Busy as a Sewing bee...lotta Jandsdotter's, Every Day Style...

A day home alone...Ahmad poor thing, was away again. This time Birmingham. (England, not Alabama.) He left Friday night, bag weighed down with books and rolled up flip chart pages, scribed with foreign looking mathematical symbols that could have been hieroglyphics.   

My Saturday all planned out. New-to-me vintage 1980's sewing machine ready for it's trial run. Pattern book: 'Lotta Jansdotters Everyday Style', tracing paper, tailors chalk, pins, and scissors. 

A length of vintage navy woollen fabric with subtle, almost invisible pinstripes reminiscent of granddad's three piece suit. The end of a roll stamped with golden letters, woven in Scotland, probably fifty years ago. Still with the little brown card label and cursive script. Just enough to make the Esme tunic...but without the sleeves... That would work...A cool masculine pinafore dress. Workware.

I picked up the fabric and saw that it was peppered with holes...As big as speckles of coarse sea salt when the light shone through. Maybe chewed by ancient moths or accidentally pierced by the wayward slip of a hand.  It didn't matter. All part of the wrinkles of a long life. The sheep that was shorn, the fleece that was combed, the wool, washed and spun. Yarn dyed, then woven.  Wrapped onto rolls and cut into lengths. The old gnarled or fresh young hands that had each taken part in the narrative. Pondered how long that piece had been waiting until I found it...and so, it's life begins again...

Easy cauliflower curry

Ingredients:

• a medium sized cauliflower
• tomato passata or fresh skinned tomatoes, chopped finely
• a little tomato puree
• can of organic coconut milk
• a medium sized white onion or three or four shallots
• sea salt and black pepper and garlic cloves
• coconut oil or alternative to cook
• spice mix, garam masala or your own choice, I like ground turmeric, coriander seed and cumin, with chilli flakes
• a little hot stock or water
• fresh coriander or other herbs to serve 

Method:

1. peel and slice the onion. Place a little coconut oil into a heavy bottomed pan and heat up. Place the onion into the pan and begin to sauté
2. meanwhile wash the cauliflower and divide into florets and chop the tomatoes finely, if using. The smaller you cut the florets the quicker this will cook
3. cook the onion until it is almost caramelised, add the garlic cloves and cook. Add the spices, stir well and cook for a minutes or so
4. add the passata or fresh tomatoes and bring to a simmer then reduce the heat 
5. season with salt and pepper and add the cauliflower floret. Cover and cook until tender, adding the coconut milk after about fifteen minutes.
6. cook until the cauliflower is tender adding stock or water if necessary. Ensuring that it doesn't dry out.
7. add a little chopped fresh coriander or other herb

This is lovely served with cooked brown basmati rice, (especially if cooked in half water, half coconut milk mix),  or creamy whipped mashed potatoes/parsnips or butter beans...Yummy...  

weekend :: Roasted Baby Carrots with Spaghetti and Carrot Top Pesto

It's deep and crisp and even... all crunchy and frosty underfoot. Friday night howling winds squealed down the chimney calling for someone to light a fire, dark skies and icy rain chased away the balmy autumn days. The kitchen smelt of pancakes, cinnamon, star anise, cooked apples and fresh laundry. Saturday the sun came out and in true incy wincy style the rain dried up and the skies lightened to a happy bright sparkly blue. Still cold, but smiley...

It was the first weekend at home for a while and the perfect day to be indoors, except to rescue the onions before they bolted and dig up my baby carrots. They wouldn't feed a family, but the cute little orange and yellow specimens made a tasty pasta lunch. I've written the recipe at the end of the page. 

Pre food-shop, freezer and vegetable basket foraging, produced the ingredients to make a stir-fry supper. A great way to use up the stragglers before restocking.

The first issue of my birthday gift subscription of The Simple Things arrived. I've now learned how to make a hundred wishes bay leaf garland, to keep the Christmas tree pine needles to add to a bath, to make a fragrant salt body scrub, home made teabag gifts and a match box advent calender. But don't think there'll be time to save up enough matchboxes before the 1st. I'll have to try and find some  cool vintage ones like in the article. 

Oh and I was tempted to buy a copy of The Nordic Cookbook until I discovered that one of the recipes requires chopping down and pine tree to make pine bark bread and another needed boiled seal intestines! Eeek...

