In all honesty there is nothing Italian at all about this salad, but the red, white and green vegetables reminded me of an Insalata Caprese and the colours of the Italian flag, and it looks pretty.

We needed a picnic supper tonight for a Scottish Dancing group that we go to and I found a bag of a mix of red camargue and wild rice in the cupboard and made a simple salad with some vegetables that I had in the fridge.    As with my sunset salad vegetables are far easier to eat and enjoy raw if they are chopped into smaller pieces, if you prefer blanch the brocolli and cauliflower.    I always cook my rice in a microwave steamer, I get perfect rice everytime and in about half the time it takes to cook on the hob – 14 minutes for brown rice and 11 for white, I cannot recommend them highly enough and would not be without mine.
Red Rice Salad

50g/ 2oz red or wild rice per person
Chopped brocolli, cauliflower & cherry tomatoes
Shredded basil
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Simply cook the rice and dress with the olive oil, lemon juice and soy sauce (if using).    When cold add the vegetables and basil and toss.      Totally fuss free and delicious.

I am republishing this and sending to this month’s No Croutons Required where the theme is rice, set up by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa’s Kitchen and hosted by Lisa this month.

I know that I promised a healthy January, and potted shrimps, with their oddles of butter, are not the most healthy start to the New Year.  However I have 3 excuses;

• Firstly anyone starting their New Year’s Resolutions in the cold light of day on the first of January is either a masochist or setting themselves up for failure.  Yesterday I was slightly hungover, tired and in need of comfort; not the best day to start my healthy month, and I do not wish to fall on the first day, which will make me more inclined to give up altogether on my resolutions*.
• Secondly, we were at a party for New Year’s eve and also wanted to celebrate together with a special supper.
• Thirdly, Christmastide continues until twelfth night, the 5th of January, which is followed on the 6th by the Feast of the Epiphany.   The twelve days of Christmas are the 12 days after.   My decorations stay up until the 6th January, I find it quite sad that in today’s more commercially driven world all the focus is on the run up to Christmas, rather than the Christmas period itself.

I added an anchovy fillet and a pinch of cayenne pepper to my shrimps.   Do taste the butter as you season here, cayenne is hot stuff and different brands vary in fieriness.   Some recipes call for the addition of nutmeg; use it if you must, I do not always care for the taste so did not use it.  With the slightly salted butter and the salty anchovy I doubt that you will wish to add more salt.

Potted Shrimps (Serves 2 generously)

50g butter (I use slightly salted)
1 anchovy fillet – tinned or jarred
Pinch of cayenne pepper
100g cooked & peeled brown shrimps
Black pepper – to taste

Place the butter and anchovy in a small saucepan and melt the butter over a low heat.   Gently stir and nudge the anchovy with a spoon, it will eventually disintegrate and “melt” into the butter.     Season with the peppers.    When the butter is melted stir in the shrimps and heat for a few moments.  Spoon the shrimps into two ramekin dishes and press down, pour the melted butter over.

Leave to chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Serve with toast and a wedge of lemon.

* My resolutions are simply to be calmer and happier, simple, but I am hoping effective.

It would appear that Fuss Free Flavours has recently become a chocolate baking blog.   This is not my long term intention, and normal fuss free service will be resumed soon, but this cake was too good not to blog.   It is also fairly fuss free, the recipe both having a forgiving nature and being of the bung-it-all-in-a-food-processor-and-whizz style of baking that I favour. 

The cake was baked by me, last week, for my birthday party.   I know that something was slightly amiss here, baking your own birthday cake is none too joyous, but people were coming round and I had set myself the task of making sushi, chilli and baking a cake.  All within 2 hours.    Yes, maybe I wanted to show off just a little.  I wanted to make my easier than pie chocolate amaretti cake (which I have just realised that I had not made for 3 years).   I got off the bus with my shopping and realised that despite the first item on my shopping list being amaretti biscuits I had forgotten to buy them.     There were no amaretti biscuits to be found in West Kensington, but I remembered I had a tin of Swedish Ginger Thin biscuits from the fantastic Ikea Swedish Food market that would make a good substitution.

This made a good dense chocolate cake with a firm hint of ginger.   I find nutty flourless cakes are great for puddings, but they do need that large dollop of cream to lift them.   As it was a celebration a sweetened boozy cream was just the ticket.

