This weekend – yesterday 25th January – saw two anniversaries, both of which are celebrated world wide. Burns Night with bagpipes, haggis and neeps and Chinese New Year with dragons, dim sum and fireworks. Apparently, this year is the Year of the Rat – and Robbie Burns has been described as an original love rat, having a very spicy love life! Thus, this week’s recipes are incorporating Scotland, China and spice – it’s up to you whether you want to keep them as partners or split them up and put haggis with the dessert and pineapple fritters with the salmon.  Such is the variety of life.

Salmon and Noodles

• 1- 2 Scottish salmon fillets, with skin left on
• 1 heaped tablespoon hoisin sauce (from a jar or bottle)
• 75g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 70g medium egg noodles
• 100g long-stemmed broccoli, trimmed
• freshly ground black pepper
• dark soy sauce  / thinly sliced spring onions, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7 and line a small, shallow ovenproof dish with kitchen foil. Place the salmon fillets into the dish, skin-side down, and brush generously with the hoisin sauce. Make sure the fillets are placed at least 5cm/2in apart from each other. Scatter the cherry tomatoes around them. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare the noodles. Half-fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the noodles, return to the boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring to separate the strands. Add the broccoli and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Divide the noodles and broccoli between four warmed plates. Top with the salmon fillets and scatter with the cherry tomatoes. Season with pepper and serve sprinkled with a little soy sauce and spring onions, if using.

Now for the dessert : Cranachan – a delicous mix of raspberries, cream, whisky, honey and toasted oats.  What’s not to like?

• 50 grams porridge oats
• small pot of double cream
• 2 – 3 tablespoons honey to taste
• 2 tablespspoons whisky (I personally hate whisky but somehow can take it here!)
• raspberries – fresh or frozen

Heat a heavy based frying pan up and toast the oats until nutty and pale brown (I sometimes add a little demerara sugar so they caramelize but you do have to keep moving them around!). Put to one side to cool. Whip the cream till soft peaks and fold in the honey and whisky. Layer up the cream, rapsberries and oats and put in the fridge till needed. (Keep some of the oats back to scatter on top as you serve so they are still crunchy)

It is now two years since I started writing this blog – and this was the first recipe – http://www.ailsacooks4one.com/2018/01/24/first-recipe/ ! We’ve come a long way since then (although I hope you still make this most favourite breakfast from time to time) – at least 104 recipes as sometimes I posted 2 recipes on the weekly blog.  Haven’t you done well?  So much so that to celebrate your culinary expertise I thought you should ask someone to dinner and give you a recipe for two! It’s not any harder than for one – you can show off your skills – and you can enjoy sharing (even the washing -up!)

EASY CHICKEN PHO

• 1 white onion, halved
• 4cm fresh root ginger, thickly sliced
• 800ml chicken stock (a cube will do)
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 4 cloves
• 2 star anise
• half a cinnamon stick
• small bunch of coriander
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 teaspoon palm sugar (brown will do)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Heat a dry heavy-based frying pan until very hot.  Char the onion and ginger for 4 minutes each side. Put the stock in a saucepan and add the onion and ginger, spices and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves) and bring to the boil.  Add the thighs and cook for 15 minutes.  Lift the chicken out with a slotted spoon and cut into bite sized slices.  Strain the stock into a bowl, discard the solids and return to the pan.  Add salt to taste, the sugar, fish sauce and chicken pieces.

To serve: 50g cooked rice noodles/2 large handfuls of beansprouts/1 red onion, finely sliced/leftover coriander leaves/basil and mint leaves, finely chopped/1 red chilli, chopped/juice of half a lime.  Put the noodles in bowl and ladle over hot stock and chicken. Sprinkle over the bean sprouts, red onion, herbs, chilli and lime.

And to follow?  A recipe from my son-in-law, Ben.  He’s always wanted to be a guest contributor and I thought this one of his complements the chicken perfectly!

CHEAT’S ICE CREAM (in that you don’t need an ice cream maker!)

• 1 tin coconut milk
• 1 tub mascarpone
• 1 tin condensed milk
• juice of 2 lemons
• Maple syrup
• a pinch of salt

Whisk all of the above together, taste.  If not lemony/sweet enough add more lemon/syrup.  Whisk 2 egg whites separately and fold into the mix.  Freeze.               Quote: “Comes out real smooth, soft and delish”

Of course, the above will serve more than two – but you now have some sitting there in your freezer for “one” times!

PS Let me know if you would like a Ailsacooks4Two as a monthly extra – you really shouldn’t let all your efforts go to waste now!

