Preserving for Boxing Day

This weekend, I was left to my own devices as the Beautiful Wife was on a residential course. My usual default position under such circumstances is to by a vast quantity of mussels and cock them with shallots. garlic. white wine and cream. This Friday was no exception and they were quite delicious.
There are, however, much more important things that you need to do before Christmas. Primarily you need to do an audit of all your preserves. You may make your own chutneys, jams and such or you may have been given many jars that have found their way to the back of the cupboard. Now is the time to bring them into the light in preparation for the cold cuts that will inevitably grace your table from Boxing day onward.
My audit revealed several jars that I had forgotten about (much of my marmalade can now wear the tag "Vintage" with pride) several of these jars were chutneys and pickles.

The preserve audit.

It was noticeable that there was one glaring absence - The king of the condiments: Piccalilli.
Having sensed earlier that this may be the case I ordered a "kit" from the team at Abel and Cole. Along with my delivery on Friday there was a second box with all the ingredients necessary to produce this lurid wonder.
On Sunday and set to. The recipe that came with the box was simple and straightforward and all the ingredients were of the usual quality one would expect from such an organisation. In short, everything about this product was first class.
The style of piccalilli was quite rustic with whole cumin and coriander grated ginger and finely chopped garlic. This was coupled with turmeric and mustard to give the shocking colour. One of the aspects of pickling any veg (and this is something that a lot of commercial pickled onion makers get wrong) is that the veg themselves must be salted for a considerable length of time (obviously depending on size) in order to ensure that they maintain their crispness.
When finished. I was left with jars of wonderfully fragrant chutney which will keep for 6 months or more - not that it will last that long. Full marks to Abel and Cole for a great product.

Piccalilli for Boxing day

Don't make me ask about whether you have bought your chestnuts yet, you have been warned!
 

The fridge

By the end of the week I like to have my fridge almost empty. By Friday afternoon I like opening the door and seeing a pack of yeast, a bottle of milk and not a great deal else. Friday is the time that the beautiful wife and I plan our meals for the week ahead. We follow this by doing our grocery shopping on Friday evening. With the veg box arriving on Friday and my meat and fish shopping done on Saturday morning the fridge is full of possibility by Saturday lunchtime.
Today is the last day of Half term and those of us who serve at the chalk face will return to school tomorrow - The week ahead is already planned in terms of meals and by Friday the fridge will once again be empty. Yesterday was the Vale Harvest at Haddenham again and sitting waiting for this evening is a beautiful piece of topside from Oving Dexters which will be roasted with a beetroot from The Musician's smallholding (where I sometimes lend a hand), some new potatoes and onions (from the Abel and Cole veg box). This will be served with carrots (veg Box) and cabbage (Musician's). Nothing in this meal has anything but the best credentials ethically and none (I really mean none) will go to waste.
My fridge (apart from on Friday mornings) nearly always has bacon in it and the pack at present is from Orchard View Farm just 3 or 4 miles down the road. I have mentioned this supplier before - their Black Pudding is a thing of great beauty.
I have a couple bottles of beer from XT brewery to have with my beef tonight. I'm not sure if I am sad or happy in the knowledge taht by Friday the fridge will be bare.

In praise of bland

We spend our life being told by TV chefs that you should add some citrus to make stuff "zingy" or "bring on the heat with some chilli" and I must say that much of my food has spikes of flavour in order to make the diner raise their eyebrows half way up their foreheads! However, it pays us to remember what joy there is in the bland flavoured foods which offer yang to the ying of spiky flavours, the palates on which we paint with the sexier more vibrant flavours.

We must also remember that a bland meal is not necessarily one without flavour. When you avoid the punch of the "big flavours" you find that you start to taste the subtlety in things and enjoy the soft calm and gentle earthy warmth of taste without shock.
The good folks at Abel and Cole managed to get our veg box to us on Friday before the snow set in properly and in the box was a beautiful cauliflower. Creamy, dense and heavy, it was a thing of great beauty and huge potential. My instincts said "bring on the chilli" but, for once, I ignored them. I made some lovely fritters and served them with mayonnaise laced with the tiniest bit of garlic. I took for inspiration a recipe by Ottolenghi

One small Cauliflower
Two eggs
A mug of plain flower
An onion (slowly fried until light brown and sweet)
1 Tsp Cumin
1/2 Tsp Turmeric

Break the cauli into small florets and boil a little longer than you really want to. Drain and mash until they have texture but there are no big lumps. Beat the eggs and add then to the flour and the spices. Season and add the batter to the cauli. Using a ladle to pour the batter into a frying pan, cook the fritters in a thin slick of oil (about 3 to a frying pan) for about 4 minutes on each side, keep warm and repeat. They should be a lovely golden brown.
I garnished with lime chunks (I know, I know, spiky flavours), rocket leaves, sunflower seeds and black sesame seeds.

The steaming glory of the bland!

Happy new year!

I Have not written much lately as we have had the builders in, trying to ensure that Corner Cottage survives another 138 years! So cooking anything remotely complicated has been impossible. However, as the majority of the work was completed before Christmas we were able to enjoy a fine spread over the Festive Period. When we were first married, the beautiful wife and I decided that we would spend Christmas without any family (apart from the cats) and that we would visit relatives after the madness was over; we enjoyed it so much that we have done the same every year since. For the big day we had a duck, the perfect feast day roast for two. I got mine from Abel and Cole who do my veg box and it was first class with plenty of bits and bobs to nibble on in the days after.


