But first ...

... an insignificant piece of kit you might think – say hello to your new best friend - the julienne peeler - every serious cook should have one!

Here's another thing that gets on my nerves – entirely related to shop bought coleslaw – carrots either sliced so finely they are mush or so chunky and uneven you have to make an unscheduled trip to the dentist – without being ridiculous your slaw should be of a similar size.

Carrots bleed if you grate them – not to mention pebble dashing every nook and cranny in your kitchen – how is it possible that grated carrot can jettison so far?

Ta dah – enter the julienne peeler.

Here it is, along with the uniformly sliced strips of carrot it produces :

A neat piece of kit and inexpensive too.

The result of all your hard work looks like this :

Of course you could, if you prefer, dust off one of the gazillion attachments that belongs to your food processor/mixer for which you paid an exorbitant price and, if you can remember which bit goes where, use the slicer cum grater. Oh and create a washing up mountain the size of Everest … I exaggerate of course!

Next up … my invention called Chicken Gallimaufry!

The sides ...

… a slightly different slaw :

I thought I'd zhuzh the basic slaw, introducing flavours and textures which will definitely enhance the recent dishes and those that will follow.

Coronation Slaw

110g white cabbage, finely sliced – approximately

one third of a medium size cabbage

1 carrot – peeled and sliced with a

julienne peeler

1 spring onion – 15g finely sliced

salt and black pepper

30g ready to eat apricots, finely diced

30g sultanas soaked in mango and apple juice

50g mayo

50g sour cream

1 tsp mild curry powder

squirt of lime juice

1 tbsp mango chutney

If there's one thing I hate it's the huge lumps of woody cabbage you always find in shop bought coleslaw.

If you are of a similar mind and decide to try this recipe, I promise you that attention to detail is worth the effort. Here's what I mean :

First up slice a “cheek” of cabbage – a sharp paring knife is the best piece of kit – smaller and more easy to control – with care!

The recipe given will give you a box of slaw – measuring approximately 11cms x 6.5cms x 5cms. One box lasted me a week, a spoonful here and a spoonful there – you'd be surprised how well it fits as a side to lots of main dishes and particularly as part of a sandwich.

Coming up … hints, tips and photos

What's next – Piada …

… Piada is a thin Italian flatbread. Piadina is the larger version – typically from the Romagna region – no yeast required! It's a perfect receptacle for street food or more accurately “kiosk” food – sweet or savoury and there's a size to suit every appetite. More to the point it's ideal to serve with sharing plates!

It's not very often I recommend nay rave about “store bought” stuff but here's my suggestion not just for the summer, for any time.

You can buy piada or piadina from most supermarkets. The bread takes 2 minutes each side to warm and colour in a dry, non-stick frying pan. Keep your warmed breads wrapped in foil until you're ready to serve.

Here's what they look like:

Here's a serving idea :

Check out this taco stand – fill your piada with whatever takes your fancy – cheeses, meats, salads and slot into the stand.

Available on line or stores like Dunelm - how very international!

Fishcake foto guide

You can make the fishcakes as small or as large as you like, depending on how you're going to serve them. May be as a starter or a main – the choice is yours!

But first a moment ... I'd like to think that I only recommend kit that I know is worth the dosh and, more to the point, has a useful purpose. In other words it will not find its way to that happy hunting ground for cast aside, useless and expensive dusty kitchen stuff in the sky.

Say hello to the ricer – you don't have to spend a fortune – price range from £4 to £40 and all points in between.

Here's a foto of mine and a simple guide to making the fishcakes and the different sizes you can make!

Ricer

Fluffy mashed potato, riced

The ingredients, ready to form into cakes

The cakes before flouring and frying

The cakes fried, ready to bake

Three different sizes of cake

The appetiser size of cake with rendang sauce

and topped with mango chutney

A size to suit every occasion!

The raw slaw

Time is our greatest enemy – or rather lack of it - whether its a commute, long hours, collecting and ferrying children, there's very little left to think about food and meals - here's my antidote which does require some prep but it's well worth the effort.

The basic raw slaw

It's much better to prep the slaw in separate food bags – it lasts longer.

How much you prep is up to you – as a guide :

110g white or red cabbage, finely sliced – approximately

one third of a medium size cabbage – a “cheek”

use a paring knife – see hints and tips to follow

1 carrot – peeled and sliced with a

julienne peeler

1 spring onion – 15g finely sliced

salt and black pepper

Slice your cheek of cabbage as finely as you can using a sharp paring knife – bag, clip and fridge. 

Next up the carrots – they bleed if you grate them – not to mention pebble dashing every nook and cranny in your kitchen – how is it possible that grated carrot can jettison so far?

Ta dah – enter the julienne peeler.

Here it is, along with the uniformly sliced strips of carrot it produces :

Bag, clip and fridge.

A neat piece of kit and inexpensive too.

