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Circle Dancing, Courgette (Zucchini) soup and an Eclipse to boot…

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on June 15, 2011| 5 Comments »

“—It’s going to be a busy night” to paraphrase Bette Davis in All About Eve—

rounded off by a lunar eclipse (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jun/15/lunar-eclipse-moon-red).

Meredith’s passion–Circle Dancing (http://www.findhorn.org/)aka Sacred Dancing–learned at the Findhorn Foundation(http://www.findhorn.org/) north of Inverness in Scotland.

She has a regular circle of enthusiasts, who dance each month on the night of the full moon for a couple of hours.

in full swing…

John–honourable retiree.

Everyone brings a dish to share after the dance.

My contribution–Courgette soup— is adapted from the River Cafe’s recipe.

It was spotted by our friend and fellow dancer, Sonia,

who grows courgettes herself and brings us a shining green handful from time to time.

It is simple and satisfying, with a light green hue and creamy texture.

for 4

1 kilo courgettes/zucchini–fresh as possible–cut into 1″ square pieces


2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic–chopped
500ml/1 pint stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes
1 small pot/125gms low/no fat yogurt
50gms grated parmesan— add more to your taste
salt & pepper

a handful each of chopped parsley and chopped basil

  • Fry the courgettes and garlic in the oil until they are very tender and browned a little–about 30 minutes.

a double batch

  • Add the stock and bring to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Season with salt and pepper– taking care with the salt assuming there is salt in the stock.
  • Let the soup cool a little.
  • Remove a quarter of the courgette pieces and liquidise the rest with a food mixer or handheld liquidiser.
  • Return the whole courgette pieces to the soup.
  • Stir in the cheese and yogurt followed by the parsley and basil.
  • Reheat gently.
  • Check the seasoning and bring up to a simmer.
  • Serve in warm bowls.
–there’ll be no need for seat belts* though!
(B Davis’ famous line in the film–“Fasten your seat belts–it’s going to be a bumpy night!”)

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New Yorker Stocks Exchange…?

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, tagged , , , , , , on June 15, 2011| 5 Comments »

This is the cover of last week’s edition of the New Yorker magazine, which arrived in the post this morning.

Along the bottom of the stocks it reads:

NYC Dept. of  MORAL GUIDANCE       NO FEEDING   BACKSLIDERS

Is the backlash under way–is this the “Ancient Régime” fighting back?!

Any theories?

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Green Beans with black Mustard Seeds and Garlic

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , on June 14, 2011| 9 Comments »

Small piles of green beans are starting to appear in the markets.

Adapted from the actress and cookery writer, Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe ,
these goes well with spicy and not so spicy food.

for 4

1lb/450 gms green beans–topped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
4 cloves of garlic — chopped very fine
1 dried red chilli–chopped fine
1 tsp salt
pepper

  • Cook the beans to just tender in plenty of lightly salted, boiling water–use tongs to whip one out of the water to test for doneness.
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the seeds.
  • When they start to pop add the garlic.
  • Cook until it starts to turn light brown–careful not to burn it–it won’t take long.
  • Add the chilli and stir.
  • Add the beans and the salt.
  • Turn the heat to low and fold the beans over in the oil and spices.
  • (You are heating through and infusing the beans with the flavours–5 minutes should do it).
  • Add the pepper

"Still life" with Marmalade, Lily and spicy green beans

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The Pyramid is History–Step up to “My Plate”.

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on June 10, 2011| 3 Comments »

The “Food Pyramid” was an early post back in February.
In a campaign backed by the First Lady Michelle Obama, this has now been replaced (by the USDA — the American Department of Agriculture)  by “My Plate”.
The new icon sets out on “your plate”  –a guide to a healthy, balanced way of eating.
In principle anyway, it is simpler and more logical than the pyramid image–we eat off plates not pyramids–though I don’t find it visually pleasing.
Will its message get through?…
We have just finished lunch
and without intending to–it was stuff I found in the refrigerator– I ended up pretty much following the guidelines.
It was a Salad of:-      (protein, grain, vegetable, and dairy)
chickpeas (pg)–out of a tin or, as in my case, dried, soaked overnight, then simmered in water until tender
with thinly sliced/chopped fennel  (v)
some chunks of avocado (v)
a small cucumber, de-seeded and chopped (v)
thinly-sliced red onion (v)
small pieces of cooked chicken breast (p)
a few black olives (v)
some cubes of goats cheese with (dp)
chopped parsley (v)
with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing–oh and a few dry roasted (in a frying pan) pumpkin seeds(pv) scattered over, seasoned with salt and pepper.
And–we ate it off  plates!

