I have a huge amount of love for smoked & tinned fish, it is delicious, cheap and when sealed in its packet keeps well for several weeks. I buy my smoked and tinned fish from Waitrose as all their fish is sustainable and certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a cool bag packed with Total Greek Yoghurt much of it has gone into breakfast smoothies, but I used one last pot in this gratin.
If you are gentle with it Greek yoghurt should not split if you cook with it. I find that it occassionally does spilt, especially if you are mixing it with lemon juice, but it still tastes delicious and has the huge advantage in being considerable lower in fat than cream – I used the 2% Total in this dish, single cream has a fat content of 18% – by my maths that is 9 Greek yoghurt gratins for the price of one creamy one, it is not even close to a fair fight!
We both enjoyed this and it is firmly on the to make again list. Next time I will probably not put spinach in the gratin as it made it too watery and my caper obsessed mind is telling my that capers would would well stirred into the gratin too.
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Tags: potatoes, smoked fish, Yogurt
Posted in Dairy, Fish, Food Co-op, Quick & Easy | 2 Comments »
What could be more English than a glass of homemade elderflower cordial drunk in an English garden in the evening of Midsummer’s Day?
I picked the elderflowers on Midsummer’s eve and bottled them on Midsummer’s day.
Today is Midsummer’s day and for those of us in the Northern hemisphere the longest day of the year, for those in the Southern hemisphere it is the shortest day, and they now have the pleasure of looking forward to longer days and the coming of spring. Such are the vagaries of English weather the middle of June often feels like late spring and although the today middle of that day was baking hot there distinct chill at either end; at 10pm I am sitting in a fleece at my computer.
The delicate spring like elderflower abounds during June, seemingly in every hedgerow and garden. I love the idea of foraging from the countryside and cooking with my bounty. Elderflower cordial is the obvious thing to make with my flowers. I also was thinking of a delicate jam or jelly – perhaps pairing them with rhubarb or gooseberries, but in my limited time the cordial won. Naturally the best blooms were situated over a bed of nettles, so I dressed in my best protective clothing of wellies, jeans and a long sleeved top and waded in; brandishing my secateurs! I am delighted to have discovered a simple way to preserve my cordial; seemingly indefinately so it no longer needs to be kept in the fridge. Continue Reading »
Tags: Elderflower
Posted in Preserves, Quick & Easy, Uncategorized, Vegan | 10 Comments »
My food co-op has just made the summer switch over from vegetable bags to salad bags. Despite having not had a bag for the last couple of weeks (busy with life and the decorating) there are still a number of root vegetables languishing at the bottom of the fridge waiting to be eaten. As recent posts have showed I love roast vegetables. They are simply easy and delicious, perfect for any non leafy vegetables that are slightly too large or past its best. This is a fantastic recipe for the evening before co-op day, scoop out the remains of last week’s bag from the vegetable drawer of the fridge and use them all up.
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.
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Tags: carrots, onions, parsnips, pesto, turnips
Posted in Food Co-op, Quick & Easy, Salad, Towards 5 a Day, Vegan | 4 Comments »
Clearspring have very kindly donated a “sushi” hamper for our favourite recipe entered for the first Breakfast Club, theme Asian. Clearspring is a British company specialising in Japanese, and more recently European foods. Their products are all vegan, organic as far as possible and the company is committed to ethical and sustainable farming and supporting producer communities.
The hamper will be similar to the one below and will contain everything you need apart from the vegetables to make fresh authentic sushi.
To win this amazing prize from Clearspring simply make an Asian themed breakfast, blog about it and send us the entry! Full details are here and here. There are still 13 days to enter which includes 2 weekends for breakfast experimentations! We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Posted in Food Blogging Events, Vegan, World Food | 3 Comments »
Sometimes the most simple dishes can be the most delicious. This simple pasta contains only 4 ingredients which come together to make a delicious whole. It is also fantastic cold, but I think that I would use broccoli in place of the pak choy. ( Whilst writing this up I discovered that pak choy and bok choi are different names for the same thing it is also know as Peking cabbage).
I have been putting soy sauce with my pasta for years; as a child I remember that my mother would make risotto with long grain rice*, which she would serve with grated cheddar cheese and soy sauce. Even now if I make an underwhelming risotto my first instinct is to reach for the soy sauce or tamari.
The spelt pasta, soy sauce and olive oil used were all review samples from Clearsping given to me at the Allergy and Gluten Free show. I love the semi whole spelt pasta, it has a subtle nutty flavour and because it is made using traditional bronze moulds has a rough texture that the sauce clings to. I tried some cold at the show and it would be great in salads and for packed lunches. The tamari is wheat free and double strength and intensely delicious. The extra virgin olive oil was also delicious, fruity and peppery without being too strong. All Clearspring products are vegan and GMO free and the majority are fully organic. The company has a commitment to ethical trade and supports sustainable farming practices that help local communities.
I am sending this to for this Friday’s Presto Pasta Night hosted by The Sweet Kitchen unbelievably this week it is PPN number 168! Continue Reading »
Tags: pak choi, Pasta, tamari
Posted in Food Blogging Events, Pasta, Quick & Easy, Starters & Light Bites, Vegan, World Food | 3 Comments »
I am sure that all regular readers know we have been decorating and as my kitchen has been out of action I have had a few weeks off from my local co-op. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food Co-op | 1 Comment »
Wordles are sophisticated tag clouds using your choice of text, or text from a site or page. The one above was made from Fuss Free Flavours last year. They are great fun to play with and are strangely addictive. There are some fantastic examples in the Wordle Gallery.
Posted in Cooking Chat | 4 Comments »
I have finally got round to making the black pepper tofu, and can confirm it is as every bit as good as everyone has been saying and really does taste as if it has come out of the kitchen of a really good Chinese restaurant.
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Tags: Pepper, Soy Sauce, Tofu
Posted in Starters & Light Bites, World Food | 14 Comments »
We have been decorating. The flat has been turned completely upside down. The vast majority of our possessions are in the sitting room where we are also sleeping with about 2 square inches of floor space around the mattress.
Happily I have now got my kitchen back, which looks very splendid with its new colours but on Wednesday night it was a different story so escaping and going out for supper was the only option.
I had read the London Foodie’s favourable review of the Pear Tree and as the pub is a stone’s throw from the flat we set forth for supper. Sadly I do not have any photos as the camera is buried somewhere in the piles of stuff! Continue Reading »
Posted in Review - Restaurant | 1 Comment »
I was sent a pair of tickets to the Allergy and Gluten Free Show last weekend. I do not consider myself to be very allergic (apart from a lingering suspicion that either dairy or lactose mildly disagrees with me – more of this at a later date) and I am not gluten free. However, Olympia is very close to my home and despite last Sunday being the hottest day of the year so far I jumped on the bus and popped in. Continue Reading »
Posted in Cooking Chat, Review - Product | 2 Comments »