Piquant Kedgeree

Close observers of this blog may have noticed a tendency towards chilli-hot recipes. So here is my take on a dish that is always tasty but sometimes a little bland.

Equipment.

Large Frying Pan.
1 large Saucepan
1 smaller Saucepan
Large Mixing Bowl
Sieve
Wooden Spoon
Garlic Press
Cooker - 3 rings.

Ingredients - 4 servings

3 fillets of smoked haddock.
1 serving of pre-cooked seafood medley*
3 hard-boiled eggs
1 large onion
2 cups of basmati rice
1 table spoon salt
1 table spoon garam marsala
1 table spoon hot chilli powder (or vary, to taste)
150 ml fresh soured cream
3 fat cloves of garlic
3 table spoons sunflower oil

Method

The thing about cooking kedgeree is that the main ingredients are cooked separately, and then mixed together when they are ready.

The onion is chopped, and together with the haddock fillets and oil added to your largest, heated, frying pan. If your haddocks come with skin, keep it. It's good for you. Add the garlic, crushed, after a couple of minutes. All are lightly fried until the onions are soft and the haddock separates nicely into bite sized pieces. It won't take long. Meanwhile, hard-boil your eggs, and when they're done, chop them roughly. Furthermore meanwhile, cook your rice according to your preferred method, not forgetting the salt.

Next, assemble the dish. Everything you have cooked goes into a large mixing bowl, together with the seafood medley, the garam marsala, chilli powder and soured cream. Mix gently but thoroughly. And then you're done!

Serve for breakfast, lunch or tea. It's versatile, kedgeree, and I hope you like this variation on the theme.

Best wishes, 2RM.

*Most supermarkets do some sort of seafood medley, and it doesn't altogether matter what's in it. My preferred supplier does a pre-cooked mix of prawns, squid rings and mussels in 220g packs, but whatever you get in the same sort of line will do handsomely.

Offally Hot Hot Pot

Offal is one of those secret areas where what you get is simultaneously good for you, and tasty, and cheap. Don't tell anyone though, or they'll put the prices up. Anyway, here's a recipe that works well and doesn't take much effort. Once you've prepared everything, it just goes in the oven and leaves you time for that aperitif you can now afford by not buying premium cuts of meat.

Equipment:

Sharp cooking knife
2 x Frying pan.
Wooden spoon.
half-gallon Casserole
Garlic press
Large Mixing bowl
a Mandolin is good for slicing the potatoes thinly, but not entirely necessary.

Ingredients: serves 4 generously.

1.5 kg lambs offal. Kidneys, heart and liver all work well together.
2 good sized onions
4 fat cloves of garlic
3 or 4 carrots, sliced.
3 or 4 sticks of celery, sliced.
2 lamb oxo cubes.
3 tablespoons of worcester sauce
6 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
2 tablespoons of hot chilli powder (or vary, to taste)
1 tablespoon of salt.
4 large potatoes, sliced very thin.
500ml of water.
4 tablespoons of cooking oil.
herbs to suit - parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are a classic choice.

Method.

Dice the offal into bite sized pieces. Add to your mixing bowl with the flour, salt and chilli powder. Agitate until everything is nicely coated. In a hot frying pan, and a little oil, sear the meat. Meanwhile, fry up the onions, garlic, carrots and celery until the onions are soft and beginning to brown around the edges. Add everything you've done so far into your casserole, together with the water, herbs, oxos and worcester sauce. Finally, layer your sliced potatoes on top. Then, the whole lot goes into a pre-heated 170c oven for an hour and a half. Serve with any veg, but I find roast parsnips and steamed runner beans are just great with this.

Hope you try it, hope you like it.

Best wishes, 2RM.

Sesame Noodles

I'm a recent convert to noodles; I have tended to avoid them before now for reasons of ignorance. On experimenting, however, I find they are are quick to cook and tasty to eat. And that seems like a fine recommendation to me.

Equipment

1 large saucepan
1 wok
1 stirring spoon.

Ingredients - serves 1 as a main, 2 as a side.

3 plaits of egg noodles
about the same volume of beansprouts
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds

optional extras: baby corn, sliced green beans, seafood medley, crushed garlic, anything else that will stir-fry.

Method.

