Category: Foundry House

“Gnome” mean feat

As you can see they are in quite a bad state.
The Tanyard has kindly offered to paint them for us.
I waved them off this afternoon and Kelly has assured me they will be in good hands and will keep me updated on their progress. I found another one since this photo was taken, so we will now have 8 gnomes to find.

We will share any photos we get.

May the 4th be with you

Looking at today’s selection I decided to make a quick easy potato and cauliflower curry, ready in under an hour.  First chop and fry a large onion.  Cook slowly and allow it to soften and colour before adding a crushed garlic clove, a large chopped carrot, a few fresh tomatoes and three potatoes chopped into various sizes.  Using different sized pieces of potato allows some of them to remain whole while other pieces soften and help to form the sauce.  When all the vegetables have started to cook and taken on some flavour, add the spices.  I used a mixture of paprika, garam masala, cumin, ginger and mild curry powder.  Cook for a few minutes before adding some water to prevent it from catching.  Put on a lid and allow to cook slowly, adding more water as it is absorbed.  As the root vegetables soften it is now time to add the cauliflower, broken into florets along with any decent outer leaves chopped and a squeeze or two of tomato puree, a whole green chilli (optional) and salt and pepper.  Keep an eye on the amount of liquid in the pan and top up with a little more water and stir everything until a sauce forms.  At this stage I added some grated coconut to the sauce for richness and a spoonful of mango chutney.  If desired serve with basmati rice and pickles!

A selection of cold salads to be eaten at various times over the weekend either with oatcakes, bread or using the lettuce as a scoop.  Nice, easy and timesaving.

A Sunday selection of roast vegetables; potatoes, beetroot, carrot, parsnip, onion and garlic served on a bed of braised cabbage with cumin seeds. What’s not to enjoy?

This week a feature in the Western Telegraph of a recipe taken from a new book by the vegan writer Ella Mills inspired me.  It was described as cauliflower and cashew nut pilaf tray bake and I had most of the ingredients either in the Food Hub bag or in the store cupboard.  I substituted the cauliflower for broccoli and it was fine.

First slice an onion, crush a garlic clove and break the broccoli into florets and lay them in an oven dish or roasting tin.

Next mix together ½ teaspoon each of turmeric, cinnamon and ginger, 1 teaspoon of coriander and 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds.  (If you have them you could use a cinnamon stick and fresh ginger.) Scatter the spices over the onion and broccoli and add some olive oil and mix it all together and spread in a single layer in the oven dish.  Place in the oven (180°C) for 10 minutes to just soften the onion and warm the spices.

While that’s in the oven prepare the other ingredients: trim a handful of French beans (1-2 inch lengths), roughly chop a handful of cashew nuts, grab a handful of dried sultanas and rinse 4 handfuls of white basmati rice the toss them all in the hot oven dish and mix well.  Pour over some hot vegetable stock to cover everything then cover the dish with foil and return to the oven for 25 minutes.  Before serving the recipe suggests a squeeze of lemon and a little hot sauce, both optional but well worth it.

Sorry, no photo as we were too hungry but if you’re interested the recipe is on page 60 of the August 24^th edition.

I’m going to have a session preparing and cooking some of the other ingredients I have in my fridge.  There’s going to be coleslaw (cabbage, onion, carrot etc.) a bulgur salad (rehydrated bulgur, cucumber, salad onions, tomatoes, lemon juice and olive oil, a potato salad using the small potatoes, some gherkins, sliced radish and onion covered in horse radish mayo.  I will also make some hummus and all that will make a perfect grazing selection with crispbreads or oatcakes to enjoy while watching the TV over the weekend!

After admiring the array of lovely vegetables and salad stuff this week, here’s what I’ve done so far! I have made a vegetable filo pie, trying to copy one of Jamie Oliver’s “One Pan Wonder” meals he demonstrated on Monday night TV (Channel 4), substituting layers of vegetables for the fish he used.  I particularly liked the idea of scattering couscous in the bottom of the pie to absorb the juices as it cooked and keeping the bottom crispy.  It works really well!  It soaked up all the juice seeping from a layer of sliced tomatoes and produced a tasty pie.

There is enough to make a second meal that will be accompanied with sautéed cabbage and cumin seeds and a separate dish of simply boiled French beans (keeping them al dente) then tossed in olive oil.

For a delicious lunchtime snack I stuffed warm pita breads with a mixture of shredded lettuce, sliced radish, salad onions and feta cheese.  Messy but nice!

