Here’s another culinary experiment from this evening. I did spare ribs, which are cheap, scrummy and so easy to do. Like all my recipes it was made up as I went along and is almost totally flexible. It went about like this …

I had …
a quantity of pork individual spare ribs. You will know how many you want to eat, but I’d allow at least 4 full-size ribs per person. You could buy a rack of ribs if you want, and that should work just as well, as would lamb or even beef. I happened to have bought single pork ribs.

For the sauce I used …
3-4 tbsp HP Sauce
4-5 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of a lemon (and the zest too if you wish)
3-4 tsp Worc. Sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp chilli paste (more if you wish)
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
salt & pepper

And then I did …
Pre-heat the oven to 190C with fan (200C if no fan).
Use either a baking sheet with 1-2cm sides or a roasting tin. Line it with foil (unless you want to seriously upset the washer-up).
Rinse the ribs and spread them out on the tin.
Put all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix until you have a homogeneous sauce.
Pour the sauce over the ribs and turn the ribs until they’re well coated in sauce.
Cover with foil and put in the oven.
After about 40 minutes remove the foil and return to the oven for another 20 minutes to crisp up.
Turn the ribs out into a serving dish/plate and pour over any remaining sauce.

I served these with a simple salad of tomato, onion, cucumber and canellini beans (plus the obligatory garlic and olives), hunks of good homemade bread and a bottle of hearty red wine.

It all disappeared!

There’s a definite art to eating well but economically. Although we’re on fixed, if comfortable at present, incomes we’re not ones for scrimping on food — well we do most of our shopping at Waitrose and although many of their staples are price matched with Tesco and Sainsbury, many items are also of superior quality (in our option) and thus a little more expensive. I’d rather have good food, that tastes of what it is, than cheap rubbish.

So we make a policy, as we always have especially with meat, fruit and veg, of buying what’s in season, looks good and is affordably priced (even better if it’s on offer). If possible we also avoid buying anything which has been shipped half-way round the globe. Why buy New Zealand lamb when we have plenty in this country? Why do we import asparagus from Peru and mange tout from Namibia just so we can eat them in January? European produce is fair game, but we’ll always buy British if we can, and hardly ever from outside Europe. Isn’t it better to enjoy these things from local farms when they’re fresh and in season? And support our own farmers?

But there is another aspect to this art of eating well but economically: using what you have in the pantry to best effect and not unnecessarily throwing away leftovers. And that’s what I did this evening.

Leftover Duck Kitchen-Sink Nosh Loaf

This is what my mother would have called “a nosh up”, what school dinners would call “hash” and what a chef would call a “meat loaf”. The way I made it is nearer to the latter.

What follows will fill a large loaf tin and feed 4-5 generously.

I used …

• remains of Sunday’s roast duck (a leg, the wings and the scraps off the carcass)
• large packet of stuffing mix
• medium red onion
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
• 12 or so green olives
• a rather tired fennel
• a good serving spoon of leftover cabbage
• a very soft large slicing tomato
• small dried chilli (optional)
• dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 generous tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• good splash Worc. sauce
• 1 egg

This is what I did ...

1. Pre-heat the oven to about 200C (180C if fan assisted)
2. Put the stuffing mix in a large mixing bowl and add a good pinch of dried herbs, a big grind of fresh black pepper, a very little salt, the tomato paste, garlic paste and Worc. sauce
3. Make up the stuffing mix with just enough boiling water, as per the packet, and leave it to cool a bit
4. Take the meat off the duck and chop it up finely
5. Also chop the tomato and leftover cabbage and add it to the duck
6. Finely chop the garlic, olives, onion, fennel and chilli, and put in a pan with a good slug of olive oil; sweat this mixture until the onion is translucent
7. At this point if you think the stuffing mix is too dry add a very tiny amount more water — not too much because the tomato will create quite a bit of moisture
8. Now merge the duck mix, the stuffing mix and the onion mix, add the beaten egg to bind it, and mix it together well
9. While all this has been happening your tame slave has greased the loaf tin (or equivalent) and, if you wish, lined it with baking parchment
10. Turn the mixture into the loaf tin and press it down well
11. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes; it’s done when a knife poked into the middle of the tin comes out hot after 5 seconds
12. Turn the “loaf” out onto a large plate and remove the baking parchment
13. Serve in slices (well it may be a bit soft for that when it’s hot) with potatoes, veg and sauce of your choice (we had it with garlic potatoes and steamed January King cabbage)

