Late Night Baked Frittata

 

During one of those late-night mother and son conversations yesterday about how nice the frittata was at the Kendal People's Cafe / PopUp Repair Workshop at the Castle Street Centre in Kendal, the son grinned and said, "frittatas are easy" and promptly vanished into the kitchen to make one.

He normally makes them in a cast iron frying pan on the stove, but this time he wanted to try a baked in the oven version to see how it worked.

Mother was drafted in to help: chopping onion and long red pepper into small pieces ready for a quick softening fry in the pan, and to crack eggs into the bowl without dropping the shell in as well (she failed!)

Son tackled the potatoes - nice fresh redskins that were just washed and sliced thinly, no need to peel them.

The end result was very tasty and proved that, yes, you can make frittata in the oven! Here's how...

Ingredients

800g of potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
9 eggs
1 large onion, finely chopped
½ long red pepper, finely chopped
approx 10cm of Aldi spicy chorizo or equivalent
Olive oil to fry the onion, pepper and chorizo in to start with
A couple of dashes of Cholula Chipotle sauce
Salt and pepper (optional)

Method

Firstly, put the olive oil into a frying pan and shallow fry the onion, pepper and chorizo for around 3 minutes or so, adding the cholula sauce and making sure everything is hot through.

Crack the eggs into a jug or bowl and lightly mix with a fork to break up the yolks.

In a large mixing bowl combine the sliced potatoes and the contents of the frying pan, pour mixture into a large baking dish (ours is approx 28cm x 17cm). Level it down, then pour the eggs over the mixture. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the top (only a little!).

Bake in oven on Gas Mark 4 for 100 minutes (1hr 20mins).  Remove from oven and lightly sprinkle a small amount of black pepper over the surface, cut into portions and serve hot.

Serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side dish.

Alex's Tuna Pasta Bake (dairy free)

Al's has been experimenting in the kitchen. That's a good sign! His dairy intolerance hasn't gone yet, so he's been trying out a dairy free tuna pasta bake recipe he devised. I have to say it looked and smelled delicious!  It disappeared too quickly for me to have more than a test forkful... next time he makes it I'll stand there with my bowl held out before me like Oliver Twist!

Here's his recipe...

Dairy-Free Tuna Pasta Bake

Ingredients

150g dried spiral pasta
125g mixed vegetables (can be frozen)
100g mushrooms, finely chopped
4 sun-dried tomato halves
1 tin of tuna (112g drained weight), flaked
1 tin of anchovies (30g drained weight), finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
One box of Panko breadcrumbs (70g weight)
80g of dairy-free spread
1/4 cup of plain / all-purpose flour
2 cups of soya milk
Olive oil for frying (about two tablespoons)
Pinch of salt

Method

1: Pre-heat oven to 200C / Gas Mark 6 and grease a 4-cup capacity baking dish that is about 6 cm (2 to 3 inches) deep.

2: Find yourself a large bowl to put everything into as it's done, adding the tuna initially.

3: Put the pasta and the pinch of salt into a saucepan, add boiling water and cook until tender. You don't want it fully cooked, just about half-way there. If using fresh vegetables then add them towards the end to heat through, if frozen then go ahead and add them at the start. Drain the whole lot once it is cooked and put it into the big bowl you found in step 2.

4: While the pasta is cooking, heat some of the oil in a frying pan and fry off the mushrooms and dried tomatoes for four or five minutes until the mushrooms are softened. Once done, scoop the mushrooms and tomatoes into the bowl from step 2.

5: Put the garlic and anchovies into the frying pan, adding more oil if needed, and fry them for about a minute to get the flavours going then take the pan off the heat and add the breadcrumbs to the pan, mixing well.

6: Into a saucepan (the empty one you did the pasta in if your really organised!) put the spread and melt it over a medium heat before adding the flour to make a roux. Cook it for a minute or so and then gradually add the soya milk, stirring or whisking as you go. Once it's all mixed together, bring the pan up to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce for about five minutes or until it thickens up. You will want to keep stirring gently here to avoid it developing a skin.

