Warburtons have recently added two naan breads to their range, which they have developed alongside Michelin starred chef Atul Kochhar.   I appreciate that many people are highly skeptical of chefs working alongside brands to develop products, but I honestly believe that the majority of top chefs are not going to risk their reputation for a financial reward.   These naan breads are very good.  Pillowly soft, bubbly and delicious; they have a shelf life of a week and freeze well.   I do make naan bread, but they are tricky to get perfect in a domestic oven so it makes sense to buy them.

At the launch of the product Atul told the assembled company that he had served the breads in his restaurant once when their gas was off and they could not cook their naan from scratch.  That is pretty conclusive product endorsement in my opinion.

Because the breads are square, they are more versatile than the traditional tear drop shaped bread, and thus are great for rolling or wrapping.  I topped mine with dal and homemade paneer, baked and served with mango chutney and tzatziki for a delicious lunch.   Do not skip the wedge of lime, the squeeze of juice makes the dish; again, lime wedges can be frozen and will defrost whilst the naan pizza is cooking.

If you do not want to make your own paneer any soft mildly flavoured cheese would work well in its place.

Recipe: Naan Bread Lentil Dal Pizza

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Large Naan bread – or plain pizza base

For the dal
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 small dried chilli
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp turmeric
Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
1 tbs vegetable oil
70z / 200g / 1 cup red lentils
vegetable stock
Few sprigs of fresh coriander – mine was in the freezer

Tomato – optional
Spring onion – finely sliced

Place all the spices into a grinder and grind to a fine powder.     Heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the spices for a minute.  Add the lentils and stir well.  Add about 1 pint of vegetable stock and all to simmer until the lentils are soft and have broken down into a thick paste.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the paneer
1 pint / 550ml milk
Juice half a lemon

Mix the milk and lemon in a saucepan and heat to a simmer.  The milk will curdle.  Strain through a muslin cloth, gather the curds into a ball inside the cloth and squeeze well.  Wrap in a clean tea towel and press underr a chopping board with a few tins of beans on.

To finish

Place the naan on to a pizza stone or baking tray and spread the dal across.   If you wish top with a thinly sliced tomato and the spring onion.  Crumble the paneer over the lentils.

Bake in a pre heated oven GM6 / 200C / 400F until piping hot.    Serve with mango chutney and a wedge of lime.

Many thanks to Warburtons for asking me to the launch of their naan breads and for the samples.

Comfort food calls, and last Sunday I was craving a roast chicken for supper.   Living in central London with 24 hour shops within a 5 minute walk, I rarely menu plan as I far prefer to decide what to eat on the day.   It being Sunday my local butcher was closed and it took a few shops to find a free range chicken.    Instead of serving with roast potatoes I cooked my chicken on a bed of lentils and beans, both are packed with protein so it is a great way to eek out a smaller bird to feed more people.  As the bird roasts it is also partially steamed, with the result that the meat is wonderfully moist.

The lentil and bean mix is very rich as it absorbs all of the chicken fat, if you are feeling health conscious you could skim some of the fat off before adding them; or simply add extra so you have leftovers for another day.    I cook my own beans from dried and then freeze them, any tinned beans rinsed well would work well.  Once cooked scoop some of the beans and lentils into a pot and blitz with a stick blender before returning them to the pan and stirring in, this thickens and gives a lovely creamy consistency to them.  Delicious.

I used Rose Harissa from Steenbergs.  Their spices are top-notch quality, intensely flavoured and the range is organic and Fairtrade as far as possible.   I far prefer using a dry mix that will live happily in the cupboard once opened, rather than a paste that goes off quickly.   I also love that the Steenbergs range is in jars that are wide enough to stack well (preventing the cascade of spice jars falling from the cupboard) and designed to be able to get a spoon into.

Left over beans and lentils freeze well.  Use as a base for soups, or in a burger bun with mayo and ketchup for a very sloppy, but delicious, sloppy Joe.

Recipe: Harissa Roast Chicken with Beans & Lentils

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 medium free range chicken
1 tbs butter – softened
1-2 tsp harissa powder
1/2 lemon cut into wedges
Glug light olive oil
Salt & Pepper

1 tin of beans – drained and rinsed – I used black eyed
1 mug of green or puy lentils
1 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 pint chicken or vegetable stock

Pop the lemon wedges into the chicken’s cavity and place in a roasting tin with a glug of oil.

Mix the butter and harissa together and rub well into the bird’s breast.   Season with salt and pepper.

Cooking time will be about 20 minutes per pound (450g), plus another half hour at GM5 / 375F / 190C.  Put the bird into the oven to cook.

40 minutes before the end of cooking time scatter the garlic, lentils and beans around the chicken and cover them with the stock.   Return to the oven.

Keep an eye on it, you may need to add more stock, or put a piece of foil over the bird to prevent the breast over-cooking.

When ready the lentils will be soft and most of the stock would have been absorbed.    Place the bird onto a carving board and cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.    Pour any juices into the lentil and bean mix.   To thicken the lentils and beans simply blitz some to a paste and return to the pan and stir through.

