Loop the Loop

“Heebie-jeebies” ...an idiom used to describe a particular

type of anxiety – uncomfortably nervous … curious?

Back when I was working to gain my Cordon Bleu Certificate we students presented ourselves for work and to our horror were given an invention test. For those out there who watch Masterchef you'll be familiar with the concept and understand why the phrase the “heebie-jeebies” is entirely appropriate!

We were given a bowl of cooked peas, sweetcorn, carrot and broccoli. Our task was to produce a “Soup of the Day”.

It's all very well when you are throwing whatever you've got in the fridge into a pan in your own kitchen – being scrutinised and marked to boot is a whole new ballgame!

Here goes nothing :

Soup de Loop

(a catchy title I thought)

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 green chilli, chopped, seeds out

Rapeseed oil

1 old potato, cubed

1 litre of vegetable stock to begin + half a litre later, when thickening.

We used Knorr liquid stock, Touch of Taste – Knorr Stock pots

would be as good if you can't get hold of the

Touch of Taste

Medium curry powder – to taste – 1 dessertspoon used

Mace – to taste – 1 tsp used

Salt and black pepper

Dice the carrots and broccoli should be kept in small florets.

Sauté the onion, garlic & chilli in the oil, add the curry powder and mace. Add the stock and cubed potato and bring to the boil, simmer until the potato is cooked but firm. When ready to serve 2 ladles of stock in blender until very smooth i.e. dip spoon in, look at the back of the spoon it will show the texture of the soup. Should be smooth. Add back to remaining stock, then add the cooked peas, sweetcorn, diced carrots and broccoli. As with all soups, leave the addition of salt until the end.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Even though I say so myself not a bad effort and an added bonus - a healthy, nutritious soup using leftovers – not too shabby!

Rib stickers! - Awesome Autumn Pud

Here's a seasonal change to an old favourite – the Summer Pudding. We are ringing the changes and using mixed autumn fruits. I'm using the same principles as with the summer pudding, substituting the traditional bread with Madeira cake.

Autumn Pudding

400g of mixed autumn fruits – cox's apples, peeled and sliced

blackberries and plums – stoned and quartered

1 tbsp soft brown sugaar

3 tbsp water

1 x 370g jar of conserve – any variety or combination

that suits your fruit – damson, plum or berries

Madeira cake – I use a cheap and cheerful shop bought cake (265g - approx) – sliced lengthways into quarter inch slices and neatened. Here's where it's difficult to predict whether you'd need one cake or two – cake size varies depending which supermarket you use. I'd err on the side of caution and opt for two. For the size of basin stated, it takes approximately 10 slices of cake.

1 litre (1&3/4pt) basin.

A plain sided cutter slightly larger than the base of the basin.

Cling film

Method

Stew the fruit gently with the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes until the fruit releases its juices. Cool.

Line the basin with cling film ensuring that it overlaps the basin.

Cut out a circle of cake for the base and place it in the basin. Line the rest of the basin – I overlap each piece of cake – but it's whatever you'd prefer.

Add half the jar of conserve to the cooled fruit and then pour the mixture into the cake-lined bowl. Top with slices of cake to cover completely. Fold the cling film over the pudding to seal.

Place a slightly smaller plate or saucer on top of the basin and weigh down with a can. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

To serve, remove the can and plate, unseal the cling film, cover the bowl with a large plate. Invert the pudding onto the plate and remove the cling film.

With the remaining conserve warm it through, gently in a microwave. Pour over the top of the pudding to serve, adding cream, ice cream or custard. For a grown-up version you could add a shot of liqueur.

The feedback from the “Sumptuous Summer Pudding” was really complimentary - “We all loved it, adults and children all had a slice, there were no leftovers – very easy to make” which is why I think this pud qualifies for an autumn tweak!

Rib Stickers! - Tempting Tansy

Here's a brief piece of history – tansy is a perennial herb, with yellow flowers producing a bitter sweet taste. Back in the day it had many uses, from an addition to puddings to a medicinal tea. Thankfully, it is not used in desserts these days, – too much is thought to be poisonous - it's only the name that remains which sounds like a good plan!

