Category: Mains

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Mains Recipes

Roast Veg Tartlets

Warm ’em up, or eat ’em cold. Either way, these individual vegetarian tartlets will provide an attractìve, appetising, tasty and nutritious lunch. They’re also a great way to use up leftovers.

Servings

2 tartlets, so a light lunch for 2.

Timings

30 mins to roast the veg while you make the pastry and the tomato sauce, then 15 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need:

  • A couple of individual sized flan/tartlet dishes
  • 1 small sweet potato
  • 3 – 4 chestnut mushrooms
  • Half a red pepper
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • A sprinkle of dried mixed herbs
  • 110g plain wholemeal flour
  • 50g butter
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 – 3 tbsp cold tap water
  • Half a red onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 3 – 4 tbsp tomato passata
  • Half a 400g tin of kidney beans
  • Black pepper
  • Strong hard cheese, like mature cheddar or parmesan, for grating

Method

  1. Turn a fan oven on to 180C.
  2. Peel and chop the sweet potato into 1 – 2 cm sized chunks. Quarter the mushrooms, and cut the red pepper into pieces the same size as the sweet potato. Place all in a roasting dish. Sprinkle with the herbs and drizzle with oil, then place in the oven for 30 mins.
  3. While the veg is roasting, get started on the pastry. Sieve the flour into a food processor with blade fitted. Chop the butter into small cubes and add to the flour with a pinch of salt. Pulse a few times until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Drip in the water and pulse again, until you have a ball of soft dough. Remove, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge while you make the tomato sauce.
  4. Warm a few drops of the oil in a saucepan. Crush in the garlic and add the onion, finely chopped. As it softens, add in the passata and kidney beans. Give it a few twists of black pepper. Stir to mix and let reduce for a few minutes, until you have a thickish consistency.
  5. Grease the individual tartlet dishes with butter. Take the pastry dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface, then use to line each pastry dish. Prick each a few times with a fork.
  6. When the veg has finished roasting, scrape it all into the saucepan and mix in with the tomato and kidney beans. Leave the oven on.
  7. Spoon the veg and tomato mixture into the tartlet cases, then top with the grated cheese. Place in the oven for 15 mins until baked, with the cheese browned.
  8. Serve up with seasonal steamed veg, or let cool and enjoy with salad.

Customise it!

Swap in an̈y leftover veg you may have that is good for roasting: parsnip, carrot, celeriac, green or yellow pepper. Chop up a few celery stalks and add to soften in the tomato sauce. Try grating Stilton over to give another taste twist.

Recently, I’ve been revisiting the great REM albums from the 1990s. I played these a lot when first released and have always admired the band’s music. I feel quite privileged to have seen them play live on two occasions when they visited the UK. Here’s one of many fave tracks, this one from the New Adventures in HiFi album: Bittersweet Me.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Sesame Miso Shrooms

This is a meal where speed is definitely of the essence.

Now that the summer weather is here, I am often out exercising or playing sport with friends in the early part of the evening, returning home later, hungry and ready for a quick, tasty dinner. This dish is perfect for that situation, as it can be thrown together in the kitchen just before my lift arrives, and flash cooked in minutes when I arrive home, famished.

If you are looking for some instant food that is a healthier option than a microwaveable ready meal, then give this a try.

Servings

This is a main meal for 1.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, and 10 mins to stir fry.

You Will Need:

  • 8 or 9 chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered
  • 1 carrot, cut into 2 – 3cm long thin batons
  • 2 scallions (spring onions) cut into pieces the same length as the carrot batons
  • 1 celery stick, also cut into fine batons
  • 2 – 3cm piece of root ginger, skinned and finely chopped
  • 1 medium chilli cut into fine discs
  • 2 tbsp of couscous or quinoa, prepared as per packet instructions

For the Stir Fry Sauce

  • 1 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp runny honey
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

To Serve

  • a handful of sesame seeds

Method

  1. Place all the chopped veg in a bowl and cover.
  2. Put the Stir Fry sauce ingredients in a clean screw top jar, and leave beside the bowl of veg.
  3. When you are ready to eat, heat some oil in a wok and, once it is hot, tip in the veg. Stir until softened and browned.
  4. Shake the jar well to mix up the sauce, then pour on to the veg. You should get an immediate sizzle and a blast of a delicious aroma. Tip in the couscous or quinoa.
  5. Stir to combine, then serve on a plate, topped with the sesame seeds sprinkled over. It should look like my photo at the top of the post.

