Marrow and Runner Bean Curry

 It has been a strange summer here in London. Boiling hot June then cold and wet July. Hasn't stop the garden cropping well but has deterred me from going down to the patch as often as I should (along with two new kittens arriving hot on the heels of the loss of our 20 year old cat Fitz). 

Onyx & Jasper

 So when I did pop down I found a courgette that had hidden from me last time and had gone rogue! The runner beans like the cooler, wetter weather and they are cropping well. So I needed something to use up the bounty.

 

 

A glut of Beans and Marrow

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 tbsp rape seed oil

1/2 Marrow, deseeded and sliced

1 Red Onion sliced into half moons

1 handful of runner beans de stringed and sliced

2 tsp curry paste - or more depending on your tastes

1 small can coconut cream

Splash of lime

Rice to serve.

Method

Fry the onion in the oil until it starts to take a little colour. Add the marrow and fry for a further few minutes. Add the runner beans and the curry paste and stir together and fry had for a few minutes. Add the coconut cream and a splash of water. Simmer for abut 10-12 minutes while you cook the rice and the vegetables are cooked. Add a splash of lime and serve.

Vegetarian Curry in less than 20 minutes.

Cauliflower Risotto

It's been ages since I last blogged, I haven't stopped cooking (or eating) for that matter just forgotten to write about what I've been cooking.
This week we've had sub-zero temperatures, several centimetres of snow on the ground and no windows for a couple of days while we had the old double glazing replaced in four rooms (including my 'den'). Now the house is snuggy again and the cats are lounging on the window sills looking out at the birds pecking around in the snow and clinging to the bird feeders. Last night we had a nice warming risotto to give us our own central heating. While I was out feeding the birds I pulled some leaks from the frozen veg patch. Serves three.

Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower broken into florets.
3 small leaks, trimmed, washed and finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
225g risotto rice
750ml hot vegetable stock (or thereabouts depends on the age of your rice)
Small bunch of parsley
2 tablespoon olive oil
20g of butter
1 glass of white wine (something you'd like to drink with the meal) - Optional.
50g of parmesan cheese, grated plus some shavings for serving.

Method
Drizzle half the oil over the cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a medium oven (150-180C) while you make the risotto. Check and shake the cauliflower until it is cooked, browned on the edges with soft stalks.
Meanwhile melt half the butter with the oil and gently fry the leeks until softened. Add the rice and stir until coated with oil and butter. Add the wine if using and stir until evaporated. Gradually add the stock, ladle by ladle, until the rice is cooked. Add the parsley and stir, add the rest of the butter and parmasan and stir. Add the cauliflower and stir through. Serve with the parmesan shavings on top.

Baked Pumpkin Pilaf

Despite the calendar saying that it is June and we should be sipping G&T out on the patio while eating a light salad, we are instead getting blown around by gale force winds and soaked in thunderous showers. So instead of that light salad here is a warming rice dish to keep the cold of this British summer at bay. Serves 3.

Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash (peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks)
225g Rice (long grain - I use a mix of white and wild rice but brown would work as well)
1 large onion sliced into half moons
1 thumb sized chunk of ginger peeled and sliced into matchsticks
2 cloves garlic cut into slivers
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 large handful of green lentils
3 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
5 cardamom pods lightly crushed
olive oil
6 cherry tomatoes halved
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
Handful of chopped coriander

Spread the chopped squash in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the ground spices. Shake to cover and bake in a medium-hot oven (160C) for 20 or so minutes, shaking half way through.

Meanwhile fry the onion in a large casserole with a little oil until it starts to colour and then add the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, cloves. Fry briefly and then add the rice and lentils. Stir again to coat everything with the oil then add the stock and bring to the boil.
Put the lid on the casserole and stick it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Take the rice from the oven and stir in the roasted squash and the halved tomatoes. Put the lid back on and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the rice and lentils are cooked and the liquid has all evaporated.

Serve with yoghurt and mango chutney.

This could also be served as a side dish to accompany some pan fried chicken breasts, a vegetable curry or some spiced fish fillets.

Roadtesting a New Cookbook

It was my birthday last week and as is becoming traditional I invited some friends round for supper and games. Decided to try out a cookbook I was given for Christmas and all three courses came from its pages. "New Vegetarian Kitchen" by Nicola Graimes is unusual in that it is divided into six sections based on the method of cooking: raw, grilled, fried, steamed, simmered and baked, and each of these is divided into light meals, main meals and puddings.
From this I selected Spiced Parsnip and Apple soup (served with my home made bead), Mushroom Pies and Lemon Meringue tarts.
The recipes were easy to follow but I found one error, the Lemon Meringue tarts included an egg yolk in the ingredients but did not specify where it should be used it was in the lemon curd filling).

The soup was good, a nice blend of spices that didn't overpower the parsnips. The pies were brilliant, a combination of fresh and dried mushrooms, crushed cashews, ground almonds and onions in the filling was strongly flavoured and densely textured. The individual pies were cooked in dariole moulds lined with thin shortcrust pastry - thinner than specified as I had to make eight rather than six as my moulds were smaller than specified in the recipe. The pudding was very popular, very tart lemon curd contrasted with a sweet ginger-nut crumb base all topped with a lightly grilled meringue.

Mushroom Pies shortly before being demolished.

The pies caused much discussion after the meal as we came up with lots of new ideas for fillings - probably the top two were ratatouille and a samosa inspired lentil, pea, potato and onion. Will be making those in the near future for sure.

There are lots of other recipes in the book that I want to try so very soon it will be covered in sticky fingermarks like all the best cookbooks.

Thai Vegetable Curry

We've had a bit of a vegetable build up at home in the last week, we've both been away/working late etc and so I needed something tasty involving vegetables and so I came up with this.

Ingredients
For the curry paste:
1 large clove of garlic
1/2 an onion
small bunch of corriander (including stalks)
1 stick of lemon grass
Few lime leaves
1 green chilli
juice of a lime
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of ground corriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin

Chop and blend all the ingredients above into a smooth paste.

For the curry:
1 small pumpkin peeled and cut into chunks
3 carrots cut into chunks
Bunch of chard
Small cauliflower cut into florets
Can of coconut milk
Chopped coriander


Roast the carrots and pumpkin in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes until cooked through. Meanwhile fry the curry paste for a few minutes then add the coconut milk. Add the roasted veg, the chard and the cauliflower and simmer until the cauliflower is cooked. Serve with rice and sprinkled with coriander.