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Borlotti bean and cabbage soup–in three simple stages

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , on January 20, 2015| 5 Comments »

A soup for cold January evenings.

Borlotti beans are the speckly ones–mottled white and red uncooked.

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Cooking changes them to brown, which is a little disappointing.

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They have a nutty flavor that distinguishes them from cannellini beans–and lends an air of gravity to this winter vegetable soup that white beans can’t quite achieve.

You can substitute white for borlotti, of course.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 carrot–diced small

1 onion–diced small

1 celery stick–diced small

1 garlic clove–chopped

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1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

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600 mil  vegetable stock (I use organic stock cubes)

400 gms tinned (canned) tomatoes–drained and chopped

400 gms tinned (canned–or in a jar) borlotti beans–drained

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salt and pepper

125 gms thinly sliced cabbage–I use savoy cabbage

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parmesan cheese (grated for garnish)

There are three simple stages:

1) Heat the oil in a pan and gently soften the carrot, onion, celery, garlic and fresh thyme (if you have it).

2) Mix in the broken-up tomatoes, the beans and the stock and season well–salt (to taste) and plenty of fresh ground pepper.

Bring these up to the simmer and cook on with the pan partially covered for 15 minutes.

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3) Stir in the cabbage and cook until tender.

Serve hot with grated parmesan and a swirl of olive oil.

Tastes even better the day after…

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Foot care, sparerib pork chops and broccoli–seared a little!

Posted in Diabetes, Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , on January 6, 2015| 41 Comments »

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Every three months I take a trip to see Cyril, my podologue, for a foot service–an essential on a diabetic’s check-up list.

Eyes next month.

It’s a relaxing 45 minutes–he has a naturally calm manner and doesn’t flinch at my halting French.

We chat while he gently works.

He’s signed the French version of our petition au sujet de l’église, he tells me.

“Merci beaucoup, Cyril!“

He told me he and his wife are expecting their second child–a girl–in three weeks time. They are favoring “Rose” as a name.

I booked another session in the first week of April and, stepping lightly on my “new feet”, headed across the road to the car.

I started pondering dinner–before lunch.

(One can never be too prepared….)

“Ah!” I remembered a friendly family butcher (husband and wife) nearby whom I occasionally frequent–and I recalled a one-pot recipe in Delicious Dishes that calls for spare rib chops, white beans and oranges. See recipe below….

From Delicious Dishes for Diabetics

From Delicious Dishes for Diabetics

Both husband and wife were busy working as I entered.

“Deux bouchers!”

“Une bouchère, Monsieur!” [One of us is a woman, Sir!]

“Ah–tout a fait!–excusez moi, Madame! Est-ce que vous avez d’ échine de porc?” 

“Bien sur!”

“Deux, s’il vous plait–assez fines [not too thick].”

Comfort food again.

I picked up some broccoli at the quiet Tuesday open-air market in Castres and headed home.

A couple of nights ago, I’d mis-timed the broccoli; it was ready too soon–so I drizzled it with olive oil, seasoned it and sautéd it a low flame to keep it warm.

When it came time to serve, one side was slightly charred but it tasted GOOD.  I enjoy happenstance in cooking and decided to try it again–deliberately!

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It works–and made a nice color contrast to the pork.

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Serves 4

This lovely autumn/winter comfort dish is based on one by the talented Frances Bissell.

2 x 400 g/16 oz tins/bottles white beans
4 spare rib chops (echine in France – these are the tastier ones)

1 onion – sliced
1 stick celery – sliced
2 oranges
1 tsp coriander seeds
150 ml/5 fl oz/1⁄2 cup vegetable stock
salt and pepper
chopped fresh coriander or parsley

The timing for cooking depends in part on the thickness of the chops.

Heat the oven at 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

Rinse the bean and pour into the oven proof dish you will serve from.
Brown the chops well in a non-stick frying pan. (No oil needed as the chops are a bit fatty.)

Lay them  atop the beans.

Brown the onion and celery in the same frying pan – the fat from the chops will be enough to cook them in.

Lay them on the chops.