Customise It!

Stick with the shrooms, but swap in other veg if you wish. Long slices of red onion or sticks of red, green or orange pepper will go brilliantly. Add in a crushed clove of garlic if you can’t resist. To go vegan, simply replace the honey with a suitable sweetener.

This week I enjoyed choosing the vinyl now playing on the turntable at a local coffee shop. They have a wonderful collection of albums from the golden age of vinyl in the 70s, in an era long before CDs and streaming. I chose David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane – a timeless classic – with my Long Black. Here’s the closing track on Side 1: Cracked Actor.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Roasted Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Soup

Here’s a soup I made this week – a bowl of bright red and orange deliciousness with a mild chilli kick. The sweet potato and red pepper are chunked and roasted until soft, squishy and a little charred at the edges, then blitzed with the other veg to give a rich texture.

Once it’s cooled, keep it in the fridge for a few days. Scoop a few ladlefuls into a bowl and microwave for a quick, tasty and nutritious lunch.

Servings

6 adult portions.

Timings

The soup mix requires soaking overnight, then 30 mins to make.

You Will Need:

  • 100g soup mix
  • cold tap water
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 large red pepper
  • oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp medium chilli powder
  • 1 onion
  • 2 – 3 carrots
  • 2 – 3 celery sticks
  • 500ml chicken or veg stock
  • about one third of a cabbage. shredded
  • sea salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Cover the soup mix with tap water in a bowl and leave to soak overnight.
  2. Next day, drain the soup mix and cover with fresh water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 mins.
  3. Turn a fan oven on to 180C. Chop the sweet potato and red pepper into chunks and place in a large roasting dish. Drizzle with oil and put in the oven, once up to temp, for 30 mins.
  4. While the veg is roasting, put a drizzle of oil in a large saucepan and warm on the hob. Crush in the garlic clove, then chuck in the cumin seeds and chilli powder, leaving it all to sizzle for a minute. Then chop the onion, celery and carrot, and add. Stir and leave for a few minutes to soften.
  5. Tip the stock on top of the veg in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Add in the cabbage. Reduce and simmer for 20 mins. Season with a few twists of sea salt and black pepper.
  6. Scrape the roasted sweet potato and red pepper into the soup. Blitz the soup with a handheld blender.
  7. Drain the cooked soup mix and add to the soup.
  8. Serve a few ladlefuls of soup in a bowl.

Customise It!

Keep the sweet potato and red pepper, as this is what gives the soup its foundation of taste and colour. Other than that, you can play around with whatever other veg you have to hand or which is in season. Swap kale or broccoli in for the cabbage, for example. Omit the soup mix if you want less protein. Jack up the chilli powder from medium to hot if you like it that way!

We’re enjoying a period of sunny, warm weather currently, so it’s time to get out in the garden to relax with my head phones, listening to some summertime feelgood music. Like this track, from the Random Access Memories album: Daft Punk with Lose Yourself to Dance.

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Mains Recipes

Slow Cooked Beef in Guinness

They say drinking a pint of Guinness is a little like attempting to solve a crossword: it always feels good to get One Down 🙂

Forever keen to promote our wellbeing here on A Different Kitchen, I’ve chosen to capture that taste in edible form this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

This is an old family recipe that never fails: chunks of braising steak tenderised through slow cooking for up to 4 hours with some seasonal veg, in an entire bottle of the black stuff. With a tight-fitting lid, all that taste and goodness is sealed in, making for a gravy that is rich, dark, with a slightly bitter tang and the distinctive taste of Guinness.

Ready to give your wellbeing a dropkick? Cook on.

Servings

Enough here for at least 6 servings.

Timings

30 mins to prepare, then 4 hours in the slow cooker.