Chocolate & Ginger  Cake (serves 12 or 8 chocoholics)

2 oz / 50g  ginger thin biscuits
4oz / 100g almonds
7 oz / 175g sugar
4oz / 100g butter
4 eggs (free range please)
6 oz / 150g dark chocolate
Zest of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, grease the tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

Put the biscuits, almonds and sugar into the food processor (I use a Magimix) and blitz until all are finely ground, add the butter and eggs and blitz again.

Meanwhile break the chocolate up into a bowl and stand over a saucepan of just simmering water until melted.

Add the melted chocolate and orange zest to the food processor and pulse briefly until mixed. Pour the batter into the cake tin.

Bake for about 35 minutes – when ready the cake would have risen and would have started to crack at the top and round the edges. Leave to cool for 5 mins then run a knife round to separate it from the tin, then release the clip. When cold you can transfer it to a plate.

Serve dusted with cocoa powder or icing sugar and lots of whipped cream.

Boozy Whipped Cream

300g pot double cream
1 tbs brandy
2 tbs icing sugar

Bung in a bowl and whip with a hand blender.

Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients Indian Curry Pastes - Photo from Waitrose

A good few months ago I was asked to the launch of the new Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Indian curry pastes range, and had a fantastic evening where the Waitrose chefs cooked up a delicious storm using the sauces.   I was sent home with a large goodie bag to try the products out in my own kitchen.

To make a really good curry you need a good base, obtained by slowly sauteing onions, garlic, chilli and ginger for 45mins over a low heat, until they are soft and sweet.   Making your base in this way makes for a huge difference in flavour and gives the curry an authentic taste.   Central to the curry paste range are jars of  ready cooked onion base (£1.35 for 300g), each jar is made from 1kg of onions, so it is not only time saving but also fantastic value considering onions currently cost about 90p a kg.  One jar of onion base will serve 4.

Waitrose Onion Base for Curry - photo from Waitrose

To your onion base you add the curry paste, which are based on traditional Indian recipes.   Then add your meat, fish or veggies and other ingredients.   Each paste has a recipe suggestion, additional ingredients include tinned tomatoes, cream, coconut milk, fresh herbs etc.     Currently the range consists of Achari, Bombay aloo, Makhani, Balti, Keralan, Rogan Josh, Tikka, Korma & Tandoori Choley (£1.89 / 200g jar which serves 8).   Opened jars will keep for 4 weeks in the fridge.

Having really enjoyed the dishes cooked with the pastes by professional chefs at the launch I was keen to see what I could make.     One batch of curries was rapidly scoffed with friends and I did not take any photos, but another batch was photographed before eating!

Here I made a chicken Keralan and a chickpea Achari.   Both were delicious I thought that they were just as good as any from my local takeaway, with added bouses of being cheaper, less greasy and importantly containing flavoursome meat that I knew was free range and organic.   The chickpeas were especially delicious cold for lunch the next day.

Other products in the range are naan breads, poppadums & marinades, and a selection of chutneys all of which I enjoyed and will happily recommend and buy with my own money in the future.

Thank you to Waitrose and Food at 52 for a lovely evening and for the free product samples.   I attended the evening as a guest of Waitrose.

I sometimes wonder which I would choose were I ever forced to decide between no more rice or no more potatoes for the rest of my life.  It is a topic that comes up from time to time on various foodie discussion boards that I frequent, and I know I would find it a tough choice.      I think that I lean towards rice ever so slightly, I know that you can do lots with potatoes, but I do adore a bowl of rice with a glug of soy sauce or some oil and salt & pepper.

This coming Friday is Diwali, which this year co-incides with bonfire night, it is a sympathetic meeting of festivals and I am expecting to see lots of fireworks over the weekend.  Whilst the British are celebrating a failed Roman Catholic plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs will celebrate Diwali; also known as the festival of lights, and for many of these faiths it is the most important festival of the year.    I also find it fitting that this year two festivals celebrated with lights both fall the weekend after the clocks have gone back.  I did enjoy my extra hour in bed last Sunday, but it does not nearly make up for the fact it is now getting dark mid afternoon with the sun setting at around 4.30pm this week.

For Hindus, Diwali, or Deepavali, is also known as the “awareness of inner light”; something beyond the body and mind which is pure, infinite and eternal.   This light outshines all darkness and ignorance, with it an individual’s awareness is awakened and this leads to compassion, love, joy and peace.   Celebrations vary but most will include fireworks, lighting of lamps, worship and the sharing of food & sweets.  Most families will cook a special feast for the occasion.

