Goats chese, red onion and rosemary muffins - Delia Smith

As well as the spinach, carrot and cumin muffins, both in order to further justify having purchased muffin tins and in order to try a different recipe, I also made goats cheese, red onion and rosemary muffins for the party.  I used this recipe from Delia which was similar to the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe but without natural yoghurt.





These came out nicely but I didn't like them quite as much as the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ones - to be honest, I think mostly they just weren't quite strong tasting enough for me.  I'd be inclined to try them again with a stronger flavoured cheese - perhaps stilton or very mature cheddar.

Party food - puff pastry tarts, mushroom & stilton, tomato, garlic & olive, tomato & mozzarella

Mushroom and stilton puff pastry tarts

Tomato and mozzarella puff pastry tart

One of the things that I find difficult about hosting parties is providing enough food to cater for different preferences - e.g. people who don't like cheese or tomatoes or whatever - while not cooking so many different things that results in kitchen chaos.

At the party we hosted recently, I went for making mini puff pasty tarts with different toppings.  Very easy, can be made small enough that they are finger food, and allow you to have a variety of toppings to appeal to all.

Mushroom and stilton puff pastry tart

Mushroom and stilton puffy pastry tarts

What you do is:  buy some puff pastry, cut into squares of about 2 1/2 inches square, put on topping, bake for 10-15 mins at 200 degrees C.  It's worth leaving some space around the edges to avoid spillage but you don't need to leave more than about a 1/4 of an inch.  To avoid having to faff in the kitchen too much with guests around, we baked these the morning of the party and served at room temperature but they would be good hot/warm too.

The toppings I went for were:

Mushroom and stilton:  which I made by frying mushrooms in butter and sherry, then melting in some stilton.  These were probably the ones that got eaten fastest at the party.

Mushroom and stilton puff pastry tarts

Tomato and mozzarella:  thin slice of tomato on each with a slice of mozzarella on top.  These looked like mini pizzas.

Tomato and mozzarella puff pastry tarts

 Tomato, olive and garlic:  slice of tomato, olives and chopped garlic.  Mmmm, garlic!

Tomato, olive and garlic puff pastry tart

Tomato, olive and garlic puff pastry tarts

Carrot, spinach and cumin muffins - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I bought a couple of muffin tins a while ago and I have been feeling guilty about them ever since.  I love buying things for the kitchen which is already stuffed with things - crockery of various sorts, stockpiles of things like spices and pulses and things I bought for a particular recipe and then pushed to the back of a cupboard - and do try to restrain myself from buying more.  So, having only used the muffin tins a couple of times has been weighing on my conscience. 

So, I decided to bake some savoury muffins for a party that we had recently.  I like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipes so decided to try his one for carrot, spinach and cumin muffins.  The recipe can be found here (need to scroll as it's the last one in the article).  They came out beautifully - I particularly liked the slightly sour tang from the natural yoghurt - and were a big hit at the party.  It was, however, crucial to monitor them carefully in the last few minutes they were in the oven as they went from undercooked to cooked in only a couple of minutes.

 

 

Shak (curry) innovation - paneer, potatoes, broccoli and red pepper

I am not usually very innovative in my shak combinations.  I tend towards the traditional combinations that I was taught.  For example, I usually cook paneer with either spinach or peas (not both together).  But, for some reason, the other day, I decided to branch out and go for a new combination:  paneer, potatoes, broccoli and red pepper. 



The different textures made it quite interesting but, if I made it again, I think I'd ditch the red pepper as I don't think it added much. Method of cooking as per the usual shak recipe but with the paneer and potatoes fried together for around 15-20 minutes before the rest of the vegetables added.  Used half a tin of chopped tomatoes right near the end (no earlier to avoid making the paneer soggy) because my lovely husband loves tomatoes but you could definitely skip them.

Paneer and potatoes frying

Paneer and potatoes frying

 

Fattoush Greek salad

I spotted this recipe a few days ago for fattoush salad which reminded me that fried pitta bread on salad is generally a good thing.  As happens to me not infrequently, it did strike me that the recipe could be improved by the addition of garlic.  So, I crushed some garlic into the oil that I fried the pitta bread in.  And some chilli flakes.  Because, why not?  Worked well on top of Greek salad with some hummus on the side.

Quick cooking

Although I like to take my time with cooking and really enjoy making things like risotto, there's definitely a place in everyone's life for quick cooking.  I enjoyed this Guardian article on quick cooking.  I think it's absolutely right that quick versions of dishes that should take a while to make are rarely good.  As I discussed in a previous post, risotto is definitely one of those - those versions of risotto that claim to be quicker and easier but just as tasty are just not worth it.

