8 and a Bit ways to Cope with an "Unwanted" Bottle of Port

Yesterday was lovely weather.  No, honestly, it was. 

My darling and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Allen Valley to wander amongst the bluebells and be amazed. 

He then went for a long and manly cycle ride and I went to my friend's house for a delicious lunch and a girly chat.  As we were leaving she gave us a bottle of Port because she said neither she nor he husband drink it.  What a shame, how sad, yippee!

We do drink it but I feel this is an ideal opportunity to write about other uses for "unwanted" port however, before I come up with all sorts of creative ideas I urge you try port with blue cheese, it's an excellent combination.

The grapes in this picture have been sautéed - see here for more info. 

8 and bit other uses for Port ...

1.   Blue cheese pâté is good way to use leftover blue cheese and cheese scraps in general; if the cheese is soft mash it with a spoonful of port, if firm grate first and then mash it together with a spoonful of port!  A little or a lot of freshly ground pepper is good in this.

2.   Add a splash of port to pan sauce after cooking duck or pigeon or even lamb.

3.   Stir into Cranberry Sauce.

4.   Add to caramelised red onions or whole glazed onions for the final few minutes of cooking.

5.   Marinade for Lamb or Game - equal parts of red wine, port and olive oil flavoured as you will with garlic, black pepper and fresh herbs.

6.   Strawberries are happy with a spoonful of port stirred in (plus maybe a sprinkling of black pepper!)

7.   Add port syrup to poaching fruit - pears, figs and dried prunes spring to mind.

8.   Port Syrup

~   Put equal quantities of port and sugar into a small deep pan and stir over medium low heat till the sugar has dissolved.  "They do say" to brush any sugar grains from the  sides of the pan with damp brush but I never bother. 
~   When the liquid is clear turn up the heat till it boils and then turn it down again and simmer till thick which takes about 5 minutes.  During this stage of the proceedings, don’t stir it but do pay attention.  
~   The syrup is ready when it forms a thread if you drip a little off the spoon.  If you have a sugar thermometer you are aiming for 223˚-235˚F which is 106˚ -112˚ C.   I usually stop cooking at the lower temperature so that the syrup is still a bit runny when chilled.

This is great on strawberries, brushed over fruit tarts to glaze, drizzled over blue cheese or, even better, drizzled over my Blue Cheese Ice Cream 

The recipe for this is in my ebook "Lush Ice Cream without a Machine ... or much time or effort or having to mash the stuff as it freezes", see here for more details or just order from the sidebar! 

Add a little to appropriate sorbet recipes such as strawberry, blackberry and cranberry or make ...

9.   Port & Chocolate Sorbet!

Stir together 2 parts room temperature port syrup and 1 part room temperature melted dark chocolate.  Churn in an ice cream machine or freeze in a shallow container, mashing from time to time for a smooth finish (if you fail in this department call it Port and Chocolate Granita).

I really feel I should add a photo here but haven't got a sorbet pic so here, instead, is a last picture of our bluebell walk with a glimpse of my real man in the distance!

A Bit of Summer in the Fridge

On Wednesday 1^st May (you probably remember it; this year's summer) I picked some wild garlic and when I got it home washed it and puréed the leaves in my mini food processor together with some soft salted butter. 

I often find that the best way to clean out the food processor is to firstly wipe it out with something edible before washing it.  So having a couple of small crusts (a bit of ciabatta and a tiny crust of Vicky's multigrain) I made some croutons (tear up bread, wipe out processor with it, spread on baking tray and, next time oven is on, bake till crisp and golden - good with soups, salads or as a nibble.)

I put in the Wild Garlic Butter in the fridge and waited for inspiration.  So far this is what I have used it for ...

Spicy Noodles with Salmon and Wild Garlic

I bought a pack of ready cooked (my apologies) noodles on ... and this is what I did with the few I had left over.  I also had a bit of salmon skeleton in the freezer.  You might think this is odd but we bought about half a salmon from which I cut some meal sized pieces and froze the remains for later use.  I just poached it a few minutes and then carefully removed all the flesh from the bones - more than enough for me, in fact I finished it on toast the next day!  Economical or what!