Cook the noodles according to packet instructions (generally boiling for 3-4 minutes)
Heat the wok.
Add the sesame seeds, and dry fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the oils.
On the top level of heat, fry the seeds until they start to brown.
Add everything else, and keep stirring and frying. You really need only to heat everything rather than cook everything. It should only take a couple of minutes at most.

Serve, hot and crisp, and perhaps with a herb garnish, to your grateful family and friends.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Never-ending Stew

You should not take any of the following as definitive. It is an idea, not a commandment. And the idea was to make 4 chicken legs last as long as possible, assuming 1 person with a healthy appetite, eating once a day.

Equipment.

1/2 or 1 gallon stockpot
Sharp knife
Cutting-board
Cooker (1 ring)
Garlic Press

Ingredients.

Day One

4 Chicken legs
4 slices of diced bacon
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 Oxo cubes, vegetable or chicken
2 medium onions
2 fat cloves of garlic
2 celery sticks
1 cup of broth mix.
half a bottle of (budget) white wine.
A litre of boiling water.
Herbs of your choice.

Day 2

Add some leeks and carrots

Day 3

Add some mushrooms

Day 4

Add some diced rabbit, or whatever appeals.

Day 5

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Method: Cook as you would expect. The bacon, celery, onions and garlic go into a stockpot, with the oil. Then fry 'til the onions are transparent, and then the chicken goes in. When it's browned, the water, the Oxo cubes, the broth mix, the herbs, and the white wine go in. Simmer for an hour or so, and serve each leg with rice, potatoes or cous-cous.

Clearly this base forms a stock for whatever you want to eat, indefinately. If, between meals, it is kept in the fridge, it will last. And if, before meals, you simmer it for at least twenty minutes, you should be safe from nasty bacteria. All you need do is add some kind of nutrient each time you heat it up - and, if you have no new nutrients, heat it up anyway and enjoy.

Best, 2RM

Root Soup

There is nothing quite like a hearty soup and crusty bread in mid-winter. And this soup must be at least 2 of your 5-a-day, and, if you eat enough of it, possibly all 5. What's more, it's frugal, and all the more so if you use the recipe to use up slightly tired vegetables from the back of your fridge. (Note: I am not suggesting you eat anything mouldy, or that smells questionable. Just veggie remains that would otherwise be thrown away, as less than appetising as features on their own.)

Equipment:

Kitchen knife
Chopping board
Garlic crusher
1/2 gallon cooking pot with lid
Cooker, 1 fast ring
Hand blender

Ingredients (4 generous servings, and a bit left over for stock):

50g butter
3 rashers of bacon, chopped small
2 onions, chopped fine
2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
2 sticks of celery, chopped fine

2 carrots, diced
2 small turnips, diced
1/2 swede, diced
2 parsnips, diced
1 potato, diced
(or, any other combination of diced root vegetables, to the weight of 1kg)

1 cup pearl barley
2 litres of boiling water
1 tsp each of dried parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Fresh ground salt and pepper, to taste.

Method:

Melt the butter in your pot. Add the bacon, onions, celery and garlic. Fry gently until the onions are soft. Add the diced root vegetables, pearl barley, water and herbs. Simmer, covered on a low heat, for an hour or so, or until the pearl barley is soft, adding extra water as necessary. Towards the end, blitz with a hand blender briefly, but leaving some chunks for texture.

Serve with granary bread for dunking.

Best, 2ndRateMind

A Knowledge Share

One of the things about being a student is that you grow up in a protected environment. One of the things about growing up is that you learn to prioritise your spending. And the way I learned to prioritise my spending within that protected environment has never really left me: It goes: bills, books, booze, and then food. The only problem with this schema is that a restricted budget leaves you precious little to spend on booze, and rather less than that for food.

