family meals
Easy things to take to pot luck gatherings
So, you’ve been rushed off your feet with the kids and work and the house and so on, and you realise at the last minute you’ve promised to take something along to a pot luck supper or gathering. What to do, what to do? Here are some suggestions.
Watermelon cut into wedges – always popular.
Berry dessert – mix fresh or defrosted raspberries with a bit of sugar (vanilla sugar is best) and whipped cream and/or Greek natural yoghurt. Ricotta cheese is another good option. Serve with shortbread biscuits.
Kebabs – put cubes of halloumi cheese and cherry tomatoes onto bamboo skewers. These can be grilled as well, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil before sprinkling with freshly ground black pepper.
Nibbles – for a modern take on the 1970s, put gouda cheese and seedless black grapes onto cocktail sticks. Another quick and clever offering is to fry up some shelled mixed nuts in olive oil with chopped dried rosemary and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Even better if you can wrap them in foil and serve them warm.
Cocktail sausages – buy pre-cooked ones and serve with wholegrain mustard or salsa as a kind of dip.
Finally, if you really want to impress, and you know someone who is visiting Germany or Austria, get them to bring home a packet of Dr Oetker Tarte au Chocolat or Tarte au Citron mix. Add four eggs and some softened butter and you have a magnificent cake that looks like you spent all afternoon in the kitchen.
Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Weekend Cook Fest 4
Roasted vegetable side dish, vegetarian pasta sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs assorted vegetables (see below)
- Olive oil for drizzling
- 2-3 crushed garlic cloves
- Balsamic vinegar for sprinkling
- Salt and pepper
- 2 oz grated parmesan
- Marscapone or double cream (small carton)
- Fresh herbs, such as basil, oregano or tarragon
Technique and organisation:
STEP 1 – Roasted vegetables
Prepare 3 lbs of the following vegetables, any combination: sweet potato wedges, parsnips, sliced peppers, carrot batons, red onions cut into wedges, beetroot, courgette slices. Pour a coating of olive oil into the bottom of a deep baking tray and scatter the vegetables on top, drizzling a bit more olive oil over them so they are well covered. Crush 2-3 cloves garlic and mix amongst the vegetables. Sprinkle some balsamic vinegar over the top. Roast in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, covering with foil if they start to look too brown. Reserve 1/2 of the vegetables to serve with your roast dinner.
STEP 2 – Roasted vegetable pasta
Just before you want to eat, toss a third of the remaining vegetables into hot cooked pasta and add a few tablespoons of Marscapone or double cream to make an impromptu sauce. You can also add some fresh herbs if you have them, and some grated parmesan. Sprinkle with black pepper if you like.
The Weekend Cook Fest
An alternative to cooking every day is to ensconce yourself in the kitchen for a few hours at the weekend while the rest of the family is busy, or while the roast is cooking, for example, and prepare several dishes at once that can take the pressure off the rest of the week. It can also be a more economical way of making the most of your ingredients. To that end, I am introducing a number of different weekend batch cooking projects that you can work on with the radio on in the background, a cup of decent coffee by your side, and hopefully any offspring taken outside for a bit of a walk and a play by someone else, to come back rosy cheeked and fresh faced to gobble up all your food with gusto.
Bolognaise sauce, lasagne, chili con carne
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs mince
- 3 large onions
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tins chopped tomatoes
- Herbs
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- Packet no-soak lasagne sheets
- 2 oz butter
- 2 oz flour
- Pint of milk
- 2 oz strong-tasting cheese (Gruyere or Parmesan)
- Tin red kidney beans
- Pinch chilli pepper
Technique and organisation
STEP 1 – Bolognaise
Chop 3 onions and fry up in a little sunflower oil in a large deep pan, until they are transparent. Add 3 lbs best mince, and cook until the meat is browned. Then add 3 tins of chopped tomatoes and three crushed cloves of garlic, as well as a dash of Worcestershire Sauce and any herbs you have to hand, such as thyme, basil or oregano. You can also add a slug of red wine if you have a bottle open. Allow to simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the meat has taken on the flavour of the seasoning, and it is reasonably thick. Set aside about a third of this mixure for bolognaise sauce, allow to cool and put into the fridge. On the day, serve with pasta or rice.