You Will Need:

  • 700g braising steak
  • 2 – 3 tbsp plain flour
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 onion
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 8 – 9 chestnut mushrooms
  • 500 ml beef stock
  • 500 ml Guinness
  • a handful of fresh or dried herbs
  • 1 tbsp tomato passata
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tsp cold tap water

Method

  1. Switch on the electric slow cooker at the high setting.
  2. Chop the beef into chunks if not already done. Sprinkle the flour across the base of a shallow dish, and twist in some sea salt and black pepper. Roll the beef chunks in the seasoned flour until covered on all sides.
  3. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan. Place the chunks of beef in the pan and let fry on the underside. After a few minutes, turn them over and fry again, until the chunks are lightly browned and sealed on all sides. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Chop the onion, carrots, celery and parsnip into chunks and tip into the warm frying pan. Halve the mushrooms (or quarter if large) and add in also. Let the veg come to a sizzle and turn over a few times with a spatula until lightly browned and starting to soften. Scrape into the slow cooker bowl on top of the beef.
  5. Add the stock, Guinness, passata, mustard and sugar to the warm pan and gradually bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Tear in the herbs and, when just starting to bubble, add in to the slow cooker bowl.
  6. Get your spatula into the slow cooker bowl and mix up all the contents. Put the lid on and leave on the high setting for around 30 mins. Then turn it down to the medium setting for another 3 and a half hours.
  7. When the cooking is done, mix up a roux in a ramekin, using the cornflour and tap water, until the cornflour is totally dissolved. Pour in to the slow cooker bowl and stir. The beefy, Guinness gravy will start to thicken. Repeat this stage as necessary until the gravy reaches your preferred consistency – you may need to do it 2 or 3 times.
  8. Serve with roast potatoes or boiled rice.

Customise It!

If you don’t have access to an electric slow cooker, you can still cook this in a casserole dish in the oven – start it off at 180C and turn it down to 140C at stage 6 above.

For the herbs, I had fresh thyme, sage and rosemary, but dried mixed herbs will do the job.

For St. Patrick’s Day I am choosing a favourite Irish track for the ADK Playlist. There are so many that I could choose from: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, U2, The Corrs, Ash, Sinead O’Connor to name a few. I’ve settled on this one – The Divine Comedy, aka Neil Hannon from Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, with Love What You Do.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Firecracker Salmon

Here’s a fairly quick and easy way to zing up some salmon fillets, using a fiery topping sauce made mainly from ingredients you might find stowed away in a kitchen cupboard or fridge.

I served the firecracker salmon over a bed of veg and beansprouts, flash cooked in the wok using the remainder of the fiery topping as a spicy and fruity stir fry sauce. The veg consisted of crushed garlic and chopped root ginger, with fine batons of carrot, celery and red pepper, a few sliced mushrooms and a chopped red onion. I also chopped in a bunch of coriander/cilantro leaves and wilted in some pak choi.

No carb accompaniments required, but see Customise It! below for another suggestion to accompany the salmon.

The stir fry was made in the time it took the salmon to cook in the oven, so no additional time is required. The finished meal you can see in my photo at the top of the post.

Servings

2 adult portions.

Timings

5 mins to prepare, 20 mins to cook.

You Will Need:

  • 2 salmon fillets

    For the fiery topping
  • 2 tbsp red chilli paste
  • 100g tomato passata
  • 2 tbsp fruit jam
  • 2 tbsp rice or white wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce

    To sprinkle
  • a handful of sesame seeds

Method

  1. Turn a fan oven on to 180C.
  2. Take a roasting dish and line it with a rectangle of tin foil. Drizzle a little of the oil on the foil and lay the two salmon portions down on it, side by side. Then lift up the edges of the tin foil and pinch them at the corners to form a little fence tightly around the sides of the salmon.
  3. Put the fiery topping ingredients in a clean screw top jar and close with the lid. Give it a really good shake to mix.
  4. Unscrew the jar and, using a basting brush, smear the topping over the tops and sides of the salmon. The tin foil parcel will help it stay on the fish while it cooks, and stop it dripping off.
  5. Place the tray in the oven when it is up to temp. After 10 mins, remove it and baste the tops and sides again with another layer of fiery topping. Place back in the oven for a further 10 mins.
  6. Remove and use a spatula to lift each portion of salmon on to a warm plate. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds to serve.

