Housework chores and our cat

There are many tasks around the house which our cat really enjoys!

Cleaning the bathroom

Changing lightbulbs

Hanging up the clothes

Cooking (with Trave)

Using the washing-machine

Doing the washing-up (with Trave)

Gardening (with Trave)

WHAT SHE DOES NOT LIKE:

the big monster (vaccum cleaner)

Potato-topped lentil bake

A tasty mixture of red lentils, tofu and vegetables with a crunchy potato topping.


Ingredients for 4 people:

800g potatoes
25g butter
5 TBSP milk
50g mixed chopped nuts
1 TBSP chopped thyme

250g red lentils
60g butter
1 leek, sliced
1 broccoli, cut into florets
250g smoked tofu, diced
2 tsp tomato purée
salt and pepper

1. Cook and mash the potatoes, add the 25g butter, milk, nuts and thyme. Set aside.

2. Cook the lentils according to the pack cooking instructions. Set aside.

3. Melt the 60g butter, add the leeks and broccoli and cook for 5 min. Add the tofu, lentils, tomato purée and season to taste.

4. Pour the vegetables into a shallow ovenproof dish.

5. Spoon the potato mixture on the top.

6. Cook for 30 minutes in a 200 degrees preheated oven. Serve hot.

Side dishes

Aubergine and sweet potato rolls

Vegetable curry

Exam results

I have passed my exam! I did not get an outstanding grade but what mattered to me was to get a UK equivalent to my French qualifications so that if I feel like it, I could start an MBA. I am not sure whether I will want to do this or not but at least I will have the possibility.

Pass rate was 40% and I got 57%. I was aiming for 60-65%, but hey: I passed!

Baked potatoes

I have to type this recipe with 1 hand as I have a sleepy cat on my left arm. who could possibly disturb this sleeping beauty??


As for the recipe, here it goes. It's lovely, simple and with very little washing up :D



Serves 4:

4 big baking potatoes
sea salt
75ml vegetable stock
150ml double cream
50g grated Parmesan
4 TBSP pine kernels
1 TBSP mixed Italian herbs
pepper


1. Prick the potatoes with a fork and rub them in sea salt. Arrange them onto a baking tray and cook in 200 degrees pre-heated oven for 60 to 75 minutes until cooked and the skin is crispy.

2. Cut the potatoes in their length and spoon out the flesh. Mash the flesh.

3. Simmer the stock and cream together for 10min until reduced then mix it to the potato mash. Add 80% of pine kernels and cheese, keeping some to sprinkle, add the herbs and pepper. Mix well.

4. Spoon the potato mixture back into the skins, sprinkle with the rest of pine kernels and Parmesan and place in the oven for another 15minutes until golden brown.

Broccoli soup

This soup has nothing special in it. It tastes simple and is simply tasty ;)

Ingredients for 4 bowls of soup:

1 big broccoli, cut into florets + stem diced
2 tsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
5 TBSP wholegrain rice
900ml boiling water
1-2 bay leaves
1 pinch of nutmeg
4 TBSP double cream
100g full-fat soft cheese (type Philadelphia. I have tried this recipe with reduced-fat cheese but it does not quite work and does not taste as nice)

1. Fry the onion, leek and carrot for 3-4 minutes until softened.

2. Add the broccoli stem, rice, water, bay leaves and a pinch of sea salt. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Add the broccoli florets and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

4. Stir in the cream and cheese. DO NOT BOIL. Serve into warm bowls.

This week's menu and improvised omelette

We had to change things a bit as I discovered yesterday that we had 5 eggs in the fridge which best before date was 7th December.

So we made a big big omelette with the following ingredients:

5 eggs
2 courgettes
1 red pepper
150ml milk
150g grated cheddar
Herbes de Provences
Black pepper

And this is what is on the menu for the rest of the week:

Broccoli soup (new!)
Baked potatoes (new!)
Pizza
Potato and lentil bake (new!)

It is not that we eat only 4 times a week, but we cook for 4, so we can enjoy leftovers either for lunch or for dinner the following day.

Fennel risotto

This risotto is delicious. If you like the liquorice-like taste of fennel, this recipe is for you!

