Cheese

Other than chocolate, cheese is the only other food-stuff that has the textural ability to soften into an unctuously gooey consistency. Half solid, half liquid, but fully delicious. I read once that we find things like cheese and chocolate to be so decadent and luxurious because of the pleasurable way the fat solids melt and coat the inside of your mouth… but everything in moderation yes?

Although not incredibly cheap to buy, I count cheese as a frugal ingredient as a little goes a long way, and it’s fridge shelf-life is very plentiful. 

Cheddar. The extent of a surprising amount of people’s cheese-eating repetoir  (apart from some mozzarella on a pizza of course). It’s a good place to start but is only the tip of the ice-berg. It goes hand in hand with many student meals such as baked potatoes, pasta dishes and chilli con-carne. It adds a slight saltiness and creaminess to balance the starchiness of said carbs. Judge this next dish as you see fit but don’t you dare knock it until you’ve tried it. I made your basic salad with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and topped it with………… pizza croutons! To stretch one sad and lonely leftover slice of pepperoni pizza, I snipped it into squares and fried them in a pan and then grated over a shower of cheddar. When all was golden and bubbling I let everything cool before snapping the croutons in to cheese encrusted shards and scattering over the salad. I then drizzled over the pesto dressing detailed in the feta dish below.

Feta has a very different role to cheddar - tasting fresher almost, with its starched white saltiness. It hardly melts like other cheeses so can be grilled or crumbled raw in to chalky crumbs on top of salads or in to sandwiches. Below is a tasty concoction of rice, spicy roasted sweet potato cubes, avocado and a zingy lemon and basil dressing. I  made the dressing by using the residue of some pesto in a finished jar by shaking up some olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning in it.

Halloumi is my favourite thing at the moment. Like feta it doesn’t melt and can be fried in a little oil until a golden crust has formed on the outside but the interior is warm and softly-set. Cheaper than meat (and longer lasting) it makes a wonderful veggie alternative to your salads, wraps or pittas. This wrap was a Thai inspired lunch with halloumi as its star. I fried a small chopped chilli and some frozen spinach with the halloumi slices and laid that, singing from the hot pan, on to a cooling bed of smashed avocado. I then squeezed over half a lime, drizzled with a little sweet-chilli sauce and dotted with basil leaves.

So there you go; three very different cheeses and one very happy student.

Greens

My Mother has instilled in me the need to have a ‘little bit of something green’ on every plate of savoury food that I eat. This means I have become increasingly reliant on those trustworthy freezer companions; peas and broccoli florets, to satisfy this need.

However, an often under-looked favourite of mine is a bag of frozen spinach. It’s possibly the most versatile of all greens. It has the ability to instantly wilt into silky little slicks when thrown into any stew, soup or pasta sauce. Or, when stuffed inside the inferno that is the steam-filled pocket of a toasted pitta, left to wilt and paired with cubes of feta or fried halloumi, it can make an instantly healthy and sophisticated lunch. It’s also great in a smoothie; instantly chilling it and becoming indistinguishable except for the colour and goodness it exudes.

See recipe below for this delicious chickpea and spinach curry:

Kale also survives the freezing process well, and is almost as versatile as spinach but needs a little bit more cooking to soften the tougher sinews of the leaves. Due to it’s robustness it can take on a battering of flavours more successfully than spinach can. It loves to be fried up with onion and garlic, simmered in a little stock and served with sausages, chorizo sausage perhaps, or combined with pasta that’s been tossed in an anchovy dressing…

Below is my kale, sweet potato and spicy sausage hash. Simply fry a chopped onion, the crumbled sausage meat of 2 sausages and the baked flesh of a sweet potato with salt, pepper and paprika - then top with a fried egg!

The humble lettuce leaf also carries a huge weight of worth in my cookery repertoire. I favour the tight little bundles of cos as; because the leaves are still attached to the stalk they stay fresher far longer than any bagged salad. They instantly lift a plate of food, even just a few leaves add a pleasing crunch and freshness. Chopped in a salad or whole with a sandwich, they make you feel more saintly in your eating - lightening the load and brightening your plate. Although everyone should be aiming to have a rainbow of food on their plate - getting your greens sorted is always a good place to start!

