Parsley, Anchovy and Walnut Pesto

Posted on January 23, 2015 by tenuoustoaster

Last night was Film Club night – we watched Frida. It’s very good – you should watch it!

Most Film Club nights end up with us nipping over to Moes (poor mans Nandos) for half a chicken and rice because we haven’t got any food left over from lunchtime.

I was better prepared this week and made this pesto which, when mixed with white beans and served on lettuce leaves, makes for a very nice snack. It probably would have gone very well with some chicken from Moes!

Pesto has undergone quite the transformation over the years. My first recollections of it were the Sacla jars which you would stir through some pasta when you were too lazy to cook anything proper. Since then everyone and his dog has been making their own jars of the stuff, including Jamie Oliver and Lloyd Grossman. I’ve always found them very vinegary or jar/tin tasting which I imagine is down to the preservatives they add.

I always understood pesto to be basil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan blended with olive oil but it is seems that the current trend is to call any blend of herb, nut, oil and cheese a pesto. Strictly these variations aren’t pestos – but then again there’s lots of fizzy white wines passing themselves off as champagne these days!

I’ve made many different types in the last year, ones with coriander, parsley, different cheeses, different oils and a variety of nuts. This pesto from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Light and Easy’ is another variation on a theme – but its one of the best I’ve made.

Simply blend parsley leaves, garlic, a tin of anchovies (oil as well), walnuts, some rapeseed oil and a little lemon juice to taste and you’re done.

If you have a Nutribullet you can made this in less than a minute and it will be very smooth.

I’ve copied Hugh’s serving suggestion of stirring through some white beans and laying on some lettuce leaves.

I loved this. It has a real punch to it. Many pestos are quite bland but this is far from it. The anchovy really packs in flavour. Just don’t add more salt – anchovies are salty enough as it is.

There was quite a bit left over which I imagine we will use up with some feta and salad in our tortilla wraps for lunch today.

So far I’m really enjoying this book. Simply cooking. Great taste. That’s what we all need when we have little time to spare.

Roast Tenderstem Broccoli and White Beans

Posted on January 21, 2015 by tenuoustoaster

I wanted something very simple for dinner today and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s new book ‘River Cottage – Light & Easy’ had just what I needed. Most of the recipes I’ve shortlisted from this book look easy. Barely cooking at all – more throw some stuff together. Just what you want when it’s freezing cold outside and you’ve just spent an hour heating up a very cold boat!

I couldn’t get hold of Purple Sprouting Broccoli so I used tenderstem broccoli instead.

This is so easy. Just preheat an oven, roast some broccoli with a little oil and seasoning for 10 minutes, add white beans and sunflower seeds and cook for another 2 minutes.

While that’s doing make a dressing of a little garlic, cider vinegar, english mustard, oil and a little sugar. I added an egg yolk to mine – which pretty much makes a hollandaise.

Then simply serve the beans and drizzle the dressing on top.

This is pretty awesome – very tasty – and was done in less than 15 minutes. Just my sort of dinner. I think this could end up in the ‘go to’ pile.

I thought there would be enough for lunch tomorrow – but we had seconds and polished it all off!

Quick Chilli and Brown Rice

Posted on January 20, 2015 by tenuoustoaster

It seems like forever since I posted on sifty. I have been eating – honest – I just haven’t been able to muster the enthusiasm to photograph and blog. It gets very cold on a boat this time of year – it kind of discourages you from doing anything!

Our fortnightly visit to Freya’s parents offered up two surprises:

a new cookbook (for Freya really – as it was her birthday)
a flick through a load of magazine supplements

This weekend’s Daily Mail supplement (which I would never advocate reading) had an interesting article about Ella Woodward and her ‘soon to be released’ cookery book ‘Deliciously Ella’. At the back of the magazine were some very healthy recipes that caught my eye – so I snagged the magazine and made the chilli and brown rice last night.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find black beans in my local supermarket so I swapped them for Fava beans. As the recipe suggests you can knock this up in 10-15 minutes. Its so basic. But it was just what you need when it is -1 outside and you need something warm quickly!

