Three course meal (5/7/2011) part III: Dessert

I made this with strawberries which were somewhat past their best (I don’t usually cook strawberries otherwise; they’re so good fresh!). If you don’t have strawberries around, you can use high quality compote or jam of any flavour. I also had some rather stale cornflakes, which is why they’re in there. But they make a delicious cheesecake bottom!

I made this up as I went along so the amounts aren’t very exact. Just keep tasting to check the ratios are OK (and let me know your findings!).

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Homemade No bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Makes two individual cheesecakes

Base:

- 1 cup cornflakes

- 1/2 cup oats

- 1 teaspoon softened butter (or margarine)

- 1 teaspoon philadelphia

- 2 tablespoons white sugar

- grated zest of half a lemon

Cheesy bit

- 2 tablespoons philadelphia

- 2 tablespoons greek or other thick yoghurt

- 1 tablespoon sugar

- juice of half a lemon

Strawberry compote:

- 1 cup washed, hulled, chopped strawberries

- 2 tablespoons sugar

• Put the strawberries into a pan with the sugar and 1 teaspoon of water. Cook on a medium heat, and keep stirring so they don’t stick.
• To make the base, crush up the cornflakes in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients for the base and mix until it goes sticky and crumby (you should be able to press it into the dishes). If it’s too dry add more butter or philadelphia. If it’s too wet, add more oats.
• Remember to keep stirring the strawberries!
• Distribute the mixture between the two bowls equally, and shake the bowls a bit to even it out. Then press the mix down into the dish to form the cheese cake base. If it’s not perfectly even, don’t worry. There’s going to be other stuff on top!
• Mix all of the ingredients for the cheesy bit together. Taste to check the ratio of tastes. Remember you are putting sweet strawberries on top, and there is a sweet base underneath. I prefer the cheesey layer to be a bit sour.
• Spread the cheesey layer out evenly on the two bases.
• By now, your strawberries should be cooked down somewhat (they should cook about 10 minutes, but they are not fussy), and going gloopy and syrupy. Distribute the mixture evenly between the two cheesecakes.
• Put in the fridge for an hour and serve!

Three course meal (5/7/2011) part II: Main Course

This is an excellent, completely fail-safe recipe. Even I have never messed it up, despite all my strange little alterations; you can put anything you like in it. It’s a great way to use up left-over boiled or mashed potato. It’s also a real hit at parties. Chop into small squares and put toothpicks in for little bite-sized, frittata heaven!

Takes about 30 minutes (assuming potatoes are already cooked, otherwise add extra time).
For 4 people as a main dish, 6 as a secondo.

- 2/3 potatos, boiled and cut into pieces (I leave the skins on, but you don’t have to)

- 2 large, fresh tomatoes, chopped 

- 1 clove raw garlic, crushed

- one medium onion, fried until soft

- good handful of fresh mint (or 1 heaped teaspoon dried mint)

- 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper

- some pre-fried bacon or ham (skip if you want a vegetarian dish)

- 3 large eggs, lightly whisked

- oil for frying

• throw all the ingredients into a bowl, and stir around for an even distribution
• put a little oil into a smallish frying pan on a high heat, pour the mixture into the pan
• after 1 minute, turn down to a low-medium heat, and put a lid on
• after 10 minutes, or when the top is set and the bottom is golden brown, remove from the heat.
• You need to turn the frittata over. Put a plate upside-down on top of the frying pan. Quickly flip so that the pan is on top and the plate on the bottom. Now you can slide the frittata back into the pan, cooked side up.
• Fry for another 5-7 minutes, until the bottom is also a golden brown colour.
• Slide back onto a plate and serve hot or cold with a salad (I used baby tomatoes and cucumber slices in quarters! Great for picnics!

Three course meal (5/7/2011) part I: Starter

I should mention that I really don’t have a plan when it comes to the kitchen. If I try to follow a recipe, the result is usually disastrous. I’m a great believer in experimentation and improvisation on solid principals. For example, I would never have considered wrapping avocado in salami until I realised that I might run out of salmon. It is FABULOUS! It seems that serendipity is the friend of haphazard cooks such as myself! :)

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Starter: avocado wrapped in smoked salmon and milano salami

This is a really easy starter to make, even for a bunch of people. Mine aren’t very neat, but I put them together in two or three minutes! :D :D
It’s not too filling, and the avocado is a great counterpart for the salty salmon and salami. I give here the recipe for two people. It’s pretty obvious how to expand it! ;)

You could make these into very successful party/buffet food by putting each one on a piece of melba toast. You could also wrap melon in prosciutto crudo for a similar effect, or (given its tensile strength) smaller fruit like grapes or fresh rasperries. Use your imagination and give it a go!

