Delicious green stir fry

I love a tangy stir fry, and I’ve been reading a lot of Vietnamese and Thai recipes lately. I've been buying old cook books from charity shops, and they have reminded me of the time, not so far away,er when recipes mentioned garlic in hushed tones. No more sotto voce now, I don’t know many people who don’t want the kick of spices, garlic and ginger.

This dish is bright green and fresh, the cabbage is just cooked, accompanied with green peppers, peas and onion. I pair it with coconut dhal, and prefer bread to rice as an accompaniment. It's easy to make, you do all the slicing in advance, heat up the pan and go. The dhal can be prepared in advance. This is enough for two people, on the greedy side, more with the dhal. 

Base for blitzing:

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 slice ginger

1 shallot (1/2 small onion)

handful of fresh coriander, washed, with roots on

1 large pinch of salt

a couple of spoonfuls of water

Stir Fry ingredients

1/4 savoy cabbage, finely sliced

1/2 green pepper, sliced

2 large shallots/1 onion, sliced lengthwise

2 handfuls frozen peas

1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon+water or thai fish sauce

1 tsp brown sugar or honey

1/2 lime

• blitz or pound together 1st six ingredients
• prepare all other ingredients
• heat up wok, adding a slug of  oil (corn, groundnut or veg oil)
• add half the blitzed ingredients and stir, turning down the heat if it starts to brown
• add half the sliced veg, stir and add a slug of water (or fish sauce) cook for a minute, stirring all the time
• add the rest of the veg and blitzed mixture, bouillon and the frozen peas, keep stirring, adding water if necessary, cook for 30 seconds, until the cabbage starts to wilt
• add sugar or honey, stir and turn off the heat
• squeeze over the lime

Eat

This combination was a favourite of my Aunt’s, especially when her cancer meant her appetite was reduced. The strong flavours seemed to cut through, so she enjoyed eating again. The stir fry is light and flavoursome with a citrus tang, and the curried dhal is easy to eat, as well as being a good contrast in terms of texture and flavour. The other pleasure is how the food looks on the plate, a patchwork of greens contrasting with a golden yellow. 

Pan cooked cornbread

I found this recipe in the Weber cookbook. That's the cookery book published by the manufacturer of the original kettle barbecue. It's meant to be cooked on the barby, lid off, in a cast iron skillet. I cook it in the oven, in a frying pan. I also use tinned corn, just one large tin, and I don't leave the seeds in the chilli. Thank you Mr Weber (or Ms?).  I use coarse cornmeal and gluten free bread flour, so it's a wheat free recipe. It is sweet and flavoursome and beautifully yellow, really golden. It makes a large loaf. I will try it again in a smaller pan, with two eggs, and halve rest of the ingredients, using a smaller pan, 8"/20cm, not a cake tin, because it's not heavy enough.

RECIPE

you'll need a heavy 10"/25cm pan, that can go into the oven.

set oven to medium hot

Ingredients
1 large can of sweetcorn
2 cups coarse cornmeal (polenta)
1.5 cups gluten free bread flour
2 tsps baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 large pointy red chilli
.5 cup of marg or butter
pinch salt

Method
Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together and stir through until well mixed.
Split chilli down the middle and deseed, slice finely.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, chilli pepper and corn.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Melt the butter in a heavy 10"/23cm pan over gentle heat, swill it around and pour it into the mixture, stirring until it's well blended. Don't wipe the pan.
pour batter into the pan and level off.
Put the pan into a medium oven and cook for 25m or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. The cornbread will have shrunk away from the sides.

This bread is delicious with sour cream, or soft cheese. Of course it goes well with bbq'd meats and salads.

If you fancy it, add some roasted red pepper.

plum cake with almond flour - wheat free

This is the wheat free version of plum cake, very moist. Next time I'll pack more plums on, if I can, the cake mixture was almost invisible when it went into the oven, and then up it bubbled in the cooking. The flour mixture is half almond flour, half gluten free bread flour (1.5 cups of each), with 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder.

salad dressing with moving pictures

The recipe is this, if you can't hear me. Dressing, or vinaigrette if you prefer. My kitchen isn't really that dark, but it is that old fashioned looking. No microwave.

