Category: bread

Categories
bread celeriac olives parmesan parsley peppers

stuffed focaccia

stuffed focaccia

OK, OK, so it’s not a focaccia. But the idea’s there. It’s actually a boule de campagne but serving the same purpose. Reminds me a lot of a muffuleta. (Obviously the sandwich in the pic is missing it’s lid). It’s a stunning feast from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals.

I bloomin’ love sandwiches like this, every mouthful’s different. A deli in a bap! The remoulade is tangy and fun too, I’d recommend that alongside some barbecued meat on its own.

Jamie also served this with some mozzarella dressed with pesto and followed it with a grapefruit granita, but the two parts here are brill as they are.

Stuffed focaccia (serves 4):

For the focaccia:

1 large boule de campagne

450g jar of peppers

1 teaspoon capers, drained

Handful of sun-dried tomatoes

Handful mixed olives

A few cherry tomatoes, halved

3 or 4 cornichons

Small bunch of parsley

Half a lemon

Sprinkle of parmesan

For the remoulade:

600g celeriac

1 pear

Handful of parsley

1 teaspoon French mustard

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

  1. Get your food processor out and whack in the coarse grater. Peel and quarter the celeriac, then pass this, the pear and the parsley through the grater (you may have to do it in stages if the bowl fills up). Mix together the mustards and vinegar with some extra virgin olive oil and pour this all over the grated veg. Taste for seasoning and leave to marry together while you make your sandwich.
  2. Pop the bread in a low oven just to gently warm through and get a lovely crust while you prepare the filling. Pop all the ingredients on a large chopping board and run through the lot several times with your longest knife. Keep going until everything is roughly thumb-sized – any bigger and it lollops out of the bap while you’re eating. Squeeze over a lemon and pour over a little extra virgin olive oil, and spread the filling over your warmed loaf. Grate over some parmesan and serve with the remoulade.
Categories
bread harissa lamb oregano parsley tomato

leon meatballs

I was overjoyed to discover there was a Leon on my “doorstep” – Bluewater to be precise. Well it’ s not in London, so that’s a start. The family and I went there and tried out a bunch of things. It was little unconventional but healthy, hearty and good fun. The hands-down dish of the day was the meatballs, who have been praised by all sorts, including some Gordon Ramsay chap.

I was ecstatic to discover the recipe on the Guardian website. Trying it myself, it was a recipes of ups and downs. The sauce was a disaster, calling for 1½ tablespoons of harissa. Even taking it down to a teaspoon was still volcanic. Maybe I possess the hottest harissa on the planet, I don’t know. The sauce was ruined though, burning hot. The meatballs themselves was lovely though – the clever bit is torn-up soggy pitta breads, giving a earthy, toasted flavour that’d be really hard to put your finger on if you didn’t know what was in them.

So meatballs = yes, sauce = no.

(Incidentally, the leftovers made for a mean moussaka the following week topped with grilled aubergine and bechamel!)

Want more ideas for leftovers? Or what to cook with the things lurking at the back of your fridge? Check out Gumbo, a recipe search engine that I recently discovered. Gumbo helps you discover new recipes using the ingredients you have in your kitchen, thereby reducing your food waste. What a great way to make the most with what you already have.

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Leon meatballs

Servings 6 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the meatballs

  • 6 pitta breads
  • 120 ml milk
  • 1 kg minced lamb
  • A small bunch of parsley finely chopped
  • A small handful of mint finely chopped
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped

For the sauce

  • 30 ml olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic crushed
  • 2 x 800g tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon harissa
  • A handful of basil chopped
  • A handful of parsley chopped
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Rip the flatbread into pieces and soak in the milk for 10 minutes. Then put the bread into a mixing bowl, add the mince and stir in the parsley, mint, oregano, garlic and some seasoning.
  • Mix well, then roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
  • On a griddle pan, brown the balls quickly - it's all about colouring them and not cooking them through ... five minutes total cooking time with about three turns on the griddle.
  • To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the crushed garlic. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and harissa and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced. Put in the meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes with a lid on until the sauce looks about right.
  • Lastly, stir in the herbs and have a final seasoning check.
Categories
bacon bread chicken food lettuce onion

chicken and bacon salad

It’s a real mothership this one, a monster among salads. I’ve piled it here on to a huge plate so everyone can help themselves. The name undersells it somewhat. The brining of the chicken is not vital, but will give lots of moisture to the final dish.

Chicken and bacon salad (serves 4 – 6 with no other accompaniments):

4 chicken breasts, sliced into fingery pieces

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 star anise

3 cloves

1 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

4 rashers of bacon, sliced into strips

Half a french stick

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

2 little gems lettuces, broken up

Handful of other interesting leaves, something bitter is good

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

Splash of milk

Heavy-handed dash of Worcestershire sauce

Couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

  1. Prepare a brine of 8% salt solution, adding the syrup, star anise and cloves. Plop the chicken in and soak for at least 4 hours. Drain well and rinse under cold water.
  2. Cover the onion in vinegar and a sprinkle of salt and leave to marinate while you get on with the rest. Get the oven on 180°C.
  3. Begin to fry the bacon in batches so the pan isn’t crowding until browned and crisp, draining on kitchen roll as you go. Once this lot’s done make a start on frying the chicken until cooked through.
  4. Tear up the bread, and toss in a baking tray with salt, pepper, oil and the pumpkin seeds. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
  5. Mix the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and oil together, adding milk if necessary to make a gloopy dressing. Check for seasoning too.
  6. Scrunch up the onions to drain the liquid off, then combine the chicken, bacon, bread and seeds with the lettuce. Drizzle over the sauce and toss well to combine.
Categories
artichoke bread broad beans food lettuce parmesan

broad bean and artichoke salad

Felt like something quick, easy and wholesome for dinner tonight. I found this recipe on Merchant Gourmet’s site and had a bash. It was very filling and had lots of earthy flavours going on, but I didn’t feel the mint added anything and yet there was still something missing. A really sticky-sweet balsamic dressing might do the trick, or perhaps a little grated apple.

Not a bad start, but needs some work.

Broad bean and artichoke salad:

6 tablespoons pumpkin seed oil

100g parmesan shavings

1 ciabatta loaf

400g grilled artichokes

finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

300g frozen broad beans

1 little gem lettuce, finely shredded

handful fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

  1. Boil the broad beans for 4-5 mins until tender. While draining add a little pumpkin oil and lemon juice, tossing around to coat.
  2. Lightly brush the cut sides of the ciabatta with 4 tbsp of the Pumpkin Seed Oil and place cut side up on the grill pan and scatter with salt flakes. Lightly grill for 1-2 minutes until pale golden and crisp.
  3. Meanwhile place the artichoke hearts into a bowl with the lemon rind and juice, remaining Pumpkin Seed Oil, broad beans, little gem, mint and parmesan and toss together. Season generously with a little salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and toss again.
  4. Serve the salad on the warm toasted ciabatta.
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