I've been having a break from blogging, largely because I've not been cooking anything out of the ordinary recently. And, as an amateur, I was beginning to wonder whether anyone trusts recipes from people who aren't well known chefs. I know I don't always trust them.
Having said that, sometimes I want to cook something that I've thought of without referring to a set recipe. I like the creative process of thinking about a dish and how I could make it work. When I'm in that mood I'll Google the combinations I'm thinking off to see if they've been done before, just to confirm I'm not going to cook something stupid.
So yesterday I ended up googling lentils with cranberries. We had some mini duck fillets in the freezer and some lentils in the cupboard and I wanted to combine the two. Turns out lentils with cranberries isn't ground-breaking so I felt confident enough to give it a crack.
The basic idea was to cook some lentils with some dried cranberries, and to serve the little duck fillets on top. But I was worried about that being a bit dry and needed a sauce to bring it all together. Luckily we had some brandy left over from when the missus made mince pies and Christmas puds!
This cooks enough for two and is ready in about half an hour, including prep:
160g Puy Lentils
half a finely chopped carrot
a finely chopped large shallot or small onion
celery salt
cranberry sauce
duck fillets / duck breasts
a good slug of brandy
butter
olive oil
2 tablespoons of dried cranberries, chopped
dried thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Water
Start with the lentils as everything else can be done whilst they're cooking. Soften the carrot and shallot in a mixture of butter and olive oil. We've started cooking a lot more with butter, what a difference it makes to the taste of food! Add the dried thyme and bay leaves. After they've had about 5-6 minutes add the dried cranberries and continue to soften for 3-4 minutes. Then add the lentils and follow the pack instructions for cooking them.
When your lentils are about 5 minutes away from being ready, get a frying pan hot and fry the mini duck fillets in butter and olive oil. Cook them over a high heat so they get a little bit crispy but stay moist in the middle. If you're using duck breast just slice it thinly and fry.
When the duck is cooked, remove from the pan and drain on kitchen towel. If your lentils are cooked take them off the heat, check for seasoning and put them to one side.
Now you can make the sauce. De-glaze the frying pan with a good slug of brandy. Before all the brandy evaporates add some water. Then add the cranberry sauce, about a dessert-spoonful. Stir to get a smooth sauce, add more water if you need to. You're not after a lot of sauce, just a fine jus that'll keep the duck and lentil dish from being too dry. Season to taste.
When the sauce is ready, serve. Put the duck on top of the lentils and spoon over the brandy and cranberry sauce.
This dish started as something I reckoned would be ok, and turned out to be quite delicious. Even worth blogging about! We'll be cooking it again.
Monday, 24 December 2012
Thursday, 1 November 2012
The simple things
Sometimes it's the simple things in life which give us our greatest pleasure.
Take eggs and bread. I've been converted to Burford Browns as I've never had a better tasting egg. The yolk is so rich, creamy and satisfying. It is perfect for poaching and superb when scrambled.
And then there's bread. We're lucky that there's been a revival of proper bread and that sourdough is so available.
There's a great edition of the Food Programme on Radio 4 all about sourdough. It really is worth a listen, as Sheila Dillon takes a couple of different sourdough starters into a lab for testing, to see what's going on with the bacteria. She finds out that there is a real difference between starters that can have a pronounced effect on the taste.
We've tried a few different sourdoughs. The Polish Bread Bakery in Avonmouth makes a sourdough that is light, slightly acidic and quite creamy. It makes a great slice of toast.
Mark's Bread in Southville make a range of sourdoughs, but I'm in danger of becoming addicted to his seven seed sourdough. The slow prove and the mix of seeds produces a heady scent and has a rich, nutty almost raisin-like flavour. It is magnificent.
So tonight's tea was simple. Scrambled eggs (Burfords) on a slice of sourdough toast with lots of salt and pepper. It was bloody lovely.
Take eggs and bread. I've been converted to Burford Browns as I've never had a better tasting egg. The yolk is so rich, creamy and satisfying. It is perfect for poaching and superb when scrambled.
And then there's bread. We're lucky that there's been a revival of proper bread and that sourdough is so available.
