Hidden Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Sauce

I found this recipe at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary, whilst looking for something to do with cauliflower that had been languishing in the bottom of the fridge for a week or so. I'm not the biggest fan of cauliflower but one appeared in my veg bag so I had to do something with it! Usually I mash it but this pasta sauce is a perfect way of adding more veg secretly. I sprinkled some chopped tomatoes and olives over the top and voila, perfect supper!

Hidden Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Sauce (from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary)
(Serves 4-6)

300g cauliflower florets
35g unsalted butter
35g plain flour
300ml milk
100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Put the cauliflower in a saucepan and cover in water. Bring to a simmer and cook until tender, about 10-15 mins.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large saucepan until it is melted. Stir in flour and cook, while stirring, for one min. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. Return pan to heat in between each addition and stir until the sauce thickens. Remove pan from heat.

When the cauliflower is cooked, drain and purée with a blender. Stir the cauliflower purée, cheddar, mustard and cayenne into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper and serve over pasta.

Goat and Beetroot Curry

This was a delicious curry, the original recipe calls for beef but I had some goat meat so I used that instead. I love the flavour of goat. This was a slightly sweet curry with the beetroot, so you don't mango chutney, some raita or natural yoghurt would go alongside nicely.

Goat and Beetroot Curry (from Good Food Magazine February 2016)
(Serves 6)

750g raw beetroot, stalks trimmed to 1cm
finger-length piece ginger, chopped
3 garlic clove
1 red chilli
small bunch coriander, ½ leaves reserved to serve, remaining leaves and stalks roughly chopped
6 cardamom pods
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp treacle
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp fennel seed
¼ tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp sunflower oil
1½ kg goat meat, cut into big chunks
2 onion, chopped
2 beef stock cubes
2 tsp garam masala

Put the beetroot in a large pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender – check with a skewer; you may need to remove smaller ones first while the larger ones carry on cooking. Drain and cool, then peel the skin and remaining stalks. Chop into large chunks and set aside two-thirds for later.

Put the remaining one-third beetroot in a food processor with the ginger, garlic, chilli, chopped coriander, cardamom pods, tomato paste, treacle, cumin, ground coriander, fennel seeds, cloves and 2 tsp pepper. Whizz to a paste.

Heat oven to 160C.

Heat half the oil in a big flameproof casserole. Fry the goat chunks in batches until browned all over, removing to a dish as you go.

Add the remaining oil, lower the heat, then tip in the onions and fry gently until softened, scraping up the beefy bits. Tip in the spice paste and fry for 5 mins until fragrant. Return the beef and stock cubes with enough boiling water from a kettle to cover. Bring to a simmer, then put on the lid and bake for 2 hrs.

Uncover and bake for a further 30 mins until the goat is really tender. Put back on the hob and stir in the garam masala and reserved beetroot to heat through. Season with salt, scatter with coriander leaves and serve.

Secret Recipe Club: Prawn Mac and Cheese

This month for Secret Recipe Club I had Emily from Life On Food, there isn't a lot of information about her on her blog but I could guess she has a sweet tooth! I went for one of her savoury recipes though; Prawn Mac and Cheese. I love mac and cheese but had never though of adding prawns to the mix.

I changed the recipe a little, adding in kale as it needed using before I went on holiday. I also used up all the little bits of cheese in my fridge, but I have put the cheeses from the original recipe below. This was absolutely delicious and the prawns are a fantastic addition.

Prawn Mac and Cheese (from Life On Food)
(Serves 4)

250g dried pasta shapes
bunch kale, sliced
250ml milk
2 tbsp butter, divided
4 tbsp plain flour
170g Gruyere cheese, grated
110g cheddar, grated
salt and pepper
200g cooked prawns, halved
45g Italian breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Bring some water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions, adding the kale for the last 2-3 mins of cooking time. Drain well.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the flour. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 2 mins. Gradually add the milk a little at a time, stirring in between each addition until thickened and smooth.

Remove from heat and add the Gruyere, cheddar, salt and pepper. Add the cooked pasta, and prawns and stir well to coat everything. Pour the mixture into an ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on the top of the mac and cheese and bake for 30-35 mins until golden on top and the pasta is bubbling.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cumin, Barley and Cabbage Soup

I got a savoy cabbage in my veg bag, I'm not a big fan of savoy cabbage so I wasn't really sure what to do with it. In the end I made some of it into soup. This was a lovely filling winter soup, filled with veg.

Cumin, Barley and Cabbage Soup (from Cooking On a Bootstrap)
(Serves 4)

200g pearl barley
2 small onions, sliced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin
2 large carrots, grated
1.5l vegetable stock
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
juice 1 lemon
1/2 savoy cabbage, sliced

Put the onions into a saucepan with the oil, cumin, and a pinch of salt. Cook over a very low heat for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. When the onion and garlic are softened, grate one of your carrots and add to the onions and garlic, and stir.