But, there are some books that help with that situation; here are 12 money saving recommendations:

• Frugal Food, by Delia Smith.
• Grub on a Grant, by Cas Clarke
• More Grub on Less Grant, by Cas Clarke
• The Paupers Cookbook, by Jocasta Innes
• Student Grub, by Jan Arkless
• Hard Up and Hungry, by Betsy Bell
• Self Reliance, by John Yeoman
• Self-sufficiency in a Flat, by Joy Spoczynska
• Food for Free, by Richard Mabey
• The Classic 1000 Student Recipes, by Carolyn Humphries
• 101 Cheap Eats, BBC Books
• First Steps in Winemaking, by CJJ Berry

If you don't already have them, buy them at the rate of one a month or so, over the course of the next year, and in whatever order appeals to you. I guarantee they will have paid for themselves within that time.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Red Onion Marmalade

On the subject of marmalades, this is my shot at the fashionable idea of an onion accompaniment. It works well with cheese, and meat, as you might expect. I am not entirely happy with it, though. I have been aiming at a recipe that sets, in the same way that orange marmalade sets. Haven't achieved that yet, however. Consider this a tasty step on the road, and watch this space!

Equipment

Preserving pan
Garlic press
Stirring spoon
4 x 500ml jam jars and lids, sterile
Preserve funnel, sterile
Ladle, sterile.
Cooker, 1 fast ring.

Ingredients

2kg Red Onions
8 cloves of garlic
150g butter
50ml olive oil
300g sugar*
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
500ml red wine (2/3 bottle, to you!)
350ml red wine vinegar

*I used jam sugar, hoping the added pectin would help all solidify on cooling. It didn't, though.

Method. (makes around 2 litres)

It's mainly about boiling all in your preserving pan, and so should suit cooks of all degrees of skill.

Chop your red onions. The smaller you slice them, the finer the marmalade result. I quite like a 1cm square 'peasant' texture, but if you want something more refined, put the work in here. Next, dry fry the mustard and celery seeds on a high heat, and then drop in the butter and olive oil. When all is liquid, add your onions and garlic. Add the chilli powder, and sugar, and stir the mixture up, cooking all the while, until the onions are nicely coated and glistening with the butter/olive oil mixture.

Next. Turn the heat down, and just let simmer for around 45 mins. The idea is to get soft, squashy onions. Test, every so often. When your onions break under pressure from a wooden spoon against the side of your preserving pan, you are ready for the next stage.

Next. Add the wine, and wine vinegar. Simmer for half an hour, or until the mixture has reduced by around a third, and the liquid has been driven off. It should all turn into a deep, rich, burgundy colour during this time. Taste, and season with salt and pepper if desired. Then, ladle into sterile jars, and seal.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

PS. An update is in order. After 2 days in a cool larder, this marmalade has achieved the texture and consistency of, well, marmalade. As Confucious say, 'Success comes to he who waits...'

PPS. This works well with cheese on toast. Grill one side of your bread, turn over, spead the ungrilled side with onion marmalade, and grate cheese over the top. Grill until done. Deeeelicious.

Seville Orange, Lemon & Ginger Marmalade

I hesitate to provide this as a tried and tested recipe. It is more in the way of a successful experiment. Unfortunately, however, it took some time; time I spent happily sampling the latest home-made wine vintage. I know how I started, and I can see and taste the result, (and it's not at all bad), but the bit in between is something of a mystery to me. As best I can reconstruct last night's events, the proceedings proceeded as follows:

Equipment

Preserving pan
Cooker (1 fast ring)
Kitchen knife
Kettle
Ladle (sterile)
Preserve funnel (sterile)
6 x large jam jars and lids (sterile)
Dinner plate
Saucer
Teaspoon
Fork
Fridge

Ingredients (for approx 4kg)

1.3 kg Seville oranges, or thereabouts
2 lemons
200 g ginger, peeled and sliced into match-sticks
1 kg granulated sugar
1 kg jam sugar
3 - 5 litres of boiling water

Method.

Put the oranges and lemons in your preserving pan, with enough water to cover them. Add the ginger. Use a heat-proof dinner-plate to sink everything, if necessary. Simmer on a low heat until the fruit skins start to split, (about 2 hours) and are soft enough to puncture easily with a table-fork, adding extra boiling water whenever necessary to keep the fruit submerged.

Fish your fruit out at this stage, and leave them to cool to the point at which they are comfortable to handle. Reserve the liquor they have cooked in; you need it. Once the fruits are cool, cut them in half, and take out the pips. The remaining flesh and pith go into the cooking liquor. Then, slice the peel into matchsticks. These also go into the cooking liquor, together with the sugars, and about a litre (this is where I go hazy - add as much as seems sensible!) of boiling water. Stir until the sugars are all dissolved.

