Tag: Blogging

Categories
Mains Recipes

Spinach & Liver Dhal

Here’s a spicy and comforting lentil dhal that features two good sources of iron – liver and spinach.

Iron is essential to maintaining good health, energy and stamina, with iron deficiency often cited as a cause of fatigue. It is particularly important in pregnancy, when the body’s demand for it increases.

Served up with warmed flatbreads for dipping, this will satisfy your tastebuds, as well as helping your body get what it needs to maintain drive and focus.

Servings

6 good adult portions.

Timings

About 30 – 40 mins to prepare and cook.

You Will Need

  • a swig of vegetable oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 – 5 mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 celery stick, chopped
  • 500g pork liver or lamb’s liver
  • 1 400g can of chopped tomatoes
  • 2 – 3 tomato can’s worth of cold water
  • a squidge of tomato puree
  • a swig of Worcester Sauce
  • 200g red lentils
  • 400g spinach
  • some warmed flatbreads, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a wok and add the spices. When sizzling, add in the onion, mushrooms and celery.
  2. Chop the liver into small pieces, removing and discarding any tough bits. Add the chopped liver to the wok and stir.
  3. When the liver is browned, add in the chopped tomatoes, water, puree and Worcester Sauce. Then add the lentils and stir.
  4. Wash the spinach, then gradually add it to the wok in large handfuls. At first, it will look as if there is too much, but it will soon wilt down as you immerse it in the liquid. Continue until all of it is in the dish.
  5. Let the wok simmer away for a further 15 – 20 mins. The lentils will soften and thicken while the liquid is reducing, resulting a in a rich warming sauce. Stop when it reaches the consistency you like.
  6. Grill the flatbreads on either side for a few minutes, then serve them with the dhal, scooped into a bowl (see my main photo above).

Customise It!

Feel free to add in other vegetables you like and/or have to hand. Chopped carrots and peppers will go down a treat. Most veg will go, really.

So if your iron levels, energy and drive are a little low, a bowl of this dhal may help restore them to more of a high. You may be thinking this all sounds like an elaborate ploy for me to feature Lo/Hi, one of my favourite tracks by Ohio’s The Black Keys, and add it to the ADK Playlist. Mmm er, yes that’s about right!

Categories
Blog

Hamble Spring Market

This Sunday we went to our first Hampshire Farmers’ Market of 2023, at the nearby village of Hamble. It took place down by the waterfront, where the River (also named the Hamble) meets the Solent (which in turn flows out to the English Channel).

As the sign above shows, it is actually possible to walk or cycle there via the England Coast Path. You can also ‘park and float’ from Warsash (on the other side of the River) via a great little ferry.

I always like visiting these local markets. The food is original and high quality, and it’s an opportunity to support independent producers in a sustainable economy. You can buy as much or as little as you wish, and packaging is minimal, as shoppers usually bring their own bags.

The sellers are generous with tasters and free samples. This adds a lot of fun and, like the produce itself, is not something you’d normally find in the branch of a big supermarket chain.

I’ll start with New Forest Shortbread. This lady bakes all her own in a 200 year-old cottage in Burley, in the centre of the Forest. I particularly liked the coffee shortbread, blended with Mozzo coffee roasted in Southampton.

A few weeks back, we were having a tomato shortage in our local shops. No chance of that now however, with this array of beauties grown just across the Solent on the Isle of Wight.

Lovers of charcuterie were also well served by this selection of spicy cured meats.

And why not combine this in a tasty sandwich, with some fresh sourdough bread.

We brought home a box of four fishcakes by Catch, who are based in Calshot, a little way along the coast. You can mix and match flavours, my fave being mackerel and beetroot.

Brownies are always a hit, especially when you have this amazing range of flavours to choose from.

Basingstoke’s Longdog Brewery were attracting a lot of interest with free tasters of their excellent beers….

…so much so that I just had to take home a bottle of Longdog IPA, which I enjoyed later.

It went down a treat sitting in the back garden listening to some music. A track came on my headphones which I hadn’t heard for some time, and I was reminded how great a song it was. Time to add it to the ADK Playlist, therefore. All the way from Montreal, here’s Arcade Fire with The Suburbs.

Cheers!

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Vegan Choc Cupcakes

As the egg shortage in our shops continues, so does my search for alternatives to the use of eggs in baking.

