Bean salad

Saw this recipe in the Guardian this weekend, then ended up with an awful lot of yellow beans (3lb for $1) - seemed to fit together.

280g yellow beans (had loads of yellow and no green, so just used yellow)
280g french beans, trimmed
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into 0.5cm strips
2½ tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp extra
50g capers, rinsed and patted dry
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
10g roughly chopped tarragon (didn't have tarragon or chervil so used mixture of parsley and dill instead)
20g picked chervil (or a mixture of picked dill and shredded parsley)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and add the yellow beans. After two minutes, add the french beans and cook for four minutes more. Refresh under cold water, drain, pat dry and place in a large bowl. Toss the pepper strips in a teaspoon of oil, spread on an oven tray and roast for five minutes, until tender. Remove and add to the beans.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the capers (be careful, as they'll spit) and garlic, fry for 20 seconds, then add the seeds and fry for another 20 seconds. The garlic should by now have turned golden. Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the beans. Add the spring onion, herbs, lemon zest, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and some black pepper, and toss to combine. This salad will keep well for a day.

It was, as advertised, pretty damn tasty.  Quite salty - might not bother adding extra salt another time, the capers are probably salty enough.

Spaghetti squash / another version of pesto / wholemeal+corn rolls

Got excited about a spaghetti squash at the Haymarket, as I don't think I've ever had one before.  Eventually got around to cooking it.  It is funny stuff indeed.

1 spaghetti squash

20-30 cherry tomatoes
1 medium, sweet onion, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp basil leaves, roughly torn or chopped
olive oil, salt+pepper, balsamic vinegar

for the pesto:
handful basil leaves, washed
handful shelled edamame, defrosted
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 small clove garlic
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Heat oven to 400F.  Cut squash in half lengthways (past the stem).  Deseed and set seeds aside.  Place cut side down in a large baking tin.  Add ~1in water to the tin.  Put in the oven for 30-40 min until a knife goes in easily / the flesh is tender.  Meanwhile you can spread the seeds on a large baking tray and toast them for ~5min as a pre-snack.  Around the same time as the squash, bung in another baking tin containing the tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, and olive oil / salt and pepper to taste.  Take the squash and tomato mix out of the oven when ready.  Add a little balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes and mix in.  Allow squash to cool a little, then scrape out the flesh into a large bowl (don't burn your fingers).  Season and add a little olive oil to the squash and mix up / separate the strands with a fork.  Serve with the tomato mix and pesto (to make the pesto, whizz all the ingredients in the blender, adding water and/or olive oil to get a good consistency).

It really looks like spaghetti!  Totally bizarre how it separates out into perfect strands.  Doesn't taste of much, but does have a pleasant, slightly squashy taste that goes well with the pesto and / or tomato mix.  This pesto iteration is getting close to the best yet.


Spelt / wholemeal and corn rolls

We're planning on going to one of the harbor islands tomorrow to check out an art encampment.  Thought it might be nice to take some bread with us for snacks.  This Guardian recipe looked quicker than the other breads I've done, and was on my list of ones I fancied...


75g cornmeal or polenta
200ml boiling water
300ml cold water
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp yeast
300g spelt (or wholemeal) flour / used wholemeal
200g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
Oil and flour, to finish

Put the cornmeal in a bowl, pour in the boiling water and stir. Leave for 15 minutes, then whisk in the cold water, honey and yeast. Add the spelt, white flour and salt, mix to a soft dough and leave for 10 minutes.
Knead for 10 seconds. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave for 20 minutes, until it has risen slightly.
Wipe the worktop clean and dry it with a tea towel, then dust with flour. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and shape into rounds. Place these in two rows of four, and just touching, on a baking tray lined with nonstick paper. Flour the tops, cover with a cloth and leave for about 45 minutes, until risen by half.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 240C (220C fan-assisted)/465F/gas mark 9. Lightly flour the tops of the dough rounds again and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just coloured on top. Leave to cool, and tear apart to serve.

