Sushi

Its the 50th anniversary of conveyor belt sushi restaurants Neatorama reports the first conveyor belt sushi Mawaru Genroku Sushi opened in Osaka in 1958. Actually I went to Yo Sushi the largest chain of conveyor belt sushi restaurants in the UK for the first time in a long time just a few weeks ago it was nice I felt all metropolitan and swanky sitting on my little stool .I like how they ask you if you have ever been there before its like a posh version of Harvester but the salad bar is more seaweed /bean pod based

To be honest since I discovered how easy sushi was to make myself , try it if you never have save yourself a fortune and its a really nice thing to do together and a few ingredients go a long way

You just need to get in stock plenty of seaweed sheets ,sushi rice , wasabi paste pickled ginger & soy sauce . Sushi made with plenty of crunchy vegetables like cucumber ,carrots peppers , fiery herbs like coriander and fish some lovely fish salmon , tuna cod even smoked fish salmon or mackerel . Also for texture and garnish a little fish roe and sesame seeds .

I have even gotten a bit frugal with wild ingredients like amethyst deceviers

Oatmeal Coconut and Raisin Cookies

I was feeling sad today , its come upon me a bit suddenly this time , I wasn’t really prepared things have been hectic recently and suddenly calmed down so I needed something meditative , mixing together ingredients that would fill the flat with sweet smells .

I wanted these to be big chunky cookies I had some recently in London at the Kings Fund from the Byron Bay Cookie Company that tasted lovely even at 1.50 each .

The cookies turned out deliciously crunchy on the outside light on the inside , these I think may become a regular on my fantasy cafe menu , may try making them with chocolate chunks or ginger so watch this space

Oatmeal Coconut and Raisin Cookies

Makes 12 large cookies

150g plain purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
100g oats
4 heaped tablespoons of raisins
4 heaped tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
4 heaped tablespoons of flaked coconut
50g of dark brown sugar
50g caster sugar
2 eggs
50ml of sunflower oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 190degC
Beat together the oil and eggs
Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt.
Mix in the raisins and coconut
Drop a rounded tablespoon ( or use an ice cream scoop a la Nigella ) of the mixture onto a baking sheet covered with baking paper about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 15 minutes until the cookies are browned all over
Remove from the oven and allow to cool

Harira

During the week I am pretty much vegetarian some meat will creep in but if I am honest its mostly vege food .

However weekends with the lovely boyfreind Nick do tend to be more meaty with pies stews casseroles roasts however but things are changing and last night I was surprised by a wholly vegetarian dish cooked by his own fair hand. A vegetarian Harira the traditional Algerian and Moroccan soup, it is usually eaten during dinner in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to break the fasting day & was adapted from the Hairy Bikers Simon King and David Myers .

It was just fantastic the mix of different textures of two types of lentils and rice withhin a soup is one I will be playing with .The Hairy Bikers added 300g of rump steak , but it was delicious without meat , perhaps I would add some for a dinner party . Strikes me this would be an excellence dish pre-cooked for camping .

Served with warm bread, a bowl of dates on the side and a little bowl of harissa. I can heartily recommend throwing a few chopped dates into each dish with a swirl of harrisa , the dates add a sweet stickiness with the warm bite of harrissa.

Harira

Serves 4 very hungry people ( six easily)

4tbsp of sunflower oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 sticks of celery
2 carrots
100g of red lentils
110g of green lentils
110g of brown rice
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 tsp of ground cumin
100g dried chickpeas soaked overnight
200g tinned tomatoes
3 pints of vegetable stock
150g of green beans cut into 1cm length
1/2 lemon- juice only
handful of fresh corianderfinely chopped
handful of fresh parsley finely chopped

To serve
Dates
Harrissa ( made with 2 tsp of chilli paste , 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic, 1 tsp of ground coriander 1 tsp salt . Blended together )
warm pitta or lavash bread

Method

1. In a large saucepan sauté the onion, celery and carrots until softened in the oil. add the lentils, rice, garlic, cinnamon, and cumin to the pan.
4. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and stock, Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
5. Add the green beans and stir. Simmer for further five minutes, add the lemon juice, coriander and parsley.