I just melted some wild garlic butter and tossed in the noodles and salmon till hot, added a squeeze of lemon and finished with an extra knob of garlic butter to keep my cholesterol up!

A Wild Garlic Hasselback Potato

I think I cooked hasselback potatoes about 30 years ago but if I did the details escape me.  A friend jogged my memory by putting a picture of one on FB so I thought I'd have a go and I have to come clean and say ... it was not quite as nice as a jacket potato, in my opinion.  This is not to say that it was at all unpleasant, mind you.

~   Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6 

~   Wash a handsome baking potato and cut into thin slices BUT NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH.  Leave them attached by about 10mm at the bottom.

~   Rub with olive oil, season and bake for about 30 minutes. 

~   Brush with Wild Garlic Butter and continue to cook till tender and crisp which could take up to another 30 minutes depending on the size of the potato.

I ate mine with salad, more wild garlic butter and a little freshly shredded Parmesan.

Crevettes in Lemon Ramsons Butter

We bought some reduced cooked crevettes yesterday and I have just eaten them warmed through in said butter together with a squeeze of lemon.  Yummy over rice.

In other news ...

I've always liked Wadebridge; a real town with butchers, bakers, greengrocers, wet fish shop, privately owned bookshop, Granny Wobbly's Fudge shop and now Baker Tom has opened a little shop selling his wares which pleases me as I am partial to good bread 

Orson Welles was Right!

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.” 

Orson Welles

~  Menu  ~

Crunchy Asparagus and Wild Garlic Omelette

Coffee Ice Cream

Too much chocky sauce

Cake croutons

Coffee

Having a few leftover asparagus stalks (no tips) in the fridge together with a bowl of Wild Garlic Butter (you may remember my picking the garlic on May Day) I decided to make an omelette and also to try an idea that was in the back of my mind, very similar indeed to my Toast on Eggs I wrote about ages ago.
  

~  I thinly sliced the asparagus stalks and cooked them for a minute or two in a dollop of wild garlic butter. 

~  Once tender I set them aside and sprinkled a handful of panko crumbs over the butter in the pan before adding two beaten eggs (seasoned of course).

~  I made the omelette as usual, returning the asparagus just before folding and all was well.

Here is a close-up so that I hope you can see the crunchy bits.

Lunch Pudding

Looking through the freezer to see if there was anything for lunch pudding I found a slice of frozen cake and a modicum of homemade coffee ice cream and so lunch pudding was born. I also had some Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce in the fridge which needed warming up to get it out of the jar.  I diced the cake and sautéed it in a little butter till golden then arranged everything tastefully in a bowl ...

The reason there is too much sauce is because it was not worth keeping the last little bit. Honest!

The recipes for the ice cream and sauce are in my ebook which, with the sun out at last (well it was yesterday!) I thought I'd tell you a bit more about it.

Lush Ice Cream without a Machine

~  or much time effort or having to mash the stuff as it freezes  ~

In this ebook I give, I promise you, a quick, way to make truly rich, creamy, luxurious dairy ice cream with no machine, no eggs (which was just incidental - I wasn't trying to be healthy) and absolutely no hard work such as stirring!  The book contains over 100 ice cream recipes plus many more for sauces, syrups, inclusions, accompaniments and serving suggestions.

Here are some excerpts from the first chapter of the book to give a little more idea of what it is about:

"Intro, Info and the Basic Recipe

I have been a chef for ages, over 30 years, the most recent half of them cooking on the lovely little Caribbean island of Tortola. Naturally in all that hot sunshine iced desserts are much in demand and I managed, indeed more than managed to come up with the goods without using an ice cream machine.  I haven’t been messing with ice and salt either! 

What I have been doing is adapting, tweaking and varying one embarrassingly simple recipe to make numerous delicious and even impressive (at least to me) ice creams and ice cream dishes.  Basic though the method is, many of these ices have been best sellers in high class restaurants and are in no way a compromise. 

Having seen how many homemade ice cream books there are on the market, often involving complicated methods and expensive ice cream machines, I felt it would be shame not to pass on this undemanding but excellent recipe

Incidentally, for the purpose of this book almost all these ice creams have been tested, photographed and even eaten either in a small touring caravan in England or on a small boat in Tortola, such is my nomadic lifestyle and the simplicity of the method.