Damson (or plum) & Apple Tansy

Serves 4

2 large Cox's apples, peeled and thinly sliced

225g damsons, halved stoned and quartered (or plums)

15g unsalted butter

40g sugar

pinch ground cloves

pinch ground cinnamon

4 eggs, separated

3 tbsp double cream or soured cream

Put the apples, damsons (or plums), butter and half the sugar into a large frying pan.

Cook over a gentle heat until the fruit is softened, stirring continuously. Stir in the cloves and the cinnamon, remove from heat.

Beat the egg yolks with the cream and stir into the fruit. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then carefully fold in.

Cook over a low heat until the mixture is set. Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar then brown under a hot grill. Serve immediately, straight from the pan with clotted cream. You could even serve it with home-made vanilla ice cream – or both!

This is another candidate for the “straight from the pan” pud and not a tansy in sight.

Minimum effort – maximum yum!

Rib Stickers! - Figgy fun

Most people remember Figgy Pudding because of the Christmas carol, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” - “Now bring us some figgy pudding”. Not surprisingly it goes way back, probably 16^th Century and is thought to be English. It's a lighter version of a Christmas Pudding and there are loads of recipes out there, some more complicated than others.

Here's my favourite :

Figgy Pudding

50g unsalted butter

110g dried apricots, chopped

110g dried figs, chopped

110g pineapple, chopped

(I use dried, cubed pineapple)

110g sultanas

200g self raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

Pre-heat oven 180c/160fan/Gas4

Melt the butter – you could use a saucepan or the microwave. Tip all the fruits and the spice into a large bowl and add the melted butter and mix with the fruit. Leave to cool.

Add the beaten eggs, flour and baking powder. Fill your dariole moulds – the mixture makes approximately 9 puddings.

Bake for 20 minutes.

I've mentioned dariole moulds in both these recipes – I've added a photograph to illustrate – they are easy to get hold of – check out Lakeland Plastics. Normally I wouldn't suggest buying kitchen equipment for one recipe and I'm not doing so here. I invested in dariole moulds a while back and you can get good deals, i.e. buy 4, get 4 half price. They are a neat piece of kit. I use mine for both sweet and savoury stuff and they've been a really good investment.

Keep your eyes peeled for deals!

Rib stickers!

Strictly speaking the phrase is “stick to the ribs” and it has heaps of different meanings. I think it must be a phrase associated with the North – I've got some funny looks elsewhere. In this instance where associated with food, its meaning is “hearty and satisfying”.

Here's the first to qualify for the rib stickers club :

Go Bananas

Banana cake or pudding

250g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

150g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

3 bananas – pureed

1 tbsp milk

You can make it as a tray bake – you can make it in sandwich tins and turn it into a cake (2x20 cm approx) or even make it posh by using dariole moulds which become Banana Timbales.

Butter your sandwich tins. Sift the dry ingredients together. Cream the butter and sugar – add the eggs gradually. Stir in the dry ingredients alternatively with the bananas and milk. Bake for 30 minutes at 180c/160fan/Gas4. If you are making a cake then sandwich with cream and dust with sifted icing sugar.

If you opt for the Banana Timbales, then you'll use approximately 9 dariole moulds. Bake for 25 minutes. When cooled turn out from the moulds and freeze if you wish – good luck – there won't be any left to freeze!

The tray bake is the standard size – 20 x 30cms approx - bake as for the sandwich cake. You'll get 12 generous portions.

I've frozen the timbales and the tray bake with great success. The timbales in particular are brilliant when entertaining or “in case of emergency” guests. You can take them straight from the freezer and microwave to serve in 1 minute.

This recipe and the next I collected from my Cordon Bleu Certificate training and I've used them many times – I hope you will too – definitely rib sticker stuff!

Spicy Spuds – the leftovers.