Carefully cut some strips of zest from one of the oranges.

Bury these in with the chops and beans.

Squeeze the juice from the two oranges over the chops.

Crush the coriander seeds and sprinkle over. Add the stock.

Cover and cook in the oven for about 2 hours.

Check after an hour to ensure that there is enough liquid–but be careful not to add too much–or the concentrated taste of the sauce will weaken.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Before serving, sprinkle the chopped coriander or parsley over to garnish.

 

 

 

 

 

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Goat’s cheese and pancetta en cocotte

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , on January 5, 2015| 33 Comments »

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We first had this dish in an excellent little restaurant in Castres, called L’Envie [fancy] recently.

Apt name–I fancied trying to recreate it at home.

First I had to buy the little serving dishes!  Still haven’t found the ones I’d really like (in terra cotta).

The recipe itself is relatively easy to prepare and quick to cook. It’s both delicious and handy as a simple starter for company, as it can be assembled well ahead of time.

It’s a conversation starter too.

“What are those things at the bottom of the dish?”

“Shallots.”

“Nice!”

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For two (but easily scaled up for the number around your table–if you have the little serving dishes!)

Preheat the oven to 220C/430F (i.e. hot oven)

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2 shallots–very finely sliced

1 small “log” of goat’s cheese [chevre]

2 thin slices pancetta–(I started by using parma ham but Meredith suggested pancetta might be better and she was right! bacon would work too.)

4 small sage leaves–optional

olive oil for drizzling

—-

Spread the shallot slices over the bottom of two small oven proof dishes–roughly a shallot for each dish.

Slice the goat’s cheese log into four pieces about and inch or so long

Place two pieces in each dish.

Half the pancetta “rounds” and place one half slice in each side of each dish.

Place two small sage leaves in each dish.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of olive oil round and over the contents of each dish making sure the shallots get their fair share.

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Roast in the top shelf of the oven for about ten minutes or so.

Meredith said I was stingy with the pancetta!

If you spot those little terra cotta serving dishes, let me know!

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Comfort lentils (dal) and spicy cauliflower for a cold night

Posted in Diabetes, Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 3, 2015| 24 Comments »

Bought a cauliflower this morning. There wasn’t a lot of choice–it’s freezing cold and the local growers’ produce is limited.

What to do with it?

I flick through this cook book and that–then suddenly remember comfort lentils from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics.

COMFORT is the key word.

Outside it’s damp and cold–so comfort food that acts as an interior blanket is just what I need.

I search the index for “cauliflower“.

Aha! Cauliflower with mustard seeds and fennel seeds–inspired by Madhur Jaffrey.

YES!

Double comfort!!

A fire in the grate and the evening holds promise!

COMFORT LENTIL DAL

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Rinse thoroughly a pound of red lentils–until the water runs clear.

Add two vegetable stock cubes to a litre of water and bring to the simmer.

Add the lentils.

Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked–about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile chop a medium onion and in a separate pan color it gently in four tablespoons of olive oil .

Then stir in these spices:

One and half teaspoons cumin powder; one teaspoon coriander powder; half teaspoon cayenne powder; and (if you have it) one teaspoon garam masala.

Cook the onion in the spices for a couple of minutes and then stir this mix into the lentils.

Gently reheat the dal.

Check for salt.

Comforting…

CAULIFLOWER with FENNEL and MUSTARD SEEDS

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Deconstruct a large cauliflower into bite size pieces.

Heat six tablespoons of olive oil in a pan (large enough to hold the cauliflower in a single layer–more or less–but don’t add the cauliflower yet!).

Add a tablespoon of black mustard seeds and two teaspoons of fennel seeds.

When they start to pop–add three garlic cloves chopped fine.

When they start to color add a quarter teaspoon each of turmeric and cayenne powder.

Cook these briefly to release their aroma–and then stir in the cauliflower pieces.

Turn these thoroughly in the spicy oil and add four tablespoons of warm water.

Add a decent pinch of salt and cook covered until the cauliflower is tender–about 20 minutes.

These two comforting friends make good partners for a chilly winter night.