To make this you do nothing more than add grated carrot, garlic, kidney beans, black beans (fava beans in my case), passatta, tomato paste and a jalapeño pepper to a saucepan and heat through for 10 minutes. That’s it – nothing more.

For me it was a bit too tomatoey – Freya loved it. It made plenty. There’s tonnes left for lunch today and it cost next to nothing to make.

I’ll make this again when I am short on time – and I’ll make it with the correct ingredients next time.

Beetroot, Avocado and Pea Salad

Posted on October 28, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

One of the big problems of winter and living on the boat is taking nice pictures of the food you make. Now that the clocks have changed it will always be dark by dinner time and we only light the kitchen and lounge with LED reading lamps so most of the pictures look dark and shadowy. Also, I’ve stopped using my iPhone and have switched to Android and I really don’t like the camera, so now I’ve switched to my Lumix. More effort but hopefully more worthwhile.

This one didn’t come out particularly well but I can assure you the salad itself was amazing. It’s another sub 30 minute salad proving you do things in the right order and don’t stand around waiting between stages.

This dish like everything this week is from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More. I’ve only looked at the first 100 pages and I’ve already selected 12 things I want to make. I could be on this book for quite some time!

This is another incredibly easy salad to make. It is a little messy; peeling beetroots always is – but they are a lot better than the peeled, precooked and prepackaged ones you get in a supermarket.

Once you’ve peeled your beetroots, slice them thinly (about 2mm) and blanch them until they are cooked but still have lots of bite. I did mine for about 3 mins as I love raw beetroot anyway. The thinner you slice the beetroot, the easier it is to eat raw (or less cooked)!

Once blanched and drained, mix with some sliced red onion, sherry vinegar, olive oil, caster sugar, seasoning and chilli paste and leave for around 15 minutes to infuse the flavours.

While you’re waiting blanch some peas and refresh them in cold water. Slice a couple of avocado’s too while you’re at it.

When you are ready to eat, grab a big serving dish, and toss pea shoots (or lambs lettuce like I did), the peas, the beetroot and the avocado together. Tear in some mint and coriander and dress with some more olive oil and you’re done.

This is very fresh and very tasty. Proper beetroots can’t be beaten – never buy the packet ones!

I resisted the temptation to use one of my crazy chilli pastes and just went for something mild. I don’t think Freya would have appreciated it and I imagine an overpowering of chilli would have totally spoiled the dish – so go easy on the chilli!

Globe Artichoke and Mozzarella with Candied Lemon

Posted on October 28, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

The UK weather has been so mild of late that is seems almost normal to put together a cold salad for dinner on 27th October 2014! I was expecting to come home to a cold damp boat every evening and be heating the boat to keep warm but it just hasn’t been necessary.

After spending an eternity in the IKEA returns department and then another eternity spending the store credit we got home quite late and were both feeling pretty hungry. Fortunately this dish can easily be put together in less than 30 minutes.

After bashing together an immediate snack of toasted pumpkin seeds with tamari, I set to work making this awesome salad.

The salad is courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More. It does require really fresh ingredients though or it will just disappoint you.

Last week we bought some Dill and Mint from our local Morrisons and it was tasteless, chewy and limp and really let down all the dishes I made. Contrast to yesterday when I asked for mint from our local greengrocer and he went out the back and got me the freshest, most aromatic mint I’ve had for ages. It really is worth shopping around for your herbs!

Anyway – there are two ways of making this dish; the hard way or the easy way. The hard way relies on you being the master of artichoke preparation and having lots of time on your hands. The easy way uses them from a jar or frozen. We don’t have a freezer on the boat so I plumped for jars.