STEP 2 – Lasagne
You will need to set aside another third of the sauce for this. Get a baking dish, or deep baking tray, and lay out a layer of no-soak lasagne sheets in the bottom, pour a layer of the sauce over it, top with another layer of no-soak lasagne sheets, and so on, carrying on until you have more or less reached 4/5 of the way up the dish. Now you need to make a white sauce for the top. To do this melt 1 tbsp of butter in a milk pan and when it is liquid add about the same amount of plain flour. Taking the pan off the heat, beat them both together frantically to make a paste. Return the pan to the heat. Add a pint of milk little by little, beating with a wooden spoon as you go along, until you get a smooth sauce. If it goes lumpy, beat it aggressively with a whisk, or if the situation is very desperate, put it in a blender for a few moments. Once the white sauce is ready, use it to pour on top of the lasagne, and grate a bit of parmesan or gruyere cheese over the top. Allow to cool and putinto the fridge covered with cling film. On the day, heat for 20 minutes in a hot oven, until the centre is hot and the top browned. Serve with a side salad and/or garlic bread.
STEP 3 – Chili con carne
Add a tin of red kidney beans to the remaining 1/3 of the sauce, and a pinch or two of chilli powder (as much as you will all be comfortable with). Allow to cool and put into the fridge. On the day, heat thoroughly and serve with rice or tortillas.
Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Shopping list – Week 4
MEAT AND FISH
2 lbs/1kg minced beef 4 gammon steaks
1lb/500g pork stir fry pieces
Beef joint
4oz/100g cooked ham
4 oz/100g cooked chicken
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
2 lbs/1kg new potatoes
4 baking potatoes
Fresh parsley
Fresh chives
Fresh berries (if not too expensive) or frozen
Mango
6 apples
6 bananas
Melon
4 oz/100g grapes
Satsumas
Romaine lettuce
Cucumber
8 oz/200g vine tomatoes
2lbs/1kg carrots
2 aubergines
3 courgettes
2 onions
2 red or green peppers
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh pineapple (or tinned in juice)
STORE CUPBOARD
2 loaves sliced bread
Tomato ketchup and/or relish
Horseradish sauce and/or
English mustard
Chocolate sauce or Mars bar (to melt for sauce)
Medium rice noodles
Tin chopped tomatoes
Tin kidney beans
3 litre cartons orange juice
3 litre cartons apple juice
Chocolate chip biscuits
Baguette
DAIRY
Sour cream
10 fl oz/250 ml single cream
1 lb/500g vegetable spread
1 pint/ 500ml low fat natural yoghurt
2 pints/1 litre Greek yoghurt
4 oz/100g cheddar cheese
Sliced cheese for sandwiches
FREEZER
2 lbs/1 kg frozen peas
2 lbs/1kg frozen green beans
1 lb/500g value frozen white fish
HOUSEHOLD
Bin bags
Light bulbs
Image: vitasamb2001 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Dinners for the home – Week 4
Monday
Baked white fish with boiled potatoes, fresh parsley sauce and green beans
Fruit salad and cream
Tuesday
Home-made burgers with baked potatoes, sour cream and chives.
Ice cream and chocolate sauce
Wednesday
Gammon steaks with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Greek yoghurt with honey
Thursday
Vegetable stew with hidden eggs
Baguette
Microwaved chocolate cake
Friday
Pork stir fry with rice noodles
Mango fool
Saturday
Chile con carne with rice
Banana split yoghurts
Sunday
Roast beef with horseradish sauce, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots and peas
Clafoutis
Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Healthy after school snacks
Try these to keep the little’uns away from the biscuit tin.
Bread sticks
Yoghurts, in little pots of natural with a bit of honey. Cut comb honey always has a pleasing novelty value.
Fruit kebabs
Microwave popcorn
Cheese sticks
Toasted crumpet or muffin with olive spread
Ryvita with raisins inside
Carrot sticks or pitta bread fingers with dip made from 6 teaspoons low fat mayo and 1 teaspoon ketchup mixed together.
Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Five tinned foods that punch above their weight
I’ve been nosying around my winter survival cupboard today to see what needs topping up, and I am about to make a big trip to the cash and carry to stock up on tins. Interestingly enough, a lot of tinned foods have more vitamins in them than fresh food that things that have been lying around your kitchen for a week or so. Here are some great additions to a store cupboard that I will be bringing home later.
Tinned tomatoes – these come in different forms but particularly useful are the ones with garlic and herbs already in the mix. Passata in large jars can go onto home made pizza bases with a big of grated cheese and some salami for a Saturday treat.
Pulses – try different kinds such as lentils, chickpeas, borlotti beans, butter beans, mixed spicy beans and canneloni beans. Great with mince, in salads, to bulk out a bolognaise or shepherd’s pie, or to make an instant vegetarian chili.