Turn the heat up high, and boil merrily for 10mins, and then test for a set, by putting a teaspoon-full on a saucer into the fridge for a few minutes. If it stays liquid, you need to continue boiling for a few more minutes, and then test again. Once you have a jelly-like result, you can turn the heat off, leave all to settle for 10-15 mins to allow the peel to distribute evenly, and then ladle into your sterile jars. Seal, and store for up to a year.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind

Here's a few words on sterilising.
And here's where to get reusable jars and lids.

Finally, it occurs to me that it might be appropriate to lift this recipe into the luxury class by stirring in a tumblerful of whisky immediately before the final boil. I haven't tried that, though - all the whisky I can afford gets drunk neat, long before it has a chance to figure in cooking.

Chunky Cherry Tomato Chutney

Traditionally, Chutneys (from the Indian word Chatni, spiced) are highly flavoured ways of preserving an excess of produce. But it would be a great shame if only those with an excess could experience the sublime, cheese and meat complimentary, flavours, so here is a chutney you can assemble out of supermarket ingedients.

Equipment
Chopping board
Sharp Kitchen Knife
Kitchen Scales
Garlic Press
Can Opener
1 Saucepan
2 Cooker rings
Preserving pan or 1/2 gallon stock pot
Preserve funnel, sterile
6 x 1lb Jam jars with lids, all sterile

Ingredients
2 x Eating apples, diced to 1 cm cubes
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
3 x medium onions, roughly chopped
600g cherry tomatoes, whole
300g sultanas
200g demerara sugar
350ml vinegar (cider, wine or malt)
3 cloves garlic
2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil

spices (suggested, but nowhere compulsory)
1/2 stick cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp mace
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp hot curry powder

Method.

Set your chopped apples to boil for 20 mins in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, prepare the 'mortar' that will hold your chunky chutney together. Set your onions, garlic and ginger to fry briefly, in the oil in your preserving pan, and add the tins of chopped tomatoes and spices. When your apple is ready, so is the base. Drain the apples, and add them with the sugar, vinegar and cherry tomatoes (whole) to the preserving pan. Then simmer, for an hour or two, until you have reduced the mix to a chutney sort of texture. Be careful to stir, occasionally, and especially towards the end - this is a sugary mixture that will stick and burn, if you allow it to do so. Finally, fill your sterile jars, seal, and put into a cool place to mature for a month. Then, serve anyplace chutney might conceivably help with the digestion.

Best wishes, 2RM

Rasam Robert

Indian restaurants and takeaways don't seem to do soup, in this country, which is a shame because there are some very fine Indian soups. Mulligatawny is well known, of course, but there are many others. This one is my budget-friendly take on a soup I first had at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai, back in the days when I had work. This makes two generous servings.

Equipment
Spice grinder or mortar and pestle
Kitchen Knife
Garlic Press
Chopping Board
Medium Saucepan
1 Cooker ring
Hand blender
Can opener

Ingredients
400g tin chopped tomatoes
100g coconut block
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs oil or ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cardomom seeds
1 tsp fenugreek
a few clove buds
1 tablespoon crushed, dried chillies (or vary, to taste)
2cm length ginger root, very finely chopped.
1 litre boiling water, plus extra as needed.
salt and pepper to taste.

Method.
Grind your spices. Dry fry briefly and then add the oil or ghee. Add the onions and garlic, and let them sweat for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes. Dissolve the coconut in half the water, and then add that, too. Simmer until the tomatoes are cooked, adding more water as you go if required, and then blitz with your hand blender. Add the remaining half litre of boiling water, stir, and you're pretty much done.

Serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves, if you have access to any at a cost effective rate.

I hope you like this as much as I did, the first time I sampled it.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Cheaper Pizza

Thanks for this recipe must go to the lovely Thelma, at the Wellspring Healthy Living Centre, who has been teaching me to cook proper food.

Anyway, the point about this recipe is that it is incredibly cheap, compared to take-away or home-delivered varieties of pizza. What's more, given this basic recipe, you can experiment to your heart's content with different cheeses, different flours in the base, and, of course, different toppings. Results are limited only by your own creativity!