Today I’ve borrowed a great recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes over on Tulsi’s Vegan Kitchen. Click on the link if you wish to see it – there is also a very helpful You Tube instruction video that I can recommend. Thank you, Tulsi!

So what takes the place of eggs in the recipe? Unsweetened almond milk, curdled with a tablespoon of vinegar (I used cider vinegar). I wondered if this would add sourness to the taste, but it absolutely doesn’t. It just replicates the use of buttermilk in baking, which adds taste and texture through its extra acidity.

The one development that I have made is to add 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients, turning mine into chocolate cupcakes, as you can see in my photo above. The mixture rises well and is very moist. An undoubted success!

This recipe, and the one in my previous post using avocado to give texture to a chocolate mousse, have certainly opened my eyes to the possibilities of egg-free baking.

In the music world this week, I’ve been enjoying exploring more of a certain band I’ve admired for some time. As well as listening to music while I cook, I also tune in with my ear pods while at the gym. I’ve discovered that this, the band’s most recent track, has the perfect beat and rhythm to work out to on the elliptical trainer (perfect for me, that is, coming in at 68-69 revolutions per minute). So once you’ve enjoyed the choc cupcakes, burn those calories and get the arms and legs pumping in sync with LCD Soundsystem – this is New Body Rhumba.

Categories
Desserts Recipes

Choc, Lime & Avocado Mousse

Avocados in a chocolate mousse? Surely not, I hear you say!

This week I have been researching egg-free dishes, as there is currently a shortage of eggs in our local shops here in the UK. Higher costs for farmers, and a cull of animals due to an outbreak of avian flu, are being given as the reasons for this. I understand this is also the case in some other parts of the world at the moment.

I’m seeing it as an opportunity to explore some recipes that don’t require eggs, so expect a little more of this over the next few posts. Here is the first – a rich, chocolatey mousse based on ripe avocado.

Servings

This will make 4 desserts.

Timings

10 mins to make, and then an hour chilling in the fridge before serving.

You Will Need

  • 2 large, ripe avocados
  • 3 tbsp cocoa powder
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 3 – 5 tbsp runny honey
  • 2 – 3 slices kiwi fruit, chopped into pieces
  • 0 eggs!

Method

  1. Chop the avocados in half and remove the stones. Scoop out the flesh into a food processor with blade fitted. Add in the cocoa, lime juice and honey and blitz to a smooth consistency.
  2. With a spatula, scrape the mousse into four pots for serving. I’ve used sherry glasses in the photo, but you could use ramekins or other small glasses if you wish. Top with the pieces of kiwi and place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
  3. Er, that’s it.

Customise It!

Cutting out the eggs is half way to making a vegan dessert, so why not go the whole way by replacing the honey with maple or agave syrup. You could also replace the kiwi with raspberries or cherries. Slices of banana, or chopped nuts, would be great also.

Turning to the ADK Playlist, I have still been buzzing this week after seeing Inspiral Carpets last weekend in London. It really was a great concert. Here is another of their tracks, this one reminding me of that memorable encore at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – Commercial Reign.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2ERdxKQ5IJo41PqpQA7VNP?si=3389712cf1034a9e
Categories
Blog

Two Worlds Collide

London is a stimulating place to spend a few days, as I did this past weekend. The place seems to be constantly evolving, and there is always something new to discover. I usually find it a dynamic and cosmopolitan environment where I can indulge my interests in food, music, heritage and culture. Well, this weekend was certainly that.

The main reason for our visit was to see Inspiral Carpets in concert (more of which in a moment).

While in London, we took the opportunity to visit Greenwich. A green oasis of parkland on the South Bank, it is also very, very old – full of symbols of empire and bastions of British sea power from centuries past. Greenwich Palace was the home of Henry VIII in the 16th Century, the site subsequently becoming the training college for officers of the Royal Navy.

The Cutty Sark, 19th Century sailing ship on old colonial trade routes, is now here resting in dry dock, and open to public visit. Like many of Britain’s institutions at the moment, the Royal Museums Greenwich are wrestling with how to most appropriately acknowledge and learn from their historic links to colonialism and the international slave trade. That’s a debate I expect will continue for some time to come.

And when you climb the hill to the 18th Century Royal Observatory (famous for being the home of global time zoning and Greenwich Mean Time) the old and new worlds become starkly apparent. As my main photo at the top of the post shows, looking out across the National Maritime Museum, these ancient symbols of British power and wealth are now dwarved by the 21st Century equivalent – the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf and the financial district.

