New Game for the New Year

I've neglected this blog in the last month. Christmas and New Year have been very time consuming what with menu planning, eating and drinking and then of course I was struck down with the Winter lurgy so not really been in the mood for cooking but in the mean time I feel inspired to write about a fun game I discovered...my friend Jonny posted up a picture on Facebook of his dinner which sparked the following conversation thread:

Classic store cupboard meal...!

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Classic store cupboard meal...!

GL: Pasta, smoked bacon, mushroom, boursin, creme fraiche and black pepper
J: nearly....
GL: and a fork...
J: nearly...
GL:Am I missing something or is an ingredient wrong? I love this game...
J: almost there with the ingredients - think MY store cupboard rather than yours with your boursoin ;-) x
GL: Philly?
J: bacon, red onion, garlic, sour cream, mature cheddar. and a gin and tonic. (lime needed using)
GL: Very nice and impressed with the fine onion slicing, although I would recommend keeping these ingredients in the fridge rather than the cupboard...XX 
J: thanks for the tip honeybun! x

So, this is now my new favourite game - send me pictures of what you are eating and I'll try and guess the ingredients!  So thanks Jonny, and P.S, this is one of my favourite quick evening meals too, a total classic.

Supporting the local economy

I'm really quite sad. I get very excited about buying food. If anything, I'm a bit addicted.
I'm trying really hard not to shop at the supermarket too much. Obviously it is unavoidable for certain things but by buying organic boxes, meat from the local butcher and using independent shops you can pretty much be stocked up without stepping foot inside an aisle.

So when I have time to go shopping at the weekend I really like to head to Crown Deli because they have a great selection of cheese, Cromarty Bakery breads and rather reasonable wines. I also like the personal touch, if you want anything in particular they will order it in for you, even unusual cheeses. Now that is something you don't get from the big stores.

I've also recently got into buying meat only from a butcher. It's about the quality and about being able to get exactly what you want. The so-called butcher in the supermarket doesn't offer to tenderise your steaks for you or offer you bones for stock.

Usually we have a farmers market once a month but for the last couple of months there has been a maverick Market appearing and today Easterton Farm were selling a great selection of venison. As we were working out what to buy a couple walked past exclaiming "oh poor Bambi"...clearly they have never driven down a dark road in the Highlands at this time of year to be met by 'Bambi' all grown up, antlers and all, large enough to write off you car. Poor delicious Bambi thank you. Not only that but the hills are covered in Deer, we have Deer coming out of every Glen across the Highlands. It's good to eat them - plus the fact it is a lean meat so quite healthy in comparison to beef steak. Plus 'Bambi' has probably lived a far more natural life than the cow who appears in your McDonalds burgers.

So to conclude - eat local, eat seasonal and eat well. Think about where your food comes from - hopefully it won't be from the supermarket shelf too much.
Some of my favourite local producers:
Best beef sausages- www.grantandsons.com
Best meat - www.macbeths.com
Best haggis - www.scottishgourmetfood.co.uk/haggis/cockburns_haggis.htm
Best baking - www.black-isle.info/details.asp?id=212
Best deli - www.corneronthesquare.co.uk
Best veg - www.macleodorganics.com
Best venison - www.duncanfraserbutcher.co.uk
Best eggs - www.visitbeauly.com/company-16.html
Best smoked salmon :) - www.summerislesfoods.co.uk
Best breakfast - www.spoff.co.uk
Best deep fried pizza - only joking

Cracking crackling and pleasant pheasant

I love this time of year - it's all about seasonal comfort food. Hot soup, bread, cheese, red wine and cosy evenings sitting in the kitchen because it's the warmest room in the home...because the cooker is on all the time. If I had an Aga it would all be perfect.


However, I seem to be doing ok without an Aga for the time being. This weekend has been a bit full on with work so I thought it would be fun to try a meal which needs little effort but delivers great results. 


I've never tried slow roast pork belly before but think the idea of soft oozy pork meat with crisp crackling would be the perfect cold Autumn evening meal. 


I adapted a Jamie Oliver recipe to create Crisp Pork Belly with Apple Gravy.

1.5kg pork belly (ask your butcher to score it!)
Salt and pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 sticks of celery, chopped in half
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped in half
2 large cloves of garlic, skin on,
Fresh thyme
500ml vegetable stock
100ml dry cider


Pre-heat your oven as hot as you can then rub salt and pepper into the skin side of the belly. Make sure you get the salt into the scores as well. Place it on a roasting tray skin side up then pop it in the oven for approx. 30 mins or until the skin is covered in bubbles, starting to turn into crackling. Then turn the temperature down to 180c for an hour.
In the mean time prepare the vegetables, herbs, garlic and apples.
After an hour, take the belly out and baste it with the fat from the tray. Add your vegetables to the roasting tray and mix them around in the juices until coated. Then place your pork on top of the vegetables and put back in the oven for another hour.
When it's ready, take your pork out to rest while you make gravy out of the vegetables. Add your stock and cider to the tray and with a potato masher mash up the vegetables to get all their flavours. Heat your tray on the stove to boil it all up and let the stock and cider condense. Strain the liquid through a sieve to get lovely gravy flavoured with apple to go with your roast pork belly. Some folk like it with mashed potatoes, others with roast - it's all up to you. Make sure you serve with some seasonal vegetables though.


