Our Vegetarian Day - Carrot and Coriander Soup and Mushroom Risotto

It wasn't planned, but today Ishbel and I had a vegetarian day, with the above meals.

I had planned to do the risotto yesterday evening but to be honest when I got home from the office after being off for a couple of days having had my Laparoscopy on Wednesday, my tummy has been so sore and I just couldn't be bothered to stand and make anything for myself but did manage to make a little cod, potatoes and veg in a parsley sauce for Ishbel when she got in from work later on Friday evening.... So the mushrooms had to be used today.

So, First up for Lunch - Carrot and Coriander Soup, so simple and quick and tasty

This is just for the two of us and gives us two bowls of soup and two for later, so just increase the quantities if making for more people

2 pints of good chicken or Veg stock 
1 large or a couple of small potatoes peeled and chopped
1 large onion peeled and chopped 
500 grams of carrots washed and chopped
2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons of ground corriander
Bunch of fresh corriander
2 tbls of good veg or sunflower oil
Maggi seasoning optional




Place the oil in a decent flat bottom pan large enough but not to large for the two pints of stock and heat.
Add the chopped onions on a medium heat and fry off for 5 minutes, without browning









Add the chopped potatoes and the crushed coriander and stir for 2 - 3 minutes











Add the carrots, stirring in and cooking for 2 - 3 minutes













Add the stock and bring to the boil.
Place a lid on the pan turn down the heat
and allow to simmer for around 20 mins to cook the carrots (If you want to,you can add Maggi or other taster of choice, or not, at this point)

Remove from the heat and here you can either transfer to a liquidiser or do as I do and just use a wand to liquidise the veg and bob's your uncle....

Whichever way you go, remember IT'S HOT

Chop up some fresh coriander and add to the soup

Serve with a couple of sprigs of coriander
and crusty bread, enjoy


Total prep and cooking time: 35 - 40 minutes

And for supper later in the evening - Mushroom Risotto

Again, this is just for the two of us and gives enough for two decent sized bowls of Risotto. I should point out that I usually use some dried porcini mushrooms and fresh parsley, but I forgot to get both today, so this is just with plain old chestnut mushrooms.....

What you'll need 

1 onion, roughly chopped 

2 cloves of garlic, crushed 

500 grams od chestnut mushrooms sliced 

1/4 pint of dry white wine 

2 pints of veg stock

Parmesan Cheese

2 handfuls of Aborio Rice 

2 tbls of Olive oil

1 oz of good unsalted butter 

Place the oil in a pan and heat on a moderate setting Add the onions and the garlic Don't brown the onions.  Sweat down until soft 

Add the mushrooms and cook until Browned and turning soft  

Add the rice and stir into the onion, garlic and mushrooms coating all of the rice in the oil

Add the wine and cook off allowing the rice to absorb all of the liquid.  This also burns of the alcohol in the wine.  Start adding the stock a ladle full at a time and allow this to be absorbed by the rice, before adding more stock.  Continue doing this until the stock is used and the rice is bulging.

To give it the creaminess of a risotto, add the butter and stir into the risotto.  I would also add the porcini mushrooms and a handful of chopped parsley at this point but had none so didn't.........

Serve, grating some parmesan for me, but not for Ishbel, and enjoy                                                                Total Prep and cooking time 40 minutes 

So, if you fancy a meat free day, which isn't a bad way to enjoy your day, have at it my friends, if you try them and you like them, why not come back and leave a comment, always glad to hear from you 

Chicken Breast with Olive and Caper Tapenade

A simple quick tasty recipe that anyone can make:

Chicken breast with an Olive, Capers, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Garlic Tapenade rub.

First lets assemble the ingredients:

Decent sized chicken breasts
Pomodoro or Plum tomatoes
About 10 to 12 olives
Tablespoon of capers
Tablespoon of sun dried tomatoes
Herbs of choice (optional)
Salt and pepper per your liking
Extra virgin olive oil
Ciabatta Bread slices for grilling





Turn the oven on to heat up now 200 degrees, and whatever your equivalent is in gas or other......

The Tapenade can of course be made in larger quantities and kept in the fridge for a few days and used on other dishes or to brush on toasted Ciabatta, your choice.



Chop the olives, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and capers and put into pestle bowl and add, if using your chopped herbs and crush down adding about a tablespoon of EV Olive Oil.

