Thoroughly Thifty Thursday – Soup and dumplings

Remember way back when – “Fall week – Autumn here we come” during the MTM I suggested you prepare and roast twice the amount of vegetables and par boil Charlotte potatoes.

Now's the time to use them. Set down below is a recipe I use all the time and add and subtract as my leftovers dictate.

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup

1lb/500g Charlotte potatoes, peeled and diced

l large onion, finely chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stockpots, vegetable or chicken

1 litre of water

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 heaped tsp coriander

Salt and black pepper

Rapeseed oil

1 can chick peas, drained

Soften onion and carrot in drop of rapeseed oil for approx 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add curry powder, coriander and black pepper, cook the spices with the onion and carrot for 2 minutes so that the flavours are released.

Add the stockpots, plus 500ml water and simmer until the pots have melted.

Add the diced potatoes and the remaining 500ml of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are cooked. Taste, then add salt to personal taste.

At this point you can set aside the soup until you are ready to serve.

Before serving pop 3 ladles of soup into a food processor/liquidiser and blitz. Tip the thickened soup back into your remaining soup, add the chick peas, heat and serve.

By blitzing a portion of the soup no artificial thickening is required. You also get visible vegetables with your chick peas.

Note

Don't put potatoes in with the carrots, onion and oil – the starch that is released from the potatoes means that they will cement themselves to the bottom of your saucepan!

You've got your cooked vegetables and your potatoes, just follow the method and it's ready. You don't have to include the chick peas – you could add leftover chicken – bear in mind the same principle applies – don't add chicken until after you've thickened the soup.

The flexibility with this supper is that it can be meat free or not.

Vegetarian Dumplings

100g (4oz) Self Raising flour

50g (2oz) vegetarian suet

pinch of salt

cold water to mix – enough for a firm mixture

Mix the flour, suet and salt with the water. Divide into 8 portions and form into balls. Place on top of your simmering soup and cover, cook for 20 minutes.

Beat that when it's a miserable, damp day. I know that there's fat in vegetable suet but the soup is healthy – assuming of course that your vegetables were roasted in rapeseed oil!

Leftovers for lunch tomorrow – absolutely.

Mr. Potter's Emporium

These days it's nigh on impossible to find a real butcher. In our village we're really lucky to have Mr. Potter – aka Chris.

C.R. Potter & Sons is a family business and has been around for many years – more accurately it should be “Chris Potter & Daughters” since both Cass and Kelly are involved in the business! Chris is famous for home-made sausages and burgers, marinades – everything you could want for the BBQ and then some. There's every cut of meat you could wish for and if you can't see it, ask! You'll always be assured of a warm welcome from Chris and his guys – Gary, front of house, who has been with Chris boy and man – I've never seen anyone tie a boned loin of pork so fast! More recently Alan became a valuable part of the team and Shaun looks after my beef cheeks order. These guys are really good at what they do and if you want help they'll gladly give it. You're also guaranteed a smile.

Interestingly Chris has had deals for years that the supermarkets have copied – a choice of any 3 trays for £10 and the choice is varied from braising steak, to pork loin chops, to rump steak and the home-made sausages.

On a humorous note, a while ago Chris was kind enough to let me loose where all the work happens – for a vegetarian it was work experience like no other! I needed a stool to reach the mincing machine and the guy who taught me how to link sausages had the patience of a saint!

Oh – by the way – if you want the more exotic meats, that's no problem either.

The major supermarkets have swallowed up a lot of quality businesses. Those that have survived should continue but will only do so if we support them. So, if you're passing, go visit the guys at C.R. Potter & Sons, 22 Spencer Parade, Stanwick NN9 6QJ 01933 622232.

GOM Chapter 25 : A quart into a pint pot!

Cast your mind back to GOM Chapter 9 when I mentioned the GOM going off into the wild blue yonder to do battle changing a car. I should have finished the story and said that my friend ultimately sold his car – the good cop/bad copy routine worked a treat – and he got a great deal. Erm, the one thing that no-one thought about at the time was that the new car is a coupé, somewhat smaller than his former vehicle.