The only cooking involved here is candying some lemons. I really recommend you do this rather than copping out and just adding lemon rind, as the sauce and the sweetness from the lemons really sets this salad apart from the rest.

To candy lemons, remove the rind, cut into 1mm batons and cook down in lemon juice and caster sugar until the liquid reduces to about a third. Remove the lemon batons and allow to cool down. Keep the sauce for the dressing of the salad.

All that’s left is to cut some little gem lettuces, tear in some mint, parsley and basil and top with your quartered artichokes and torn mozzarella.

To serve, dress with some olive oil, your candied lemon and lemon syrup and some black pepper.

This salad is so fresh and tangy. The lemon hit might seem too much to start with but I found it really lifted the salad. The mozzarella, artichokes and lemon went really well together and it really was a meal in itself. Albeit a late one!

Fortunately for us we had loads left over so we have a very nice lunch to look forward to today!

Quicker Than Toast Courgette Salad

Posted on August 8, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

This really is the quickest thing you will every make. And it is so moorish you’ll just keep making it.

Freya said she was hungry and wanted to eat quickly – this was quick. Quicker than Toast quick.

Heat a pan. Get it hot – add a handful of pumpkin seeds until they pop. While that is happening grate a courgette. Tip the hot pumpkin seeds over the courgette and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. Done.

It’s so easy – and it’s so good. I just wish I’d thought of it! You could eat this on its own – or it would make an awesome side for a BBQ or picnic. All I would say is make it as you need it. I can’t imagine a grated courgette maintaining its integrity for long after you’ve covered it with hot seeds. Not that I found that out – it was gone in less time than it took to make it!

It would probably also be awesome with tamari pumpkin seeds – but this will take longer (than toasting bread!). But not much I don’t imagine.

Kale Caesar Salad

Posted on August 8, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

Every other Thursday we have ‘Quick Drinks’ after work. It generally ends up being long drinks and we don’t get home until very late – and usually eat some sub-standard pub food.

This week however Freya wasn’t feeling great so we only had the one drink – albeit a jug of Pimms!

I scanned the Hemsley and Hemsley book for something quick and came up with this (and another recipe which I’ll blog separately). I darted over to the supermarket – bought the ingredients and had it made in 20 mins (maybe even less).

This – like every recipe I’ve made so far from the book – is very quick and very easy. It’s even quicker if your Kale is already prepared like mine was.

Make a dressing of lemon zest and juice, finely grated parmesan, olive oil, an egg yolk, garlic, Dijon mustard and anchovies. Just chuck all the ingredients in a blender until it emulsifies. You’re supposed to add the oil last (bit by bit) but I forgot and just blitzed it in one. It didn’t seem to matter.

Obviously if you’re a vegetarian you should leave out the anchovies – and maybe just season with some more salt – or maybe even capers.

Pour your dressing over the kale and squidge it about a bit with your hands. The recipe suggests that you let the dressing break down the kale (and it really does) by leaving it for an hour but we were in a rush so the squidging just sped up the process a bit.

Then dice some multiseed bread and toast in some Ghee. When that’s done, put the kale mix, the bread, and then some parmesan shavings on top and serve. Super easy!

This really is yummy – and is really quick. I really enjoyed it. It smells amazing too with all that parmesan!

This may have been quick – but the next dish was done in less time than it takes to make toast!

Pea, Peach and Goats Cheese Salad

Posted on August 6, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

After remembering to take my cookbook home with me yesterday, I chose to make this very simple but incredibly tasty salad from Hemsley & Hemsley’s cookbook ‘The Art of Eating Well’. Not sure why the courgettes don’t get a mention in the recipe title – there are more of them than any other ingredient.

We took our daily walk to the supermarket, bought all the ingredients (of which there are very few) and I knocked this up in maybe 15 minutes.

Good quality ingredients are essential in dishes like this and – although the peaches weren’t as amazing as the ones we bought at Borough Market at the weekend – a slightly more juicy and sweet peach would have really lifted this dish. I guess the trick would be to go to a greengrocer and try them until you find the ones you want. I doubt the grocer would approve however!