A few months ago, in the heat of the summer, I was asked to an evening to try out some Tilda Stir Fry Rices, which I greatly enjoyed.   Recently they sent me some more of their rice; packets of plain basmati for me to make a Diwali dish.      As I wrote at the time about Tilda, I think that they have a great product, and importantly take equal care of their ethical policies, sustainability and work with local communities.   All great stuff which makes them a company I am happy to endorse.

Basmati rice is fragrant, delicately flavoured and utterly delicious, so really does not need a complicated recipe, just a little enhancing.     I cooked my rice with lemon and cardamon and served with slowly cooked caramelized onions.    I cook my rice in a microwave steamer, it never fails to produce perfect rice, it cooks faster than on the hob (14 mins for brown rice).   My steamer is this one from Lakeland, the best £8.99 that I have ever spent and I actually cannot cook rice without it!  I usually make lots of rice and have leftovers fried for breakfast the next day.  I make no pretence that this is an Indian dish, but I think it a perfect showcase for the rice.

Simple Lemon & Cardamon Basmati with Onions (serves 2)

1 medium onion
1 glug olive oil
1 knob butter (or non diary spread)
Salt & pepper
150g / 6oz white basmati rice
1/4 lemon – sliced
8 cardamon pods

Thinly slice the onion and gently fry in the oil and butter with a sprinkling of salt & pepper.   It needs to be cooked over a low heat for about 20 mins, until soft but starting to caramelise.   Stir frequently to prevent burning.

Whilst the onion is cooking prepare the rice.  I put it in the steamer, rinse, add the lemon and cardamon pods.  Add boiling water so the rice is covered by about an inch and microwave on full power for 12mins.     When done, place the inner steamer basket in the sink, pour a kettle of boiling water over to rinse and give a good shake and remove the lemon.   If you do ot have a steamer cook the rice as would would usually do, but add the lemon and cardamon.

Serve with the onions on top of the rice and a sprinkle of garam masala.

Thank you to Tilda for the free samples of rice.

I am sure that chocolate crispies are one of the first things that anyone learns to cook, I certainly have a memory as a young child of making them with my mother.    She often used whole wheat flakes or a half and half mix with cornflakes.    Surely with all that cocoa, sugar, syrup and butter the composition of the flake barely matters?    I also added some chopped dried apricots and a handful of omega sprinkles; a mix of linseed, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

My base was Kellogg’s Choco-Rocks; an updated, and supposedly healthier version of cocoa pops, containing more fibre & vitamins but less sugar than before.    I was not keen, I disliked the taste but appreciated the crunch.  I can see that a harassed and tired parent could easily feel assured by the blurb on the packet and bring these out at breakfast time.   Surely some breakfast has to be better than no breakfast for a child?

Gotta to be Slightly Healthier Chocolate Crispies (makes 15)

2oz butter
2 tbs golden syrup
2 tbs cocoa
2 tbs sugar

2tbs dried apricots – finely chopped
2 tbs mixed seeds

About 2 bowls of cereal flakes, pops or shapes.

Melt the butter, syrup, cocoa & sugar together in a medium saucepan, stir well and remove from the heat.  Add the apricots and seeds, stir in the cereal bit by bit, I find it is much easier to add it little by little stirring as I go.    Add more cereal if there is enough chocolate goo.   Spoon into cake cases and leave to set.

Enjoy.   These were actually surprisingly good.

Thanks to Kelloggs for the free sample packet of choco-rocks

]]> http://fussfreeflavours.com/2010/10/gotta-to-be-slightly-healthier-chocolate-crispies/feed/ 2 http://fussfreeflavours.com/2010/09/harissa-lentil-salad-with-leftover-lettuce/ http://fussfreeflavours.com/2010/09/harissa-lentil-salad-with-leftover-lettuce/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:43:41 +0000 Helen http://fussfreeflavours.com/?p=1283

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.

Usually I cook everything from scratch, but in the last few months I have been lucky enough to be invited to attend several tastings for quite astonishingly good ready made products (namely Bertolli Sauces and Tilda Stir Fry Rices) that I am more than happy to keep in the cupboard and use on the occasions when I am tired or would otherwise call for a takeaway.    I think that anyone can cook with products of this quality – using them as a base to embellish according to their taste, and the contents of fridge and cupboard.

Here is my take on one of the recipes that Gennaro Contaldo made for a group of bloggers at the Bertolli tasting.   I used spaghetti, Bertolli Arrabiata from the store cupboard, capers from the fridge and two haddock fillets* from the freezer.    Absolutely delicious and very easy to put together simply poach the fish in the  sauce whilst the pasta cooks.  I am a caper lover, if you are not, black olives would work well here too.