We did lots of sorting and painting eventually ventured out for food shopping and new twinkly lights, a bit of online Christmas shopping (love Etsy and homemade things) and there was even some time to catch up on TV viewing. The first two episodes of dark Scandinavian Drama The Bridge with the unsociable but likeable character Saga, and colourful episodes of Rachel Khoo's Kitchen notebook and Nigella Lawson's new program, Simply Nigella. I know that she flirts with the camera and has every word memorised off-pat, that inspires a myriad of micky-takers, including Ahmad, who can't resist copying every sheepish fluttering eyelid sideways look that she makes. (I try to watch it when he's not around) But I will always stick up for her, life has given her a lot of hard knocks and yet she always picks herself up and keeps on smiling, not dwelling on the sad things but celebrating good ones. She's actually cooking healthy food with no cream or butter at last. Hence my latest batch of pancake making, Nigella's Oat Pancakes.

I have to admit these are worthy and wholesome even for me, let alone Nigella. But when you feel the need to be very good they work with lots of fruit, maple syrup and plain yoghurt. I cooked windfall apples with vine fruits, honey and a little cinnamon, and star anise for that lovely childhood cough syrup hit. They would never replace Great Aunt Makiris pikelets, but they make an even healthier alternative. I think I'll probably try to make Sophie Dahl's spelt ricotta ones on my next foray into pancake making.

You can watch Nigella making her oat pancakes on the link here. 

and here's my pasta recipe:

Roasted Baby Carrots with pasta and Carrot Top Pesto. 

Ingredients for four people: 

• A bunch of carrots as fresh and small as possible with the tops still on
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• An unwaxed lemon
• Three or four cloves of garlic
• A handful of pine kernels
• Parmesan cheese
• Pasta of choice, about 3oz to 4oz per person. I used dried spaghetti.

Method:

1. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze most of the juice into a jug. Keep the lemon after squeezing and cut into smallish chunks.
2. Remove the carrot tops and reserve for later.
3. Scrub the carrots well with a stiff brush. Top and tail unless they are really small and tender and cut into diagonal chunks and place into an oven proof dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper, add the chunks of lemon and roast in a moderate oven for about twenty to thirty minutes until tender and a little coloured.
4. Whilst they are roasting wash the carrot tops. Take of the top feathery bit and discard any thick stalks. Chop roughly and place into a blender.
5. Add some olive oil, a good grating of Parmesan cheese, a handful of pine nuts and the lemon juice and blend. Season with salt and pepper and adjust if necessary adding more ingredients. 
6. Cook the pasta, drain and place on a serving dish
7. Top with the roasted carrots and some of the pesto. Combine well and eat while still warm. 

This was amazingly yummy. Not as aromatic or flavourful as basil pesto but it makes a lovely garlicky sauce for the sweet, lemony carrots. Nice no fuss,comforting bowl food. 

I might try Nigella's brown rice bowls and healthy breakfast bars next...Never thought I'd say healthy and Nigella in the same sentence...

I hope that the weather was doing good things for you this weekend...I'm coming to catch up now...
debx

linking with Karen for weekends

This week in my kitchen :: Trying New Things

 

Weekdays are busy. I'm always looking for new recipes for those days. New favourites are Jamie Oliver's Sweet Potato Muffins and Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall's Beetroot Burgers and Spinachy wraps. If you like beetroot and felafel, you will love these. I found another simple breakfast recipe for baked oats here. I made it the night before, leaving it in the fridge overnight, and then popped into the oven to bake whilst making morning coffee. Cut into squares and then served warm with butter melting on top it makes a delicious alternative to porridge or cereals. The little squares are good to eat on the go too, and would make great lunch box deserts. 

• Mango and avocado salad with Jamie Olivers sweet potato muffins video and recipe 
• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Spinachy Wraps. These chick pea (garbanzo bean/gram) flour wraps with a spinach filling are extremely more-ish and very easy to make. The chick pea flour adds a nutty dimension. I've also made them with left over salad leaves like watercress and rocket instead of spinach, they are just as tasty. I love them with baby gem lettuce leaves, cottage cheese and green olives. 
• crunchy pears
• this turkey mince bake but with a potato and not squash mash
• stocking up on omega three. Cheap and cheerful. I love the vintage style packaging and wish I could do something withe them...some kind of Christmas decoration? 
• Labeling what's left of the original sweet cherry wine to squirrel away for Christmas
• Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall's beetroot burgers. These along with the spinach wraps are my favourite new recipe, made by grating raw beetroot, carrot, onion, garlic with cooked chickpeas, spices and seasoning. Just blitzed together and combined to make tasty little burgeers, these are amazing. 
• Baked oats. Love this easy recipe. It's one that you can vary depending what's in your store cupboard.

Weekend now and time for a bit of slow cooking...

Hope you have a good one, 

debx