Amidst these contrasting scenes, the daily life of Londoners goes on. These picnickers are enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. And we joined them.

Housed in an ornate, grand arcade, Greenwich Market is a real foodie delight. Although I am not vegan, I was particularly struck by the colour and invention on display at the Vegan Garden stall, as my photo below shows.

I couldn’t resist a slice of chocolate, pear and almond cake, which was delicious with an americano, see below.

The undoubted high point of this wide and varied culture fest, though, was seeing the Inspirals live at one of London’s iconic music venues, the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. 90 minutes filled with one classic track after another, my favourite aspect being the Doors-esque Farfisa Organ lines played faultlessly by Clint Boon.

For the diehard afficionados, here is a setlist rescued from the stage at the end of the gig (and in case you’re wondering, no, those aren’t my fingernails).

The band have recently released a compilation of all 24 singles, with a selection of remixes. I could honestly have chosen any of them for the ADK Playlist. After a stimulating and hugely enjoyable few days, I will settle on this one, which seems to resonate with some of the themes in this post: Two Worlds Collide.

Categories
Bakes Desserts

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

The idea for this week’s dish has been sent in to me by keen follower of A Different Kitchen, Pamela (thank you, Pamela). It is a kind of bread and butter pudding made with hot cross buns and fruit. The original recipe that it is based on came from Waitrose, and included rhubarb, which Pamela says prompted her husband to comment that this is one of the nicest puddings you have ever made.

High praise indeed!

In my version, I’ve changed it up a bit to include raspberries and blueberries as another option.

Hot cross buns are plentiful in the shops this time of year, and this is a good way of using up ones that may still be at the back of your cupboard, a day or two old. Their dried fruit, spices and glaze go well in a custard-style pudding.

You may also be able to pick them up in the shops at the moment at reduced price. This happened to me completely by chance – I didn’t get round to shopping for this till a few days after Easter Sunday, by which time Sainsbury’s were selling off yellow stickered packs of six for the princely sum of 15p (which equates to 20 US cents) each. As they say in a cost of living crisis, every little helps!

Timings

10 mins to combine, then 30 mins to chill. Another 30 mins to bake at 180C.

Servings

At least four generous portions.

You Will Need

  • 4 hot cross buns, which can be a day or two old
  • Butter or spread for the buns
  • 50 g caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 300ml single cream
  • 100ml milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 15 – 20 raspberries and 15 – 20 blueberries

Method

  1. Slice each bun horizontally into 3, and spread each slice on one side with butter or your choice of spread.
  2. Arrange them in a baking dish so that they overlap at 45 degree angles. This will mean the submerged parts of the buns soak in the custard, while the peaks crisp up and caramelise.
  3. Stud the berries in between the bun slices, to get good coverage all over.
  4. Combine the sugar, eggs, cream, milk and vanilla extract in a bowl with a mixer. Pour all over the buns, and place in the fridge to chill for 30 mins.
  5. Heat an oven to 180C, and put in the dish for around 30 mins. Keep an eye on it for the last 10 mins or so to make sure the tops are crisped, but not burnt.
  6. Serve warm. It is also great cold.

Customise It!

As suggested, you can vary up the fruit to include whatever you like or have to hand. As we know from Pamela, rhubarb will work very well – stew about 400g in 80g sugar with a little orange juice, and spread amongst the buns.

Do you have an idea for a dish that can be featured on A Different Kitchen? And if so, would you like to choose the next track for the Playlist? Drop me a note in the comments below, if so.

This week’s track for the Playlist is one that I know Pamela will appreciate. Here’s Rod with You Wear it Well.

Categories
Bakes

Cherry Almond Traybake

A biscuity pastry crust, spread with a layer of rich cherry fruit jam, topped with eggy, almondy sponge and toasted flaked almonds. Sound good? It certainly tastes good! This indulgence can be yours – read on.

Servings

This will make 16 slices.

Timings

15 mins to make and chill the pastry. Another 10 mins to make the sponge filling while the pastry is baking blind, then 50 mins to bake the full cake.

