Rave reviews!

Don't worry - I haven't lost my British talent for self-effacement . I'm not anticipating how all of you will feel about this dish, and 'blowing my own trumpet' (sorry Americans: can't use the word 'tooting' in my house - results in incontrollable giggles). I am merely giving an accurate representation of the reaction around our dinner table when its occupants were served up this little beauty:

Yes indeed. In fact, there were rave reviews after one bite, and then some of them actually stopped shoveling mid-meal to repeat their appreciation of the meal on offer. This does not always happen in our house. And to be fair, the occupants of my dinner table are not always the most discerning of foodies (current favorite for youngest son is cheddar cheese bagels spread with about 1" of nutella...or 2" if you don't whisk the jar away quickly enough). But, I have to concur with even the less understandable tastes around the table in this case, as this one will definitely make the menu in our house again.

It's also easy-peasy, coming from one of my favorite easy-peasy books: 9"x13" The Pan That Can. Yes indeed, it can, and it did it again. I did tweak a little, opting to use ground turkey rather than beef, as I just prefer it. I also added some fresh herbs, to give it a pop. I apologize to those reading from the UK, where I don't think you can get crescent dough in tubes (really, the Pillsbury Dough Boy wants to get on that asap). But I think you could take some fresh pizza dough and use that on the top to a similar effect. All you need to complete the meal is a good green salad, and there you go - just sit back and let those sighs of satisfaction and rave reviews from all around just wash over you. You've earned them.

Italian Crescent Casserole
Serves 6

2lbs lean ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 16oz jar (around 2 cups) of marinara sauce
3TBSP chopped fresh basil
3 cups shredded/grated mozzarella cheese
1 8oz tub low fat sour cream
1 8oz package of refrigerated crescent rolls (or fresh (uncooked) pizza dough)
2 TBSP melted butter
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190C).
2. In a large skillet, cook the turkey and onion until the meat is cooked, breaking up the meat as you go. Stir in marinara sauce, bring to a boil and then simmer until slightly thickened. Pour the meat mixture into a 9"x13" pan, and spread over the base of the pan.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream and the mozzarella cheese. Spoon this evenly over the meat in the pan.
4. Unroll the crescent dough and roll out  into a 9"x13" rectangle, pressing together the perforated lines. Place the dough over the cheese-sour cream layer.
5. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes (uncovered), until top is a deep golden brown.

Shhhh..let's keep this amongst ourselves...

I know I said I was going to go cold turkey on the new cookbook addiction. I know. Well, I fell off the wagon. Head first, in a fill-your-amazon-shopping-cart-and-click-on-checkout-before-you-can-change-your-mind kind of way. In my defense, one of my new purchases was The Great American Slow Cooker Book. It spoke to me personally! I love my slow cooker, I think it's great, AND I'm American... well, kind of, half, sort-of. If that isn't justification, then I don't know what is! So please don't tell. Anyway, now that the pages are well and truly thumbed, the only way I can redeem myself (apart from clearing enough space in the cookbook cupboard so that I can stow it away before my husband notices), is to use it to such good effect that its purchase seems not only inevitable, and evidence of an out-of-control compulsion, but also most fortunate, given that the delicious food on our table owes its existence to the recipes therein.

The first recipe I tried from the new book (by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, incidentally) is indeed worthy of the moniker 'great'. It is also unexpected. By the scratch marks on the base and the number of times I lift it's huge bulk out of the drawer, I consider my slow cooker well used, but I had never, until now, even considered roasting a whole chicken in there. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have to say, I will be doing this again. And soon. Not only is the chicken fall-off-the-bone delicious and moist, but it is also roasted on a bed of tomatoes and parsnips, which cook to perfection in the chicken juices, to produce an almost saucy garnish for the chicken. I served it alongside some roasted vegetables (recipe also below). Go on, oven-roasted chicken purists: venture into the unknown. It's a tasty place to be.

Roast Chicken with Parsnips and Tomatoes
Serves 5

1lb parsnips, peeled and cut into 2" segments
1/2 lb ripe cherry/grape tomatoes
4 fresh sprigs of rosemary
1 TBSP lemon pepper
1 tsp mild paprika
1 whole chicken (3.5-5lbs), skin on, any giblets/neck removed from cavity, and bird trussed

1. Arrange parsnips, tomatoes and rosemary in a layer at the bottom of a large slow cooker (6-8 quart capacity).
2. Mix lemon pepper and paprika together and rub all over the chicken, including inside the cavity. Set chicken on top of parsnip mixture in slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on High for 5-6 hours, depending on the size of the chicken. To see if it is done, use a meat thermometer to check that the temp inside the thickest part of the thigh is 165 degrees.
4. Unplug the cooker, uncover and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Transfer to a board to carve (it kind of falls apart at this point, so those in favor of neatly carved slices will be disappointed).
5. Discard the rosemary sprigs and serve the parsnips and tomatoes with the chicken.


