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kat_lair***
This Easter I have indulged in cooking and baking, which I find really relaxing when I have time for it. It’s been nice to do proper food instead throwing something together from jar/freezer as I often do.
***
Easter Dinner of Roast Lamb - Roast lamb at Easter has been a regular feature since I first tried it two years ago in the jubilant post-Viva haze of ‘I can do anything!’ So I hemmed and hawed but got a leg of lamb this year too. As usual, I looked for some inspiration from various recipes and then improvised.
The lamb leg was slashed and rubbed with a mixture of olive oil, fresh parsley, dried mint, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. I sat it on the roasting tin on top of quartered onion and quartered lemon, covered in foil and slow roasted for about 3h.
I roasted potatoes and parsnips with olive oil and rosemary, and boiled some Brussels sprouts as a side. I made a gravy with the lamb juices, chicken stock, white wine and corn flour to thicken, and also threw in the onion and one of the lemon quarters that had been under the lamb.
Ngl, that dinner was fucking orgasmic. Especially the gravy. I’m pretty sure I whimpered during and after eating it.
Ex-tempore Easter Roulade - Lol, I really fancied a roulade (roly-poly, Swill roll, whatever you call it) so I decided to do a small one. The base recipe is Grandma’s trusted ‘equal measure of everything’ one, which basically requires you to measure the volume of your eggs (I used two) and then add equal amount of sugar and plain flour to get a basic sponge mix. Easy peasy. Problem is I don’t have a large shallow square tin that I would really need for the base (seriously, I cannot find one for love nor money in England, I’m talking one the width of an oven here) so I had to use a smaller one. Which meant that base was a little too thick to roll properly, which meant it cracked. So, the results weren’t particularly pretty but I covered it with melted chocolates (from like an old Christmas selection box, what?) and sprinkles. Oh and the filling is a mixture of crème fraiche and cloudberry jam but it’s a roulade, you can fill it with whatever you want really. Not the most attractive dessert but very tasty :D
Filo Tart with Seasonal Vegetables and Feta - This was the cover recipe from this month’s GoodFood magazine (see here). I’ve copied the recipe for you below, although for I halved it and made it in a smaller round tart dish as I don’t have a big square one. The recipe calls for the rind of two lemons so I only used one but even that turned a bit too lemony and reminiscent of something sweet rather than savoury so next time I would just skip lemon and add herbs or something. By the time I thought to take a photo it was all gone, eaten with mixed green leaves drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Nom nom.
3tbsp of olive oil
6-8 sheets of filo pastry
50g dried breadcrumbs
100g asparagus, sliced lengthways if thick
2 courgettes
6 large eggs
Zest of 2 lemons
Handful of fresh herbs (parsley, basil, mint), roughly chopped
200g crème fraîche
200g feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of small salad leaves to serve
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/4 gas. Oil ~18x25cm tart tin or line with baking paper (I’ve never understood why recipes tell you to do both, etf is the point?). Unfold the filo pastry but keep it covered with damp towel because otherwise it will dry out and go to pieces (no really, it will). Take one sheet at a time, brush with olive oil on both sides and put on the tart tin so that there’s little overhang for the edges. Repeat with rest but sprinkle breadcrumbs in between the layers to help with the crisping up. When you’re done, scrunch the edges into a pretty border. Toss the vegetables in a bit of oil and some seasoning and put on a separate baking tray. Put both in the over, tart on the top shelf, cook for 10mins. Remove the veg, brush tart with beaten egg and bake it for additional 5mins until golden and crunchy. Whisk up the egg, lemon zest, crème fraîche, herbs and seasoning. Lay half of the veg and feat at the bottom of the pastry case, pour over the egg mixture and top with the rest of the veg and feta. Bake for 40mins until filling is set. Serve with scattering of salad leaves for a posh presentation.
