Sausage Pasta

Sausage Pasta

Happy twenty twelve! Wowsers i can't believe how the last few years have flown by. It's been twelve years since i celebrated the millennium in Malaysia with school friends, my first big trip without parents it kicked off my love for spicy food & taught me that humid weather is not kind to curly hair. It's been at least seven years since i spent a ski season in Saas Fee, Switzerland where i learnt how to drink every night for six months while not getting liver failure & the beauty of Swiss food. And most fun, it's been almost four years since i swept the Houseboy off his feet while sailing around Croatia, since then i have learnt the joys of Cherry Ripes & Bundaberg Rum & not worrying so much. Fun times. 

Home

We had Christmas in Scotland which was brilliant as usual, Mrs Rhodes loved having the brood all back & spent the week flapping round the kitchen producing amazing meals & feeding us all till we couldn't move. Luckily the Scottish Borders is a pretty place so there was lots of long walks to be had, despite the fact it was blowing a gale for most of the time. We joined Mr & Mrs Robinson for a night out in Edinburgh starting with an amazing evening trip round Edinburgh Castle, then on to dinner at Maison Bleue where i had a lovely venison dish. We finished up at The Whiski Rooms on the Mound for a nightcap, there i tried a 'Smokey Mary' a twist on a traditional Bloody Mary with the addition of 10 year old Ardbeg...i couldn't drink more than one at a time, but it was very good. New Year was spent at the Piano Bar in South Kensington, London which was Mr Bird's great choice. Small & intimate it was a fun evening of Champagne & piano playing, although we all relatively behaved ourselves i did wake up on January the 1st lying on a pile of clean washing in the spare room (apparently i went to turn off a light) while the poor Houseboy suffered the worst hangover in a long time. Not even homemade soup & sympathy could save the poor soul, so i ate all the soup & left him watching cartoons. 

Home

I've never really been a new years resolutions time of girl, it always feels like jumping on a band waggon which everyone promptly falls off. But, this year i have a few which i would like to undertake. Firstly to blog more (poor you) i initially decided to blog twice a week, but then downgraded to a solid once a week & anything else is a bonus. I guilty of setting goals which are unreachable which then annoys me & i give it up. I'm excellent at starting things but not very good at finishing things. You can see throughout our flat which is littered with half made cushions, half painted pictures & pieces of knitting that could be the start of a scarf. Losing a little weight is also kind of a goal (ironic given i'm writing this while eating Mrs Rhodes' excellent Christmas Cake) so there will be more spinning classes & less baking. 

After all the festivities January should be filled with healthy options, but the does the current weather really make you want to have a salad (it's tipping down with rain in London Town) so gently ease into the healthy food with a warning sausage dish. Use decent quality sausages as it makes all the difference, also you could add vegetables to this dish, Courgettes, Mushrooms, anything that takes your fancy. 

Ingredients:

• 6 good quality sausages
• 160g sun blushed tomatoes
• a good splash of red wine
• 7 shallots 
• 1 clove of garlic
• 300g of rigatoni pasta
• s&p

Method:

Put the pasta onto boil in salted water, while its bubbling away slice the sausage into chunks add to a hot pan with a slug of olive oil. After a few minutes quater the shallots, crush the garlic & slice the sun blushed tomatoes. Add all three ingredients to add to the pan along with the wine. Let it simmer away for a couple of minute & then turn the heat right down. Check the pasta & when it's ready, drain & add the sausage. Mix well & serve straight away. You could throw caution to the wind & sprinkle with some grated cheese. 

Home

Beef & Chorizo Casserole

Christmas is coming. Fact. There seem to be a lot of Christmas Grinch's around at the moment & i am avoiding them like the plague - i think people think they are being clever when they moan & belittle Christmas. Put a sock in it & have some Egg Nog. We are getting geared up got our annual Christmas drinks party (makes me sound terribly grown but basically we just get 'pie eyed' as Mrs Rhodes says & eat Sausage Rolls) I've been trawling through recipe books & foody websites to work out what canapes to make & i think i have a rough idea, Devils on Horsebacks will certainly feature. The tree is up, my new canape tin is ordered & The Houseboy is bracing himself for hoovering duties.