Many traditional ice cream recipes are custard based.  Custard is made with egg yolks and the fat in the yolks gives the ice cream a good texture.  In these recipes, which contain no egg yolk, it is important to always use a high fat cream such as double cream (not the extra thick kind as this is not suitable for all the whisking involved) or American heavy cream.  The butterfat adds not only a deliciously rich flavour but also a good “mouth feel”, as we say in the trade.   

...

You will notice that in addition to the basic ingredients all the following ice creams contain either alcohol or something very sweet, such as a preserve or syrup, or occasionally both.  It is sugar, both turned to alcohol and otherwise, that makes for an ice cream that is “soft scoop” straight from the freezer (As one reviewer quite rightly said "The fact that alcohol and sugar is involved is an additional plus")

Maple Syrup Ice Cream (so lovely and so easy) with Bacon Brittle

Recipes for all the syrups and sauces needed to make the recipes in this book are in Chapter 10 whilst those for solid inclusions such as meringues, bits of cake etc are in Chapter 11, although I do sometimes suggest bought in substitutions to make life easier for you.  You know what you’re like!

Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia

Of course no book on ice cream would be complete without a mention of this.  Also known as ‘an ice cream headache’ or ‘brain freeze’ this is the pain that can strike when eating something very cold.  Apparently it is nothing to do with the brain (except the part that says ‘must eat ice cream’) but is caused by cold food touching the roof of the mouth causing blood vessels in the head to dilate – which hurts.  If you can keep the ice cream away from the roof of your mouth you’re laughing."

See here for lots of photos and a list of all the recipes for ice creams, syrups, sauces, inclusions and serving suggestions.  The book can be downloaded for just £2.25 from the sidebar of this post - how easy is that?  If you don't have a Kindle it is also available in other formats from Smashwords here. 

How to love a duck!

As you may remember a couple of weeks ago my darling brought home a duck for my sole delectation and as a result I wrote a post on what to do with duck skin and fat which can be so much yummier than one would expect - see here for more details.

This post concerns what I did with the whole duck and that reminds me of a joke my dear departed Daddy used to say ...

Q.   "What's the difference between a fetish and a perversion?"

A.   "A fetish uses a feather, a perversion the whole chicken."

Sorry, a bit off topic there.  So, did I do with my whole duck?

Firstly I removed all excess fat and then I cut off his (or her) legs and breasts and this is what I did with all the bits and pieces.

1.   Cook's Treat

I made myself a cook's treat for lunch.  When cooking professionally I used to store all the duck livers I accumulated in the freezer till I had enough to make Duck Liver Pâté, just like the Chicken Liver Pâté recipe here.  As I didn't expect to be starting a collection, however, I made myself a little something.

~   Trim duck livers by removing anything you wouldn't fancy eating ie. stringy and/or greenish bits.

~   Sauté the good bits in a little butter and when turning brown but still a bit squidgy add a spoonful of brandy, a good grind of black pepper and a little salt.

~   Serve on a sippet of toast.

Good additions if you have them are balsamic glaze (as shown), black garlic, red onion marmalade or other sweet condiment.

2.   Render the Fat

Chop it up and heat gently in a small pan till all the fat that can melt has melted.

3.   Roast the Carcass

I roasted the carcass whilst the oven was on doing something else and then added all the fat it produced to that rendered above.

4.   Stock

I covered the roasted carcass with cold water, brought it to the boil together with some veggie detritus, a bit of onion and carrot, and some black peppercorns, covered it and simmered for about an hour. I think a roasted carcass gives a deeper flavour than raw. I set the carcass aside till cool enough to handle and then stripped it of every bit of edible meat.  This is much easier done whilst still warm.  I added the meat scraps to the stock which I cooled and then stored in the fridge.  I'm afraid I then threw the bones away.

5.   Prepare Legs for Confitting

I washed and dried my duck's legs (they did need a shave but I didn't bother) rubbed them generously with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and put them in an airtight plastic container in the fridge for 24 hours.  You can add herbs (thyme is good) and garlic but I didn't as I had a cunning plan.