It always gives me great delight when I manage to use several things up in a dish, and this one is no exception.  Carrots, parsnips and half a dreaded swede.  Half a tin of coconut milk and the dregs of a jar of Thai curry paste.   Served with the last of my homemade butter spread onto the last slice of root vegetable bread, found at the back of the freezer. Things could have only been more satisfying had I finished the red lentils too.

This is a very adaptable soup, use that ingredients you have.  I find that the curry and spice tempers the natural sweetness of the parsnip.    If you are making this for vegetarians do check the jar of Thai curry paste – many of them contain shrimp, which often catches people out unless they are looking out for it.

Recipe: Root Veg & Lentil Thai Coconut Soup

Serves around 8

2 medium onions
2 tbs oil
4 carrots
2 parsnips
Wedge of swede (rutabaga)
2 tbs red or yellow Thai curry paste (add more or less to taste)
Mug full of red lentils
1/2 tin of coconut milk or 4 tbs coconut milk powder
Vegetable stock – 1 – 2 pints
Salt & Pepper to season

Peel and roughly chop the onions and fry in the oil until golden.  Meanwhile peel and chop the vegetables.   Add the root vegetables and curry paste, stir and fry for a few minutes.

Add the lentils,  coconut milk & stock – enough to cover everything – and bring to a gentle simmer.  Cover and cook for about 20 mins until vegetables are soft.

Blend, thinning with water if needed.

Tastes better having been cooled and reheated, and freezes well.

There seem to be a myriad of food bloggers events that I can send this to!

Firstly Susan’s My Legume Love Affair – hosted this month by Girlichef.

Secondly Lisa and Jac’s No Croutons Required – where this month the theme is a hint of spice.

Thirdly, Love Lock with Soups over at Sweet Karam Kapi.

And lastly my own event Frugal Food Fridays, hosted this month by Gill.

Here in the Fuss Free kitchen we hate food waste, in fact we positively abhor it.    But let’s face it leftover meals can be a little hit and miss.  As I said when I wrote about my Birdie Song soup there is nothing that I enjoy more than finishing stuff up when cooking a meal.   The more things that I use up, the better!

My leftover fry up above provided a tasty mid week lunch.

I fried half an onion, a stick of celery, half a red pepper, half a green pepper, a spring onion and several cloves of garlic.   I added the remains of a jar of pasta sauce, a bowl of rice and half a tin of chickpeas and let it all simmer for a minute.   I then made two wells in the mixture and cracked an egg into each (yes, these were my last two eggs, “hurrah” I cried as I threw the empty carton into the recycling bin).

The resulting mix was delicious, and perfect for a mid week, pre-supermarket run lunch.   Special mention must be made of my new Neoflam frying pan, which is so non- stick that I am convinced that it has a layer of anti gravity coating.   I am totally in love with it, insofar as it is possible to love a frying pan.   It is lightweight, but still solid and I love that it is both bright red and dishwasher proof.   The non-stick is amazing, everything literally floats in it and I consider it the best pan that I have ever had.  I think that I will be buying another for my mother, arthritis in her hands is making life a bit difficult, especially lifting  and twisting.

My leftover lunch was timely, as I spent the evening with Lucy Cufflin, author of Lucy’s Food, who cooked up a feast of leftovers.   She has a simple philosophy of keeping a well stocked store cupboard filled with simple ingredients and using them to embellish your leftovers, which you must think of as tasty ready to use ingredients.

I have already written about Lucy’s salad soup, which was amazingly delicious, but who would have thought that carrots, chickpeas and peanut butter make the most scrummy dip?

I especially liked that Lucy’s store cupboard was packed with the budget ranges from Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons.   She may be a trained chef, but the food snobbery and love for niche ingredients that is all too prevalent in the world of food blogging and self titled “foodies” has no place in Lucy’s kitchen. Hurrah for someone that caters for the 90% of the British population that shops at supermarkets and lives on a budget.

We ate our fill, and some more, which left me wondering for the umpteenth time why I did not call this site “My second (or even third) stomach”, everything was delicious and I returned home with some leftover chilli calzone, and a leftover Christmas pudding chocolate brownie.   Who knew leftovers could be this good? I’ll be cooking double for every meal from now on and revelling in my leftovers!

Recipe: Lucy Cufflin’s Christmas Chocolate Brownies

Makes 12 large brownies

Oven temperature 180C/350F

Cooking time 25 minutes

Preparation time 10 minutes

Ingredients

200g butter
400g caster sugar
4 eggs
100g cocoa powder
100g milk chocolate
100g SR flour
6 or so large dessert spoons of left over Xmas pud

1) Line a 20x30cm shallow roasting tin with baking parchment

2) Melt the butter and sugar in a large saucepan

3) Add the cocoa and milk chocolate and allow the chocolate to melt.

