Chicken Basque
Today was really rainy and evil and nasty. We went out for lunch and were completely drenched going three blocks to the pub even though we had umbrellas. (Tip: If you have wet socks in the office, hang them behind your PC to get dry; the outflow from the fan is quite warm and will have them dry quite quickly). So we fancied something hearty for dinner to get the chill out of our bones when we got home.
We decided on Chicken Basque. A Spanish (Basque) recipe that includes chicken, chorizo, paprika, onions, garlic, olives, red pepper, sundried tomatoes, herbs and rice. Started on the hob and then into the oven. The rice hadn’t quite cooked correctly (maybe we had the wrong type), so we put it back onto the hob to finish it off.
When eventually served up, it was really good. Deep flavours of paprika, olives and chicken melded with all the other flavours. Kerri said it could really quickly become one of her favourite dishes.
With it, we had a Spanish wine – Gaba do Xil – which tasted somewhat of marzipan and peaches. Slightly sweeter than I usually like, but good deep flavours and it matched the deep flavours of the Chicken Basque very well.
Baked Potatoes with Cheese and Bacon
Last week, we cooked baked potatoes with smoked trout which were brilliant. Tonight, we fancied something easy so decided to do the same but with cheese and bacon (or, CHEESE and BACON as Stephen put it). They were tasty but needed more cheese and more bacon.
Aubergine, Pepper and Halloumi Stacks
This is our first attempt at cooking something for “in the bag”. The ingredients this month were aubergine, peppers and basil. We roasted the aubergine and peppers, then griddled some halloumi and assembled them into stacks. We drizzled the stacks with some basil-infused oil and topped them with a basil leaf and a roasted cherry tomato for good measure.
We had these for dinner with some tabouleh and some basilly salsa. They would make a good lunch on their own or with a salad.
Stir Fried Beef
After yeserday’s not-very-successful braised beef, we were left with a surfeit of meat which we stir fried this evening. This was much more successful than yesterday’s offering and here, mostly for my mum’s sake, is the recipe. Hi mum 🙂
Ingredients
Leftover beef, sliced into strips
Onion – half, sliced into moons
Garlic – two cloves, crushed
Baby corn – sliced in half lengthways
Mange tout (I know you don’t like these mum but try them, they’re REALLY good done this way)
Beansprouts
Marinade
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon cornflour
Method
Fry onion and garlic in vegetable oil for a few minutes, add meat and heat through. Remove from pan. Add more oil and cook vegetables (corn first, then mange tout, finally beansprouts) then return meat to the pan, mix, add sauce and put lid on. Cook with lid on for about five minutes.
Serve with jasmine rice.
Blackberry Fool
We picked up some really nice looking blackberries yesterday but when we came to eat them they were really sharp. We decided to make them into blackberry fool but substituted the mascarpone for some leftover cream cheese. The result was very cheesecake-like, which I liked but Stephen wasn’t that keen on.
Summer Braised Beef
I found this recipe in a magazine a little while ago, it was described as being a good alternative to the traditional Sunday Roast. The weather wasn’t all that summery today but we thought we’d give it a go anyway. The result: disappointing. The flavours (pale ale, red onion, garlic, celery, bay, peppercorns) were good and the six hours of marinading meant the meat was well penetrated but the end result was slightly tough meat.
Barbecued Burgers
This afternoon we had burgers on the barbecue. We bought some beef mince and Kerri made up some burgers with onion, parsely, salt, pepper and mustard.
To start, we had some salad with borage, which was apparently “herb of the week” at Waitrose. Normally, I’d be quite put off by such blatant marketing tactics, but the purple flowers were so seductive that we just had to have it:
Next, some corn on the cob that had been coated with butter containing garlic, chilli and lemon zest before being barbecued. We served these with some more of the same butter:
Next, the burgers themselves. Served on sesame burger buns with lettuce, tomato and roasted red onion. They were really good and luckily (due to my lack of attention) not overdone:
With all of this I drank some Campo Viejo Gran Reserva 1999 Rioja which a friend of mine had given me for my birthday last year. Kerri drank some white Burguny (Rully 2005).
Baked Potatoes with Smoked Trout and Horseradish
Mmmm baked potatoes. They take a long time to do, but they’re worth it. We baked some potatoes, then scooped out the insides and mixed in flaked smoked trout, parsely, grated cheddar, butter and horseradish. Then we put some more grated cheese onto the top and put them under the grill. The result was really good; definitely something to try again soon when we feel in need of comfort food, with different fillings. Actually horseradish mash will be good as an accompaniment to various things – we often have mustard mash but haven’t tried horseradish mash.
Thai Green Curry and Curry Puffs
Last night we had Thai green curry again. I enjoy making the curry paste in the mortar and pestle; I’m sure I’ll get bored of it one day but I haven’t got there yet. And we had a friend round who was really sweet and brought Malaysian curry puffs which we had as a starter. As we had decent weather for the first time in a while, we ate outside.
Fish Pie
This morning, we were set on using up the chorizo in the fridge that we bought back from Barcelona but by the time we got to the supermarket we had decided to make fish pie; funny how that happens. We haven’t made this for a long time, in fact I don’t think it’s featured anywhere on here so it must be a really long time.
We started off by infusing some milk with shallots, garlic, peppercorns, bay and sage; then adding the cod, salmon and prawns and cooking through. We used the milk that the fish had been poached in to mash the potatoes (with butter and salt and pepper, obviously), added some brocolli, topped with cheese and grilled until brown.
This was our attempt at a slightly healthier version of the classic fish pie, hence the lack of bechamel. I think it worked quite well although the fish itself could have benefitted from some additional flavours, we forgot the nutmeg and/or cloves for one thing. We’ll work on that for next time.
G