It’s been a busy week in our household – in fact, a busy couple of months with 8 birthdays, Christmas and New Year since the beginning of November!  It’s been great to get out of dusting, though, as all you do is exchange the different cards and cover it all up! It was my birthday on Friday and the Husband and I had a lovely couple of days in London visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum and taking the Clipper boat up the Thames to Greenwich to the Cutty Sark and Maritime Museum. For once, we had a beautiful day and the sun shone – and John decided London wasn’t so bad after all (as long as it is Greenwich!)

It’s very easy when you are busy like this to not be taking too much care of yourself and think the reason you are a bit on the tired side is because you haven’t been taking it easy – but it could be you are not getting enough of essential vitamins and B12 is one of the ones the body can’t produce by itself.  Its vital for creating red blood cells and to release energy from food – and without it may leave you feeling tired and weak. Happily, we don’t have to find too much of it to get a daily dose and can be found in eggs, fish, cheese, milk products – and Marmite! And the following 2 recipes, of course!

Baked Haddock Risotto (we’ve made risotto before but this is a baked one so constant stirring isn’t required, leaving you free to do the dusting – or read a book!)

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced (you can swap for a leek if you prefer)
• 1 – 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 140g arborio rice
• 100ml white wine (and a glass for the cook!)
• 1/2 litre vegetable stock (a cube will do)
• 150g thick cut cavolo nero, (an Italian dark green cabbage), thick stems discarded
• 120g haddock (I prefer smoked, but it’s up to you – both work well)
• 1/2 lemon, zested and cut into wedges
• 50g parmesan cheese, finely grated

Put the oven on at 180oC.  Using an openproof pan, fry the onion (or leek) and garlic in the oil for 3 – 4 minutes, until starting to soften.  Add the rice and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes.  Pour in the wine and simmer until mostly evaporated and add the stock . Bring to simmer, cover and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. Stir in the cavolo and nestle the fish on top. Cover and return to the oven for another 15 minutes until the haddock is cooked. Break up the fish with a fork and stir through the rice.  Season and stir in the lemon zest and the cheese, serving with lemon wedges.  For an additional hit of B12, you can also add a poached egg on top.

As it’s obviously not easy to just buy a little of Cavolo Nero, I thought you might also like this additional recipe of a very easy soup.

• 1 tablespoon oilive oil
• 1 small onion (or leek)
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
•  a bay leaf
• 1 -2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 1/2 litre of stock, chicken or vegetable (a cube will do)
• cavolo nero, torn and tough stalks discarded

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion or leek, garlic, chilli and bay leaf and sweat over a low heat for 15 = 20 minutes.  Add the potatoes and stock.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.  Stir in the cabbage and simmer until just cooked.  Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, extra chilli flakes if liked and a shaving of parmesan.

We Scots call New Year’s Eve – 31 December – Hogmanay – the big night that marks the arrival of the new year. Its origins reach back to the celebration of the winter solstice among the Vikings with wild parties in late December. The Husband and I went for a quiet one this year and had a meal at our favourite Thai restaurant and home (a bit of a change from when I was in my teens and we used to work out whose house we should make for the last one to have breakfast!). However you spent yours, I hope 2020 brings for you good health and much happiness.

We have had a wonderful Christmas, spread over a few days, with family – and (obviously) too much food!  I absolutely love the Holiday and all the cooking (daughter, Alice and son-in-law, Ben, cooked up a storm on Saturday night, though) and now all I want to eat is something fresh and clean and sharp – and this salad has it all. It’s all about the sourness. The combination of lemon and sumac really packs a punch and wakes up your tasting!

Fattoush salad –

• 50ml olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juice and zest
• ½ garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon sumac (a sour-tasting ground spice)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pittabread, torn into small pieces
• 4 plum tomatos, seeds removed, quartered
• 1/4 cucumber, peeled, cut into 2in batons
• 1/4 green pepper, cut into strips
• 4 radishes, sliced
• 1 small shallot, sliced
• small handful rocket leaves
• 1/2 little gem lettuce
• handful fresh mintleaves

For the dressing, place the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, crushed garlic and sumac into a bowl and whisk together to combine. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (You may not need all the dressing for this recipe, so set the remainder aside in the fridge for up to a week). For the salad, place the torn pitta, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, radishes, shallot, rocket leaves, Little Gem lettuce leaves and mint leaves into a large bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. To serve, pour the dressing, to taste, over the salad and gently mix together to coat the salad evenly.

