Baked Rhubarb, Ginger ice cream

The rhubarb in my garden pushed the lid of it's forcing pot last week. So time for making the most of the tender stems. Enjoyed both recipes below at the bbq on Saturday.

Baked Rhubarb
Wash stems and shake off excess water. Cut into chunks (finger length for forced stems, about 2 inches for later stems). Place in single layer in roasting tin and sprinkle generously with demerara sugar. Bake in 180C oven covered for 10 minutes and then uncovered until tender (5 mins extra for forced, about 10 mins for later stems).

Ginger Ice Cream
Another of my mother's recipes and simplicity itself. Also lower in fat if you use Elmlea or similar.
Whip 150ml of Elmlea whipping 'cream' (or normal whipping cream) to soft peaks.
Stir in one jar of Ginger Conserve (not jam - conserve has lower sugar content)
Freeze (I used my ice cream maker but just freezing in a container also works fine)

Ideal with any sweet rhubarb dish

Orange Marmalade

Finally writing up my mothers recipe for marmalade. Out of season for seville oranges, but someone asked me for the recipe over the weekend.

You do need a Large pan (I use a stock pot) and about 20 sterilized jam jars (prepare more just in case. How to sterilize Jam jars )

Wash and quarter, separating out pips and capturing any juice:
3.5 lbs of Seville Oranges
2 sweet oranges
1 lemon

Place pips in a muslin bag
Mince fruit and add to juice in the pan.

Add 11 pints water and leave for 24 hours

Boil for 1 hour with pips in their bag.

Add 13 lbs of sugar
Stir until sugar is dissolved and then bring back to boiling .... slowly

Boil until set is reached.

Pot and seal

Menu for w/c 26th April 2010

Friends around for bbq on Saturday which included a butterflied leg of lamb (see below) so 'left overs' are salads and rest of lamb which we will have for lunches.

M Chicken Fajitas
M-in-law bought 'kit' with her.
T BBQ
W Pasta
Th Lamb Ossobucco
Fr Freezer meal

Salads etc
Tabouleh and Lamb
Sausage and Beetroot


Butterflied Leg of Lamb
Useful video on how to butterfly said leg of lamb
Make up marinade by mixing 2-4 heaped tbsp freshly chopped rosemary, 2 cloves garlic, 4 tbsp cider vinegar and 2 tbsp olive oil
Rub into both sides of lamb and leave to marinate over night (or at least an hour)
Cook for 15-20 minutes each side on bbq
Alternatively cook for 20 minutes in 180C oven and then 5-10 minutes each side on bbq.
Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Serve, carved, with Tabouleh and green salad.

Tabouleh
Place 8oz bulgar (cracked) wheat in a bowl and over with boiling water. Leave for 10-15 minutes until they soften. Drain into a clean tea towel and then squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Shake into a LARGE bowl.
Add to grains:
6 finely chopped spring onions
Finely chopped bunch parsley and mint leaves.
Juice of a lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
Finely chopped third of cucumber
2-3 large tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
salt and pepper

If preparing in advance combine everything apart from the cucumber and tomatoes and store in the fridge. Add cucumber and tomatoes max of couple hours before serving.

Puy Lentil and Feta salad

For 4-6

Wash 170g puy lentils then put in saucepan with a bay leaf and 400ml water. Bring to boil then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes (until lentils are tender). Drain and spread on a plate to cool (remove bay leaf).

Meanwhile plunge 200g trimmed fine green beans in boiling water and cook for 5 mins (until just tender). Strain (retaining water) and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Leave to cool. Slice half of them.

Finally chop 2 carrots put in saucepan with the retained bean cooking water and bring water back to boil. As soon as this has happened strain and leave to cool.

Chop a bunch of parsley and bunch of chives finely. Chop the leaves of fresh thyme (aim for about 2tsp worth). Add to the herbs 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and juice of a lemon. Season, bearing in mind that feta is salty.

Mix in all the other ingredients into the herbs and dressing along with 100g crumbled feta.

Serve with green salad and cherry tomatoes. Personally I enjoy an additional dash of dressing made from balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Menu for w/c 19th April 2010

We were out for lunch yesterday so no left over meat to use. Couple of meals from freezer but what with the still beautiful weather here start with

M Bbq - chicken wings (with rest if the buffalo sauce), blue cheese dip, carrot and celery sticks and burgers. M's girlfriend's birthday and she'll have been out for lunch already, so hence nibble food
T Honey and mustard chicken
Notes: used chicken breast cut unto half and 2tsp (not tbsp) mustard. Next time will use less parnsips - about 250g.
W Pasta with sauces from freezer (chicken and risotto for the parents, meatballs for M)
Th Duck and chips (back to school meal)
F Something from freezer

Lunches
Pitta bread with salad and chicken/ham
Cottage cheese salad (didn't have it last week)
Salad nicoise
Lentil and feta salad
Beetroot, new potatoes and ham

Parsnips

Still have some of last years parsnips in the ground, but need the space for this year's crops. Hence a trawl for recipes that aren't curried parsnip soup or roast parsnips. Will cook a load up, mash and freeze in 500-600g batches for all the recipes that call for mash!

