Toad in the Crevasse aka Toad in the Hole!

For my beloved last night I made Toad in the Crevasse from which, as is usual with meals I cook for him, there were no leftovers.  Nevertheless I thought I’d mention it as it does lend itself to things other than sausages, such as leftovers.

For 4 years I ran the kitchen of the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club which, although “abroad”, was full of Brits.  Having lived away from the UK for several years I found it strangely pleasant, at least at first, to hear people calling each other plonkers

I used to put lots of English comfort food on the menu for said plonkers.  One day I heard two of the girls I worked with discussing the menu – Ronia from Jamaica said to Janet from St. Vincent “Toad in the Hole!!!” in a shocked voice.  They both giggled.  Then Ronia said “Suzy – she rude!” This seems to be a cross cultural reaction.  In England our toads always seemed to be wedged into cracks in our Yorkshire pud so, in the interests of truth and accuracy, we renamed it toad in the crevasse.  For some inexplicable reason this caused people to smirk and call us filthy gits!   It also meant we sold a lot of Toad in the Crevasse as people came just to have a giggle.  

Toad in the Hole 

1 batch Yorkshire pudding batter ~ see here for my Yorkshire Pudding recipe 

500g lovely pork sausages

½ tbsp oil

~   Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC/170ºC fan/gas 5..

~   Grease a shallow ovenproof dish; I find Pyrex diesel work best for a toad. 

~   Cut the sausages in half (or not, if you prefer) and arrange with gaps between.

~   Bake till they are browning, turning sometimes, and have exuded some fat.

~   Remove the dish from the oven, put a baking tray in the oven and increase the heat to 425ºF/220ºC/200ºC fan/gas 7.

~   Swirl the sausages in their pan to evenly coat the pan with oil and, if your sausages have been very fatty spoon most of it off.  There should be enough to coat the pan and a teaspoonful or so more  Maybe use the excess fat to make gravy.

~   Rearrange the sausages in the dish, stir the batter and pour in amongst them. 
~   Return to the oven standing on the hot baking tray - this will make for a crispy bottom.

~   Bake till the Yorkshire (pudding is implied) is risen and crisp and brown.  DO NOT open the oven for about 15 minutes or the whole thing will deflate.
  

Of course this lends itself to many variations some of which are useful for making a great meal from leftovers.

Instead of sausages use …

~   Meatballs (leftover cooked - or part cook first)

~   Roasted Vegetables

~   Balls of leftover stuffing.

~   Almost cooked lamb chops (if you can afford them!)

~   Posh sausages – venison for instance.

~   Fruit to make a Clafouti - see here for clafouti recipe.

… or add herbs or spices to the batter.

This batter recipe makes a very light, crisp Yorkshire rather than a rib sticker and is delicious.  I have seen loads of variations some containing vinegar, some with inordinate amounts of flour and even some with raising agent added which is anathema to a Yorkshire Pud.  My recipe which I have used for years both professionally and in the privacy of our own home always works and is almost astoundingly economical!

See here for a surprising and delicious way to use leftover Yorkshire puddings!

How One Leftover leads to Another!

~  Menu  ~

Minestrone-ish Soup

Wild Garlic Bread

Glass of Red

This lunch was the first dish in a series of meals I made up  to use up leftovers.  Having grated a piece of Gran Padano down to the rind I decided that I would use the heel of the cheese to make some warming minestrone-ish soup.

Simple Minestrone Soup

1 small red onion – finely diced

about ¼ carrot – finely diced

1 celery stalk – finely diced

a smidgen of garlic – either paste or crushed

½ tbsp olive oil

½ tbsp tomato paste

150g canned chopped tomatoes

hot vegetable stock

100g cannellini beans

a heel of parmesan

a few veg of your choice (savoy cabbage is traditional)

~   Cook the onion, carrot and celery in the oil over medium heat till starting to caramelise.

~   Stir in the garlic and cook a few seconds more.

~   Add the tomato paste and cook a few more seconds more!

~   Stir in the chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil.

~   Now add enough vegetable stock to make a lovely soupy consistency.

~   Turn down the heat, cover and simmer till the vegetables are tender.

~   Remove from the heat and add the parmesan heel.  Cover and leave to steep for 20-30 minutes by which time the cheese should have done its work.  Remove the rind but stir in any cheese that has melted into the soup.

~   Return to a boil, stir in the cannelloni beans and any veg you might using, cover and simmer till the vegetables are to your liking.

