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| Turkey meatballs with new potatoes and salad |
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Tuesday turkey meatballs
We're back on track after an emotional few days and just want to say thanks to everyone for their kind comments and wishes. I have Joe back in Leeds, and welcomed him home with a late night at work (woops) and some tasty turkey meatballs! They were done in a rich tomato sauce and with some new potatoes and salad, which although sounds weird, was quite a nice combination.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Saturday - A good Scottish feast
I'm extremely proud of my heritage. I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, and much of my family still live there. I think it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world and there is nowhere quite like Scotland. I'm also trying to fight against this impression that lots of people have (boosted by frequent media hysteria) that food in Scotland is terrible. I get the jibes about deep fried mars bars, deep fried pizza and deep fried creme eggs (only at Easter, thanks) but believe it or not, that's not all Scotland has to offer. Edinburgh has some of the best restaurants restaurants in the country - the highest concentration of Michelin starred eateries outside of London - and the produce is fantastic. We have a bountiful supply of game, meats, fish, fruit and vegetables and to malign that is to be totally ignorant. Rant over.
As part of my mission to open peoples' eyes to Scottish food, Joe persuaded me to cook a Burns supper whilst his mum was staying. Neither she nor Dave Bro had ever tried haggis before, EVER! So this was not an instance of preaching to the converted and I did feel a little under pressure to make sure they liked it.
So issue number 1 - what haggis to get? I thought automatically of Macsweens. It's famous for being the best haggis, which may or may not be because it's also the most commonly supplied in England. But that probably is for a reason: the Macsween family used to own a butcher's in Bruntsfield in Edinburgh and manufactured their own haggis. The haggis became so popular that they closed the butcher's to concentrate on haggis production alone. And lucky for us as far as I'm concerned.
I did have a look at whether we should get a different haggis but given our time constraints (last minute planning as usual) it was Waitrose Macsweens to the rescue!
Traditional accompaniments are neeps and tatties (turnips, or swede to the English and potatoes), so both of these were automatically in. I did my potatoes a little differently - baked in the oven and scooped out, mashed with cream and butter. I also did some roasted chantenay carrots and a redcurrent gravy (which may be a little blasphemous with a Burns supper but ho hum!)
So food cooked, I persuaded Joe to address the haggis (first and last verse of the "Ode to the Haggis" only - it's about 25 verses long!) and we toasted with a little Dalmore whisky each. And drum roll....they all loved the haggis! It's rich, meaty and peppery, and roasted in the oven it falls apart like a dream. The neeps are also peppery and a little bitter, and with creamy mash they come together perfectly.
To follow, after quite a break, we had some traditional cranachan as well. This is a traditional Scottish dessert made with whipped cream, honey, more whisky, toasted oats and raspberries. I also threw in some toasted almonds for a slightly different texture. The best trick with cranachan is to leave stirring in the oats to the last minute so they retain their crunch. A tiny sprinkling of salt also brings out the flavour of the oats.
After even more of a break, we also had some crowdie, a creamy Scottish cheese, to round off the meal. Ok, it might have been a fairly rich meal, but it was full of amazing flavours, and I'd defy anyone not to enjoy it.
As part of my mission to open peoples' eyes to Scottish food, Joe persuaded me to cook a Burns supper whilst his mum was staying. Neither she nor Dave Bro had ever tried haggis before, EVER! So this was not an instance of preaching to the converted and I did feel a little under pressure to make sure they liked it.
So issue number 1 - what haggis to get? I thought automatically of Macsweens. It's famous for being the best haggis, which may or may not be because it's also the most commonly supplied in England. But that probably is for a reason: the Macsween family used to own a butcher's in Bruntsfield in Edinburgh and manufactured their own haggis. The haggis became so popular that they closed the butcher's to concentrate on haggis production alone. And lucky for us as far as I'm concerned.
I did have a look at whether we should get a different haggis but given our time constraints (last minute planning as usual) it was Waitrose Macsweens to the rescue!
Traditional accompaniments are neeps and tatties (turnips, or swede to the English and potatoes), so both of these were automatically in. I did my potatoes a little differently - baked in the oven and scooped out, mashed with cream and butter. I also did some roasted chantenay carrots and a redcurrent gravy (which may be a little blasphemous with a Burns supper but ho hum!)