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

1 Red Onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons of whole cumin/coriander seeds

1 teaspoon of garam marsala

1 400g carton of Chopped Tomatoes

1 400g tin of Chickpeas

4 big handfuls of Spinach

1. In a large saucepan, gently fry the onions and garlic in a bit of flavourless oil. When beginning to soften add whatever whole spices you have and let them pop in the oil.
2. Next add the chopped tomatoes, then fill the carton with cold water and add that to the pan too. Let it bubble for 5 mins before adding the chickpeas. 
3. After 2 more minutes take the pan off the heat then add the spinach to cook in the residual heat.
4. If you're using frozen spinal then you might need to put the pan back on the heat to reduce a bit more.
5. Serve with rice, mango chutney and any other bits and pieces you can get your hands on; bhajis etc.

Eggs

I think it's fair to denote the title of the most versatile of all ingredients to the humble egg. Its skills include glazing, binding, enriching, combining and aerating as well as standing strong on its own. This means that eggs are unique in the fact that they are equally as welcome in the world of baking as they are in savoury dishes.

The construction of an egg is as interesting as its qualities. I learnt once that the thin skin that lines the inside of the the shell has one small pocket of air.  The chick pieces it with its little beak as it hatches, breathes its first breath of air, and gains the strength to peck through the shell. Also, the cord that attaches the yolk to the shell, and keeps it centred, is called a 'chalaza' - what a good word.

Anyhoo, to have in mind that a yolk becomes a chick proves that an egg has all the nutrients we need to live. That's why they make such good breakfasts, they keep you satisfyingly full for longer. My favourite way to have them at the moment is scrambled with fried tomatoes, hot, buttered toast, avocado and smoked mackerel. (Look out for future blogs celebrating other fishy underdogs such as smoked mackerel.)

As well as breakfasts and brunches, I've started to incorporate eggs in to my evening meals too. As I'm going meat-free this term, I want to try and find new ways of using them for a reliable source of protein. The baked eggs recipe below is jut a simple, spicy stew but feels exotically middle-eastern. The yolk, when pierced with a shard of pitta bread, soothes the spiciness and, along with the avocado, tempers the heat.

If there's any leftover stew it works well with some fried sausage bits to make a pasta sauce, or blended to make a soup.

Spicy Baked Eggs

Serves 1 or 2

1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
2 sticks of celery
1 carton/tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp - paprika and/or cumin
1/2 a chilli or 2 tsp of dried chilli
2 eggs
Pitta bread
Avocado

Chop the vegetables as finely as you can and sweat the onion and garlic in a large saucepan (that has a lid) in a bit of oil until soft.
When soft, chuck in the pepper and celery and continue to cook for about 10 mins. 
Then pour in the chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and spices. 
Give everything a good stir then leave to reduce on a gentle heat for 5 mins.
Make small dips in the sauce with the back of the spoon and crack the eggs in to them. Pop the lid on and leave for a further 5 mins until the eggs are cooked.

Top with chopped celery leaves or other green herbs. Serve with toasted pitta brushed with oil and sprinkled with a bit of paprika and little scoops of avocado.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes are fast becoming my favourite vegetable. Their starchiness makes them excellent accompaniments chipped, mashed or roasted in cubes. However their sweetness and soft texture mean they can stand as a vegetable in their own right in a stew, soup or salad.

One of the best combinations that you must try is sweet potato, blue cheese and cos lettuce leaves:

There is crunch and soft and sweetness and creaminess - it’s really lovely. Jumble it all up for a wondrous salad or load up the cubes of filling in a lettuce leaf boat for some hand to mouth eating. 

Even though it’s an effortlessly easy construction it actually seems and tastes rather sophisticated and could be pulled off as a fancy starter or canapé. Perhaps with the addition of some toasted walnuts or frazzled bacon bits?