Add the barley, pour over the stock, squeeze in the lemon juice, and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and reduce to a simmer for 40 mins, if the soup starts to dry out, add a cup of water and stir well. Add the cabbage and cook for 5 more mins. Serve.

Crispy Potato and Beetroot Cake

I made this lovely potato cake for lunch this week and I have to say it is delicious. A really good way to use up those beetroot. It was a bit like a big potato rosti that had been baked. I served it with green salad.

Crispy Potato and Beetroot Cake with Sweet Mustard Sauce
(Serves 8)

25g butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
2kg large Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and halved
1 onion
4 tbsp olive oil
500g beetroot, washed, trimmed and peeled
100g Jarlsberg cheese, rind removed
1 tbsp fresh lemon thyme leaves, plus extra to garnish

For the sweet mustard sauce
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp English mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh dill leaves

Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Grease a 23cm loose-bottom spring-form tin with butter, line the base with baking parchment and grease that too. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat up.

Put the potatoes into a large pan of water and bring to the boil. Cook for just 5 mins then drain and leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, coarsely grate the onion and squeeze to remove any juice. Divide the onion evenly between 2 large mixing bowls. Coarsely grate the cooled potatoes into one bowl, tossing with the oil and some seasoning as you go. Coarsely grate the beetroot and Jarlsberg into the other bowl and toss with the thyme and some seasoning.

Scatter half of the potato mixture into the tin, without pressing it down, season, then scatter the beetroot mixture over the top, again without pressing down. Season again then finish with the remaining potato, without pressing it down, and dot with the butter.

Cover with a generous tent of foil that doesn't touch the top. Bake on the preheated tray for 1 hour, then remove the foil and cook for a further 30 mins or until tender and the top is crisp and golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients together with 2 tbsp warm water and season to taste.

 Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife, then remove the tin and parchment and slide onto a serving plate. Sprinkle with extra thyme leaves before cutting into wedges serve with the sauce alongside.

Meal Planning Monday

So, once again I am late with this.

Last week was lovely and I saw some of my favourite people. On Tuesday evening I went to The Breakfast Club for what in the end was a really disappointing meal. We had Salted Caramel Milkshake, which was really good. Then, Chicken and Waffles with Chilli Butter, Gravy and Maple Syrup, which was well, not very crispy, and there were just too many conflicting flavours going on. We also shared a portion of poutine, which had way too much gravy, not enough curd and ended up soggy.

At the weekend I met my sister and we went to Shoryu for lunch. I had the Curry Ramen, which was really good, the broth was pretty spicy but once the noodles and chicken were out of the broth they were edible! 

Then I went out on Saturday evening to Sodo Pizza in Walthamstow. Their speciality is sourdough pizza, I went for Winter Goat, which had olives, goat's cheese, walnuts and caramelised onions, it was good pizza!

We also had pudding, Tiramisu and Brownie with Salted Caramel.

Then we went to Mirth, Marvel and Maud for a David Bowie tribute evening and we saw this lovely lady; This Is Cleo sing.

This week is short because on Saturday I am off to Vietnam for 2 weeks. I am kinda scared, kinda excited! So the meals are clear out the fridge, quick and easy meals, especially as I have a few things to get sorted for my holiday in the evenings.

Monday 

Miso Soup, Noodles and Cabbage

Hidden Cauliflower Cheese Pasta

Tuesday 

Salmon and Watercress Quiche with Salad

Squash Gnocchi with Creamy Mushrooms 

Wednesday 

Salmon and Cream Cheese Wrap with Crisps

Bacon, Courgette and Goat's Cheese Filo Pie with Salad

Thursday 

Root Veg and Lentil Casserole with Flatbread

Salmon and Prawn Sandwich Pie with Crisps

Friday 

Cauliflower and Bacon Fried Rice

Partridge Breast with Celeriac Chips

Chicken, Squash and Pesto Lasagne

I've been making lots of stuff with squash, I had one huge one and I've made several things with it. This lasagne was delicious. The top layer went lovely and crunchy and then teh soft pasta underneath.

Chicken, Squash and Pesto Lasagne (from Good Food Magazine July 2013)
(Serves 6)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onion, chopped
2 garlic clove, crushed
4 skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp plain flour
600ml chicken stock
500g tub mascarpone
190g jar pesto
bunch basil leaves, chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
good grating of nutmeg
12 lasagne sheets
85g Parmesan, grated
splash of milk
50g pine nut

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish. Add the onions and cook until softened, then add the garlic and cook for a few mins more. Push the onions and garlic to the edge of the pan, add the chicken breasts and cook for a few mins each side to brown. Sprinkle over the flour and stir it into the onion mixture. Pour in the stock and season. Cover and simmer for 10 mins or until the chicken is cooked through.
Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Add half the mascarpone and the pesto to the chicken, stirring until the mascarpone has melted into the sauce, bubble for a few mins to thicken a little, then remove from the heat and stir in the basil.

