Time on your hands?

We're all in the midst of “Corona virus” and lets hope that we all keep well.

We need to turn a negative into a positive – if we're staying indoors or out of the way generally then lets make the most of the time.

We'll do a series of a sort of back to basics recipes and may even be motivated to do those jobs we've been putting off for ages - mainly because we've never got the time – then we'll move on to a spot of reorganisation.

My first back to basics recipe is roasted garlic.

I hate wasting time and believe in having all the ingredients ready to roll for any recipe. On that note – who doesn't hate faffing with peeling and chopping 1 or 2 cloves of garlic for one recipe?

There is an answer – the obvious being to cheat and buy any of the ready-made versions available in the supermarket. Personally I prefer to roast whole bulbs of garlic at the same time. If you use garlic regularly this paste makes life so easy especially when you've no time.

You can keep it in a screw top jar in the fridge or decant into tiny pots and freeze.

I use the “tiny pots” and freeze option. If you're interested check out the baby aisle in the supermarket/cheap shops for tiny pots – inexpensive and don't take up space in your freezer. If they are safe enough for a baby then they are perfect for other uses too.

Here's a photo of my “baby pot” :

a neat piece of kit

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

or 2”x 1½”x 1” in old money

You probably won't be surprised to know that I've had mine for years. If you're interested you can buy Baby Freezer Cube Trays, BPA Free from your favourite on-line grocer!

A hint and a tip – bear in mind you won't be able to use the pots for anything other than garlic. I use hot water and washing up liquid, as hot as I can bear - when you've emptied a pot make it the last item you submerge so that it doesn't taint anything else. Shake the pot when clean and rest, upside down on kitchen roll. I then bag and clip all the pots together, ready for the next garlic roast!

Recipe and photos up next ...

Remember the geographical bread roll?

Before I begin this piece I said at the end of the previous missive that I may have another idea for the chowder. It's not rocket science, just a thought – add a dumpling – probably not what you'd expect in a chowder but the recipe given can be vegetarian or not - so a dumpling vegetarian or not - would lift a bowl of soup to a more substantial – and a speedy idea – for a mid week supper.

Back to the title. The “geographical bread roll” reminded me of another childhood treat that falls into a similar regional difference.

Is it a crumpet or a pikelet - that is the question!

It can be either – both originally from Wales and the regional name, certainly in the Midlands is a pikelet. Most of us know what a crumpet looks like – where I came from a crumpet was posh – a pikelet definitely wasn't! The difference is that a pikelet is thinner than a crumpet.

Back in the day there were portable stalls just outside the entrance to the Market Hall in Derby City Centre selling pikelets from what I can only describe, these days, as a portable ice cream cart. You can still get variations on a theme of a pikelet in that neck of the woods. I visit the market town of Ashbourne in the Derbyshire Dales occasionally and there's a stall where you can buy pikelets or the nearest to them I've seen in recent years but they are called Derbyshire Oatcakes, larger and flatter than the originals but definitely worth a taste!

Here they are :

see what I mean – flatter but still with the “crumpet holes”

Back to the crumpet, widely available everywhere in the UK. It's important that crumpets should be toasted twice if you're using a toaster, well done if under the grill – they have a tendency to be “claggy” (sticky) otherwise.

Whether a pikelet or a crumpet, other than smothering in butter, try adding grated cheese and grill or – a delish weekend breakfast treat – top with a poached egg.

Here's my other suggestion. “Double toast” your crumpet, spread with cream cheese and then drizzle with honey or, my personal favourite, maple syrup.

I don't have a sweet tooth but the balance of the crumpet or pikelet, cream cheese and just a hint of natural sweetness with either honey or maple syrup is wonderful.

There's a thought!

The Chowder ...

… a photo guide from the beginning :

onions, carrot, sweet peppers

and butter in the pan

a ladle from the pan

a bowl of chowder

My final chowder idea is to add smoked haddock – it's a perfect partner and makes the chowder more substantial.

Poach 250g of smoked haddock in the milk, then strain so that your milk is ready to use – set the fish aside, cool, box and fridge until you're ready to use. Continue with the recipe. Flake your fish into small pieces and add to your chowder ten minutes before serving so that you can warm through gently – don't stir or mess with it – you'll break up the haddock and it will look horrible.

Note to self. If you're going to add the smoked haddock be careful how much salt you use at the beginning of the chowder. Taste it at the end and then adjust – you can add – you can't take away!