Ingredients for 4 people:

2 large fennel bulbs, sliced
olive oil
3 TBSP butter
1 onion, finely chopped
400g arborio rice
150-200ml vodka
1.5 litres vegetable stock
80g Parmesan cheese, grated
6 TBSP lemon juice

1. Fry the onion and fennel in the oil and butter until tender.

2. Add the rice, mix well and add the vodka. Mix well.

3. Gradually add the stock until the rice is cooked.

4. Add the lemon juice and Parmesan. Serve immediatly.

Vegetable Jambalaya

This was delicious, without being sophisticated. Simple vegetable stir-fry, but very tasty.

Serves 3 people:

100g brown rice
1 courgette, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
1 broccoli, cut into florets
80g baby sweetcorn, cut lengthway and halved
100g French beans, halves
1 red chilli, chopped / chilli powder to taste
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 TBSP tomato purée
200ml vegetable stock


1. Cook the rice for 20 minutes. drain well.

2. Fry all the vegetables together for 10 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato purée and stock and cook for another 10 minutes until all vegetables are tender.

3. Add the rice and mix well until heated through. Serve into warm bowls.

In our plates next week

I have not totally worked it out yet, but there will be:

Vegetable jambalaya - New! (I love the sound of this dish!)
Vegetable bake with carrots and parsnips (one of our favourites!)
Fennel risotto - based on the previously published Fennel and celery risotto

Stuffed mushrooms

I find this recipe nicer than the previous Creamy stuffed mushroom recipe I posted a few weeks back. So, here it is:


Serves 4 main courses or 8 starters

Ingredients:

8 big open-cap mushrooms
1 TBSP olive oil
1 leek, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
100g tofy, finely diced
1 courgette, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
100g wholemeal fresh breadcrumbs
2 TBSP basil/Italian herbs/herbes de Provence
1 TBSP tomato purée
2 TBSP pine kernels
60g Cheddar, grated
150ml vegetable stock

1. Remove stalks from mushrooms and chop finely. Place the caps in a shallow oven-proof dish.

2. Fry all the veg incl. the mushroom stalks and tofu in the olive oil for ~5 min.

3. Stir in the breadcrumbs, basil/herbs, and pine kernels. Season to taste. Mix thoroughly.

4. Divide the veg & breadcrumb mixture into the mushroom cap. Sprinkle with cheese. Pour the veg stock into the dish.

5. Place into a 200 degrees pre-heated oven for 20 minutes (until cheese has melted).

Serve with a salad as a starter or with mixed vegetables as a main course. (I served it with mash potatoes and boiled broccoli)

Aloo Gobi

I am not a big fan of cauliflower but this recipe could make anybody eat it! It is spicy and full of flavours. You can have it as a side dish with a spicy main or on its own with a nice slice of bread.

Serves 4:

600g potatoes, diced
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 TBSP groundnut oil
1 TBSP cumin seeds
2-3 green chillies, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 chilli powder
1 TBSP fresh coriander/parsley

1. Parboil the potatoes and cauliflower for 10min. Drain well.

2. Fry the cumin seeds into the oil and when they start 'popping', add the chillies and cook for a few minutes, then add the potatoes, cauliflower and spices. Fry for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

3. Sprinkle with fresh coriander/parsley: it is ready! Serve piping hot.

last week's delicacies

On the menu last week there was:

Cheesy vegetable chowder
Aloo Gobi - New!
Stuffed mushrooms - New recipe!
Sausages - with carrots, potatoes and broccoli (see picture below)

still steaming!

weekend in London

So, we headed for London late morning on Friday. I had my new passport early in the afternoon and we went to a Paul bakery for lunch. It was delicious. Trave had a sesame baguette with Camembert and I had an olive ciabatta with tomatoes and mozzarella. We treated ourselves with a dessert and shared a "tarte au citron" and a "framboisier". They were both delicious desserts.

We had dinner with Longcat and his better half at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant and the food (AND DRINKS!!!) were delicious.

On Saturday morning, we went to the V&A museum. We did not see a lot but I spent some time in the islamic art section, the musical instrument room and the temporary art exhibition. You need much more time to see it all.

