A new green pasta invention

When we have the time and the energy there is nothing we enjoy more than experimenting in the kitchen- when we moved from San Diego this became a little more tricky due to the fact that we had to sell a lot of our kitchen equipment and also had to put a lot of recipe books into storage. This Christmas however, not only have we rescued the recipe books from idling away in boxes, but we have also been given some great new kitchen equipment to replace that which we had to give up.

Here's recipe we came up with last night- using different things we hd around, and mainly inspired my a yummy looking recipe of Jamie Oliver:


First we took a bunch of peas- we mashed up half of them in a food processor and then mixed in the rest of them after the event. We cooked this much in some olive oil- added in some garlic, seasoning and some chopped fresh mint. We then added in arthichoke hearts (cut into eighths), capers and some sliced red onion.

We then boiled up some pasta (wholewheat spaghetti), once it was cooked al dente we drained it and added it to the pea concoction. After mixing all this up well we served it up onot two plates and topped with hard boiled egg slices, goats cheese and some walnuts.

Delicious!

Vegetable Lasagne

Kym is making Lasagna today- hopefully it will last us through the week. She makes it a little bit different each time but I got her to write down her basic recipe to share.

Ingredients:

1 large onion (diced)
2 courgettes (diced)
2 peppers (diced)
10 cloves garlic
2 cans chopped tomatoes
handful torn basil
1 cup red wine
cinnamon to taste

1 pack lasagna sheets

1 pint bechemel sauce
2 cartons mushrooms (chopped)
2 cups frozen peas
3 large leeks (chopped)
grated nutmeg to taste
3 eggs

3 handfuls grated cheddar cheese
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 handful of pine nuts.

Basically for this recipe we are making 2 different sauces- the first is a tomato one, and the second a creamy vegetable sauce.

For the first sauce saute up the onions, garlic courgettes and peppers. Then add in the chopped tomatoes, red wine and some balsamic vinegar- simmer for 25 minutes. With 5 minutes left to go add some cinnamon and torn chopped basil.

For the second one- saute the chopped mushrooms in some garlic and white wine and set aside. Steam the leeks and then defrost the peas. Take the bechemel sauce and stir in some grated nutmeg and crack in 3 eggs. Stir in the mixed vegetables.

Layer the lasagne starting with tomato sauce, then sheets of lasagne, then some ricotta and the creamy vegetable sauce. Keep layer and top with grated cheddar cheese.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. A culinary delight which will last for days and days-especially whilst you are in school and don't have time to cook each night!

Dolmades

I catered a 50th birthday party of a friend yesterday- it was a fifies theme- some great outfits. Poofy skirts and Elvis wigs abounded all over. For the food I avioded the fiftiesness. I went with stuffed strawberries, stuffed tomatoes (using those darling little mozzarella balls from Trader Joes), Endives, and a greek platter. Everything went down very well, especially the dolmades. I have posted the recipe below- the main secret is to use lots of lemon juice which kind of caramalizes down the bottom. Make sure you cook them thouroughly also, or you end up with crunchy rice!

Dolmades

1 cup long-grain white rice
1 cup Plus 3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion (finely chopped)
3 spring onions (finely chopped)
1 tbsp Minced fresh parsley
2 tbsp Minced fresh mint
½ cup Pine nuts
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
½ tsp Ground allspice
1 Jar grape leaves
Several stems of fresh parsley
¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup vegetable stock

Method

1, Heat 3 Tbsp of the olive oil in a wok. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the rice, ½ cup of the remaining olive oil, the spring onions, parsley, pine nuts, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2, Rinse the grape leaves under running cold water to remove as much brine as possible, pat dry, and stack on a plate. Place 1 leaf at a time, shiny side down, on a flat work surface. Cut off and discard the tough stem end. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of the rice mixture in the center near the base of the leaf. Fold the stem end over to cover the filling, fold both side inward lengthwise and then tightly roll leaf toward pointed tip end to form a compact packet. Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling.
3, Pour about 2 Tbsp. of the remaining olive oil in the bottom of a large pot and strew with a layer of parsley stems. Arrange the stuffed leaves, seam side down and almost touching, on top of the parsley, making as many layers as
necessary. Drizzle the remaining olive oil, the lemon juice, and 1/2 cup stock over the leaves. Top with a heat-resistant plate and weight with a heavy can to keep leaves from unwinding
4, Cover the pot, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender, about 1 hour. During cooking, add a little heated liquid as needed to keep dolmades moist. Remove from the heat and cool in the pot. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.

Pancake Day!

Pancake Day Today! At least that is what the British call Mardis Gras, and it sure seems a lot more relaxing than going out to face the masses celebrating in Hillcrest tonight.

Not being a big fan of sweet food, I prefer savory pancakes. I like stuffing the pancakes with cheese and vegetables, and came up with this recipe.

Pancakes: 2 eggs (beaten)

7 fl oz milk

3 fl oz water

2 oz butter

A pinch of salt

Filling: 1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion (chopped roughly)

2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

3 leeks (sliced 1cm thick)

1 red bell pepper (chopped roughly)

8 oz button mushrooms (quartered)

½ eggplant (cubed into ½ inch cubes)

1 oz butter

1 tbsp white flour

1 pint milk

5 oz grated cheddar cheese

Dash of cayenne

Method

1, Combine pancake ingredients in a food processor, blend until smooth, set aside.

2, Heat the olive oil in a wok or small pan. Add the onion garlic and cook for 5 mins. Add the pepper and leeks, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the button mushrooms and eggplant and cook until all vegetables are soft.

3, In a small saucepan melt the butter. Add the flour and quickly blend together. Add a very small amount of milk, and whisk together, when fully combined add more milk, keep adding milk in this way until it is all combined. Keep whisking the sauce until it becomes thick. Then remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Now stir in the vegetables. Cook this mixture on a low heat. Add a dash of cayenne pepper.

4, Meanwhile make the pancakes in a large frying pan make the pancakes. Grease the pan well, get it very hot and make tin pancakes. Once these are made spoon a ladleful of the vegetable mixture onto half of each pancake. Fold the pancake over to cover the side, and serve.

Stuffed Cucumbers

Got some really great cucumbers today and cooked up one of my favorite dishes I haven't made in a while.

2 Large Cucumbers

1 Small Avocado

Lemon Juice

2oz Butter

1 Shallot

1 Small Egg (beaten)

Salt and Pepper

1oz Soft Cheese

Method

1, Cut each cucumber into 3 lengths. Cut a V-wedge out of each length and remove cucumber seeds.

2, Chop the removed wedges roughly

3, Steam the cucumber lengths for 12-15 minutes.

4, Save 6 thin slices of avocado, and chop the remaining flesh roughly.

5, Heat the butter in a small pan, add the chopped cucumber and shallot and cook for 5 minutes.

6, Remove from the heat and add the avocado, egg and seasoning. The egg should become lightly scrambled.

7, Spoon the mixture into the cucumber lengths, scatter with cheese. Serve with the avocado slices.