Green Chicken Curry Soup - This was a recipe from the latest Good Housekeeping Spring Cookbook and again I’ve copied for you below. And again I improvised slightly. I doubled the amount of chilli and I’m glad I did because the soup still turned out relatively mild though with a good warmth and depth of flavour. If you like yours properly spicy, I’d say put in at least 3 medium sized chillis. I also used tinned sweetcorn, Very Lazy garlic and Very Lazy ginger and results were fine, although be generous with non-fresh ingredients to get more kick out of them. The soup itself was really nice and colourful, drizzled with some soy sauce and fresh coriander, see photo (featuring home-baked bread!). Will likely make the recipe again.
1 garlic clove
4 spring onions, chopped
3cm piece of fresh ginger
1 green chilli, deseeded if you don’t like it too hot
75g of fresh coriander, extra for garnish
400ml tin of coconut milk
1tbsp of vegetable oil
750ml hot chicken stock
600g skinless chicken thigh strips, sliced into strips
175g baby sweetcorn, roughly chopped
200g sugar snap peas, roughly chopped
1tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
Lime wedges to serve if you fancy it
Whizz garlic, spring onions, ginger, coriander and coconut milk until smooth. Heat oil in large pan, add the blended mixture. Bring to boil, then add chicken and stock. Simmer until chicken is cooked (about 15mins). Take out roughly half of the chicken and whizz the remaining soup until smooth. Put the chicken back in, add sweetcorn, sugar snap peas and the fish sauce. Simmer until vegetables are cooked. Check seasoning, drizzle with the soy sauce. Garnish with fresh coriander and lime wedges to serve if you want to impress someone :D
Parsnip Bread Rolls - I needed a fifth recipe for the post (because exact numbers are important) but can’t provide one for the bread I made this Easter because I didn’t use a recipe or measure anything except the liquid, then just added other stuff on the feel. However, nice as the outcome was, I know that kind of approach to baking is of little use to anyone else. So instead you can have a recipe for parsnip bread rolls I made the previous weekend. This is from a Finnish magazine (Kodin Kuvalehti) that mum sent me, translated for you below. I’ve used mashed potatoes and carrots (and grated raw carrots) in bread rolls before but hadn’t thought of to try parsnip. However, I had some going spare which is why the recipe caught my eye. The results were very nice and would happily do these rolls again. I boiled and pureed more parsnips than needed, and the rest made a rather pleasant base for a vegetable soup :D Nothing wasted!
400ml milk or water
50g fresh yeast/equivalent of dried
2tsp salt
1tbsp honey
150ml pureed parsnip (I used a generous 200ml)
50g butter or margarine (I used oil, worked fine)
~1l (that’s 1,000ml) of bread flour (I used mixture of white, wholemeal and some oats)
Mix yeast and honey in warm liquid. Add the parsnip puree and flour little at a time. The dough should be quite soft. Let the dough rise until it’s doubled in size. Knead well with added flour to get the air out. Form into a long tube (is that the word I want, idk) and cut into roll size pieces, round them up by hand. The recipe makes 12-16 rolls depending on the size. Let the rolls rise for another 15mins under a cloth. Bake 12-15mins in 225C.
***
This Easter I have indulged in cooking and baking, which I find really relaxing when I have time for it. It’s been nice to do proper food instead throwing something together from jar/freezer as I often do.
***
Easter Dinner of Roast Lamb - Roast lamb at Easter has been a regular feature since I first tried it two years ago in the jubilant post-Viva haze of ‘I can do anything!’ So I hemmed and hawed but got a leg of lamb this year too. As usual, I looked for some inspiration from various recipes and then improvised.
The lamb leg was slashed and rubbed with a mixture of olive oil, fresh parsley, dried mint, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. I sat it on the roasting tin on top of quartered onion and quartered lemon, covered in foil and slow roasted for about 3h.
I roasted potatoes and parsnips with olive oil and rosemary, and boiled some Brussels sprouts as a side. I made a gravy with the lamb juices, chicken stock, white wine and corn flour to thicken, and also threw in the onion and one of the lemon quarters that had been under the lamb.
