Belatedly, a mongrel stew

Mac mentioned the meal I cooked last Thursday; I’ve finally got round to typing up what I did. This really was reactive cooking with a vengeance: I had hardly the slightest idea what I was going to do and just let myself be guided by what ingredients were to hand, sniffing and tasting, and what passes for instinct.

Ingredients:

half Polish caraway seed sausage cut into ~1cm chunks
broad beans
courgette, chopped
large onion, roughly chopped
garlic
ginger
juniper berries
pomegranate seeds
cinnamon bark
cumin
allspice
black pepper
paprika
black mustard seeds
thyme and mint from the garden
red wine
oil

basmati rice
olive oil
some finely chopped red onion (in the absence of shallots)
pine kernels and lemon wedges

Method:

whizz ginger, garlic, cinnamon bark, juniper seeds, pomegranate seeds

grind allspice, cumin and black pepper, and add to mustard seeds and paprika in a tiny brown bowl

boil broad beans for ~10min and drain

heat oil
add dry spices and fry for a bit
add whizzed components
add onion and fry for a bit
add courgette
add sausage
cook for a bit
add slosh of red wine
simmer for a bit
add beans
cover and simmer for a while
add fresh thyme and mint
add water
simmer a while longer
uncover and reduce as appropriate before serving

the pomegranate seeds were probably a mistake done this way, as they left hard seeds in the food as served; soaking in hot water and adding later might have been better.

Tags: broad bean, courgette, sausage

chicken stir fry

Using up: spring onions, red pepper, the last bit of courgette, half a lemon

The thing about a stir fry is you can lob pretty much anything in it, but you need to have it all ready before you start.

So, as you may see, I chopped four spring onions, a red pepper, a small piece of courgette.  Garlic and ginger were whizzed in the most useful kitchen gadget known to (wo)man.  Pete chopped up a red chilli.

Out of the larder came sesame seeds, and I had a tub of cold roast chicken in the freezer that was pressed into service - I marinated that in some shoyu and a teaspoon or so of sesame oil for about 20 minutes.

Into the wok went the sesame seeds, garlic and ginger for a minute or so, then added the white bits of the spring onion, the pepper and courgette.  Stir fried till done, then added chicken and marinade, the lemon juice and a teaspoon of five spice powder.  Oh, and a dribble of honey.

Left it to bubble while we boiled up some noodles, and realised it was a bit thin, so mixed up a teaspoon of cornflour with some cold water, and hurled that in.

Drained noodles and put them in the wok, mixed it round a little.

Served into bowls, then sprinkled with the chopped chilli and the green bit of the spring onions.

Tags: chicken, courgette, red pepper, stir fry

courgette and fennel “cottage pie”

Using up: fennel, courgette, potato

Chopped a courgette into chunks, and the other half of the fennel into thin slices, and chopped an onion.  All into a frying pan with some olive oil, and left to sauté down.  I left it for 20 minutes, but I think it would have been better to either put a lid on it, or left it another ten - the end result was quite crunchy.

While this is going on, I boiled some spuds for mash,

Added a tin of tomatoes to the vegetable mix, a dash of salt and a good grinding of black pepper, and cooked for another 6-7 minutes.

The spuds were mashed with a combination of Red Leicester and gruyere cheeses (that’s odd - why did I capitalise the red leicester and not the Gruyere?), with some reserved for the topping. With hindsight, I thought it was too much cheese - either in, or on - but Pete thought it was just right.  We also added some chopped chives to the mash.

Veg/tomato mix into an ovenproof dish, top with mash, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook at gas 6 for about 20 minutes.

Tags: courgette, fennel, potato, tomato, vegetarian

thai vegetable curry

Using up: butternut squash, green beans, courgette

This is vaguely based on a recipe I saw on Come Dine With Me, a television programme here in the UK.  I was very struck by the potato element, which is:

One potato, boiled then cut into dice and deep fried.  Set aside for now.

Made a paste by blitzing a chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic, about a square inch of ginger, a stalk of lemongrass, a dried chilli,  half a teaspoon of salt, and a tablespooon each of lime juice and  olive oil in a blender, and pureéd until it was transformed into a smooth paste.

Peeled the butternut squash that had been lurking in the fridge for a couple of weeks, removed and discarded the seeds, looked at it and realised it was *way* too much for this curry and returned half to the fridge.  Watch this space to see what I decide to do with the rest! Chopped the flesh of the remaining half into 1/2 inch cubes.  The green beans had been topped and tailed on Friday, and I chopped the courgette into smallish chunks too.

Put the paste into a large pan or wok and fried it gently for a couple of minutes, stirring all the while.

Added the veg, and stirred them about a bit, to coat them with the paste, then hurled in a tin of coconut milk. Put a lid on it, and simmered it for about 20 minutes, then uncovered it and cooked for about another 10. I added the fried spud a few minutes before the end (crystal ball job).

Ate accompanied by noodles cooked with a few drops of sesame oil.  I cannot begin to tell you how nice it was - it was ambrosial, utterly lovely.  The squash had started to break down, and had a texture that I can hardly describe.

This made enough to feed the two of us, with another meal’s worth gone into the freezer.

Tags: "green beans", butternut, coconut, courgette, curry, squash, squashh, thai, vegetarian