Harira

Its been a very very busy week, two massive events and a two day team away day accompanied by some truly horrible and truly fantastic hotel food. I am exhausted and all talked out.

I was desperate for something spicy yet homely and the lovely boyfreind came up trumps he made a meaty version with the addition of some beefsteak to the recipe of the vegetarian Harira a Morrrocan soup he made earlier this year.

Harira

Serves 4 very hungry people ( six easily)

4tbsp of sunflower oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 red chilli finely minced
2 sticks of celery
2 carrots
200g of beef steak chopped into 1/2 cm cubes
100g of dried red lentils
110g of dried green lentils
110g of white rice
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 tsp of ground cumin
100g dried chickpeas soaked overnight
300g tinned tomatoes
3 pints of beef stock
150g of green beans cut into 1cm length
1/2 lemon- juice only
handful of fresh coriander finely chopped
handful of fresh parsley finely chopped

To serve
Dates roughly chopped

Method

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

Pork and Sweet Potato Peanut Chilli Stew

Saturday night dinner this is super warming don’t worry about the large amount of chilli the peanut butter really calms it down

Its going to be a  busy week with a lot of time in hotels so trying to get the home cooking in over the weekend , there is a limit to what you can do with a travel kettle .

Pork and Sweet Potato Peanut Chilli Stew

Serves to very hunrgy people

200g of pork loin or shoulder cut into 2cm cube
200g of sweet potato cut into 1 cm cubes
300g of tinned tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbsp of peanut butter
2 tbsp of dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp of paprika
2 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander
300ml of hot water

1. Gently fry the pork , garlic and onion in a little sunflower oil until browned
2. Add the sweet potatoe paprika , chilli flakes , tomatoes and water
3. Bring to a simmer and leave on a low heat for 20  minutes until the sweet potato is just cooked
4. Stir in the peanut butter , simmer for a further 5 minutes
5. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and plenty of nutty brown rice

Raspberry and Chocolate Fudge Brownies

This is adapted from Nigel Slaters Very Good Chocolate Brownies , they are an insane hit of fudgey chocolate and will give you such a sugar rush .the addition of some english raspberries at the end of the the season cut through the chocolate perfectly with a sweet sour twang.

Raspberry and Chocolate Fudge Brownies

300 g brown caster sugar
250 g softened butter
250 g chocolate (70% cocoa solids) well Nigel says so but Dairy Milk works pretty well
3 large eggs
60 g plain flour
60 g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Makes 12 brownies

1. Preheat the oven to 160deg C
2. Line a baking tin mine is actually a roasting tin 25cm by 30cm with greaseproof paper
3. Blend together the butter and sugar.
4. Mix in the eggs you want to get it light and fluffy
5. Stir in the flour, cocoa baking powder
6. Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water ..or if you have a microwave this is probably the only time I would use such a hideous device
7. Stir the chocolate into the mix
8. Finally stir in the raspberries or nut or chocolate chunks
9. Fill the tin with the mixture
10. Bake for 35 minutes
11. You really need to leave this to cool for 2 hours out of the oven

Sausage and homemade baked beans

This is fancy sausage and homemade baked beans, a lovely comfort dish to come home to a think it improves left overnight and should be eaten with plenty of bread to wipe up the sauce

Sausage and homemade baked beans

6 sausages
100g of dried haricot beans , soaked overnight
50g of green lentils
300g of tinned tomatoes
3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp of dried mixed herbs
1/2 pint of vegetable stock
100ml of red wine ( optional )
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 200degC
Fry the garlic in a little oil in a casserole dish add the sausages and brown them
Add beans , tomatoes , mixed herbs , vinegar , stock & wine , bring to a gentle simmer.
Cover and place in the oven for 30 minutes
Serve

Lamb Vegetable and Lentil Stew

Brr what do you do when its cold and you are home late from work . Smirkt at your domestic goddessty and take some lamb stew you cunningly froze out of the freezer

Lamb and Vegetable Stew

1. This stew was   was made using pre cooked lamb shoulder
2. Mixed with red lentils , celery , thyme , onions,  garlic & carrots
3. Simmered gently for 40 minutes until the lentils dissolve
4. Before serving stir in 1 tbsp of quince or mint jelly per pint of stew
5. Happiness in a bowl

After satiating my hunger I have been making some more dinners for the rest of the week

Mushroom Rissotto

About to go off for a couple of days and there were aome beautiful chestnut mushrooms in the fridge just beginning to spore so I made some delicious mushroom risotto damn this is easy. The spores released a  lovely inkiness to the risotto. Plenty left for lunch tommorrow too

Mushroom Risotto

Serves two

2 handfuls of risotto rice
4 handfuls of mushrooms – finely sliced
1.5 pints of vegetable stock – hot
2 tbsps of olive oil
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
Fresh thyme