Carving.

   The bird itself carved like butter and tasted like a dream. We went a bit overboard with the trimmings which put the little kitchen under pressure but we managed to eat well, very well. The day had started with eggs BBenedict. I'd made some stove top muffins on Christmas eve and pre poached some eggs, so all that was required was a quick whisk up of an hollandaise sauce and we were away.
Today I decided that all the left overs and bits and bobs had to be used up so we had:

Salad of Butternut squash, dressed with lemon and yoghurt
Salad of shredded Brussels Sprouts with salami
Salad of Rocket with smoked salmon
Spiced cakes of root vegetables

My fridge is now clearer and ready for the good things of the New Year. This year I plan to waste less, Eat more vegetarian dishes, bake more and experiment much more with food. Here's to a very peaceful, prosperous and delicious 2013 with all the food we need and a little of what we want too.

Remembering to taste

Every now and then I find myself pulled up short when it comes to taste. For example, last week I was putting together a cous cous salad lunch for the beautiful wife and I boiled off a handful of green beans which came in the weekly veg box from Abel and Cole.
I blanched them for a couple of minutes and very quickly refreshed them under cold water. I could not resist "stealing" one to nibble on as I cooked and this is when I was pulled up short. The flavour was outstanding. I had completely forgotten how utterly amazing a simple green bean can taste. A similar thing happened with broccoli a few weeks ago.
I think the message is clear: I have vowed to taste everything as if we're tasting it for the very first time, who knows where this might lead. I will not take an ingredient for granted.
We have the builders in for a few weeks so I have harvested the last of my tomatoes and potatoes both of which were close to the house. On occasion they were neglected throughout the Summer and on occasion the Summer neglected them too. I shall be making green tomato chutney again during the week!

A man, a woman and their veg.box.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that the aim for this year was to mix a sense of frugality with food ethics and good eating. Paradoxically, this challenge is being helped by a regular delivery of an organic fruit and vegetable box. I buy our veggie box from Abel and Cole who are probably the most famous provider of boxes in the UK.
The reason I stay with them goes back a few years: We had a box from them on a fortnightly basis when we lived in the inner city and we were very happy with it. However, it began to be stolen and we had to cancel. Not only were the sales people perfectly understanding, they also re-funded the stolen boxes. It was no surprise to learn, when we looked into getting a box again, that they had won awards for the quality of their customer service.
We get a weekly fruit and veg box for 2/3 people and it costs us less than £18 including delivery. Seen as a simple figure, this seems like a lot to pay for just vegetables but that would be far to simple a look at the issue. Since we have got this box we have eaten at lot less meat and we're both eating more fruit (usually chopped over cereal). Owing to the fact that this wonderful produce has been delivered to our door we feel sinful if we don't use it all, this means that two less meals in most weeks have meat as their star ingredient.
Abel and Cole also include leaflets and little books about the farmers who supply them and there's always a humorous card with recipes.
We don't plan our box - we simply take what we're given. I don't even check online as to what's in the box this week, I prefer to be surprised when I open it on getting back from work. The joy of not picking and choosing is that I have been "forced" to use fruit and vegetables that I would not ever buy (even if they were available). Jerusalem artichokes, Sharon fruit, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Spring greens (oh how I love spring greens now) and Beetroot never look so good in the supermarket.
My dear readers I can't encourage you enough to become part of a box scheme - it is not an overstatement to say it has changed the way I cook and eat.

I'm Back!

So here we are then. I've probably been the worst blogger in living memory but I have been inspired to write again. My inspiration has come from two places: The passionate yet full grounded food genius who is Nigel Slater has published the second part of "Tender" and it is wonderful. Also I'm now getting a weekly organic fruit and veg' box from Abel and Cole.
I am no longer taking school dinners and appear to have developed a habit of making soup which I am thoroughly enjoying for lunch.
My tomato crop this year has been fantastic - it started by me planting far too many seeds and having more than fifty plants to give away. I kept 12 Golden Sunrise and 4 Hundreds and Thousands. In short we haven't bought a tomato since the end of July. I have made sauces and tarts and soups and used them in any number of ways. So imagine my joy when my veg box contained half a dozen beautiful tomatoes! They do call September "the fat month" after all.
I do love this time of year - great fruit and veg at a very reasonable price.
A couple of weeks ago the box from Abel and Cole contained a glorious red cabbage about the size of a football. I braised the whole thing in a giant casserole (see below) and served it as part of a wonderful roast rib of beef from Newitts. The rest has been frozen in readiness for lamb shanks or pot roast belly of pork.

Braised Red Cabbage.
This is one of those recipes which have no real volumes, just educated guesses!

One large red cabbage.
A couple of small onions (red or white wine vinegar would be good).
A couple of apples.
1 large glass of red wine.
Serious glug of red wine vinegar.
A little oil.

Slice the cabbage into small slices about 3-5 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Cut onion into small pieces. Peel and core the apples and cut into small pieces. Place a large casserole on the hob and crank it up to a medium high heat, add oil then onion and apple. Stir for about three minutes then add the cabbage and stir for a further two. Add the wet ingredients and stir. Pop the lid on the pan and put the casserole into the oven at a medium high heat for ninety minutes.
Serve with any red meat, game and pork.

Today's veg box contained broccoli, spinach and an onion squash amongst other thins so it should be an interesting week. More later.