There's a great edition of the Food Programme on Radio 4 all about sourdough. It really is worth a listen, as Sheila Dillon takes a couple of different sourdough starters into a lab for testing, to see what's going on with the bacteria. She finds out that there is a real difference between starters that can have a pronounced effect on the taste.
We've tried a few different sourdoughs. The Polish Bread Bakery in Avonmouth makes a sourdough that is light, slightly acidic and quite creamy. It makes a great slice of toast.
Mark's Bread in Southville make a range of sourdoughs, but I'm in danger of becoming addicted to his seven seed sourdough. The slow prove and the mix of seeds produces a heady scent and has a rich, nutty almost raisin-like flavour. It is magnificent.
So tonight's tea was simple. Scrambled eggs (Burfords) on a slice of sourdough toast with lots of salt and pepper. It was bloody lovely.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Atomic Burger
We ate at Atomic Burger on Friday. It's the second time we've been. I think it's pretty close to the perfect sort of place for a Friday night.
They have really gone to town with the decor. I have to remind myself that Star Wars wallpaper wouldn't look quite as good in my flat! That, and the missus wouldn't go for it anyway. She definitely wouldn't go for the large USS Enterprise mobiles and a scalectrix on the ceiling! Shame.
All that decor sets the tone for Atomic Burger, which continues with a US themed menu. The choice of burgers is really extensive and should offer something for everyone. If not Atomic Burger are happy for you to do swapsies on your toppings so you can tailor something more to your taste.
The first time we went, 3-4 weeks ago, we were hankering for big juicy burgers. The place was crammed so we ended up sitting on stools at a bench in the window being served by the owners. We couldn't have been looked after better. I went for Smokey & The Bandit, like my old Old Orleans favourite from years ago, the Sloppy Joe. Proper dirty amounts of BBQ sauce, cheese and Cajun spices. Spot on. The missus went for the Johnny Cash, overflowing with re-fried beans, hot sauce, American cheese and jalapenos. Close to perfection.
It was never going to be a long time between visits, and we ended up going again on Friday.
We booked this time to make sure we got a proper table. And it's just as well we did 'cos they were fully booked - again.
I'd been looking at the online menu all week trying to decide what I wanted, my eye kept being drawn to the Dirty Dog. A US style hot dog covered in beef chilli, cheese and fried onions. I did consider going for a burger, but stuck to my guns. I'm glad I did, the dog delivered. The beef chilli on it was one of the best chillis I've tasted. This time the missus went for Cheech & Chong - a burger covered in beef chilli, nachos and cheese. Another hit.
The staff were really attentive and service was quick without us feeling rushed. We were going to linger over a pudding but the brownie I fancied had nuts in and had to be avoided, so instead we both had a coffee. The coffee was very nearly the tastiest thing we had in there! Apparently it's a bottomless coffee, that could be an expensive promise to keep with coffee that tasty.
Atomic Burger don't claim to make the best burgers in Bristol, but they're aren't many better.
They have really gone to town with the decor. I have to remind myself that Star Wars wallpaper wouldn't look quite as good in my flat! That, and the missus wouldn't go for it anyway. She definitely wouldn't go for the large USS Enterprise mobiles and a scalectrix on the ceiling! Shame.
All that decor sets the tone for Atomic Burger, which continues with a US themed menu. The choice of burgers is really extensive and should offer something for everyone. If not Atomic Burger are happy for you to do swapsies on your toppings so you can tailor something more to your taste.
The first time we went, 3-4 weeks ago, we were hankering for big juicy burgers. The place was crammed so we ended up sitting on stools at a bench in the window being served by the owners. We couldn't have been looked after better. I went for Smokey & The Bandit, like my old Old Orleans favourite from years ago, the Sloppy Joe. Proper dirty amounts of BBQ sauce, cheese and Cajun spices. Spot on. The missus went for the Johnny Cash, overflowing with re-fried beans, hot sauce, American cheese and jalapenos. Close to perfection.
It was never going to be a long time between visits, and we ended up going again on Friday.
