Family time & the art of relaxed eating

I've learned as well anyone might during the last few years, just how precious family time is. The last year has been tough on my own family.  In the past, I've been quite privileged to have worked in some comparatively balanced working environments as a researcher in the public sectors. The difference between this and running your own business is quite a shock to the system.  Oh what I'd give for 30 days paid annual leave (never mind a rather slick 37.5 hour salaried week).

Anyway, back on topic, family time and the art of relaxed eating... it's such a joy when it comes together, so I thought I'd share this successful menu, hopefully for some inspiration and practical tips to aid a few more relaxed family get togethers at home. I don't think there is anything particularly clever or challenging about this menu. It's more of case of some lovely dishes that just go beautifully together.

I've got quite a big family these days (probably as I'm now properly middle-aged!). I was struggling to find a booking for fourteen people locally that could offer that Mediterranean and Middle Eastern relaxed style of food (that would taste awesome of course).  And family groups can differ so much in their eating preferences these days, then add a decent cohort of vegetarians and other varieties of fussy eaters, it becomes a bit of a culinary minefield.  Chilli spice is off the table due to little appetites and a hiatus hernia. 

When I worked at Ottolenghi during a couple of stages, I remember thinking that the deli looked like his books come to life. Beautiful, sometimes simple, sometimes complex, nourishing and that aubergine salad.. to this day, it continues to astound me with flavour and texture. There was always a piece of perfectly cooked beef and fish, surrounded by stunning salads piled high like colourful little mountains. Then I remembered I had leftover stock in the freezer. So that was that, I would cook for everyone and for the first time in ages I was very excited about it.

I've been eyeing a few recipes in Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook lately, so I decided to usurp Ottolenghi's aubergine dish for Hopkinson's.  The Good Cook recipe is passed on from his friend, with Simon claiming it was the best aubergine dish he ever had. So that was going on the menu. I also had a delicious salad a couple of weeks ago, from Wendy Swetnam, a talented vegetarian chef who was doing a bit of cooking at new local cafe, Cowherd.  I'm not normally one for putting fruit in my savoury food, but radish, apple and fennel are seriously good together.

My lovely stepmum agreed to help and we made enough to feed twenty or more people. You could easily cut some dishes out from the menu.  After all, I had the benefit of some prepped stock in my freezer, but then that shouldn't stop you doing exactly the same. Arancini are far less fiddly to make than cauliflower cheese bonbons, if you want to save some time.  And both can be prepped in advance and even frozen.  We had a great family dinner and I spent very little time in the kitchen, and got to be with my family.  Just how it should be!

The Menu

Arancini with leek & Montagnolo Affine*

Cauliflower cheese bonbons*

Roast sirloin of Cheshire beef

Scrumpy braised gammon with roasted mustard glaze*

Jumbo king prawns with garlic, lime & chilli (deseeded)*

Aubergine salad with garlic, parsley & feta*

Rocket salad with pear & Grana Moravia (vegetarian hard cheese)

Fennel, radish & apple salad with parsley, lemon, maple & sumac

Mozzarella & basil salad with balsamic

Artichoke hearts with sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, capers & olives

Greek salad & marinated olives

Roasted sweet peppers stuffed with mozzarella & basil

Guacamole & red pepper humous

Local artisan bread

Cheese board

Pavlova with berries, mango & passionfruit*

Recipes*, Cooking Tips & Suppliers

Arancini with Leek & Montagnolo

First up, let's talk arancini! Possibly in my top three love your leftovers recipes. For a start, you get a fabulous first meal of delicious risotto. I always make more, just so I know I will have enough to make these gorgeous little crispy sticky balls.  I decided to reduce the phaff of stuffing them with mozzarella, and made a leek and blue cheese risotto with Montagnolo Affine, a divine vegetarian soft blue cheese from Epicerie Ludo. They tell me it's their bestseller, which is no surprise at all!