So i have firmly waved goodbye to salads & welcomed in hearty winter fare. We had Mr T. Fright & his lovely live in lady Miss Stevenson over for a relaxing Sunday lunch recently for a catch up. Miss Stevenson & i both like a natter so it was no surprise we were still eating cheese & drinking whiskey seven hours after they first arrived. I am huge fan of a Sunday lunch party, there's time in the morning to get organised, time of have a leisurely lunch & finely time to clean up before flopping on the couch. Bingo.

The Houseboy turned the grand old age of twenty nine recently so at his request i baked him a Red Velvet Cake.  I cheated slightly (with his permission) & didn't make a fully original one like in the Hummingbird Cafe cookbook which is truly delicious but a little time consuming so i went with a simpler version from the BBC food website which turned out well. On his 26th birthday i baked a Black Forest Gateau which took me the best part 4 hours & cost a fortune, i was obliviously still trying to impress him at that stage! The worst thing was carrying it across London underground smelling of Chocolate & Kirch. The Houseboy does not like celebrating his birthday. There's no going out, no drinks & no celebrating with friends. But next year is his 30th & he will have no choice. I will just be happy that he's joined me in the thirties group!

Red Velvet Cake

Lots of people go on casserole overload over the winter months which is no bad thing. There are hundreds of variations & it's a good way to use up left overs etc. This is a punchy & filling dish which is great with Mashed Potatoes, saying that everything goes well with Mash. I thought about doing Horseradish Mash but there really is enough flavour in the casserole as it is. 

Ingredients:
Fed five with leftovers. 

• 1.3k of diced beef
• 2 rings of chorizo
• 2 medium sized onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tins of plum tomatoes
• 1/2 bottle of red wine
• 2 tsp of smoked paprika
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• s&p

Method:

Pop your oven to 175C. Dust the diced beef in seasoned flour shaking off the excess & set aside. Take the chorizo & slice into chunks & gently fry off (without oil) in a hot pan for roughly 5 minutes till they are crispy round the edges. (they will leak quite a bit of oil which you can use to brown the beef) Remove & set aside then crack on with browning off the beef. Do this in batches to maintain a nice high heat in the pan, you may have to add a little oil if the chorizo hasn't leaked a lot.

Now quickly slice the onions & crush the garlic & add to the pan along with the paprika & ground ginger. Saute for 5 minutes & once the onion is nice & soft add back the chorizo & beef. Now add the red wine & tomatoes. Give it a good stir & pop into the oven. Cook for 2 & 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender. If the sauce is a little thin then you can thicken it up using Beurre Manie  which is equal parts of butter & flour rubbed together. Just remove the beef before thickening the sauce as you will need to whisk it in. Goes well with Mash or Rice. Freezes & reheats very well. 

This years tree

Hazelnut & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was spent mostly tucked away in the kitchen by myself. I'm a social person & love a good chat, but i'm also very happy being by myself. Especially in the kitchen listening to Radio 4 or watching re runs of Casualty (i never said i was cool) So with the Houseboy out practicing his golf swing i spent the afternoon making Summer Greens Soup, Aubergine Chutney & Cookies. All a success (well i think so) although i didn't quite anticipate the Chutney being so hot-despite the recipe warning me. I reckon it will balance out with a good strong cheese.I always cook for others & love having people over, but i think i sometimes lose sight of cooking purely for myself. I can thank a certain Mr T. Fry for making me change this slightly. He recommended a great blog www.gastronomicalme.com. In it she talks about the pleasure of eating alone & purely relishing simple ingredients put together. I'l be getting a fair bit of practice starting tomorrow as the Houseboy is heading off to Aberdeen for the next two weeks... They say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' or in the Houseboys case buys him two weeks peace & reduces my washing load by half.  