Then we had an informational meeting with our fellow fundraisers for the Cuba challenge. It was fun and nice to meet some of the other guys doing the same thing as us.

We finished the day by going to the movies with Longcat and watched Beowulf. Quite a good movie, but we all agreed that the age rate of 12A is wrong and should be higher. There are a few very explicit sexual references in this film.

Nutty apple tart

The last attempt was so good that I have decided to make another one! This time I replaced the blueberries by cinnamon and added some ground almonds to the cream.


For 1 apple tart (8 people)

Pastry:
180g plain white flour
80g butter
3 TBSP caster suger
2 tsp cinnamon


Filling:
600g cooking apples, diced
juice of 1 lemon to marinate the apples (so that they don't get brown)
2 eggs, beaten
50ml double cream
150ml milk
3 TBSP ground almonds
2 tsp cinnamon
demarara sugar
chopped hazelnuts

1. Make the pastry and roll out into a pastry case.

2. Place the diced apples into the case.

3. Mix the eggs + cream + milk + ground almonds + cinnamon and pour over the apples.

4. Sprinkle with demarara sugar and chopped hazelnuts.

5. Cook for 25 minutes.

It's snowing!

Tonight we are seeing the first flakes of the winter! If the temperature drops overnight, it is certainly going to be icy on the roads tomorrow... no really safe on a bike! I'll see how things are tomorrow.

Tonight we had this very nice Mexican Pie. I have chopped a red hot chilli as well as sprinkling with chilli powder, and sliced some green beans instead of the peas. Also, as I was not convinced by the use of wholemeal flour last time (I had no cornmeal) I tried it with semolina (still had no cornmeal!) and it was fantastic! It made the topping very fluffy and tasty.

Orchestra Baobab

We went to Warwick Art Centre yesterday to the concert of Orchestra Baobab. They were amazing! I had not heard of them before reading about the band in a Songline magazine a month ago and decided to buy tickets. I particularly liked the Cuban influence in some of their songs (no surprise there, as I love Cuban music!).



One of my favourite piece? Nijaay (Just recognised the song on MySpace. I don't speak Wolof!) Have a look on their page, it is really worthwhile.

http://www.myspace.com/orchestrabaobabofficial

Apple and blueberry tart

Trave's parents gave us some apples a month ago and I have made a tart and also some compote with it.


Ingredients for 1 tart (8 people):

1 sesame sweet pastry case
(180g plain flour, 80g butter, 2 TBSP sesame seeds, 2 TBSP caster suger, 3 TBSP cold water)
600g cooking apples, peeled and diced
2 TBSP blueberries
demarara sugar
150 ml double cream
2 eggs
50g almonds, chopped
maple syrup

1. Make the pastry with above ingredients and roll out into a case. Pre-cook for 10 minutes.

2. Arrange the apples and blueberries into the case and sprinkle with demarara sugar.

3. Beat the eggs with the cream and pour over the case.

4. Sprinkle with the almonds and drizzle with maple syrup.

Enjoy hot or cold!

Tomato and macaroni bake

This is a very easy bake and fairly quick to make. And tasty too!


Ingredients for 4 people:

400g macaroni
600g chopped tomatoes
1 TBSP mixed herbs
200g grated Cheddar
100g grated Parmesan
dried bread crumbs


1. Cook the macaroni and drain well.

2. Mixed the 2 types of cheese together.

3. Butter an overproof dish. Layer alternatively chopped tomatoes/ herbs+black pepper/ macaroni/ cheeses/ chopped tomatoes/ herbs+black pepper/ macaroni/ cheeses

finishing with cheese, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.

4. Place in the oven for ~20 minutes until golden brown.

Giving a cat a pill

The following instructions, found on the Internet as we were attempting to give a pill to our tenatious Chatouille yesterday, is very close to what happened:

1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As the cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3) Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

4) Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5) Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6) Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and vigorously rub cat's throat.

7) Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make a note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8) Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9) Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10) Retrieve cat from neighbour’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11) Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of your last tetanus jab. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

12) Ring fire brigade to retrieve the fringing' cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

13) Tie the little @#!*#^~!'s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining room table, find heavy duty Pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14) Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15) Arrange for RSPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and ring local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

We did manage in the end... poor Chatouille!

