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cookbook_challengeI've actually been cooking from recipes this week, or, more properly, I've re-watched the Jamie Oliver Keep Cooking programmes that have been recorded for a while now, not sure when they were broadcast, and working more or less from the book that accompanies the series. it's Jamie Oliver's "7 Ways", and I know Jamie Oliver has blotted his copybook here and there, but I have found that his lockdown cooking shows have been very watchable indeed, his middle child is adorable, his relationships with his family are lovely, and he has a breezy, casual style which appeals to me. Plus, the vast majority of the recipes have made me think, hmm, I'd like to cook that.
So. The first one I tackled was
Ingredients
4 cloves of garlic
1 fresh red chilli
4cm piece of ginger
bunch of spring onions
2 tbsp mango chutney
320g raw peeled king prawns
150g natural yogurt
There was a 'rice cake' included but I have no particular interest in doing that to my rice. And I use brown rice instead of white, which I suspect would make a difference to its stickiness. So we shall ignore the rice cake.
Peel the garlic, slice with the chilli. Peel and matchstick the ginger. Trim spring onions and slice into 2cm lengths. Stir fry with a tbs of olive oil for three minutes, then stir in the mango chutney. Pour half the mixture into a blender. Return the remainder to the heat and add the prawns to the frying pan. Add 150ml water to the blender, blitz until smooth, then pour this straight back into the frying pan. Let it bubble and thicken slightly for 3 min, then remove from heat and ripple in the yogurt.
I kept fairly close to this recipe. I reduced the amounts of things somewhat, the above recipe being for four, and substituted a red onion for quite a lot of the spring onions. Most importantly, I used some cod loin instead of prawns—in the TV programme Jamie suggests that there are all kinds of possibilities.
It turned out very tasty, and perhaps a smidge hotter than we really wanted—next time I'll take out the chilli seeds. And buy natural yogurt—I had none, but swirled through a bit of my vanilla soy yogurt instead to cool it down a bit. Overall, a very nice recipe, would eat again.
The second one was Oozy Cheesy Gnocchi & Pea Gratin (which in the book goes with Prosciutto Pork Fillet)
Ingredients:
500ml semi-skimmed milk
60g Parmesan cheese
500g potato gnocchi
320g frozen peas (nb in the telly version he also adds asparagus)
Pour the milk into a blender, grate in most of the cheese, add 10 pieces of gnocchi and a pinch of black pepper, and blitz until smooth to make a sauce. Put remaining gnocchi and peas into a frying pan, pour over the sauce, bring to the boil. After a few minutes (insert description of cooking the pork) grate remaining cheese over the pan and transfer the pan to the hot oven.
Well, I played fast and loose with this. The blitzing of milk (soya), grated cheese (half Parmesan, half Cheddar) and a handful of gnocchi was done, though I didn't measure any quantities! It takes a surprising amount of time to blitz a few gnocchi, though. (They are in there to thicken the sauce so that there is no messing around making a roux, etc, and this does work.)
I put it into the frying pan, added the gnocchi, chopped asparagus, and then—going completely off-piste, but remember, there was no accompanying meat dish—also some small prawns, a few chopped chestnut mushrooms, and a red bell pepper. A few minutes to bubble, and I dished it up. I suppose my frying pan might be perfectly happy in the oven, but I'm not willing to risk it—another time I might put it under the grill. (Broiler, for some of you.) It was very good without a crusty cheese layer on top, but on reflection, there are few things not improved by having a crusty cheese layer on top, so maybe next time.
So what we ended up eating was not very closely related to the recipe; however, the method of making a nice cheese sauce by including gnocchi to thicken it is one I shall revisit. And the result was very nice indeed. I'm putting gnocchi back on the shopping list.
So. The first one I tackled was
Ingredients
4 cloves of garlic
1 fresh red chilli
4cm piece of ginger
bunch of spring onions
2 tbsp mango chutney
320g raw peeled king prawns
150g natural yogurt
There was a 'rice cake' included but I have no particular interest in doing that to my rice. And I use brown rice instead of white, which I suspect would make a difference to its stickiness. So we shall ignore the rice cake.
Peel the garlic, slice with the chilli. Peel and matchstick the ginger. Trim spring onions and slice into 2cm lengths. Stir fry with a tbs of olive oil for three minutes, then stir in the mango chutney. Pour half the mixture into a blender. Return the remainder to the heat and add the prawns to the frying pan. Add 150ml water to the blender, blitz until smooth, then pour this straight back into the frying pan. Let it bubble and thicken slightly for 3 min, then remove from heat and ripple in the yogurt.
I kept fairly close to this recipe. I reduced the amounts of things somewhat, the above recipe being for four, and substituted a red onion for quite a lot of the spring onions. Most importantly, I used some cod loin instead of prawns—in the TV programme Jamie suggests that there are all kinds of possibilities.
It turned out very tasty, and perhaps a smidge hotter than we really wanted—next time I'll take out the chilli seeds. And buy natural yogurt—I had none, but swirled through a bit of my vanilla soy yogurt instead to cool it down a bit. Overall, a very nice recipe, would eat again.
The second one was Oozy Cheesy Gnocchi & Pea Gratin (which in the book goes with Prosciutto Pork Fillet)
Ingredients:
500ml semi-skimmed milk
60g Parmesan cheese
500g potato gnocchi
320g frozen peas (nb in the telly version he also adds asparagus)
Pour the milk into a blender, grate in most of the cheese, add 10 pieces of gnocchi and a pinch of black pepper, and blitz until smooth to make a sauce. Put remaining gnocchi and peas into a frying pan, pour over the sauce, bring to the boil. After a few minutes (insert description of cooking the pork) grate remaining cheese over the pan and transfer the pan to the hot oven.
Well, I played fast and loose with this. The blitzing of milk (soya), grated cheese (half Parmesan, half Cheddar) and a handful of gnocchi was done, though I didn't measure any quantities! It takes a surprising amount of time to blitz a few gnocchi, though. (They are in there to thicken the sauce so that there is no messing around making a roux, etc, and this does work.)
I put it into the frying pan, added the gnocchi, chopped asparagus, and then—going completely off-piste, but remember, there was no accompanying meat dish—also some small prawns, a few chopped chestnut mushrooms, and a red bell pepper. A few minutes to bubble, and I dished it up. I suppose my frying pan might be perfectly happy in the oven, but I'm not willing to risk it—another time I might put it under the grill. (Broiler, for some of you.) It was very good without a crusty cheese layer on top, but on reflection, there are few things not improved by having a crusty cheese layer on top, so maybe next time.
So what we ended up eating was not very closely related to the recipe; however, the method of making a nice cheese sauce by including gnocchi to thicken it is one I shall revisit. And the result was very nice indeed. I'm putting gnocchi back on the shopping list.
