The Family Cook Book

In the Sunday Times this morning from the excellent Lucas Hollweg .... eaten for lunch whilst watching the footy. I think it has a nice taste and the celery/onion combination gives a slightly different spin on this pho-ish soup Chicken, celery and ginger broth A simple, warming, cleansing broth with vaguely oriental leanings. Serves 2 Ingredients 4cm of fresh ginger, about as wide as a thumb, peeled ½ medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced Pinch of dried chilli flakes 6 sticks of celery heart, finely shredded lengthways, plus a handful of leaves from inside the core 500ml chicken stock 1 skinless chicken breast 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp fish sauce 2 handfuls coriander leaves ½ medium red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced Finely grate half the ginger — you want it to turn into a purée. Cut the remaining ginger into thin discs, then slice these across so they form fine shreds. Cut the shredded celery into 5cm

That's my hands of course. On Friday night I managed to nearly sever a tendon and ended up getting 8 or 9 stitches in one finger and 3 in another .... Oh and I had to have 5 injections in my hand too! The moral of the story don't chop an avocado stone whilst holding the avocado ... Sounds stupid, sounds obvious, that's because it is ... But it didn't stop me doing it. Luckily everyone was at home to get me through it and to wipe the blood off the knife, chopping board, work surface, floor and cupboards. It's a bit of a drag that its happened at xmas as I am a little encumbered but I will just have to be a little bit Gordon or a bit Raymond ...Adam!

Red cabbage is a must for Xmas day AND boxing day. Luckily it's one of those things that can definitely be made ahead. This year, after an extensive online search for the best recipe I have alighted on this one; Braised red cabbage with apple and red wine, from 'Vegetables' by Sophie Grigson. According to the article I read this is the 'absolute classic, unbeatable way with red cabbage. It's a tradition originating in Germany and Austria and has become part of our Christmas, too.' Well lets hope they're right cos its now in the freezer! Serves 6 Ingredients 1 large red cabbage 1 large onion, halved and sliced 2 eating apples, cored and roughly chopped 100 ml (3½ fl oz) red wine (or port) 4 tbs caster sugar 2 tbs red wine vinegar 4 cloves 2 cinnamon sticks 1 blade of mace 40g (1½ oz) unsalted or lightly salted butter salt and pepper Method Preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2. Quarter the red cabbage, then c

OK, OK, I know its heresy. How on earth can you make get ahead bubble and squeak? By definition it needs to be made on boxing day from the left overs of xmas day .... but what if you've got 12 people coming and you dont know if you'll have enough and you dont want to cook an extra kilo of brussels and leave them sweating away in that rather gaseous state overnight. Well welcome to my heretic trial, Gordon Ramsey's pre-made bubble and squeak 'cakes' Lets hope they work! Ingredients 1kg floury potatoes , quartered (I use King Edward) 40g butter 500g Brussels sprouts , trimmed 50g plain flour , seasoned with salt and pepper olive oil , for frying Method Boil the potatoes for 12-15 mins or until tender, then drain and return to the pan over a low heat for 1-2 mins to dry out. Add the butter and mash well. Meanwhile, boil the sprouts for 3-5 mins until just tender. Drain and cool quickly under cold running water. Shake dry, then shred as finely as you ca

We had ten for dinner last night and instead of sitting down for a starter we had a selection of bits at the bar. I turned to 'The return of the Naked Chef' for a couple of them and it reminded me how good and original Jamie was when he first burst on the scene. The reci pes below come f rom the tapas, munchies and snacks section of the book . It has to be said they went down pretty well.   nb  I halved the tuna recipe as we were having a few different things to eat. we could also have easily halved the tapenade recipe but it keeps perfectly well in the fridge  Asian infused tuna Try to buy firm, deep red tuna. The idea is for it to be eaten raw - just like sushi ­ but, in actual fact, the acidity of the lime juice starts to cook the fish. serves 6-8 455g/1lb tuna 1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced juice of 4-5 limes, to taste 1-2 fresh chillies, deseeded and finely chopped 3 tablespoons sesame seed oil 4 tablespoons coconut milk 1 good handful of fr

