For most people there are milestones of ‘food freedom’ dotted throughout their lives. You move from having all your food provided by (and all your eating practices dictated by) your parents, to experiencing the first time you find yourself with money on the way home from school, and no one to stop you from spending it on liquorice allsorts and Spice Girls bubblegum. There are the first few weeks (…years) when you live out of home and realise that, if you want chocolate for dinner, you can have chocolate for dinner. You finally understand that, as an adult, you don’t have to eat everything on your plate. If you don’t like tomato, you can finally pick slices of the horrible, slimy fruit out of your sandwich – after all, you paid for the bloody thing.*

Well, the other day I had one of these moments. Two nights earlier we had been out for dinner and I had ordered baked fish with patatas bravas, and by far it was the potatoes with tomato sauce and mayonnaise that I enjoyed the most (to be fair, fish is delicious, but neither I nor my dinner companions enjoyed the fact that I had to pick little bones out with every mouthful). Two days later I deliberately undermined the rules of tapas and made us a huge plate of patatas bravas for lunch. Essentially I took the best bit of my previous meal, tripled it, and served it for lunch. Because I am the cook of the house, and I can eat whatever I want.

Patatas Bravas

(Recipe adapted from Felicity Cloake)

500g (18oz) of baking potatoes

250ml (1 cup) olive oil

1 small brown or white onion

1 small red chilli

A large tin of chopped tomatoes (roughly 400g/14oz)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 egg

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

Preheat the oven 180°C (350°F). Peel your potatoes and cut them into little cubes, roughly 2 cm across. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into the bottom of a baking sheet without the potatoes and put in the oven to heat up for 5 minutes. Take out the tray with oil, add the potatoes and a big pinch of salt, and toss so the potatoes are evenly covered with the hot oil. Put back in the oven and bake for around 45 minutes, or until they are golden and crispy.

While the potatoes are baking finely dice the onion and chilli, and add them to a medium-sized pot with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cook over medium heat until the onion is soft and glassy. Drain the tin of tomatoes slightly, and then add to the pot with about half of their original liquid. Add the sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and smoked paprika, and stir. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer, cooking for about 20 minutes until it has turned a darker colour and some of the liquid has reduced. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the sherry vinegar and take off the heat.

While the tomatoes are cooking, make the garlic aioli. Put the egg in a blender with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sherry vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the crushed garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Blend until combined. Now leave the blender on and very, very slowly, add the remaining oil in a very light drizzle while the mixture blends. You will end up with a creamy garlic mayonnaise.

Serve hot by placing the tomato sauce on a plate, topping with the potatoes and drizzling on the aioli.

———————————————

*Nick pointed out the irony of complaining about tomatoes in a post where one of the main ingredients is tomatoes. As the boss of my own blog, I don’t care.

I am not always a fan of food writing as a rule. On the whole I don’t care for people talking about their personal relationship with food, unless they have the writing skills to make pretty much any topic interesting (like Julian Barnes) or they are someone I know personally (who is feeding me at the time). When I was a child I read Sophie’s World, a combination of children’s fiction and lessons on ancient Greek philosophy. Like probably all children, while reading I would skip the philosophy lessons. I have remained the same when reading works that incorporate recipes. I skip the recipes – reading recipes is for cooking or planning what you are going to cook, it is not meant to provide a unique pleasure.

I like what I read to have substance. I want facts, not just speculation or musings. It has taken me some time to realise that you can get this from food writing. However I am the first one to admit my mistake, and very recently I have started pursuing more food writing (and podcasts) in my spare time. I will share what I am reading occasionally, just in case you feel the same.

Food Writing Worth Reading

1. Jane Kramer, “A Fork of One’s Own: A History of Culinary Revolution” (The New Yorker). This is the review of Bee Wilson’s Consider the Fork, discussed above. While I might recommend reading the book itself based on the review alone, I can certainly recommend the review.