In the expectation that the Bank Holiday weekend will be warm and we won’t feel much like cooking I will make a large bowl of coleslaw using the white cabbage, grated carrot, finely sliced celery plus an apple and some walnuts all covered with a yoghurt and horseradish dressing (thanks for the idea Nina!)

I still have vegetables left over and I imagine I will make a spicy dish of some sort using the onions, carrots and potatoes, and making a rich sauce with some grated creamed coconut (bought to make pina coladas this week!) and a handful of lentils to go with some shop bought samosas, although I could make my own using the left over filo pastry from the pie!

The Food Hub has provided a superb range of fresh ingredients this week with salad stuff available for the first time!  I have ordered both a vegetable bag and salad bag again for next week too.

Someone is obviously reading my wish list as we have celery and radish as well as salad potatoes, cherry tomatoes, salad onions, cucumber and lettuce!  Just right for the warm Bank Holiday weekend ahead!

In case you haven’t ordered anything for next week, but want to order for the following week, the Food Hub will be open on Tuesday 3:30 – 4:30pm instead of Monday because of the Bank Holiday.

Another lovely looking selection of vegetables from the Food Hub this week.

It looks quite a treat with French beans and peas!  I shall make a salad with the beans, probably with a lemon and garlic dressing and maybe a couple of hard-boiled eggs.

Peas in their pods are a vegetable I very rarely buy, but when I do I notice how much better they are compared with frozen ones!  It’s worth the effort of spending the time persuading them from their pods.

Many years ago I remember making a delicious soup using the pea pods – I must see if I can find the recipe.

Rather than searching through all my cookery books for the recipe I Googled it and came upon this recipe from Wright’s Food Emporium in Llanarthne Carmarthenshire: https://shop.wrightsfood.co.uk/blogs/writes/pea-pod-soup

1. Sauté an onion and garlic in melted butter, add the pea pods chopped finely (probably best to remove the strings and stalks first) and stir for a few minutes. Add a glug of wine, (not essential) then stock and a little seasoning and simmer gently for around 10-15 minutes.
2. Blitz in a blender and add a little nutmeg to taste. Chop fresh herbs (if you have them) finely and stir in.
3. Add a little cream or crème fraiche if you like if serving warm, or chill the soup and have cold on a warm summer day if preferred.
4. If you want extra pea flavour, add some frozen peas rather than waste the fresh sweet ones from the pods.

This is something I’m definitely going to do this week!  The other vegetables will take care of themselves but do use the peas and beans whilst they are fresh.

I’ve ordered a bag of salad as well as the vegetables for next week and look forward to seeing what’s available.  My wish list would include celery and radish but we’ll wait and see!

Marvellous selection in the Food Hub Bag today! Looking forward to the sugar snap peas and aubergine especially. I love spring cabbage too! Thanks very much everyone.

I had some ready rolled shortcrust pastry in the fridge and was wondering what to do with it.  I’m not a great fan of pastry, in fact I am a poor maker of pastry and when the need arises I rely on supermarket own brand!

I decided to make a leek tart as I had a leek from the recent Food Hub and also had some crème fraiche and eggs to make the custard for it.

After bringing the pastry up to room temperature, I greased a loose-bottomed flan tin and laid the pastry into it leaving plenty of overhang to allow for shrinkage.  I pre-heated the oven to 180°C (gas 4) and after lining it with a piece of baking parchment, tipped on some baking beans to prevent the pastry from rising.  I blind baked the flan base for about 20 minutes, then removed the baking beans and put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until it looked a pale biscuit colour.  When done I removed it from the oven and allowed it to cool on a rack.

Whilst all this was happening, I sautéed the sliced leek and onion in olive oil and butter until soft.  It didn’t look enough to fill my flan base so I thought, why not add some finely-sliced green cabbage (also from the Food Hub) to bulk it out?  When sufficiently cooked I added a scant dessertspoon of plain flour to make a roux and a splash of milk to make a thick sauce.  I allowed it to cool before pouring in a couple of spoons of the cream fraiche and adding 3 beaten whole eggs.  To make the custard a bit more interesting, I grated some strong cheese (I used a mixture of hard goat and hard Italian-style cheese) into the vegetable sauce along with a heaped teaspoon of mustard (English or French) and a handful of thawed frozen peas and stirring it all together.

Finally it was time to pour the whole lot into the part-baked flan case, spread it around and grate a little more cheese over the top.

I baked it at 180°C for 30 minutes, checked it, and gave it a little extra time to brown the top.  When done to perfection I removed it from the oven and allowed it to cool on a rack until I was able to remove it from the tin and enjoy!

A bit fiddly and involved but it tasted good and could be enjoyed hot or cold with a salad/picnic!