These look super, but haven't taste-tested them yet...  Now I have.  They're really hearty and wholemeal - excellent with salad.  Quite heavy, but not awfully so.

Fruit picking

One of my favourite things.  Went to Cider Hill Farm at Amesbury near Newburyport in N Mass.  Had screened quite thoroughly for ones that had blueberry and raspberry picking and didn't sound too kid-orientated / have too much going on.  It was exactly as we had hoped - quiet, laid back and pretty good picking.  It was early season, esp for the raspberries.  But we got what we wanted - about 2 punnets of each.  I'd never picked blueberries before (excepting happily stuffing my face with wild ones on Cape Cod last weekend), so was especially excited about those - seemed like an important American experience to take in.

I made some raspberry-cornmeal muffins with some of the raspberries, and both blueberries and raspberries are disappearing very quick straight into our mouths, just as they are.

Chard frittata

Similar story to the courgette flowers - S bought some chard from the farmers' market / I remembered a recipe I'd seen on ppk for chard frittata.  We came back from a morning swim at Walden Pond, feeling a bit peckish...

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch of red chard, rough stems removed, chopped well (about 4 cups)
2 teaspoons dried oregano / used a mixture of fresh basil and dried thyme
1 pound firm or extra firm tofu
1 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce (use tamari if gluten free)
1 teaspoon wet mustard (dijon or yellow, whatever you got)
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
several dashes fresh black pepper
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan over low-medium heat. Add the oil and the garlic and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light amber in colour.
Add the chard, oregano and and turn the heat up to medium high. Saute for about 5 minutes, until chard is completely wilted.
While the chard is cooking, squeeze the tofu over the sink to remove a little of the water. Crumble and squeeze it in a large mixing bowl, until it has the consistency of ricotta cheese. Add the remaining ingredients to the tofu and mix well. When your chard is ready, mix it into the tofu. Taste for salt.
Lightly grease an 8 inch pie plate and firmly press in your frittata mixture. Bake for 20 minutes, until firm and lightly browned on top. Let cool for about 3 minutes, then invert onto a plate and serve.


It came out very tasty - the chard taste really shone through - but rather falling apart - more like a tofu scramble than a firm frittata.  It did turn out, and looked quite nice.  Perhaps because I used a Pyrex dish to cook it?  Or because it was quite a big bunch of chard?  Anyway, if I did it again I might not bother with the oven, and just add the tofu mix to the pan and heat that way.  It was my first use of nutritional yeast, which was another reason I fancied trying it - I bought some a while ago but it was weirding me out a little as I don't really know where it comes from.  Think it tasted quite good - bit cheesy, quite strong.

Fried courgette flowers / edamame pesto

Fried courgette flowers

S stopped by the farmers market on Thurs evening and bought some courgette flowers.  Seemed like the thing to do with them was batter and fry.  So I googled that.

8 fresh courgette flowers, wiped clean if need (but not wet)

50g plain flour
2 tbsp cornflour
~100ml ice cold water

veg oil for frying (plus a little olive oil for taste)

salt

Put the flours in a bowl over a bowl of iced water and mix together.  Add the iced water and mix to a pouring cream consistency (so that the stuff coats your finger).

Heat ~1cm oil in a small saucepan til it smokes.  Coat a courgette flower in batter and then put into hot oil.  Should go golden in a couple of minutes.  Flip if necessary.  Cook then all like this, cutting in half if large, and fishing out with a slotted spoon and moving to kitchen roll on a plate when done.  Sprinkle with sea salt and eat straight away.

They were very good.  The batter was not super crispy, especially the first ones - need to make sure it is not too thick and the oil is good and hot.


Edamame pesto

Saw this on ppk.  Went to Haymarket and bought a bunch of basil, thought a variant on pesto might be an idea.

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves
Handful (1/4 cup or so) fresh cilantro
14 oz package shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients with a wand blender. Add a little more vegetable broth if it seems too stiff. Eat with spaghetti or bread or anything really.