“So what” I hear you say. It now dawns on us that we're all driving North – including Choo Choo who will be staying with my friend's daughter and son-in-law whilst he is away.

Common sense prevails and we have a committee meeting and decide that we should have a “dummy run” to see if we can actually fit everything into the new car.

What follows is like a scene from a Brian Rix farce (I hope there are some of you out there who will remember his brilliantly funny theatre!)

Here's the list:

3 cases to stow, 3 carry-on bags, Choo Choo's cage (which thankfully does collapse flat), her bed and food for two weeks. Miscellaneous bits – i.e. Choo Choo and me – plus a survival kit for the journey, blah, blah, blah.

To make the dummy run authentic Choo Choo and me decide the obvious place for us is in the car – a very good move on our part. We are keeping schtum (say nothing – especially in circumstances where saying the wrong thing may get you into trouble). We are keeping our heads well below the parapet.

After much huffing and puffing (and the obligatory strong language) surprisingly the dummy run works although Choo Choo and me now have several additional bits and pieces that wouldn't fit in the trunk.

It's a good job I'm vertically challenged!

I think they deserve a beer after all that work and I can return the tea towel to the kitchen which I used to stifle my giggles.

We are ready to roll tomorrow.

Health and Pastry!

My fab Pilates Teacher, Karen, recently asked me to contribute to a Newsletter – food related of course. What came up during our brain storming session as to the possible content of my missive was she had struggled to make an acceptable Gluten free pastry.

Here's an extract from my piece which you might find of interest. What is definite is that the pastry is really good.

Try this on for size :

Phil Vickery's gluten free

shortcrust pastry

Mix A

350g fine white rice flour

100g potato flour

50g tapioca starch or flour

Mix thoroughly (can do in a food processor)

Store in an airtight container.

225g Mix A as above

pinch of gluten free baking powder

½ tsp xanthan gum

2 pinches salt

110g stork margarine

1 medium egg, beaten

cold water

Method :

Place flour, salt and margarine in a bowl and mix well.

Rub into fine breadcrumbs (you can use a food processor).

Add egg and a drop of water, mix well. The texture should be nice and soft – add a drop more water if required.

Roll out and use straight away.

Xanthan gum gives your pastry a stickiness – a substitute for gluten, it will tighten.

Here are my tips :

Be precise with your measurements – it's a science!

Texturally it reminds me of making dessert pastry – it's fragile so take it easy – be gentle.

Roll out your pastry onto baking parchment into your required shape and size then flip the parchment over onto your pie filling. The recipe given is perfect for a pie lid measuring 24x24 cms. If the pastry breaks don't panic – use the pieces to patch any gaps in the edges.

I used this pastry to top a cheese, potato and onion pie and the verdict is lovely. A light tasty pastry with a good colour.

If you want to try the pastry I can save you time – all the ingredients are available from Daily Bread Co-operative Limited, The Old Laundry, Bedford Road, Northampton, NN4 7AD – www.dailybread.co.uk.

Have a go!

Wednesday supper – Spice up the beef!

Tonight's the night for using up your leftover roast beef.

Slice your beef as thinly as possible – hopefully you'll have approximately 200g (8oz). Make a marinade of 2 crushed garlic cloves (or paste) with 1 tsp of powdered star anise (or one star anise) with 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce. Place the beef in the marinade, turning to ensure it's covered. Place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Soak your noodle nests as mentioned in “Thursday supper and stir fry” - set aside.

Stir fry sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 bunch spring onions, sliced

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

1 tsp sweet chilli sauce

150ml /¼ pint water (50ml to mix with cornflour)

2tsp cornflour

Additional vegetables

baby corn, cut in half lengthways*

mange tout*

sliced water chestnuts*

red or yellow peppers, de-seeded and sliced thinly*

carrots, cut into small batons – similar size as peppers*

bean sprouts (small bag)

Heat the oil in a pre-heated wok or large frying pan. Add the spring onions and all the additional vegetables marked * above and cook for 3/4 minutes. Add the sauce ingredients (excepting the 50ml water and 2 tsps cornflour) together with the beef and the marinade, toss thoroughly on a high heat. Mix the cornflour and the water and stir into the wok, bring to the boil mixing until the sauce thickens and clears, finish off by adding the bean sprouts.