Rhubarb and Ginger Upside Down Cake

Rhubarb is in season , rhubarb is in season sing it to the hills . Last year I made a beautiful Rhubarb Tart . This weekend I pottered around making a rhubarb and ginger upside down cake .

Fantastically moist I was dubious the rhubarb would cook within the cake but it did giving moist chunks of rhubarb with every bite and hit of stem ginger.

Upside down Rhubarb and Ginger Cake

300g rhubarb about 3 sticks
75g brown sugar
3 balls of stem ginger – finely chopped

175g Self-raising flour
175g Butter, soft
3 Medium eggs
175g Caster Sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 C. Grease and line a 7 inch deep-sided cake tin.
2. Chop the rhubarb stalks into 2cm pieces . Place evenly over the base of the lined cake tin and sprinkle the brown sugar on top.
3. Beat together the butter and the sugar until they are creamy and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs, and beat thoroughly
5. Fold the in flour, so you don’t lose the air from the cake.
6. Spoon the cake mixture on top of the rhubarb scaterring the ginger throughour
7. Bake for about 45 minutes.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes. Turn the cake tin upside down onto the serving plate and gently remove it from the cake.

I have also made rhubarb and ginger muffins before delicious for breakfast in the past perfect to make listening to the Archers omnibus .

Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins

Make 20 Muffins

2 large stems of rhubarb chopped 1cm cubes
200g plain flour,
100g of butter,
100g of muscovado sugar
2 eggs
2 balls of stem ginger
75ml milk

Cream together the butter & sugar
Beat in the eggs
Fold in the flour and milk
mix in finely chopped rhubarb and ginger.
Fill the muffin cases
Cook at 175degC for 20 mins.

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Chick Pea , Kale and Spicy Lamb Meatball Stew

Spicy Lamb Meatballs

To make 20 X 2cm diameter meatballs

200g of lamb mince
1 egg – beaten
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 heaped teaspoon of dried chilli
1 heaped teaspoon of coriander seeds ground

1. Mix together all the ingredients
2. Form into balls 2cm in diameter
3. Chill in the fridge for half a hour
4. Bake in a oven at 175degc for 15 minutes, turning half way through

I had made some Spicy Lamb Meatballs a few weeks ago and popped them in the freezer took them out planning on to taking them on a picnic this weekend with some salad & hummus , even managed to soak the chickpeas.

The weather and my health this weekend conspired against so a rethink that turned out better than I could have imagined . I wanted something bright and cheerful to combat the grey weather but a bit rib sticky so stew definitely in order though these meatballs would also be lovely with a tomato sauce and pasta.

Chick Pea , Kale and Spicy Lamb Meatball Stew

produced 2 large bowls a sizeable meal for two people

100g of dried chickpeas , soaked overnight then boiled for 10 minutes or 400g of tinned chickpeas
10 spicy lamb meatballs recipe above
350g of tinned tomatoes
1/2 pint of vegetable stock
4 large handfuls of kale ( roughly chopped)
1 medium onion roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of crushed red chillis
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
Half a bunch of flat leaf parsley , roughly chopped

1. In a lidded casserole dish sweat the onions and garlic in the oil
2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas paprika and kale
3. Pour over the stock & bring to a gentle simmer, simmer for 20 minutes
4. Add the kale and cook til softened ( approx 10 minute
5. Check the stew if the mixture seems a little dry add a little water up to 200ml
6. Add the meatballs , these would cook from cold in 10 minutes, do not overstir as this would break up the meatballs
7. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley

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Date Balls and Morrocan Cuisine

I have nasty cold which would make walking impossible its making breathing quite difficult so its a weekend in the City of Bristol watching The Mighty Boosh on DVD and watching the raindrops roll down the windoes

Headed out for some lunch though to St Nicholas Market , just 10 minutes walk from the flat and on the way back from Brisol Central Library for some books to aid my recovery

St Nicks is the location of our lovely slow market on the first Sunday of the month. ,the market is a fantastic foodie heaven 6 days a week ( Monday – Saturday ) within 100 sq feet a huge range of tastes and flavours more little food shops opening all the time as well as an olive stall and Gert Lush cheese shop plenty of resaurants with small tables , its a rennaisance of the last five years .