Earlier in the week i mentioned seasonal produce & i when i was walking down North End Road yesterday i saw a fruit & veg stall selling fresh figs. Figs are a fruit i rarely eat, i think because trying dried figs put me off. After buying a tray of ten & getting home i wondered what i was actually going to do with them. I had a good look through my cook books & found an interesting recipe for Fig Jam by Stephanie Alexander but quickly realised that they firstly needed to be dried out in the sun. Fail, as, not only do i not like dried figs there is no chance i could find enough sun in August let alone October to complete the recipe. So we decided to eat them simply wrapped in Parma Ham & they were delicious. I'm looking forward to having some for breakfast tomorrow morning. 

This is a Nigel Slater recipe from a Guardian publication in 2009, its one of the nicest cookie recipes i have made in a while. I doubled the recipe (only because the Houseboy & i are both taking them to work) & made them really big. Crispy on the edges & chewy on the inside. Perfect with a cup of tea on an Sunday afternoon.  

Ingredients: 

• 75g skinned hazelnuts
• 180g butter at room temperature
• 90g golden caster sugar
• 90g light muscovado sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100g plain chocolate
• 180g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 

Method:

 

Set the oven at 180C/gas 4. Toast the hazelnuts till they are golden brown. This is easiest done under a hot grill with a watchful eye, but you can do it in a non-stick pan if you prefer.

Cut the butter into small pieces and put into a food mixer fitted with a beater attachment. Add the sugars and cream to a light and fluffy texture – you may have to scrape the mixture down from the sides a couple of times with a rubber spatula. You can, of course, do everything with a hand-held electric mixer or even a wooden spoon if you prefer to do it that way.

Break the eggs and beat them into the mixture. Chop the chocolate into small chunks, the size of small gravel and add it, together with the sieved flour and bicarbonate of soda, slowly and at quite a low speed, to the dough.

Take a large, heaped 15ml tablespoon of the dough and put it on a non-stick baking sheet (or use baking parchment if you prefer). Flatten it lightly. Continue with the rest of the mixture, putting the dollops of mixture well apart from each other.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until they have spread and are golden in colour. Let them cool for a few minutes before lifting them off and transferring them to a cooling rack.

Bolognese Cannelloni

Gin & Tonic

I can't tell you how guilty i feel about the lack of blogging lately! I love writing it & never struggle to waffle on about things, it's just trying to find the time to sit down & do it. Well tonight's the night, the Houseboy is cooking Prawn Stir Fry & police, camera, action is on tv (one of my guilty pleasures...) Perfect creative atmosphere. So as usual it's been busy in London town lately. The Lipchucks thew a extremely fun 30th for Dirty Dave complete with frozen Mojitos, Strawberry Daiquiris & Liz's amazingly inventive canapes. With a beach theme there was a healthy dose of Hawaiian shirts & the odd grass skirt (i mistakenly thought people were going full fancy dress...) Luckily they have lovely patient neighbours who happily ignore horrendous renditions of 80s classics...

Readyfields Farm Tents

The following weekend we spent a brilliant weekend 'glamping' (posh camping with proper beds) in Nottinghamshire which was amazing fun. Featherdown Farms is a company which advertise glamping on nearly 30 farms across the UK. We choose Readyfields Farm run by David & Lesley who were incredibly welcoming. A beautiful working farm with a mix of chickens, donkeys, a huge horse called Brian & a energetic pack of blood hounds it's perfectly located for a weekend break from London. It was all about beer & BBQ & dodging showers of rain (i did notice the odd person dodging having a shower full stop. You know who you are) All the tents were fully set up with a wood burning stove, sink & loo. And more importantly beds! i love camping but if offered a choice between a paper thin foam mat & sweaty sleeping bag or a comfy bed with pillows i know which one i will go for every time. We started the Saturday with some clay pigeon shooting which was enjoyed by all, there were some pretty good shots knocking around. On the Sunday we all went for a bike ride with the hounds through the local village, hilarious due the variety of bike size. The Houseboy had his knees round his ears for most of the time, but was well worth it. After our cruisey cycle we headed back to the farm for homemade pizzas cooked in a huge outdoor wood burning oven. Happy happy times.