4) Beat in the eggs and then the flour and spoon into the tin

5) Using your fingers crumble the leftover Xmas pud onto the mixture and swirl around with your finger to mix it in a little.

6) Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is slightly cracked

Allow to cool.

These taste even better after a few days (if you can keep them that long)

 

 

It should be vaguely apparent to the regular reader that I like dips, really quite a bit lot.    What I do not like are most shop dips, expensive, laden with fats and oil and unnecessary ingredients (guacamole with added cream anyone?)

A homemade hummus is a thing of beauty, endlessly customisable, far more affordable and better tasting than many shop bought alternatives.

Both beans and chickpeas are cheap, filled with protein and have a relatively mellow taste which makes them the ideal “filler” for more expensive or intensely flavoured ingredients.      I usually buy dried beans and pulses, then soak and cook them myself before free freezing them, but also always keep a few tins handy too.

I was recently sent some goodies from the Vaucluse area of Provence, which included a packet of concentrated anchovy pate and herbes de Provence.    I especially liked the anchovy pate which was fantastically smooth and deeply concentrated and intensely flavoured, perfect to flavour my beans in a hummus.

I served the resultant dip with a simple salad and delicious crispbreads from Peter’s Yard (a recent discovery and new favourite), which made a quick easy and healthy lunch.

In the absence of anchovy pate you could try using Patum Peperium (Gentlemen’s Relish) or “melt” a tin of anchovies gently in a frying pan and pass through a sieve to remove the bones.  Use any sort of mildly flavoured beans. I freeze my lemon juice in ice cube trays so I always have fresh to hand in the freezer.

Recipe: Anchovy and Butter Bean Hummus

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tin / 1 cup / 235g beans, drained and rinsed
60g / 3 tbs anchovy pate (to taste)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp herbs de Provence
Pepper to taste
Chives to garnish – optional

Method

Put everything into the food processor and whizz until smooth.   Add a little water if needed to thin.

Serve with crispbreads or crudities.

Click for a printable recipe.

For more information about Provence and Vaucluse do visit their facebook page.

Thank you to the Vaucluse Tourist Board for my lovely ingredients.

Note E's relection in the spoon waiting patiently for me to finish taking photos so he can eat his lunch

The coming of summer brings the switch from vegetable to salad bags at my food co-op, which neatly solves the mildly vexing question of what-to-do-with-another-swede, but brings a surfeit of celery in its place.    If I am really unlucky, poor vegetable management and utilisation can mean that for a week or two, I have quantities of both celery and swede sitting at the bottom of the fridge looking at me reproachfully.

I have nothing against either vegetable, but neither particularly inspire me and I am never going to enjoy munching on a stick of raw celery, which would neatly solve one of the problems.  My hatred of food waste ensures that I feel duty bound to use them somehow, although I often leave them at the co-op, to be added to the soup pot for the homeless lunches the church holds every weekend.

Celery works very well in soup, its character is tamed and mellowed by cooking.  I would even go as far as to say that a good celery soup is quite delicious.   Coupled with my hatred of food waste, I also get a small frisson of delight whenever I use a packet, jar or bottle of something up.   I actually burst* into a rendition of “Another one bites the dust” in the shower one morning when I managed to finish up not only my shower gel, but shampoo and conditioner as well.  (I really am aware that I need to get out more!)

With this soup, I used an entire head of celery, the remnants of two bags of lentils, the last Knorr vegetable stock pot, the frozen contents of the cheese rind pot and all the little broken bits left at the bottom of a bag of frozen broccoli.       I was so satisfied with this that I renamed the soup Birdie Song soup, and sang* along “With a little bit of this and a little bit of that …”

Recipe: “Birdie Song” – Celery & Lentil Soup

Serves 8

Ingredients

Good glug olive oil
1 head celery – roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic – peeled and roughly chopped
8oz / 200g / 1 cup mixed lentils
Handful of cheese rinds – I keep a pot for them in the freezer
Vegetable stock
Green vegetables – I used a handful of frozen broccoli
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Fry the celery and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes in a large saucepan, add all the other ingredients, stir and then cover with boiling water.

Simmer with the lid on for about 30 mins until the lentils are soft. Blitz in the liquidiser or with a stick blender, seasoning to taste and adding more water if needed.

Freezes well.

Click for a printable version.

Sending to Ren at Fabulicious Food for Simple and In Season, August, and to Jac at Tinned Tomatoes for No Croutons Required where this month’s theme is lentils.

*The author would like to stress at this point that she has no musical ability whatsoever, and only attempts to burst into song when she has the flat to herself to save the sanity of those around her.

I made meringues at the weekend, and had some leftover egg yolks in the fridge.   With a choice of custard, mayonnaise, tortilla or frittata to use them up, I went for the lunch friendly option.

Tortillas and frittatas are variations on the same dish, both consist of an egg based omelette.  Traditionally the Spanish tortilla will contain eggs and potato and the Italian frittata will contain eggs and other ingredients.     Neither are to be confused with the Mexican tortilla which is a flat bread, used as a wrap.