You can keep grinding away until you get it as smooth or as chunky as you like  adding salt and pepper to taste.

Once at the consistency for your tastes, set aside.











Take your chicken breasts and slice along the top of the breast













Place the chicken in a decent sized dish and rub the Tapenade into each breast getting it into the cuts on the breasts, add the pomodoro or plum tomatoes  and cover with foil.

Cook for 20 - 25 minutes remove the foil;
TURN THE GRILL ON TO HIGH FOR THE TOASTED Ciabatta
and leave for another 5 -10 minutes until the Tapenade   begins to just colour, remove from oven.

As you remove the foil, slice some Ciabatta and drizzle one side with olive oil and place under the hot grill, olive side up to grill - don't let it burn

You can also spread some of the Tapenade over the grilled bread





Plate up and Serve and Enjoy

Total Prep and cooking time is about 40 - 45 mins so, get cooking 

  

Seared Plaice with Spicy Butter Beans

Saw this on the telly, so thought I would give it a try,

You'll need a couple of good size plaice fillets, I asked the chap on the fish counter just to de-skin them for me to save time, they are always happy to accommodate.

Also to save time I used tin butter beans too, cuts down on the cooking time (and the scum - never like scum when cooking)

So;

1/2 a red onion sliced and diced
1 red chilli almost de-seeded (the recipe on the telly called for de-seeded- but this is my version)
Rind of half a lemon
1 garlic glove crushed
4 teaspons of grated ginger
Sprig of Thyme
3  Table spoons of chopped Dill
2 tins of butter beans
1 or two tablespoons of creme fraiche
400 ml of chicken stock


Prepare your herbs 

Cook your butter beans with a sprig or two of Thyme and I drain and wash the tinned butter beans and  cook them in the chicken stock 

Just before the butter beans are cooked, add the onion, chilli, ginger and garlic to a good sized pan with a couple of table spoons of vegetable oil and cook gently for a couple of minutes.  Don't let the onions garlic brown. 

Add the butter beans and the stock to the pan and stir to combine the beans with the herbs. Add two table spoons of the chopped dill to the pan and stir.

Add the creme fraiche and stir and allow to gently cook through 

 Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to a non stick pan and add the plaice fillets.  As yo can see I cut the fillets down to more manageable sizes, and sear on one side for two minutes.  Use a pallet knife to turn over and squeeze the juice from a half a lemon on top, remove from heat after 1 minute







Spoon the butter beans and sauce onto a plate and serve the plaice fillets on top sprinkle with more chopped dill

Enjoy

Don't forget to clean the hob afterwards 

original recipe; BBC Saturday kitchen 

Leak and Potato Soup

This is one of my favourites and like most soups it is simple and easy to make!

What you will need:

4 decent size Leaks
1 small Red Onion (optional)
2 cloves Garlic (optional)
4 or five large potatoes
50 - 75 grams butter
Tablespoon (or two) of extra virgin olive oil

Herbs
Stock

60 - 90 fluid ozs water  (3 to 4 1/2 pints)
A Large pan

 Peel and slice the red onion and the garlic cloves
 Peel, and cut the potatoes into decent size chunks, wash and rinse off excess starch











Slice the leaks lengthways and then slice across,
 wash, clean and drain.













Place the butter in the pan on a low temperature, I cook on gas on the hob so this is fairly easy to control , and melt down the butter.  I like to add a table spoon or two of extra virgin olive oil at this stage too.

Place the red onion and garlic in the pan and sweat down for about 3 to 4 minutes, while you are doing this Leaks out of the water and should be draining.

Add the leaks to the onion and garlic stir well trying to coat all of the leaks with the melted butter and olive oil, make sure you get all the leaks off the side of the pan (they will just burn and dry out there on their own).  Once you have got the leaks coated in melted butter, on a really low heat, place the lid on the pan and allow the leaks to soften.





This, depending on the type of pan you are using,



and the convection into the pan can take  about 10 minutes, but do keep an eye on it if this is your first time.  Don't want them to dry out and shrivel up.  Your leaks should look like this.






A word about herbs and stock here.  I used to make my own stocks and when I have them I



always use fresh herbs, BUT, I have found the wonder of Knorr Stockpots, they are great, well at least I like them and they make a useful and hand addition to the store cupboard for emergencies!