7: Once the sauce is ready, pour it into that bowl from step 2 which contains the pasta, vegetables and tuna and mix the whole lot together. Once well mixed, spoon or pour the mixture into the greased baking dish from step 1 and top it off with the breadcrumb mix from step 5.

8: Put the filled baking dish into the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or until the breadcrumbs go golden. Can be eaten right away or later on! Should serve 2 to 3 depending on appetite, more if you have a side dish with it.

Chilli chicken with cavolo nero

Spotting cavolo nero in our local ASDA made me stop and squeak with delight, much to the bemusement of my hubbie and my son who had not tried it before.  Let me explain: cavolo nero is a brassica, so is related to cabbages, Brussels sprouts, curly kale, etc...  but is so much nicer! It originates from Tuscany in Italy, hence it is sometimes known as Italian kale, and has high levels of iron and vitamins A-C so is good for you as well.

The dark green of cavolo nero contrasts well with the paler greens of  celery, scallions, and flat-leaf parsley

Unlike many other members of the brassica family it isn't odiferous (smelly) when cooked - in other words you do not get the horrible school-dinner / wet-knicker pong of cooked cabbage hanging around for days after you've cooked it. And that has to be a good thing!

In addition cavolo nero has a great dark green - sometimes almost black - colour when raw and goes a fabulous bright green when cooked, unlike so many other greens that fade on cooking, plus it has a super wrinkly crinkly texture that it keeps, as long as you do not overcook it!

So there I was clutching my £1 bag of cavolo nero to my bosom and planning how to use it. The bag supplied enough for use in four different meal recipes, so proved great value too, and the first idea I came up with was the recipe I'm showing below:

Chilli chicken with cavolo nero (serves 4)

Chilli chicken with cavolo nero

Ingredients:

• 300g chilli chicken breast strips - you can leave them as strips or cut strips into smaller pieces if preferred.

Note: We used a ready marinaded pack from Booth's but you can use any other chicken breast, cut into strips and marinaded in a chilli sauce for a few hours if you prefer, or aren't near anywhere that sells it ready done. It probably works out much cheaper and tastes just as good! 

• 1 large leek, finely sliced
• ½ a long sweet mild red pepper (Anaheim / Long Red Macaroni type pepper)
• handful of cavolo nero leaves, cut into pieces (Tip: use kitchen scissors rather than a knife, it's easier!)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• handful of mushrooms sliced  (chestnut ones are best for flavour but white ones work too) 
• 1 small red chilli (bird's eye or similar heat level) deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 stick celery finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs (any generic mixed herbs will be fine)
• 1 green OXO
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• ½ pint boiling water
• olive oil for cooking

Method:

Dissolve veg stock cube in boiling water and add herbs, leave to stand and infuse whilst you do the next step.

Stir fry the chicken and the garlic in hot olive oil in large frying pan or wok until outside of all chicken turns white (it won't be cooked through but that doesn't matter yet). Add a little of the stock if it looks like sticking, the marinade will wash off the chicken but that doesn't matter as it helps make the sauce.  Remove from heat and set aside once sealed. 

(Note: As we made this recipe using two woks we left the chicken in the first wok and used the second wok for the next step, but you can transfer the sealed chicken / garlic mix to a big bowl if you have only one pan to cook with.)

Chilli chicken, garlic and stock, set aside to rest the chicken whilst cooking the vegetables

Into the frying pan / wok add a little more olive oil and heat up, then add leeks, red pepper, chilli and celery, and stir fry for around 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for a further 2 minutes, adding as much of the stock as is needed to prevent sticking. 

Leeks, red pepper, chilli, celery, mushrooms stir fried

Transfer all to the same dish / pan as the previously cooked chicken / garlic mix, add remainder of stock and mix, then leave to stand.