Oven-roasted Mixed Vegetables with Lemon and Chives
original recipe from Cooking Light magazine
Serves 6-8

1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes, halved
1 1/2 lbs fingerline potatoes, halved (or any other small potato in a contrasting color!)
1 lbs baby carrots, halved
2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
1 TBSP olive oil
cooking spray
2 TBSP fresh snipped chives
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220C).
2. Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl and toss well. Arrange in a single layer on one large, or two smaller baking trays.

All ready for the oven

3. Bake for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned.
4. Combine vegetables with remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently to coat.

Boozy treat

I love nothing more than walking through the door after an afternoon of playing soccer mum (or drum mum, or dance mum, or basketball mum...) to the smell of something delicious that has been bubbling away for hours in the slow cooker. If that something happens to contain a large quantity of alcoholic beverage, then the smell is all the more delicious! Why, I feel more relaxed immediately! This recipe is for one such delicious something.

I've always loved Boeuf Bourguignon, and I think it is one reason I could never go vegetarian. There is just something about that combination of beef and red wine. And if you add those little pearl onions and cook them in the same boozy combination... well, that just tips me over the edge.

I've been trying to go cold turkey on my amazon cookbook habit, so the original recipe for this dish is from a book I've had for a few years called Slow Cooking Around the World by Carolyn Humphries. I confess I haven't tried many things from it, as it is almost completely devoid of pictures. When it comes to cookbooks, I need dribble-worthy photographs. However, I did make an exception this week, and I'm glad I did, because if this isn't dribble-worthy, then I don't know what is:

Beef in Burgundy with Pearl Onions
Serves 4

4 TBSP all purpose flour (plain flour)
salt and black pepper
1 1/2 lbs lean diced stew (braising) beef
3 TBSP canola/sunflower oil
2 oz diced pancetta
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
20 peeled pearl onions (thawed if frozen)
5 oz sliced mushrooms
1 1/4 cups red wine
1 cup beef stock
1 TBSP brandy
1 TBSP tomato paste/puree
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
2 TBSP chopped fresh thyme

1. In a large Ziploc bag, shake together the flour with salt and pepper. Add the diced beef and shake to coat with the flour mixture.
2. Heat 1 TBSP oil in a large frying pan/skillet and add the pancetta and carrots. Saute for 2 minutes or so, stirring, by which time the pancetta should be starting to brown. Transfer to the slow cooker stoneware. Add the raw mushrooms to the slow cooker also.
3. Add the onions to the same skillet and sauté until they are lightly browned. Transfer to the slow cooker.
4. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and tip in the meat. Cook, stirring, until the meat is browned on all sides, then transfer to the slow cooker.
5. In a bowl, mix together the wine, stock, brandy, tomato paste/puree, mustard and sugar. Add any remaining flour from the Ziploc bag to the skillet, then pour in the wine mixture. Bring this to a boil, stirring, then mix into the ingredients already in the slow cooker. Stir in the dried thyme.
6. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (or on high for 5 hours), by which time the meat will be meltingly tender, and the sauce rich and fragrant. Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta.

A watched pot..

..never boils, goes the saying. Well, if that were true, we'd all be in trouble. As you will no doubt have realized by now, I'm all for ease in the kitchen, for the one-pot solution, and for something that does NOT need to be watched, so that I can be off doing something else while dinner makes the house smell awesome. One exception that I do make to this general policy is risotto. There are some risottos that can be made in the oven, which is great for when pot-watching isn't an option (for a great example, click here). But sometimes on the weekend, when time is a little more plentiful, there is something quite therapeutic about standing over a pot of bubbling creamy rice, stirring away. Last weekend was just such an occasion, when pot-watching was an option, and this recipe was just speaking to me.

The classic risotto relies upon parmesan cheese, but this one uses mozzarella, which results in that gorgeous gooey texture where strings of cheese dangle from your spoon. Oh yum! The kids found this particularly hilarious because it kept getting stuck in Daddy's beard. So, if you are both unshaven, and having company over, then you may want to pick an alternative dish. Otherwise though, this is a risotto well worth trying! And it is vegetarian, for those of you of that persuasion.

The recipe is adapted from a 2007 issue of Cooking Light. The original used balsamic vinegar, which was then reduced in a pan over a medium heat to make it sweeter and more concentrated. I had a really good quality balsamic vinegar though, which is already quite sweet and almost syrupy, so I used that, without reducing it further. Alternatively, you could try using a balsamic glaze. Then all you need to accompany it is a simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette to 'cut' the gooey-ness of the risotto. Enjoy!