6 large leeks with green tops, sliced into 5mm rings

2 crushed garlic cloves

4 sprigs of thyme

800g risotto rice

2 litre of good quality veg stock

280g Montagnolo Affine

Pomace oil

Panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs

2-3 free range eggs

Serves 4 for dinner, then makes approx 40 arancini balls

1. Heat 50ml of pomace oil in pan, add sliced leeks and cook until start to soften.  Then add garlic and thyme.  Cook gently for a few minutes.
2. Next add rice, and a little more oil if needed.  The rice should be shiny from the oil and not sticking at all.  Then start adding stock, a ladle or two at a time.  Keep stirring and adding stock until rice is cooked (al dente of course) and there is a medium thick porridge like consistency.  It should be nice and creamy.
3. Finally add the crumbled blue cheese, remove from heat and stir until all the cheese has melted.  Serve risotto immediately.  Set aside leftovers to cool and refrigerate overnight.
4. The leftover risotto will be quite firm and perfect for rolling into small tangerine sized balls.  Lay on greaseproof tray. 
5. Fill medium sized pan with oil for deep frying and start heating (but keep an eye on it).  Set up three bowls.  Whisk 2 or 3 eggs into one bowl. Half fill the next bowl with plain flour and a pinch or two of salt and the remaining one with panko breadcrumbs. Roll the risotto ball into the flour then coat in egg, and then panko. Lay back on tray. COOK'S TIP: If you are making the bonbons too, prep them also to this stage, so you can do all the frying at the same time.
6. Deep fry balls in batches of five or six, until golden brown. Personally, I prefer to deep fry something quite quickly (so not too golden brown) and finish cooking in the oven, to make it less greasy. Drain and cool the balls on kitchen paper. If preparing prior, refrigerate or freeze at this stage, once completely cooled. They crisp up again perfectly in the oven, on about 180 (170 fan) for 10-12 minutes.

Cauliflower Cheese Bonbons

I first served these for the England home game during the Six Nations rugby, with a tomato and 'nam prik' chutney. I've been obsessed with making savoury bonbons ever since Tom Whitaker served up crab bonbons with some fish during our MasterChef stint. These little beauties had barely been up for a fortnight on my Six Nations menu posters, when a neighbouring (more famous chef) was cooking them on TV that following Sunday. Well you know what they say about imitation, flattery and all that!  He used goat cheese, which you could too and it might be easier to work with. But my OH is less than keen on goaty produce, so I stuck to simple soft cheese.

1 medium cauliflower
500g full fat soft cheese
150g Applewood smoked cheese, grated
1 tsp English mustard
Pinch of salt & white pepper

Pomace oil

Panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs

2-3 free range eggs

Makes approx 40 bonbons

1. Cut the cauliflower into small florets. I found the trickiest part was getting the cauliflower florets the right size.  Whatever the widest point of the piece is, this will be the diameter of your ball, so aim to cut florets no wider than one inch.
2. Mix the cream cheese, grated cheese and mustard in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Set up three bowls.  Whisk 2 or 3 eggs into one bowl. Half fill the next bowl with plain flour and a pinch or two of salt and the remaining one with panko breadcrumbs.
4. Take a small ball size of cheese mix and push a cauli floret into middle. Roll the cheese to make a ball and fully cover the cauliflower. You may need more cheese to do this. Roll in the flour, then dip in the egg and then panko. Set onto a tray with greaseproof paper.
5. Deep fry balls in batches of five or six, until golden brown. As with the arancini, I prefer to deep fry something quite quickly and finish cooking in the oven, especially if I'm not serving it immediately. Drain and cool the bonbons on kitchen paper. If preparing prior, refrigerate or freeze at this stage, once completely cooled. They crisp up again perfectly in the oven, on about 180 (170 fan), for 12 minutes.

For the roast sirloin of Cheshire beef, I seasoned and pan roasted a 900g sirloin from Frosty butcher. Twenty minutes in a medium oven, then same again resting. My beef loving brother in law thought it was perfectly cooked. Not bad for a vegetarian I thought.

The scrumpy braised gammon with roasted mustard glaze was leftover from making croque monsieurs at the pub during the Six Nations.  I braised the gammon in scrumpy cider, with onion, leek, celery, five spice, cloves and cinnamon for about two hours. I then mixed some honey and mustard for the glaze, and roasted in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes.