Ngl, that dinner was fucking orgasmic. Especially the gravy. I’m pretty sure I whimpered during and after eating it.
Ex-tempore Easter Roulade - Lol, I really fancied a roulade (roly-poly, Swill roll, whatever you call it) so I decided to do a small one. The base recipe is Grandma’s trusted ‘equal measure of everything’ one, which basically requires you to measure the volume of your eggs (I used two) and then add equal amount of sugar and plain flour to get a basic sponge mix. Easy peasy. Problem is I don’t have a large shallow square tin that I would really need for the base (seriously, I cannot find one for love nor money in England, I’m talking one the width of an oven here) so I had to use a smaller one. Which meant that base was a little too thick to roll properly, which meant it cracked. So, the results weren’t particularly pretty but I covered it with melted chocolates (from like an old Christmas selection box, what?) and sprinkles. Oh and the filling is a mixture of crème fraiche and cloudberry jam but it’s a roulade, you can fill it with whatever you want really. Not the most attractive dessert but very tasty :D
Filo Tart with Seasonal Vegetables and Feta - This was the cover recipe from this month’s GoodFood magazine (see here). I’ve copied the recipe for you below, although for I halved it and made it in a smaller round tart dish as I don’t have a big square one. The recipe calls for the rind of two lemons so I only used one but even that turned a bit too lemony and reminiscent of something sweet rather than savoury so next time I would just skip lemon and add herbs or something. By the time I thought to take a photo it was all gone, eaten with mixed green leaves drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Nom nom.
3tbsp of olive oil
6-8 sheets of filo pastry
50g dried breadcrumbs
100g asparagus, sliced lengthways if thick
2 courgettes
6 large eggs
Zest of 2 lemons
Handful of fresh herbs (parsley, basil, mint), roughly chopped
200g crème fraîche
200g feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of small salad leaves to serve
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/4 gas. Oil ~18x25cm tart tin or line with baking paper (I’ve never understood why recipes tell you to do both, etf is the point?). Unfold the filo pastry but keep it covered with damp towel because otherwise it will dry out and go to pieces (no really, it will). Take one sheet at a time, brush with olive oil on both sides and put on the tart tin so that there’s little overhang for the edges. Repeat with rest but sprinkle breadcrumbs in between the layers to help with the crisping up. When you’re done, scrunch the edges into a pretty border. Toss the vegetables in a bit of oil and some seasoning and put on a separate baking tray. Put both in the over, tart on the top shelf, cook for 10mins. Remove the veg, brush tart with beaten egg and bake it for additional 5mins until golden and crunchy. Whisk up the egg, lemon zest, crème fraîche, herbs and seasoning. Lay half of the veg and feat at the bottom of the pastry case, pour over the egg mixture and top with the rest of the veg and feta. Bake for 40mins until filling is set. Serve with scattering of salad leaves for a posh presentation.
Green Chicken Curry Soup - This was a recipe from the latest Good Housekeeping Spring Cookbook and again I’ve copied for you below. And again I improvised slightly. I doubled the amount of chilli and I’m glad I did because the soup still turned out relatively mild though with a good warmth and depth of flavour. If you like yours properly spicy, I’d say put in at least 3 medium sized chillis. I also used tinned sweetcorn, Very Lazy garlic and Very Lazy ginger and results were fine, although be generous with non-fresh ingredients to get more kick out of them. The soup itself was really nice and colourful, drizzled with some soy sauce and fresh coriander, see photo (featuring home-baked bread!). Will likely make the recipe again.