So, here's the deal, for one adult serving:

Pizza Base

Equipment
Kitchen scales
Large mixing bowl
Working surface
Rolling Pin

Ingredients
100g Plain Flour, plus extra for dusting
Warm water
Pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp dried yeast

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C

Mix the dry ingredients in your bowl, and add the oil. Then, make a well in the centre and add warm water, trickle by trickle, mixing the ingredients thoroughly with a knife or spatula. The temperature of the water is important - too cold or too hot and the yeast won't happen for you. Once the ingredients are combined, start to work the dough with your fingers, and then knead until all the dough is taken up into a soft, elastic, round ball. At this point, you can relax for a bit, and let the dough rise for 15mins.

The dough should have doubled in size by this time, and the next task is to dust your work surface with the extra flour, and roll out the dough into a flat disc about 1/4 of an inch thick. Prick all over with a fork, so it doesn't puff up in the oven, and then slam it in to pre-bake for 5 mins.

Pizza topping.

Equipment
Medium Saucepan
1 Cooker ring
Hand blender
Can opener
Garlic Press
Cheese grater

Ingredients
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 finely chopped medium onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp mixed herbs
80g grated cheddar cheese

Method.

Fry the onions and garlic gently. When soft, add the tomatoes and herbs. Simmer till reduced. Blitz with a hand blender until you have a texture that pleases you, and simmer some more if it's still too liquid.

Then spoon onto your pizza base, cover with grated cheese, and bake for 20 mins at the top of the oven.

Now, go and spend the money you saved on a bottle of Italian wine, and enjoy...

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

The Wellspring: http://www.wellspringhlc.org/

Sweet Tomato Ketchup

When shaking up the ketchup bottle
First none'll come, and then the lot'll.

Quite why ketchup is still sold in narrow necked bottles defeats me. Anyway, it's another reason for making your own - you can store it in pleasing, wide-necked jars that allow you to spoon onto your plate to your exact taste. There are other reasons; you get a better result, and you know what went into the mix, but I'm a romantic at heart, and for me it is the aesthetics that win the day.

On with the recipe. There are two phases to ketchup making:

1. Make a puree of your ingredients.
2. Make a ketchup of your puree.

Here is the detail, then.

Equipment.

Sharp kitchen knife
Chopping board
Garlic crusher
Mortar and pestle or Spice grinder
Half gallon saucepan with lid
Wooden spoon
Can opener
Coarse sieve, and second saucepan, or Hand-blender
Preserve funnel
4 x 1lb/450g Jam jars, sterilised.

Ingredients.

6 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes.
3 x medium onions, finely chopped
90g soft brown sugar
250ml cider vinegar
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 stick cinnamon, or 1 tsp ground
1 tsp whole or ground allspice
1 tsp whole or ground cloves
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp black pepper, whole or ground
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 garlic clove

Method.

Phase 1.

Grind up your spices, and heat your saucepan. Let the spices dry-fry for a minute or so, to get the flavours fragrant. Add the chopped onions, stir to coat in the spices, and then the crushed garlic. Let them work in the heat for a bit, and then add your tomatoes. Then, just simmer with the occasional stir, on a medium heat, 'til the mixture has reduced by about a third. At this point, blend with your hand-blender, or manually press through a coarse sieve.

Phase 2.

Add the sugar, and vinegar, and simmer gently for about 10 to 15 mins, until it reaches the right consistency.

At the end of this process the texture is liable to be slightly coarser than shop-bought ketchup, but, frankly, I think that adds a character that is perfectly consistent with the objectives of this blog.

So, when you're satisfied, pour into sterile wide-necked jars and seal. Unopened, they should keep in a cool larder for 12 months. Opened, they store in the fridge for up to 14 days.

I find it costs about £4.00 to fill 4-5 450g jam jars, assuming the spices are already in the store cupboard. That's about £1.00p per lb jar, with a whole lot of self-satisfaction thrown in.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind

Here's where to get jam jars: http://www.jamjarshop.com/index.asp

Here's a word about sterilising: http://thehungerstop.blogspot.com/2009/06/sterilising-jars-and-such.html

Napolitana Sauce

This is the obvious next sauce to consider; tomatoes and onions. Normally I recommend fresh ingredients, but tomatoes are the exception that proves the rule. You just don't get the gutsy flavour required out of the insipid supermarket offerings, which are bred for looks and shelf-life. Unless you have access to homegrown varieties selected for taste, use tinned tomatoes, and don't be ashamed of doing so. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Equipment:

Medium saucepan
Chopping board
Cooking knife
Garlic press
Cooker (1 ring required)
Can opener

Ingredients - serves 2

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium onions
3 cloves of garlic
2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons fresh basil
seasoning to taste

unauthentic optional extra - a good dash of worcestershire sauce.