Finally, spring onions are mild, you could use a Spanish onion if you prefer or a red version. You can get a sweet, mild variety too. Slice, bag, clip and fridge.

The ingredients are deliberately bagged separately – they keep fresh longer!

When you're ready to serve …

Gratin Dauphinoise – the cheats version …

… but before I begin here's a tip or three!

You can make a larger dauphinoise using the dish measurements already given in “Zhuzh your leftovers” and upping the recipe – 1.350g/3lb of potatoes and adding 725ml/1¼ pints of of cream – ensure your dish is filled to within 2cms/¾” from the top. The authentic recipe will follow!

You can save yourself time if you like prepping ahead. I peeled the potatoes, placing them immediately into a bowl of cold water, ready to rinse and dry. I didn't use a mandoline – unless you're proficient and a lover of washing up difficult kit with deadly blades I'd suggest a smaller, but effective alternative – an onion & potato holder. The holder secures the peeled potato thus enabling you to slice the potatoes thinly and evenly.

Here it is :

You can pay as little as £2 – I chose the one shown because it's food grade stainless steel - £7.99 – more robust for frequent use!

As for the number of serves you'll get – for the smaller version it depends on the appetites so could be 3 or 4 – I'd go 3 but it depends on what else you're serving. The larger version will give you between 6 or 8.

Whether you opt to make the cheats' version or the “real deal” Gratin Dauphinoise it would take your leftover roast of beef, pork or chicken (or a Quorn alternative for the veggies) to a whole new level. It doesn't have to be leftover roast, you could choose a selection of charcuterie i.e. a combination of cooked and cured meats – ham hock or gammon would be perfect too. I'd definitely serve with a relish - beetroot would be an excellent choice – the sharpness of the beetroot against the richness of either version - cheats or real deal.

A useless bit of information for you - it was the custom in France back in the day to serve a dauphinoise as a first course on its own and then followed by meats as outlined above and a salad – every day is a school day!

Let's get a move on!

The dish and the “pie” photos

Homity Pie – the dish

I wouldn't normally use a foil pie dish, in the interests of recycling and climate change et al but when I do I re-use them – just a thought!

a dish fit for purpose!

with the pastry lining

and then the filling

cooked and ready to eat!

Perfect with salady bits and pieces for summer ...

Stick blender mayo

This is the most delicious mayo, made easy and simple with a stick blender – it knocks the spots off shop bought!

Stick blender mayonnaise

1 egg

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

pinch of salt

juice of half a lemon – 2 tbsp

350ml of grapeseed oil

Break an egg into the stick blender jug. It's important that the yolk doesn't break. Add the mustard, salt and lemon.

Add the grapeseed oil again being careful not to break the yolk. Insert the stick blender, be sure that the blades completely cover the yolk.

Blend – after a couple of seconds you'll see white ribbons rising through the oil. Slowly pull the blender up through the oil so it amalgamates and push down again to incorporate all the oil.

Serve!

Variations on a theme :

For a French mayonnaise swap the lemon juice

for white wine vinegar, keep the remaining ingredients

Smoked mayo – stir in a few drops of Liquid Smoke flavouring

to the mayo – substitute 1 tbsp of cider vinegar for the

white wine vinegar. Add a few drops of maple syrup

on each dollop of mayo. Fab on fries!

There's Japanese, Salsa verde and Thai -

check out Matt Preston's essential tips for

making mayo at home.

You'll get 425g of mayonnaise and it will keep in the fridge for 3 days or so – if it lasts that long.

As I said – delicious and perfect with the fishcakes!

Strawberries are superb …

... and a very flexible fruit!

But before I move on to the pastry – I mentioned hulling your strawberries in “the Tarts” recipe - a little prep is required if you want the best from your berries!

Hulling is to remove the green leaf on the top and the stalk below – it takes a little time but is worth every second. You can buy a kitchen implement to do the job if you wish but using a paring knife is just as good - slice the tops off your strawberries and cutting carefully and gently, in a circular motion, carefully remove the stalks – it'll do the job just as well.

Here's what they look like :

Ta dah!

I think you'll agree it's worth the trouble.

Back to the pastry ...

The baby pots!

Check out the baby aisle in the supermarket/cheap shops for tiny pots – inexpensive and don't take up space in your freezer.

Here are the hints, tips and photos!

a neat piece of kit

the measurements are 5cms x 4cms x 3cms deep

or 2”x 1½”x 1” in old money

I love saving time!

Sauces for fish

This is the easiest mayo you'll ever make – no fuss, no faff – take your time, you don't want to break the yolk.

Stick blender mayonnaise

1 egg

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

pinch of salt

juice of half a lemon – 2 tbsp

350ml of grapeseed oil

Break an egg into the stick blender jug. It's important that the yolk doesn't break. Add the mustard, salt and lemon.