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Meredith, who used to think that cauliflower was a pointless vegetable, had seconds!

 

 

 

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Roasted pumpkin boats with cinnamon and sage

Posted in Diabetes, Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on January 1, 2015| 20 Comments »

This got the “ding” from Meredith at lunch today.

Spotted in “Jamie’s Italy“–Jamie Oliver’s lively and loving tour of the peninsula–it offers a twist on roasted pumpkin by including fresh sage, cinnamon and a hint of heat in the mix.

It is simplicity itself.

a small pumpkin–sliced in half and seeds removed

1 small cinnamon stick–split into smaller–not too small–lengths

1 small chili–chopped

a good handful of fresh sage–chopped roughly

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

  • Heat the oven to 220C/430F
  • Slice the pumpkin carefully into smallish crescents
  • Add them to a large bowl
  • Add the sage, chili and olive oil to a mortar and pound gently to release the flavors
  • Add the cinnamon pieces and mix them in thoroughly without allowing them to break up too much
  • Add this mix to the large bowl and season well with salt and pepper

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  • Turn it all over to coat the pumpkin boats
  • Arrange the boats in a shallow, oven-proof pan

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  •  Roast in the upper part of the hot oven for about 20-30 minutes–the time it takes to cook them to tender depends on the thickness of the pumpkin pieces
  • Check after 15 minutes for doneness
  • They should develop a pleasing seared look

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We ate them with magret de canard (duck breast) to welcome in the New Year on a spectacularly beautiful winter’s day.

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Also spectacular is the walnut and garlic sauce, nestling in there.

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(The recipe for this sauce is in Delicious Dishes for Diabetics.)

All good wishes to everyone everywhere for a healthy, happy New Year!

Bonne Année!

Bonne Année!

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Bubble and squeak!

Posted in Diabetes, Food, Recipes, Robin Ellis, tagged , , , on December 27, 2014| 21 Comments »

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The name came into my head when I took the leftover Brussels sprouts out of the fridge with a view to frying them up for lunch today.

Bubble and Squeak--named for the noise they make in the pan while cooking.

Ho-hum–I didn’t hear a thing!

Wasn’t this quaintly-named concoction part of my mother’s post Christmas leftover strategy?

Dishes to go with cold turkey that only needed heating up?

Then a memory of added bacon floated into my mind.

Didn’t bacon get mixed into the brussels?

Well, bacon bits were already part of the feast on Christmas day–no harm in adding even more oven-crisped smoked bacon to the fried-up sprouts….

They’ll go nicely with a slice of the chickpea (socca) bread cooked in the oven as well.

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Add a poached/fried egg and “Bob’s your uncle”–to revive another phrase from my childhood.

 

1 small onion–chopped

1 clove of garlic–chopped

leftover cooked Brussels sprouts–chopped

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leftover Swiss chard–chopped (or you might have some OTHER leftover to try out in this recipe!)

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a few very thin rashers of bacon–smoked or green to taste

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan and add the onion and garlic.

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Let them color a little before adding the brussels and the swiss chard (or other leftovers).

Mix together and cook gently for about 10 minutes–just long enough to heat them through.

Cook the bacon separately to a crisp state and scatter broken up bit over the sprouts.

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Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

We enjoyed it on a slice of the homemade socca–chickpea flour–bread.

And the only sound was “umm”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A simple chicken curry

Posted in Food, Recipes, Robin Ellis, tagged , , , , on November 30, 2014| 18 Comments »

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I spotted this recipe in the November edition of the excellent Suffolk Magazine (which had a feature on me!)

It’s by Mena Boughey – who runs cooking classes in Lavenham (Suffolk) and runs a catering company–lucky Lavenham!

She emphasizes the importance of introducing spices in small batches–giving each spice time to settle in and release its aroma.

Taking time under the big Suffolk skies–the zen of curry!

She includes a tablespoon of fenugreek–a regular spice in the Indian kitchen with links, as the name implies, to the Mediterranean and like many spices, claims interesting health benefits (good for digestion, good for diabetes).