2. BBC Radio 4 podcast: “Madhur Jaffrey, a life through food“. I have mixed feeling about Radio 4′s Food Program – it does not always have quite the substance to it that I would like. This episode, however, is a gem. It is marketed as Madhur Jaffrey’s life through food, but in it it is her life that is presented as a map to the history of Indian food and food in India. It is brief but lovely, and leaves you wanting to read her memoir, and  to smell boiling rice and frying spices.

3. Julian Barnes, The Pedant in the Kitchen. This charming, (very) short book by Barnes would, I suspect, appeal to anyone who has tried cooking at home. Barnes talks through his cooking history, cooking troubles, and cooking lessons in such an engaging, literary style, that I felt when reading it as if the fact that almost every cooking failure he had experienced had happened to me just showed how romantic my life as a home cook really is. I intentionally read this slowly, coincidentally while sitting in a kitchen most of the time, and it made the winter more homely and understanding.

4. David Foster Wallace, “Consider the Lobster”. This is considered one of the best essays on food of all time. It has facts, it has philosophical dilemmas, it has fascinating descriptions of foreign cultural practices (namely, the Maine Lobster Festival) – all the things that I crave in almost anything I (metaphorically) consume. Whenever I teach about food, or ethics or the philosophy of mind, I set it for my students. This is mostly because I want to occasionally give them something I know they will actually enjoy reading.

Ok – I have never actually made this while hung over. But whenever I make it, it strikes me as exactly the meal I should make if I were. Like probably all of you, I have a very intricate system of bookmarking, particularly when it comes to online recipes that I want to try out. Under my “Recipes” folder I have a very complicated and unsystematic collection of sub-folders with titles like “Fancy food”, “Strawberries”, “Vegan” and “Things to do with bread”. A new folder pops up every time I either see a recipe that doesn’t quite fit into any of the other categories, or if I start looking for specific recipes because I know a particular item is about to come into season.

One folder that I particularly enjoy is “Hangover”. It only contains a couple of recipes, none of which I have actually made (not because I haven’t have hangovers, but because when I have it hasn’t come to mind), all of which contain melted cheese. One of the recipes in my “hangover” folder is Cacio e Pepe by The Shortlists, and it was that recipe that inspired me to create this spaghetti.

So, in addition to being inspired by something I classified as a hangover recipe, this spaghetti is cheesy, full of carbs, a little spicy, very quick to make and can be made from things lying around the house. The perfect hangover spaghetti. Or, you know, anytime spaghetti.

Note: Ok – maybe you don’t have harissa and zatar hanging around your house (unless you have ever stocked up for an Ottolenghi recipe, like half the world).

Harissa is a tunisian spice paste – it is amazing, and gives this pasta its unique flavour. Seeing as you don’t use too much harissa for any one recipe, once you have bought a jar it will be around for many meals. However, if you can’t find it, or just can’t be bothered (this is Hangover Spaghetti after all) then you could either omit the harissa or replace it with some Thai red curry paste, if you happen to have some lying around.

Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice mixture of blended herbs, sesame and salt. As it is just about the most popular ingredient with food bloggers at the moment, once again it is worth getting if you can lay your hands on some (or making your own). That said, it is not essential like the harissa – the first time I made this spaghetti I used fresh shredded basil instead and it was probably equally as good.

Hangover Spaghetti

(Serves 2-3)

Dried spaghetti enough for 2 or 3 people

30g (2 tablespoons) salted butter

2-3 heaped teaspoons of harissa (2 is spicy enough for me, but I have a low spice threshold)

Salt and pepper

150g (5.3 oz) parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons of za’tar per person (this is for garnish, alternatively use shredded basil leaves)

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. While waiting for the water to boil, finely grate the cheese.

When the water is at a boil, add the spaghetti. You want it to cook for 4 minutes less than the directions on the packet, as it is going to finish cooking in the sauce at the end.