Method

As you would expect. The onions go chopped into the oil, and fry gently in the pan for a few minutes. They are followed by the garlic, tomatoes and herbs, and the whole lot is simmered for about half an hour, until the tomatoes are cooked and the consistency quite thick. Then, pour over your favourite pasta, or use as a base sauce for pizza topping, or as a layer in lasagne.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Incidentally, I have it on good authority that the Italians always bring the pasta to the sauce, rather than the sauce to the pasta. Well, that's foreigners for you. They don't even know how to serve their own cuisine.

Pasta Aglio e Olio

(pasta with garlic and oil)

One for garlic lovers, who don't have to meet important clients the following day!

Equipment

Saucepan
Frying pan
Mortar and pestle
Garlic press
Cooker (2 rings needed)
Pepper mill

Ingredients - 4 servings

Fettucine for 4
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
10 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed dried chillies, lightly ground
1 cup chopped fresh (ideally Italian) parsley
Fresh ground black pepper to serve

Optional extras:

Chopped cherry or sun dried tomatoes
Diced bacon
Diced red bell peppers (capsicums)
Grated parmesan cheese to serve


Method

Cook the fettucine according to the makers instructions.

Simultaneously, fry the garlic, salt and chillies in the oil, until the garlic is lightly brown. It won't take long. Be careful not to over-cook the garlic, or the flavour will suffer.

Turn out the pasta into a serving bowl, pour over the oil mix, toss to coat thoroughly. Strew with the herbs.

Enjoy.

Best, 2ndRateMind.

Buttered Spaghetti

Every so often I find I have month at the end of my money. When that happens, as it inevitably does, I tend to pad out the days with pasta. Pasta, of course, has risen in price by nearly three times over the last six months (due, I'm told, to a bad harvest last year), but it still represents good value and a useful tummy-filler. Anyway, this week, I thought I'd list some quick, cheap, and easy ways to serve pasta, without compromising on taste. I tend to find ways of using whatever store-cupboard ingredients I was sensible enough to invest in, earlier in the month, so everything that follows over the next few days will reflect that.

Equipment

A spaghetti portion measurer
A large saucepan
A cooker (1 ring needed)
A sieve or colander
A pepper mill

Ingredients

Spaghetti
A teaspoon or so of salt
Enough water
15g melted butter per portion
Grated hard Italian cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
A sprinkling of dried basil and/or oregano

Method

Boil up the spaghetti in salted water according to the packet instructions. When ready (it's supposed to stick to the wall, when you fling a sample piece at it) drain into the sieve/colander.
Melt the butter in the same, still hot, saucepan.

Turn out the spag into your serving dish, and add your melted butter and herbs. Mix. Grind your black pepper, and sprinkle your cheese, over the top.

It sounds like poverty rations, but in fact it's very tasty, and allows one to appreciate the flavour of spaghetti in itself, something that rich and strong sauces often overpower.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Marinated Olives

Here's a recipe for marinated olives, which I find go well with the rice wine we looked at yesterday:

Equipment

Mixing bowl
Garlic press
Stirring spoon
Mortar and pestle
Fridge
Scales
Measuring Jug

Ingredients

100g pitted green olives
100g pitted black olives
2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
Juice of half a lemon
40 ml olive oil
80 ml white wine vinegar
Half a teaspoon of ground crushed dried chillies
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil

Method

It couldn't be easier. Just put everything into a mixing bowl, and stir to mix, ensuring the olives are all thoroughly coated.
Leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
Serve with aperitifs, or put into attractive jars for an inexpensive but thoughtful, hand-crafted gift.
They should keep well for at least a week, sealed in airtight containers in the fridge.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Rapid Rice Wine

To eat food you've grown is just fine;
There is no better way you can dine
- I think it's just great
To fill your own plate -
But best is to drink your own wine.

