Quick food for a weekend lunch
Julian Barnes would hate my style of weekend cooking. I have just read his book "The Pedant in the Kitchen"
in which he stresses how important a well written recipe is for him.
I'm more the sort "a pinch of this" or a "handful of that". He did get
me thinking though as he quotes a Nigel Slater recipe from Real Cooking ( A book I happen to have on my shelf). The pictures of the recipe for "Pork Chop and Chicory"
show two chops in the pan and to this you are required to add 4 chicory
halves.......in the same pan. I checked the book and Julian has a
point. Looking at the photo there is no way you could get four chicory
halves in the same pan. So did Nigel use two pans, although the recipe
states you add the chicory to the pan with the pork chops?
This weekend I felt sufficiently well enough to spend a little time in the kitchen. On the way home from our morning walk on Takapuna Beach we stopped at IE Produce and bought some wonderful summer fruits....peaches, nectarines, apricots and blueberries. I noticed some leeks that were not too large and grabbed those and a couple of potatoes.
Into a baking dish I placed the sliced up fruit, scattered the blueberries over, sprinkled it liberally with sugar and a splash of vanilla essense and baked it in a 200C oven for about 30 minutes. It is delicious served with Greek style yoghurt.
I made a soup by sauteeing the two sliced leeks, two diced potatoes, and one chopped onion. When it was all softened I covered it with water added a teaspoon of vegetable stock and let it simmer until tender. Then I blended it, adjusted the seasoning and served it in white bowls with a sprinkle of chopped chives.
In the fridge were two sheets of ready rolled flaky pastry, a few slices of ham and the remnants of some Gouda cheese.
I cut each sheet of pastry into four equal pieces, placed a slice of ham and some slivers of cheese onto each of the four pieces, dampened the edges and placed the remaining four pieces over and sealed the edges. I then brushed the tops with oil and scattered a little Maldon salt over, popped them into the 200C oven for about 20 minutes. The crisp pastry, the melting cheese, and the slighty salty tops were a tasty combination. You could vary the filling, maybe try fetta cheese and some cooked spinach or for a sweet taste some stewed fruit.
Not too difficult and very enjoyable. I am working on "how to add photos my blog".Then you will get to see photos of my food.
This weekend I felt sufficiently well enough to spend a little time in the kitchen. On the way home from our morning walk on Takapuna Beach we stopped at IE Produce and bought some wonderful summer fruits....peaches, nectarines, apricots and blueberries. I noticed some leeks that were not too large and grabbed those and a couple of potatoes.
Into a baking dish I placed the sliced up fruit, scattered the blueberries over, sprinkled it liberally with sugar and a splash of vanilla essense and baked it in a 200C oven for about 30 minutes. It is delicious served with Greek style yoghurt.
I made a soup by sauteeing the two sliced leeks, two diced potatoes, and one chopped onion. When it was all softened I covered it with water added a teaspoon of vegetable stock and let it simmer until tender. Then I blended it, adjusted the seasoning and served it in white bowls with a sprinkle of chopped chives.
In the fridge were two sheets of ready rolled flaky pastry, a few slices of ham and the remnants of some Gouda cheese.
I cut each sheet of pastry into four equal pieces, placed a slice of ham and some slivers of cheese onto each of the four pieces, dampened the edges and placed the remaining four pieces over and sealed the edges. I then brushed the tops with oil and scattered a little Maldon salt over, popped them into the 200C oven for about 20 minutes. The crisp pastry, the melting cheese, and the slighty salty tops were a tasty combination. You could vary the filling, maybe try fetta cheese and some cooked spinach or for a sweet taste some stewed fruit.
Not too difficult and very enjoyable. I am working on "how to add photos my blog".Then you will get to see photos of my food.