For those of us who like their leftovers with extra flavour here are two more ideas :

Spiced Sautéed Spuds

Serves 4

600g waxy potatoes, parboiled, peeled and

sliced into approximate 1cm rounds

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

Panch phoran – 2 tsp

*see below

¾ tsp turmeric

¼ - ½ tsp red chilli powder

Sprinkle of mango powder

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the panch phoran, it should sizzle immediately. Cook for 20/30 seconds, stirring. Add the potatoes, toss well, ensuring they are all covered with the spices. Turn the heat down, cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, turn the potatoes and repeat.

Increase the heat, turn the potatoes again so that they are lightly golden brown – 3 minutes each side. For a tangy finish sprinkle with a pinch of mango powder, toss again and serve.

*You can buy panch phoran ready made – it's a blend of spices – all seeds. It's used in Bangladesh, Eastern India and Southern Nepal. Literally it means “five spices”. You can make up your own blend easily.

½ tsp each of the following seeds

cumin

mustard

fennel

nigella

¼ tsp fenugreek

If you are a spice lover then it will probably be worthwhile. I'd remind you that if you are going to mix your own blend buy small amounts of each spice – they will deteriorate and therefore it's not economical to buy in bulk – unless of course you're going to make up the blend and distribute it to all your spice loving family and friends! If you have difficulty in sourcing any of the seeds they are available at Daily Bread Co-operative – www.dailybread.co.uk.

Bombay Spuds

- the quick version

Serves 4

600g cooked waxy potatoes – I use

Charlottes – any variety will do so long

as it holds its shape

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil

250g of sieved or creamed tomatoes

(or half a carton/jar of passata)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp of minced ginger

2 cloves of garlic or 2 tsps of garlic paste

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt to taste – 1 tsp

Your potatoes should be cut into cubes of approximately 1.5 cms.

Using a large frying pan fry the onions in the oil until soft, add the ginger, garlic, cumin and salt and cook for 2 minutes, allowing them to release their flavour - then the tomato paste and allow to cook for 2/3 minutes. Add the potatoes and then the sieved tomatoes and sugar. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.

Taste the potatoes – you should get a spicy hit but not too hot. Adjust salt and sugar to personal taste.

Pop a lid on – allow to cool and then refrigerate. The longer you leave the dish the better since the flavours will deepen. This dish freezes well.

These dishes qualify on the leftovers front and the make ahead and reheat front too – a double whammy!

Mishmash or Hash – III

From Scotland directly east to the North East to finish off our whistle stop leftover tour of the North our final two recipes come from Sunderland and Northumberland respectively.

Panackelty is a stew – it reminds me of how we'd use a slow cooker today – cooked all day on a low heat – there are many variations but originally it was thought to consist of corned beef root veggies and onions.

Panackelty

1 x 340g can of corned beef, sliced

1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced

3-4 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

2 beef stock pots (or cubes) dissolved into ¾ pint of water

salt and pepper

Layer the onions, corned beef and potatoes in a frying pan and finish with a top layer of potatoes, seasoning between each layer. Pour over the stock and cover with a lid.

Cook in a pre-heated oven 190c/170fan/gas 5 for an hour, remove the lid for the last 15 minutes so that the potatoes can brown.

The Northumberland dish is called Pan Haggerty which is potatoes, onions and cheese baked

in the oven – my sort of food.

Pan Haggerty

450g large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

125g butter

250g onion, peeled and thinly sliced

115g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

Melt 40g of butter in a frying pan and cook the onions over a medium heat. Set aside.

Melt half the remaining butter, remove the pan from the heat and arrange a layer of potatoes, onions and then cheese. Season and repeat, finishing with potatoes.

Fry on a medium heat for a 2/3 minutes. Dot knobs of the remaining butter over the surface and place in the oven for 30 minutes (pre-heated oven 190c/170fan/gas5). Raise the temp to 220c/200fan/gas7 and return the pan for a further 15 minutes.

Can serve straight from pan (on a suitable board) or slide on a board and cut into wedges.

I might venture to suggest that if you like the “parrots” idea mentioned in the previous post that you could include another layer in the Pan Haggerty – give it a go!