I slathered some Ciabatta with Wild Garlic Pesto and toasted it to serve with the soup.  Unfortunately after making the soup I had half a container of white beans left so I made …

White Bean and Wild Garlic Dip

120g cooked or canned cannellini beans

4 or 5 well washed wild garlic leaves

A squeeze of lemon juice

A little olive oil

Sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

~   Process together the beans and wild garlic and then with the processor running drizzle in the olive oil till a hummus like texture is achieved.  (Yes, as you will see from the photo I well a little too far!)

~   Season to taste with the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

As it happened I couldn't eat all the hummus and so with an accumulation of leftovers I made ...

Wild Garlic and Potato Soup

This was especially cunning of me because not only did I have some onions cooked my favourite way in the fridge I also had a modicum of leftover mashed potato, so this is what I did.

~ Gently heated the onions till warm and melty.
~ Stirred in the leftover mashed potato together with enough vegetable stock (Oxo) to make a soup consistency.
~ Turned down the heat, covered and cooked for about 10 minutes to meld the flavours.
~ Stirred in a handful of wild garlic leaves till wilted.
~ Tipped the whole lot into the food processor together with knob of clotted cream (but double cream, single cream, crème fraîche, milk etc. would work too) and puréed till smooth.
~ I then stirred in the leftover White Bean Hummus which gave a little texture.

That worked!  Sorry no photo, camera battery was flat.  I blame myself!

I ate the lot this time but if I hadn’t I was thinking of trying any leftover soup with bacon and cream as a pasta sauce!

Two Cornish Fusion Beef Soups!

~  Menu  ~

Beef , Wine & Clotted Cream Soup

Nubbly Toast

Glass of Red

As you probably know, the new series of Two Greedy Italians starts tonight at 8.00 on BBC 2.  This seems, therefore, an ideal time to tell you about the excellent soup I had for lunch today.

You may remember that in my review of "Two Greedy Italians eat Italy" a few days ago I mentioned that I was making some beef stock.  Well I froze it and today I made the Beef & Wine Soup (aka Eisacktaler Weinsuppe) from the book with, of course, a few changes because that’s Life.  I had no double cream so used clotted, Cornish-Italian Fusion, and also I added some shreds of beef from the stock.  

Beef & Wine Soup 

My version for one! 

Pin for later!

a bowl’s-worth of lovely rich beef stock

a goodly splash of white wine

a slice or 2 of nubbly bread

a knob of butter *** ~ scroll down for a slightly rude joke

a pinch of ground cinnamon

1 tbsp or so of clotted cream

a generous grating of Parmesan cheese

~   Simmer together the stock and wine for a minute.

~   Remove from the heat and set aside.

~   Fry the bread in the butter till crisp and golden.

~   Sprinkle the toast with the cinnamon arrange it in the bowl.

~   Stir the cream and a spoonful of grated parmesan into the soup and reheat gently till warm.

~   Pour over the toast and sprinkle with more parmesan.

The soup was quick, cheap, easy and truly delicious; my kind of food.  This is something I will definitely make again just as soon as I’ve assembled some more beef scraps.

If, however, you fancy something similar but more time consuming substantial try my version of

Onion Soup Gratinée OR Runny Onion Gravy topped with Cheese on Toast

This is a quick, easy and no doubt inauthentic version of the classic French Onion Soup.  As above really good, rich, beefy homemade stock make a big difference to the finished soup.

1 medium onion

15 g butter OR 1 tablespoon of olive oil

pinch of salt

glug of dry white wine

a bowl of lovely rich beef stock

a little flour - optional

a thick slices or two of good bread, toasted

Grated Gruyère or possibly Davidstow Cornish Crackler!

brandy – optional-ish

~   Cook the onions as described here; The Best Way to Cook Onions. 

~   When utterly tender urn up the heat and cook, stirring, till the it starts to caramelised and, to an extent, to stick on the bottom of the pan.  Just a bit, mind you.

~   Add the white wine and stir to dissolve any lovely onioniness from the bottom of the pan. …

~   I don’t think it is traditional to add flour to the classic French version of the soup but I always add a little; t makes the soup easier to eat as it is more likely to stay on the spoon.  So, if you agree, stir in a little flour to make a paste.  If you don’t, don’t!

~  Add the stock and bring to a boil, stirring.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 

~  Taste and season

To serve pour a little brandy into the soup bowl, ladle in the soup, top each bowl with a slice or two of toasted bread and sprinkle with grated cheese.  Gruyere is traditionally used in France, in England a good mature Cheddar is a pleasant alternative; not a substitute for Gruyere but delicious in its own right.   Flash the soup and its topping under a hot grill or put in a hot oven for a few seconds to melt and bubble the cheese.  OR top with crunchy croutons and cheese for trouble free eating.