The garden is ready for winter

I have sawn, chopped, and dug all Saturday last week. (Trave did the big root at the bottom of the garden. I had killed my back cutting all the trunk and branches)

So, here are the 'before' pictures:


I have cleared the back of the shed so that we can plant raspberries next spring. I have chopped the old honeysuckle. I love honeysuckle but this tree was quite old and did not produce many flowers. I will most certainly replace it. And I also cut a tree whose leaves looked like nettles and was not very attractive, taking space and blocking the sunlight.

Now we have a good part of the patio covered with branches and roots, waiting to be taken to the tip, as we are the only neighbourhood in town without green wheelie bins.

The garden wildlife defensers will not be too impressed with me chopping trees, but it is our garden and we wanted raspberries. (ok. I wanted raspberries, but Trave likes them too!)

Here is the garden 5 or 6 hours later:



Now, our garden is almost ready for winter. We still need to trim the hedges and prune the apple tree, in order to get more of and bigger pixie apples next year!

Vegetable croquettes

These croquettes have a wonderful and subtle ginger flavour, very nice. The following will feed 5 people:

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
600g potatoes, diced
70g frozen peas
1 small piece of ginger, finely chopped (~2-3 tsp)
3 green chillies, finely chopped
dried bread crumbs to coat

1. Boil the cauliflower and potatoes for 7 minutes, add the peas, and boil for another 5 min. Drain.

2. Mash the veg together and add the ginger and chillies.

3. Shape into patties, coat with the bread crumbs and fry on both sides in groundnut oil. Serve on preheated plates.


TO SERVE:

I had too much ginger so as a side dish I did the following:

- cook some brown rice with some ginger in the boiling water. Drain the rice and discard.
- boil some carrot sticks/slices
- finely chop any ginger leftovers
- add some butter to a saucepan and melt with the rice, carrots and ginger.

It is truly delicious. I will definitely make this again!

This week's menu

During the latest month of my course, up until the final exam, we had stopped planning our meals. This lead to less balanced meal in the course of the week, and an increase grocery bill! So we are back to our weekly planning and I have decided to post them here whenever I remember to do it.

So, what's on this week's menu?

Vegetable croquettes with broccoli (new!)
Pumpkin soup (variance on recipe posted before)
Macaroni bake (new!)
Mixed peppers and mushroom quiche

Creamy stuffed mushrooms

loads of steam in the kitchen then, not a great photo...

These were nice, but I think I preferred the last recipe I used for stuffed mushrooms, which I shall make again and post soon. Although I like mushrooms, I am no big fan of strong wild 'forest' type mushrooms which I was recommended to use here. Next time I make this recipe, I will use standard fresh mushrooms (chestnut mushrooms maybe?) instead of rehydrated dried wild ones.

Ingredients


25g dried wild mushrooms / 40g chestnut mushrooms, chopped
225g floury potatoes, diced
2 TBSP mixed chopped nuts (optional but makes the mixture crunchy!)
4 TBSP double cream
2 TBSP butter, melted
black pepper
8 large open-cap mushrooms
25g grated cheddar
150ml vegetable stock

1. Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Chop finely. (skip this step if using fresh mushrooms)

2. Cook the potatoes for 10 minutes, drain well and mash. Add the chopped mushrroms and nuts. Add the melted butter & cream and season to taste. Optional: add fresh parsley.

3. Remove the stalks from the open-cap mushrooms, chop the stalks and stir them into the potato mixture. Arrange the open-cap mushrooms into a shallow oven-proof dish. Spoon the mixture into the open-cap mushrooms and sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

4. Pour the vegetable stock into the dish, around the open-cap mushrooms.

5. Place in a preheated oven (200 degrees) for 20-25 minutes until golden.

6. Serve as a side dish or with green vegetables.


PS: please note I have written most of this recipe with my left hand only as Chatouille the cat is lying half-way between my lap and the laptop, taking over 80% of the mousepad... She is a bit scared of the crazy Guy Fawkes' Night fireworks going on outside. Poor Chatouille.