While the spaghetti is cooking, melt the butter in the bottom of a large pot (remember it has to be large enough to fit the spaghetti once it is done). Add the harissa and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes until it begins to sizzle. Be careful not to to let it burn. Add a pinch of salt and a lot of pepper, stir to combine and take off the heat.

When the spaghetti is done (4 minutes earlier than it says in the packet), take off the heat, and remove and save 1.5 cups of the cooking water before draining. Add half the reserved cooking water, and all the drained spaghetti to the butter/harissa pot, and place back on the heat. Cook for 2 minutes, reduce the heat and add half the cheese. Stir together to make a sauce – as the pasta cooks it will absorb more of the cooking water and your sauce will thicken. (Add more cooking water if needed to give the consistency you want). Add the remaining cheese, stir together and serve immediately.

To garnish, sprinkle each bowl with a couple of teaspoons of za’tar.

Note that, because the garlic here is raw, it is very garlicky. I like this – in fact I would venture to say that the strong garlic flavour is what makes this meal so good. If garlic is not for you then I’m afraid this will probably be a bit bland without it.

Also – don’t forget the olives! (Having forgotten them myself, I can tell you it just isn’t the same without them).

Garlicky Red Cabbage and Walnut Pita

(Serves 2)

1/2 a small red cabbage

2 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons olive oil (optional)

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar (optional)

3 tablespoons of natural (or Greek) yoghurt

8 pitted green olives

A large handful of walnuts

2-3 whole-wheat pitas

3 tablespoons of hummus

Break up the walnuts into small segments and dry-toast until they smell nutty and delicious. Cut your half cabbage in half again (so now you have two quarter cabbages) and shred. Place the olive oil and vinegar in a jar together and shake to combine (or stir with a fork) – note that you can omit this dressing if you like. Put the cabbage in a bowl and pour the dressing over it. Crush two cloves of garlic into the bowl, and add 3 tablespoons of yoghurt. Toss together to combine. Toss through the toasted walnut and green olive slices.

Place your pita bread in a dry frying pan and cook for a few minutes on each side until warm. Cut in half, and carefully split open the middle to create a pocket. Spread a big dollop of hummus on the inside of the pita pocket. Fill pita with red cabbage.

Note: It takes such a short amount of time to make there is no real need to prepare things in advance, but if you want to, say, take this in for lunch at work then carry the red cabbage (tossed with everything) in a little air-tight container. You could pre-spread the hummus in your pita, and when you get to work all you need to do is transfer your cabbage. It may not be as warm as it is when the pita is freshly toasted, but it will still taste great.

Filed under: Original recipes, Winter recipes ]]> https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/garlicky-red-cabbage-and-walnut-pita/feed/ 1 Garlicky red cabbage and walnut pita standardoftaste Garlicky red cabbage and walnut pita Red Cabbage with yoghurt and walnuts Red Cabbage with yoghurt https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/spicy-sesame-kale-chips/ https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/spicy-sesame-kale-chips/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:00:49 +0000 Cressida Gaukroger http://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/?p=2366 Continue reading »]]>

If you have ever resolved to eat more vegetables (or to have a largely vegetable-based diet) you will know that one of the great problems is that vegetables tend to go off very quickly. They certainly can’t outlive frozen ready-meals and boxes of mac and cheese, but just eggs and cheese will well outlast a mixed salad or bunch of asparagus. Almost half the world’s food is thrown away, and I have certainly been responsible for some of this waste.* The problem I have always faced is that the healthier and more responsibly I try to eat, the worse the waste gets – the more vegetables I buy, the more I need to throw out at the end of the week. It would be great to buy fresh produce every day, but even then you often end up with a larger quantity than you need to make a particular meal, which means you always have half a bunch of chives languishing in the vegetable drawer. Plus, I like to buy my fruit and vegetables at our local farmers’ market, which is only on once a week.