It was good...  A cross between pesto and hummus.  Wonderfully green, and that didn't fade with keeping in the fridge like regular pesto.  S liked it because it didn't have so much oil in it.  I think it might be missing a bit of nuttiness - next experiment will be a mixture of basil, edamame, sunflower seeds and olive oil...

Papaya seed dressing with salad leaves

 

We had a papaya again for the first time since the many, many we ate in Hawaii.  This is something we ate there, and I thought we'd have it again...

Seeds from 1 papaya
Flesh from 1/4 papaya
juice from 1/2 a lime
pinch salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup

Put the papaya seeds and flesh in a blender and grind til smooth.  Pour into a bowl.  Add the other ingredients and mix together, tweaking to taste.

We ate it with mixed baby salad leaves from the balcony pots.  The seeds have an exciting, peppery taste that reminds me of the nasturtiums we ate in the garden when we were little.

Soy+linseed bread / blackberry jam / summer fruit compote

Another exciting-looking bread recipe from the Guardian.  And several bags of blackberries in the freezer since last fall, needing to be used.

Soy and linseed bread

50g rolled oats
50g golden linseed
275ml lukewarm soya milk
1½ tsp easy-blend yeast
325g strong white bread flour
50g wholemeal or rye flour (used wholemeal)
1½ tsp fine salt
Olive or sunflower oil


Put the rolled oats and linseed in a large mixing bowl, stir in 100ml of boiling water and leave for 30 minutes to soften. Add the warm soya milk and yeast, and mix well. Measure out the two flours and the salt, add these to the soya mixture, then stir everything together into a big, soft and sticky dough. Cover and leave for 10 minutes, then knead on a lightly oiled worktop for about 10 seconds. Cover and leave for another 10 minutes. Repeat this knead-and-rest sequence twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave covered for 30 minutes.

Brush the inside of a deep, 19cm long loaf tin or similar with oil. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 2cm thick, roll it up tightly and squash it seam-side down into the tin. Cover with a cloth and leave somewhere warmish for about an hour and a half, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 220C (190C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 8, slash the top and bake for about 45 minutes. Take the tin out of the oven, remove the loaf from the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack.


Blackberry jam

3lb blackberries
75ml water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
3lb sugar



Wash and pick over the blackberries (can freeze at this point if desired).  Put the fruit in a big pan.  Add the water, lemon juice and cinnamon stick and boil until the fruit is softened and reduced (~30min at a good fast bubble).  Add the sugar and bring to a rolling boil.  Meanwhile, put a saucer in the freezer.  Wash jars in hot soapy water, rinse well and put in a low oven to dry.  When you think it's nearing set point put a dribble (~1/2 tsp) of hot jam onto the cold saucer and put it back in the freezer for 10min.  Take it out and push your finger through the jam puddle.  If it wrinkles up the jam has reached set point.  When this happens switch off the heat and let the jam stop bubbling / cool for 10 min or so.  Then fill the jars.  Be careful not to get hot jam on your hands.  Put the lids on right away and leave to cool.  When cool, wipe off the jars and label.

Notes:  The cinnamon was an experiment in making more interesting flavoured jam.  Will have to see if can taste it.  The lemon juice is not necessary if your berries are reasonably sour, but helps with set so I put some in.  It becomes a point of judgement how much lemon juice (if any) to add to achieve a good set, and I don't always get it right.  Based on recipes from my AFRC Institute of Food Research preserving book from Grandma.



Summer Fruit Compote

handful of each (all frozen): raspberries, black raspberries, mulberries, blackberries.  couple of handfuls blueberries, 150ml tub stewed unsweetened sour cherries.  sprinking (~25g?) sugar, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf, few drops vanilla essence...

Put all in a pan and heat until all the fruit is defrosted.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Or, Delia's recipe:

3 peaches
6 apricots
6 large plums
8 oz blueberries
6 oz raspberries
2 oz sugar

Slice peaches, apricots and plums and put in an oven dish with the blueberries.  Add sugar.  Bake uncovered for 25-30min at 180C, until tender.  Remove from the oven and stir in the raspberries.  Check the sweetness and add more sugar if it needs it.