1. Finely chop the garlic gently fry in the olive oil but do not allow to colour
2. Add the rissotto rice , stir to coat well in the oil for about a minute
3. Add 1/4 of the vegetable stock and continously stir until the liquid is absorbed
4. Add another 1/4 of the stock stir well
5. You can then add the rest of the stock with the mushrooms leave on a low heat.
6. Leave on a low heat & stir regularly
7. Sprinkle with fresh thyme

Chicken liver, fennel and cumin crouton salad

This is a very flavoursome salad from Allegra McEvedy .I’ve never eaten in on of her fast food restaurants  Leon but using healthy seasonal food she ticks all my boxes except using the word “superfood” grr bad anyway she did have a wedding cake make of Neals Yard layers of cheese ( which is a longstanding ambition of mine so I am willing to believe she must be all good.)

Chicken liver, fennel and cumin crouton salad

Serves two as a main course

½ a fennel bulb thinly sliced
1 tsp whole cumin
1 thick slive white bread cut into 3cm cubes
50g chicken livers
1tbsp of olive oil
Splash of sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper

1. Shave the fennel with a knife into long thin curls, drop into cold water and leave for 15 minutes.
2. Roll the bread cubes around in a bowl with the cumin, a bit of salt and the olive oil.
3. Season the livers with salt and pepper
4. Put a thick-bottomed wide saucepan on a high flame fry the bread cubes until lightly brown remove from the pan
5. Add the liver to the pan deglaze with the vinegar
6. Take the pan off the heat; toss in the croutons, and then tip the lot into a bowl with the fennel.

Slow baked rabbit with chorizo and wild mushrooms

The new store Taste has opened in St Nicholas Market in Bristol previously suppliers to the restaurant trade they sell wonderful fresh meat , cheese , organic vegetables and fish . Its heaven sent  so on my way back from walking last weekend I stopped off and bought two bunny rabbits and showed off my foraged mushrooms.

Rabbit is a delicious meat low in fat and since England is happily overrun with bunny rabbits its a great wild food .

I am a pretty tough person but I have to confess that unwrapping the rabbits and althought  they were skinned and de-headed they definitely looked pretty bunny like , and needed jointing (luckily instructions are available online ) and soaking overnight in a mixture of red wine and water . This mixture also washed off a lot of the blood .

I found this recipe online the rabbit can definitely take the strong flavours of the chorizo and I used wild hedghog mushrooms, gathered last weekend too .

Slow baked rabbit with chorizo and wild mushrooms

Serves 4.

2 rabbits, cut into 8 pieces each
2 handfuls of wild mushrooms
½ a dried chorizo sausage, sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 bay leaves (I prefer fresh)
salt and pepper
1½ cups fino (dry) sherry
1 300g of tinned Italian tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

1. Pre-heat oven to 175C. Lay the rabbit in a heavy baking dish with the mushrooms, chorizo, cinnamon, onion, garlic and bay leaves.
2. Season with salt and pepper, add the sherry and tomatoes, mix well then drizzle with a little olive oil.
3. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat feels soft and pulls away easily from the bone.

Beefsteak Mushroom with Lentils

After a huge long lie in this morning , plenty of walking in the woods this afternoon. The fungi are beginning to appear on mass lots of hedgehog fungus

Amazingly I also found the Beefsteak fungus above , this is usually coming to the end of its season in October but this specimen was still fresh not dried at all . Though had managed to forget my mushroom knife luckily this could be easily cut with my work id card . You need to leave the stalk in place it will come back next season .

Beefsteak fungus needs good cooking and its taste is hard to describe , slightly acidic but very rich. Though previously people have written that it tastes just like beef I am not sure what beef they had been eating , I was vegeterian for 10 years at one point and this would not have fooled me . It does look like flesh when you cut it and I have found examples before that look just like oozing meat.

Some recipes advise soaking the mushroom in water first I used a marinade which is then used in the cooking process ( no waste eh ?) . The squishiness of the mushrooms ( a technical term ) is complimented by the nutty lentils and wholly vegan.

Beefsteak Mushroom and Lentils

100g of beefsteak mushroom
200g of green lentils
200ml of red wine ( 1 large glass )
1 pint of water
1 tbsp of wholegrain mustard
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Small bunch of thyme
Salt and peper

1. Thickly slice the beefsteak mushroom
2. Cover with the red wine , add the garlic and several sprigs of thyme
3. Leave to marinade for 30 minutes
4. After marinading in a lidded saucepan , bring the water to the boil and add the lentils, simmer for 10 minutes
5. Pour into the lentils , the mushrooms and the marinade
6. Allow to simmer for a further 15 minutes
7. Add a little more water if it begins to look dry
8. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh thyme.