Customise It!

An alternative to the stir fry accompaniment would be to place some small potatoes with chopped onion and peppers on the roasting tray alongside the salmon parcel, then serve it all together. This way there is only one cooking pan involved, and the wok can stay in the drawer.

Here’s a cracker of a track I’ve been playing this week in the ADK Kitchen. I heard it by chance recently and it reminded me how good this band were in their day. I have always liked the guitar sound of Andy Gill in particular. This is What We All Want from Gang of Four.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Steak & Real Ale Hotpot

This week I’ve had the electric slow cooker back in action, delivering another true winter warmer of a Sunday dinner.

For this variation on the Gastropub classic, steak and ale pie, I bought locally reared beef from a farm shop butcher, along with a favourite dark ale from a local craft brewery. Add hot beef stock and seasonal veg, and leave it to bubble away for several hours in the corner of the kitchen, filling the house and whetting the appetite with its satisfying aroma.

What’s more, I heartily recommend buying an additional bottle of the ale, so that the chef can relax with a glass while all that cooking is quietly underway. Preferably while watching the Premier League on Super Sunday. Hey, I earned it!

For the record, my choice was Meon Valley Bitter, brewed by Bowman Ales in the rolling countryside of the South Downs.

Cheers!

Servings

At least 6 adult portions here.

Timings

5 – 6 hours in an electric slow cooker on low. or fan oven at 140C (No slow cooker? See Customise it below).

You Will Need

  • 3 – 4 tbsp of plain flour
  • a few twists of black pepper
  • around 1kg chuck steak
  • a good drizzle of oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 1/4 of a celeriac
  • 500ml bottle of real ale
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 100ml tomato passata
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • salt, pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • sprinkling of fresh herbs – I used rosemary and thyme.
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 2 tbsp cold water

Method

  1. Turn the electric slow cooker on at the high setting, and leave to warm up. Sprinkle the flour into a shallow dish and season with the black pepper.
  2. Chop the steak into bite-sized chunks. Roll the chunks in the flour and pepper mix until they are coated all over.
  3. Warm some oil in a large frying pan on the hob. Transfer the chunks of steak over and sizzle until the outsides are sealed. Place in the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Top up the oil in the frying pan if necessary, then crush in the garlic. Roughly chop the onion, carrots and celeriac into chunks a similar size to the steak, and add to the frying pan. Turn over a few times with a spatula to get all the veg warmed through and just beginning to sear at the edges. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  5. Next, add the passata, mustard and sugar to the frying pan. Pour in the ale and stir to mix. Turn up the heat and, as it starts to bubble, transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  6. Finally, pour the beef stock into the frying pan and bring to the boil, before tipping it into the slow cooker bowl.
  7. Place the bay leaf in the slow cooker bowl. Tear or sprinkle in the herbs, and give it all a good churn with the spatula.
  8. After about 40 mins, turn down to the medium setting and leave to bubble away quietly for 5 – 6 hours.
  9. After that cooking time, make up a roux by mixing the cornflour and water until smooth, then pour into the hotpot. Stir in and watch as the sauce thickens. Repeat this stage a few more times if you like, till the hotpot gravy reaches your preferred consistency. You will then be ready to serve.
  10. I served this with some roasted charlotte potatoes, as shown in my main photo at the top of the post.

Customise It!

Don’t worry if you do not have an electric slow cooker – just replace it with a lidded casserole dish. Start it off at 180C in a fan oven for 40 mins, then turn down to 140C for 5 – 6 hours.

I used celeriac, but you could just as easily use parsnip and a few sticks of celery, roughly chopped. The rosemary and thyme were the fresh herbs I had to hand, but you could replace these with mixed dried herbs.

The choice of beer is a matter of personal taste. My Meon Valley Ale is a locally brewed best bitter, but you can use any other real ale. Make sure it is brown or ruby though, to help provide the taste and the colour – a lager just won’t work as well.