So, once the leaks, onion and garlic have sweated down I add one herb infusion pot and for 60 - 90 fluid ozs water  (3 to 4 1/2 pints) two vegetable stock pots. Melt these down into the leaks and then add the water to the pan.


Once the water has been added, you can now add your potatoes.  I don't turn the heat up at this



stage, leave it where it is, place the lid on the pan and allow to gently simmer to cook the potatoes through.  I should have mentioned that you need a good firm potato but here and you need to be careful that you don't over cook as you want some decent sized bits in there when you serve it up.

This usually takes about twenty to thirty minutes and you are ready to go. (Just test the potatoes with a skewer)

If you like a smooth soup you can scoop out a bunch of leaks and potatoes and then use a kitchen blender in the pot to blend the remaining soup down, you can also add a touch of cream at that stage if you wish, adding the removed leaks and potato back into the mixture, once nice and smooth.  You should note though that if you do add cream to the pot you need to use the whole pot fairly quickly (not that it lasts long even if I am making it just for the two of us) but without the cream it will last a few days longer.  I usually put some in a Tupperware dish and take it to work for lunch over the course of a couple of days.

We like to serve it up immediately with a sprinkle of parsley and hot bread with melted butter or again drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil on it straight out of the oven. (well, butter or oil goes on the bread after it comes out of the oven, naturally!)

Total Prep time:

Peeling, chopping and washing  15 mins

Sweating down in the pan: about 10 - 15 Mins

Cooking time: 20 - 30  mins



Enjoy

            

Roast Lamb with a little kick

I have to say that I am not the greatest fan of lamb but I do cook it regularly as Ishbel and the kids and grand kids love it, so this is just one recipe for you to try, simple and easy.

This is only for Ishbel and myself today (Sunday 12th November)  so it's a half leg of lamb.

Things you will need:

half leg of fresh lamb

Half a leg of lamb or bigger if there are more of you, just the cooking time that you need to increase,
Couple of cloves of garlic could go up to 4 for a bigger leg
Salt and Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive oil

Assorted herbs  (if available) I went to the shops this morning and forgot to get fresh coriander and thyme which is what I would usually use but dried herbs are fine and if you have some mixed herbs a teaspoon of them will do

and for the little kick

* Coriander seeds about half to one full teaspoon (half a teaspoon for a half a leg) and a dash of pepper

Crush down the coriander seeds with mortar and pestle leave a little bit grainy
Add the garlic cloves and a pinch of salt and mix into the coriander seeds while dribbling in olive oil

Crushed coriander seed, garlic Extra Virgin oil,
and herbs

Add in fresh or dry herbs and give a good mix.

While I have been doing that the leg of lamb has been resting in the kitchen, out of the fridge.

Take the concoction and rub all over the joint, really working it in.  Cover with foil and allow to marinade for a couple of hours.

Herb and Garlic Marinade 

If you have bought your lamb fresh from the butcher ask him how long and for what temperature you should cook it but I would normally do it in my fan oven for about 55 mins per kilo at 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). As with all roasts if you check about 45 mins in with a skewer to see how the juices are; red, pink, clear, this gives you an idea on the cooking time and of course some of you may like it pink some may like it

well done like Ishbel the philistine!

Today, this one is just under a Kilo so, 50 - 55 minutes this should be ample time to prepare and cook your potatoes and veg.

Cooked Leg 

Once you have cooked it for the time you want take out and rest for 10 to 15 minutes this does work and makes for easier carving.

For the gravy: Pour a large glass of red wine into the pan and place on the hob . Bring to the boil burning off the alcohol and deglaze the pan,


reduce the heat as soon as it starts to bubble.  Best way to tell this, is once the wine starts to heat, have a sniff you will smell the alcohol and it will also be slightly vinegary to the scent, once this has gone , probably just after being brought to the boil you will have lost the nose wrinkling smell of the wine, you can add a good lamb stock to give  a great tasting gravy.

* If you don't want the kick use everything above except the crushed coriander seeds, still just as good!

On the plate with mash, Roast Parsnips and baby
roast swede

On-line conversion Chart  for oven temperatures



Total Prep time:

Marinade 15 mins

Veg Prep including peeling spuds: 15 Mins

Cooking time (for this size joint) 55 mins

Gravy deglaze and prep (while joint resting) 10 - 12 mins