You Will Need

  • 225g plain flour
  • 100g butter or margarine spread
  • pinch of salt
  • a few drops of cold water
  • 300g cherry jam
  • 150g veg oil
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 25g flaked almonds

Method

  1. Grease a traybake tin and line with baking paper. Mine is approx 22cm square.
  2. Sieve the plain flour into a food processor with blade fitted. Add in the butter or spread and blitz till it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add as much water as necessary to make a dough.
  3. Roll out on a floured surface and press in to cover the bottom and sides of the tin. Put in the fridge to chill, and turn on the oven to 180C.
  4. When the oven has reached temperature, take the pastry dish from the fridge, and fill with ceramic baking beans over a piece of crumpled baking paper. This will help stop the pastry rising and burning in this first stage of cooking, where the pastry base is ‘baked blind’. Put in the oven for 10 mins.
  5. While the pastry is baking blind, combine the rest of the ingredients (except the jam and flaked almonds) in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.
  6. When the pastry base has had its 10 mins, take it from the oven and remove the beans/paper. Spread the cherry jam all over. Then pour on the egg and almond mix, even it out with a spatula and sprinkle the flaked almonds all over. Place back in the oven for 50 mins, or until nicely golden, and when a skewer put into the centre of the cake comes out with no wet mixture sticking to it.
  7. Leave to cool, then turn out of the tin and cut into squares.

Customise It!

Cherry and almond is a classic taste combination, but raspberry jam will also work well.

Posting this traybake gives me a word association-style opening to add this next track to the ADK Playlist. No, not The Jam. Nor Marc Almond. Here’s a beautiful duet between Neneh Cherry and Youssou N’Dour – Seven Seconds.

Categories
Mains

Roast Beef with Red Wine Sauce

Happy Easter weekend everyone! It’s sunny and warm here in the UK but, I see, raining cats and dogs in Augusta, Georgia. How very inconsiderate of the weather, interfering with my planned post-dinner relaxation watching the US Masters. Oh well, while the golfing umbrellas are up, I will capitalise on the time to update you on my Easter weekend cooking.

I bought a joint of beef brisket from my local butcher and have slow cooked it with seasonal veg in a pot roast that seems to have gone down well with the troops. So here is the recipe.

Servings

There should be enough here for 6 adult servings, alongside your choice of roast veg.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, then leave it to slow cook for 6 hours or so.

You Will Need

  • 1kg rolled beef brisket
  • a swig of veg oil
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 parsnip, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • 200ml beef stock
  • 200ml red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp red currant or cranberry sauce
  • 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 2 tsp water

Method

  1. Warm the oil in a heavy-based wok or saucepan. Put in the beef brisket joint and sear until it is brown on all sides. Transfer to a warm plate.
  2. Put all the chopped veg into the warm oil and cook till browned.
  3. Add in the stock, wine, bay leaf and redcurrant/cranberry sauce. Bring to the boil and stir to mix.
  4. Combine the beef joint, veg and sauce in the vessel that you are going to slow cook in. I used an electric slow cooker on the low setting, but I have also cooked this dish in a Le Creuset casserole dish on the stove top, on simmer setting. You could also put it in a casserole dish and transfer to the oven at 140C. Whatever method you choose, the key factor is to let it stew for around 6 hours on a low heat. This will tenderise the meat, infuse the veg with a beefy taste and produce a sweetened sauce, or gravy.
  5. 6 hours later, remove the joint and set on a carving board, covered with foil to keep warm. Transfer the sauce to the hob and heat to reduce. Add in the cornflour and water mix to produce the thickness you desire. If you wish, add in further amounts of cornflour and water as necessary.
  6. Slice the meat and serve with a generous dollop of the red wine sauce. You can see from my photo that I served this with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, boiled carrots and brussels sprouts.

Customise It!

I would stick to the choice of joint, and proportions of beef stock and wine. The veg, however, you can vary up to include what is in season and what you have to hand. Some field mushrooms and some red or green peppers would go down well. Celery would be a brilliant addition.

As it is the Easter holidays, I have a special, longer track for the ADK Playlist. The 50th Anniversary of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells has recently been a topic of celebration here in the UK, with a re-recorded version and concert tour.

At first I was slightly wary about a re-recording of a classic, that was as close to perfection as it is possible to get. However, the new version is actually pretty good, being very faithful to the original, and definitely worth a listen. It has been recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the added strings, woodwind and percussion sections add significantly (there is no brass as far as I can tell).