Here’s a classic punk album I’ve been listening to again this week, featuring the inimitable voice of Poly Styrene. I could have chosen many tracks from their debut album, but have settled on this: X-ray Spex with Let’s Submerge.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Vietnamese Rice Soldiers

I first came across Vietnamese Rice Soldiers on my travels to Australia, where there is a varied range of Asian cuisine and the quality is high.

Initially I thought they were uncooked sausages when I saw them in a deli takeaway. I soon learned that in fact they contain a mix of finely chopped protein, veg, herbs or spices, with rice or noodles, all wrapped up in a piece of transparent, edible rice paper. They are eaten cold as finger food, with a sauce for dipping, and usually accompanied by a stir fry side or noodles.

I sampled them in a restaurant in Little Vietnam, the name given locally to Victoria Street in Melbourne, and immediately became a fan! I brought home a pack of rice papers and am now able to make my own at home. Here is a photo of my latest batch:

A pack of rice papers is essential if you want to give these a try. I bought mine (below) in Aussie supermarket chain, Coles. Availability will depend on where you are in the world, but in the UK I have seen some smaller packs in M&S. The best bet may be a specialist Asian food store or online.

They are made from simply flour, salt and water, requiring just some fresh, lukewarm water to rehydrate and make them soft and flexible.

Servings

This made 8 soldiers. At 2 per serving, that makes 4 adult portions.

Timings

30 mins to chop and prepare the filling. Rolling up takes seconds. The soldiers can be made up in advance and kept in the fridge for a day or two.

You Will Need:

  • 8 circular rice papers
  • a shallow dish filled half with just boiled water, and half with water cold from the tap (so that overall the water is lukewarm, around 50C)

    For the filling:
  • 120g boiled rice, cooled
  • 1 marinaded chicken breast, cooled
  • 1 carrot
  • around 10cm length of cucumber
  • 2 – 3 scallions/spring onions
  • half a red pepper
  • small bunch of coriander/cilantro

    For the dipping sauce
  • 2 tbsp chilli paste
  • 1 tbsp each of soya sauce, rice vinegar, honey and orange juice
  • a good squidge of tomato passata.

Method

  1. Chop the carrot and cucumber into tiny little batons. Chop the other filling ingredients into small pieces and lay everything out on a board.
  2. Take one of the rice papers and submerge it in the lukewarm water. It will begin to soften and take on a slightly, sticky, stretchy feel. Lay it down on a chopping board and put a line of rice across the middle.
  3. Lay a line of chicken pieces on top of the rice, then follow with the carrot, cucumber, scallions, coriander and pepper. Use a little judgment here – you want the soldier to be well-filled but not overstacked.
  4. Lift the flap of the rice paper nearest you and fold over the filling. Tuck in both sides, then roll the whole soldier forward until you have a sealed parcel. Check out my photos below, showing the rolling up in action! Set aside on a tray.
  5. Carry on until all the soldiers are made up.
  6. Put all the dipping sauce ingredients in a clean, screw top jar with lid on. Give it a good shake to combine, then pour into a serving bowl. The soldiers can be dipped into the sauce, or alternatively, once you’ve bitten off the top, spoon it on and let it drizzle down to mingle with the filling. Yum!

Customise It!

Vary the protein to include small pieces of fish, or use chopped cashews if you want to go vegan. A sprinkle of sesame seeds would be an excellent idea. Swap in fine, vermicelli noodles or bean shoots for the rice. Finely chopped root ginger, corn, celery are also options. As always on A Different Kitchen, use your imagination and go with the ingredients you like.

I served these with a side of stir fried bean shoots, pak choi, root ginger, garlic, red onion, carrot and mushroom topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds (as shown in my main photo at the top of the post). For the stir fry sauce I simply made up more of the dipping sauce and poured that in. Hey – keep things simple!

It’s Superbowl weekend once more, and I am looking forward to staying up late this Sunday to watch the game. I can’t see any other outcome than the Kansas City Chiefs winning again, as they seem to be invincible when it comes to play-off season. Apologies to any Philly Eagles fans, but who knows, maybe you will surprise me?