Well I have finally worked out a system that could at least help to remedy this problem. Essentially, cooked vegetables can often last longer than raw. If you have bought ingredients for a soup, for example, you should make that soup right away, and you can store it in the freezer for months (I store mine in individual portions in ziplock bags). And if, like me, you see the beautiful large bunches of kale at the farmers’ market and think how lovely it would be to make kale chips? Keep in mind that kale chips last a lot longer than raw kale. It is going to take a lot more  planning, but after my shop every week I am going to resolve to pre-make any food I had planned to make during the week that would last longer than its individual components would uncooked.

Spicy Sesame Kale Chips

(Makes two bowls worth)

1 large bunch of kale (you can use any kind – I used crinkly kale)

3 teaspoons sesame oil

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of black or white sesame seeds

Salt

Preheat your oven to 150°C (300°F). Wash the kale and dry very well (if it is still wet when it goes in the oven it won’t go crispy). Cut out any hard stems, and then roughly cut up your kale leaves. Remember that they will shrink as they bake, so don’t worry about making them a little big. Toss together the kale, sesame oil, cayenne pepper and two teaspoons of salt in a large bowl. Make sure that you don’t get a very large amount of cayenne sticking to one leaf. Remember that cayenne is very hot, so only 1/4 teaspoon will be enough to make your chips spicy – any more and they will have a very strong kick to them.

Cover one or two baking sheets with baking paper (you don’t want to crowd the kale or it won’t go crispy), and lay out the kale. Place in the oven and bake until crispy – this should take slightly over 10 minutes.

While the kale is baking, pour the sesame seeds into a frying pan and dry-toast them, shaking the pan often so that they don’t burn. If you have white sesame seeds they are done when they begin to darken. For black sesame seeds it is harder to tell – they should toast for around 4 minutes and start smelling good.

When the kale is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool. Toss together with the sesame seeds and more salt, if desired.

Store out of the fridge in an airtight container.

*While a lot of food wastage is at a commercial level, according to this article about half of the domestically-purchased food in the US and Europe ends up being thrown out.

This is another recipe from the fantastic Silver Spoon cookbook. It is perfect for winter – carrots are in season (and very cheap) at the moment, and if it is cold and grey you want something warm and rich, preferably stuffed with melted cheese. The carrots we picked up from our local greenmarket are the largest and dirtiest carrots I have ever seen, and it was quite wonderful orchestrating their transformation into these lovely, rather delicate croquettes.

The first time I tried this recipe it took me hours and hours to make – we didn’t have a food processor so I ripped up bread by hand to make breadcrumbs, and spent forever trying to strain the carrot through a sieve. Putting things through a food processor first makes such a difference, but even after being processed, sieving the carrot is a pain (I have always ended up with a little bit at the end I just could not be bothered trying to push through the sieve). Next time I may try using a blender. That said, if you can be bothered smushing carrot through a sieve, it makes a big difference to texture.

Gruyère-Stuffed Carrot Croquettes

(From The Silver Spoon)

Serves 4

1kg (2 1/4 lb) carrots

40g (1.5 oz) salted butter

3 eggs

5 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

200g breadcrumbs

1oog (3.5 oz) gruyère

4 tablespoons of white (plain) flour

Lots of vegetable or grapeseed oil for frying (this can be reused)

Salt and pepper

Put a large pot of water on to boil and salt well. Peel the carrots, cut off their ends and, if they are very large, half lengthwise and widthwise. Boil the carrots for 15 minutes, until soft. Drain the carrots, chop them and place in a saucepan with the butter. Cook over low heat until soft, stirring occasionally (about 15 minutes). Put the carrots in a food processor and process until smooth. Then (if you can be bothered) press the processed carrot through a sieve into a large bowl. Add half the breadcrumbs, one egg, the parmesan, nutmeg, a good pinch of salt and plenty of pepper. Stir to combine. (You can make the carrot mixture up to a couple of days in advance and store in the fridge in an airtight container until needed).