I don't know about you, but I like a glass of something when I eat. Or cook. Or entertain. In fact, I like a glass of something, full-stop.

So here is a simple recipe for a wine that's ready in a mere three weeks, but will improve if kept longer.

Equipment

A 5 gallon fermenting bin, sterile
A 1 gallon saucepan or stock-pot
A cooker (1 fast ring needed)
3 1 gallon demijohns, sterile
3 bungs with airlocks fitted, sterile
A siphon tube, sterile
A funnel, sterile
A nylon mesh, sterile
18 wine bottles and corks, sterile
A corking device
A long handled stirring spoon, sterile

Ingredients - makes 3 gallons, plus a little for sampling.

2 kg rice (cheapest will do)
1.5 kg raisins
4.5 kg sugar
3.5 gallons boiling water
wine yeast
yeast nutrient
finings

Method.

The basic requirement for wine-making is to keep everything scrupulously clean, and even sterile, if it comes into contact with your fermenting or fermented brew.

Firstly, then, put your raisins (whole, no need to chop), and your rice into your fermenting bin. Boil up your first gallon of water in the stock-pot, and dissolve 1.5 kg sugar into it. Bring back to the boil, and then pour over the rice and raisins. Repeat, twice. Finally, boil up the last half gallon, and add it, neat. Fit the lid, and let everything cool over night.

The next day, add the yeast and nutrient according to the makers instructions. Stir. For the next 21 days, you need do nothing, except stir on a daily basis, and maybe siphon off a little every few days to taste, and see how it's getting along.

At the end of this time, siphon off into your demijohns, through the mesh and funnel, to keep them pesky raisins out of your wine. At this point, if your wine isn't sparkling clear, and you care about that, you can add finings to precipitate the cloudiness. Again, go by the manufacturers instructions.

Once your wine is clear, you can either drink it, or bottle it for keeping. Good luck!

I find 3 gallons costs me about £12.00 to make, including the cost of fairly-traded sugar, or about £0.67 per bottle. What's more, this wine can be substituted, without much compromise and in equal quantities, into any recipe that calls for dry sherry.

Best, 2ndRateMind.

Here's where to get gear, yeast etc, in Bristol: http://www.citikey.com/business/10039491/

Here's a few words on sterilising: http://thehungerstop.blogspot.com/2009/06/sterilising-jars-and-such.html

A Word About Boiling Rice

If you have your own method of cooking rice, (and most people do, and they are remarkably dissimilar) and it works for you, stick to it. Ignore this section - it is for people who are daunted by rice, perhaps because they have tried to cook it before, and it ended up a glutinous mess stuck to the bottom of their saucepan.

Cooking rice is nothing to be afraid of, but it is not something to do by remote control. Due care and attention is required.

Use a good quality rice - basmati for Indian dishes, Thai fragrant or similar for Thai or Chinese dishes.

Use a large saucepan. Rice likes freedom as it boils.

A cup of dried rice per person is about right. You need a ratio of three times the amount of water to rice, or more.

Begin by adding the water to your saucepan, with a teaspoon or two of salt. Bring to the boil. Add the rice, stirring with a metal implement to separate any coagulated grains. Bring back to the boil, and then turn down the heat to a lazy simmer. Then let it cook for 5 minutes.

The next bit is where care is required. Do not allow yourself to be distracted; there is a fine line between underdone rice, rice that's ready, and disaster. Test the rice in your mouth - if it's gritty, it needs more time. Keep testing, every minute or so. As you gain experience, you will be able to tell when your rice is done by eye - it goes an opaque white - and even by sound - the simmer becomes quieter. During this time, add more water as required, boiling from the kettle, to keep the rice entirely submerged.

When your rice is pliant to the mouth, and tastes and textures are what you would expect, turn it out into a large sieve. Shake off any excess moisture, and turn it out into your serving dish, fluffing it up as necessary.

It's that easy.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind

Chappattis at home

This section of the blog wouldn't be complete without a post on chappattis. These are the flat, round breads that go with pretty much any Indian meal. If you're skint, or out of rice, or both, they do quite well instead, provided you cook enough of them. They do, however, take a little practice. I suggest a dry run before seeking to impress your dinner guests, if you have never cooked them before.