I have been to France a few times but never been to Italy which is odd because I am quite well travelled.  It is, however, top of my list of places I want to visit, one reason being the food.  Reading “Two Greedy Italians” some of the dishes surprised me, the Beef and Wine Soup being a case in point; even its name is a bit German because, so the book tells us, the soup is from the eastern side of Italy, near Germany.  Because of this I did wonder if the recipes in the book are authentic but following my book review of the other day an Italian lady who is a member of my Facebook Group “Sudden Lunch”  wrote as follows …

“I saw the 1st series … and yes it was proper Italian food, plus Carluccio, although a Southerner, has a very good knowledge of Northern Italian cuisine (which does not involve all that pasta and pizza, but lots of rice, polenta, etc), so the 2 together give a balanced idea of Italian food …"

***  Slightly Rude Joke! 

Wild Garlic ~ Calloo, Callay!

Pin for when you find
some wild garlic!

Wild garlic is frequently known as ramsons, formally as allium ursinum and occasionally and sometimes rather rudely as bear's garlic, jack-by-hedge, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, devil's garlic, stinking Jenny and gypsy's onions.  Some of these names don’t do it justice because It Is Yummy with a wonderful kind of a mild garlic-chive taste. 

Last year was the first time I had ever picked wild garlic and I was ecstatic!  Lovely, fresh, delicious and free food!  I have been looking forward to this year’s crop ever since and yesterday picked a carrier bag full.  

Freezing Wild Garlic

I stemmed and washed and dried the lot and then chopped it in my tiny food processor together with a thin drizzle of olive oil to help it.  I spooned the result into an ice cube tray and froze it tightly wrapped to stop other things in the freezer tasting garlicky.  Scroll down to the end of the post on ideas for using frozen wild garlic.

Wild Garlic Pesto 

I had too many chopped leaves for the ice cube tray so added walnuts and grated Gran Padano (as per my wild garlic pesto recipe) to the processor together with enough oil to make Wild Garlic Pesto.  I put the pesto in a clean jar,  topped it up with copious amounts of olive oil to keep the air out and put it in the fridge.  Scroll down to the end of the post on ideas for using wild garlic pesto.

Wild Garlic Vinaigrette

I couldn't get every scrap of the precious stuff out of the food processor and you know how I hate waste so I added a spoonful of cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar plus salt and pepper and some more olive oil and made – Wild Garlic Vinaigrette (see here for lots more easy vinaigrette recipes). I poured this into a jug to dress my salad for dinner.

And so on ...

The food processor still looked a little unfinished so, still hating waste, I wiped it out with a piece of salmon which was intended for my dinner.

The resulting meal tasted excellent but was strangely out of focus so doesn't deserve to be seen!

And the leftovers?

Easy peasy, I munged together leftover salmon from my dinner last night, leftover mashed potato from my menfolks’ dinner last night and a teaspoonful of my Wild Garlic Pesto. I formed an admittedly large fishcake, pressed it onto a plate of panko, shallow fried till crisp and went for it.

How to use Fresh Wild Garlic ...

~ Add the leaves and flowers to salads.

~ Garnish dishes with the flowers – they are very pretty!
~ Sprinkle chopped leaves onto all sorts of dishes.
~ Add to omelettes and scrambled eggs.
~ Keep the flowers in a vase on the kitchen windowsill amongst all the rest of the paraphernalia. Don't worry, they don’t make a smell!

How to Use Frozen Wild Garlic ...

~ Stir into soups and sauces, 

~ Add a cube when deglazing a pan to make a quick sauce for meat or fish.
~ Stir into polenta for the last few minutes of cooking.
~ Mash into potatoes.
~ Stir into risotto.

How to Use Wild Garlic Pesto …

~ Stir into mayonnaise.
~ Whisk in vinegar or lemon juice and more oil to make a great salad dressing.
~ Rub onto meat and fish as a marinade and leave a few hours before cooking.
~ Stir into Alfredo Sauce for a lovely pasta dish.
~ Just toss with freshly pasta for a yummy simple dish.
~ Drizzle over sliced tomatoes.
~ Garnish soup with a spoonful or a drizzle.
~ Spread into sandwiches and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches 

See Wild Garlic & Walnut Pesto here.