I source my seafood from Out of The Blue, and their jumbo sized tail on king prawns are really good quality.  I marinated them in juice of two fresh limes, 1 crushed garlic clove and finely sliced deseeded chilli (I couldn't help myself - how can one not use chilli), then skewered them into threes. A quick blast on both sides under a hot grill just before serving. Of all the dishes, these flew off the plate the fastest. No chilli allowed. Pah!

Simon Hopkinson's
Aubergine salad with garlic, parsley & feta

Blimey this dish was good. Bit fiddly, but also a strangely relaxing task. Ingredients are simple enough, as per the title with some good quality virgin olive oil and salt. I used three medium aubergines (Hopkinson recommends using the long thinner variety). You score in a circle around the top, just below the skin and then at 3cm intervals down the sides. I put them under a medium grill, turning occasionally until the skin changed colour and the aubergine was quite soft (but not blackened in the same way you would for babaganoush). Leave to cool.

In a bowl add one crushed clove of garlic, mixed with 1/2 cup of olive oil, a large handful of fresh chopped parsley and a pinch of salt. Set aside while you peel the aubergines. If using bigger aubergines like I did, cut them lengthways in half, keeping half the stem top on each piece. Then peel the skin away and lay the the aubergine on a big plate. Cover the plate with a single layer of the pieces of aubergine, then cover with the garlic and parsley mixture and crumble feta over the top.  The flavours infuse if you set aside, but don't serve straight from the fridge as these kinds of flavours work best at room temperature.

Michel Roux's
Pavlova with berries, mango & passionfruit

Of course it was amazing! A) because it's Michel Roux's recipe (well his wife's actually) and B) because it was made by my teen daughter, a bit of a patisserie chef in the making (once she's had a money making career - her words, not mine).






I don't think I need to detail the recipe, as it's a simple French style meringue. Keep the double cream softly whipped and I used alphonso mango puree for extra sauciness (fresh ones aren't great at the moment), along with fresh raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and passionfruit (which are great at the moment).

All of the other vegetables, fruits and other ingredients were bought locally in Chorlton. We are incredibly lucky to have Elliotts Fruit and Veg in our precinct, a proper greengrocers with an eye for seasonal and delicious specials. I also picked up a selection of bread (and cheese) from Ludo's. Their baguettes are almost famous and you can order to pick up fresh and warm from the oven, simply by tweeting them. Almost worth tolerating trolls on Twitter just for that.

Artichoke hearts in olive oil are my favourite vegetable cheat for antipasto. I roasted some peppers and added a mix of sundried tomatoes, olives and capers.

The salad recipes are as simple as their names suggest, but big on flavour. I got someone to bring me a new supply of sumac powder from Ottolenghi's deli. Don't worry if you can't get hold of it easily. Substitute with some pomegranate molasses (pick up in any Asian grocers) and just omit the maple syrup.

Then sit back and enjoy! :0)

A little blog about halloumi...

Now, I love halloumi. I really do.  It's got a smack of salty savoury flavour with some damn good texture and chewiness to boot.  For a vegetarian, this is a very good thing.  We eat way too many foods that are smushy.  So I was surprised to find myself in a Twitter hooey with Luck, Lust, Liquor & Burn recently over their veggie options.  What started as an aside about just how much halloumi is on offer as the 'veggie option' (across Manchester restaurants I might add) turned into what seemed like I was having a pop at their menu as the angry, hard done by vegetarian (as ever).  

Unfortunately this is the limiting weakness of tweeting anything that could be controversial or require more explanation than 144 characters.  I think The Great Vegetarian Debate... or The Elephant in the Room, is a classic example of this.  Trying to remark about something of that nature on Twitter is going to lose all context and fall into failsafe old patterns for labelling vegetarians as ever suffering, blah blah blah...  I'm bored with this reaction now.  Water off a ducks back.  For me there are far more challenging and interesting things to discuss.  And it turns out halloumi could be one of them.