Chicken and vegetables and stock added,  set aside

In the frying pan / wok add a little more olive oil and stir fry the cavolo nero for 1 minute.  Set aside. 

Cavolo nero being stir fried

Add the chicken / veg / stock back on to the heat for 3-4 minutes to ensure chicken is cooked through, then add the cavolo nero into the mix and stir. 

Everything is now in the pan and being heated through thoroughly before serving 

That look pretty hot - just look at the steam rising!

Serve with egg noodles, rice noodles, or rice, as preferred (we did it with egg noodles.)

Three hearty portions ready for eating!  Yum!!!

This made enough for four people (but as there is only three of us there was enough in the pan for someone later!)

Post-midnight Hummus making (V)

A couple of nights ago I had a hankering for hummus. I blame my son for this - he introduced me to hummus and I've been hooked ever since. We've been trying various types from the local supermarkets, but we wanted to try and make our own as our village shopkeeper, who is Greek, told us it was easy to do.

Our first attempt some weeks ago was a bit of a failure. It was too runny and the flavour was all wrong. Then came the hankering and no hummus in the fridge - what to do?

Finding a recipe online - one of those really helpful ones with a video so you can see what it's supposed to look like as you make it - I went raiding the pantry for the needed ingredients. I knew we had chickpeas - tinned ones from ALDI as I use them for stews and bean burgers. Tahini - yes we had that - two jars reduced to £1 a jar in Tesco a few weeks ago and dated late 2017 so still fine to use. Olive oil - yes, it's the only oil we use for cooking. Fresh lemon juice - no, but we usually have a bottle of lemon juice and one of lime juice in the fridge (both from my local ALDI), garlic, cumin and salt from the spice rack and I was ready to experiment again.

I was a bit worried as the recipe said it used a food processor to mix things up, and we don't have one. Initially I used the potato masher on the drained and rinsed chickpeas until they were all nicely mashed and lump-free, but discovered that using the end of a sturdy wooden rolling pin in a large flat-based bowl worked even better for mashing them (think large pestle and mortar!)  The tahini and citrus juice (half lemon, half lime) I mixed using a wooden spoon - it really doesn't need much effort as it goes very quickly after a minute's beating with the spoon. Once the tahini and citrus was mixed, the olive oil and the spices went in, followed by the chick peas, and it was all mixed by hand for a couple of minutes.

A taste test showed it needed a bit more seasoning, so my son went rummaging and found a tub of Tesco's Tikka curry powder and a bottle of chipotle sauce, so we added some of each (1 tsp of each approx.) and a small pinch of salt (we use sea salt for preference, but any salt works. Just don't add too much!)

The result was very tasty hummus in less than half an hour, which we spread liberally onto warm seeded paninis and thoroughly enjoyed at two in the morning!

Our final recipe:

1 400g can chickpeas, drained and well-rinsed
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
¼ cup (60 ml) well-stirred tahini
2 garlic cloves, minced (use 1 clove if you prefer a milder garlic flavour)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of sea salt

1 teaspoon Tikka curry powder *

1 teaspoon Cholula chipotle sauce

Dash of ground paprika and a little olive oil, for serving if liked

* If you want to make your own there is a recipe here: 

http://www.food.com/recipe/tikka-spice-mix-2654

Method:

In a bowl mix the tahini and lemon juice for around 1 minute, using a wooden spoon, until mix changes colour and goes lighter and a bit fluffy looking. 

Add the 2 tbsp's olive oil, the minced garlic, cumin, curry powder, chipotle sauce, and the sea salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice (you can substitute a ½ teaspoon of table salt instead of sea salt if you prefer it.)

In a 2nd bowl put the chickpeas and mash them until there are no whole peas or lumps visible, then add the chickpeas to the tahini mix and combine well until you have a creamy mixture. 

You can eat it immediately, or leave it in the bowl in the fridge for an hour to let the best flavour develop.