Here’s a piece of classic Americana – Tom Petty with Running Down a Dream. Enjoy the Superbowl, everybody.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Gochujang Lentil Roast

This week, my continuing search for comforting winter dinners has brought me to the Korean aisle in my local supermarket, to pick up a jar of Gochujang paste. I have used it before in a few recipes here on A Different Kitchen (Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich, Cauli Roast, Salmon Noodles) and am a real fan of its sweet and smoky taste.

Gochujang is a spicy condiment made from red chilli peppers and fermented soya beans, and is definitely worth a try if you haven’t come across it before. Find it in the Asian section of a reasonable-sized supermarket or in a specialist deli.

In this dish its magical spicy warmth is the base for a hearty lentil dahl-like stew with char-roasted winter veg.

Servings

4 adult portions.

Timings

30 mins to make.

You Will Need

  • a large roasting tray’s worth of chopped root veg – I used carrot, parsnip and sweet potato
  • 1 red pepper
  • oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 medium red chilli
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsp gochujang paste
  • 1 red onion
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 500g carton tomato passata
  • 100g red lentils

Method

  1. Switch on a fan oven to 180C.
  2. Chop the root veg and red pepper into chunks and spread out in the roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and place in the oven when it’s up to temp. Leave for 30 mins.
  3. Crush the garlic and place in a wok with a drizzle of oil, over a medium heat. Finely chop the chilli and add to the wok with the cumin seeds. Give it all a gentle stir and leave to sizzle for a few moments.
  4. Add the onion and celery, chopped, and stir again, and add in the gochujang paste. Stir once more so the veg is coated in the lovely smokey red paste.
  5. Tip in the passata. Fill the empty carton with tap water and add this also, then sprinkle in the lentils. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and leave to reduce and thicken.
  6. When the roasting veg have had their 30 mins, remove the tray from the oven and scrape them into the wok. The veg should be softened and a little charred at the edges. Stir so all the veg is coated, then serve. I served mine with steamed fresh kale, as shown in my photo at the top of the post.

Customise It!

Feel free to swap in whatever roasting veg you have to hand – swede, potato, celeriac can all be contenders, so can mushroom or aubergine.

Dance classic season continues here on A Different Kitchen. Next up is the legendary Teddy Pendergrass, in the form of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, with Don’t Leave Me This Way.

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Mains Recipes

Mushroom & Bean Stroganoff

Crisp cold air, weak rays of sun on a walk along an empty beach, NFL play-offs, storms that have their own names, and Chris and Michaela in padded jackets outside a yurt on BBC’s Winter Watch – all the signs that we really are in the far depths of January.

It can only mean one thing in the ADK Kitchen – slow cooker season!

The electric slow cooker is a wonderful invention – chuck in a bunch of seasonal veg with some hearty stock, fresh herbs, a large glass of wine, and leave it to bubble away for a few hours in the corner of the kitchen, unassumedly radiating warmth and a delectable aroma that leaves everyone looking forward to dinner time.

Here’s a new addition to the ADK slow cooker recipe collection – a vegetarian hotpot rich in succulent mushrooms that take on the flavours of a creamy white wine and Dijon mustard sauce, with freshly torn thyme sprigs and the pleasing texture of soft cannellini beans. A true culinary comfort blanket!

No slow cooker? No problem – just use a casserole dish in a fan oven at 140C.

Servings

4 adult portions.

Timings

20 mins to prep – 3 hrs in the slow cooker.

You Will Need

  • 30g dried porcini mushrooms
  • 200ml boiling water
  • a drizzle of oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 onion
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 1 red pepper
  • 250g chestnut mushrooms
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 150ml veg stock
  • 200ml dry white wine
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 bunch of fresh thyme
  • 1 400g can of cannellini beans

Method

  1. Switch on an electric slow cooker to the high setting.
  2. Cover the porcini mushrooms in the boiling water and let them sit in a bowl for around 20 mins.
  3. Crush the garlic and chop the onion into some hot oil in a wok. Then add in the chopped celery and pepper, and stir.
  4. After a few moments, add in the chestnut mushrooms, halved. Give it all a good stir and let it simmer for a few minutes.
  5. Turn the heat down and sprinkle over the flour. Turn the veg over with a spatula until all of it is coated in the flour, then pour in the stock and wine. Turn the heat up again and stir so that a thickish, creamy sauce begins to form around the veg.
  6. Add in the Dijon mustard and cayenne pepper. Twist in some black pepper and sea salt. Tear in a good few sprigs of the fresh thyme. Tip in the porcini mushrooms and the water they’ve been soaking in.
  7. Add the cannellini beans and mix through, then transfer to the bowl of the slow cooker. Turn down to the low setting and let it simmer for 3 hours, stirring every so often.
  8. Spoon on to warmed plates, and tear over some more sprigs of the fresh thyme. Serve with boiled brown rice.