I often find it quite boring eating out as a vegetarian in Manchester.  Not because all the vegetarian food is bad, but because a lot of it is lazy. This is the crux of the problem with food that contains no meat or fish (let's just stop thinking of it as vegetarian food for a moment). Something happens when chefs go to make a dish with no meat or fish, as they start with this idea in their head of 'the veggie option'.  They often take a dish that would normally contain meat and make the easiest and most cost effective substitution.  In Manchester just now, this appears to be halloumi.

As I walked down Thomas Street the other day, glancing at menus, I thought someone was having a bit of laugh. As my friend Hannah surmised, it's like halloumi bingo!  There are so many places serving this, it's like groundhogs day for the vegetarian.

With the plethora of burger joints and American/Mexican influenced cafes all over the city centre, which is often where my teens would choose to go, halloumi has become ubiquitous, along with smushy bean burgers and meditarranean vegetables (red peppers), it's like the 90s all over again. If we're really lucky, we might even get a Portobello mushroom. But seriously, who can't grill their own damn mushroom and halloumi at home. Personally I'm less than keen to pay £10 for someone to do it for me.

Imagine visiting different cafes and restaurants and only being offered the same ingredients over and over again. Every place you walked in, it said grilled chicken.  It's just so boring and quite lazy (that's why I'd rather cook at home).  Halloumi is also cost effective because if there's limited demand, you don't want to waste too much chef labour on a dish that is only for vegetarians.  But then there will always be limited demand unless it stands up as a really great dish, in its own right, to all diners.

Okra chilli fries @ Mughli

It is rare that this dish without meat and fish is truly given some thought and flare. But it is when this happens that you see the dish being ordered by everyone, not just people with a vegetarian diet.  I've seen this happen with okra fries and aubergine mash at Mughli, deep fried mac & cheese at SoLita, and wasabi gazpacho and parmesan patties at Mr Cooper's House (yes I know parmesan isn't veggie, but let's just keep pedantry at bay for a mo), as well as dishes on my own menu (I like to think :).  Take a look around those restaurants and you will see plenty of meat eating diners tucking into those dishes. However, the rare occasions these little beauties do turn up on a menu, it's often as a side or starter, or even worse, is simply the toppings or accompaniments from the meat dishes.  Kind of feels like you've been cheated!

This is also why I fell in love with Asian food, because a great deal more of it is naturally vegetarian.  And why I've always loved Ottolenghi food, because that imaginative and balanced creativity has appeal across the board.  I guess this blog is a plea for more chefs to create more imaginative dishes that stand up in their own right as a great plate of food, rather than simply having a substitution 'veggie' dish that uses the same ingredients over and over.  I'm not saying a really well put together burrito with halloumi, well made refried beans and all the trimmings isn't a great plate of food, but it gets boring.  I could order another dish, but then the same ingredients turn up again... halloumi, roasted mediterranean vegetables (enough already with the peppers) or those damn smushy bean burgers.

Restaurants will say that the demand is too low to create more main courses without meat and fish.  But I wonder if this is true, or it's simply a reflection of poorer dishes or repetitive substitutes in them, that discourage a wider audience of customers from ordering.  You may be wondering why I'm so bothered about this (apart from being naturally blessed with the argumentative gene).  Two reasons.  I'd really like to eat more interesting food when I go out for dinner with my teens.  And if the so-called 'veggie' food appealed to a much wider audience, because it was just simply a great dish, then that would be good for the diner and the planet.

But my disappointment is made up of more than halloumi fatigue. I start to wonder if the people of Manchester will ever want more than over-the-top , heart stopping burgers as that market seems to have an alarming grip on everyone and everything (alongside some really mediocre Italian food). Americana has well and truly asserted its presence in Manchester. I see menus adapting to the burger/hotdog phenomenon, even where you think they should know better. But in difficult times, can you blame any business for jumping on the bandwagon of anything that will bring them the income they need.