1 garlic clove
4 spring onions, chopped
3cm piece of fresh ginger
1 green chilli, deseeded if you don’t like it too hot
75g of fresh coriander, extra for garnish
400ml tin of coconut milk
1tbsp of vegetable oil
750ml hot chicken stock
600g skinless chicken thigh strips, sliced into strips
175g baby sweetcorn, roughly chopped
200g sugar snap peas, roughly chopped
1tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
Lime wedges to serve if you fancy it
Whizz garlic, spring onions, ginger, coriander and coconut milk until smooth. Heat oil in large pan, add the blended mixture. Bring to boil, then add chicken and stock. Simmer until chicken is cooked (about 15mins). Take out roughly half of the chicken and whizz the remaining soup until smooth. Put the chicken back in, add sweetcorn, sugar snap peas and the fish sauce. Simmer until vegetables are cooked. Check seasoning, drizzle with the soy sauce. Garnish with fresh coriander and lime wedges to serve if you want to impress someone :D
Parsnip Bread Rolls - I needed a fifth recipe for the post (because exact numbers are important) but can’t provide one for the bread I made this Easter because I didn’t use a recipe or measure anything except the liquid, then just added other stuff on the feel. However, nice as the outcome was, I know that kind of approach to baking is of little use to anyone else. So instead you can have a recipe for parsnip bread rolls I made the previous weekend. This is from a Finnish magazine (Kodin Kuvalehti) that mum sent me, translated for you below. I’ve used mashed potatoes and carrots (and grated raw carrots) in bread rolls before but hadn’t thought of to try parsnip. However, I had some going spare which is why the recipe caught my eye. The results were very nice and would happily do these rolls again. I boiled and pureed more parsnips than needed, and the rest made a rather pleasant base for a vegetable soup :D Nothing wasted!
400ml milk or water
50g fresh yeast/equivalent of dried
2tsp salt
1tbsp honey
150ml pureed parsnip (I used a generous 200ml)
50g butter or margarine (I used oil, worked fine)
~1l (that’s 1,000ml) of bread flour (I used mixture of white, wholemeal and some oats)
Mix yeast and honey in warm liquid. Add the parsnip puree and flour little at a time. The dough should be quite soft. Let the dough rise until it’s doubled in size. Knead well with added flour to get the air out. Form into a long tube (is that the word I want, idk) and cut into roll size pieces, round them up by hand. The recipe makes 12-16 rolls depending on the size. Let the rolls rise for another 15mins under a cloth. Bake 12-15mins in 225C.
***
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no subject
on 2014-04-21 11:05 am (UTC)That all looks absolutely glorious and it's making me hungry.
no subject
on 2014-04-21 01:01 pm (UTC)The roast lamb and additions was super yummy. I have tons of it though so tomorrow I have to freeze most of the meat. Potential lamb curry in the future.
no subject
on 2014-04-21 02:12 pm (UTC)Om nom on potential lamb curry in the future. Which of course I could help with.
no subject
on 2014-04-21 03:09 pm (UTC)I believe there are curry recipes left to test in that one book :D
no subject
on 2014-04-23 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-04-21 05:44 pm (UTC)And the curry soup if I halve the amount of spices!!
You made a Swiss Roll. A Roly Poly is made with suet pastry. A roulade is made with meringue. A sponge thing is a Swiss Roll... It looks good whatever you call it!!
Have you tried either Lakeland (online) or catering suppliers for a proper Swiss Roll tin?
no subject
on 2014-04-22 01:12 pm (UTC)Aha! Finally someone clarifies the difference for me! There's only one word for this in Finnish, and it's typically made with a sponge mixture, though sometimes with potato rather than wheat flour. I've seen meringue base ones too but baking with suet is much rarer in Finland.
Lakeland may have to be on my list next, cheers!
no subject
on 2014-04-22 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-04-22 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-04-23 10:53 pm (UTC)I enjoyed reading about your roulade, I'd wondered for a long while what makes some of them crack - thank you for educating me! :)
And anyway, imperfections you can fix with chocolate are often worth having, if only for the chocolate!
The parsnip rolls sounds just yummy, I'm pretty sure I've never tried anything like that, and now I want to! I love parsnip.
Sounds like such a fun dinner!
no subject
on 2014-04-24 08:44 pm (UTC)The rolls were very nice but you don't really taste the parsnip. Mostly it just gives them good texture.
The dinner was nom. I have loads of left over lamb now too in the freezer.
no subject
on 2014-04-26 03:01 am (UTC)