Garnish your chowder as before with flat leaf parsley and serve with Tabasco and Worcestershire Sauce.

I may have another idea for the chowder ...

Tips and more tweaks

... for the chowder and it turns out that there are more than three tweaks – there's a surprise!

There are three thickening choices to add to a chowder, crushed crackers, the hardtack ships biscuits also crushed or a roux. The recipe given uses the roux method.

If you're Lactose intolerant, use stock to replace the milk and a plant based spread that is suitable for cooking.

In case you were wondering why the diced potato wasn't added to the other veggies when sweating it was entirely deliberate. Potato tends to stick like cement to a pan because of the release of starch and so will wreck your soup base. Submerging the potato and the corn later into the soup is a perfect solution – problem solved.

Speaking of corn - it is definitely not sweetcorn season and I mentioned cobs of corn in the recipe. When the season arrives and you use cobs you'll need to strip them. Please note you don't have to risk your fingers stripping a cob. Years ago I treated myself to a piece of kit that really does what it says – say hello to my sweetcorn stripper – I bought mine in South Carolina, Charleston Cooks to be precise and it's made by Oxo. I found, researching recently, the same one imported at a ridiculous amount of dosh. There are however alternatives out there.

Here it is :

the stripper with its guard

the stripper without

More photos – from the beginning

The second tweak ...

There are traditional accompaniments or garnishes to add to a chowder - Tabasco and Worcestershire Sauce both would be served at the table so that each person can add to create whatever strength and flavour they prefer and entirely optional.

the chowder with blobs of Worcestershire Sauce

the chowder sprinkled with chopped flat leaf parsley too

Next … tips and more tweaks

Three tweaks for the Chowder

The first tweak is not just for the chowder but useful in all sorts of ways. Way back when I started the multitasking ideas and filling your oven whilst cooking your Sunday roast, one of my favourite tips was to pop a tray of bacon into the oven – 180fan, 15 minutes turn and repeat. Let the bacon cool on the tray and then break into tiny pieces, box and fridge.

Add a sprinkle of bacon bits on top of the chowder especially for the meat eaters – the bonus here is that you don't have to wreck a veggie soup or dish. The bits can be placed in a bowl and people can help themselves.

It looks like this :

There are deals to be had out there – I got two packets of Wiltshire Cured Smoked Back Bacon – 8 rashers in each – 480g in total - for £5 and you can freeze it.

If you'd like another “bacon” idea then you could fry diced chorizo until crispy then sprinkle with the released oil over the Chowder.

More tweaks …

Back to mid week supper ideas …

… another soup – with tweaks to follow.

There are so many soup recipes to try - here's my version of a Sweetcorn Chowder.

The Chowder originates from long journeys by ship – they used ingredients that would survive and the soup was thickened with hardtack. Hardtack we know as a “ships biscuit” - it was inexpensive and long lasting – perfect for long sea voyages. It arrived in North America from England and France. Probably the most famous version, certainly in the USA, is clam chowder but there are many variations. It is principally a soup with cream or milk, although you can use stock, adding potatoes, sweetcorn and other veggies or add fish and seafood if that's your bag. I suppose you have to like sweetcorn but, by its nature, it's quite popular with the kiddies.

Sweetcorn Chowder

Serves 2 large or 4 smaller portions

300g/10½oz Charlotte potatoes, peeled and finely diced

1 medium carrot, finely diced

1 medium onion, finely diced

90g/3½oz Two small red sweet baby peppers, finely diced

50g/2oz of unsalted butter

175g/6oz sweetcorn or two cobs, stripped

1 tbsp plain flour

2 pints of milk – I use semi-skimmed

(568ml or 1.2 litres)

celery salt and pepper – white or black

chopped flat leaf parsley to sprinkle

Sweat the carrot, onion and peppers gently in the butter for 10 minutes, covered. Add the flour and the celery salt and pepper of your choice. Add the milk gradually – I use a whisk - this will prevent lumps. Add the diced potato and sweetcorn and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and adjust the seasoning to suit. Check the thickness of the soup – if it's not thick enough, again to suit you, blend a ladle or two and add it back to enrich.

You don't have to use celery salt, you can use sea salt if you prefer. I love the extra oomph it gives – a fab flavour, especially in soups. I also mention a choice of white or black pepper – it's entirely a matter of choice, either is fine. If you're not fond of black flecks from black pepper then white is right!

Coming up - three tweaks and a photo guide …