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp–ground fenugreek

1 tsp each ground cumin and ground coriander

1 medium onion–sliced

1 garlic clove–mashed with a little salt

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp chili or cayenne powder–less or more according to taste

3 to 4 tinned [canned] tomatoes with their juice–chopped

1 tsp turmeric

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300 gms chicken breast (about 2 medium breasts)–excess fat removed and sliced into medium sized pieces

2 medium fennel bulbs–outer leaves removed and cut into medium size pieces (I’ve substituted fennel for the potato in Mena’s recipe.)

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2 tsp garam masala

2 or 3 tbsp yogurt–whisked smooth

salt and pepper

for 2/3 (add an additional breast to serve four)

Heat the oil in a medium pan and add the fenugreek, cumin and coriander.

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Cook for a couple of minutes on a low heat until they release their aroma.

Add the onion and turn it over in the spices and continue to cook until it starts to soften.

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Add the cayenne/chili and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and cook on for 5 minutes–being careful not to let the spices burn.

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Add the tomatoes to the mix and let them meld in and the liquid reduce–about five minutes.

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Add the turmeric and stir it in.

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Add  the chicken and fennel pieces and enough hot water to cover them.

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Bring slowly to the boil then turn the heat down low.

Cook at a light bubble until the chicken is cooked through and the fennel is tender.

Turn off the heat and leave the flavors to take meld.

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Before reheating it fold in the yogurt.

Meredith went to the larder in search of chutney the first time I made this.

No luck.

So I made a quick sauce with yogurt and cumin.

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Today is World Diabetes Day–the importance of a good BREAKFAST!

Posted in Diabetes, Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , , on November 14, 2014| 14 Comments »

 Today is World Diabetes Day–Nov 14th, birthday of Fred Banting, who along with Charles Best first discovered insulin, revolutionizing the treatment of diabetes.world-diabetes-day

The World Diabetes Day 2014 campaign marks the first of a three-year (2014-16) focus on healthy living and diabetes.

Special focus will be placed on the importance of starting the day with a healthy breakfast. (see below!)

Facebook question for Robin & Meredith: What do you guys have for breakfast? The cookbooks don’t mention anything and I’m curious ~Maire Martello 

To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day.

                                     ~ W. Somerset Maugham

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.            ~ John Gunther

Oysters are the usual opening to a winter breakfast. Indeed, they are almost indispensable.

~ Grimod de la Reyniere (1758-1838)

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” 

~ I’m sure my mother said that a few times!

Breakfast–before I set off on my walk–is the same every morning (and no sign of an oyster)!

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large organic oat flakes mixed with…

freshly-cracked walnuts (watch out for rogue pieces of shell that crack your teeth)

a dried, untreated apricot–chopped

a teaspoon of linseeds

a prune (cooked),

half a pot of plain organic yogurt

cinnamon–sprinkled on top (Some studies show cinnamon helps lower blood sugar levels.)

and moistened with unsweetened oat or almond milk

Two slices of 100% organic rye bread with a little butter and pear & apple fruit spread (no added sugar)

and a small black coffee

The same every morning?

Yes!

Dull?

Not for me. I look forward to it–once a day, at least!

Maybe we are at our most conservative, most in need of ritual, just after waking up. I find the assembling and eating of this bowl of goodies a daily delight.

Meredith’s version of breakfast heaven is cooked oats (she’s eating it as I write!) :

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Porridge: small oat flakes cooked in organic milk, organic plain yogurt, a cooked prune, perhaps some seasonal fruit, cinnamon sprinkled over.

Neither of us feel the need to snack before lunch–the oats keep us going.

Latest estimates* suggest that there are 382 million people living with diabetes worldwide.

What makes the pandemic particularly menacing is that throughout much of the world, it remains hidden.

In my case, there were NO symptoms. My Type 2 diabetes was picked up in a routine blood test.

Up to HALF of all people with diabetes worldwide remain UNDIAGNOSED!

A simple blood test is all that is needed for a diagnosis.

If you have a family history of diabetes, as I did, a routine test is a good idea!

Life, within doors, has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly arranged and well-provisioned breakfast table. 

