Author Archives: fergyhun

Martha Washington’s Ragoo of Asparagus

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A few weeks ago we took a trip to Washington D.C. It was our first time visiting with our daughter, who is now six and old enough to really enjoy such a trip, take it all in and be able to keep up with us!

What a great city. So much to see and never enough time. I have to admit, this was not a foodie trip, even though Washington has some incredible restaurants. We were on the lookout for history and in Washington you really don’t have to look very far. In fact it’s hard to escape it even if you wanted to. We are, by now, totally ‘museum-ed out’ having wandered around a few of the Smithsonians, numerous memorials and monuments, the house where Lincoln died, Arlington and Mount Vernon. Oh and for my other half we traipsed out to the Steven Udvar-Hazy museum near Dulles airport to marvel at the space shuttle Discovery and their collection of old aircraft. I must admit aircraft and space aren’t really top of my list of ‘must-see’s', but even I was impressed.  

The highlight of the trip for me was the day we spent out at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s family farm in Virginia. Among other things we learned a lot about the food that was eaten in Colonial times and how it was prepared in the kitchens. Their walled kitchen gardens still provide fruits, herbs and vegetables for the Inn at the site. We visited Washington’s water-powered Gristmill and Distillery to find out how he ground corn and wheat to make flour and cornmeal and also whisky. By 1799, the year he died, Washington was running the largest whisky distillery in the country.

Rear View of Mount Vernon

The Colonial Garden at Mount Vernon

In the Mount Vernon museum we found recipe cards featuring some of Martha Washington’s favorite recipes. Here is one of them - Ragoo of Asparagus. The recipe has been modernized by Nancy Carter Crump for her book ‘Dining with the Washingtons’ but is based on a recipe by Hannah Glasse which dates from 1763. The Washington’s were famous for their hospitality and entertained guests most nights of the week when they were at home in Mount Vernon. There is something really cool about cooking and eating a recipe from 1763 and it’s delicious!!

3 (1.36 kg) pounds of asparagus, trimmed and cut into thirds

5 tablespoons of butter or whichever spread you use or olive oil  

1 medium onion

2 Belgian endives, trimmed and thinly sliced longwise

1 small head of soft lettuce (Boston or similar), shredded

1/2 tsp salt

grinding of black pepper to taste

4 tblsp all-purpose flour

2 cups (500ml) chicken or vegetable stock.

 

Ragoo of Asparagus

Boil the asparagus until tender, drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the butter or oil and add the onion and endive. Saute for approx 5 minutes until tender. Add the lettuce and seasoning and cook for a few minutes more until the lettuce is soft. 

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and mix well. Add the stock and add back in the asparagus. Heat until warmed.

Pour into a serving dish and serve warm. We had it with roast chicken and it was delicious.

 

 

Portobello Mushrooms with Chipotle Mash, Fried Leeks and Bacon

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Deciding what to make for dinner last night, I hit upon a recipe I’ve made a few times before, but this time I added turkey bacon to it. Adding bacon to pretty much anything is usually a good idea. And bacon, leek and potato go so well together. I baked the mushrooms in the oven but you could also grill them if you like.

Serves 4

4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

salt and pepper

1 dried chipotle chile, soaked in very hot water for 30 mins

2 pounds (900g) Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1/3 (80ml) cup milk or soy milk

2 leeks, trimmed, sliced and washed well

5-7 rashers turkey bacon, chopped.  

Puree the chipotle chile in a food processor until smooth. Boil the potatoes in water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and mash with the chile, milk and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet, add the mushrooms cut side up and sear until browned, about 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, turn over and cook for about 30 seconds more.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spoon a quantity of mashed potato into each mushroom cap, drizzle with olive oil and place in a lightly oiled baking dish. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes.

While the mushrooms are baking, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add the leeks and bacon and cook until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

To serve, place the mushrooms on a plate and top with the fried leek/bacon mixture.

 

Mango, Banana and Coconut Ice Cream

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I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day. My gift was a pair of running shoes, so of course I had to take them for a trial run and managed to clock up my fastest ever 5k time, which I was very pleased about! I also managed a quick spin on my bike and got caught in a torrential downpour. There’s something very therapeutic about biking in the rain, although I’m sure all the passing motorists thought I was mad.

