Birthday Supper with Friends

It was my birthday yesterday and after returning from a visit to the Natural History Museum where we viewed the always wonderful Wildlife Photo exhibition I cooked supper. It was a combination of items bought from the Waitrose deli counter and home cooked so I still had the pleasure of cooking without having to spend so much time in the kitchen that I didn't see my friends.

Alongside marinated anchovies, olives, bread and oil I prepared some Roasted Peppers with Manchego Cheese. This was followed by a Smoked Salmon Fillets with Horseradish and Dill Yoghurt with Beetroot Risotto. Pudding was Melting Chocolate Orange cakes by Gu. It all seemed to go down well!

Roasted Peppers
This can hardly be called a recipe to be honest! Serves 4 as part of a mixed starter or two with some bread and a green salad for a nice lunch.

Ingredients
2 long sweet red Romano peppers cut in half long ways
1 clove of garlic cut into slivers 
1/2 tsp of oak smoked paprika
50g of mancahgo cheese grated or in thin slices
25g Parmesan cheese grated
1tblsp olive oil (I used a smoked oil for extra flavour)

Place the peppers in a baking dish, cut side up and sprinkle the garlic, paprika and oil over them. Bake in a moderate oven (150-180C) for 10-15 minutes until starting to soften. Add the manchego cheese and the Parmesan cheese then place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes to allow the cheeses to melt.

Smoked Salmon with Beetroot Risotto and Horseradish Yoghurt
For four people use the recipe for Beetroot Risotto I've detailed before but leave out the Bacon and the Parmesan Cheese and add the juice of half a lemon at the end. If you cant get lightly smoked fillets then normal salmon or trout fillets will do.

Ingredients (for four)
Beetroot Risotto
4 Lightly Smoked Salmon Fillets (about 100-150g each)
1 tblsp Olive Oil
1 tblsp Greek Yoghurt
1 tsp Creamed Horseradish
2 tsp finely chopped fresh dill

Mix the yoghurt, horseradish and dill together and set aside.
Make the risotto as per the instructions.
While the risotto is resting (after cooking with the lid on in a warm place), pan fry the salmon fillets in the oil.
Place the salmon fillet on  the risotto, place a spoon full of the horseradish yoghurt on the salmon fillet and sprinkle with a little reserved chopped dill if desired.


 

An Unauthentic Moussaka

One of my wife's favourite ingredients is aubergine so when two turned up in this week's vegetable box I came up with this recipe to make the best of them. I also still have a glut of beetroot so added a couple of grated beetroot into the sauce to make it go further.

Serves 5-6

Ingredients
2 Large Aubergines sliced length ways about 5mm thick
500g minced lamb
2 medium raw beetroot grated coarsely
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano

Olive oil

1 pint milk
1 large knob of butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
100g blue cheese

2 sheets of dried lasagne 

1 ball of mozzarella

Method:
Fry the onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and minced lamb and fry until the lamb is no longer pink. Add the beetroot and herbs and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée and a splash or red wine or water to loosen the sauce if needed. Season with salt and pepper then simmer the sauce for 20-30 minutes while you prepare the aubergines.

In a bowl coat each slice of aubergine with olive oil ad season with salt and pepper, then fry off in batches. It is easier this way to control the amount of olive oil otherwise the aubergine soaks up a lot of oil. Fry each side until browned (about 2-3 minutes on each side).

Make a cheese sauce with the milk, butter, flour and cheese. The method I use is to put all the milk, flour and butter in a saucepan and heat until all the butter has melted and the sauce has come together - you will need to stir pretty much constantly. Add the blue cheese (or strong cheddar) and stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened. Season to taste.

In a large rectangular dish put in half of the tomato and mince sauce. Layer over half of the aubergine slices. Pour over half the cheese sauce. Add the sheets of lasagne (I use these to separate the cheese and meat sauces and to give a bit of structure to the dish). Repeat the meat, aubergine and cheese layers then top with the mozzarella torn into shreds.

Cook in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until t top is golden brown and starting to crisp at the edges. Serve with a green vegetable or salad. Leftovers are even better the second day!

Beetroot and Bacon Risotto

31st of August and already it feels like Autumn! Need something warming and cheerful to buck me up and this fits the bill (especially as I have a lot of beetroot in the vegetable bed!) Serves 2-3.

Ingredients
1 tennis ball sized beetroot, grated
1 small onion finely chopped
220g rissoto rice
750ml stock
2 rashers of smoked bacon (chopped into lardons)
small handful of freshly grated parmasan cheese
large knob of butter

Fry the bacon lardons in a hot pan and when coloured add onion and butter and cook until the onion has softened. Add the rice and stir to coat in the butter. Add the grated beetroot and stir and fry for a few minutes before adding the stock bit by bit until the rice is cooked. Add the parmasan, butter and seasoning. Add a few parmasan shavings and a drizzle of olive oil to garnish (I used some mandarin infused oil which added a nice sweet/citrus edge to cut through the earthy beetroot).

Tomato and Beetroot Soup

Beetroot. I always associated it with the vinegary stuff in jars that stained your lettuce and potato salad purple. So for some reason I decided to plant some this year and now I have a row of purplish lumps in the vegetable bed looking at me through the mud, hence this soup which serves 3 for lunch along with some fresh bread and Lancashire cheese.

Ingredients:
1 medium beetroot (about 200-250g) but beetroot don't come in nice regular sizes do they?
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
large knob of butter and a splash of olive oil
1 can of chopped tomatoes
600ml vegetable stock
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper

Grate the beetroot. This will make a mess and will make your hands and kitchen look like you've killed a horse with a chainsaw. Fry the beetroot and the onion in the butter and oil for about 10 minutes until they have softened. Add the spices, the tomatoes, purée and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Blend with a stick blender and add the Worcestershire sauce and season to taste.

A dollop of sour cream or yoghurt on top and or some chopped chives would make it look pretty.