(serves 2, takes under 5 minutes)

- one smallish, ripe avocado, sliced into six pieces

- 4 strips of smoked salmon (probably about 1.5-2 big slices)

- two pieces milano salami or similar

- pinch salt (optional)

- lemon slices for serving

• depending on the saltiness of your smoked salmon and salami, sprinkle a very small amount of salt onto the avocado pieces
• wrap each avocado piece in smoked salmon or salami.
• squeeze on some lemon juice (only over the salmon parcels if you prefer), or serve with twisted lemon slices so people can do their own!

Speedy, healthy breakfast for two

So this is yesterday’s breakfast:

• pineapple pieces in juice (sadly, tinned ones :( )
• strawberry yoghurt with cornflakes, oats and fresh strawberries
• toast with yummy savoury stuff
• fresh coffee

Again, no need for recipes - everything’s pretty straight forward! Everything here takes less than five minutes individually, and no more than 10 all together.

Goujons of soft herring roe on garlic toasts with tangy onion and tomato sauce

I just discovered a new ingredient the other day - Herring milt. I bought it on the reduced counter in Tesco, not knowing what it was. After some research, I discovered I had bought a bag of fish balls. Literally, testes, filled with sperm…hmmm… Fortunately, I also discovered that they are very tasty and easy to cook, so don’t be put off by the idea! Since I couldn’t find any adventurous recipes with them (other than ‘boil’ or ‘fry’), I decided to write my own - this is what I made.

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Goujons of soft herring roe on garlic toasts with
tangy onion and tomato sauce

This tasty tit-bit serves as a delicious breakfast or lunch, and can also be used as a starter for a multi-course meal. Soft fish roe is actually the sperm and testes of the fish; hard roe is the ovaries with eggs. Although it sounds a bit gross, soft roe is delicious, like very soft, succulent fillets, and is also very cheap in UK (ask your fish monger, or the fish counter in your supermarket). You can substitute fish-fillet goujons for the soft roe if you’re fussy, or use other types of soft fish roe!

For 2 people, or 4 as a starter (4 toasts)

Takes about 20 minutes

Toasts:

• 4 slices or bloomer or other good bread (white or brown)
• 1 clove raw garlic
• salt and pepper
• slices of lemon for serving

Onion/tomato sauce:

• butter or good olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly into half-rings
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 fresh tomato
• pinch salt
• Soft herring roe: enough roe for two people, probably about 12-14 largish pieces (it shrinks dramatically when you fry it), or an equal amount of strips of any white fish fillet.
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• pinch salt
• pinch pepper
• oil or butter for frying

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• Add oil or butter to a small pan on a medium heat; add the sliced onions and stir around quickly. Turn down the pan to a lowish heat and keep stirring occasionally. The onions should eventually be golden, translucent and soft.
• Whilst the onions are frying, carefully wash the herring roe or other fish, and pat dryish with a paper towel.
• Add the chopped tomato, lemon juice and salt to the frying onions, and stir it in carefully. It should just be lightly simmering.
• Add flour, salt and pepper into a bowl and stir it around.
• Heat a big pan with about 1/3cm deep oil (in which you will fry the fish). The heat should be quite high.
• Drop each piece of fish into the flour  mixture, and then into the large pan. Watch out, it spits!
• When all the fish is in the pan, put the bread into the toaster and toast until light brown.
• When the fish is cooked on one side, turn it over. It should go dark gold and slightly crunchy on the outside.
• When the toast is done, rub the surface of each piece with the raw garlic clove. The flesh of the garlic will grate against the toast.
• When the fish is done, turn the pan off.

To serve:

• place two garlic-rubbed toasts on each plate (one per plate for a starter). Drizzle the onion/tomato mixture over them, including the oil.
• Place about three pieces of fish on each toast.
• Grind some pepper and salt on top
• Serve garnished with twisted lemon slices and fresh parsley.