Loving leftovers

No recipe required today, just a post in reverence of leftovers.  We eat leftovers for probably two or sometimes three of our weekly meals at home, and we've certainly never had any qualms about just whipping them out the fridge, slapping them on a plate, and bunging them in the microwave - hey presto - dinner ready in approximately 5 mins. Tastier than anything you'll ever buy in a supermarket box.  

Spend an eency bit more time however, and you can forget that slight groundhog day feeling - you'll have a scrummy taste sensation that will trick your tastebuds in to believing you're not eating yesterday's dinner.

Take this fine bubble & squeak specimen: 

1.  Mash up some leftovers - spuds, savoy (previously quick fried with some garlic, salt, & pepper).

2.  Shape in to rounds.  Dust with flour.

3.  Shallow fry on both sides in vegetable (or another tasteless frying oil) on a low to medium heat until golden (10-15 mins).

4.  Serve topped with a fried or poached egg.

5.  Scoff.

Check out http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ for more ideas.

Laksa for the soul

After a truly hideous Monday (even more so than usual) there was nothing else I could think of at the end of the day than coming home for something filling, tasty, and blindingly spicy.

I adore Asia and its food.  This laksa reminds me of an amazing meal we had in the Sheraton in Kuala Lumpur.  Feeling slightly sad that we were about to fly home, our spirits were lifted by the spicy, creamy, noodly deliciousness.  What could be a more perfect antidote for a day like today.

Cauliflower appreciation society

While the humble cauliflower has indeed been subjected to the fine dining treatment (pureed, cappuccino'd etc), I still think it doesn't get the reverence it deserves at home.  

Yes, the staple cauliflower dishes are indeed that for a very good reason, but this simple tart turns one of those staples in to something quite special.  Introducing the cauliflower cheese tart.  It's easy to add further tasty elements too, such as the salmon I added to this tart for our dinner tonight.

 

Pizza heresy?

Even if I do say so myself, I make a pretty mean 'traditional' pizza.  There are times though when you want to at least try to convince yourself that you're eating healthily.  Ahem, ok so what if I do still put on big yummy chunks of mozzarella - what do you think I am some sort of a saint!!??

Anyway, here's where the wholemeal pizza base comes to the rescue (do I hear Raffaele Esposito turning in his grave?).  The key is the mix and type of flours - I like to use the consistently excellent Shipton Mill - Stoneground 100% wholemeal and Italian white '00' - the latter I buy in a 25kg sack and use for a huge number of things, including the aforementioned 'traditional' pizza, and pasta.

In defence of this debatable heresy, while this doesn't get as good a bubbly rise, this base it is delicious and a fantastic match for the smoked salmon and rocket topping.  Finish it off with a squeeze of lemon juice and dollop or two of crème fraiche, if you like.

Finally, don't even try to make pizza without a pizza stone, and make sure to whack your oven up as hot as it will go.

 

Sunday baking

Gorgeously sunny (but cold!) Sunday in Edinburgh.  Perfect for some morning baking before heading out for a walk and an afternoon pint.  

After a spectacularly miserable first attempt at an italian meringue based macaroon (further no doubt hilariously bad attempts for a blog post another day), made a rather scrumy batch of salted caramel brownies.  Check out the recipe here.