PS Hetty hen continues to make good progress and is back with her friends, just a little limp to show for her trouble

And it’s a MEOW for 2020 from Pookie 

And just to prove it happens to everyone and no one can always be totally organised  – I’ve run out of time to post a Christmas recipe or two!

I would just like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you enjoy the time with all the people you are with – and, if on your own, I wish you peace and love from this family – and Pookie! xxx

Yesterday, I (hopefully) made a new friend.  I very nearly didn’t go with The Husband when he went to trim some trees for someone he knew – but I am so glad I did! It’s very easy to get caught up in the busyness of the Season and take time out.  In fact, we were talking about time on Sunday.  Thirty years ago, with 3 children, I worked full time, not getting home till 6.00, but every night I still produced a 2 course meal on the table for 7.00 and also did the paperwork and invoicing for my (then) husband’s business. I’ve come to the conclusion, that you can make time for what you really want to (which is why I am writing this at 6.00am before going out for the day) whether it be hobbies (time for reading is a necessity), sport, COOKING and friendships. I make a lot of my Christmas presents and always hope that the recipients will realise that in the time of making I was thinking of them so this week I thought I would give you a few ideas of edible gifts so you, too, can enjoy the giving!

My Best Friend Sandra’s Tablet (Scottish Fudge)

• 150ml evaporated milk
• 150ml water
• 75g butter
• 450g granulated sugar
• 1/4 teasp vanilla essence

Put the milk, water, butter and sugar into a heavy saucepan and heat through slowly until the sugar has dissolved. Then, boil steadily for 10- 15 minutes, stirring constantly so that the tablet doesn’t stick. After 10 minutes or so, test by dropping a little into a cold glass of water.  If it forms a tiny blob, remove from the heat,  Add the vanilla and cool slightly – then get rid of any angst by beating it hard until it starts to crystalise and thicken.  Pour into a buttered dish and cut into squares when set.

Raspberry, gin and tonic Syrup

• 800g frozen raspberries
• 150g icing sugar
• Juice 1½ lemons
• 500ml tonic water
• 10 juniper berries, lightly crushed
• 6-7 tbsp gin

Put the raspberries, icing sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over a low-medium heat and cook until the raspberries have broken down and are well combined. Push the raspberry mixture through a sieve into a bowl using the back of a spoon. Rinse out the pan to get rid of any remaining seeds, then pour the purée back into the pan with the tonic water and juniper berries (discard the seeds). Reduce the purée for 15-20 minutes over a medium-high heat, stirring now and then, until syrupy. Add the gin and stir to combine. Leave to cool before packaging into sterilised jars or bottle

Lemon and Cranberry Shortbread

I’m beginning to think my middle is name is Noah with all the rain we have been having! I can’t remember the last time the field opposite us wasn’t like a lake, although it has gone down a bit now and looks like a paddy field as the cows have been allowed back in to graze on what they can find. Today has dawned with some frost so at least we have some sunshine and things looking a little brighter!

I have been thinking that the last few posts have all been about comfort food so we can put up with the awful weather. However, if we carry on with these we’ll all be the size of a house by Christmas – so this week is about winter salads – but with a hint of warmth to keep out the chill. You can eat them on their own – but they will easily sit happily alongside lamb or pork chops or baked fish.

Mushroom and Wild Rice Salad

If you’ve been following this blog, you will know that last weekend I went home to Scotland for a family weekend to see my brother and sister-in-law, niece and nephew, nephew’s wife and great-niece, little Bethany.  My 2 daughters flew up from London too and on Sunday, my best friend, Sandra, of 48 years (how did that happen?!) joined us. We don’t see any of each other that often but always meet as if we had only parted a few days ago. We talked about everything and everyone, including those no longer with us and daughter No 1 (in order, only!) reminded us of Granny’s spaghetti Bolognese which she considers second to none. And, so, here it is in all it’s glory with the secret ingredient Jennifer never knew about till much later – chicken livers, giving it a great depth and richness.  This recipe is for one – but I will allow you double it if you want to freeze the remainder and make a lasagne at a later date.

Mum’s Best Bolognese

•  30g pancetta or bacon
• 15g (½oz) butter, plus extra for serving
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped
• 1 small piece of celery, finely chopped
• 75g lean minced beef
• 35g chicken livers, chopped
• 1 tbsp concentrated tomato purée
•  1/2 glass of white wine (pour 1 glass and drink half whilst you are cooking!)
• Salt and pepper
• Nutmeg
• 1/2 wine glass of stock or water
• 85 -100g fresh or dried spaghetti
• Parmesan cheese, grated          Basil leaves to decorate

Cut the ham into very small pieces and brown them gently in a small saucepan in the butter. Add the onion, carrot and celery. When they have browned, put in the minced beef, and then turn it over and over so that it all browns evenly. Add the chopped chicken livers, and after 2 or 3 minutes the tomato purée, and then the white wine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a scraping of nutmeg, and add the stock or water. Cover the pan and simmer the sauce very gently for 30-40 minutes. Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water until al dente (just soft), then drain and put into a warm dish. When the Bolognese sauce is ready to be served, mix it with the hot pasta. Add a good piece of butter before serving with the grated Parmesan cheese.