Notes …

1. This will eat deliciously cold too, and in sandwiches
2. If you can keep it overnight to cool, and press it too, it’ll be even better
3. Basically you can use anything that’s to hand as long as there is stuffing mix (or breadcrumbs) and some protein (meat or beans); it’s your choice whether your ingredients work together
4. You can vary this almost however you like and it is worth experimenting; more flavourful meats (like duck or smoked bacon) work especially well
5. If you’re of a mind you can even make pretty layers or patterns with the ingredients
6. If you’re using bacon in this, do go easy on the salt!
7. The same mix can be used to stuff peppers or marrow, or could be cooked in a pastry case to make pie
8. And if you really want to be economical you can use the duck bones etc. to make stock

Want something healthy(ish) for the new year after the excesses of Christmas? Why not try one of Noreen’s specialities: Vegetable Crumble. It is simple, although the preparation is a bit labour intensive. And because it is unusual it seems to wow! most vegetarians.

Earlier today we mentioned to one of our friends (who has been a chef!) that we were going to have veggie crumble tonight. He was incredulous. You would have thought we were going to cook Martian Squid or something. Even when we explained it …

“You know what apple crumble is?”
“Yes”
“Well then you know what vegetable crumble is. Just add sauce.”

… our friend still wasn’t wholly convinced.

So for all the unbelievers out there, this is how it goes. (As usual I’ll leave you to work out the quantities and ratios to suit you.)

Vegetable Crumble

You will need:

• Enough potatoes for however many you’re feeding
• A selection of vegetables. Almost anything is OK but root veg, beans (especially butter beans), cauliflower, fennel, mushrooms, onions work well. Leafy veg, peppers, tomatoes aren’t so good but will still work as long as they aren’t the main veg.
• Some sauce: choose from cheese (especially good), mushroom, onion, tomato; or even herb or garlic
• Crumble topping
• Grated cheese (optional)
• Salt & pepper

This is what you do:

1. Decide what sauce you’re going to do and leave any veg for that aside. If you’re using canned beans hold these back as well.
2. You need to prepare and pre-cook the veg in bite-sized-ish pieces. Steam (preferably) or boil the veg until only just done. As the veggies will cook at different rates, this ensures that all the veg is properly cooked, with none over- or under-done.
3. While the veg cooks make the crumble topping, just as you would for apple crumble only with no added sugar.
4. Also make the sauce. Just a standard cheese, mushroom, onion, herb or garlic white sauce. Or a tomato sauce (as for pasta or pizza); chunky is good. The choice is yours.
5. Put the hot cooked veg in a large casserole together with the drained, canned beans. Season and cover with the sauce; ensure everything is mixed up a bit.
6. Add the crumble topping, and (optionally) some grated cheese on top.
7. Cook in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes to ensure the crumble is done and everything is hot through.
8. Serve on its own as a rib-sticking veggie main course, or as the vegetable to accompany roast meat.

Notes:

1. We often do this with whatever vegetables we happen to have left in the fridge; it’s a good “use it up rather than throw it out” dish.
2. Do NOT over cook the veg. Remember it will get a bit more cooking in the oven.
3. If you (choose to) make too much crumble topping, it freezes well, can be cooked almost from frozen, and as it’s unsweetened it can easily be quickly adapted for fruit crumble.
4. This reheats well the next day (with a bit more grated cheese) for a quick lunch.
5. An alternative is to use roasted vegetables, but that needs a bit more thought and preparation.

