January Roundup!

[conuly]

I'm a day late and a dollar short, but in my defense, I spent a lot of time yesterday and today shoveling and it just slipped my mind.

I'm going to loop in everything that's already been posted into this post, so a few February entries might sneak in. It's just easier for me this way, and I don't have to worry about forgetting them at the end of this month.

( Read more... )

Wow! There were so many more recipes than I'd expected! I hope we can keep up this momentum in future months - which reminds me, I should have a new recipe to post tomorrow.

Kedgeree!

[glinda]

Less of a bookmark than a folded over page!

Alongside this challenge, I'm trying to cook with a new ingredient each month. I sort of failed that one in January, despite having bought a plantain with the best of intentions, I didn't end up actually cooking with it until today. (I'd like to claim it wasn't ripe until now, but it's been looking increasingly promising since the weekend.)

As though to compensate for my ingredient based failures, I've got in early this month with the monthly new recipe. Today I made kedgeree. It's from an Ainsley Hariot recipe from his Friends and Family Cookbook - my copy is a very battered ex-library edition that I've owned for at least a decade - and in it's original form is actually 'hot-smoked salmon and egg kedgeree'.

( it doesn't appear to be available online so here's the ingredients )

I was wondering back in November when I was trying to shake up my hot lunch options, whether I could adapt kedgeree to work with jackfruit instead of fish, and I noticed that next to the kedgeree recipe, there was one for saltfish and ackee - which the cheerful mid 2000s recipe book assures me is available in tins now, so that might make an appearance later in this challenge - that gave me an idea on how best to de-brine my tinned jackfruit. (Very successful, no unpleasant lingering brininess, though next time I'll marinate the jackfruit for a bit too, perhaps in some smoked paprika, as it was a bit bland.) I should also note that because I had less jackfruit than the smoked salmon I was substituting it for, I cut back on the rice by the same amount, thinking to make three portions instead of four. I still had four decent sized portions so that's something to bear in mind for future reference. I also think next time I'd add some more turmeric and cardamom at the start, it probably matters less with something as strongly flavoured as smoked salmon but as it was the rice felt too delicately seasoned. Despite the extra prep time occasioned by the jackfruit - I also pre-soaked the rice, though obviously for not nearly as long - and the faff of figuring out the plantain, this turned out to be a pretty straightforward recipe that I ate for lunch with great relish. I could imagine - with a bit of forethought - getting up on a Saturday morning and making this for a bunch of friends

I decided as I was going with a whole Caribbean brunch feel, I'd cook the plantain alongside it. Most of the recipes I found for cooking plantain called for it to be deep-fried and I'm not a fan - read: I'm feart of the fire hazard and resent the waste of oil - of deep-frying things myself, but I did find instructions for just pan frying it, so I got the oil good and hot and did it that way, frying until they were a bit caramelised on both sides, and oh my goodness it was a revelation. I will definitely be cooking those again, though I think I'll slice them more thinly next time I fry them. All round a tasty success!