Once the carrot mixture is made you need to set up a workspace for making the croquettes. Slice the cheese into small cubes (approx 2cm across) and set to one side. Set out three large bowls as follows: 1) One with the flour. 2) One with the remaining two eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt. 3) One with the remaining breadcrumbs.

Put a large pot of vegetable oil on to heat up. You do not want it boiling or spitting – drop a breadcrumb into it to see whether it is hot enough. If the breadcrumb immediately begins to sizzle without burning then your oil is at the right temperature.

Rather than keeping the traditional croquette shape, I rolled mine into small balls (about the size of a golf ball). Press a square of cheese into the middle of each ball. Once a ball is made, roll it in the flour, then roll in the egg, and finally roll in the breadcrumbs until evenly covered. I made up a full batch before frying them so I could serve everyone straight away.

Drop the croquettes into the hot oil. Cook until the outside is crisp and golden – 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oil with a draining spoon, and place on some kitchen paper. Pat off any excess oil and serve hot.

The Standard has undergone a make-over. No doubt the new theme would not have escaped your notice next time you visit, but I have also updated the “About” section, and put in a new “Recipes” page to make browsing easier. I hope to do an overhaul of the “Links” page in the next few weeks as well.

You should check it out.

On Wednesday morning I woke up with a sudden craving for breakfast at Luxe Bakery Café in Newtown, the area of Sydney where my parents live. When staying in Sydney we visited Luxe several times, and every time I ordered the same thing: house-cured trout with potato hash, poached eggs and truffle oil. And now, on drizzly a London morning, all I could think of was how much I wanted to be able to walk up the street into the beautiful big light space of that lovely Australian café and order what I think is one of the most delicious breakfasts I have ever tasted. Obviously, as this was not an option, I had to revert to the next best thing and try to recreate it (as best I could).

Potato Latkes

Serves 2

(Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Jerusalem)

400g (14oz) potatoes

30g (1oz) chives (plus extra for garnish)

3 egg whites

1.5 tablespoons of white (plain) flour

60g (2oz) butter

80ml (3 fl oz) grapeseed oil or sunflower oil

Peel and wash the potatoes, then grate them. Squeeze as much of the liquid out of the grated potato as you can, and lay out on some kitchen towels to dry a bit more. Chop the chives. In a large bowl mix together the grated potato, chopped chives, egg whites, and flour, with a large pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper.

Lay out some kitchen paper (where you will place the latkes once fried) and turn on the oven to low if you are making several and want to keep the first batch warm while making more. In a large frying pan, heat up half the butter and a good slick of the oil. (Note that one frying pan will hold about three latkes. If you are making latkes for several people, you may want to use two frying pans so you can cook up to six latkes simultaneously). Take a handful of the potato mixture, give it a good squeeze to remove excess liquid, and place it in the frying pan. Flatten with a spatula. Ottolenghi and Tamimi say that each latke should be made of about two tablespoons of potato and be 1cm thick. I made mine quite a bit thicker and regretted it, so I suggest you stick to no more than two tablespoons to keep them thin and crispy.

Cook for about 3 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. When done, place on kitchen paper and pat some of the excess oil from their surface. Add more butter and oil as needed for subsequent batches.

Latkes can be made in advance, wrapped in aluminium foil for up to two days. To reheat just place the foil package in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes.

Latkes with Smoked Trout and Truffle Oil

Serves 2

4-6 latkes (see above)

60g (2oz) smoked trout (Note: you do not want hot smoked trout, but if you can’t find cold smoked trout you can substitute smoked salmon)

15g (0.5 oz) chives, chopped

3 teaspoons of truffle oil

2-4 poached eggs (optional)

Salad

Divide the quantities between two plates. Assemble the trout on top of the latkes, sprinkle with chives and drizzle with truffle oil. Serve while the latkes are hot.