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

* International Diabetes Federation Diabetes Atlas

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Vegetable–“check out the crisper”–Soup

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , on October 30, 2014| 21 Comments »

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A couple of days ago I announced that I was thinking of making fennel soup for supper (we need a photograph of it for the new book).

“You should use all those veggies in the crisper,” said Meredith, in practical mood.

After years of taking a moment to understand what “crisper” meant, I now know it’s the bottom drawer of the fridge where salad and (forgotten) vegetables are stored.

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It still sounds odd to me–crisp and vegetable?

“Any road”–as Aunt Mary used to say–I found a treasure trove of useable vegetables.

MINESTRONE!

So…

I chopped into small dice:

2 carrots

2 small celery sticks

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

and sweated these over a low heat for a good half hour or longer in

3 tbsp olive oil

I then added:

2 fennel bulbs–outer casings removed and chopped into larger dice

more celery–similarly chopped

more carrots–similarly chopped

a handful of mini onions–peeled and halved

some cauliflower florets

Then I spooned in 3 tbsp cooked white beans, from a jar preferably (I prefer them to tinned/canned),

tucked in a small bouquet of parsley and bay and a piece of parmesan rind (I happened to have one to hand!)

I poured in 1 1/2 pints of stock–in this case made from organic vegetable cubes,

and seasoned well with freshly ground black pepper and a teaspoon of salt.

Brought this up to the boil, turned down the heat to low and simmered it for an hour.

Then I added a handful of green beans–escapees that were loitering in the crisper–snapped in half–and 2 medium courgettes–the last from the garden, sliced.

Cooked all this on until these last were tender.

Served it with a swirl of best olive oil and grated parmesan.

(The crisper promoter showed her approval by having thirds.)

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Green beans with cherry tomato sauce

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes on October 27, 2014| 31 Comments »

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Recipe-sharing has been on hold for a while. This is a “relaunch”.

My excuse? I’ve been busy and distracted: putting on wigs, trying to remember my lines, running a cooking workshop, demonstrating no-potato fishcakes at a literary festival*, preparing a third cook book, worrying about the sale of the adjacent church for a private residence…

I’ve missed finding new recipes, cooking them and writing them up.

So here goes….

(Could be a hostage to fortune!)

Early Saturday morning at Castres market, I spied a pile of green beans on the small display table.

I was surprised.

“These are the last,”  said the local grower, who also had some promising looking cherry tomatoes laid out.

I bought a pound of each and here they combine to make the simple vegetable dish from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics.

I’ll sprinkle over some feta and a few juicy black olives to make a light lunch.

It’s warm enough to eat al fresco in the courtyard–the SUN is refusing to retire and is out every day–a delayed summer (July and August didn’t deliver.)

Warm enough to ripen the fruit that normally we enjoy weeks earlier–even our figs are finally showing signs of ripening.

We are not complaining.

250gms/8oz green beans

250gms/8oz cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic–thinly sliced

2oz  feta cheese  (optional)

half a dozen juicy black olives  (optional)

First make the tomato sauce:

Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan and add the garlic slivers.

Cook for a minute or two to soften.

Add the tomatoes and cook on a low-ish heat for 15 minutes, stirring and gently squashing them occasionally.

You should end up with a viscous sauce–the tomatoes retaining some of their shape.

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Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the beans in boiling, salted water until just tender.

Drain and lay them on a pretty plate.

Spoon the sauce over the beans.

Add olives and/or feta (optional).

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*Festival Litteraire de Parisot

Parisot is a delightful, hilltop village in the Tarn-and-Garonne department, a little to the north of us.

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This was the second year of their book festival and it was a triumph.

Brilliantly organized over a three-day weekend, events ran parallel in French and English, serving the two communities simultaneously.

A grand sweep over the literary landscape included a writing Masterclass, talks by first-time and established novelists, a workshop given by an expert in Arab calligraphy, a talk on organized crime in France, a superb analysis of the causes of the first world war by Clive Ponting and much more–including a light-hearted account of my acting career, given while cooking pumpkin soup and no-potato fishcakes.

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