6.   Eat the Breasts

I  pan seared one of the breasts for my dinner that night. I was a bit stymied at the last minute for a suitable sauce but by adding a bit of this (red onion marmalade), a bit of that (homemade orange marmalade) and a bit of the other (port) I managed to cobble something delicious together. Sorry no picture.  I froze the second breast for another time.

7.   Confit of Duck

The next day I confitted the legs thus ...

~   Brush off all the salt, pepper and other seasoning (see above).

~   Wash as thoroughly as heck under cold running water and then soak in cold water for 10 minutes, changing two or three times because you really don't want this to end up too salty.

~   Whilst soaking the legs bring all your reserved duck fat to a simmer in an ovenproof pan.  If you haven't enough add some goose fat which can be bought at the supermarket. You need enough to cover the legs (ignore my photos below!).

~   Preheat the oven to 275°F/140ºC/120ºC fan/gas 1.

~   Shake the legs dry and add to the simmering fat.  I also adding some coarsely chopped black garlic and more black pepper.

~   Cover the pan with a lid or foil and cook for about 2½ hours till utterly tender.

~   Cool to room temperature and then transfer to a clean, dry plastic container and pour over the fat and juices to cover completely.  Chill till needed.

Rumour has it that Confit of Duck will keep for ages; well it doesn't in my house!  Too yummy by far being savoury, tender and unctuous. To serve heat a heavy based frying pan, lift your legs so to speak out of the fat and put skin side down into the hot pan to sear.  Transfer skin side up to an ovenproof dish and finish warming through in a medium hot oven - about 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6, the skin should be crisp.  Have ready some cooked potatoes, toss them in the residual duck fat in the frying pan and roast alongside the duck.  Any unused duck should be kept completely covered by the fat till you need it.  Once you have used all the duck reserve the fat that is left over for next time you do some confitting - or roast potatoes in it.

Happily the duck juices and flavourings form a delicious goo under the fat as the confit cools in the fridge so use a spoonful or two of this to make a sauce for the duck. It can be quite salty (depending on your rinsing prowess) so use abstemiously, tasting as you go. I added a little duck stock (see above) and port to the sauce.

8.   Spicy Duck and Cashew Noodle Stir Fry

For this I cheated a bit which, if you are familiar with Sudden Lunch you will know is not typical of me.  I bought some ready cooked Chilli & Coriander Noodles yesterday from M & S.  having procured said noodles I assembled the rest of the stir fry ingredients ...

Then, as you probably can imagine I ...

~   Stir fried the onion, ginger, garlic and carrot till taking colour and softening.

~   Added the green veggies till bright and lovely.

~   Stirred in the duck meat and noodles and tossed all together till hot.

~   I added the cashew nuts and a little fresh coriander.

~   Tasted the concoction and added a little Sweet Chilli Sauce and a dash or two of soy sauce.

This was very delicious!  I didn't use all of the noodles so was able to make ...

9.   Duck Noodle Soup

~   Remove any fat on the surface of the duck stock.  Separate the duck meat from the stock keeping both.

~   Put the stock into a small pan together with some seasonings of your choice, I add a little finely grated ginger and bring to a simmer.

~   Add finely sliced fresh green veg - I used 2 mange tout, a broccoli floret and half an asparagus spear.

~   Simmer all together till tender.

~   Taste and season - a dollop of Sweet Chilli Sauce is good here (speaking of no cheating!).

~   Add a handful of cooked noodles, the duck meat you have set aside and some chopped fresh coriander.

~   Bung it in a bowl.

I went a bit fusion because I do like some crunch with my food - I shredded and crisply fried half a poppadom.

So there you have it; how to have your wicked way with a duck!  I still have one leg and one breast to eat so that will make umm ... 7 meals for lucky me. Yippee!

Incidentally I still didn't use all of the noodles but it's OK, I have plans!

'Oss 'Oss Wee 'Oss

~  Menu  ~

Cornish Crab Sarnies

Lovely refreshing glass of Pimms

Big piece of squidgy chocolate cake

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to 'Obby 'Oss in Padstow and it was utterly perfect weather (which was a surprise).