We booked this time to make sure we got a proper table. And it's just as well we did 'cos they were fully booked - again.
I'd been looking at the online menu all week trying to decide what I wanted, my eye kept being drawn to the Dirty Dog. A US style hot dog covered in beef chilli, cheese and fried onions. I did consider going for a burger, but stuck to my guns. I'm glad I did, the dog delivered. The beef chilli on it was one of the best chillis I've tasted. This time the missus went for Cheech & Chong - a burger covered in beef chilli, nachos and cheese. Another hit.
The staff were really attentive and service was quick without us feeling rushed. We were going to linger over a pudding but the brownie I fancied had nuts in and had to be avoided, so instead we both had a coffee. The coffee was very nearly the tastiest thing we had in there! Apparently it's a bottomless coffee, that could be an expensive promise to keep with coffee that tasty.
Atomic Burger don't claim to make the best burgers in Bristol, but they're aren't many better.
Monday, 1 October 2012
The Glorious Oyster
This time last week we were starting our holiday. Bags packed, tickets checked and passports ready we were getting very excited about our trip to Sicily.
We thought we'd start things off with a nice little foodie treat, oysters and Champagne.
We hadn't really been into oysters all that much before we went to the Streat Food Collective event at Arnos Vale Cemetery. However, the highlights of that event for us were the BBQ & Jerk stall and the oysters from The Glorious Oyster.
The missus really went for the oysters and came up with the idea of starting our holiday with oysters and champagne, and luckily The Glorious Oyster deliver oysters! So we ordered 12 and a shucking knife. Is there a cooler kind of knife than a shucking knife?
Up until this point I had never shucked oysters. I've seen it on tele a couple of times and thought I'd be able to give it a go, but I was some way short of confident. But that's where the magic of oysters delivered by The Glorious Oyster really comes into its own.
Lyndsay delivers the oysters personally, and luckily for me she popped in to give me a shucking demonstration. I'm so glad she did, getting into an oyster must rank as one of the most dangerous bits of food preparation. I could just see myself at A&E with a shucking knife in my arm without the proper guidance, which goes something like firm hold, flat side up, knife into hinge, wriggle, twist, pop!
We chose to make our own dressings, which may have been a small mistake as Lyndsay's dressings are great, but we did have a sample sachet of Chipotle Tabasco which went really well. Sweet, smokey heat was a great match for the oysters, which were themselves succulent, creamy and delicious. I've never had oysters so good before, and when they are this good it's easy to see what all the fuss is about. Especially when accompanied by a nice glass of fizz.
We thought we'd start things off with a nice little foodie treat, oysters and Champagne.
We hadn't really been into oysters all that much before we went to the Streat Food Collective event at Arnos Vale Cemetery. However, the highlights of that event for us were the BBQ & Jerk stall and the oysters from The Glorious Oyster.
The missus really went for the oysters and came up with the idea of starting our holiday with oysters and champagne, and luckily The Glorious Oyster deliver oysters! So we ordered 12 and a shucking knife. Is there a cooler kind of knife than a shucking knife?
Up until this point I had never shucked oysters. I've seen it on tele a couple of times and thought I'd be able to give it a go, but I was some way short of confident. But that's where the magic of oysters delivered by The Glorious Oyster really comes into its own.
Lyndsay delivers the oysters personally, and luckily for me she popped in to give me a shucking demonstration. I'm so glad she did, getting into an oyster must rank as one of the most dangerous bits of food preparation. I could just see myself at A&E with a shucking knife in my arm without the proper guidance, which goes something like firm hold, flat side up, knife into hinge, wriggle, twist, pop!
We chose to make our own dressings, which may have been a small mistake as Lyndsay's dressings are great, but we did have a sample sachet of Chipotle Tabasco which went really well. Sweet, smokey heat was a great match for the oysters, which were themselves succulent, creamy and delicious. I've never had oysters so good before, and when they are this good it's easy to see what all the fuss is about. Especially when accompanied by a nice glass of fizz.