Frittatas (and Spanish tortillas) are great for a quick lunch, they are also great both hot, warm or cold, being robust and transportable are perfect for picnics.   Whilst not being essential to the recipe I find that along with scrambled eggs the majority of egg based dishes benefit immeasurably from the addition of a couple of extra yolks, so I tend to make them after I have been cooking with egg whites.     I have tried using liquid egg whites for my meringues and macarons, but I do not really get on with them and prefer the results of “real” egg.

My mother’s traditional Christmas Eve supper consists of smoked salmon, with scrambled egg enriched with extra yolks left over from using the whites in the Royal icing for the Christmas cake.

With an empty vegetable drawer I used a handful of chickpeas, pinto & flageolet beans in place of the traditional potato, coupled with half a red pepper and a lone spring onion.   With the chickpeas and beans having more flavour and protein coupled with fewer carbs and a lower GI score I think it is a winning filling.

Adapt and throw in what you have.  I keep a box of mixed beans and chickpeas in the freezer ready to add to salads and pasta dishes, I fried them in with the peppers for a few minutes to defrost them.

Red Pepper & Chickpea Frittata

Serves 3 – 4

Ingredients

Glug olive oil
½ red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 spring onion, chopped
150g / 6oz / ¾ cup cooked chickpeas (or mix of cooked beans)
5 eggs
2 – 3 egg yolks (or another egg)
Salt & pepper

Method

Add the olive oil to a (20cm / 8”) omelette pan and gently fry the peppers and spring onion until soft and starting to turn brown.

Meanwhile whisk the eggs and extra yolks and season with some salt and pepper.

Add the beans to the pan, stir and then pour the egg mixture over. Give the pan a gentle shake, then leave to cook over a low heat for about 5 mins.

When the egg is nearly set put the pan under a hot grill for a few minutes until the top of the frittata is has risen (it will look puffy) and is golden.

Flip out onto a plate to serve.

Click here for a printable recipe.

I was recently sent a selection of products from the Discovery range who have recently launched a preservative free wrap.

A few weeks ago I had a friend over, and with a batch of meringues in the oven for the Prepped launch party the next day I needed something quick and easy for supper, that I could make without using the oven, so it was the perfect occasion to test the range.

As with all these products, I use the serving suggestions as a guide and enhance and embellish according to my mood and contents of cupboard, fridge and freezer.  Fajitas are perfect for an informal supper and can be as simple, enhanced or healthy as you like.  They are also good for eeking out the more expensive ingredients, I fed 3 of us with one chicken breast.

I made chicken and refried bean fajitas.   Firstly I fried an onion, added a handful of pinto and flageolet beans (which I cook and then freeze), a sachet of the Discovery fajita seasoning paste, a good squeeze of lemon and some chopped up coriander stalks.

My sole, and rather small breast of chicken was chopped into strips, and tossed in olive oil, along with slices of red pepper, shredded spring onion and a generous sprinkling of seasoning mix, then stir fried on the griddle.

Served with the wraps and Discovery fajita table sauce, salsa and jalapeños it made a tasty supper, perfect for the occasion, ingredients and time available.

Summary

I like the wraps and will buy again.   Preservative free is a huge bonus.   They freeze well and I will be keeping some to hand.  £1.59 for 8.

Both the fajita paste and seasoning mix are useful cupboard standbys and are available in differing heats.  £1.09 and £0.79 respectively.   I’ll probably buy them if I see them in the supermarket.

Jalapeños were good – hot and crunchy, £1.39.  I’ll probably stick to supermarket own brand if it is cheaper.

Tangy Fajita table sauce, £1.79, was a tamarindy molassy ketchup. Our opinions were mixed.   Ed liked it, I was not so sure.    I will use it up, but will not buy again.

None of us liked the salsa, £1.79, which we found over processed and too sweet.  But better than no salsa as I did not have tomatoes to make it fresh.

All items in the range containing chilli are available in a variety of heats which is an excellent idea.

Also available are sour cream and guacamole, neither of which I tried.   See the whole range here which is available from all supermarkets.

For more idea for using wraps see

Not Your Packet Tortilla Chips
Banana & Peanut Butter Breakfast Wrap
Black Bean and Squash Quesadillas

Thanks to Discovery for my samples

As I am sure that I have mentioned before, I am a dip fanatic.     I especially like hummus (hommus, houmus), which ever way you  choose to spell it, is delicious.   If you make your own it can also be a healthy choice as chick peas count towards one of your five-a-day, olive oil is rich in unsaturated fats, and by thinning the hummus with water it can be far less calorific than shop bought versions.  An added handful of spinach adds colour and extra goodness.   I have discovered that spinach once blitzed has a very mild flavour that can easily be masked by other flavours. 

When I was a child I would be encouraged to eat my spinach with tales of Popeye (the sailor man) who would pop open a can of spinach, gulp it down, and gain superhuman strengths.   I suspect that these days Popeye is as dated as my 1970′s placemat that I used as a prop, and modern children would prefer Shrek hummus.  (Dipsy hummus sounds wrong, and I cannot think of any more green characters apart from Fungus the Bogeyman).