'Obby 'Oss is a strange and ancient pagan festival peculiar to Padstow celebrating May Day, my friend Carol lives in Padstow and we walked down through the woods into the town.

Even from there we could hear the traditional May Day Song which starts ...

Unite and unite and let us all unite,

For summer is acome unto day,

And whither we are going we will all unite,

In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Mr. ..... I know you well afine,

For summer is acome unto day,

You have a shilling in your purse and I wish it were in mine,

In the merry morning of May 

... and is sung round the town to get everyone (who isn't already up - exciting times) awake and celebrating.  This day is HUGE in Padstow and whilst the streets are packed it is amazingly uncommercial - just a wonderful celebration of summer.

This music is played continuously throughout the day and there is much spontaneous dancing in the streets. 

This is the red 'oss ('obby 'oss, of course, means hobby horse but as you can see there is no resemblance) which is the traditional old 'oss, there is also a blue peace 'oss who came into being after the First World War.

Anyhoo they dance to the rhythmic music around the steep streets and harbour of lovely old Padstow being constantly teased by a dancing "teaser". 

Beware of getting too close to the 'oss because if he catches you under his skirts you will be pregnant within the year (I am not sure in these days of equality and PC if this also applies to boys) - fair enough this is a fertility rite..

That's enough about 'obby 'osses.  I was going to do a lot of research for you but it's all presented most excellently by Cornwall Community News who not only tell the story but have a few videos to look at including one by Pathe News on 'Obby 'Oss in 1932. By clicking on these you can hear the May Day music and get a feel of the celebration.

Carol and I followed the red 'oss for a while (sometimes it must get tired because the singers change pace, sing a slow song and the 'oss slumps into a little sleep on the ground for a few minutes - roused by a hearty shout) and then retired to Carol's daughter Wendy's lovely little Bed and Breakfast in the heart of the town, Cyntwell 

Cyntwell by Carol Gidlow

Here we sat out in the sun eating crab sarnies, gorgeous homemade chocky cake and drinking some refreshing bevvies.  

On the way back through the woods I picked wild garlic and it is my intention this year to make  Wild Garlic Butter which I shall then use in a variety of ways.

I shall tell you what I do with it but if you can't wait here is what I did last year  and here and in 2011 here 

In other news ...

~  I have a red nose.

~  They must love a party in Padstow, I see that it was a year ago today that I saw my first Christmas advert. 

Fried Bread Curry! ... plus a review of "Toast" by Nigel Slater

~  Menu  ~

Roti Upma

Dollop of Sour Cream

(I know - it should have been yogurt!)

White Wine Spritzer

Well I have just eaten A Very Interesting Thing which was also quick, cheap and used leftovers but I doubt very much that it was healthy. - fried bread curry!

Upma is a actually a South Indian porridgy dish usually made with semolina but also with lots of other things that will mush down such as rice or bread.  I don't like porridgy things so have never tried it and so didn't feel I could rightfully include the bread version in my bread section of The Leftovers Handbook (which does contain at least 16 ways to use up leftover bread***).  Recently however I have noticed a few Upma recipes using dried or fried bread which retains quite a bit of crispness so decided to give it a go. 

Roti Upma for 1 ~ inauthentic recipe because I didn't have all the right ingredients!

2 separate ½ tbsp vegetable oil or ghee

1-2 slices bread - stale is good - diced or torn into pieces

(for me a small slice of sourdough and ½ an old roll I found in the freezer!)

¼ tsp mustard seeds

1 hot red chilli chopped

(I keep a bag in the freezer, they are easily chopped from frozen)

½ onion finely chopped

¼ inch ginger finely chopped

1 pinch turmeric

(I am ashamed to say I had no fresh ginger or turmeric so replaced these with a ¼ tsp curry paste which worked very well)

5 or so cherry tomatoes, quartered

a handful of cashew nuts

fresh coriander, chopped plus a sprig or two to garnish

~   Heat ½ tbsp oil in a frying pan then fry the bread in it till turning crisp and golden. Set aside.