Lentils and Mixed Vegetables

This is surprisingly really nice. Surprisingly because whilst the original recipe I read said "vinegar" in the ingredient list, I was going to omit it. I decided to go for it after all and I was not disappointed. Trave & I coughed for a while though, as we are not used to the strong smell of vinegar.



This recipe is allegedly for four people, but we had not problem finishing it off in one meal just the two of us, with a slice of bread.

Ingredients:

200g green lentils
60g butter
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 TBSP Xeres vinegar (Sherry)
1 red chilli
3 tomatoes, cut into chunks
50g baby sweetcorn cobs, halved lengthway
1 yellow & 1 red peppers, cut into strips
50g French beans, halved
125ml vegetable stock
2 TBSP acacia honey
black pepper

1. Soak the lentils in cold water for 30 minutes, then bring to the boil and cook for 20 min. Drain.

2. Add 1 TBSP butter, 1 TBSP olive oil and the vinegar to the lentils. Mix well

3. Melt the remaining butter with the remaining oil and fry the vegetables for 3-4 minutes.

4. Add the stock, bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes.

5. Add the honey and season to taste. Stir in the lentils and heat through. Serve warm.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

This soup is wonderful. On my top 5 soups I think!

The following will serve 4 to 6 people:

Ingredients:

25g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large leek, thinly sliced
55g plain flour
1.2 L vegetable stock
3-4 carrots, finely diced
4 celery sticks, finely diced
2 parsnips, finely diced
2-3 potatoes, finely diced
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
300 ml single cream
350g extra mature cheddar, grated
black pepper

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and fry the onion and leek for 5 min, stirring frequently.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 min. Add a little of the stock and keep stirring, then slowly add the rest of the stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan so that the flour does not stick.

3. Add the vegetables and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bayleaf.

4. Stir in the cream and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Do not boil.

5. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Season with plenty of black pepper.


There is no need to add salt as the soup will be salty enough with the stock and cheese.

Serve with a nice home-made bread!

Meals of the forthcoming week

Here is a selection of meals we are planning to make this week:

- Potato and broccoli curry with basmati rice
- cereal galettes
- Cheesy vegetable chowder (new!)
- Lentils and vegetables (new!)
- Creamy stuffed mushrooms (new!)
- Lentil croquettes

Come back later in the week for photos and recipes!

Chilli and cheese bread

Chilli & cheese cake/bread

I cannot decide if this is a bread or a cake, as it can be eaten on its own but is also really good as a sandwich base.

Ingredients for 1 cake/bread

160 g plain white flour
190g corn flour
150g grated extra mature cheddar
250g plain yoghurt
135ml milk
2 eggs
1 red pepper, diced
1 red chilli pepper, chopped
60g butter
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven at 200 degrees and grease a 20cm diameter baking form.

2. Sieve the flours, baking powder and salt in a big bowl. Add the cheese (save some to sprinkle on the top of the form).

3. In a different bowl, mix together the joghurt, milk, eggs, pepper and chilli. Melt the butter and add to this bowl. Mix well.

4. Add the yoghurt mixture to the first bowl with the flours and cheese. Mix well.

5. Pour into the baking form, sprinkle with cheese and place in the oven for ~30min.

PS: Tastes nicest cold and is great as a snack on its own.

Cycling

We decided to go for a ride yesterday, training for our Cycle Cuba challenge. We had a very nice afternoon and the weather was perfect for it. We cycled 33 miles (~55km) in 2.5 hours. Here was our itenerary:

Leamington Spa
Offchurch
Cubbington
Weston-under-Wetherley
Hunningham
Birdingbury
Leamington Hastings
Stockton
Napton-on-the-Hill
Southam
Harbury
Leamington Spa

It was nice to get home for a nice cup of tea!

our pixie apples

We have picked our apples today. I cheated a bit by picking one 2 weeks ago (I could not wait). It was really nice if a bit sharp. We have not tried today's yet, as we have decided to take them to work tomorrow.

Given the size of the tree, we have had 6 apples altogether this year.

Don't they look yummy?