around 15 mins or until very lightly browned. 

Meanwhile, mix the other ingredients together and whisk until you have a smooth batter that just coats the back of a spoon. 

Pour the batter over the sausages and cook for 30 minutes. Do not open the oven for at least 20 minutes or it will deflate. 

Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get too brown. Turn the heat down slightly, if it does. When it's huge, golden and crispy it's ready. 

Remove from the oven and enjoy!

If you've enjoyed the eggs feature of my 'ways with...' series and would like to see an ingredient featured, feel free to tweet me and I'll do my best to come up with some tasty, yet thrifty, dishes. 

My basic bread recipe

This is my basic bread recipe that I tend to make most days. 

Ingredients 

300g wholemeal bread flour

200g white bread flour

7g fast action yeast

290mls water

1 tsp sugar

20g oil

1 tsp salt

Method 

1. Combine the flours, salt and oil in a bowl. 

2. Combine the water, sugar and yeast* in a bowl

3. Combine the water mix with the flour mix and mix until you have a sticky but kneadable (is that a word?!) consistency (if using a mixer, mix with a dough hook for approx 5 mins and then knead for a couple of mins by hand until you have a fairly smooth - note that, as it is mainly a wholemeal bread recipe, it will never be completely smooth - dough that feels quite elastic. If you press it with your finger it should spring back to about half way).

4. Knead for around 10 mins. See above for the consistency that you are looking for. 

5. Make a ball shape and leave in the bowl, covered with cling film, to prove for around an hour and a half.

6. Knock the dough back and knead again for a couple of mins. Shape your dough to however you wish and, if using, place in a loaf tin. Leave to prove for a further 45 mins to an hour, in a warm place. Turn the oven on to 220c/ gas 7

7. Place in the preheated oven and throw in a couple of tbsps water in an oven tray underneath. Cook for 15 mins at 220c/ gas 7 and then reduce the heat to 200c/ gas 6 for a further 30 mins. If it is looking too brown just reduce the heat further. 

8. Remove from oven and check that it's ready by tapping on the bottom. It should sound hollow. Place on a rack and leave to cool. 

9. Enjoy with lashings of butter! 

*If you're not using fast action yeast, combine the yeast with 200mls warm water and the sugar and leave for about 10 mins until it is all frothy. Add it to the flour mix and then add the remaining water. 

Culling the Easter eggs!!

I've decided I've restrained myself long enough now and I'm going to start gradually, and secretly, melting down the Easter eggs. They're taking up too much space! And this way I can have a piece or 2 and not, accidentally, inhale the whole thing. 

This time I melted a few chocolate eggs down in a bowl over some boiling water. 

In another bowl I put some Rice Krispies, chopped marshmallows, a chopped kit kat chunky (from an Easter egg!), salted peanuts, dried cranberries, currants and cherries. 

Mix it all into the melted chocolate and spread onto a baking tray. 

Put it in the fridge until set and break into chunks for easy future devouring. 

Northumberland gazette, 8th May 2014

At this time of year, I am never without wild garlic in my fridge. It's the ultimate in frugality - it's free - and it grows in abundance in most woodland/ riverside area. As I live next to a river and a wood, there's never a shortage here! I featured 'ways with wild garlic' a while ago on my blog. It's such a versatile ingredient. I make hummus, pesto, flavoured oil and butter, pasta, bread and lots more and I add it to my cooking all the time, at this time of year. 

Get yourself out foraging. Making delicious food out of free ingredients is a great feeling. The season lasts until around the end of May, so don't delay.  Wild garlic pesto lasts for absolutely ages, so make lots and keep it in the fridge and you'll be enjoying it through to next year's season. And whizz it up with some oil and have garlicky oil at your fingertips for months to come. Check out my blog for the most moreishly delicious focaccia smothered in wild garlic oil. Might not be great for the bikini diet but it's good for the soul! Or treat it like a herb and chop it finely, and cover with water in ice cube trays. When they're frozen pop the ice cubes in freezer bags and use a few cubes whenever you fancy in your cooking. 

At this point in the season, you'll start finding pretty white flowers on the garlic. These are perfectly edible and make a pretty addition to salads or to beautify a bowl of wild garlic soup. 

I also always have chorizo in my fridge. It lasts for ages (far longer than I ever manage to keep it) and you only need a small quantity to make a real flavour difference to your food.  I use it as a base in so many dishes and practically all of my soups.  I often add it to my pasta when I'm having pasta with wild garlic and hazelnut pesto. The smokey paprika flavour complements the wild garlic beautifully. 

With this in mind I devised a nice little cheese scone recipe with chorizo and wild garlic. 

Scones are a great, cheap and filling treat. You can adapt them to include whatever you fancy or whatever you have! Or you can enjoy them plain. I've said it before but if you have a bag of flour, you'll never go hungry! 

Cheese, chorizo and wild garlic scones 

Ingredients 

500g Strong white flour

2 tsp baking powder 

80g Butter

200g Grated cheese plus some extra for sprinkling on top

1/2 tsp of salt 

40g Chorizo, very finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

30g wild garlic, finely chopped

200g milk plus extra for brushing on top

Method

Put the flour and baking powder in a bowl.  

Rub the butter into the flour, with your fingertips, until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs. 

Meanwhile, fry the chorizo on a low heat until it has rendered it's fat and add the spring onions. After a couple of minutes, add the wild garlic. Let it wilt for about 30 seconds and turn the heat off. Add this, along with the salt and the grated cheese, to the flour mixture. 

Gradually add the milk (you may not need it all) until you have a soft, sticky dough. Don't make it too wet.

Knead it for a couple of minutes on a floured surface. Then roll it out to approximately 2cm thick. 

Cut them into about 18 scones. If you don't have a cutter, rather than roll the dough out, you could just make lots of balls and flatten them out to around 2cm thick. They won't have the nice straight sides but they'll have a lovely rustic appearance!

Brush some milk over the tops and add a sprinkling of grated cheese. 

Put on a hot baking tray in a preheated oven at 200c/ gas mark 6. Cook for around 15 mins until they are golden brown. 

Enjoy warmed with lots of butter and a cuppa. Or go all Spanish and complement them with a glass of Rioja!