Some of the little cafes

• Royce Rolls – Fantastic homemade vegetarian and vegan rolls and cakes
• Bristol Sausage Shop , super sausage sandwich (at least four choices daily including organic pork and buffalo) featuring posh gravy and mash of the day.
• Portuguese Taste – Portuguese cuisine to eat in or take away, hot specials include duck stew and homemade albondigas – succulent, spicy meatballs.
• Spice Up Your Life – Indian & Oriental Cuisine offers quality Indian and Asian specialities
• Pieminister – award winning festival favourites pie , mash and mushy peas
• Jamaican – salt fish fritters and rice and peas

We went for Al Madina ,a souk right in the heart of the city Moroccan & Mediterranean Cuisine cous cous, traditional lamb and chicken dishes, meatballs falafels . Starting with fresh mint tea , take that cold virus, falafels were off , probably sensible a little falafel cold turkey is neccessary before the summer festival season and the ramping up of my addiction . Instead we both had warm spicy Morroccan chicken with the fluffiest couscous vegetables and olive just delicious. Wish I had take a sample of spice – analysis doubt they will be giving up the recipe easily

Though I was tempted by baclava for desert I am pretending to be good quite coincidentally I had been making date balls on Friday , these are very handy for breakfast snacking and quite meditative to make . You can add extra ingredients e.g. goji berries , sultanas spices (
cinnamon , cloves ) its worth having an experiment a girl I met as a
festival used to add guarana powder and sell them at festivals as an
energy ball

Date Balls

500g of dates ( if dried soak in apple juice for a few hours)
50g of sesame seeds
50g of dessicated coconut

1. Remove the stones from the dates, these is easily done squeezing between your fingers
2. Warm a frying pan on the stove , add in the sesame seed and coconutto gently warm shaking occasionally , the coconut will become golden brown remove from the heat when you see this begging to happen but leave the ingredients in the pan they will continue to brown
3. Food process the dates , add the toasted seeds and mix together finally by hand
4. Place the remainder of toasted ingredients on a plate
5. Removing a heaped tablespoon of the date/seed mixture roll it in your hands to form a ball approx 2cm in diamter
6. Finally rolling it around in the toasted seeds and cocanut to cover
7. repeat

Paddington Marmalade Souffle

Up in London today , had ought my ticket yesterday for travel today only to find on attempting to go through the barrier this morning , they had sold me a ticket for for the day before . Managed to get it correct though in these situations I am increasingly finding that looking as if you are on the verge of tears works better than calm rationality

It is the Easter holidays so the train was packed with young children on of whom decided to look out the window and I do not exaggarate climbed into my lap under the full adoring gaze of its mother . Now I admit as I am coming up to 30 there are times when this would probably cause my uterus to skip and beat , but when you are busy reading papers for a meeting its a little tricky so I gave up my seat. Intense meetings.

Leaving Paddington station went much more calmly , the train magazine featured an interview with Paddington Bear the character from my childhood who every English child knows loves his Marmalade sandwiches . Marmalade in case you are not familiar is a bitter orange jam/jelly eaten on toast for breakfast .

Thoughts of marmalde sparked memory of How to Cook… with Delia episode ,made a frighteningly easily and impressive looking Marmalade Souffle with just two ingredients egg whites and marmalade . Now known as the “Before she went a bit loopy and stared cooking oven chips Delia” , I couldn’t find a recipe online anywhere so this was my interpretation, very tasty and although Delia used sugar free marmalade I decided to live dangerously and use the full sugar stuff

The souffle was very tasty it puffed up well, but hard to photograph before it went pluuurrrrrfffff . It really reminded my of a bitter orangey lemon meringue ,makes me want to try it with a ginger preserve as well so watch this space.

In the meantime my calmness returned , I wonder what my trip to Bridgwater tommorrow could inspire ?