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Confit Duck Hash
This has been the last meal made with the confit duck we bought. I really can't stress what a bargain the £10 tin was. We got 5 pieces of duck, which has made 3 gorgeous meals - cassoulet, duck confit with white beans - and this hash. And we're still left with a good amount of duck fat for some proper roasters as we head into Sunday Lunch season.
As there's two of us and we got 5 pieces of duck we were scratching our heads for what to do with the last piece. Thinking about it now we could have made Michel Roux's duck and mushroom pudding, which will be on the menu when we next have some confit duck. Instead we chose to make a hash, it seemed like a good excuse to cook some spuds in duck fat.
That's how we started things. Peeled potatoes, enough for two, chopped and par-boiled. As they steamed dry I got the confit duck into the frying pan with some chopped shallot. The gorgeous fat soon renders and the meat begins to fry. As it's tender already it only takes a few minutes before it starts to fall apart which means you can remove the bones.
With the duck and shallots sizzling away I added the potatoes to give them a chance to get brown and crispy.
As it is, those 3 ingredients would make a very nice meal. But I really wanted to try and produce a really balanced dish and I thought that I needed to add something to cut through all the richness, so I added a couple of dessert-spoonfuls of chopped capers. That just about did it. A generous squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped parsley did the rest.
It was a lovely meal, the only thing missing was poached egg, duck egg ideally, but other than that it was a fine way to use the last piece of duck confit. I can't wait to buy some more!
As there's two of us and we got 5 pieces of duck we were scratching our heads for what to do with the last piece. Thinking about it now we could have made Michel Roux's duck and mushroom pudding, which will be on the menu when we next have some confit duck. Instead we chose to make a hash, it seemed like a good excuse to cook some spuds in duck fat.
That's how we started things. Peeled potatoes, enough for two, chopped and par-boiled. As they steamed dry I got the confit duck into the frying pan with some chopped shallot. The gorgeous fat soon renders and the meat begins to fry. As it's tender already it only takes a few minutes before it starts to fall apart which means you can remove the bones.
With the duck and shallots sizzling away I added the potatoes to give them a chance to get brown and crispy.
As it is, those 3 ingredients would make a very nice meal. But I really wanted to try and produce a really balanced dish and I thought that I needed to add something to cut through all the richness, so I added a couple of dessert-spoonfuls of chopped capers. That just about did it. A generous squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped parsley did the rest.
It was a lovely meal, the only thing missing was poached egg, duck egg ideally, but other than that it was a fine way to use the last piece of duck confit. I can't wait to buy some more!
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Streat Food Collective at Arnos Vale Cemetery
On the face of it it doesn't sound like your ideal setting for any kind of festival, a cemetery. But we're talking here about Arnos Vale Cemetery.
The street food scene in Bristol isn't big, but with quality like the stalls on offer here it's bound to grow.
After a bit of a stroll around to check out the stalls we opted to kick things off with some oysters from The Glorious Oyster.
In fact, we enjoyed them so much we went back for more after we'd finished working our way around the other stalls. Second time round we kept it classic. The missus went for the shallot dressing, delicious by all accounts.
I loaded up with a few shakes of Tabasco, a squeeze of lemon and a hint of black pepper. For all that oysters have a delicate taste, it's surprising what they can match with.
It would be impossible for me to go to a street food festival and not eat meat. Luckily I had 2 great options at the Streat UK food festival at Arnos Vale Cemetery.
The sounds and smells of meat cooking over coals meant I was compelled to go to the BBQ & Jerk Stop stall.
We shared some BBQ Rum wings which were delicious, and a bargain at £3.50. Even the missus thought they were delicious and she has a weird thing against wings.
More meat satisfaction came Bagel Boy.
It's a lovely place, Arnos Vale Cemetery, and all the better for being restored. Hopefully events like this will help bring people into the place, aside from those that inevitably end up here that is!
If you want know more have a look at the websites of Streat Food Collective and Arnos Vale Cemetery.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Duck confit, white bean mash and blackberry sauce with Pinotage
Despite the poncy title this little number was actually created out of leftovers.
We had some beans and some duck confit leftover from making the Cassoulet. Rather than make another cassoulet (and put on another stone!) I thought I'd try something a bit lighter.