~   Add the second ½ tbsp oil to the pan and then the mustard seeds and wait till they start popping.

~   Stir in the onion (and the ginger if you've got some) and cook till starting to go translucent then add the chilli and the tomatoes.

~   When the tomatoes start to mush down stir in the turmeric and/or curry paste and cook together a minute or so.

~   Taste and season then stir in the bread, cashews and chopped coriander.

I stopped at this point because I don't like pappy meals but you could cook the mixture down a bit and maybe add a little hot water to achieve a more porridge-like consistency.  As I say, it was great and next time I feel I have been eating too healthily I intend to balance things up by making it again! 

In other news ... Toast by Nigel Slater

As you may know I am a member of The Kitchen Reader, an online foodie book club, and this month's book has been Nigel Slater's excellent "Toast".  I have, in fact, read it before but it easily bears re-reading.

Nigel and I are much of an age (OK, I am a little bit older) and his reminiscences about food are my reminiscences too; Cream Soda, Cheese and Pineapple, Salad Cream, Arctic Roll (we weren't as posh as him but we still had the odd Arctic Roll I can tell you!) even how ice cream wafers stuck to your bottom lip.  All so familiar and, because of that, a bit sad but in a good way!

The is more than just a nostalgic foodie read, however, it is the story of Nigel Slater's early life including the Prawn Cocktail and Black Forest Gateau years that I also remember so well.  The book is very personal and very poignant, his mother's untimely death, his discomfort with and resentment of  "Auntie Joan" the new woman in his father's life who was a much better cook than his mother (a double edged sword I should imagine) and his first catering job. 

In short this book is a very good read indeed and not just for foodies, the over 50s and people who like toast!

*** PS.  My book "The Leftovers Handbook" is now down to £7.92 on Amazon, I've got no idea why but if you fancy it now's the time - see sidebar.

Lovely lunch for 15p!

~  Menu  ~

Pease Pudding Soup

Multigrain Bread

Glass of Fizzy Water

This week is the Live Below the Line Challenge an initiative of the Global Poverty Project; the challenge is to spend no more than £1 per person per day on food and drink for 5 days.  I apologise for not mentioning this before but have only just become aware of - good luck to everyone taking part.

Actually I myself personally eat so very frugally (and deliciously) I think I would often be hard pushed to eat cheaper and am sure I am often well below £1 a day although to be fair I do have a small appetite!

For lunch today I had pease pudding soup - every week or two I cook my Geordie lad a piece of ham and use some of the stock to make pease pudding thus ... 

A bag of split peas costs 49p for 500g.  I cook half a bag per batch so say 25p and this makes enough pease pudding accompany my darling's ham dinners say 3 times plus sufficient for a soup or a curry for me, that's 25p divided 4 so say 6.5p.  The stock is a by product and possibly costs nothing as it is only water and seeped out ham juice.  I use 1 small onion.  We recently bought a bag of little 'culinary' red onions for 12p reduced from £1.20 and as it contained um ... quite a few lets say 1p for the onion which is a bit high I think.  Incidentally these onions are still perfectly fine although about 3 weeks past their best before date.  

I used an abstemious amount of olive oil to cook the onion and, the stock being salty, nothing was spent on salt although I did have myself a sprinkle of black pepper.  So my bowl of delicious, homemade soup cost 7.5p, let's be generous and say 15p with the slice of toast I ate with it.  This is typical of the way I eat but the funny thing is although we could no way claim to be flush with money I cook this sort of thing because I like it!  I am always telling my darling that if he wasn't so fond of meat and was more fond of 'interesting flavours' I could feed him much more cheaply but he loves his manly meals and at least I get to be creative with the leftovers.

I drank a glass of fizzy water with this - 17p for 2 ltrs so negligible really.  I only have it because I find sparkling more refreshing than still.

Incidentally I saw this good idea for storing onions on Pinterest ...

Speaking of best before - we had some of the best rhubarb ever, which I made into a crumble, the other day.  It was sweet and tender, juice and very pink.  It cost 30p instead of the original £3.00 but I didn't cook it for a few days and it was still as perfect can be.

In other news ...

Nothing much!!!