The Family Cook Book

I'm not a big fan of Gizzie Erskine but I saw this and thought it sounded great .... I love every single ingredient and I think the combo sounds perfect. It will be tried!  Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 250g padron peppers 50g toasted almond halves Olive oil, for frying 300g cooking chorizo, cut into ½cm-thick slices 1 fresh bay leaf 150ml Spanish white wine A handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley Method 1.  Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large wok or frying pan over a medium heat and add the whole padron peppers. Fry quickly, until they start to char, then sprinkle over the almonds and give the pan a good shake. Tip into a bowl, season with a little salt and set aside. 2.  Wipe off the excess oil with kitchen paper and add the chorizo. Fry until it’s just turning golden, then turn the heat up and add the bay leaf and white wine. Reduce by three-quarters, until the sauce is slightly thickened, but not too sticky. 3.  Return the padron peppers to the pan, add the parsley and mix

After a gloriously warm October it finally seems to be getting cold. That means its finally time to forget the salads and to get the Le Creuset out and start slow cooking. I returned from an aborted round of golf on Sunday looking like a drowned rat after being caught in an almighty downpour on the ninth hole. After a wet trudge back to the car park and a reviving hot shower I set to work on making this recipe for Beef Tagine from the 'Jamie Does ....' book. It took a few hours to make which meant that we didn't eat lunch until five thirty but the wait was worth it.  The dish has that great Morroccan flavour combination of spice and heat which comes from the spice rub (do not be tempted to leave out the Ras al Hanout) and the slow cooking means the meat and veg break down beautifully. I don't normally like the addition of fruit to meat dishes but the prunes disappear into the sauce giving a really nice background sweetness. We served it with plain couscous and

Tonight I cooked another recipe from Lucy Boyd's very nice book  ... her pic above not mine btw It's one of those recipes that I have looked at a few times but always ended up not doing thinking that it didn't look quite interesting enough. Well I was wrong and I'm glad that I decided to do it ... its curry-ish without being a full on curry. It's got some good spice going on but it's also light and lemony. The rice makes a really great accompaniment .. its a very simple spin on a well known dish but its really very nice.  The overall verdict was that this recipe is a keeper. nb I used ready made garam masala. Serve s 4 Ingredients 1 medium-size chicken, jointed into its various parts (the butcher will do this for you) w e actually used ready cut pieces. 20g fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped into small chunks 3 cloves of garlic, peeled ¼ tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp coriander seeds 2 tsp cumin seeds ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Last night I came home to a fantastic healthy dinner from Yotam Ottolenghi .... well Lisa and Martha actually ....  but inspired by his book Jerusalem.  As I may have mentioned before we are a bit obsessed with Tabbouleh, and making it properly. The key is in the proportions, particularly the amount of parsley. Both dishes feature separately elsewhere on this blog but I really liked them together , hence the post. This is a really healthy and delicious combination. btw  If you cant be bothered to make the sauce then just drizzle the burgers with plain yoghurt and sprinkle over a bit of sumac. Turkey and courgette burgers Makes 4 servings (about 12 burgers) Ingredients For turkey burger 500g minced turkey (I think chicken would be good too) 1 large courgette, coarsely grated 1 spring onion, thinly sliced (I had to use a red onion but it worked ok) 1 medium free range egg 2 tbsp chopped mint 2 tbsp chopped coriander 2 garlic cloves, c

The conversation here at krow towers swings between football, golf and food with a little bit of work thrown in for good measure. Todays subject was fabulous recipes from Morito and Will mentioned the recipe for Patatas Alinidas. I am so sad that I knew exactly the recipe he was talking about but I haven't cooked it yet. I will do now. Heres the recipe ... along with Moro saffron rice, which he was also raving about. Ingredients 4 medium (cyprus) potatoes (about 750g), unpeeled Salt Half a green pepper, very finely chopped Half a small red onion, very finely chopped 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, with a pinch of sugar 175ml extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley Smoked sweet Spanish paprika Method Add the potatoes to a pan of cold water with 2 tsp salt, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until soft. Place the pepper, onion and vinegar in a bowl and put to one side. Remove the potatoes from the pan and leave in a colande