 I did get to spend some time in the kitchen later on and came up with this. It’s a very simply, four ingredient frozen dessert that’s made in an ice cream maker. I have also frozen the leftovers, but suspect it’s the kind of dish that’s best eaten straight away and will probably be pretty hard if scooped from the freezer.

1 large ripe mango, peeled and chopped

1 large ripe banana, peeled and chopped

1 15oz (225g) can light coconut milk

your choice of sweetener to taste, I used maple syrup but honey, agave nectar, sugar or low-calorie sweetener would be fine

toasted coconut if desired.  

Puree the fruit in a food processor until smooth. In a bowl mix together with the coconut milk and sweetener (to taste) and pour into the ice cream maker. Churn until just about thick enough to scoop into glasses. This took about 25 minutes in my Cuisinart machine. Top with toasted coconut if desired.

 

Coronation Chicken to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

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June 2, 2012 marks the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, who will have been on the British throne for sixty years and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. To mark the event, and also the London Olympics, I’ll be posting a few traditional British recipes over the summer. This is going to be a big, big year for us!

I’m feeling a little sad since I will not be at home for the Jubilee and will miss out on the cakes, trifles, sandwiches, sausage rolls, street parties, village fetes, bunting, flag waving, nostalgia and copious wine drinking that will no doubt be going on. 

In reality, we Brits are nowhere near as outwardly patriotic as Americans. Most of us don’t know all the words to the national anthem and you’d be hard put to find a Union Jack flying on a building or house outside of London. That’s just the way we are. We love our country as much as you do, but we just don’t feel the need to show it very often! Come the Olympics or a rugby international we’re up there with the best of them, but day to day, things like that don’t really matter very much. I am still surprised when I go to events like the circus or a minor league baseball game here and the anthem is played and everyone puts their hand to their chest and sings. Nothing wrong with that obviously, in fact I like it, but it’s just not us.

That said, if anything will bring out our dormant national pride, it’s an event like this. The Royal Wedding did the trick last year. Even lukewarm royalists were caught shedding a tear or sneaking a smile at the sight of Will and Kate emerging from Westminster Abbey.

So it will be this year.  The Queen, now well into her eighties and still working as hard as ever, is a hugely popular figure and the country will come together to celebrate, eat and drink in her honor in huge numbers. Given the depressing economic climate, the feel-good factor will be very welcome. My mom’s local village is hosting three days of festivities including a village fete complete with cake stall and plant stall, children’s sports day and garden competition with my mom as one of the judges (theme of course red, white and blue).

The recipe for coronation chicken was created in 1952 to mark the Queen’s Coronation. The ingredients probably seem very ordinary today, but back in the early 1950′s when Britain was still under the shadow of wartime rationing, which continued for several years after the war had ended, many everyday items were hard to obtain or in short supply. Ingredients like chili peppers, mango and curry powder must have seemed wildly exotic to people at the time.

Over the intervening years coronation chicken has often been regarded as a bit of a joke. Most commonly found as a lurid yellow sandwich filling full of gloopy mayonnaise and flavored with nothing but curry, it can be awful. Here, however, it is restored to its former glory and worthy of royal attention.

Serves 4

3 large chicken breasts

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, juice and zest

salt and pepper

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 red chile (chilli), deseeded and finely chopped

2 tsp madras curry powder *

2 tbsp tomato puree  

100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) dry white wine

100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) chicken stock

 1 tbsp apricot jam

150ml (5 fl oz) fat free Greek yogurt or reduced fat creme fraiche

75ml (3 fl oz) olive oil mayonnaise

1 large mango, peeled and diced

3 scallions (spring onions), finely chopped

small handful chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)

dash Tabasco sauce

small handful of flaked almonds for garnish

green salad leaves to serve.

* Madras curry powder is hotter than regular curry powder, but this works well too if you can’t find the Madras version. The dish will just be less spicy, or add a little more Tabasco!

Rub the chicken with 1 tblsp of olive oil, scatter over the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. The recipe I used suggested steaming the chicken for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through. I chose to bake mine in the oven and covered them with foil to prevent them drying out. Either way works fine.

Place the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and the onion and chile and cook for five minutes until soft. Stir in the curry powder and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and the wine. Cook until the volume of liquid reduces by half.

