Category Archives: Savoury

a new vegetable box

By Alice | Published: September 13, 2009

vegbox1

On Friday we got our first delivery of a local organic vegetable box scheme (as you can see the kitties like to get involved in everything). A friend of mine recommended it. We were previously subscribed to a national scheme but when I found out about this one I was keen to try it as of course I would way rather our vegetables were properly local and I would much rather spend my money with a small local business. Oh and guess how they deliver it… by BIKE! Awesome!

vegbox2

So I ordered the ¬£15 box and this was what was in it, what do we think? Is that good value for ¬£15? I kind of think it is for what it is.

Rocket
Beetroot
Potatoes
Parsnips
Carrots
Onions
White cabbage
Eggs (free-range local – not certified organic)
Tomatoes
Runnerbeans
Sweetcorn
Spinach

Of course the real fun is in the tasting. The next day we had a quick lunch to try a few things. The cooking was all together in the oven with it set on high, so it involved the kitchen getting as hot the as the face of the sun but it was worth it. I roasted the sweetcorn in their husks (30 mins). The beetroot I scrubbed, quartered, dotted each with a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and pepper, and then roasted in a baking tray covered with foil (45 mins). While the oven was on I also baked two rolls (30 mins). I keep dough in the fridge because of the amazing boule recipe in this book:

breadbook

We haven’t bought bread since getting this book.

Anyway the veg was great. Delicious. We had a rocket and parmesan salad on the side too.

satlunch

sweetcorn

And there was enough sweetcorn, beetroot, and rocket left for a salad for the two of us the next day.

sunlunch

So pretty pleased with the box so far. In our near future I definitely see a spinach fritatta, some kind of onion potato dish, and at least one soup.

I am interested in how these boxes will change as it gets colder, how is it going to be over winter? Four months of kale and swede? I hope not.

Also posted in Cooking, Yum | Comments closed

What to eat when you can eat anything at all?

By Alice | Published: August 20, 2009

I think it is interesting what people choose to eat when they are home alone and can have anything at all. I eat… ramen. If I am having dinner by myself in front of the TV or a movie then this is what I make, it is my default food. It is one of the Japanese dishes my dad used to make for my sister and I when we were little (we loved it but would always jump up and down saying that miso paste looks like poo :) kids eh).

There are probably much more in-depth and no doubt more authentic recipes but my general recipe is aimed at being as quick and easy as possible. I put a block of dried ramen noodles and my soup base ingredients into a saucepan, then pour over hot water, then add in straight away the veg/egg/fish so that it all cooks together at the same time. The dried ramen noodles you can get in from East Asian stores, you can get much better quality than the instant ramen type. My soup base depends on what I feel like, as it is going to be quick I do not make a proper stock, generally I put in a teaspoon of mild miso, a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder, and a couple of drops of seasame oil. Maybe some seaweed too. The veg/egg/fish element totally depends on what ever I have at hand. At it’s simplest it might be a couple of spring onions from the garden and an egg. Other regular items are perhaps few handfuls of baby spinach, some frozen peas or sweetcorn, a little can of tuna, perhaps some tofu. On the side I usually have a bit of seaweed, preferably a nice posher variety.

Here are four separate ramen occasions from the past couple of months. It might look quite similar but that is because it is :)

ramen1

ramen2

ramen3

ramen4

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the breakfast idea

By Alice | Published: July 4, 2009

I have had this idea (that I admit might be a bit cheesy) of trying to come back from holiday with a short list of new things to try when back home. I think this could also help stave off those post-holiday blues too?

My two ideas that I brought back from Berlin were:

1. Be nice to my feet. I used to do stuff like go on huge walks in just some ballet shoes but these days I am 90% of the time in shoes that are better for me.