The boys in charge of the BBQ

My birthday seems to have gone on & on & on which has been pretty brilliant, i think by the time i turn 50 i will be demanding a month long celebration. One present i received from the Houseboy's super kind parents was an amazing turquoise Le Creuset pot which has seen some heavy use! (as i'm writing this it's in the oven filled with Beef in Red Wine for the freezer) Perfect for casseroles & pot roasts i really think that the range is unbeatable. The Houseboy's parents live in 'Bloody Paradise' a beautiful town in Australia so unfortunately i can't cook them up a feast, but they at least can see the evidence of it's use here! I also received some fabulous cook books  (people do know the way to my heart) which have hugely inspired me. So excited to bash out some new recipes.

My favourite cooking pot.

Mr & Mrs Brown's fantastical European travels are sadly over & they made a brief stop over in London on the way home to Sydney. Always game for a laugh, usually the last standing & great entertainers they are going to be sorely missed. A usual catching up with them involved food, drink & more food. One evening we headed to the Walmer Castle in Nottinghill, the pub has a Thai menu which was pretty good, the Fish Cakes were particularly good & the Pad Thai also a winner. The prosecco was even better. My head the next morning not so much. The Rose pub in Fulham was also frequented. Excellent food, beautiful garden & lovely staff, its perfect for a leisurely Sunday lunch. I would love to run a little restaurant or cafe, problem is, i would most likely eat all the profits.

 

The Scariest cycle gang i know

The inspiration behind making this dish is two of the naughtiest boys i know - Poppy & Chisholm who gave me a fantastic Italian cookbook full of regional dishes. It's great to make in large quantities & freeze. Nothing better than realising you have Sunday night dinner waiting for you in the freezer after a overly social weekend. This makes a fairly big portion, there may be some bechamel sauce left over, but it's better to have too much than too little.

Ingredients:

 

Bolognese

• 750g beef mince
• 200g chirizo (a ring not sliced)
• 1 & 1/2 onions
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tins of plum tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 large glass of red wine
• 2 boxes of cannelloni tubes
• s&p
• grated parmasan (to sprinkle on top of dish)

Bechamel Sauce

• 850mls milk  
• 10 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves & 1/4 of an onion)
• 80g butter
• 40g plain flour
• s&p

Method:

Kick off proceedings by turning your oven to 180c. Take an oven proof pot & heat up a good splash of oil. Finely chop the onion & garlic & cook gently. While that's happening pull the thin skin of the chirizo & chop as finely as possible. (its always will be a little lumpy) Turn up the heat slightly, add the chirizo & cook for 5 minutes. Then add the mince & quickly brown. Once nicely browned add the wine, tomato paste & tinned tomatoes. Season well & place in the oven (lid on) & cook for 1 1/2 - 2hrs. Check regularly, you may need to skim a little oil off the top. Once its done take it out & leave it to cool.

While the bolognese is cooling you can make the white sauce. Add the milk, peppercorns, bay leaves & onion to pan & gently heat to simmering point, making sure it doesn't boil. After 5 minutes of infusing take the milk off the heat and strain into jug. Then take the butter & melt making sure it doesn't colour or burn, otherwise it will effect the flavour. Add the flour & using a wooden spoon stir together vigorously to make a smooth paste. Add roughly 25mls of milk & stir in well, once the milk is fully incorporated add the next bit until all the milk has been added. Make sure the each stage of milk is fully absorbed to avoid lumps. You should now have a nice smooth sauce. Season to taste.

Take the now cooled bolognase & start to pack the cannelloni tubes making sure you fill them as tightly as possible. Lay in an oven proof dish & pour the white sauce over the top. Sprinkle with grated parmasan & bake for 40-50 minutes. Serve with a rocket salad.

Blood Hound