One Pan Kedgeree

The most delicious thing that I’ve tasted made with smoked haddock is kedgeree.  So when I was tempted into buying some, kedgeree it had to be! Evidence suggests that this dish came from Scotland to England via India . Traditionally a breakfast dish, it makes a good dinner too.

The problem with many kedgeree recipes is the number of pans required- rice, eggs, fish and sauce cooked separately.  Can it be done with just one?  And can something be done about all this butter and frying, without sacrificing the taste?

Of course, here’s what I used to do it:

• 2 fillets smoked haddock
• 1 bunch spring onions
• 6oz rice
• Approx 1 tsp each turmeric, coriander and cumin and a pinch of chilli powder (you can substitute curry powder, or your favourite spices).
• A handful or two of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 desertspoon vegetable stock powder or 1/2 cube
• 1 teacup of milk
• 2 eggs

And here’s what I did:

1. Put the rice in a big pan or wok with the stock powder, the eggs and enough boiling water to cover or nearly cover the eggs.
2. Cover (if you’re using a wok you may need to use a baking tray) and simmer for around 6 minutes or until the eggs are hard boiled.
3. While this is cooking, chop the spring onions.
4. Remove the eggs and place in cold water.  Add the spices and spring onions and mix well.  Lay the fish over the top, cover, and simmer gently until the fish flakes easily with a fork.  You may need to turn it during cooking.
5. Meanwhile, peel and chop the eggs and chop the parsley.
6. When the fish is opaque and flakes easily, break it up with a fork and mix it in.  Add the parsley, eggs and milk.  Cover, and heat through while you get ready to serve.

I was pleased with the results! I discovered the technique of steaming the fish over the rice in a recipe that I can’t trace now, but it’s a method I’ll stick with! Eliminating the fat and additional pans from this recipe left a hearty easy-to-make dish, suffused with the subtleties of a classic combination of ingredients.

Camping Food 2: Vegetable Satay

This is another meal that requires only 1 gas ring or hob to cook it, but this time it only needs one pan! It’s ideal for camping,  and could also be useful in student houses where there’s competition for the kitchen.

As I mentionned in my last post, the main issue when camping is finding a carbohydrate that cooks quickly enough.  This time, I’ve made use of straight-to-wok noodles that require very little cooking.

The first time we made this was straight after a brief camping trip.  It was so tasty we made sure it was on the menu for our recent camping holiday.  This recipe uses a lot of seasoning – if you’re worried about space when camping, mix the sauce ingredients in a tub or jar and take it with you.

Here’s what we used:

• 1 packet stir fry veg (cheaper than buying the ingredients individually for 2)
• 1 packet straight to wok noodles
• 3 desertspoons peanut butter
• 3 desertspoons Soy sauce
• About 1 tsp chilli powder or to taste
• Some water

And here’s what we did:

1. Fry the vegetables until they’re soft.
2. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce and chilli powder.  I started with the amounts listed above.  If you’re not sure how much to use, don’t use much.  You can always  add more later.
3. Add enough water to make a sauce, so it’s about 1cm deep in your pan, and give it a good stir.
4. When it’s come to the boil, taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary.  I added some extra soy sauce.
5. Now add the noodles, break them up with a wooden spoon (or whatever’s to hand!), and heat them through.

This simple sauce may not be an authentic Asian recipe, but it’s plate-lickingly good.  The portions weren’t as generous as for the pasta meal in my last post, but the quantities are easy enough to alter if you have a hungry hoard to feed!

Camping Food 1: Tuna Pasta

What do you eat when camping, with just one gas ring?  Baked beans and spaghetti  hoops?  Tinned stew?  Barbecue?

I dare to say vegetables.  They keep well in a cool box. They’re cheap, light and pretty quick to cook.  That’s the crux of camping for me.  Anyone who’s tried to cook in the wind when camping will know that traditional cooking times can go right out the window.

This means that the challenge of camping cooking is carbohydrates, so star ingredient #1 is quick cook pasta, which in ideal circumstances cooks in five minutes.  We came up with this idea on our first, pedestrian camping holiday and it worked just as well in Cornwall this year.

So, here’s what we used:

1. 2 pans and 1 gas ring
2. 1/2 packet quick cook pasta
3. 1 onion
4. 1 pepper
5. 1 tub italian antipasti, eg olives, artichokes, peppers (  you can always bring a few olives from home, or substitute another pepper).
6. 1 can chopped tomatoes
7. 1 can tuna
8. A little cooking oil
9. Herbs and black pepper

And here’s what you do:

• Chop all the vegetables.
• Put the pasta in pan no. 1 and cover it with water.  Put it on the cooker to boil, and cover it with a lid if you can.
• When it’s done, take it off the heat, drain it and set aside.
• Now fry your onion and pepper in the other pan.  Our antipasti were in oil, so I added these at this stage to reduce the amount of cooking oil needed.
• When the onion and pepper have softened, add the tin of tomatoes and the tin of tuna.  Add herbs and pepper as required. Stir well and bring to the boil.
• Add the drained pasta and cook until the sauce is thick and all of the food is piping hot.

This would be just as good cooked at home if you’re in a hurry, or share your kitchen.  The antipasti/olives are definitely worth adding if you’re able – they turn a tasty, satisfying meal into something truly scrummy!

Sweet Beetroot and Barley Broth

Vegetarian food can be so un-interesting, can’t it? Pick up a general cookbook and the vegetarian section will probably be full of meat meals with the meat substituted, veggie chilli, veggie curry, something with Tofu… You know the story.