1 clove garlic (peeled)
salt (preferably maldon) hearty pinch
pepper several good grindings
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 to 4 tbsp best olive oil


with some extra writing about it here

end of mango season

I've heard that there are over 400 varieties of mango. Around here the ones that come in boxes in early summer are my favourite, they are deliciously  sweet, fibreless and the flesh melts in the mouth. They have a milky orange thin skin, and I think they come from Pakistan, and are a type called causa. The season is almost finished, and I've just frozen the flesh from ten mangoes to use later. I cut the flesh and blended it, adding the juice of one lime, and I'll use it in ice creams and smoothies.

This is a site telling you lots about the lovely mango, and here is another good mango site.

plum cake

I am thoroughly enjoying the plums, which when eaten fresh off the tree are wonderfully sweet. At the optimum ripeness the stone falls out once the plum is cut. The raw flesh is a soft green, and the skin is purpley black, with a dusty bloom. The skin lends a light bitterness, which is a welcome contrast  to the sweet pulpy flesh. I like to cook the plums for just a minute, adding a few spoonfuls of water and the same amount of sugar. Demerera.  This makes a beautiful ruby red syrup, and, lightly poached, the plums keep their shape. The bitter tang of the skin is slightly more pronounced in the cooking, balanced nicely with the sweetness of the syrup.

The winner of the plum recipes so far has been this cake. The plums sit on top of the mixture, which is flavoured with lemon zest backed by the lightest addition of mixed spice. I wanted to take a picture of the whole cake, but before I had a chance the eating had begun. It seems it's an all times of day cake. It certainly goes very well with a cup of tea, and coffee and, apparently, works very well as a follow-on course for a full breakfast.

I cut the plums into quarters, and I don't worry which way up they are. Reckless, I know. So the top of the cake looks a bit random, but it works. Also I won't give a fixed weight of plums, expect to use at least half a pound of plums per cake, you may prefer more. Enjoy yourself.

Recipe

Butter an 9"/23cm cake tin with a removable base

Ingredients

185g butter or marg

zest from 1 lemon

1/2 tsp of mixed spice (or cinnamon if you don't have the mixed stuff)

2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar

3 eggs

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour

1/2 cup plain flour

3 tbsp milk

1/2 lb plums

3 tbsp demerera sugar

set oven to 180C

cut your plums in half and remove the stones, then cut into quarters

mix flours together with spices and stir or sift - in a separate bowl

beat the butter, rind and sugar together (easier if fat is not straight out of the fridge) - use an electric mixer or a stick whisk if you've got it - until light and fluffy

beat in the eggs one at a time, until combined

add half the sifted flour and a tablespoonful of milk and stir to combine

repeat with the rest of the flour and stir until completely combined

spread the mixture into the tin, smoothing until it's level
scatter the quartered plums over the cake mixture until you can see nothing but plums
sprinkle the demerera sugar over the top, as evenly as possible

bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean

allow the cake to cool a bit before removing from tin

I prefer this cake cold, but it goes well with ice cream or cream when warm

If you can keep this cake a couple of days I think it improves, but I've only evidence of this from tiny residual slices.

Alternatives
you can use tinned fruit, but it will be wetter and less sharp, so reduce the milk and demerera

subsitute almond flour for the plain flour, and use gluten free s.r. flour to make this cake gluten free - it will need an extra 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and will be a bit more crumbly, but very very tasty

Omelette - so good if you don't panic

Omelette, like maionnaise, and numerous other simple dishes, is often thought of as being tricky. The trick is to make sure the frying pan is not too hot. I add a splash of water into two eggs for the perfect omelette, just beat the eggs with pepper and salt or whatever seasoning you like, heat the pan, turn the heat down a bit, throw a small pat of butter in to melt, while you beat the eggs and then pour the egg mixture into the pan. As the eggs cook, pull the cooked eggs in and ease the uncooked mixture into the gaps. Once there isn't enough egg mixture to fill gaps, get ready to serve. Depending on how runny you like it in the middle. This is the point where you add cheese, if you're indulging in a cheese omelette. Fold the omelette over gently, and ease it onto a plate. It should look like this:

A lovely omelette, being properly appreciated, grace a Sonja