I would have served these with a poached egg, but I have been trying a new method of poaching eggs that actually looks promising, but ended in utter failure the first time I attempted it, so I ended up eggless.

Filed under: Breakfast ]]> https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/latkes-with-smoked-trout-and-truffle-oil/feed/ 3 Hash browns with smoked trout standardoftaste Hash browns with smoked trout Chive latkes Latkes with smoked trout and truffle oil https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/apple-alsace-tart/ https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/apple-alsace-tart/#comments Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:40:11 +0000 Cressida Gaukroger http://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/?p=2234 Continue reading »]]>

I am getting into the habit now of buying seasonal produce at our local farmers’ market, and then coming home and scouring our cookbooks to see what I can make with what I have bought. We received several new cookbooks as wedding presents, and one that has been particularly useful for this task is The Silver Spoon. Published in 1950, The Silver Spoon is one of those cookbooks that it is universally acknowledged should be found in every kitchen. It is the essential guide to Italian cooking, containing so many recipes that the prospect of deciding what to cook can be at times a little overwhelming.

So far I have had great success with the Silver Spoon recipes I have tried. This tart is a lovely and light – the eggy custard filling is so good it would be great even without the apples, and could be combined with most fruits or berries, so you can use whatever is in season. However, what really blew me away was the pastry. The pastry was perfect – crisp without being too crumbly, it has a wonderful flavour, avoiding any of the blandness that one often finds in tart pastries. This is the pastry I will use for sweet tarts from now on.

Apple Alsace Tart

From The Silver Spoon

Pastry

100g (3.5oz) caster sugar (or white sugar)

1 large egg

120g (4oz) unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)

250g (9oz) plain flour (plus extra for dusting)

Cut the butter into small cubes, and leave it out of the fridge for 10 minutes or so until it is soft but not runny. Beat together the caster sugar and egg until light and fluffy (I recommend using electric beaters). Beat in the butter until well combined. At this stage it will look like there are very little lumps in your mixture, but this is fine.

Sift the flour into a large bowl, and make a well in the middle. Pour in the sugar/butter/egg mixture, and combine with your fingertips. Knead until smooth and not crumbly. Roll into a ball, wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap), and store in the fridge for at least an hour. This step can be done several days in advance.

When you are ready to use the pastry, grease a tart tin with a removable base. (The Silver Spoon recommends using a 25cm/10 inch tin). Roll out your pastry on a lightly-floured surface. It will be quite tough at first – if you find little cracks or holes in places just take a bit of extra pastry from the sides, place it over the hole, and go over it a couple of times with your rolling pin. When your pastry is rolled to the size of the tart tin, roll it up over your rolling pin and then roll it out over the tart tin (this avoids tearing your dough as you try to move it just using your hands). Lightly press the dough into the sides of your tin, and cut off any excess. (You can knead together the excess dough and put it back in the fridge to use later).

Leave your pastry-lined tart tin in the fridge until needed.

Filling

150g (5oz) caster sugar (or white sugar)

3 large eggs

5 tablespoons full-cream milk

 2 tablespoons of double (thickened) cream

5 eating apples

The juice of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). To make the custard, whisk together the caster sugar and eggs in a saucepan. Whisk in the milk and cream. Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until it thickens and becomes smooth. It will not get very thick, like custard. If you get lumps you can break them up by whisking vigorously. Take off the heat and put to one side.

Peel the apples, cut into quarters and remove the core. I then sliced these lengthwise to make my slices thinner. I layered the larger slices in a overlapping pattern around the edges of the pan, and then layered the smaller slices in the middle of the pan. You can really arrange your apple slices any way you think looks nice – you may end up having some pieces of a particular size left over, but don’t feel you have to use up all your apple in the filling. When the apple is arranged, sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discolouring.

Carefully pour the custard around the apples so that you do not leave any gaps where the base of the pastry is exposed. Place low in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. You should check your tart after about 20 minutes, and if you find the top is browning too quickly, then cover with aluminium foil for the rest of the baking period. Allow your tart to cool for at least 15 minutes before turning out of its tin.