I'm old enough to know this has always been the way with trends, but it still leaves me wondering about supply and demand, and which came first with the chicken and egg. Another friend, Claire, was lamenting the other day that people (mostly middle aged ones like me I suspect) should stop criticising hipsters, as they're the only ones spending any money at the moment. She has a fair point. But it's not much good to most of us if they are focusing their foodie attention on burgers and ice cream.  Although this 'gourmet ice cream in the winter' courtesy of Ginger's new place is a great way to keep the teens, vegetarians and even those damn hipsters happy I reckon!   

Manchester International Festival & beyond

Things have been so busy, I've missed an entire month without blogging. And I'm well overdue in posting some recipes. You'll have to make do with the back catalogue for now as I'm meeting myself coming backwards just now :)

We had a record breaking weekend at The Beech Inn as we began a gloriously sunny July.  The Timothy Taylor's night followed by Chorlton Beer Festival got things off to a swinging start, ending with a scorching family fun Sunday along Beech Rd.  

Bunting, suncream and watermelon are my memories of the day. And we've had some lovely new summer dishes on the menu.

Buddha's Tapas

Sticky coconut rice & honey mango

The following week we moved Barbarella for the first time in over 6 months. I had sleepless nights about the prospect of moving her but it all turned out okay in the end. Got ourselves nicely ensconced in Albert square from last Friday until late on Sunday. We had an amazing time at what has turned out to be a great festival. 

Busier than we could have ever have imagined, lots of lovely feedback from customers and hopefully some new visitors back at The Beech.  We even got ourselves in the Evening News :)

And the weekend wouldn't be complete without my favourite ice cream from Ginger's Comfort Emporium, marmalade & brown toast!

















DATE FOR THE DIARY:
I'm taking a well earned break next week, so Mark Lloyd will be the guest chef at The Hungry Gecko at The Beech Inn from next week, for ONE WEEK ONLY. He will be serving some of his own specials alongside some gecko favourites. Thursday 25th through to Sunday 28th July.

New year & a new menu for dining club

I've finally settled on the menu for January's dining club dates.  I'm a big fan of Korean food (no surprise there) and have been playing around with kimchi for a few months now.  I wasn't sure how well noodle soup would sit as a main course.  Soup always makes me think starter.  But it's too substantial for a starter, especially served with the tofu and seawood cakes.

I'm excited about making panipuri.  I love this Indian snack, and for me it's the perfect amuse bouche.  It sings on sweet and sour and spicy notes with lots of soft and crispy textures.  What could be more perfect?

The dessert was inspired by a restaurant in Kathmandu called Fire & Ice.  They served hot brownies with ice cream, which after ten days in the mountains and living on dal bhat (the simple Nepali dinner set of soupy lentil dal and steamed rice, with fresh green chillies and salt on the side) it seemed like food from the gods.

There are still some places available for the upcoming dining club dates.  There are just 3 spaces left for Saturday 12th January, and there are places available for Thursday 17th and Friday 18th January.  The Hungry Gecko dining club is £29 per person for five courses.  To book a place, email us at thehungrygecko@gmail.com

     

January Menu

Panipuri

Classic Indian street food snack

with tamarind, chilli & chaat masala

Kedgeree

Spiced rice in panko croquette

Served with a poached quail egg

Kimchi noodle soup

Korean style red pepper broth with traditional fermented cabbage

Served with tofu seaweed cakes & egg noodles

Raspberry lassi sorbet

Fire & Ice Brownie

Hot sticky brownie with hint of chilli,

served with star anise & vanilla ice cream

  

RECIPE TIME.... Sunday dinner for veggies!

My household may consist of a bunch a vegetarians, but I don't mind saying, we do love a family Sunday dinner as much as anyone.  With all the usual trimmings. Crispy roast potatoes with rosemary, creamy mash (I like to mix it up with spinach, but recently I've taken to making carrot and potato mash since my teen daughter decided she doesn't like cooked carrots anymore), peas (with a little garden mint) and a home made onion gravy.  