I prepared mine by baking a few sweet potatoes and then scooping the softened flesh on to the lettuce leaves, crumbling over the blue cheese and drizzling with some reduced balsamic vinegar. Wishing I’d bought some bacon to scatter over the plate I snipped up some of the crisped potato skin instead. It was an ok addition but bacon would be better.

My other favourite sweet potato dish is a spanish stew. A tomato, paprika spiced base is home to nuggets of salty, chewy chorizo which is lovingly complimented with soft butter-beans and the star - roasted sweet potato. We ate ours with a mountain of torn chunks of crusty bread, but it could also have been served with mashed potato, cous-cous or a green salad. Very nice and warming it was. A nod to autumn but embracing the coming winter also.

Spanish Stew

serves 4

3 large sweet potatoes, cubed

1 red onion, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 chorizo sausage sliced in to coins

1x400g tinned tomatoes

1x400g tin of butter beans

1tsp - paprika

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C.
2. Peel and chop the sweet potato then drizzle with oil and sprinkle with paprika and seasoning in a baking tray. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until soft and slightly caramelised.
3. Meanwhile, chop up the onion and garlic and fry gently in a large saucepan.
4. When softened, add the chorizo and fry for a further 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and the drained butter beans and let everything bubble for 5 minutes. 
6. Then add the sweet potato and a splash of water. When reduced to desired consistency serve piping hot!

Apple Cake

Sundays can be tough as a student. Campus is dead. Everyone’s asleep. You feel a nasty, nagging pressure to do some work. You don’t do any work. It’s usually the day a family member rings you from your favourite cafe back home, munching on a baked good. Or from the sofa tucked up with the cat, casually mentioning that there is a roast chicken in the oven…

Such homesickness, boredom and just plain hunger incited me to bake a cake today. Inspired by the spectacular autumnal produce at London’s Borough food market - which I made my first visit to last Friday - I settled on the idea of baking a toffee apple crumble cake. A recipe that has been floating around in my head since the beginning of October.

The market got me so hot and excited. I lunched on the plentiful free samples; cheese cubes, saucisson, lumps of bread dunked in different oils and vinegars, slithers of smoked fish, crumbled fudge, granola clusters and hot, lemongrass tea.

Other than baking a cake, I think the next best homesickness cure is to get out of town for a day or two. Get a bit o’ culture down you - some art, music or food from somewhere new. Then going to back to uni can sort of feel like you’re coming home again…

I am sorry, but this cake is bloody sublime. The soft, vanilla spiced sponge suspends sweet, translucent and almost jelly-like cubes of syrupy apple. All these varying layers of soft contrast with the crunchy topping; a crumble that melts in the mouth like honeycomb and the edges of the cake that touch the sides of the tin have crisped into a golden, buttery crust. Oh. My. Lord.

Toffee Apple Crumble Cake

Cake:

2 Apples, peeled and cubed

Half a lemon

4 tbsp - Soft brown sugar

1 big lump of butter

200g - Sugar

200g - Butter

2 Eggs

200g - Self-raising flour

1tsp - Vanilla extract

Crumble:

100g - Flour

50g - Butter

50g - Soft brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180’C
2. Heat about 50 ml of cold water in a sauce pan. Add the apple and squeeze over the lemon. When the water begins to boil, chuck in the butter and sugar. Let it bubble away for up to 10 mins then leave to cool.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. When smooth, add the vanilla.
4. Beat in the eggs - It’ll go lumpy like scrambled eggs - then mix in the flour until smooth once more.
5. Stir in the cooled apple, reserving the syrup. 
6. Pour mixture in to prepared cake tin (I used a rectangular 20cm x 10cm tin, but your average circular tin will work too.)
7. In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour and sugar to make the crumble. Make it as fine or as pebbly as you wish.
8. Sprinkle the crumble over the cake evenly. Then drizzle over the reserved syrup and bake for 25-30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Chilli

Inspired by a lively and colourful Mexican restaurant in Brighton’s North Laine, I decided on a big, vegetarian chilli con-carne to feed my lovely cousins who travelled all the way down the country to see me this weekend.
Bold, bright and spicy; this dish emulates the food and the decor of La Choza - that fabulous Mexican. And my wonderful guests. 