Like all these things, this is a very forgiving recipe so play with the quantities to suit you.  I cook my chickpeas from dried, then free freeze them.  I think that the amount used here is about a 400g tin.    The amount will be a good dip or toast topping for 4.

Spinach (Popeye or Shrek) Hummus (Dip for 4)

230g / 8oz / 1 cup cooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
Large handful spinach
Juice 1/2 lemon
1 dsp olive oil
1 dsp tahini / seed or nut butter
Small clove garlic (optional)
Water to thin as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

Simply place everything in the food processor and blitz until  smooth.  Add water to achieve your desired consistency. Season to taste.

If you prefer some texture to your hummus, reserve some of the chickpeas and add to the smooth dip and pulse the food processor a few times.

In a break from chocolate and baking here is a winter warming chilli.    Using black beans, and butternut squash the chilli is spiced with cumin and sweet paprika, giving lots of warming comforting flavour, without a Scoville tolerance test to your tastebuds.   Delicious and ready in about 30 minutes.

I made this for my birthday party last week, breaking with tradition I served it with potato wedges rather than rice or baked spuds.   I think that the vast array or toppings make this special.  Despite the fact the photo does look rather topping heavy, I can honestly say there really is more chilli than toppings in the photo.    This froze well, but if you are making a batch specifically for the freezer, up the paprika and decrease the cumin, as the freezing process enhanced the cumin and muted the paprika.  My paprika comes from Hungary, sent from a friend who lives in Budapest.  Leftovers were delicious in a savoury pancake .

Black Bean and Butternut Warming Chilli (Serves 6-8)

2 tbs olive oil
2 large onions (medium chopped)
6 cloves garlic
3 tbs sweet paprika
2 tbs cumin
2 cans tomatoes
1/2 butternut squash (cut into 1inch cubes)
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs sugar
2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
Salt & pepper to taste

Add the oil to a large casserole dish, fry the onion and garlic over a medium heat for about 5 mins until starting to brown.  Add the spices, stir well and cook for another minute.   Add the rest of the ingredients up to the black beans, cover and gently simmer for 15 – 20 mins until the squash is cooked.   Add the blackbeans and cook for a further 5 mins.   Season to taste.

Serve with rice, baked spuds or wedges and a selection of toppings.    Topping ideas could include guacamole or chopped avocado, salsa, shredded spring onions, grated cheese, sour cream, chopped coriander, sliced radishes, pickled chilli, sliced olives, feta etc etc.

I think that this would also be great with chickpeas.

I am officially dippy – I would like to believe that dips are a food group, I know that they are not, but I can dream.     But this dip, served with some crudites and pitta bread possibly does count as a reasonably balanced meal.    It is a pretty pale orange and perfect for Halloween, watched over by my Alien I carved earlier in the week.

Pumpkins are everywhere at this time of year, they are wonderful for carving but unless handled carefully they can be rather bland and boring to eat.    My usual solution to boring non leafy vegetables is to roast them; roasting concentrates the flavours and caramelizes some of the starch making dull and watery transform into something altogether more interesting.     For this dip I peeled and roasted a whole pumpkin (about 12″ / 30cm) and used about 1/6 of the flesh in my dip.  The rest was turned into soup.

Favourwise there is a mix of East and West – tamari and toasted sesame oil give an oriental influence, bought West to North America; the home of Halloween celebrations, with the addition of liquid smoke and maple syrup.    A world of flavours in a bowl for my watchful Alien.    Liquid smoke is an American invention, widely available in the USA and becoming increasingly easy to find in the UK, and has become a store cupboard staple for me.    It does what is says on the bottle, adding an authentic smoky taste to anything you add it to; it is made by passing smoke through water.   You can make up your own mind on its safety.  The EFSA is investigating one of the ingredients, but bizarrely is not comparing it with traditionally smoked goods.  I have used less than a small bottle in over 2 years and am not going to worry considering the amount of smoked fish and meats that I like to eat.

Roasted Pumpkin Hummus

1/6 of a medium pumpkin
1 tsp paprika
glug olive oil
1 tin chickpeas – drained and rinsed
juice half a lemon
1 clove garlic – peeled
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbs tamari (I use Clearspring which is double strength) or use soy sauce
1 tbs maple syrup
dash liquid smoke
salt & pepper to taste

Cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out the fibres and seeds.    Cut into 1″ wide wedges and peel.   Place on a baking tray, sprinkle with olive oil, paprika and salt & pepper.    Roast at 190C / 375F / GM4 for about 45 minutes, turning every 10 minutes or so.    Allow to cool.  Place all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz until smooth.   Thin with a little water if needed.   Season to taste.

Serve in a pretty bowl with a sprinkle of chilli flake and sesame seeds with vegetables and strips of pitta bread.