This recipe evolved yesterday as I was making a nut roast.  I wanted to make the main feature protein rich and nutritious, as I've been feeling a bit neglectful of my family's diet (and probably my own).  Nut roasts can often be a little dry, so I've tried to counter that with plenty of succulent vegetables, and replacing half the amount of nuts with chestnut mushrooms, and half of the breadcrumbs with quinoa.  When I tasted the filling, it felt like it needed something sharp to cut through the sweetness of the veg and the earthiness of the nuts and mushrooms.  Hence the Cheshire cheese, but you could use any tangy cheese such as feta or perhaps stilton. Don't be put off by the savoy wrapping.  I simply removed the thick part of the lower stem, and blanched it in the potato water.  Be generous with the overlapping layers to ensure it holds together. 

CASHEW & QUINOA VEGGIE ROAST

Ingredients - serves 6

150g cashews, lightly toasted

100g quinoa (or couscous)

1 red onion, diced, pref 1/2 cm pieces

1/2 courgette, diced 

1 carrot, diced

1 leek, finely sliced

5 chestnut mushrooms, diced

1 thick slice of brown/seeded bread

1 free range egg (or use silken tofu if vegan)

120g Cheshire cheese (or feta, Lancs, blue etc)

Savoy cabbage, 6 outer leaves, trim thick stalk end

Oil or butter for frying & greasing

Salt & white pepper for seasoning

1 tbsp fresh or 1/2 tsp dried herbs, I used fresh thyme & marjoram

To prepare:

1. Grease a loaf tin with butter or oil.  Heat oven to 190 degrees.
2. Add onion, courgette, carrot, leek & mushrooms to pan with a little oil or butter, and cook for 8-10 mins until vegetables are soft.
3. Simmer quinoa for 4-5 mins in veg stock (or hot water with a smidge of marmite).
4. Toast cashews in a pan, then blitz in food processor into small pieces.  Avoid blitzing into a powder or you will lose the texture.

5. Blitz bread into crumbs.
6. Blanche cabbage leaves in hot water for 2 mins and set aside.
7. Mix the vegetables, nuts, breadcrumbs and egg (or tofu if using).  Add fresh or dried herbs and season to taste with salt and white pepper.
8. Line the loaf tin with the cabbage leaves, using five large leaves to cover bottom and saving one leaf to seal the top.
9. Half fill the loaf tin with mixture, firmly pushing down with back of spoon to ensure shape.

10. Crumble the cheese over the filling. Then add remaining filling on top, again pushing down to make a firm shape. If you're vegan, omit this layer and add squeeze of lemon to veg mixture.
11. Fold over edges of cabbage leaves to cover top of roast, and then layer final leaf over top and tuck into sides.
12. Cover loaf tin with foil and place on baking tray.
13. Bake in over for 15 mins, then turn over, foil side down on tray, and continue baking for another 10-15 mins.
14. Remove from oven, turn right way again and remove foil lid.  Turn onto chopping board and remove tin.

Hope you enjoy it!  Here's to family time :0)

Recipe for Roast Cauliflower, Broccoli & Pasta Fondue

RECIPE TIME!  Roasted cauliflower, broccoli and pasta fondue with a pumpkin seed crust.  This is a fairly quick and easy dish to prepare.  I find it's very popular amongst children and teens, but then the fondue sauce gives a slightly more ‘grown up’ feel to the dish too. 

It came about as a result of my indecision between making macaroni cheese or cauliflower cheese.  You can use different combinations of cheeses, but I do love the classic combination of gruyere and emmental.  I try to include seeds in recipes sometimes as they are a great source of nutrients for anyone's diet, especially veggie's.