Stone fruits – cherries, plums and mirabelles make great crumbles and pies, can be served with cream or yoghurt for a quick dessert, and can even be added to smoothies or put on top of muesli.
Exotic fruits – pineapple, lychees, mangos are all wonderful to have around, and give you the makings of a very sophisticated winter fruit salad, but look for tins which state they are in their own juices rather than in syrup.
Fish – Sardines, mackerel, salmon, tuna and even shrimps are all great for sandwiches, pasta dishes, fish pie, salads and little toasts to have as a nibble with a glass of wine.
Image: xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Ten things that should always be in your kitchen
Here are the top ten items you should make sure you always have in your kitchen, to produce easy lunches or suppers in super-quick time.
1. Eggs
2. Bacon or ham
3. Onions
4. Parmesan
5. Potatoes
6. Cream
7. Butter
8. Pasta or noodles
9. Bread
10. Milk
Here are some dishes you can concoct in emergencies from these ingredients:
1+2+6+7 – Scrambled eggs and ham
2+3+5+7 – Fried potatoes with bacon
1+2+7+8 – Pasta with ham
1+2+6+8 – Spaghetti carbonara
1+2+9 – Fried egg and bacon sandwich
1+2+6 – Omelette
1+7+9+10+cinammon/sugar/Nutella/honey – French toast
4+5+6 – Potato gratin
1+10+flour+sugar – Pancakes
For more inspiration, check out this blog as well, which has wonderful quiches and a great one-pot carbonara recipe: http://saltandcaramel.com/?p=1258
Dinners for the home – Week 1
Here are some incredibly straightforward meals that will please most omnivore families at minimal costs. No fancy names, no fiddly ingredients, no exhortations to spend time arranging food in dainty piles on large white plates, just traditional family fodder and nothing else. Look in the accompanying posts for the more unusual main course and dessert recipes, otherwise everything else should be freely available via an internet search or by rummaging in your cookbooks.
MONDAY
Baked chicken portions with boiled new potatoes and carrots
Rice pudding
TUESDAY
Fresh stuffed pasta with tomato and basil sauce, grated cheese and mixed salad
Fruit salad and ice cream
WEDNESDAY
Fish stew and baguette
Microwaved chocolate cake
THURSDAY
Baked pork chops and mashed potato and green beans
Cheese, biscuits and grapes
FRIDAY
Mince and vegetables with rice
Yoghurt with blueberry jam and elderflower cordial
SATURDAY
Steaks and baked potatoes and mixed salad
Poached pears and yoghurt or cream
SUNDAY
Roast lamb with roast potatoes, mint sauce, peas, carrots and broccoli
Fruit tart and whipped cream
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It’s spring! Here comes the nettle soup
By popular request, here are two nettle soup recipes for you to make the most of all those lovely vitamins and minerals in the tops of the nettles. Just make sure you are wearing gloves and only remove the young, fresh shoots from the top of each plant, and avoid collecting them from areas that are too near traffic or where they might have been sprayed with pesticides.
Thin soup
1 lb nettle tops or enough freshly picked ones to fill your largest saucepan, pressed down a bit
Tbsp olive oil
Chopped onion
1 pint chicken stock
Sprinkle of nutmeg
Dash of creme fraiche
Chop the nettle tops roughly and saute them with the onion, allowing the mixture to sweat in the pan a little. Then pour over the chicken stock (you can also use vegetable stock if you prefer). Cook until the leaves and onion are really soft and then puree the soup in a blender and season with salt and pepper as desired. Add nutmeg to taste. Serve with a cheeky little dash of creme fraiche.
Thick soup
1/2 lb nettle tops
1 lb floury potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
Chopped onion
2 oz butter
1 1/2 pints chicken or vegetable stock
4 tbsp double cream
Chop the nettle tops roughly and saute them with the onion, allowing the mixture to sweat in the pan a little as in the previous recipe. Then pour over the chicken stock (again, you can also use vegetable stock if you prefer). Cook until the leaves and onion are really soft and add the potato. Cook until the potato is soft enough to mash into the soup. Strain the soup to remove lumps (a French mouli-legumes is best for this, but if you don’t have one, just strain it through a colander. Don’t use a blender or food processor as it will get gelatinous). Finally stir in the cream and season to taste. Good served with bacon bits sprinkled on top, if you have any.
Austerity Housekeeping 