2. Have better breakfasts. We were given the best breakfasts by my family in Berlin, a spread of interesting rolls fresh from the bakery and all kinds of fruit, jam, and cheese. My usual breakfast is a quick bowl of Oatibix eaten in 10 seconds before I run out and jump on my bike. Or else I wait and get a multiseed bagel from work and have it at my desk.

This may have already been on my mind before I went to Berlin as a watercolour that I bought from Amy Borrell arrived on the day we left. It is from her One Day project and the title for this one is 'put more effort into breakfast'. How apt!

I am going to frame it and put it by the dining table to remind me.

So this was my attempt since we got back to up my game as far as breakfast goes…

Thursday breakfast:

I almost ran out of time but I was determined not to fail on the first one so I quickly got together some berries in a bowl with yoghurt. No time for tea or anything. Had to cycle faster so as not to be late.

Friday breakfast:

Again a bit of a rush as I was sorting out the laundry. Rye bread with Quark (a low fat creme cheese that they like in Germany) and Cooper's Oxford marmalade. This actually wasn't so great on rye bread, better on something plainer. Green tea, I only had time to drink a third of this. I took some berries and yoghurt to work to have as a snack later. I know the Hello Kitty is not very mature but it was to hand. The picture colour may be a little bit funny because I had the light on as it was so dark and rainy.

Saturday breakfast/brunch:

At last some time to do things more slowly. It was really nice to lay things out properly. We had this at about 11ish so it was breakfast and lunch.

So far it has been a success but I need to get up earlier on weekdays so it is not such a mad rush! Maybe even I could get a chance to read in the mornings, like the cute cat book that has just arrived from ai. Thanks ai! :)

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Father’s Day

By Alice | Published: June 22, 2009

For Father's Day my dad came over for dinner. I cooked fish coated in polenta, with fresh pasta I made, and a pesto with basil from the garden. For desert I made tiramisu as it is one of his favourites. Homely cooking :)

Pesto.

Making pasta. I like best the bit when you cut it into ribbons with the tagliatelli cutter. 6 eggs + 600g flour makes loads and loads with enough left for the next day. Maybe 6 portions total?

It was quite hard to get Vin Santo for the tiramisu so I spoke to the wine man who suggested this dessert wine. It worked in the recipe and is nice on its own too if you like fruity dessert wines.

My dad brought over a peony from his garden! So nice!

The meal. I wasn't going to bother to take any pictures but my dad said I should :)

The tiramisu. This picture is of the leftovers today. Delicious! I used this recipe from Jamie's Italian. Really easy to do. My notes to myself are to next time make the coffee a little stronger.

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Ps. The peony is still going strong the next day :)

Also posted in Cake & Dessert, Cooking, The house | Comments closed

better than pizza?

By Alice | Published: June 19, 2009

As I have mentioned before, at our house we still don't have an oven, just a grill and hobs. It is
taking so long as we are hoping to redo our whole kitchen and not just the
oven. Saving that kind of money is taking some time. Anyway a positive
from this situation is that I would never have tried this recipe if our
oven had been working.

So anyway what could be better than pizza? That is pizza fritta… that is fried pizza folks! I know, I know, it sounds ghastly, like a heart attack on a plate, but actually it is not as unhealthy as it sounds. I mean it is not diet food but let me explain.

You make the usual pizza dough, then briefly fry the dough on each side. I used grapeseed oil which I really really recommend for this kind of high heat frying. So much nicer than generic veg oil. The key is to get the oil hot so that the dough does not absorb it. My other tip is to lower the dough in starting with the edge nearest you so that any splashes go away rather than in your face :) I found that the breads puffed up so I poked a few holes. You then put the dough bases on a baking tray (I blotted them to get any remaining oil off) and grill with the toppings.

The great part is how good the base tastes. It has this crisp and soft melting contrast. Honestly it is genius. Thanks Jamie!

The recipe is here.

We had the pizza with an egg on and there is a spare to have cold tomorrow. I froze most of the dough rolled out into pizza shapes as the recipe makes quite a lot.