Slow cooking allows you to slowly cook a dish over a number of hours, it uses barely any power and can be left unattended all day.   I will happily go out and leave the slow cooker on all day or I will leave it on all night.    It has the huge advantage of tenderising cheaper cuts of meat, making them meltingly soft, and bringing out their flavours.    I often use shin of beef, over 6 hours in the slow cooker it never fails to transform from being the toughest cut of meat to meltingly soft.    Similarly to making any casserole you do need to prep your ingredients when using a slow cooker, chucking everything in leaving to cook really does not work in my experience.    My cooker was the cheapest that Argos had to offer, a bargain at around £13 several years ago.

Slow cooked casseroles will reduce less than ones cooked in the oven, I usually leave the lid of the pot ajar for the last hour of cooking to allow some evaporation, or use some cornflour to thicken.   This time I reserved half a can of black beans and blitzed them with some of the gravy to make a thicker sauce, I also use this technique in my five bean chilli.  A little cumin and star anise go a long way, if you like the flavours do up the amounts you use.   I see no reason why this will not work with regular stout and a spoon of cocoa powder.

* Renaming this blog Fuss Free Thrifty Flavours would be accurate, but, I fear almost impossible to say.

Spiced Beef, Black Bean & Chocolate Stout Casserole (Serves 8)

2 tbs sunflower oil
2 large onions  – chopped
4 cloves of garlic – chopped
3lb / 1.5kg shin of beef – cut into 1″ cubes
500ml Chocolate Stout
2 cans black beans – drained and rinsed
2 tsp cumin
3 star anise
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the onions and garlic until starting to brown and place into the slow cooker.    Batch fry the meat until brown and add to the pot, deglaze the pan with some stout and add to the slow cooker.    Add the beans, reserving about half a can.     Add the cumin and star anise, a good pinch of salt and black pepper.   Give all the ingredients a good stir and pour the stout over so everything is just covered.   Slow cook for at least 6 hours.

If the gravy needs thickening, blitz a ladleful with the remainder of the black beans and stir back into the casserole.

Serve with mash and green veg!

Thanks to Youngs for the free stout for this recipe.

In my last post about my co-op bags I promised a recipe to use all those last bits of salad vegetables lurking at the bottom of the fridge.   This is a simple citrus, zingy lentil salad.   I love lentils, cheap, quick, tasty, packed with protein and low GI to boot, they are a store cupboard staple.

I had about a third of an iceberg lettuce to use up.    Cucumber, spring onions and any other leaves would also work well.     Following the success of the braised iceberg, I cooked my iceberg in with the lentils for about 5 minutes, I would also cook any cucumber, but add leafier leaves such as rocket into the warm lentils.   A handful of fresh herbs would be delicious here too, if I had had tomatoes I would have thrown them in too.  I used a mix of half puy and half regular green lentils as that was what was in the cupboard.   f you do not have any harrissa a pinch of chilli or cayenne would be a good substitute.

This is another contribution to my series of easy, economical and healthy recipes of what to do with the contents of the co-op “boxes” for the Food Co-ops and Buying Groups project run by Sustain – also part of the Making Local Food Work programme funded by the Big Lottery.

Recipe: Harissa Lentil Salad with left over bits and bobs (Serves 2)

6 oz (150g) Lentils – Green or Puy or a mix
3/4 pint (425ml) Stock – I use Marigold
Salad leftovers – cucumber, iceberg, green leaves
Juice and zest of half a lemon
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp Harissa powder (I use Steenbergs)

Simmer the lentils in a pan with the stock for about 20 mins, adding some more water if needed, you want most of the water absorbed without the lentils being dry.    If using, shred the iceberg lettuce and cucumber and add to the lentils.  Cook for another 5 minutes.    When lentils are ready (soft but not mushy) remove from the heat, drain if there is too much stock which has no been absorbed.

Pour into a serving dish, add green leaves (if using them), stir in the lemon juice, harissa or chilli and olive oil.   Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Delicious warm or cold.

Not the best of photos, but life is too short to style dal!

People know that I enjoy cooking and that I generally like to eat healthily, and well and often.  Some are also aware of my trying to stick to a vegan diet “for at least 80% of the time as it makes me feel healthier and it is better for the planet”*.   As a result I often receive offerings from friends, family and neighbours, and in the late summer, I can guarantee that there will be at least one enormo courgette making my way to my kitchen.     I love food, I particularly love free food, and being given food is best of all.     According to the BBC’s Gardening site courgettes should be harvested at 4″, I think that I would let them grow a little more, one per person as a side dish would be about right.    Occasionally one will escape harvest , courgettes, it will appear, are masters of camouflage and the enormo courgette will make its appearance and be presented to me.    I hate to waste food, so have come up with several enormo courgette coping strategies.

Here is a simply lentil dal (or however one spells it), containing chopped courgette, red lentils and spices.  I should have no need to say how good lentils are, healthy, cheap, satisfying, delicious and low GI.    It would be lovely topped with crispy onions, but this time I left them off.  A dash of turmeric would make it a brighter yellow.  This served 2 greedy people with rice.