For those of you still struggling under mountains of leftover turkey (or indeed any meat) I bring salvation. Yesterday I used all our remaining meat to make a large meat loaf (or maybe it’s terrine). You can put almost anything in this as long as it is cookable; so maybe not lettuce, cucumber, salted peanuts or pickles, but pretty much everything else is fair game including olives and cranberry sauce. This is roughly what I did …

Christmas Leftover Meat Loaf
(aka Kitchen Sink Terrine)

You will need:
A quantity of cooked meat; it can be turkey, beef, sausage, bacon, ham — whatever mix you have. Scraps are fine; just remove the bones and gristle.
Some butter and/or olive oil
An egg or two
Some stock and/or a glass of port or brandy
Some garlic
Some mushrooms if available
A good couple of pinches of dried herbs
Salt & pepper
Any other cooked veg, including potatoes
A couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs
Cooked stuffing is fine too

What you do:
Pre-heat the over to about 180C, with the fan if it has one.
Reduce the bread to breadcrumbs (quickest in the food processor)
Finely chop the onion, garlic, mushrooms (and any other raw veg) and sweat it in a frying pan with some butter/oil until the onion is soft and translucent.
Finely chop all the meat, stuffing and cooked veg and mix it together with the herbs, onion mix and breadcrumbs.
Lightly beat the egg(s) and add them along with the stock/liquor and a drizzle of oil. Mix well. It needs to be wetish so it binds together but not soggy.
Tip the mix into a large casserole or cake tin which has been well buttered. Firm it down well.
Put on the lid, or cover with foil, and put in the oven until done (probably 45-75 minutes; raw meat may take a bit longer). If you can be bothered (I never can) you may get a better result using a bain marie.
You can test if it is done by inserting a knife in the middle, leave it there for 5 seconds and if it is scalding when removed the loaf should be done. Do not over cook it or it gets dry.
Remove from the oven and, unless eating it hot, if possible press the loaf with a heavy weight while it cools.
Eat either hot or cold with crusty bread and salad.

Notes:
You can also use raw meat but you’ll probably want to either mince it, or pre-cook it.
If you want to make it look pretty you can put a layer of meat slices or hard-boiled egg in the middle, or line the tin with bacon rashers, or decorate the top with juniper berries and bay leaves.

I’m recovering slowly from this blasted UTI, but still not entirely out of the woods. But recovered enough to cook an experimental meal.

Special Roast Lamb
[This would also work brilliantly with pork.]

No list of ingredients, you can work that out from what I write!

We had a spare leg of lamb (the way you do!) and want the ffeezer space for Christmas. This is what I did — how you do it doesn’t matter as long as the meat remains in a single piece as you’ll be rolling it up later. The joint was about 2Kg before being boned.

I carefully cut down to the bone and worked a sharp boning knife around all the bones leaving a large flat piece of lamb. Trim off any excess fat and sinews. Do not throw the bones, fat etc. away!

Finely chop a couple of cloves of garlic and a small onion (red for preference). Mix with a small packet of stuffing mix, plus salt, pepper and mixed herbs as desired, and add hot water as instructed on the packet. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

At this stage a second pair of hands will come in useful. Put the stuffing on the flattened lamb and roll it up as best you can. Yes that’s right, it will fall apart, which is why you need that second pair of hands to hold it together during the next step.

Now wrap some Parma ham round the lamb and tie it with string to stop it falling apart. The Parma ham helps hold the lamb together, protects it from drying and adds a nice edge to the meat.

If you bone the lamb well this is what it should end up looking like,
only wrapped with Parma ham. I ain’t that good!
Place in a roasting tin and drizzle some olive oil over.

Cover with foil and cook in the oven at about 180C with fan assist (200C if no fan) for about 70-90 minutes. Any extra stuffing can also be popped in the oven.