After my Plum and orange cake last week (I went through by the way) it was Mr Quarrey's turn to compete in Cake club. I think its fair to say that he has kept the founders end up rather well, his Sticky pear and ginger cake may not have risen to the greatest of heights but on the flavour front it was positively Shard like.  Heres the recipe This is a cross between a sticky toffee pudding and a ginger cake. Serve warm with ice cream or cream as a dessert Serves   8 - 10 Ingredients ·       250g stoned  dates   , finely chopped ·       300ml milk ·       100g butter , plus extra for the tin ·       140g ginger preserve (you'll find this with the jams) ·       140g dark muscovado sugar ·       3 large ripe  pears   (we used Conference) ·       175g self-raising flour ·       50g  pecans   nuts, reserve 10 and chop the rest ·       1 tsp bicarbonate of soda ·       2 tsp ground ginger ·       ½ tsp mixed spice ·       2  eggs   , be

I just saw this and thought I should try it ... this is a reminder to me to do so. It is similar to the April Bloomfield one that nearly gassed Joe and I last week but doesn't involve cooking the chillies!  Ribeye steak with Asian dressing A cross between Italian tagliata — sliced steak — and a Vietnamese beef salad. Ingredients   Serves 2-4 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)  Zest and juice of 2 limes  1 tbsp brown sugar  4 wafer-thin slices of ginger, finely shredded  1 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely shredded  2 shallots, finely sliced  2 ribeye steaks, 2cm-3cm thick  4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil  Salt and pepper  Baby-leaf salad  A few coriander leaves  A few mint leaves, roughly torn  A few chives, cut into 5cm lengths, to scatter  2 radishes, cut into tiny sticks  3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil Put the soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar in a small bowl, then stir in the ginger, chilli and shallot to make a fragrant dr

I saw a short film about April Bloomfield on timesonline. She cooked this recipe for her team after a night out, they wolfed it down it whilst playing beer pong. "A staple at The Spotted Pig, this creamy, still slightly chunky mash of lovely, iron-y livers on toast makes a fine snack, but it’s substantial enough to hold you over while you wait for a friend or a table. Just the thing, too, with a glass of wine. The liver mixture is a touch sweet from the port and the browned garlic and shallots, with a whisper of acidity from the Madeira. Best of all, it takes just a moment to make. Be sure you get a nice color on the livers when you cook them. (I like them slightly pink on the inside for this dish; anyone who doesn’t can cook them a bit longer.) Be sure to take in the aroma as they cook — toasty browning liver is one of my favorite smells." Chopped Chicken Liver on Toast Makes 4 toasts Ingredients About 4 tbs extra virgin olive oil, plus more for driz

Its just Joe and I tonight, It's half-term and Lisa and Martha are enjoying the delights of Babbington House for a girly night. Seeing as its just us two geezers we are having steak .... of course. I saw this very very simple recipe by April Bloomfield at the weekend and I thought it sounded really good ... maybe tonights the night to try it out. I have also made a mental note to make sure I add The Spotted Pig to my list of places to go to in New York when I am next there. Steak with watercress and chillies T his is my not-so-Thai salad, inspired by those bright heaps of meat and herbs, but quite different. Serves 4 Ingredients 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice 1 packed tsp finely grated lime zest 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus a few glugs 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1/8 tsp finely grated garlic Maldon or another flaky sea salt 450g onglet steak, cut in half or thirds, if necessary 2 large red chillies, thinly sliced (including seeds) 3 medium shallots, thinly sliced

We had pizza tonight, as usual we used the Alice Waters recipe for the dough, I also took a few tips from a blog I was reading last week. The main thing I did was to drain every ingredient of as much liquid as possible, be it oil in the anchovies, water in the mozzarella or juice in the tomatoes. I also spread the ingredients thinly and in small pieces not over loading the centre. The results were definitely better. .... and I have now managed to find rye flour which she uses to make the 'sponge' ... and you know what, I think it might just make a little bit of difference! I can't explain why ... it just does