* Waitrose sell boxes of individually frozen fish fillets which are perfect to keep in the freezer, the individual fillets defrost rapidly ready for use.  All Waitrose fish is sustainable and Marine Stewardship Council approved. 

Speedy Tomato Spaghetti with Haddock and Capers (Serves 2)

Two fish fillets – I used Haddock
Spaghetti for 2
1/2 jar Bertolli Arrabiata Sauce (or homemade)
1 tbs capers

If using frozen fish allow to defrost for as long as you can, I regularly poach half frozen fish and have never come to any harm, just cook it for a little longer.

Put the pasta on to cook.  Pour the pasta sauce into a shallow pan, add a little water and bring to a gentle simmer, add the capers (or olives) and lie the fish in the sauce.   Cook for about 5 minutes until done.     Serve on top of a bed of pasta.

Delicious and so so fast.

I am sending this to this week’s Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by More Than Burnt Toast.

After several glasses of reviving Processo we got down to cook with Gennaro.    He walked us through and demonstrated the Soffritto method of making the sauce, saute finely chopped carrots, celery and onion in olive oil with a crushed clove of garlic and then cook with tinned tomatoes.  Bertolli use exactly the same method to make their sauces.

We then set to work making our own Arrabiata sauces under Gennaro’s expert guidance, the finished sauces were duly decanted into Bertolli jars with personalised labels to take home.

We all then sat down to watch Gennaro cook us supper using the ready made sauces.   Listening to Gennaro it was obvious that he really believed in the products and was happy to use it on the evenings that he does not make his sauce.   He stressed that it was very good value (one jar will feed 4 as the sauce is fairly concentrated and packed with flavour) and he seemed very proud of the fact that the sauce does not have any additives (“There are no Es”).    He was also full of anecdotes and stories accompanied by the appropriate Italian gestures and was most entertaining to listen to and watch.

We were cooked a meat ragu, a mushroom and vegetable sauce (here I learnt that to reduce mushrooms you first add water to them, which draws the water out of them).  My favourite dish of the evening was the mackerel poached in the arrabiata sauce.   I was astonished that the fish was not fried off first, but no, simply heat your sauce, add some capers and extra herbs and lie the fish fillets in to poach.   How easy is that? I love both mackerel and capers so made a note to make this again.

Cooking done the taste test came of the dishes.   I was astonished.   Jaw hitting the floor,  lip lickingly astonished.   These sauces are amazing, really really good.   I honestly would not have believed that they came out of a jar had I not watched the cooking.    Several days later I was still muttering “It’s hard to believe its from a jar” to myself.   Definitely a store cupboard keeper and a product I have enjoyed using and eating!

Many thanks to Bertolli, Gennaro and Wildcard for a lovely evening, and the goodie bag with sauces, Bertolli apron and chef’s hat (yes I did wear mine at the birthday party in the pub afterwards) and the fantastic books, I am hugely enjoying the Supplement to the Italian Dictionary!

I attended the event as a guest of Bertolli.

A classic tapenade usually consists of black olives, capers and anchovies mixed in varying proportions.  I added some seeds to this pungent mix, to both lighten taste & colour and to add a dose of healthy omega 3 & 6s.    My seeds were a mixture of flax (linseed), pumpkin, sunflower and sesame.     The seeds diluted the pungent tapenade from a concentrated spread to the perfect base for a dip or sauce.    I stirred a good dollop of seed tapenade and some semi dried cherry tomatoes into hot pasta for a quick end of week supper.  Ground flax seed is really rather gloopy and the paste will need some thinning.

Having just missed the deadline for this week’s Presto Pasta Night I am sending this to fellow Londoner, Abby at Eat The Right Stuff for next week’s round up.

Four Seed Tapenade (Makes pasta sauce for 4)

2oz black olives (stoned)
1oz seeds (I used roughly equal quantities of flax, pumpkin, sunflower & sesame)
About 8 anchovy fillets (I used a 50g tin)
1 oz capers
1 small clove garlic
Juice and zest of one lemon
Olive oil

Blitz all the ingredients either in the small bowl of your food processor or with a stick blender.   I added the oil from my anchovies, but if you prefer drain them and add an extra glug of olive oil.      If necessary thin the paste with a little oil or, if bothered about the fat content, water.

I can think of several variations of this, using either parmesan or miso in place of the anchovies,