When done leave to rest for 10 minutes, then serve in slices accompanied by jacket or roast potatoes and veg of your choice (we had steamed spinach), plus if desired some mushroom sauce.

— ooOoo —
Lamb Stock
Remember all those bones an trimmings? Well you can make some super lamb stock for risotto etc.
Take a casserole (cast iron is best) and into it throw a roughly chopped onion, a few cloves of garlic and whatever other veg you need to use up (I used a rather tired fennel) also roughly chopped. Sweat this with a little olive oil on the hob, for a few minutes. Then add all the lamb trimmings & bones, seasoning and some mixed herbs. Continue cooking for a few more minutes. Now add some white wine (or wine and water) to just cover the lamb/veg mix and pop in a low oven for a couple of hours. You should end up with some clean bones and a stock. Take out the bones and any remaining lumps of fat etc.; you might also want to skim the fat off the top. Et voilà … you have some lovely rich lamb stock just ready for soup or risotto.

More experimental cooking tonight. We had some pork escalopes, so I tried a variation on Normandy style.

Pork Escalopes with Apple, Onion and Sage

I used …
Enough Pork Escalopes (about 5-10mm thick)
2 slightly under-ripe Cox’s Apples
Bunch of Scallions
Handful of fresh Sage Leaves
Half glass of Armagnac (Calvados would be better)
Salt, Pepper and Olive Oil
Large knob of Butter

And this is what I did …

1. Clean the scallions and cut into roughly 7 cm lengths, using as much of the green top as possible.
2. Peel and chop the apples into quarters, then each quarter into four lengthways slices. Toss these in the liquor (to stop them browning) and set aside with the scallions.
3. Wash the sage leaves, bruise them slightly and add to the scallion/apple mix.
4. Heat some olive oil in a good frying pan and sear the pork on both sides.
5. Add the apple/scallion/sage mix and any remaining liquor. Don’t worry if it flambés, it’ll just improve the flavour (and test your smoke alarms).
6. Cook, with a lid on if you wish, turning the pork occasionally until it is done — probably 5 minutes for thin escalopes.
7. Season to taste and transfer the pork and most of the apple/scallion mix into a warmed serving dish to keep warm.
8. Add the butter to the remaining pan juices (plus a bit of apple/scallion) and quickly reduce to a thicker sauce. Pour over the pork.
9. Serve with steamed new potatoes and a mixed salad.

Comments …
It tasted good, but it didn’t work quite as well as I had hoped.

The apple was good and stayed in whole slices which, with the scallions, were slightly sweet and tangy on the plate, setting off the pork nicely. That was what I wanted, hence why I had used Cox’s; something like a Bramley apple would be more tart (nice for me) but would also disintegrate.

One apple might have been enough for two of us. The apple/scallion mix made quite a lot of juice; too much to reduce quickly and thicken with butter to a thick sauce. This also meant that neither the pork not the apple slices browned at all, as I had hoped. Next time I’m inclined to cook the apple/scallion separately so it might caramelise slightly. And having ended up with too much liquid it needed a little cream, rather than butter, to make it into the right Normandy-style sauce.

An alternative approach might be to breadcrumb the pork — using sage & onion stuffing mix would work well! But then you definitely don’t want much juice so you’ll need to cook the apple separately.

And it would work just as well with any other style of potato and with hot vegetables rather than salad — depending solely on your preference at the time.

Verdict …
Not quite what I had hoped for, but by no means a failure. As Noreen so politely said: I’ve eaten far worse in restaurants!

Today is our umpty-nth Wedding Anniversary and rather than go out to eat — we seem to be eating out quite a lot recently anyway — we decided to do something a bit special for dinner this evening. Fillet steak had been suggested, perhaps as Tournedos Rossini. But steak somehow seems so ordinary these days. We were going to the supermarket anyway this morning.