Serve straight from the wok.

Happy Wednesday!

GOM: Chapter 24 - It's that time again!

It's always with mixed feelings – sad to leave but will be great to be home – my restaurant is now closed!

This year our departure is different – we are closing up the house and all of us are going North to Indian Land to visit my friend's Daughter and Son-in-law prior to flying from Charlotte to London.

On my first “sweep” of the house, collecting all the bits and pieces for packing, a passing thought, wouldn't it be perfect if I got a final hide surprise today – I live in hope.

Here's another thought - if you are ever in this neck of the woods you might be interested to know you can sign up for a Culinary Tour of Charleston and eat your way round, sampling Lowcountry cuisine to two hour tasting of desserts or even a Chef's Kitchen Tour – if food is your bag then this suggestion is right up your alley.

Taking a break from the enormity of how to fit all my fab purchases into suitcases that I swear have shrunk since we arrived – an impossible task – I take a coffee break. Am I glad I did – I spend a happy hour watching a family of vultures (mum, dad and baby) perched on next door's dock – it looked for all the world like they were taking junior out for the afternoon and were in no hurry to fly off. Long enough for me to observe up close and personal with the binoculars – with or without them it's the nearest I've even been to vultures!

Gotta go – quick change for a return match at the Outback restaurant – decisions, decisions – hey, go out in a blaze of glory I say – Crab and Avocado Stack with Garlic Parmesan Fries. Ribeye and Filet Mignon for the GOM – worth every inch around my already expanded waistline – must get on that treadmill tomorrow!

Back to the packing, groan.

By the way...

My week began with a difference, on Monday morning, chatting to Bernie Keith on his weekday radio show on BBC Radio Northampton 9am – 12 noon (bernie.keith@bbc.co.uk) (not forgetting cuddles with his dog Riley). Bernie is the best, aided by his Producer Sarah Stratten – so lovely. I took a lunch box for them – after all it's rude not to take a small present when visiting. Bernie tasted whilst we were chatting and was very kind. Here's my latest recipe for what forms the base of the lunch box, which I thought I'd share with you.

Squashed!

1 Butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes

4 shallots, finely diced

2 tbsp oil (olive or rapeseed) & 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

mixed with 2 tsps garlic paste

salt and black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

Serves 4-6 depending on size of serving rings

or ramekins

Pre-heat oven 200c/180fan/Gas 6

Place the squash and the shallots in a non stick oven-proof tray, season with salt and black pepper and add the oil/Balsamic mixture covering thoroughly. Bake for 50 minutes (check after 25 minutes and turn so it won't catch) and cook until soft, grate a little nutmeg over the mixture and allow to cool.

You can decant into a sealed container and refrigerate until ready for use.

Two alternatives for serving – arrange in serving rings on a non-stick oven-proof tray and sprinkle with grated cheese of your choice, or, serve in ramekins and top with grated cheese.

Bake for 15/20 minutes – check after 15. Your cheese topping should be golden brown.

This recipe is tasty served hot or cold. Here are the combinations so far :

As the lunch box served cold, a good helping of Squashed! Top with slices of the slow cooked chicken referred to in “Monday chuck”.

Add fresh beetroot to roast with the butternut squash, peeled and diced to a similar size. As a guide a bunch of beetroot weighs approximately 700g – prepared it will give you approximately 450g ready to roast.

If you wanted a completely vegetarian supper, turn the recipe into a crumble using one of my famous foil trays for convenience! If you want a speed crumble for mid-week use a ready made stuffing or panko breadcrumbs to sprinkle over the vegetables and top with grated cheese.

I demonstrated both to my students in my most recent class and it went down a storm!

On Tuesday Sarah emailed saying, “Thank you so much – that dish was just amazing! We were still talking out it today! X”.

Thanks Bernie!