I know that I only did a shoulder of lamb a few weeks ago but it just feels the right time of year for this kind of dish. This time I did a Skye Gyngell take with Paprika, chickpeas and tomatoes. I know that if I slow cook I am guaranteed to elicit an ooooh! from at least one member of the family as Lisa loves anything thats been cooked for hours. This recipe is very easy and pretty tasty. We served it with some salad leaves dressed with a 'hispano-Franco' french dressing featuring sherry vinegar alongside Dijon and extra Virgin rather than the plain old red wine variety. We polished off the leftovers of the Cake Club trial run as a dessert. Ingredients 1.5kg shoulder of lamb joint  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper  3 tbsp olive oil  11/2 tsp fennel seeds  750ml pints dry white wine  2 red onions, peeled and chopped  5 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly crushed  Small bunch of thyme  1 dried red chilli  1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika  2 red peppers  400g quali

So here it is, my entry. It doesn't look that brilliant but hopefully it will do well on the taste front. c'mon Chris lets see what you've got!

Yes its back, krow's Cake club; Goswell Road's most fiercely contested culinary competition. I know I'm breaking the first rule of cake club but it's me versus new boy, Chris Hurdiss. Something tells me the boy can bake, so instead of the usual 'go for it with no test' approach, this time I am using a cold Saturday to give the River Cafe plum and orange cake a dry run. Its just out of the oven ... too hot to try but looking ok .... we'll see. Anyway here's the recipe from River cafe Easy Plum filling: 500 g ripe plums 50 g caster sugar juice and zest of one orange 1 vanilla pod Cake: 150 g unsalted butter 150 g caster sugar 2 eggs 85 g self raising flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 100 g almonds, finely ground Almond topping: 30 g unsalted butter 25 g demerara sugar zest of one orange 50 g flaked almonds Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas 4 Halve and stone the plums and put in an ovenproof dish with the sugar, the orange juice an

Its getting cold enough to wear a coat, and maybe even a hat, particularly if you are folically challenged like me. Its bad news for heads but good news if you yearn for the return of cosy rooms and slow roasts. We made this the other day .... pretty good I'd say. ingredients for the  lamb a large bunch of fresh rosemary 1 x 2kg shoulder of  lamb olive oil sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 bulb of garlic, unpeeled, broken into cloves for the sauce 1 tablespoon flour 500ml good-quality hot chicken or  vegetable stock 2 heaped tablespoons capers, soaked, drained and chopped large bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked 2 tbs red wine vinegar Method Preheat your oven to full whack. Slash the fat side of the  lamb  all over with a sharp knife. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray, rub the  lamb  all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the

It has been a while since we made this dish but on Saturday night we wanted easy to make, comfort food that was warming but not full on 'winter hearty'  I have made this recipe from the very beautifully typeset  'The Geometry of Pasta' before ... and blogged about it ... but I enjoyed it so much I was moved to write about it again. The mantra of this book is that  Pasta is a simple thing but getting it absolutely right depends as much on choosing the best pasta shape for the sauce as on cooking it properly.   I got the fish from waitrose and used a combination of fairly delicate fish that break up nicely in the sauce (Sea Bass fillets, tilapia, sole and haddock) To my mind the really clever and unusual part of this recipe is the parsley, almond and garlic paste that you add towards the end, it lifts the dish from the 'nice but mundane' to something altogether more exciting. One other observation .. dont pour the stew over the cous cous before its serv

Lisa and Martha were out at Hampton court watching west side story on an outdoor screen, which sounds lovely but when they got in they looked more than a little chilled! Joe had been playing footy so I thought I would make curry. This recipe came from Jamies's latest magazine we thought it was pretty bloody good. We had it with dahl (see previous recipe) and I also made the chickpea curry (ok) and the lemon pickle (interesting and very easy) The original recipe uses whole prawns but I adapted it to use peeled large prawns. I also didn't have light coconut milk so I used the normal stuff. It all worked very well Jamie's recipe Ingredients Vegetable oil  400g monkfish fillets, skinned and pin-boned 12 large prawns (I used peeled) 2 tsp. mustard seeds  1 tsp. fenugreek seeds  1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced  1 handful of fresh or dried curry leaves, crumbled  2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, coarsely grat