One of my favourite ways to create a meal is to start with a vegetable. The variety of vegetables available is seemingly endless, and the number of flavours and dimensions that can be brought out of each one is often surprising. Many of these subtleties simply can’t be found in meat dishes.

So if you’re feeling bored with food, or tired of eating the same things in the name of keeping costs down or making food healthy, find a vegetable, and have a good long think about its flavour and what you could do with it.

Take fresh beetroot and pearl barley. They’re both flavours that I love. I normally experience pearly barley soaked in a nice meaty stock. However, one of the most beautiful things about root vegetables, and a reason they work so well in many meat dishes, is their sweetness.

I decided to capitalise on this. I diced three fresh beetroot and two parsnips, and placed them in my slow cooker with 1 sliced leek, for contrast. I poured in roughly half of a 500g bag of pearl  barley.

Now for the seasoning! I added two tablespoons of honey, and about a desertspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon. If you don’t eat honey, I am sure other sweeteners would work well. I covered it with two kettles full of hot water, and left to cook on low for ten hours.

The result was a beautifully clear, fragrant dish unlike any soup I had tasted before. The honey wasn’t sickly at all, it simply brought out the depth of flavour of the vegetables.  Go on, be brave, let your vegetables have a bit of personality!

Sausage Crumble

This recipe is vague because it was unexpected.  It wasn’t something I planned to plan- I thought sausage, my husband said crumble, and the rest is history! One of those surprises where you know from the first forkful that you will eat it many more times.

I first came across  a savoury crumble in the veggie section of my student cookbook. This recipe, however, would be great for anyone who loves a good pie and fancies something different, or doesn’t have the time or space to play with pastry.

Here’s what I used for 4 portions:

• 1 Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Cooking apple
• 6 Sausages
• A little flour and gravy powder
• Mace and cayenne pepper to taste
• 8oz Porridge oats
• 2oz Margarine
• 2oz Cheese

And here’s what I did:

1. Chop the carrots, onion and apple.
2. Snip the sausages into chunks and put them in a saucepan.  Cook until they’re tanned all over and the fragrance is filling the room.
3. Add the onion and cook until it’s soft.  You may have to add some oil if the sausages are very lean.
4. Add the carrots and apple and stir round until they start to melt into each other.
5. Stir in the flour, gravy powder, mace and cayenne pepper.  Add enough freshly boiled water to cover. Simmer until the sausages are done, and the sauce is nice and gloopy.
6. Now for the crumble topping.  Grate the cheese.  Rub the butter into the oats, and mix the cheese in.
7. Put the sausage mixture into an ovenproof dish, or individual dishes, and sprinkle on the topping.  Cook in a hot oven until the sauce bubbles and the  top is golden.
8. Cook some potatoes and veg while your crumble is in the oven, and serve with shed-loads of gravy!

We’ve eaten this twice as I made half the mixture as individual portions for the freezer, and we’re hooked! If you have a go at this let me know how you get on-  a friend has already made her own increased-cheese version.

Anchovy and Yogurt Dressing

One of the most beautiful things about summer is the salads.  Even if it’s not hot, salads are a great way to feast on seasonal produce, and  having home grown rocket and spinach from the yard is an added impetus to get creative in the salad bowl.

On this occasion I had half a pot of natural yogurt left over from the previous night’s dhal, and I was looking for a relatively inexpensive meal. Time to bring out a much under-valued combination – fish and beans.

I opened a can of anchovies, and poured all of the oil into a small bowl. Next, I chopped up the anchovies as small as I could, going over them three times. I put them in the bowl with the oil, and mixed in half a pound of yogurt and a capful of red wine vinegar.

When it was mixed well I swirled in a generous pinch of dried crushed chillies and a generous glug of tabasco. Don’t be scared of the chilli- it won’t make the salad spicy, just give it a bit of a kick. I’ll admit I was a little scared about this combination,  but wrapped around a salad it was sublime.  A definite success judging by the speed with which the salad disappeared!

This time the salad contained grated carrot, a can of cannelini beans, rocket and baby spinach from the yard, sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes, a chopped yellow pepper and heaps of whole olives. A lovely bowl full of sunshine! There were plenty of contrasting textures and the thick dressing pulled the flavours together perfectly.

Wiggly Pasta with Courgettes and Grana Padano Cheese

Wiggly pasta is one of the risks of food shopping with my other half.  You never quite know what will end up in the trolley, and on one occasion it was wiggly pasta, better known as tripoline.

A little frivolous, maybe, but more than a little useful when a speedy lunch is required.  In true Italian style, it’s time to create a sauce that will dress, accent and enhance the pasta, and not just smother it.

I started by chopping two courgettes lengthways, then chopping each half in the same way, so you have eight long, thin courgette quarters.  Next, I sliced each strip into little chunks.

Next comes the part where you chop or crush two cloves of garlic.  Today, I was lazy.  I used about a teaspoon of garlic puree.

I sloshed some olive oil in a frying pan, along with a piece of courgette, and let it heat up.  When the piece of courgette sizzled I threw in the rest  of the chunks and the garlic, giving it a good stir.

Then I put the pasta on to boil, using a wooden spoon to coax it all under water.  I stirred the courgettes regularly, turning the heat down until they were still soundling lively, but not really losing liquid.  Remember to add a little water or oil if they start to dry out.

When the pasta was tender and the courgettes meltingly soft and starting to brown, I drained the pasta and tossed in the courgettes and all the liquid from the pan.  Finally, I grated in about 1/3 of a block of grana padano cheese, one of life’s little luxuries.  If you don’t have this, use parmesan or another strongly flavoured cheese.

Stir the pasta and watch the cheese melt in.  Now arm yourself with spoon and fork, and demolish a little piece of Italy!