Customise It!

I’ve used two different kinds of mushrooms – porcini and chestnut – but you could add in a third, maybe swapping in some chunked portobello in place of some of the chestnuts. I was tempted to change the white wine to a full-bodied, warming red, and may do this the next time I make this, as I reckon it will pair well with the beefy-like stock water that comes from the soaked porcinis.

Dance classics season continues in the ADK Kitchen – hey, it helps keep us warm this time of year! Here’s a great opportunity to hone those moves – it’s Gloria Gaynor with Never Can Say Goodbye.

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Mains Recipes

Air Fryer Veg Burritos

The air fryer is the 21st century device that, seemingly, no kitchen should be without. They’ve become extremely popular in a relatively short space of time, and now come in all shapes and sizes, at a generally affordable cost.

The fact it is instantly ready to cook, with no warming up time as with a conventional oven, makes it perfect for prepping quick and easy meals. They are energy-efficient, keeping cooking costs down, are great for small portions, and can deliver health benefits through using little or no oil or fat.

My experience, rightly or wrongly, has been that the most common use of an air fryer is to heat up something ready prepared from the supermarket chilled cabinet. Nothing wrong with that, but I wondered if I could use it to make something quick, tasty and healthy, totally from fresh source ingredients.

So let me introduce you to my Air Fryer Veg Burritos.

Servings

This makes 2 burritos.

Timings

12 minutes to air fry the filling ingredients, and another 12 mins to air fry the burritos, all at 180C.

You Will Need:

  • olive oil
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • a few twists of sea salt
  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 red onion
  • a bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro
  • 9 – 10 black olives
  • around 100g feta cheese
  • half a 400g tin of kidney beans
  • half a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 2 flour tortillas

Method

  1. Chop the sweet potato, red onion and red pepper into chunks, and place in a small plastic food bag. Add a drizzle of olive oil, the smoked paprika and sea salt. Massage the food around in the bag so that all the veg is evenly coated. Tip from the bag, and into the drum of the air fryer at 180C for 12 mins.
  2. While the veg is air frying, chop the feta into chunks, and the black olives in half. Mash the kidney beans and tomatoes together to a thick-ish consistency.
  3. Tip the air fried veg on to a plate to cool slightly.
  4. Lay out the 2 flour tortillas on a board and place the filling in a line down the middle (see photo above). Start with the kidney bean/tomato mash, then add chunks of sweet potato, red pepper, onion, feta and olive. Use scissors to snip in some coriander leaves. Be generous, but don’t overfill, otherwise the burrito may unfurl while cooking.
  5. Wrap up each tortilla, making sure to tuck in the ends to form a parcel, and brush all over with oil. Brushing the ends helps seal them and avoid the filling escaping.
  6. Place in the drum of the air fryer (see my photo below) and cook for 10 – 12 mins at 180C. The tortilla will take on a brown and crispy shell, as shown in my main photo at the top of the post.
  7. Remove, slice each into 2, and serve. I served this with a pot of soured cream and a bowl of Chunky Guacamole.

Customise It!

There is major scope for varying the filling to use up whatever leftovers you may have in the fridge. Pots of chilli, pasta sauce or a lining of a good quality chilli jam can take the place of the kidney beans/tomatoes mash-up.

Mushrooms would be amazing – just air fry them whole at stage 1 above, and then cut into chunks to go in the filling. Skip the feta and add a line of grated cheddar, or maybe some mozzarella. Swap in Cajun seasoning for the smoked paprika. Have fun and use your imagination!

The dance classics theme for the ADK Playlist continues into 2025. Next to step up to the dancefloor are Deee-Lite with Groove is in the Heart.