Stir in the jam and the stock and simmer until reduced by half again. Leave to cool.

In a separate bowl mix together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, then add the cooled curry mixture. Fold in the mango, spring onions, lemon juice and cilantro.

When the chicken is cooked, cut into bite-size pieces and add to the mixture. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of Tabasco. Serve on a bed of salad leaves and garnish with the sliced almonds.

Taken from the BBC TV Show Hairy Bikers.

Strawberry and Orange Curd

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I am not going to pretend that this is a healthy recipe, unless you use it as suggested below to sandwich a sponge cake, as a healthier alternative to whipped cream or some kind of frosting. It is delicious though and a really great way to use fresh, local strawberries.

I bought some local Cullman County strawberries yesterday and used them to make this. Cullman County, Alabama is about an hour south of us and famous for its soft fruits, especially peaches, but the strawberries are pretty good too. I love the smell of local strawberries, so completely different from the supermarket ones. When I was a child we used to pick strawberries in the summer (they are ripe in June in England) and eat as many as we could in the field too, like everyone else! So making this recipe sort of makes me feel as if summer is on the way.

A curd like this is like a fruit preserve, but made with butter and eggs as well as fruit and sugar. It will keep in sterilized jars for 6 weeks but must be refrigerated. This one has a fabulous strawberry/orange flavor and is great spread on toast, muffins, biscuits etc and also as a filling in the Victoria sponge cake below. The only slightly tricky thing about it is that you have to cook it over a double boiler, very slowly, to prevent the egg white from cooking too fast and getting lumps of cooked egg white in the mix. I started off with the mix in a ceramic dish but that cooked TOO slowly, so I switched to a thinner, glass dish which seemed to conduct the heat better and worked well.

For the curd – this quantity makes 3 standard size Mason jars

1lb (450g) strawberries, washed and patted dry and hulled

Finely grated rind and juice of 2 large oranges

1lb (450g) superfine (caster) sugar

8 eggs, well-beaten

7 tblsp (7oz, 200g) unsalted butter, melted. 

  

Squash the strawberries roughly with a fork. Place in a glass dish with the eggs, sugar, butter, orange juice and rind. Place the dish in a saucepan of warm water and bring to the boil. Make sure the level of water comes to no further than halfway up the side of the dish as otherwise when it begins to boil, it may splash into the fruit mix.

Allow the water to boil, reduce the heat to a low boil and book the fruit mix, stirring frequently, until it begins to thicken, taking care not to let lumps of egg white form. If this starts to happen, reduce the heat. Cook until the consistency of thick custard or cream. When ready the mix should coat the back of a wooden spoon and leave a slight trail. It will thicken in the jars as it cools.

Remove from the heat and pour into warm, sterilized jars. Seal and leave to cool, then refrigerate. Eat within 6 weeks.

STERILIZING JARS – ENGLISH METHOD: I know people use a different method in the States, but I have used this over and over and it works well. First wash the jars and lids in the dishwasher on a hot cycle. Then place them upright in a 350 degree F (180 degree C) oven, lids too, for 5 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the jars in there until ready to use.

Taken from the fabulous book Good Old-Fashioned Jams, Preserves and Chutneys by Sara Paston-Williams.

 

 

Flan Cafe (Coffee-Flavored Mexican Flan)

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Flan or creme caramel or egg custard often has a caramel layer on the bottom. This one is coffee- flavored, very quick to prepare and kind of fun if you’re celebrating cinco de mayo at the weekend. If not it’s a light and low fat dessert anytime. Unlike some flans which are made with cream, this one is made with 2 percent (semi-skimmed) milk so it’s not too heavy on fat or calories. You can spoon over some coffee-flavored liqueur too, when serving, to make it extra special.

Makes 6 small flans (in ramekin dishes)

3 eggs

6 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 tablespoons instant coffee granules

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups (750ml) 2% (semi-skimmed) milk.

Mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla, coffee granules and salt in a bowl. Meanwhile bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan, remove from the heat as soon as it starts to boil and allow to cool very slightly before adding to the egg mixture, stirring continuously.

Arrange 6 small ramekins in a deep oven proof dish (I use my roasting pan) and pour in sufficient hot water to reach halfway up the side of the dishes.

Pour the custard mixture into the ramekins. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for 25-30 minutes until firm. They should be still wobbly a little in the middle.

Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. Spoon over coffee-flavored liqueur and add a whipped topping if you like!

Note – if you made these with whole milk or a milk/cream mix they would be firmer and you would be able to turn them out for serving. Making them with 2% milk makes them a little less firm and not up to being turned out, so serve them in the dishes.

Taken from: Best of the Best from New Mexico Cookbook – Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley

 

 

 

Turkey Koftas with a Korma Sauce

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Arghhh. I haven’t posted anything here for over four weeks. I came close a couple of times but in the end, just didn’t have the time. Soccer season is upon us, my brother-in-law came to visit and I did a duathlon (coming 3rd in my age group, my first and quite probably last ever sports prize). Oh and a million other reasons to boot.

It’s hard to stay away though, now that our wonderful local produce is starting to appear in the stores, we have herbs in pots on the deck again, the farmers’ markets are opening up and grilling season is back. In our house it never really went away, but we will be grilling more now that the weather is warmer and the garden is coming alive!

This is a great recipe to get me back into the swing of things. Quick, easy, low fat and full of flavor. It’s a great way to prepare turkey and the sauce is delicious. The quantity here is just right for this recipe but you could make double or triple the amount as it freezes well and is perfect with fish or chicken. It comes from a wonderful Irish cookbook that my mother-in-law bought me for Christmas by Catherine Fulvio who runs the famous Ballyknocken House and Cookery School in Ireland.

Serves 4

For the koftas

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cm fresh ginger (I use that ready-prepared ginger in a tube, about 2 tsp)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp fresh cilantro roughly chopped (coriander)

22oz, 600g ground (minced) turkey breast

salt and pepper to taste

For the Korma sauce

Sunflower oil

1 onion, finely chopped 

2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced

1/2 groud cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

Pinch of garam masala

300ml chicken stock

2 tsp tomato paste (puree)

100 ml light coconut milk

3 tbsp ground almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

wooden skewers soaked in water for half an hour.

Heat your grill to medium/high. To make the koftas, saute the onion and garlic in a small amount of sunflower oil until softened. Add the spices and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the coriander and cook for 1 minute more. Set aside to cool slightly, then mix the spices together with the turkey breast in a bowl until well combined. Form into balls and then elongate into short, fat cigar shapes and thread onto skewers, three to a skewer. Cook on your grill until cooked through, turning frequently – 10 to 15 minutes. Because of the low fat content, you may want to brush them with a little oil during cooking. If you prefer you can saute them in a pan instead of grilling.

Meanwhile make the sauce. Heat a small amount of sunflower oil in a pan and saute the onion until softened. Add the garlic, spices and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and ground almonds and cook for a further 5-7 minutes.

 Serve the koftas with the sauce, basmati rice and naan bread.

 

 

Apricot, Date and Guinness Slices with Guinness Cream Sauce

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Ok, so I’m a day late! St Patrick’s Day and the run-up too it was just far too busy to make this and post, so here I am on the 18th. I hope by now everyone had a good weekend and isn’t feeling too jaded by now.

My husband is from Ireland so we normally celebrate St Patrick’s somehow or other, in our house. The last few years we’ve been skiing – in green beads, shamrock sunglasses and Guinness hats! Unfortunately we can’t make the trip this year, but staying at home has consolations if you can have dessert like this!!

I’m not going to pretend this is the healthiest recipe I’ve ever posted, but the slices are delicious without the sauce if you prefer!!

Line a 9 x 13 inch (21cm) brownie pan with baking parchment (greaseproof paper).

1 1/4 cups (5oz,150g) stoned dates, finely chopped  

1 cup (4oz,120g) dried apricots, finely chopped

150 ml Guinness

120ml water

75ml whisky

1 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp

1 cup (6oz, 175g) brown sugar

1/3 cup (3oz, 85g) butter or spread

3 medium eggs

1 1/4 cups (6oz,180g) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup (4oz,100g) chopped walnuts

For the sauce

1/4 cup (2 1/2 oz,75g) butter or spread

75ml Guinness

75 ml heavy cream (double cream)

2 tblsp honey.

For the slices – place the dates, apricots, 1 tsp baking soda, Guinness, whisky and water in a pan and heat gently, simmering for 3-4 minutes until the dates are soft. Remove from the heat to cool.