Add the grapeseed oil, again being careful not to break the yolk. Insert the stick blender, be sure that the blades completely cover the yolk.

Blend – after a couple of seconds you'll see white ribbons rising through the oil. Slowly pull the blender up through the oil so it amalgamates and push down again to incorporate all the oil.

Serve!

Variations on a theme :

For a French mayonnaise swap the lemon juice

for white wine vinegar, keep the remaining ingredients

Smoked mayo – stir in a few drops of Liquid Smoke flavouring

to the mayo – substitute 1 tbsp of cider vinegar for the

white wine vinegar. Add a few drops of maple syrup

on each dollop of mayo. Fab on fries!

It does exactly what it says on the tin, here's a photo :

This recipe is an old one but trusted – it came from Matt Preston late of MasterChef Australia and it's delicious with the fishcakes!

Coronation Slaw

This is a delicious take on Coronation Chicken … without the chicken! There's a quick way of achieving the basic slaw – you can buy a ready prepped bag from the supermarket. However I think this recipe deserves better and you'll avoid the inevitable lumps of woody cabbage you always find in shop bought stuff.

Coronation Slaw

*110g white cabbage, finely sliced – approximately

one third of a medium size cabbage

*1 carrot – peeled and sliced with a

julienne peeler

*1 spring onion – 15g finely sliced

*salt and black pepper

*30g ready to eat apricots, finely diced

*30g sultanas soaked in mango and apple juice

50g mayo

50g sour cream

1 tsp mild curry powder

squirt of lime juice

1 tbsp mango chutney

First up slice a “cheek” of cabbage – a sharp paring knife is the best piece of kit – smaller and more easy to control – with care!

The recipe given will give you a box of slaw – measuring approximately 11cms x 6.5cms x 5cms. One box lasted me a week, a spoonful here and a spoonful there – you'd be surprised how well it fits as a side to lots of main dishes and particularly as part of a sandwich.

But first – an insignificant piece of kit you might think – say hello to your new best friend - the julienne peeler - every serious cook should have one!

Carrots bleed if you grate them – not to mention pebble dashing every nook and cranny in your kitchen – how is it possible that grated carrot can jettison so far?

Using the julienne peeler you get uniformly sliced strips of carrot.

A neat piece of kit and inexpensive too.

Place all the ingredients marked * in a large bowl and combine, then add the mayo, sour cream, curry powder, lime juice and mango chutney then box and fridge!

P.s. Of course you could, if you prefer, dust off one of the gazillion attachments that belongs to your food processor/mixer for which you paid an exorbitant price and, if you can remember which bit goes where, use the slicer cum grater. Oh and create a washing up mountain to boot!

More summer sides ...

The Tartlet recipe

… I'm ignoring the weather forecast and pressing on regardless.

This is where my freezer came into its own – a little while ago I experimented with tartlet cases, bagged them, uncooked ready for filling and into “the store cupboard” aka my freezer they went, for another day.

Here it is – a tartlet case made from wholemeal flour and blitzed walnuts and Parmesan cheese, which I thought would make a perfect receptacle for anything that took my fancy!

The Tartlet recipe

200g plain wholemeal flour

pinch of baking powder

75g unsalted butter

25g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

50g walnuts, finely blitzed

ice cold water

Using a small Kenwood mini food processor, blitz the walnuts.

Using a standard size food processor place the flour, baking powder and butter and blitz until you have breadcrumbs, then add the Parmesan cheese and blitzed walnuts to combine. Add a drop of ice cold water and blitz again until the pastry comes together (do not over blitz). Tip the pastry out onto a sheet of clingfilm, using the film gather the pastry together into a ball and fridge for at least 30 minutes.

After resting the pastry, lightly flour a work surface with a little wholemeal flour, roll out, using a 10cm fluted cutter cut 6 shapes to the thickness of a pound coin and line the tart tins, pressing gently to the the edges. Bag and freeze, uncooked.

10cm fluted cutter

10x2.5cm tart tin

… now for the filling

A CPO pie using fast flaky pastry

On the other hand, try this fast flaky pastry recipe which I promise you is easy!

You will need :

75g of unsalted butter – chilled in the freezer

110g plain flour

pinch of salt

4 tablespoons of ice cold water

Plan ahead - before you begin weigh out your butter, wrap it in foil and put it in the freezer – 30-40 minutes. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. You'll need a cheese grater on stand-by. Remove the butter from the freezer and fold back the foil – it's easier to control when you grate the butter into a heap in the middle of the flour and salt. You can dip the butter into the flour to stop any sticking.

Using a round bladed knife mix the butter into the flour and salt. Sprinkle two tablespoons of water into the pastry and mix well. Add another two tablespoons and continue to mix. Finally use your hand to bring together – you're aiming for a clean bowl so no bits of pastry left in the bowl. Have a sheet of cling film ready – you can now use both hands to mould the pastry into whatever shape you require. Place on the cling film and wrap.