Risotto with Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes and Basil
Serves 6

5 TBSP good quality balsamic vinegar (see above)
7 cups vegetable or chicken broth/stock
3 TBSP olive oil
3 cups chopped leek
2 1/4 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup half-and-half (or half cream, half milk)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes (or small cherry tomatoes), halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
7 oz fresh mozzarella, finely diced

1. Bring broth/stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Keep warm over a very low heat.
2. Heat 1/2 TBSP olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek and sauté for 3 minutes until tender. Add rice and stir to coat the grains.
3. Stir in wine and cook for a further 1 minute, or until liquid is nearly completely absorbed.
4. Stir in 1 cup of broth, reduce heat to medium or medium-low and cook stirring constantly until liquid is nearly completely absorbed.
5. Continue to add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring the risotto as it soaks up the broth, so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. This process should take around 30 minutes, by which time, if you taste the risotto, the rice will be tender, with perhaps a slight bite. When it gets to this point, stir in the half-and-half and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a further 2 minutes to heat through.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the tomatoes and the cheese.
7. Serve drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Off to Kashmir for the evening..

When they hear the name Kashmir, most people, particularly Americans, can probably correctly identify that it is a (disputed) region straddling India and Pakistan, but that is probably it. (In fact, given how little coverage there is of international news on many of the most-watched newscasts, perhaps many don't even know that much). Most people probably don't know much about the cuisine.

Sadly, this is because Indian and Pakistani cuisine in general, is just not as widely popular in the US as it is in the UK (and for those of you bristling, I KNOW that you can't simply group 'Indian and Pakistani cuisine' together if you are going to be completely accurate, since there are a myriad of regional variations within that). Any British town of any size, and indeed a few villages, has at least one place where you can score a great curry. I remember one time, my husband and I were staying with some friends in a rented cottage in Torridon, in the northwestern part of the Scottish highlands. Torridon is without doubt one of the most wild and isolated areas we had ever visited (not least because it felt like we were in the car for days to get there!). There was one pub in the village, in one approximately 12 foot square room, which had one person working in it. So if he was making an order of food, you couldn't order a drink, and vice versa. And what was the main item on the menu? Chicken Balti. (Baltis are curries cooked in metal bowls, which many believe to have originated in Baltistan, an area of Pakistan which borders on Kashmir). Anyway, suffice to say that there is nowhere in the UK where food from this part of the world has not reached. And rightly so, as it is pretty delicious stuff.

In case you are wondering why I am waxing (not particularly) lyrically about all things Indian (or Pakistani - trust me, I am not going to enter into that debate, so it is no use bristling), it is because the dish of the day is a Kashmiri-style chicken, cooked in my trusty slow cooker. It originated with Sara Lewis, as one of the excellent recipes in her Slow Cooker Easy book. Whilst Sara and I clearly don't completely agree on the definition of the word 'easy', this dish is worth the additional effort it takes to get out the food processor, brown the chicken etc. It may not be the easiest of easy dishes, but it isn't rocket science either. And it enables you to 'head off to Kashmir' for the evening, without leaving your own kitchen. I did tweak a bit, by adding some vegetables, thereby making it more of a one-dish meal, with the addition of some rice.

In case this whets your appetite for a few more Indian-style curries, you can find the recipe for another of my favorite chicken curries here, while there are a couple of vegetarian options here.

Kashmiri-style Chicken

2 onions, quartered
3 garlic cloves
1 1/2" piece of ginger root, peeled
1 large green chili, halved, seeds discarded
8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 TBSP sunflower/canola oil
1 1/2 oz butter
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed (use a pestle and mortar, or the back of a knife)
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed (ditto)
6 cardamom pods, split open (use back of a knife to crack them open)
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 pt (450ml) chicken stock
1 1/2 TBSP light brown sugar
3 TBSP tomato paste/puree
1-2  red (bell) peppers, roughly chopped
3 cups chopped fresh baby spinach leaves
7 TBSP double/whipping cream
salt
rice to serve
flaked almonds and chopped cilantro/coriander leaves to garnish

1. Put the onions, garlic, ginger and chili in a food processor and blend until almost smooth.
2. Cut each chicken thigh into 4 pieces. Heat oil in a large frying pan and sauté the chicken pieces in small batches until browned all over. Transfer to the slow cooker using a slotted spoon.
3. Add butter to the same pan and when it has melted, add the onion paste. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring, until it starts to color. Stir in the crushed seeds and cardamom pods and cook for a further minute. Add the stock, sugar, tomato paste/puree and salt, and bring to the boil, stirring.
4. Pour over the chicken in the slow cooker, and stir in the chopped bell pepper. Push the chicken under the surface of the liquid, then set the cooker to cook on LOW for 5-7 hours.
5. Stir in the spinach and cook on HIGH for a further 10-15 minutes until the spinach as wilted.
6. Stir in the cream, and serve on rice garnished with almonds and cilantro/coriander leaves.