So, the beans. Dead easy really. The beans had already been soaked so all I needed to do was cook them. An hour and a half or so at a steady simmer did that. After they cooled a little I blitzed them in a blender until they formed a smooth, creamy mash.
The bean mash was a bit bland, so I seasoned with a good bit of salt and pepper and some nice olive oil. However, it still wasn't quite what I was after. It needed something extra which had me reaching for the spice cupboard. I toasted some fennel seed and caraway seed, ground them in a pestle and mortar and added them to the bean mash. Much better.
The duck confit is very easy to cook. It's simply added to a frying pan over a medium heat and allowed to heat through. It's so tender it nearly falls off the bone as it cooks and the smell does wonders for stimulating the appetite.
When I was thinking about this dish I knew that it was going to need a fruity sauce to give it a lift. We have some cherry trees growing down by the river near where we live and I was really tempted to make a sauce with some of the cherries. But, we also have some blackberries growing in our garden which are really tasty and I thought a blackberry sauce would go nicely. Thankfully I wasn't wrong.
As is usual when I've thought of something to do but I'm not certain it'll work, I googled it to see if it had already been done. Yes it has. It's handy to get some hints and it helped to make sure I made the sauce savoury rather than sweet like a bramble jelly.
For the sauce I sweated off some finely chopped shallot in a little duck fat - I find it hard to now to consider frying with anything else - and a couple of bay leaves. After a few minutes I added some freshly picked blackberries, about a cereal bowl full, and a fair bit of black pepper. The blackberries broke down in a few minutes after which I added a splash of the Pinotage we'd be drinking with the meal. It seems the done thing really.
The final result was one very satisfying meal. The Pinotage went really nicely with it. I'd say it was medium to full-bodied so texturally it matched the meat and beans. There's a spicy note, which comes from the Pinot Noir in its heritage I guess and which matched the black pepper and other spices. It's also quite fruity and that marries with the blackberry sauce. It wasn't bad at all.
We had some beans and some duck confit leftover from making the Cassoulet. Rather than make another cassoulet (and put on another stone!) I thought I'd try something a bit lighter.
So, the beans. Dead easy really. The beans had already been soaked so all I needed to do was cook them. An hour and a half or so at a steady simmer did that. After they cooled a little I blitzed them in a blender until they formed a smooth, creamy mash.
The bean mash was a bit bland, so I seasoned with a good bit of salt and pepper and some nice olive oil. However, it still wasn't quite what I was after. It needed something extra which had me reaching for the spice cupboard. I toasted some fennel seed and caraway seed, ground them in a pestle and mortar and added them to the bean mash. Much better.
The duck confit is very easy to cook. It's simply added to a frying pan over a medium heat and allowed to heat through. It's so tender it nearly falls off the bone as it cooks and the smell does wonders for stimulating the appetite.
When I was thinking about this dish I knew that it was going to need a fruity sauce to give it a lift. We have some cherry trees growing down by the river near where we live and I was really tempted to make a sauce with some of the cherries. But, we also have some blackberries growing in our garden which are really tasty and I thought a blackberry sauce would go nicely. Thankfully I wasn't wrong.
As is usual when I've thought of something to do but I'm not certain it'll work, I googled it to see if it had already been done. Yes it has. It's handy to get some hints and it helped to make sure I made the sauce savoury rather than sweet like a bramble jelly.
For the sauce I sweated off some finely chopped shallot in a little duck fat - I find it hard to now to consider frying with anything else - and a couple of bay leaves. After a few minutes I added some freshly picked blackberries, about a cereal bowl full, and a fair bit of black pepper. The blackberries broke down in a few minutes after which I added a splash of the Pinotage we'd be drinking with the meal. It seems the done thing really.
The final result was one very satisfying meal. The Pinotage went really nicely with it. I'd say it was medium to full-bodied so texturally it matched the meat and beans. There's a spicy note, which comes from the Pinot Noir in its heritage I guess and which matched the black pepper and other spices. It's also quite fruity and that marries with the blackberry sauce. It wasn't bad at all.
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