The leftovers are very plentiful and improve in flavour if left to their own devices overnight. It was bloody tasty re-heated and dolloped on hot baked potatoes covered in plenty of grated cheese the next day.

Beans are the star of a chilli. They’re protein-packed, squishy, flavour-absorbing bursts of loveliness. An ultimate frugal ingredient too. I used kidney beans because I think they have a smoother interior than cannellini or pinto but all are good. Chickpeas would be welcome too.

It’s the colours of this meal that make it so good. That, the endless G&T’s that were being poured, and the music and dancing made the evening we ate this one of the merriest I’ve had for ages! 

Veggie Chilli

2 sweet potatoes

1 red onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 green pepper

2 cloves of garlic 

2x 400g tins of beans

2x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 or 2 tsp of spice - cumin, cayenne or paprika

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C/400˚F/gas 6.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-sized chunks. Sprinkle with the spices and some salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat, then spread out on a baking tray and set aside.
3. Peel and roughly chop the onion. Halve, deseed and roughly chop the peppers. Peel and finely chop the garlic. 
4. Put the sweet potatoes in the hot oven for 40 minutes, or until soft and golden.
5. Meanwhile, put a large pan over a medium-high heat and add a couple lugs of olive oil. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or so. 
6. Drain the beans, then tip them into the pan with the tinned tomatoes. Stir well and bring to the boil, then reduce to a medium-low heat and leave for 25 to 30 minutes, or until thickened and reduced. Keep an eye on it, and add a splash of water if it gets a bit thick.
7. Serve with chopped coriander if you’ve got it, atop some steaming rice and dolloped wit sour cream, salsa and or guacamole.

Soup

Apparently we should be eating up to three liquid meals a week. To give our tummies a rest from all that digesting I guess. Often, us silly humans think we’re hungry when really, we’re just thirsty. All we’re actually craving is something substantial and preferably warm to keep us satisfied.

At this lovely time of year, a good soup provides a warming and nostalgic alternative to another heavy meal. Not only is it easy on the stomach, but it’s also good for the soul. Nothing says homemade with care better than a heartily crafted soup.

In my view, butternut squash soup is the king of all soups. The flesh, when roasted, sweetly caramelises like no other vegetable. When blitzed, it collapses in to the silkiest consistency and becomes a smooth and delicious pleasure to eat.

As with the risotto form last week, and for every time you want to make a soup, a good stock is required to take everything to the next level. However,another reason why I’ve crowned this soup king is because; as the roasted vegetables are so pungent, your basic vegetable stock-cube will do just fine.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 small squash - Butternut or acorn

1 or 2 onions - roughly chopped

2 cloves of roughly chopped garlic

500ml (ish) - stock

1 or 2 carrots and/or sweet potato - peeled and chopped into chunks (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 220’C.
2. If you have a big squash, cut it into wedges. If it is fairly small then just chop it in half. Drizzle with olive oil and season - I used salt, my herbed pepper and some ground cumin.
3. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden-brown and soft when prodded with a knife.  Do the same with the sweet potatoes and carrots if using or add to the boiling stock in step 6. 
4. Meanwhile, chop the onions and garlic and gently fry in a large saucepan in a knob of butter for 20 minutes.
5. Take the squash out and leave until cool enough to handle. Then either peel the skin off the wedges and cut in to chunks or scoop the flesh from the halves and plop them in to the pan of golden onions.
6. Now add the hot stock so that it covers the vegetables. Pour in more hot water or some full fat milk if you need to.
7. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or so then whizz in blender in batches. If it still looks a bit on the thin side, pour it back in the pan and reduce until the desired consistency. 
8. Serve with a drizzle of creme fraiche or cream, and a scattering of dried chilli flakes.