The only cooking in this is to lightly caramelise some courgettes with a little ghee. The rest is all raw and simple construction.

While your courgettes are caramelising tear some lettuce into a bowl, add podded peas, cut peaches, sliced red onion and some soft goats cheese. Add the courgettes when they are done. Finally dress with some olive oil and balsamic – and season.

Very simple dish. And very adaptable. You could add shaved parmesan instead of goats cheese, add different fruits – the skies the limit.

I must admit I didn’t think I’d be fulfilled when it was ready. But two bowls of salad later and I was certainly satisfied. Another very quick and easy dish that you can add to your repertoire.

Impromptu Coleslaw

Posted on August 4, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

I was clearing out the fridge on Saturday, trying to make room for the produce we’d bought at Borough Market. Freya was a little poorly so I decided to make something with the ingredients lying around in the fridge.

This coleslaw (naked of mayonnaise) was simply:

half a shredded red cabbage
a couple of grated carrots
a handful of sliced radishes
a sliced large red onion
a julienned apple
a diced half a cucumber
two finely sliced green chillis

I dressed it with some rapeseed oil mixed with honey and white wine vinegar.

It was pretty nice for something made up on the spot. In the end we had it in a wrap with some grilled paneer as a late evening snack whilst we started the mammoth task of watching 60+ episodes of Australian Masterchef Season 5 (you should watch this – it’s very inspiring).

The rest we had for dinner the next day as an accompaniment to the lovely dinner we shared with Freya’s family. It was still nice and crisp and tasted just as good the next day.

Papaya, Halloumi and Watercress Salad

Posted on August 1, 2014 by tenuoustoaster

One of the many lifestyle changes we’ve adopted since moving to the boat is not doing our online shopping with Ocado. Now there’s nothing wrong with online shopping at all – in fact I am a very strong advocate of shopping with Ocado – you can’t beat the quality or the service they offer. That said – boats are smaller than houses and you don’t tend to see many boats with fridge freezers, or a larder. Baisically there’s nowhere to put a week’s worth of shopping!.

Our new approach is to decide daily what we are going to eat, and then go to the local shops and buy our ingredients. We have a fridge – and we can store maybe 2 days worth of fresh ingredients – but there’s no freezer. And it’s been very hot so you can’t just leave stuff out to rot.

In Brentford (where our boat is) there are many local shops – we like Al Shaam – they are a Cypriot shop (I think) and have so many different types of Halloumi, Goats Cheese, fresh Papaya, fresh everything. We really like the guys that run it and they are super helpful – and always have big bunches of the fresh herbs we want. They don’t have everything – so occasionally we have to venture elsewhere – but not very often.

Anyway enough of my life! – this recipe is incredibly easy. Apart from frying off the halloumi it’s all just preparation. I found it made every such a lot but maybe everything just looks so much bigger on a boat!

The recipe is the first one I’ve taken from The Art of Eating Well by Hemsley Hemsley. I chose it because it was very quick to prepare and I knew the shop up the road had all the ingredients. If this is anything to go by I’ll be making a lot more dishes from this book.

All you do with this is wash some watercress and lay it on a big plate or bowl, top it with halved cherry tomatoes and sliced red onion, sliced avocado and slivers of papaya.
Then you toast some pine nuts (I also added some pumpkin seeds) and then fry the halloumi until it is golden.

Add both the halloumi and the pine nuts to the salad, and dress with a some olive oil, runny hunny and apple cider vinegar.

This is really easy. I think I made it in 20 minutes tops. It’s incredibly tasty and because there is so much you can go back for seconds (and thirds in my case).

One thing this dish does highlight is the need for really good ingredients. If I’m honest my avocados were a little bland and the watercress wasn’t the best I’d seen – that said it was still very good indeed.