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Fabulous Festive Fish Curry…

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , on June 9, 2011| 3 Comments »

Much fish curried!

This is adapted from a recipe by the brilliant and imaginative British food writer–Nigel Slater.

It’s simple and a good dish for company (we had it on Christmas Eve one year)– allow 150 g/5 oz of fish per person.

You can make the basic sauce ahead of time–even the night before–and prepare the fish pieces in advance too.

Then all you have to do is reheat the curry sauce and slip in the fish in the appropriate order while you cook some brown basmati rice.

We had it tonight with a cooling cucumber raita.

Serves 4

2 medium onions–chopped

2 cloves of garlic–chopped

1 tablspoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

a thumbnail size piece of fresh ginger–chopped

3 small red chillies (the heat level is a matter of taste)–chopped

1 teaspoon each–garam masala, cayenne and turmeric

225 g/8 oz fresh or tinned tomatoes–chopped

500 ml/1 pint/2 cups stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes

250 g/9 oz mussels

8 clams (palourdes)–if you can find them

600 g/20 oz white fish in fillets–this could be monkfish, haddock, cod or some of each, preferably fish that holds its

shape when cooked in pieces

8 prawns in their shells

1 tablespoon of low/no fat yogurt – whisked smooth

A good handful of chopped parsley–or coriander if you can find it

  •  In a casserole large enough to hold all the fish, fry the chopped onions and the garlic gently in the oil until soft.
  •  Add the mustard seeds and ginger and mix.
  • Add the chopped chilli and mix.
  •  Add the garam masala, cayenne and turmeric and mix.
  •  Add the chopped tomatoes and let them mingle with the spices for 5 minutes.
  •  Add the stock and bring everything to the boil.
  •  Let this sauce simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Let the sauce cool.
  •  Stir in the yogurt carefully.

    ready for the fish

  • Debeard, scrape and rinse clean the mussels.
  • Scrub the clams if you have them.
  • Check the fish fillets for bones and cut into bite-size pieces.
  • Have the prawns standing by.
  • Reheat the sauce if you have precooked it.
  •  Slip in the white fish and cook until it turns opaque.
  •  Then add the mussels, clams and prawns.
  • Cook gently, making sure that the sauce is covering the fish, until the mussels and clams open and the prawns heat through.
  • (I sometimes throw the mussels and clams in a saucepan with a tablespoon of water to get them to open, then add them to the curry.)
  •  Check the salt, add the parsley/coriander and bring this bubbling colourful wonder to the table.
This is Meredith’s choice for my 100th post– and it’s a recipe from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics–A Mediterranean Way of Eating (Constable & Robinson and Skyhorse).
(Published August 4th 2011 in the UK and November 1st in the USA–but available on Amazon.co.uk for pre-order now.)

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Tzatziki–garlicky yogurt sauce

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , on June 7, 2011| 3 Comments »

This is adapted from Rena Salaman’s lovely and authentic book, Greek Food.

It’s a refreshing garlicky sauce that goes well with grilled summer vegetables, chicken and lamb, and the previous post’s  No–Potato Fishcakes.

Serves 2

2 small pots no/low-fat yogurt*

a tablespoon of olive oil

a teaspoon of white wine or cider vinegar

a clove of garlic – pulped in a mortar with a little salt

2 fresh mint leaves – finely chopped

¼ medium cucumber – peeled, quartered lengthwise, deseeded and finely diced

salt and pepper

*For a thicker sauce–which is how we like it–empty the yogurt into a piece of muslin drapped over a sieve and leave it to drain into a bowl for half an hour in the fridge.

Discard the liquid and carefully empty the yogurt into the bowl.

Or use the yogurt as it comes out of the pot–emptying it into a bowl.

  • In a separate small bowl, whisk the oil and the vinegar together.
  • Mix in the garlic and the mint.
  • Fold this into the yogurt and add the cucumber.
  • Season to taste and mix it all together thoroughly.
  • Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve it.

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“No potato” Fishcakes

Posted in Diabetes, Food, Recipes, tagged , , on June 7, 2011| 3 Comments »

Eagle-eyed for fishcakes made without potatoes (which I prefer to avoid)–I spotted these a few years back in an article by Gordon Ramsay.

I’ve added an egg to the original recipe to lighten them a little.