So food cooked, I persuaded Joe to address the haggis (first and last verse of the "Ode to the Haggis" only - it's about 25 verses long!) and we toasted with a little Dalmore whisky each. And drum roll....they all loved the haggis! It's rich, meaty and peppery, and roasted in the oven it falls apart like a dream. The neeps are also peppery and a little bitter, and with creamy mash they come together perfectly.
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| Macsween haggis |
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| Roasted chantenay carrots |
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| Mashed swede |
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| Haggis, neeps and tatties |
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| Creamy mash |
After even more of a break, we also had some crowdie, a creamy Scottish cheese, to round off the meal. Ok, it might have been a fairly rich meal, but it was full of amazing flavours, and I'd defy anyone not to enjoy it.
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| Cranachan |
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| Crowdie and crackers - thanks to Haley in Clifford |
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Tuesday - Slow Cooked Chicken in a Tomato Sauce
Jo now has impressive butchery skills - even if she does say so herself! The whole chicken that we had was skillfully sliced and diced into 8 pieces plus 2 wings - great work!.
We love our slow cooker - I am not sure there are many better things in life than coming home after a long day in work to the smell of homely food wafting from the kitchen.....this time it was slow cooked chicken in a tomato sauce, with sliced potatoes on the side.....perfect!
We love our slow cooker - I am not sure there are many better things in life than coming home after a long day in work to the smell of homely food wafting from the kitchen.....this time it was slow cooked chicken in a tomato sauce, with sliced potatoes on the side.....perfect!
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| The potatoes |
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| The main event - apologies for the poor picture! |
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Tuesday night experiments!
When I don't have enough time to cook I get a bit stressed. For some reason, cooking is one of the few things that really relaxes me after work, so I get huffy when things get in my way! After having to ask Joe to make dinner last night, I didn't care that we didn't leave until after seven - I was cooking!
Today was also experiment time - a veg box from Riverford last weekend means we have lots of food in the fridge so it's a perfect time to try something different! Tonight was potato cakes with a poached egg and tomato and chorizo sauce. It took quite a lot of simultaneous activity but ended up pretty good!
Today was also experiment time - a veg box from Riverford last weekend means we have lots of food in the fridge so it's a perfect time to try something different! Tonight was potato cakes with a poached egg and tomato and chorizo sauce. It took quite a lot of simultaneous activity but ended up pretty good!
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| Four pans on the go - just before the eggs went in! |
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| And the finished product...poached eggs on potato cakes with a tomato and chorizo sauce |
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| Oh and also an excellent wine delivery. Fifteen bottles just before Christmas. Awesome. |
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Thursday - Joe cooking again!!
On Sunday our oven went pop and we are still waiting to have it fixed (should be on Saturday). That, plus the fact that Jo was work late again led to mild panic - no oven and only vegetables in the fridge!! Where is Jo when I need her!!?
I decided the best plan of action was to go to the Co-op; I had an unhealthy days food today which included toast with peanut butter and Jam x 2, ham and cheese on white rolls x 2, pork pie x 1 from J&M Rowlands (good but not quite as good as Wilsons) and way too much Soreen (don't ask).
At 9pm I went to pick up Jo from Nation of Shopkeepers where she was having a post work drink, and she had the same dinner as me.....let's hope things get back to normal next week!
I decided the best plan of action was to go to the Co-op; I had an unhealthy days food today which included toast with peanut butter and Jam x 2, ham and cheese on white rolls x 2, pork pie x 1 from J&M Rowlands (good but not quite as good as Wilsons) and way too much Soreen (don't ask).
I needed something healthy-ish. After much deliberation (I have a supermarket habit of repeatedly picking stuff up and putting it back - weird I know), I decided on having a warm chicken and potato salad and very nice it was too - this was followed by more Soreen.
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| The chicken |
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| The cheese |
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| The salad |
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| The potatoes |
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| Other stuff |
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| Salad shot one |
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| Salad shot two |
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| Thursday liquor - rock on |
At 9pm I went to pick up Jo from Nation of Shopkeepers where she was having a post work drink, and she had the same dinner as me.....let's hope things get back to normal next week!
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