Equipment

Scales with a measuring bowl
A sieve
A mixing bowl
Some free, clean, working surface
A rolling pin
A frying pan (or, in an ideal world, a 'tava')
A cooker (1 ring needed) with a grill.

Ingredients - 8 chappattis

225g chappatti flour, or make your own, 3 parts brown to one part white flour
extra flour for dusting
110ml water, approx.

Method

Measure out the chappatti flour. Sift it, through the sieve, into your mixing bowl. (I don't know why this works, but I always get better results when I do it). Add the water, a few drips or a good splish at a time, and work the flour and water together with your hands. Eventually, you will end up with sticky fingers and a wet, sticky dough. Rejoice! This is what you want.

Dust your working surface with flour, and knead the dough for 4 minutes. At the end of this time, neaten up your dough, and leave to stand for 15 minutes, to rest.

Divide your dough into eight pieces. Flour your hands, and roll into balls. Flour the surface again, if necessary, and flatten, and then roll out into flat discs, approx 15cm in diameter. As each is ready, place to one side, but don't be tempted to stack them. They will stick together, and you will need to start over.

Heat your pan onto a high heat, and turn up your grill to the max.

This is the bit that requires a little hand-eye coordination. Each chappatti gets 30 seconds on one side, and then a further 30 seconds on the other, in the pan, and then 10 - 20 secs under the grill. If you have the temperature right, you will be able to tell when the pan has driven the moisture out of the dough by the change of colour, and they will puff up pretty much immediately under the grill, and turn unevenly brown.

Serve immediately.

You'll never save a fortune cooking your own chappattis. They are readily available in packs of eight for about £1.50. The thing is though, your own chappattis don't need packaging in a 'protective' atmosphere, and don't come stuffed full of chemicals to extend their shelf-life. If you really must have convenience (and there are times when only convenience will do) then make some in advance, wrap them individually in foil, and freeze them. When you want them, they go into the oven, still frozen in their foil, for 20 mins at a medium heat.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Easy Lime Pickle

Well, reading through my last post I realised how unfair it was to suggest serving Dhal with lime pickle, and not tell you how to pickle limes. So here is one recipe for lime pickle, to rectify matters.

There seem to be as many ways to pickle limes as there are chefs, but some involve soaking limes for a week and then leaving them in the sun for a month, and such like requirements of dedication. This recipe seems to make a respectable pickle, allows you to vary the heat according to taste, and requires only a bare modicum of cooking. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I do.

Equipment

A sharp! cooking knife
Chopping block
Fridge
Cooker (1 ring needed)
Large saucepan
Large mixing bowl
Cling film
Sterilised preserve jars (4 of a decent size will be enough)
Sterilised seals
Sterilised jam funnel

Ingredients - makes 1.2kg approx

12 limes, chopped into 1cm cubes
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garam marsala
2 tablespoons chilli powder (or 3 for firey hot)
6 fat cloves of garlic
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil or ghee
600ml vinegar (approx; malt, white wine or cider)

Method

Mix the chopped limes, sugar, salt, chilli powder, garam marsala, crushed garlic and chilli powder together in a large mixing bowl. Cover with clingfilm, and leave in the fridge overnight.

Dry fry the mustard seeds in the bottom of the saucepan until they have started to pop. (30 secs or so). Add the oil, the ginger and the onions, and fry gently until the onions are soft. Add the lime mixture and, on a low heat, cook for 15 mins or so.

Add the vinegar and bring to the boil. Turn the heat back down, and simmer for an hour. Stir frequently, and make sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. During this time your mixture will reduce in size by about a half. You are not being cheated - just concentrating the flavour!

At the end, allow to cool, and spoon into sterile jars. Seal.

You can eat immediately, but like many preserves, this one improves with a little keeping. 3 weeks or so should do it, if you can wait that long.

There are no artificial preservatives in this recipe, so once you have opened a jar, store in the fridge and consume within 10 - 14 days.

As regards cost, when I recently made this recipe it cost me £5.20. That includes the premium I pay for buying organic where I can. Buying the same amount of branded pickle from a supermarket would have cost over £8.00.

Enjoy.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.