A  garlicky yogurt sauce goes well with them–Tzatziki (see next post)

for 2–or 4 as a starter

200 gms salmon fillet–skinned and checked for bones

200 gms smoked haddock–undyed if possible, and skinned

2 small shallots–chopped small

an egg–lightly beaten

salt and pepper

olive oil for sautéeing

  • Cut the fish into chunks and put into a food processor.
  • Pulse to a coarse mince–too much and it will be a slurry.

The "mix"

  • In a bowl, mix the fish with the shallot, the egg, salt and pepper.
  • Check the seasoning.
  • Form into little patties or “cakes”.
  • Chill them for an hour if possible–it just helps to bind them.
  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan.
  • When it’s hot slip the “cakes” into the pan and gently flatten them a little.
  • Sauté them on each side to a light brown finish–2/3 minutes a side.
  • They should still be moist inside.

"Prêt à manger" fishcakes

We have just had these for lunch on a rainy day–with a simple green salad and tzatziki.

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How does your garden grow…?

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Robin Ellis, tagged , , , on June 6, 2011| 10 Comments »

Steadily–in twos at the moment.

Meredith came in from the garden yesterday and offered me two fat strawberries.

I “harvested” two raspberries this morning.

We have already eaten two courgettes.

Tomatoes are small green golf balls–but it’s only the first week of June.

The rain this week and now the sun has made us hopeful.

“Mary Mary quite contrary–” 

My Aunt Mary was contrary–contrary enough to live to 92–and a talented gardener.

She transformed a long rectangle behind her Suffolk cottage into something magical, with a fishpond at the end. She loved her garden and reigned over her 90th birthday party in it–on a glorious early July day.

She and my father were privately adopted in 1915 by my grandmother, who was 40 and a widow.

Granny taught violin and brought the two children up as a single mother. She lived to 87 and was contrary too–according to my mother!

Young Dad--RAF trainee

My father was an enthusiastic gardener–Dahlias in October, as I recall….He grew vegetables too–important in post war Britain where some food was rationed until 1954!

I have not inhereted the gene.

…with silver bells and cockle shells

And pretty maids all in a row.

This nursery rhyme has nothing to do with gardens, I discover, but disguises a darker theme (http://www.rhymes.org.uk/mary_mary_quite_contrary.htm).

A corner of our garden--no sign of silver bells and cockle shells...just a couple of canoodling snails this morning.

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The coulis (tomato sauce) I forgot.

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , on June 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In the previous post the Courgette muffins can be served on a pool of sieved tomato sauce or coulis.

Here it is–better late than never!

Adapted from the first River Café Cook Book, this is very useful for

spreading on grilled aubergines or to accompany tuna, mackerel or salmon.

Or as a purée to serve the courgette muffins on.

3 cloves of garlic – peeled and finely sliced

4 tbsp olive oil

2 x 800 g/28 oz tins tomatoes – drained of their juice

salt and pepper

  • Fry the garlic gently in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan but do not let it brown.
  • Add the broken up tomatoes and the salt and pepper.
  • Cook on a high heat, stirring frequently to prevent it burning, and watch out for splattering.
  • Use the biggest wooden spoon you have.
  • This will take about 20 minutes.
  • When little red pock marks appear, making it look as though the surface of the moon has turned red, you know it is almost there.
  • It will have reduced considerably to a thick sauce with very little liquid left.
  • Add the last two tablespoons of olive oil, taste and check the seasoning.
  • To turn this into a coulis (puréed sauce), let it cool a little, then work it through a sieve–this takes a little time.
  • Then reheat it.
  • A tablespoonful on a plate looks like a deep red setting sun.

Two months to go!

(from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics–published August 4th in the UK and November 1st in the USA)

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Courgette muffins

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , on May 31, 2011| 2 Comments »

as a starter...

Our friend Fronza Woods, who is vegetarian and cooks delicious delicacies, introduced us to these little numbers. They serve as a vegetable or as a starter with a tomato coulis.

Today we had them for lunch with a green salad.

Serves 6 as a starter and 4 for lunch

2 courgettes or 1 large– left unpeeled and grated

2 tablespoons Emmental cheese – grated

4 tablespoons of onion – grated

1 tablespoon fine breadcrumbs – wholewheat or rye

salt and pepper

2 eggs

Heat the oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.

  •  Combine the first four ingredients, season well and mix thoroughly.
  • Check the seasoning and fold in the eggs.
  • Oil the muffin cups. This amount is enough to fill one of those rubber trays of twelve.
  • Fill each cup with the mixture and carefully transfer to the middle of the oven.
  • Bake for 30 minutes–checking after 20 minutes for doneness. They should be springy and nicely brown.
  • Serve on a tablespoon of tomato coulis.

...or lunch.

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