Please Click here to Tweet this to other hunter gatherers!

How to Make the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich plus Lots of Good Ideas

~  Menu  ~

Cheddar & Green Chilli “Grilled Cheese Sandwich”

Secret Red

Two nations divided by a common language! 

There is a strong American influence in the Caribbean, even in the British Virgin Islands, and when I was first there I was sometimes discombombulated by the American way with English words.  A lot of this confusion was quite fun e.g. much giggling about the word fanny, etc. but in the kitchen it could be a problem.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a case in point ~ did you rather suspect it would be?  

In England when we say "grill" as a verb we mainly mean cooking something, often toast, under our eye level grill (noun) on our cooker.   

To Americans this verb usually means to cook over the source of heat as in a BBQ.  So far as they are concerned we broil our toast.  And therefore a grilled cheese sandwich is …?  Yes, it’s fried which was quite a surprise for me the first time one was ordered.  (I suppose this may come from the word griddled.)

A traditional American Grilled Cheese Sandwich comprises two slices of sliced white bread filled with slices of processed "cheese" which is yuk but melts well.  

The outside of the sandwich is buttered and it is cooked in a hot pan till the outside is crispy and the inside is melty.  It is a good idea which lends itself to huge improvement particularly in the cheese department but also by using good bread and adding complimentary ingredients.

“Grilled” Cheese Sandwich ~ Method

~  Make a cheese sandwich – grated cheese melts quicker and more evenly than sliced.

~  Spread the outside of the sandwich with butter.

~  Heat a dry frying pan.

~  Lay the sandwich in the pan and turn down the heat. Cook slowly so that the bread doesn't toast before the cheese has melted.
~  When the first side is crisp and golden and the inside melting turn the sandwich and cook the second side.  

For my standard Grilled Cheese Sarnie I spread the insides of the sandwith with mayonnaise and also with a scraping of Patak's excellent Chilli Pickle.  I use grated Davidstow Cornish Crackler Cheddar and I don’t usually butter the outside of the sandwich but rather I dry fry it in a futile attempt to lose weight.

For my non-standard grilled cheese sandwiches I use all manner of things and, of course, they are perfect vehicles for leftovers.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ideas

Try varying the basic ingredients ...

~  Different breads but nothing to holey or the filling might drip through!
~  Use different fats – maybe olive oil or bacon fat (uh-oh but also yum!).

~  Spread the insides with mayonnaise instead of butter, maybe even a deliciously flavoured mayonnaise!
~  Experiment with different flavoured butters such as garlic butter, black pepper butter etc.  See here for loads of different butter ideas.
~  For a richer, crisper and fattier sandwich melt the butter or other fat in the pan instead of spreading abstemiously on the bread!

~  Different cheese – there are loads to choose from!!. Or try a mix of cheeses, for instance lovely mature cheddar and mozzarella.

Add all sorts of things! …

~  Meat! Bacon, chorizo, ham, prosciutto, salami etc. are all good.
~  Fruit, for instance mix grated apples with the grated cheese or add a few grapes or blueberries.

~  Roasted peppers.
~  Garlic – try roasted garlic or black garlic.

~  Finley chopped raw, preferably red, onion or spring onions

~  Caramelised onions.
~  Chopped dates!
~  Nuts and seeds
~  Herbs and spices
~  A bit of heat – hot sauce, jalapenos, chipotle paste, green chilli pickle or similar.

~  Condiments such as chutney, pesto, pickle, sauces, mustard etc.
~  Olives or tapenade
~  Some jams such as chilli jam, bacon jam or fig jam or Membrillo (Quince Paste)
~  Roasted or sun-dried tomatoes.
~  Leftovers e.g. haggis, cooked minced beef, roasted vegetables, a spoonful of gravy of leftover stew, and so on.

Good combinations …

~  Mozzarella, tomato and pesto or fresh basil
~  Swiss cheese and sautéed mushrooms
~  Goat cheese and prosciutto
~  Blue cheese and ripe pear – maybe add some coarsely chopped walnuts too!
~  Blue cheese and black garlic. 

~  Add a drizzle of honey to blue cheese.
~  Brie, crispy bacon and a little cranberry sauce
~  Cheddar and ham
~  Roasted veggies and Feta
~  Pound cake, mascarpone and blueberries!

Any more good ideas?

Let me know.

Another Funny Thing about Americans!

Incidentally American cookers have their grills/broilers underneath the oven at ground level.  I asked an American friend why this is and he said because they like to watch their wives bend over in the morning!