The bread was good again - the crustiest one yet, and tasty but with relatively simple ingredients.  S said it was his favourite for those reasons.

The jam turned out well.  The blackberries held up well, and the set was pretty much perfect.  Haven't decided yet whether I can taste the cinnamon or not.  Made 5 and a bit jars.

Compote was good.  Think it is nice to have some bigger, juicier fruit in with the berries though.

Sprouted grain loaf / pickled beetroot

Having enjoyed Dan Lepard's bread recipes so far, tried another one.  This one called for sprouted grains, so I did an experiment with wheat berries and spelt berries.  The wheat sprouted and the spelt didn't.  Required quantity seems to be a full sprouter load (all three little trays).  Not sure if they are what the recipe is asking for or not, but I used them anyway.

Also wanted to do something with the baby beets we got from the market last weekend.  Debated boiling or roasting them for salad, but decided to try pickling after consulting Delia - it's been a while since I had pickled beetroot, and I quite fancy it.

Sprouted grain loaf

No-knead loaf with sprouted grains (not beanshoots). Leave a day before slicing, if you can.

2 tsp fast-acting dry yeast
200ml warm water
1 tsp each honey and black treacle
50ml orange juice
150g toasted sunflower seeds
225g sprouted grains (sprouted wheatberries in sprouter)
50ml sunflower oil
300g strong white flour
75g rye or wholemeal flour (used wholemeal)
1½ tsp fine salt

Stir the yeast into the water until dissolved, stir in the honey and treacle, then add the juice, seeds, sprouted grains and sunflower oil. Add the flours and salt, mix well, cover and leave for 45 minutes.

Line a large (1.5-litre) loaf tin with nonstick baking paper. Flour a worksurface, then pat the dough to about the length of the tin and three times its width. Roll up the dough tightly, place it seam-side down in the tin, then punch it down to firm it. Leave, covered, for about an hour, until the loaf has risen by about a quarter to a third.

Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7. Brush top of loaf with water, bake for 20 minutes, then drop the temperature to 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 and bake for 30 minutes longer. Remove from the tin and cool on a rack.


Pickled beetroot

3/4 lb baby* beetroot (mixed golden and red - used the greens last weekend)
~6 black peppercorns
small cinnamon stick
~3 cloves
good pinch sea salt
~150ml red wine vinegar

Clean and trim the beetroot. Wrap all together in foil and bake at ~390F for about 2 hours / til tender when poked.  Alternatively, the beetroot can be left whole, put in a big pan, covered with water, and simmered for about 1 1/2 hours, until tender.

Meanwhile put the vinegar in a bowl above a pan of hot water with the salt and spices and bring the water to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to sit til needed. Once the beetroot have cooled enough to handle remove the peel and slice thinly. Layer into clean jar(s) - made enough for 1 1/2 350g jars. Pour over the vinegar and put the lid on.

*larger beetroot can be used but I like the smaller ones - they cook faster, pack easier and make cuter slices when served.


We started the bread the morning after I baked it in the afternoon, and it was good but a bit... crunchy?  By that evening the crunch seemed to have softened up (to do with the humid weather? or perhaps the 'leave a day' advice really did mean 24h) and it went very well with salad.  It was very similar to a granary loaf (wondering if granary uses sprouted wheat?).

I left the beetroot for a couple of days before trying it, and then put some in my lunchbox today.  It tasted... like pickled beetroot.  In a good way.  I'm glad I put in the spices, they give it an interesting touch of otherness.  I like beetroot and cinnamon together especially.

Lentil flatbreads + tomato-lime sauce

Since I loved Dan Lepard's olive sesame bread so much I thought I'd have a look through some of his other bread recipes.  I found this one and thought I'd give it a go.  The two main things I like about these recipes are 1) that you make a bread that is different from anything you could buy and 2) the formula of do something quick and easy / wait a while / repeat...


