Just a pile of old bones

I don't often eat pork, WH is allergic so it's rarely worth cooking any for one. Recently though, lured by the reduced section in Waitrose, WH succumbed to a pack of spare ribs, enough for one very large or 2 small portions. In turn I then succumbed to a really old fave of mine from the days when the famed Great American Disaster diner was open in Birmingham and saturday nights were often spent eating US style. That was at least 35 years ago but the memories still linger. 

I've just finished my second plate of Spicy Barbecue Ribs and they were even better than the first lot yesterday. Here's the recipe.

500g pork ribs
100ml golden syrup
100ml tomato ketchup
100ml tomato puree
20ml worcester sauce
1 beef stock cube dissolved in 50 ml boiling water
Half teaspoon smoked paprika
Half teaspoon mustard powder (more if you like it really hot)
Few twists of black pepper
Pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients except the ribs in a flat dish. 
Add the ribs and cover with the sauce. 
Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Bake covered with tin foil in a moderate oven for 3-4 hours. 
If they look like they are drying out too quickly add some water to the sauce periodically.

Eat with a big smile :) jacket potatoes and sweetcorn. Yum

A little taste of summer

Last night I made Kolokithakia or Little Courgettes (zuchini). I did a meze for dinner with a mostly Greek/Middle eastern theme and tried to cook these for the first time. I have to report they were every bit as good as those we've had many times in Greece over the years. I served everything at once in true Greek style and we all dug in to Baked trout, Briam (vegetable stew), Couscous with herbs, peppers and onion, Greek salad, pita bread, Tzatziki and last but not least the Kolokithakia. Dessert was a platter of Charentais melon, Cheddar strawberries, pineapple and kiwi fruit, and very lovely it looked too.

At the farmers market the previous day I had spotted some round thin-skinned cougettes more like the variety they seem to grow in Greece so snapped some up with just this recipe in mind. It's really easy to cook if just a little messy.

Kolokithakia

Courgettes sliced about 5mm thick
Flour well seasoned with salt and pepper
1 beaten egg
Olive oil for frying

Make sure the courgettes slices are dry.
Dip in beaten egg then in the flour.
Shake off excess flour and fry in olive oil for 2-3 mins turning half way through.
Fry in a single layer in small batches. The resulting slices should be light and crispy and golden brown.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately with slices of lemon to squeeze over.

This is often serve as a starter or as part of a larger meal.

Meatloaf and Barbecued cabbage

In recognition of yesterday's Thanksgiving celebrations I made an American style dinner last night, Meatloaf. A recipe given to me about 30 years ago which I adored but have not made in the last 20 for some reason. It seemed as good a time as any to resurrect it.

It was every bit as yummy as I remembered. WH loved it too although for the stated reason that it tasted like faggots! I served it with barbecued cabbage and mashed potatoes and the whole combo was divine although WH wasn't so keen on the cabbage which comes in a tomato laden sauce that is just perfect over the meatloaf.

They're both a cinch to make.

Meatloaf

500g minced beef
1 small onion very finely chopped
1 packet stuffing mix made up with water and allowed to cool
1 tablespoon brown sauce
1 large or 2 small eggs

Mix all ingredients together and push into a 2lb loaf tin well greased and lined with paper.

Barbecued Cabbage

Slice white cabbage into 30 cm wedges.

Place in a baking dish
Pour over a 400ml tin of chopped tomatoes mixed with 1 teaspoon made mustard, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon tomato puree and 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup.

Cover the dish with foil.

Place both dishes in the centre of a preheated oven and cook at 180 degrees C for 90 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes; comfort food at it's best.

Oh and the meatloaf is good cold too, just how WH likes faggots.

All in a Pickle

A glut of plums on WH's tree and a wonderful new source of the biggest blackberries I have ever seen, couple that with apples on the tree in our new house and my thoughts turn to preserves; not jam particularly, we don't eat much of that and in any case WH ONLY LIKES STRAWBERRY, which is a total pain, but chutney and gallons of it too.

I am just making my second batch of plum chutney this week and have also made tomato chutney, runner bean pickle, and blackberry and apple chutney. The plum however remains my favourite and I didn't even wait the obligatory week for it to mature in the jar before I began delving in. Aah, heaven in a tablespoon. It's brilliant with cold meat, jacket potaoes and cheese sandwiches not to mention what it does to a curry.

Sweet Plum Chutney
Makes about 5 pounds.

4lbs stoned plums
1lb peeled and chopped cooking apples
1lb finely diced onions
2lbs sugar
1 pint (20 fl oz) vinegar, 5% acidity
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground allspice
3 teaspoons ground mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon groung nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard


Throw all the ingredients into a large preserving pan. Simmer slowly until all the fruit and veg is well cooked. Turn up heat and reduce liquid until thick and pulpy. Cooking will probably take about 2 hours in total.


Allow to cool for 10 mins then pot into suitable warmed and sterilised pickle jars.


Leave for one week to mature before opening.

Pasta Paella

You know when you desperately want to make a great recipe then you don't have the right ingredients or can't for some other reason, well I had that experience just last night.

I had a sudden craving for Paella, well WH can't eat rice so I thought I'd do it with pasta. Then came a phone call and the third member of the dining party announced he hates fish. I was stumped then but decided to have a go at a fish-less version anyhow. Despite virtually every ingredient being substituted for something else, the basic spicing and background flavours were all there and Oh boy it worked and worked well, giving the right amount of Spanish hit that I had been craving. I used kritharaki, a Greek rice shaped pasta which is smaller than the Italian orzo but rice would work even better. The pasta does make the dish slightly more sticky overall.

Serves 4.

150g cubed turkey steak or chicken
100g lean diced smoked bacon
150g peeled prawns
150g sliced chorizo (I actually used wild boar sausage and only discovered when it was too late!)
1 large onion diced
2 red peppers diced
150g peas
150g orzo, kritharaki or rice
2 cloves garlic sliced
500 ml chicken stock (or fish stock)
150ml home made tomato sauce or passata
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
half teaspoon saffron soaked in 50ml warm water
20ml olive oil
black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and brown the meat, add the onions and peppers and stir fry until the veg has started to cook down. Add the chorizo and bacon and cook untilt the fat starts to melt. Add the garlic and turn in the oil but do not allow to colour as it then becomes bitter. Now add the paprika, stir around then add the stock, the saffron in it's soaking liquid and the tomato sauce. Stir in the pasta or rice and allow to simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat and check frequently to ensure it does not stick to the pan. Check to see if the rice/pasta is done and cook further until it is cooked to your liking. You can add extra water at this stage if it needs it.

Stir in the peas and cook for 3 minutes then finally stir in the prawns and allow to heat through. Check the seasoning and add black pepper to taste. You shouldn't need to add any extra salt as the ingredients are salty enough.

Serve, eat and dream of sunshine.