Favourite Recipes from Pine Flat Place July 2013

This month calls for light summer food cooked as part of a formal dinner party and finger food amuse. This time of year is great for hedgerow and woodland treats and as such it seems a shame to let it all go to waste. With a little imagination some amazing dishes can be made which are not only good to look at and eat but don’t cost the earth.

This first recipe is for a popular starter and is my interpretation of a classical recipe which has been entered in The Egg Award 2013.

I won third prize in this competition and won a wonderful set of Blackrock Ceramic Knives.
http://theeggaward2013.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/wild-garlic-twice-baked-cheese-souffle.html

WILD GARLIC TWICE BAKED CHEESE SOUFFLÉS

INGREDIENTS

Serves 8-12
50g Wild Garlic Leaves washed well and finely shredded
70g butter
75g freshly grated Gruyére cheese
75g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
400ml whole milk
50g plain flour
4 large Free Range eggs separated
Just less than 400 ml seasoned double cream
Salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to taste.

METHOD

Pre-heat oven to 200° C, 400° F Gas 6
1. Butter 8 large or 12 small ramekins well with butter from allowance.
2. Put the wild garlic in a pan with the milk, bring to the boil and set aside
3. mix the remaining butter with the flour incorporating it well, then add the milk and wild garlic and cook until thick and smooth, stirring constantly. Cool for a short while
4. Beat in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, Gruyére and then the egg yolks.
5. Whisk the egg whites in a very clean bowl until they form stiff peaks and then fold into the cheese mixture.
6. Spoon into the ramekins and arrange in a deep baking tin with boiling water halfway up the side of the dishes.
7.  Cook in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, allow to cool for 15 minutes and then turn out of the ramekins. (The soufflés can be frozen at this point until needed)
8. Arrange in a shallow oven-proof dish buttered and sprinkled with half the grated Parmesan cheese.
9. Pour the seasoned cream over the soufflés, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and bake again for 15 to 20 minutes until well risen. Serve at once.

The eggs I like to use the most are those from my neighbour's hens, I get them all when I look after them!

This second recipe is one I invented this June. I found some enormous nettle leaves the size of my hand nearby and thought I would make stuffed nettle leaves similar to the Greek stuffed vine leaves. The stuffing is my own invention but the cooking method is the same as the vine leaf version. Vegetarian again! Serve as a starter, amuse or as part of a Mezze.

VIVIENNE ALDRED’S STUFFED NETTLE LEAVES

INGREDIENTS

25-30 very large nettle leaves picked wearing suitable gardening gloves with scissors
4 oz. cooked brown Basmati rice
1 finely chopped clove of garlic
5 small spring onions finely sliced.
4 oz. toasted pine nuts
1 preserved lemon
Handful of fresh oregano finely chopped
1 low fat Mozzarella ball
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
Olive oil
Water

METHOD

Pre-heat oven to 180° C, 350° F Gas 4
1. Scald 25 – 30 very large nettle leaves in boiling water with a tsp bi-carbonate of soda in the water. Leave for 2 minutes and then refresh in cold water for 15 minutes or until cool. Dry the leaves on kitchen towel and trim off the stalks, half of the middle rib of the leaf and any brown warty looking lumps.
2. Chop into small pieces the spring onion, garlic, mozzarella, peel the skin from the flesh of the preserved lemon, discard the flesh and soak the peel for 10 minutes, chop finely. Toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan, tossing them as you go as they burn easily.
3. Mix together in a bowl the rice, oregano, onions, mozzarella, lemon, pine nuts and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, bind with a splash of olive oil.
4. Take a nettle leaf and join the sections together, stem end towards you. Place a small teaspoon of the rice mix onto the leaf, fold the edges inwards until they meet, fold the stem end away from you and roll up like a small cigar. Repeat.
5. Place the rolls into a pan in a single layer. Barely cover with water and pour a good glug of olive oil on top. Wiggle the pan to distribute.
6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and allow to cool in the juices.

This last recipe is from Claudia Roden’s brilliant book of Middle Eastern Cookery called Arabesque. I made it with mutton chops I purchased from the iconic Brighton Grove Food Store which I have been frequenting for hundreds of years in Arthur’s Hill, Newcastle.

TAGINE OF LAMB WITH CARAMELISED BABY ONIONS AND PEARS

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6-8
1.5 kg boned shoulder of lamb or mutton chops (lamb neck chops will do)
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
Salt and plenty of black pepper
1 scant tsp ground ginger
1 scant tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp saffron threads
500g baby onions or shallots, soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes then peeled.
3 large pears
40g butter

METHOD

Cut the meat into 6-8 pieces, put in a wide pan with 2 tbsp of oil over a medium heat; turn to brown the pieces all over. Add the chopped onion and barely cover with water. Stir in salt & pepper, ginger, cinnamon and saffron, simmer, covered, over a low heat for 1 ½ hours, turning the pieces over a few times. Sauté the peeled onions/shallots in 2 tbsp oil in a pan until they have slightly coloured. Add them to the meat and cook for a further 30 minutes until the meat is very tender and the onions very soft but still in shape. Towards the end of cooking time cook uncovered to reduce the sauce. There should only be a small amount of liquid remaining.  Wash the pears, quarter and core them but do not peel them. Sauté them in a large frying pan in a mixture of butter and the remaining 1 tbsp oil over a medium heat until their cut sides are slightly browned and caramelised, If they have not softened right through put them into the pan, skin side up and continue to cook, covered, until they are very tender.