My go-to quick recipes are:

• Shak and rice - since making shak is pretty instinctive for me, I can do this on autopilot and, if I use vegetables that are quick cooking, I can produce it in under 15 mins.
• Thick omelette with vegetables - tortilla/frittata/whatever you want to call it - nutritious and great for using up whatever vegetables/odd bits of cheese/herbs you have left over.  Fry vegetables till cooked, add eggs, salt and pepper, when mostly cooked, add cheese and finish under the grill to melt the cheese.
• Filled pasta and pesto - very very quick (about 10 mins) and easy
• Welsh rarebit style - bread spread with mustard, topped with mature cheddar, toasted under the grill
• Quesadillas - acquire tortillas, fill with cheese (and anything else you fancy - e.g. mushrooms, refried beans) and fry on both sides - takes perhaps 15 mins in total.

But, mostly, I'm not that into quick cooking - not that everything that I cook takes hours but I really don't mind spending half an hour in the kitchen.  Almost especially if it's been a long day, it's nice to focus my mind on something different.

Olympian vegetarians

Vegetarians - despite Pop-eye's valiant championing of spinach - have always had a reputation for being weak and weedy.  So, it was nice to see this article from The Guardian on vegetarians who are competing or have competed in the Olympics.  In particular, it was nice to have a mention of those - like myself - who have been vegetarian all their lives.  Not that I disapprove of "converts" - I just find it irritating when it's assumed that every vegetarian is a convert.

Prague restaurant reviews - Knotra and Maitrea

In a departure from the usual London restaurant reviews, a couple of restaurant reviews from Prague where we spent a couple of days as part of a holiday.

First up, Pizzeria Kmotra which I'd been to before - quite a few years before.  It was lovely then and it's still lovely now.  There's an English menu and the staff are cheerful and willing even if you don't speak any Czech.  The pizzas are lovely traditional pizzas but with some innovative options - e.g. I had one with blue cheese and potatoes which is definitely a combination that I'm going to experiment with at home.  It's also incredibly good value - we had four main courses and soft drinks for about £20.  Very highly recommended.

Second, Maitrea, a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant.  A lovely atmosphere - lots of Buddhist decoration and a water feature (!) in the downstairs bit.  A slightly insane variety of food on the menu - there were some Mexican options, some Chinese-style food, some standard European fare, some traditional Czech options.  The three of us went for things from all corners of the menu but all were good - I enjoyed having the chance to have something in the traditional Czech style as that's not easy when you're vegetarian.  Again, very good value - the three of us had main courses and soft drinks for around £20.  Recommended.

How to make paratha

My mother left me some paratha dough at her house the other week to make into paratha and it reminded me of how easy they are to make.  For those not in the know, paratha are a type of Gujarati bread, similar to rotli/chappati but fried. 

This is what the dough should look like

To make the dough, all you need is flour, vegetable or sunflower oil, and water.  I used a 50:50 mix of plain flour and chappati flour but you can do all plain flour or all chappati flour as you prefer.  To mix the dough, you put some flour in a bowl, mix in some oil (for every three cups of flour, about a tablespoon of oil), then gradually add warm water until it looks like dough (as per photo).  I find the best way to do this is to mix with your right hand and keep your left hand clean to pour in more water. 

You can put other things in the dough, if you like - e.g. very finely chopped onion or coriander - but, if you do do this, my advice is not to get too carried away, too much stuff and the dough will fall apart.

paratha rolled out

Having made the dough, if you can leave it for a few hours, that will make them taste better but it's not a big deal if you don't.  Roll them into circles, about the thickness of a ten pence piece.  In order for them not to stick to the surface you're rolling on to and/or your rolling pin, use a bit of flour on your rolling pin and toss the balls in flour before you start rolling them. 

paratha cooked

Heat a little oil in a frying pan (you don't need much) and, when the pan is hot, but not ridiculously hot, fry each paratha on both sides.  It should take no more than about a minute to fry each one - if it's taking you longer than that, your pan isn't hot enough, if it's taking you less time than that, your pan is too hot. 

Nice pile of paratha

Paratha last two or three days in the fridge and you can also freeze them.  If you do freeze them, the best way to reheat them is to do it in a non stick frying pan (without oil, unless you feel you need it to stop them sticking) as then they heat through properly.

Restaurant review - El Sabio, Winchester

Recently, my lovely husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a day and nice meal in Winchester.  Winchester is great - much recommended.  We chose El Sabio for our anniversary meal because it's unusual to see a Spanish restaurant with a good selection of vegetarian dishes and so it's good to take advantage of that when you can.

We had a jug of nice sangria, some olives to start, and then the vegetarian paella, mushrooms in sherry and blue cheese sauce, mushroom and manchego croquettes, the "catalan-style" bread (bread toasted with garlic and crushed cherry tomatoes) and my husband had the fish stew as well.  It was all good - but the bread and the croquettes particularly so.  We also had dessert - they offer you "tapas desserts", i.e. the chance to have three small desserts rather than just one, which worked really well for us, the raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake was particularly well executed.  Plus, anywhere that serves Pedro Ximenez sherry is always a winner with us. 

The only thing I'd criticise is the service which wasn't great - e.g. we had to ask four times for water before it was brought to us.  But, as I've said before, the food is the most important thing for me so I wasn't devastated by this.