Courgette and Red Lentil Dal (Serves 2 as a main)

Glug sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cinnamon
8oz red lentils
1/2 pint stock (I use Marigold)
Enormo courgette – chopped into 1cm cubes.   I used about 12oz.

Heat the oil in the pan, add the spices, stirring all the fry them for a few minutes until they release their aroma, add the lentils and stir for another minute.    Take the pan off the heat and add the stock.    Simmer for 10 mins, add the courgette and stir in.    Simmer for another 10 mins until the lentils are soft adding more water when needed.    Mine needed about another 1/4 pint, but it will depend on the amount of courgette.

Serve with rice and chutneys.   This freezes and microwaves well making it a good packed lunch.   Add some more stock to make a soup.

* My quotes; food ethics are complicated, and ever evolving, and sometimes it is just easier to give the short answer.

This month’s Fresh From the Oven Challenge was hosted by Chele, from Chocolate Teapot, who choose brioche for the challenge.    I was hugely excited about this as I love brioche and had never made it before, but had always enjoyed it on French holidays.   Muttering “Let them eat cake” to myself I set about making the dough.  Chele provided us with a recipe from  River Cottage Handbook No.3.

Brioche
400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
5g powdered dried yeast
10g fine sea salt
90ml warm milk
2 tbsp caster sugar
100g butter, softened
4 medium free range eggs, beaten
To Glaze
1 medium free range egg
2 tbsp milk

to knead by hand:  mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, and bring it all together to form a dough.  Knead for about 10 mins, until smooth and shiny.

Or, to use a food mixer:  fit the dough hook and add all the dough ingredients to the mixer bowl.  Mix on low speed until combined, and leave to knead for about 10 mins, until smooth and shiny.

Shape the dough into a round, place in a bowl and cover tightly.  Leave in the fridge overnight.

The next day, divide the dough in two and form into the shape of your choice.  Lightly flour the loaves, lay them on a wooden board or linen cloth and cover with a plastic bag.  Leave them somewhere nice and warm to prove until almost doubled in size; this could take 3 or 4 hours, as the dough is cold.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.  For the glaze, beat the egg and milk together.  Transfer the risen loaves to a baking tray and brush all over with the glaze.  Bake for about 10 mins, then lower the oven setting to 180C/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 30 mins or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 2 small loaves

I pretty much followed the recipe to the letter and kneaded by hand.  However, I wanted brioche for breakfast so I made the dough after lunch, popped it in the fridge, then shaped the loaves and left them out overnight to rise.    This worked well, but the dough was very sticky and was hard to transfer from the board to the baking tray.    Next time I shall leave them to rise on a silicon mat, then they can go straight into the oven without needing to be transferred to a baking tray.

I slightly over cooked them, I was away from home and completely forgot to adjust temperature or cooking time for the fan oven I was using.     Despite this the brioche was delicious and I will certainly make it again.    Any brioche not eaten fresh was sliced and frozen, and toasted from frozen was still delicious.

See the full round up and past challenges at the Fresh From The Oven blog.  Many thanks to Chele for hosting such a great challenge.  I am sitting in France writing this post which I think is rather fitting!

You know the occasions when you have asked people for supper, then you get home 5 minutes before they are due to arrive and nothing is prepared?   I think that a bowl of dip is the perfect casual starter.  Easy to throw together from store cupboard staples and the contents of my co-op veg box, the colour is guaranteed to make anyone smile.     Rather than using tinned beans all the time I usually cook dried beans then freeze them ready to be used, it is cheaper and better for the environment and I prefer the taste.     However tinned beans are undeniably highly convenient and I keep a few tins in the cupboard ready for instant useage.

I am a huge fan of the vaccum packed cooked beetroot, they will keep for ages, taste great and add a vibrant splash of colour.   The dip was actually far more colourful than the photo shows.

This is another contribution to my series of easy, economical and healthy recipes of what to do with the contents of the co-op “boxes” for the Food Co-ops and Buying Groups project run by Sustain – also part of the Making Local Food Work programme funded by the Big Lottery.

Beetroot and Cannellini Bean Dip (Serves 4)

1 tin cannellini beans (410g)
1/2  packet cooked beetroot (or about 4oz / 125g)
glug olive oil
1 clove garlic
zest of one lemon
1 spring onion* (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Simply open the can of beans and rinse well.  Put all the ingredients into your food processor (or into a tall pot and use a stick blender) and blend well.   Season to taste.    Serve with crudites and strips of pitta bread.   I used some chives from my window box to garnish – you could use the green part of a spring onion finely chopped.

* I have noticed a growing trend to call spring onions “salad onions”.     I am suspecting some directive that has decided that as they are not exclusively available in the spring that the name is a misnomer?   I almost prefer the American term “scallion” which to me aptly alludes to a scally wag and youthfulness?