I was curious to see who would take the place of Vivian Stanshall as MC, calling in the various instruments. My guess was Stephen Fry, but as it transpires it is Brian Blessed, in typically rumbustious and over the top fashion.

All in all, a lot of fun.

Make the most of this relaxing music – next week I am back in London to see one of my favourite ever bands, Inspiral Carpets, live at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. I am really looking forward to this, folks, so expect higher decibel levels to be resumed soon.

Happy Easter!

Categories
Blog

Still Standing!

This week I’ve been to see Elton John at the O2 Arena in London, on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.

If there is a world record for longest wait between buying a concert ticket and going to the gig, this is a definite contender. The World Tour started in 2018, and we bought our tickets in 2019. The concert was scheduled for late 2020, only to be postponed due to Covid. Rearranged to late 2021, it was then postponed a second time when Elton injured himself, to be rearranged again to April 2023.

Until this week, the longest wait I’d had for a Covid-rearranged gig was 2 years, in the case of Elbow. When the night did finally arrive, the band took the stage and Guy Garvey greeted the audience with the simple message Good evening – sorry we’re late.

Elton, as it transpired, was on top form. I have never been a huge fan of his, though his Top Tracks have been booming from the speakers in the ADK kitchen these last few days. I hadn’t seen him live before and was conscious that, it being his Farewell Tour, this would be the last chance of doing so.

He’s playing quite a few dates this month at the O2 and, being something of a local lad, the place has been transformed in his honour. The walkway to the arena from North Greenwich Tube Station is lined with billboards showcasing his various outrageous styles and outfits, in photos from across the last five decades. Even my pint of IPA from the O2 bar was Elton-themed (see below).

He played for two and a half hours, with an accomplished backing band and very clear sound. The vocals still hold up well, and his excellent rock piano is high up in the mix throughout, so can be fully appreciated.

Being Elton, he changed costume twice during the show – each time reappearing in a dapper sequinned evening suit with (naturally) a new colour-co-ordinated pair of diamond-studded spectacles.

The set list comprised one belter after another, varied up with a couple of tracks that I hadn’t heard before from his early albums. All the classics were here – Candle in the Wind, Rocket Man, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me to name a few.

The show built towards a rockier climax, with I’m Still Standing, Crocodile Rock and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting getting the O2 audience on their feet.

The encore consisted of his Cold Heart duet with Dua Lipa (who appeared via the big screen), Your Song and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton then waved farewell as he rode an escalator through the stage curtains. His image could then be seen on the big screen, walking into the sunset along said Yellow Brick Road.

All in all, well worth the wait!

Categories
Mains

Spicy Parsnip Soup

Time for another guest post on A Different Kitchen! Over to my wife, Lesley to show us how to make this tasty, hearty and warming soup.

I belong to a community allotment and we plan to have lovely fresh things to eat. Recently we have had a glut of winter parsnips. Everyone should eat more parsnips!  

I took home 6 of them all large and gnarly, grown organically and fattened up over our winter. With vegetables that have imperfections like this, soup is a great option as it doesn’t matter what bits you might have to cut out.

I love the scent of the crushed spices that are used in this recipe. I used a pestle and mortar but you can crush them on a cutting board with a bottle or rolling pin.

You Will Need

  • 6 parsnips, peeled and roughly chunked
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • a knob of butter
  • 1 litre of stock (after roasting a chicken we always boil up the carcass with some water for half an hour, then put the stock in tubs in the freezer until needed).  
  • A spice mix, here’s what I used, but any spices you like will do:
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
  • a few cardamon pods

Method

  1. Melt butter in a pan and add the crushed spices.
  2. Add the parsnip  and onion, and heat until all the chunks are warm and coated – this will take about 10 mins. 
  3. Pour in the stock, and bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
  4. Blitz to a smooth consistency, then serve.

Customise It!

This soup is great served with crusty bread, as shown in the main photo above. However, you could also make croutons by cutting bread into cubes and baking them on a tray in the oven. Keep your eye on them as they brown very quickly. Chuck the crispy croutons on to the top of your bowl of soup.

You could also swirl in a few table spoonfuls of double cream for an ultra-posh version.

The contributor of a guest post gets to choose the next track for the ADK Spotify Playlist. Lesley has chosen Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John, who we have just seen on his farewell tour in London. More on this in my weekend post!