Ingredients – to serve 4-6

•  1 medium cauliflower
• 1 medium broccoli head
• 300g penne or rigatoni pasta
• ½ bottle dry white white
• Clove of garlic (optional)
• 200g Gruyere
• 200g Emmental
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 50g Sainsbury vegetarian Italian hard cheese
• Small handful of pumpkin or mixed seeds
• 2 slices of brown bread (preferably a little stale)

Method

1. Heat oven to 220 C.
2. Break and trim cauliflower and broccoli into large florets, drizzle with olive oil and a little salt and roast in the hot oven for 10 mins.
3. Meanwhile, bring add pasta to pan of boiling water and cook until al dente, about 8 mins.  Drain water and then return to large pan and set aside.
4. Rub the sides of a small pan with the garlic clove (if using), then add white wine and bring to boil.  Simmer until reduced by one third.
5. Grate gruyere and emmental and add to simmering wine, along with mustard.  Heat gently and stir until wine and cheese are well combined.
6. Blitz brown bread slices in mixer to create breadcrumbs.  Bread can be grated if you don’t have a food processor.  Mix breadcrumbs with finely grated parmesan or vegetarian Italian hard cheese.
7. Add roasted vegetables to pasta pan, mix together and then add fondue sauce and stir to combine well. Check seasoning and add salt and white pepper to taste. Turn out mixture into large baking dish, ensuring even arrangement of cauliflower, broccoli and pasta.
8. Layer breadcrumb mixture over top and then sprinkle with pumpkin or mixed seeds.
9. Bake in hot oven, 200 C, until top is golden and crispy.

Enjoy :0)

A tasty recipe for quinoa... really? Try this Moroccan style vegetable claypot

Having a rare day off on Sunday, I was enjoying some sofa surfing and bad TV, when hunger drove me to inspect the half empty cupboards and fridge.  This is one of those recipes that comes from trying to make something out of only the things you already have.  Being slightly obsessed with spices, I have a well stocked dry store cupboard to be fair.  But the fridge was looking very lean indeed...

I had 2 aubergines and 1 yellow pepper leftover from a cooking class, an onion and loads of garlic.  There was also a very sad looking half cauliflower, which needed a good trim, half a jar of green olives, half a lemon and half a tube of tomato paste.  And the ubiquitous herbs from the garden....  

For those of you unfamiliar with quinoa, it's a kind of grain that originated in S America.  The Incas believed the crop was sacred, and hardly surprising given it kicks the nutritional backside of most other cereals and grains, containing essential amino acids as well as calcium and iron. 

The recipe looks like a lot of ingredients, but it is very much a 'chuck it in a pot' recipe.  Enjoy :) 

Moroccan style vegetable claypot with quinoa

1 or 2 white onions roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic crushed

Olive oil for frying

1-2 aubergines, 1" pieces

1 yellow pepper, cut into strips

1/2 cauliflower, trimmed florets

300g frozen quorn pieces (optional, but adds nice texture & soaks up flavour; you could also use tofu mince or tofu pieces, or add more variety of vegetables)

1 can of chickpeas, washed

2 tbsp of tomato paste

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

Couple of sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp agave syrup

1/2 tsp saffron, steeped in hot water for 10 mins - then strain saffron water into pot

1 tsp sumac (optional)

1 tsp hot paprika or cayenne pepper

3 pints of veg stock

1-2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted

1/2 lemon, cut into thick slices & deseeded

1 cup of green olives, stoned

1/2 to 1 tsp salt (to taste)

200g quinoa, cooked for 10 mins in 1/2 pint veg stock, then leave to stand for 5 minutes (you could substitute with couscous or bulgar wheat also, soak in same way)

Handful of chopped marjoram (could substitute for coriander or parsley)

1. Prepare ingredients as above.

2. In a heavy bottomed deep pan (I use a creuset pot for this kind of food), soften onions in olive oil until translucent and then add garlic.  Cook for a further minute or two, then add aubergines, peppers and cauliflower (you could use any veg really such as carrots, sweet potato, courgettes). 

3.  Add all the remaining ingredients, except for the quinoa.  Ensure there is plenty of liquid in the pan, as this will be absorbed by the quinoa later.

4. Bring to simmer and cook on very low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

5. Stir the ingredients well, then layer the soaked quinoa over the top.  Replace lid and leave to stand for 5 mins.  Sprinkle with some fresh chopped marjoram (or parsley or coriander) just before serving.