Meanwhile, put the squash in a large bowl with 2 tbsp of water, cover with cling film and microwave on high for 12-15 mins, until really soft. Season the squash with a little nutmeg and some salt and pepper, and mash lightly with a fork.

Heat oven to 180C. Spoon half the chicken mixture into the bottom of a 20 x 30 cm ovenproof dish. Cover with 4 lasagne sheets, then the butternut squash and half the Parmesan. Top with another 4 lasagne sheets, the remaining chicken mixture, then a final layer of lasagne. Mix enough milk into the remaining mascarpone to make a smooth sauce. Season with more nutmeg, salt and pepper, then pour over the lasagne. Scatter over the remaining Parmesan and the pine nuts.

Put into the oven and bake for 40 mins until crunchy and golden on top. Scatter with a few extra basil leaves before serving.

Falafel Hash with Baba Ganoush

I made this delicious salad to take to lunch a couple of times this week. The baba ganoush was really good and I added in pickled cabbage to add a contrast in flavour.

Falafel Hash with Baba Ganoush
(Serves 6)

3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 aubergines
4 tbsp oil
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1½ tbsp tahini
1 lemon, plus extra wedges to serve
2 x 400g cans chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, finely diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
28g pack fresh coriander, leaves only, roughly chopped

To serve
6–12 pitta breads
olives
chilli sauce

Preheat the grill and line a baking tray with tin foil.

Slice 2 cloves garlic in half lengthways. Make a deep slit in the side of each aubergine and push two halves of garlic into each one. Place the stuffed aubergines on the baking tray, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the oil and place under the grill. Cook for 20 mins, turning over halfway through, until soft and lightly scorched on the outside.

Leave until cool enough to handle, then place on a chopping board, slice off the stalk and discard. Slice each aubergine open and scoop the soft flesh and garlic onto the board. Discard the skin. Top the aubergine with the tahini, juice from half the lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil and season. Chop all the ingredients together repeatedly to make a rough paste. Transfer to a dish and top with a drizzle of olive oil.

Place the chick peas in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Simmer for 5 mins then drain and leave to cool in the sieve.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the red onion and stir-fry for 2–3 mins until starting to soften. Chop the last clove of garlic and add to the pan. Fry, stirring occasionally, for 3–4 mins until the onions have softened. Add the chick peas and carrots, stir to combine, then fry for 1 min more. Using a potato masher, roughly mash the chick peas until about half are crushed. Remove the pan from the heat and stir through the juice from the remaining lemon and the chopped coriander. Season to taste. Serve the hash with the aubergine dip, warmed pittas, olives with feta, chilli sauce and lemon wedges.

Salmon, Prawn and Spinach Curry

This was a delicious curry, lightly spicy and very favourful. 

Salmon, Prawn and Spinach Curry (from Delicious Magazine November 2010)
(Serves 4)

2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 cm piece of fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
4 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
8 fresh curry leaves
1 400ml tin coconut milk
juice 1 lime
150g baby spinach leaves
200g raw king prawns
200g salmon, skinned and in chunks

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Add the onion and cook for 10 mins until softened.

Whizz the ginger, garlic and chilli in a small blender until finely chopped. Add to the onion with the ground spices. Fry for 3-4 mins.

Add the tomatoes and curry leaves, and cook for 6-7 mins. Pour in the coconut milk and lime juice, simmer over a medium heat for 8-10 mins.

Add the spinach to the sauce. Simmer for 2-3 mins until wilted, stirring occasionally. Add the prawns and salmon and cook for 3-4 mins or until the prawns are pink. Serve with rice and lime wedges.

Cream Cheese and Chive Scones

These are the savoury scones I made for Mother's Day. I really like a savoury scone and these were lovely, light and fluffy.

Cream Cheese and Chive Scones (from The Creekside Cook)
(Makes 10-15)

375g self-raising flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
70g cold butter, cut in small cubes
115g cold cream cheese, cut in small cubes
250ml buttermilk
1 bunch chives, chopped
extra buttermilk for brushing.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

Put the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse 10 times or so until completely mixed. Add the butter and cream cheese cubes to the processor and pulse another 10 times or so.

Add the chives, distributed fairly evenly over the surface of the flour mixture and then pour the buttermilk over. Hold down the pulse button for a few seconds at a time, turning on and off 5 to 7 times, until a dough forms.

Flour a board, and put the dough onto the board. Sprinkle the top lightly with flour, and flour your hands as well. Knead gently a few times until you have a fairly smooth ball. Pat or roll the dough into a circle, about an inch thick. Cut them into scone shapes.

Place the scones onto the baking sheet, leaving spaces between them. Brush the top of each scone with buttermilk. Put into the oven and bake for about 15-18 mins, until nicely browned on the top.

Serve with lots of butter.