In a bowl, beat the butter/spread and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, flour, walnuts, baking powder and remaining soda and the cooled date mixture. Mix well. Pour the batter into the lined brownie pan. When I made this the batter was very runny and I thought the recipe must have been wrong but when it came out of the oven, it was perfect. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 45-50 until firm. Allow to cool and cut into slices.

For the sauce – add all the ingredients to a pan and heat gently until the honey has melted and the sauce has thickened slightly. Pour over the slices to serve.

Both the slices and the sauce freeze really well.

Mediterranean Grilled Vegetable and Orzo Salad

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If you thought pasta salad was kind of boring, think again. This one is really good. I will be making this in future any time I’m called upon to take a side dish to a potluck or party.

Although I haven’t used my grill for a couple of months, I do like to use it year-round, not just when the weather is warmer. It’s never really cold here, so we don’t have to scrape the snow off it, although I’m sure that wouldn’t stop me if I lived in a colder climate.

There’s something really satisfying about grillling, not just the unique flavor of the food, but the ‘back to basics’ feel of cooking your food over an open flame, outside. We probably all have it in our genes from many generations back when most foods were cooked that way.  

I got the recipe from a wonderful Light and Healthy magazine from America’s Test Kitchen, which is out now and has lots of classic recipes lightened-up. The testing team have put a lot of thought into the flavor of the dish and how to get the best results and it really shows.

You could serve it as a main meal on its own or with grilled meat. Or to make it even lighter, you could omit the feta cheese as the veggies and dressing stand up to being eaten on their own and still taste great.

This has, with cheese, 390 calories per serving, 15g of fat of which 4g is saturated, 15 mg cholesterol, 12g protein per serving and 53g of carbs. 4g fiber and 40mg of sodium.

Serves 4

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (around 12-15 leaves)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 2 teaspoons lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

1 red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds (optional, I preferred not to use onion)

1 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and quartered

2 zucchini (courgettes), halved lenthwise

1 cup (4oz, 113g) orzo

1/2 cup (2 oz, 56g)  feta cheese, crumbled.

 Heat your grill to a medium heat. Brush the vegetables lightly with oil  and grill for around 20 mins, until lightly charred and tender.

Cook the orzo according to instructions. In my case, I boiled 4 quarts of slightly salted water, added the orzo and boiled for 8-10 minutes until tender.

While the veggies are grilling and the orzo is boiling, make the dressing. Whisk the oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, garlic and salt and pepper in a jug.

When the orzo is cooked, drain and cool slightly, then pour over the dressing. Add the chopped basil.

When the veggies are grilled, cool slightly then chop into small pieces and mix with the rest of the salad. Serve warm or chilled.

 

Beet, Jicama, Avocado and Orange Salad

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One of the things I like best about writing this blog is that it gives me an added incentive to explore new ideas and discover foods I haven’t tried before.

Jicama (pr. hicama), the Mexican root vegetable, is one of those. I discovered jicama last year when I tried it in an Asian slaw in place of daikon radish which I couldn’t find locally (and still haven’t, to be honest). Since then I’ve used it often in slaw-type salads. And here it is again. I got this fantastic salad recipe from Vegetarian Times. It is simple to make with just the right mix of flavors, colors and textures. And it’s super nutritious too!

The dressing is unusal but very good. I wouldn’t have thought of using frozen concentrated orange juice in salad dressing but it works really well. It’s citrusy and slightly spicy and would be great with a leafy green salad too. And you can pop open the carton of frozen juice and just spoon out as much as you need for the recipe then freeze the rest.

2 cups grated raw beets (6 oz, 170g, 2 medium sized beets), which we call beetroot, peeled and grated 

2 cups (6 oz, 170g) grated jicama, peeled and grated

2 navel orange, peeled, cut into segments pith removed

1 medium ripe avocado, peeled pitted and sliced

1/2 cup (small handful) chopped cilantro (coriander)

3 tablespoons thawed orange juice concentrate

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup (small handful) toasted pumpkin seeds (optional).

 Assemble all of the vegetables and fruit in a suitable bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the orange juice, lime juice, cumin, coriander and olive oil. Whisk until combine. Pour over the salad and garnish with the cilantro (coriander) and pumpkins seeds if using.