Paddington Marmalade Souffle

This will fill one 10cm diameter x 8cm tall ramekin enough for one person so multiply quantities to feed more, I have not tested baking this in a large souffle dish probably best to keep to a small dish per person

1 heaped teaspoon of marmalade
1 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 190degC
Beat the egg whites until fluffy and peaking
Stir in the marmalde , but do not beat or you will lose the air in the eggs
Fill the ramekins with the mixture , should be three quarters full
Bake for 20 minutes

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Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Soft Egg and Capers

Hungry this evening lots of purple sprouting in the vegebox eggs and capers in the fridge , easy to throw this together with a steamer over the boiling eggs . Would love to have used a poached egg but sadly a cooking feat I have not yet mastered embarassing to admit yet true .

This was truly delicious eaten with my finger dipping the broccoli in dressing and egg and note wholly vegetarian

Purple Sprouting Broccoli with soft egg and capers

Purple Sprouting Broccoli per person
1 soft boiled egg
1 tsp of capers

Dressing
Mix together
1 part dijon mustard
1 part honey
1 clove garlic crushed
5 parts white wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper

1. Allow 2 handfuls of purple sprouting broccoli per person and one egg
2. Gently steam the purple sprouting broccoli
3. Soft boil the egg by placing it in simmering water for approx 3 minutes for a medium egg
4. Mix together the dressing
5. Drain the broccoli , place the egg on top of the broccoli
6. Pour over the dressing and capers
7. Finally breaking open the egg to serve

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Rosemary Chicken and Swiss Chard with Lentils

Chard for a long time every restaurant menu featured a healthy portion under seasonal vegetables .

Many people eulogize about it I have found it at times both bitter and bland and most of the favored recipes seem to require a suspicious amount of cream , butter or Parmesan . This always raised my suspicion since I suspect cardboard would be pretty delicious baked with butter and Parmesan.Most times I have resorted to placing it as a Kale replacement in spicy kale soups

The boyfriend had a beautiful specimen in the vegebox , glistening white stalks and glowing green leaves so I am giving chard a second go .

Swiss Chard with Lentils

1 large swiss chard
200g of puy lentils
1.5 pints of vegetable stock
3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

1. Place the lentils in a sauce pan & pour over the stock
2. Boil for 10 minutes .
3. Remove the chard leaves from the stalks
4. Finely chop the stalks and roughly chop the leaves
5. Pour the lentils & stock into a casserole dish , add the garlic and chard stalks
6. Cover and place in the oven at 180degC
7. Cook for one hour minutes , for the last 15 minutes stir in the green chard leaves.

The lentils become sticky with the stalks keeping a firmness and the leaves soft with a ferrous taste. Unlike spinach which vanishes into nothing the second you cook it the chard maintains bulk .

Rosemary Chicken
1.5kg free range chicken
5 large stems of rosemary
2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
Salt and pepper

1. Rub the chicken all over with garlic salt and pepper
2. Layer the bottom of a roasting pan with the rosemary
3. Place the chicken on top , cover with foil
4. Roast in the oven at 190gC , for approx 1 and 1/4 hours for the last 30 minutes remove the foil to allow in the skin to brown
5. this will also crisp up the rosemary which with the chicken juice will form the base of a tasty sticky juice.

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Tomato and Haricot Bean Soup

Baked Beans in tomato sauce the fancy version. I had soaked the beans planning on using them at the weekend but change of plans meant they still needed eating so whipped up this soupy stew. Dinner watching Torchwood and Dr Who on BBC I-player my guilty geeky pleasure .

Tomato and Haricot Bean Soup

300g of dried haricot beans
300g of tinned plum tomatoes
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1/2 small onion
1 pint of vegetable stock
Salt and Pepper

After soaking the beans for at least 8 hours
Cover the haricot beans with water a simmer for 30 minutes
Drain and add the tomatoes and vegetable stock
Finally add fresh or dried herbs , thyme , oregano
Simmer for a further 20 minutes

Of course I ended up using some of the wild garlic butter to finish it off and a few fresh wild garlic leaves.