6. Serve with hot crusty bread and a green salad!

My first streetfood event @ Ramsbottom Choc Festival

I barely know where to start.  On MasterChef, they say that cooking doesn't get tougher than this.  I may have to contend this point.  I have never worked so hard or learnt so much in such a short space of time.  The preparation and set up during the last few weeks was almost overwhelming.  I've learnt to tow (and even reverse) a 3 tonne 23ft trailer.  I've taken delivery of more produce and prepped more food than I ever thought I would (or could for that matter).  Just bonkers!  But what an amazing experience.  The highs and lows have left me exhausted and exhiliarated at the same time.  The best bit of all was seeing people enjoying my food and hearing such great feedback.  It has made all the hard work, sweat and yes, a few tears, very much worthwhile :)

Our weekend in Ramsbottom at the Chocolate festival was the perfect first event.  I owe a HUGE thanks to the lovely people there for making us so welcome and for helping us out with numerous hiccups and challenges (The Chocolate Cafe, Ruth from Bury Council, Room54 and the lovely Stuart for his impromptu lesson in reversing a trailer).  From class 1 driving lessons to supplying water from local shops, we couldn't have done it without the support of everyone there.  I think I've fallen a little bit in love with Ramsbottom!

So here's a few pics.... 

At one point, the queues were overwhelming and we felt like we just couldn't serve people fast enough.  Thanks for your patience though and the feedback was inspiring! 

  

It has to be remembered that neither my sister Nic or my best mate Fran, have EVER worked in food service or kitchens before.  They did brilliantly and learned so fast.

  

And I only shouted a few times ;0)

My friend H, made some special edition cake pops for The Hungry Gecko including dark choc & chilli and choc fudge & stem ginger.  They went down a storm.  Seriously, her cake pops really can't be beaten and she makes a fine cup cake too.  Check out her facebook page for more info CupCakeCuties

Thali thali thali!

I have to be honest, Indian subcontinent food is my favourite food of all.  In my family, we eat more home cooked Indian food than anything else.  I love cooking it and eating it.  Simple as that really.  My children often caused a small furore with their chilli eating while we were travelling.  People were so surprised to see such young children adore spice so much.  But if you grew up on dal and rice instead of bangers and mash, it's not that surprising really.

So we've been enjoying lots of lovely recipe testing in our house in preparation for thali night.  And here it is.  The first draft of the menu...

Cauliflower & chard pakoras

Paneer & cashew koftas in yoghurt curry

Kali daal (creamy black lentils)

Baigan ka bharta (roasted aubergine mash)

Pappu dosaki (dudhi gourd with channa :)  

Stir fried lotus root

All served on a banana leaf, with steamed rice, salad and pickles.

Well all that's certainly made me hungry! The evening is now fully booked, but if it goes well, we could be looking at v2....

Check out the lovely new dining club menu... yum yum!

I'm looking forward to cooking my new menu for the dining club from next weekend.  Places available for Fri 18th (2 left) and Sat 19th November.  To make a booking, send an email to: thehungrygecko@gmail.com 

Amuse bouche
Sweet & sour popcorn tofu

Starter
Buddha’s Delight, noodle soup with exotic mushrooms & bean curds, served with vegetable crackers & chilli cashews

Main
Balinese satay sticks, lemongrass skewers of smoky tempeh, served with spicy candlenut sauce & sticky rice

Pre-dessert
Duo of jackfruit & mango sorbet and lime sorbet

Dessert
Pear & frangipane tart with vanilla & star anise ice cream, served with salted almond praline & goji berry sauce

There are several highlights for me with this menu, but I am most proud of the dessert.  I think it sings and my dessert loving daughter agrees.  She says it's the best dessert I've ever made.  Slightly biased I suspect.  I'll post some photos when I get the chance.  

I made the Balinese satay sticks during the fine dining challenge week on MasterChef.  Posh Bertie said it wasn't posh enough, but JT said he 'missed a trick'.  I know who's opinion I'd trust! 

The starter is based on a rather ubiquitous noodle soup from China that uses a variety of beancurds and fungi, including lily buds, wood ears and black moss.  Some versions have over 19 ingredients.  My version has 16.  It's also delicious.  But then I would say that, wouldn't I  :0)