Filed under: Baking, Winter recipes ]]> https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/apple-alsace-tart/feed/ 8 Apple alsace tart slice standardoftaste Apple alsace tart slice Alsace apple tart Sweet tart pastry Uncooked apple alsace tart Apple custard tart slice https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/baked-red-cabbage-with-apple-and-goats-cheese/ https://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/baked-red-cabbage-with-apple-and-goats-cheese/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:00:47 +0000 Cressida Gaukroger http://thestandardoftaste.wordpress.com/?p=2206 Continue reading »]]>

One thing I have noticed recently is how much photographing food for this blog ends up dictating what I cook. On Tuesday I made a mushroom lasagne. It was extremely delicious. Like, really good. I have made this lasagne at least twice before. Why have I never blogged the recipe? Because it looks rather unattractive. Mushrooms, which are beautiful when raw, often make any sauce with which they are combined a greyish colour. I have also never worked out the proportions of the lasagne right so that has lots of elegant layers that would distract from its uninspiring colour. So the lasagne was kept for dinner (when there isn’t any natural light) and I endeavoured to make something more visually appealing for lunch. When I was at the green-market I saw two types of cabbage – Savoy and red, and I thought to myself: “I knew Savoys were in season, so I spent some time looking up recipes which use Savoys. But, the red cabbages are much prettier. Surely I could just substitute red cabbage in the recipes I have already found?” So I bought red cabbage instead – in fact I bought two of them, which means that, even after a day of cooking cabbage, I still have to figure out a way to use up the other cabbage in my fridge within the next couple of days before it goes off.

To be honest, I just don’t know whether you can substitute red cabbage for other sorts of cabbage. The recipes for different kinds of cabbage appear to differ considerably (I don’t think I found a single red cabbage recipe that did not include sugar or fruit of some kind, which was certainly not the case with the savoy). And as I had never cooked with it before (I don’t really think I have eaten that much of it before, come to think of it) I was very unsure how it would hold up. So I ended up spending a great deal more time researching recipes, until I found this one.

I have to say, for a vegetable that I bought almost entirely on the basis of its appearance, it is quite wonderfully beautiful. Just look at this picture (click on it for a bigger version). It looks like something that would be documented in a natural history woodcut. It looks like a cross section of the human brain. It is complex and lovely and a beautiful colour. And (unlike mushrooms) it changes to another beautiful colour when cooked.

Luckily, this dish also tastes really good.

Baked Red Cabbage with Apple and Goat’s Cheese

(From The Times Magazine)

Serves between 4 and 8 depending on whether you have it as a side or a main

1 red cabbage (I used one and a quarter as mine were pretty small)

2 cooking apples

1 large brown onion

3 cloves of garlic

50 ml red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of mixed spice

Salt

25g butter

1 log of goats cheese (I used about 200g/7oz)

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Remove any wilting outer leaves of the cabbage and chop into quarters. Remove the hard centre, and shred (ie slice). Quarter the apples, remove the core, and slice (leave skin on). Halve the onion, and then slice. Place cabbage, apple and onion into a casserole pot with a lid. Crush the garlic into the same pot, and add the vinegar, mixed spice, sugar and a large pinch of salt. Toss together. Cut up the butter into cubes, and dot it over the top.

Cover with lid, and bake for 2 hours, giving it a stir every half hour or so.

After two hours, take your pot out of the oven, and place rounds of goat’s cheese on top of the cabbage. With the lid removed, put under the grill for 5 minutes or so until the goats cheese begins to brown. (Keep a constant eye on things at this stage, as you do not want to burn the cheese).

Serve hot or room-temperature, as a side, or with fresh, crispy bread as a main. You can also make this without the goat’s cheese – the cabbage alone is lovely served at room temperature on toast (or blinis) topped with strips of smoked salmon.