Keeping with My Mum theme – to follow, a pudding so wonderful you will keep making again and again.  Mum came from the Lake District, in particular, Cartmel, which was the original home of Sticky Toffee Pudding. I’m not going to give a “normal” recipe for this as it’s impossible to scale down – but this is made in a mug and microwaved so it can become your guilty pleasure as often as you like!

First, test your mug! Place your (obviously not metal) mug in the microwave, empty and heat for 1 minute.  If it is hot, don’t use. A 350ml would be best, too.

• 2 tablespoons soft butter, plus a little for greasing
• 4 tablespoons toffee sauce (you can buy this in any supermarket under the name Dulce Leche. Once opened, store in the fridge.  You can use it on ice cream – even porridge – or until you make this again!)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons dried dates, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons self raising flour

Grease your mug with a little of the butter and spoon in 3 tablespoons of toffee sauce. Melt remaining butter, add egg, remaining sauce, vanilla and dates and beat with a fork. Fold in the sugar and flour and beat again till smooth and spoon into the mug. Cook for 2 minutes 35 seconds (600W) or 2 minutes 15 seconds (800W).  Cool slightly and tune out onto a plate.

There is another reason for Mum’s best recipe – it is 23 years today since she died.  I think of her every day and know how proud she would be of all the family that has come after her.  This blog was started to encourage people on their own to get back into the enjoyment of cooking. Today, I want you to think hard, though.  Are you really on your own – or just lost connections? A family doesn’t always mean blood – it can be friends and workmates, too – you don’t even need to agree all the time! If you are truly on your own though, make today the day you smile to the postman, put a coin in a homeless cup and make a step outwards.  Call it a friendship, a network, a tribe or a family: whatever you call it, you need one. 

Once again, as I write this, the rain pours down and another grey day.  Thankfully, yesterday was lovely and I got a lot of gardening done, having recently dug out a bed full of nettles and weeds and found a whole piece of new garden to plant up.  The new hens have bonded in beautifully with the old and have soon learnt that when they see me with a spade, worms and grubs will follow.  They actually try to stand on the spade as I dig, toppling over in their eagerness to see what is underneath!  I really love my “girls” and thank them all the time for their great, completely free range, eggs.

So in the light of them – and the need for comfort food yet again – something to warm me up and give a little sunshine on a plate, this week’s recipe is kedgeree – 2 versions so no one misses out. And with a touch of curry to the dishes, even The Husband has no cause for complaint!

Smoked fish Kedgeree

• 100g undyed smoked haddock fillet (you can also do this with smoked mackerel fillets (in which case no need to cook!)
• a little milk
  1 bay leaf
  50g basmati rice, cooked
  1 free-range egg, hard boiled
  25g frozen peas (optional) cooked
  20g butter
  1 dessertspoon rapeseed oil
  1/2 – 1 small onion, finely chopped
  1 dessertspoon medium curry powder
• a couple of chopped tomatoes (optional, but gives some colour)
  1 tablespoon double cream
  1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or coriander (you could go mad and add both if you have them!)
  ½ lemon, juiced
  freshly ground black pepper

Place the haddock in glass dish. Pour over a little milk, add the bay leaf and cook in a microwave  for about 5 minutes until it is just done and flakes easily. Drain in a colander and discard the bay leaf. Melt the butter with the oil in a large pan and cook the onion (and tomatoes, if using) over a low heat for five minutes until well softened, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cooked rice into the pan with the peas, cream, parsley and a few twists of ground black pepper. Flake the fish into chunky pieces and add these to the pan. Gently stir the lemon juice and cook for 1-2 minutes. Cut the eggs into quarters and place them on the rice. Cover the pan with a lid and heat through for 2-3 minutes or until the eggs are warm, then serve.

And so the vegetarians don’t miss out :

PS I am off the Scotland tomorrow for the weekend to spend some time with my Scottish family hence an early blog.  With the weather the way it is, though, perhaps a good day to spend in the kitchen – and hope the weekend turns out better!