Lentil flatbreads


350g strong white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
50ml sunflower oil
250ml milk and water, half of each

For the dhal:
150g dry red lentils
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

The night before, make the dough. In a bowl, mix the flour, soda and salt, add the oil and milk, stir, then cover and leave overnight at room temperature.
Next day, boil the lentils and garlic in water for eight to 10 minutes, then leave to drain in a sieve. Tip on to a sheet of muslin, and wring out excess water. Tip into a bowl, stir in the spices and salt, and remove the garlic. Set aside until cold.
Using lots of flour to dust both hands and worksurface, cut the dough into 50g pieces. Pat each piece flat in the palm of your hand. Take a spoonful of lentils (15g-30g, depending on how brave you feel) and squeeze into a ball, then wrap one piece of dough around it. Dab the edges with water and pinch it together to seal. Tap the dough out firmly, again using lots of flour, then roll very thin. Get a large frying pan quite hot, lay in a patty and cook for a minute each side. Set aside in a warm place, covered with foil, and repeat with the remaining dough.

I made the dough and the lentils in the morning and then assembled, rolled and cooked in the evening after work.  The recipe made about 12 (I think) - half quantity would have been sufficient for us.  Amazingly the lentil mix and dough ended up being perfectly in proportion.  They were well nice and S loved them.  Bit faffy but the assembling and rolling was actually quite a pleasing process and not too hard.

I made a quick spicy lime-tomato sauce to dip them in as I fancied something limey to go with them:

juice of a lime
1 tbsp tomato puree
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch salt
2 tsp olive oil

Mix all together and serve.  Quite runny and lime is the dominant flavour.  S said it was like a cocktail and I guess it did have a lot of elements of a Virgin Mary.  Went well though.

Plantain + polenta fritters / sauteed beet greens

A long-awaited Haymarket trip leading to a lot of produce calling out to be eaten...

Sauteed beet greens

We bought 2 bunches of baby beetroot - one of normal pink ones and one of golden.  They came with the leaves and I suspected the leaves might be good too.

Leaves from 2 bunches baby beets
5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil
grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
optional: 2 tsp maple syrup, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Separate stems from leaves and chop them separately (and fairly roughly).  Heat oil in pan and saute the garlic for a minute or two.  Add chopped stems and saute for a few more minutes.  Add leaves and salt+pepper / grated nutmeg to taste.  Continue to cook until the leaves are flopped and done.  Add the optional maple syrup and/or balsamic vinegar to taste as well (sometimes beet greens are quite bitter, I like the maple syrup as a way of offsetting that).

Came out well good - tasted much like chard.  Bargainous purchase - 2 veg for 1!  I've sauteed chard, spinach and kohlrabi leaves in the same way in the last few weeks - a winner every time.



Plantain and polenta fritters

1 large, very ripe plantain (blackened on the outside)
~50g polenta
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp chopped coriander
good pinch cayenne pepper (or 1/4 a hot green chilli, finely chopped)
2 large spring onions, finely chopped
1 tsp baking powder
canola oil to cook

Mash the plantain with a fork (or grate coarsely).  Add the other ingredients and mix until well combined.  Shape into roughly palm-sized patties and cook in a hot frying pan in a little canola oil.  Made about 8.

Based on a favourite from my teenage years (think originally from Sugar Club / Tas)- still just as tasty.  Seb was a big fan too.

Chocolate coffee muffins

A Sunday afternoon of intense humidity and thundershowers stopping play with regard to getting outside for long - gave it over to baking and phoning grandma instead.  Decided to go for classic chocolate muffins.

Chocolate-coffee-chocolate chip muffins

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chopped into chunks

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix til just mixed. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill muffin tins almost to the top. Bake 18 – 20 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Came out as good basic chocolate muffins.  Coffee taste quite subtle - would probably be more intense if I had / used coffee powder.  Based on this recipe @ PPK.