You can now rest in the fridge before use or place the cling filmed pastry in a bag and freeze.

Have a look at these fotos for hints and tips :

Microplane graters are a great piece

of kit!

The butter in its foil jacket with the grater

over the bowl of flour and salt – you can just as

easily use the grater vertically if that's more

comfortable

The grated heap of butter

The ball of pastry sitting in the bowl

The empty mixing bowl – not a crumb left behind

Coming up – the filling and the final fotos!

Editor's January Pick #20: Here goes nothing with the chocolate pot!

Editor's note: Personally, I don't drink or cook with milk anymore but that doesn't mean I don't still get chocolate cravings - every nine seconds if I'm honest. But milk-free chocolate is usually either horrid, boring, uninspiring or all of the above. Reading the second part of the chocolate melting pot review, I'm inspired to borrow the melting pot and have a go at zhuzhing up some milk-free chocolate with a big fat tub of peanut butter. Watch out Reeces! Or there may be a better idea...

Here goes nothing!

The instructions are straight forward and the base unit easy to understand. You preheat the base unit with a melting pot inside for 10 minutes, then add the chocolate, stirring occasionally until melted :

Remove the melting pot from the base and pour a small blob of melted chocolate onto each circle on the parchment :

Using the back of a spoon – I used a dessert spoon – in a circular motion gently ease the melted chocolate out to fill the circle :

Do not panic if you overrun the circle – it's not the end of the world – practice makes perfect, it's like using a piping bag for the first time – give yourself a break.

Editor's January Pick #19: New piece of kit

Editor's note: There are a lot of different topics covered by MiamMiam but one of my favourites is the kitchen kit section. Being a very rudimentary cook myself as in sauce pan, frying pan, oven and done - (not Bear Grylls up a mountain with a twig and a sock type stuff) it is fab to read about accoutrements that I wouldn't normally be exposed to. Take this week's selection that includes a chocolate melting pot. As the blog mentions, the old bowl in a saucepan kinda works for me but I am absolutely going to forget and grab the bowl so this would definitely be safer!

My new piece of kit.

Those of you who follow the blog regularly will know that I'm not one for spending dosh on kit for it to gather dust. With that in mind I thought I'd treat myself to a chocolate melting machine.

I melt chocolate frequently and I'm an old fashioned kinda gal and always use the steam method – saucepan with the bowl on top – never a microwave, personally I don't think you can control the chocolate and microwaves vary. The only downside to the old fashioned method is that it creates washing up. When I saw the Chocolate Melting Pot in Lakeland, I thought it looked neat and, reasonably priced at £19.99, it wouldn't break the bank.

Here it is :

Never let it be said that I don't have your best interests at heart - for the purpose of its inaugural outing I'm keeping it simple.

The plan :

You'll need :

a baking sheet measuring 30x30 cms

a piece of baking parchment measuring 29x29 cms

- slightly narrower than your baking sheet

4 large paper clips

the chocolate melting pot base and one melting pot

Before you begin

Secure your parchment to the baking sheet with the four paperclips

Draw circles on the parchment measuring approximately

6 cms in diameter – I used a straight sided pastry cutter – anything

circular will do

As a guide you'll get approximately 9 circles on the parchment.

Leave space between each circle.

When you've drawn your circles turn the parchment over

so that the pencil side is face down, then secure again with

the paperclips

Off we jolly well go!

Editor's January Pick #17: Julienne Peeler

Editor's note: After last week's selections it would be remiss of me not to round them off nicely with a further related tip from the archives in the form of a julienne peeler. Now I'm a pretty modern person and rather rashly thought at first glance "That's just a peeler" but aha! How little do I know, this little gadget is ingenious and I'm eternally grateful for the tip. Grateful. Is this mic on? Anyway, £10 and change on Amazon and will do you more than just coleslaw. And into the bargain I now know what julienne means! 

The coleslaw conundrum …continued … say hello to your new best friend!

The julienne peeler - every serious cook should have one!

Here's another thing that gets on my wick – entirely related to shop bought coleslaw you understand – carrots either sliced so finely they are mush or so chunky and uneven you have to make an unscheduled trip to the dentist – without being ridiculous your slaw should be of a similar size.

Carrots bleed if you grate them – not to mention pebble dashing every nook and cranny in your kitchen – how is it possible that grated carrot can jettison so far?

Ta dah – enter the julienne peeler.

Here it is, along with the uniformly sliced strips of carrot it produces :

A neat piece of kit and inexpensive too.

The result of all your hard work looks like this :

Of course you could, if you prefer, dust off one of the gazillion attachments that belongs to your food processor/mixer for which you paid an exorbitant price and, if you can remember which bit goes where, use the slicer cum grater. Oh and create a washing up mountain to boot!