Okra with Onions and Chili

19 09 2009

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Simple way of making Okra that isn’t slimy like some restaurant dishes

Rinse a bunch of Okra then pat dry – the drier the better. Top and tail and put to one side. Take an onion and slice into very thin half rings. Finely chop 1-2 green chilis.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot add the onion and stir fry for 5 minutes or so till soft. Then add the okra and chili along with a reasonable amount of salt. You can also optionally add a small amount of ground turmeric and a little ground cumin to add more interest.

Fry and stir gently until the onion starts to brown and the okra is heated through but still crispy. Serve with breads and chutneys or as a side dish for a curry night.





Courgette and Manchego Tart

13 09 2009

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Another way to use up some of the daily crop of courgettes. This makes enough tart to serve 4-6 people depending on what you have with it

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 courgettes – sliced
4 eggs
100g or so of manchego – grated
shortcrust pastry to line a flan dish – I usually do this as 6oz flour to 3oz butter, one egg yolk and a splash of water (apologies for the mixing of metric and imperial measurements)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Start by frying the courgette slices in batches. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, when very hot, place the courgette slices in a single layer – careful as they can spit a little. When browned, turn over until brown on both sides. Place in a bowl and fry another layer until they are all done. Leave to cool.

While the courgettes are cooling, make the pastry. I just chuck it all the food processor, roll out, line a flan dish, then blind bake at 180C for about 15 minutes. The courgettes still carry a lot of water even after frying to it is essential to blind bake the pastry else you’ll have a very siggy base. Allow to cool a little, then spread the Dijon mustard evenly over the base.

Beat the 4 eggs, then add the courgettes and manchego. Season with salt and black pepper. Mix, pour into the pastry case and return to the oven for about 25 minutes until the eggs have set.





Beetroot, Feta and Mint Salad

12 09 2009

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And so the glut moves on from courgettes, to beans and now to beetroot. This is delicious and makes a change from soup. I served it with warmed pittas, taze fusulye, grilled halloumi and felafel.

Take 2-3 beetroots. Boil for about 20 minutes, then allow to cool and little, slip off the skins, dice and leave to cool. Meanwhile take 3 tabelspoons olive oil, the same amount of lemon juice, a few mint leaves finely chopped and salt and pepper. Mix and leave to stand.

Put the cooled beetroot in a large bowl with 200g of dice feta cheese. Pour the dressing over, mix and serve.





Cabbage Pizza

9 09 2009

Yeah one of my not so great ideas. Having eaten my way through hundreds of courgettes and runner beans I now need to turn my attention to the cavalo nero running riot on the allotment. So, feeling inspired I wondered what a bread base topped with delicious cavalo nero and perhaps a blue cheese might taste like. I chose Dolcelatte to retain the Italian theme and came up with something that looked rather nice as I took it from the oven. A pizza base (made in the bread machine) topped with cooked and cooled cavalo nero, dotted with creamy dolcelatte, a hint of nutmeg then baked in the oven till crisp and bubbly. Topped with chili infused olive oil and served with a nice cold glass of Chardonnay I asked my wife for her opinion. “The wine is nice” she retorted, then went to the kitchen to get a bag of crisps.

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Old School Veggie Sunday Lunch

6 09 2009

Vegetable, butter bean and oat roast with runner beans, roasted potatoes, squash, sweet potato and beetroot, and gravy. Winter is on its way.

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Chili Jam

6 09 2009

There are some things in life you just cannot get enough of and this is certainly one of them. Sweet. Fiery hot. Perfect with cheese, scrambled eggs or spread over corn-on-the-cob. It also works well dolloped on top of mushrooms on toast.

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Makes about 3 smallish jars

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium onions – chopped
6 or so red chilis – chopped with seeds.
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
300ml water
50g caster sugar
large pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and fry over a medium heat for about 10 minutes then add the chilis and continue to fry for another 20-30 minutes until everything is really soft. If you like the jam really hot, substitute a couple of red chilis for scotch bonnets or a few dried red chilis in addition to the red chilis. Now add the water, sugar, vinegar and salt. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes until it is noce and thick. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking to the pan.

Transfer the hot jam to a blender or food processor and blitz until thick and grainy.

Now take the kilner jars (small jam jars will do) and fill with boiling water to sterilise. Make sure you also sterilise the lid and the rubber band thingy round the lid. Carefull empty the boiling water, fill the jars with the hot chili jam and close the lids.

The jam will keep for months unopened (I had one in the fridge for almost a year). Once opened, if kept in the fridge, it’ll still keep for a good few weeks.





Plum Clafoutis

5 09 2009

From Rosie Lovell’s excellent Spooning With Rosie

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