The host for next friday’s Presto Pasta Night #163 is Chaya The Comfy Cook.        I was up half of last Thursday night watching the UK election results.  Consequently on Friday I was shattered, but greatly enjoying watching the sleep starved, over caffeinated presenters battle on – at one point one told the nation that the “UK now has a well hung Parliament” and in a similar vein the exchange between Jeremy Paxman and Boris Johnson about the Conservative sausage being a chipolata or Cumberland provided a great deal of amusement to my sleep deprived brain.

For our lunch I used the remains of the spicy tomato lentils with cabbage with a good glug of olive oil mixed into some spaghetti.   It was an excellent pasta sauce and reconfirmed the cabbage lentils will become a regular.

I continue to be delighted with the vegetables from my local food co-op; not only are they incredibly cheap, but I am enjoying the challenge of coming up with ideas to use up vegetables I would never normally buy.   I think I have only ever bought turnips twice in the last 10 years and have now cooked them twice in as many weeks.     I currently have a glut of cabbage; both this and last weeks’ were untouched in the fridge last night.

I am writing a series of easy, economical and healthy recipes of what to do with the contents of the co-op “boxes” for the Food Co-ops and Buying Groups project run by Sustain – also part of the Making Local Food Work programme funded by the Big Lottery.   Here is my first, a simple tomato spiced lentil stew with cabbage stirred in at the end.     I only used 3 spices to flavour it, and only the fresh ingredients from the co-op and to save on washing up it only needs one pan.   I think that it will become a favourite; we had it with spicy potato wedges last night and used the leftovers as a pasta sauce for lunch today.   It would also go well with rice or on toast.

Spicy Tomato Lentils with Cabbage (Serves 4)

Glug cooking oil – I used olive but any light oil would do
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
Pinch cayenne pepper – to taste (This has a huge kick – more than you would expect!)
2 Onions  – chopped
Salt and pepper
200g / 8oz green or puy lentils
1 tin tomatoes
1/2 pint vegetable stock
1/4 green cabbage
Pour a good glug of oil into the pan, add the spices and cook on a medium heat for a minute.   Add the onions and fry until they are translucent.     Add the lentils, tinned tomatoes ( if they are not already chopped run a knife through them in the open can a few times) and stock and give it all a good stir, put the lid on and simmer over a low heat for about 30 mins or until the lentils are soft.     Give it a stir every 5 minutes or so and add some more water if it is drying out.

Meanwhile shread the cabbage, place in a sieve and wilt by pouring a kettle of boiling water over.    When the lentils are done (they should be soft but still have some bite) stir in the cabbage and cook for a further 3 or 4 minutes.      Serve immediately.

The earthiness of the black beans works well with the sweetness of the squash and absorbs any flavourings or herbs that you add. The griddled tortilla is crispy with a soft fluffy filling. I also added some liquid smoke for a BBQ flavour if you do not have any (it is not easy to get hold of in the UK) add some smoked paprika or smoked salt.

I have no exact quantities for this recipe as it really is a use-whatever-you-have-to-hand general idea rather than a recipe, any beans would work, use different vegetables; any root vegetable would work in place of the squash.

Black Bean & Butternut Squash Tortillas (Serves 2)

Handful black beans
Handful aduki beans
½ small butternut squash
¼ green pepper finely chopped
¼ yellow pepper finely chopped
Handful peas & corn
1 chopped pickled chilli
1tbs Sunflower oil
Dash soy sauce
Dash liquid smoke

2 tortillas

Peel and chop the squash into ½” cubes, put in a bowl,cover and microwave for 3 or 4 minutes until soft. Whilst the squash is cooking fry the vegetables and beans (I fry my beans straight from the freezer, they defrost soon enough in the pan) until the beans are soft, add the squash and give it all a good mash until the beans and squash are squidged together. Add liquid smoke, soy, spices, salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.

Oil a griddle pan (or a clean frying pan) and put on the hob on the hottest ring at full blast. Meanwhile spread a dollop of the mixture over half of each of the tortillas (If you get these out of the freezer when you start cooking they would have defrosted by now) fold over and press firmly.

Fry on each side (about 2mins) until they are crispy, keep a close eye on them as they go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds. Serve with chutneys and some salad.

Chole
(Serves 12 as a side dish, 6 as a main course)

2lb Soaked and Cooked Chickpeas,
2 onions finely chopped.
1 tin chopped tomatoes. (400g)
2 tsp salt.
2 tsp turmeric.
2 tsp crushed garlic.
2 tsp crushed ginger (Fuss Free tip – use Very Lazy Ginger)
1 tsp chilli powder (Fuss Free Tip – use Very Lazy Chillies)
3 tbsp ghee.

up to a pint of water

Heat the ghee and fry the onions, garlic and ginger until golden brown.

Add the tinned tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the salt, turmeric, and chilli powder and cook for 10 minutes over a low heat.

Add the chickpeas and enough water to stop the mix drying out (about a pint) cook for 10 to 15 minutes stirring frequently.

Serve as a side dish or as a main dish, delicious with a naan bread to scoop all the sauce up.