Then very late last night I had a vision. The vision involved a duck. In typical male fashion I thought “duck breasts”. And then I wondered “what can I put with duck breasts?” We neither of us like culinary clichés like duck & orange or duck & cherry, if only because restaurants always serve it too sweet.

And then I though “gooseberries”. I’ve done mackerel & gooseberry before, so I know the acid of the fruit works well with something fatty. Hmmm, yes, that would work. Well of course we have the end of some port too. OK so, Duck with Gooseberry and Port. Yes, that would work well. Bet we can’t get any fresh gooseberries!

[Interlude for sleep]

So this morning off we trot to Waitrose. Before I commit us to duck I wander off and look at the fresh fruit. Yep, as predicted, no gooseberries — well it is a bit late for them. I returned to Noreen who looked quizzical; I had to explain my plot. “Ah yes”, she says, “that sounds good. I’ll see if there are any frozen gooseberries”. She returns empty handed saying all they have is frozen “forest fruits”. Hmph! Then she says “Rhubarb”. I say “Hmmm, not sure about that”. This needs to be tart but I’m not sure rhubarb is the right sort of acid. “Or blackberries?” Yes that’s a much better idea; we’re sure to have a few in the garden and anyway there are some in the freezer. And we know rabbit and blackberry works well.

As a result I give you …

Ruddy Duck
or Duck with Blackberry and Port

Preparation time: 20 minutes (including salad & potatoes)
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

For two of us I used:

• 2 duck breasts
• 4 ping-pong ball sized scallions (or equivalent in other onion)
• 2 handfuls of blackberries
• 2 cloves of garlic
• generous wine glass of port
• olive oil, sea salt, pepper

And this is what I did:

1. Trim the onions; chop the green parts of the scallions fine and quarter the bulbs.
2. Slice or crush the garlic, and rinse the blackberries.
3. Slash the skin of each duck breast 3 or 4 times and rub in freshly ground pepper and sea salt.
4. Heat some olive oil in a good pan and fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until beginning to go translucent.
5. Add the duck breasts and fry skin side down for 3-4 minutes so they get slightly browned.
6. Turn the duck breats and add the blackberries; give them 2-3 minutes before adding the port.
7. Cook for about 10-15 minutes (depending how well done you like your duck), turning the duck occasionally. I put a lid on the pan the keep the steam and flavours and speed the cooking a little.
8. By this time the sauce should be reducing and beginning to get sticky; it will be a deep maroon colour (hence Ruddy Duck).
9. When the duck is done, remove from the pan and slice thickly before serving with the pan juices.

I accompanied this with steamed new potatoes and a simple tomato, onion & rocket salad. But a lovely fresh vegetable like pak choi would work well too.

Enjoy a bottle of good robust red wine with it.

And yes, it was very good. Though I say it myself equally as good as one would get in most restaurants, and at least £10 a head less than even the cheapest would charge you.

Noreen made a nice discovery the other day. Marks & Spencer are currently selling what they brand as “Southwold Blonde” beer in 500 ml bottles. As beer aficionados will realise this is brewed by Adnams — my all time favourite brewers. As it is also labelled “Seasonal Guest” I assume it is a limited edition/short run product for the summer.

Anyway madame bought me a couple of bottles, which I generally ruined this evening by drinking them with a steamingly hot Lamb Sag Aloo Madras — steaming hot because I put in a whole large Scotch Bonnet chilli. However the beer was not totally ruined and I managed a good tasting before attacking the curry.

Verdict? Very, very nice.

As the bottle says it is made using a blend of East Anglian malted barley and wheat. Boadicea and First Gold hops from England and Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand combine to create the subtle citrus notes and refreshing flavour.

And citrus notes it certainly has in abundance. It is really rather like a clear, slightly darker, English Hoegaarden. A most excellent drink, very refreshing and totally recommended.

Oh and it stands up well to being abused by a hot curry.