Will edit the list as the recipes are sampled

600g parsnip to one large potato - cook and mash for a different topping for a shepherds pie
or like this: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1232/tasty-shepherds-pie-with-parsnip-mash
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5919/parsnip-mash-with-apple
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/259621/herby-parsnip-champ
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8053/chicken-and-leek-pot-pies - ie use mash instead of pastry.... worth trying with ham and chicken to make it lf

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/260618/roast-root-vegetable-and-green-lentil-soup

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4963/creamy-parsnip-and-squash-bake - need to use something instead of double cream - turning it into a gratin might work - or could use sauce from this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8641/creamy-parsnip-and-mustard-gratin

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7742/fiveaday-tagine
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1124/moroccan-tagine (looks better)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9582/honey-mustard-chicken-pot-with-parsnips
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/146607/green-chicken-and-vegetable-curry
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1271/herbed-pork-fillet-with-roast-vegetables lf
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1488/pork-with-apple-and-frizzled-sage lf
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1209/pork-and-parsnip-cobbler
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1859/muffintopped-winter-beef-stew

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4794/parsnip-and-potato-rosti
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1736/parsnip-hash-browns
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2886/potato-parsnip-and-horseradish-baked-rosti


http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/69605/parsnip-cranberry-and-chestnut-loaf

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/74603/sweet-potato-and-parsnip-bake

Salads

• Bbq pork and coleslaw


• Beansprout and carrot


• Beef and Beetroot


• Spiced Beetroot


• Blue Cheese and Walnut


• Cheat coronation chicken


• Cottage cheese and pine nuts


• Puy lentil and feta


• Tabouleh


• Turkey with Tabbouleh and Tahini Dressing


• Warm tomato, pea and potato

Not tried yet: For when the beetroot is abundant in the garden - Beetroot, walnut with goats cheese toast Raw beetroot pear and feta

Menu for w/c 12th April 2010

Large piece of beef pot roasted yesterday - ideal for my take on a Philly Steak sandwich. Will make up a large quantity of herby meat sauce with the remaining beef; some to have with pasta at the end of the week the rest for the freezer.

With the nettles bursting into growth at the edge of the field, time for a batch of nettle soup

M Spicy spaghetti with garlic mushrooms
T Philly Steak Sandwiches
W Jerk chicken
Th Meal from freezer
F Pasta and herby meat sauce

Salads etc for lunch
Puy lentil and feta salad
Cottage cheese and pine nuts
Toast pine nuts in dry frying pan until golden. Leave to cool. Add to tub of cottage cheese along with two finely chopped spring onions. Serve with green salad and a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.
Potato and radish salad with salami
Beef and Beetroot salad
Nettle soup

Buffalo Chicken Wings and Garlic Blue Cheese dip

With the glorious weather we're going for first bbq of the year. Can't believe that I haven't written up my recipe for the buffalo sauce for wings so here goes:

Melt 4tbsp low fat spread (I use an olive oil based one and melt in a small bowl in the microwave)
Stir in 1tbsp hot chilli sauce and 0.5tbsp ketchup

Sufficient for at least 15 chicken wings (cut at the joint and with tips removed prior to bbq'ing). Either coat cooked wings with sauce or use sauce for dipping.

Serve with garlic blue cheese dip:
Mash 75g Danish blue cheese with one crushed garlic clove and stir in about 250g plain yoghurt

If this is a starter for a large gathering I also serve carrot, celery and red pepper sticks as extras for the dip.

For tonight going to simply follow with burgers - much prefer to enjoy this lovely evening sun!

Pasta with Saffron, Ham and Peas

Based on this recipe

Feeds 3-4

Cook 250g conchiglie or similar pasta (I used lumaconi last night) according to packet
Pour 1tbsp of boiling water over a pinch of saffron and leave to steep.

In a large frying pan gently heat 1tbsp olive oil and gently fry 1 finely chopped clove of garlic along with 3 roughly chopped slices of parma ham (or similar) and 3 roughly chopped slices of normal ham.
Add 250g frozen peas, 2-3 tbsp low fat soft cheese, 1 glass of white wine and the saffron. Simmer until liquid has reduced by at least a third.
Mix in pasta, season and serve.

Potato boulangere with cooked minced meat

Basics are for potato boulangere but interspersed with minced cooked meat

Heat oven to 170C

Slice 1.5 lb of potatoes thinly ideally using a mandolin (potato skins on is fine)
Mince 8 oz of cooked meat (beef is family favourite - can use less meat in which case ensure onion is large)
Finely slice 1 onion

Fry onion in oil until transparent

Layer potatoes, onion and meat (seasoning with salt and paper) in a lightly greased baking tray finishing with layer of potatoes.

Mix 0.5pt milk with 0.5 tsp dry mustard powder and tbsp finely chopped parsley and pour over the potatoes.

Bake in oven for one hour until potatoes are cooked through.

Serve with plenty of fresh vegetables..... and ketchup!

Menu for w/c 5th April 2010 - start of low(er) fat regime

Needing to lower the fat in the family diet (health/weight reasons) where cheese is going to be the hardest bit for me. Mr B will find both less meat as well as cheese the hardest. Master B will probably keep eating as he currently does (bean pole and still growing).

Although I have number of my own recipes that are easily modified am also going to intersperse with new recipes.

M Potato Boulangere (par boiling the onion rather than frying)
T Meal from Freezer - lamb tagine with cous cous
W Pasta: happen to have some parma ham so will go for a varient of this pasta with pea recipe - my variant is here
Th Chicken - spiced chicken with rice and crisp red onions
F One of the below depending on what is in the shops!


In the must try when appropriate list:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4811/panfried-venison-with-blackberry-sauce
Turkey spag bol
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12134/italian-turkey-steaks-with-garlicky-bean-mash
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10767/turkey-burgers-with-beetroot-relish
Chicken burgers with spinach and pine nuts
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4380/very-quick-chicken-casserole
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9021/chicken-and-white-bean-stew
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13192/lamb-and-squash-curry
Moroccan lamb stew with pumpkin
Spicy spaghetti with garlic mushrooms
Light carbonara



and for lunch
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13241/chargrilled-turkey-with-quinoa-tabbouleh-and-tahin