I picked up some pheasant at the farmers market last weekend so tonight we are trying pheasant breast braised in cider...


And no weekend would be complete without some soup being made so today I made Spinach, Broccoli and Stilton soup. Very warming and very comforting.

Potages de trois couleurs

Sweet Potato and Chorizo






Spinach and Broccoli






Beetroot and Apple 

I won't be beaten by beetroot!

I have a rather lot of beetroot to get through just now. I love beetroot, only started to enjoy it recently because, probably like a lot of people, my memories of beetroot was on the nasty pickled variety you got at school, along side coleslaw, boiled eggs and corned beef. I feel ill just thinking about it.

Fortunately though, I've experienced some lovely ways of preparing beetroot and pairing it with suitable foods. Such as a meal I had once at Iglu which served pigeon breast on a bed of beetroot and red cabbage with black pudding. Divine!

So although I am a convert and a fan I still struggle to come up with different ways to serve beetroot so I thought I'd share some ideas with you:

Beetroot and apple bortsch - apparently you serve it cold but at this time of year I would go for hot.

Beetroot chocolate cake - This is amazing, no one realises it has beetroot in it. It's heaven and healthy.

Beetroot and potato rosti with smoked salmon - Beetroot and smoked salmon are a winning classic combo.

This should keep me busy for a while, other suggestions are welcome.

I have been in Glasgow this week and managed to catch up with a friend who sat me down and said "I want to talk to you about food...". I have a talent of turning a conversation to food within 5 minutes of meeting someone but this was a record breaking attempt! I was won over and it was a great chat about organic boxes, seasonal veg and cuts of meat. My friend has let me into a little secret - Pork Cheeks. Even Tom Parker-Bowles is a fan. Very cheap she says and delicious - so I will be off to the butcher this week to see what if I can get some and try out her recipe. Watch this space.

10 out of 10 for Fifteen

I've eaten in a few fabulous restaurants in my short life so far. Up there I would include Rocpool Reserve, Rogano and the Summer Isles Hotel but by far I think the best meal I have had so far was at Fifteen in Cornwall this week.

I went down to Cornwall with work this week to visit Social Enterprises - we spent the day at the Eden Project which was fantastic. Their social and environmental purpose is to reconnect people with plants. This covers nature and the environment too but many the importance of plants. Plants interest me greatly because so many of them are edible! After a day walking around admiring the various flora and fauna we had fair worked up an appetite and Fifteen is very close to the Eden Project so it was a natural choice. Fifteen runs an apprentice scheme for young people removed from the work market and I've never been to a restaurant that had staff with so much pride and ownership over their work. The menu was simple, 5 courses, 2 choices each course. So here is what I had:

Cornish hand-dived scallop 'saltimbocca, shaved florence fennel and loadsa herbs     

                                           

Aged Angus beef carpaccio, crispy capers, Newlina's wild rocket and Parmigiano Reggiano

Squid ink Taglierini, Carter's Cornish lobster, Amalfi lemon & chilli pangrattato

Crispy fillet of line caught sea bass, mixed beets, ruby chard and St Austell bay mussels

Amedei No'9 chocolate and fudge brownie slice, sticky toffee ice cream and mini Bourbon cream

The images don't even come close to capturing the meal and all it's flavours. I would go back to Fifteen in a flash. It was a great experience and I only wish Jamie Oliver would open one in the Highlands, I think a lot of young people up here could enthuse about the local produce in the same way our waitress did. All the young chefs in the kitchen were working so well as a team and the attention to detail was fascinating. Watching them cleaning up at end of service just showed how much pride they all took in their work, this wasn't just a job, it's a real experience and opportunity for them.


The only downside? Now I've been spoilt with this meal nothing seems to compare...yet....

A Brighter Shade of Kale

Kale is in season just now and I must admit, it's not one of my favourite vegetables so I was hunting around for a decent recipe. I found a few interesting ones:

Chestnut, kale and chorizo soup

Kale And Roquefort Parcels

Kale Pesto Pasta

However I thought I would try a sort of braised kale recipe with beetroot which was also in the veggie box this week.

I followed this simple Delia Smith recipe substituting Kale for cabbage. Then, I boiled some beetroots until soft. I removed the beetroot from the water and let them cool. Then I grated the beetroot and added it to the kale mixture. Cooked it up with a little vegetable stock until nice and soft. Serve with a pork chop - delicious! Kale is a little bit rougher than cabbage, I enjoyed the combination of the soft beetroot with al dente kale. 

What was in your vegetable box this week?