Two times Delia. Peppers and Halloumi.

Southwesterly severe gale force 9 decreasing gale force 8 imminent.

Slight or moderate, becoming rough in east.

Showers at first.

Good.

A miserable day. Rain, Rain and Rain. And backpain. So I am not in a chatty mode.

Meteorologically speaking, atmospheric researchers consider June 1 as the first day of the summer season. Which is in 2 days. I think the weather is a bit old-fashioned and sticks with the astronomically idea that summer starts with the summer solstice, 21.June. I decided to give summer a gentle nudge by combining 2 of my favourite Delia Smith`s recipes: The Piedmont Roasted Peppers and the Fried Halloumi Cheese with Lime and Caper Vinaigrette

Roast Pepper and Halloumi with lemon caper dressing

  

2 red peppers

2 tomatoes

Fresh basil leaves, torn

125g Halloumi

1 tbsp capers in brine, drained, washed and chopped

½ tsp Dijon mustard

A squeeze of lemon juice

olive oil

salt

10 black olives, de-stoned

Crusty bread, to serve

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5 (200°C).

Cut the peppers in half and deseed, but try to leave them as intact as possible. Cut tomatoes in quarters and fill each pepper half with 2 quarters. Add some of the capers to the tomatoes and tug in some of the basil leaves. Pour a little bit of olive oil over it, a sprinkle of salt and put into the oven until softened (about 45 minutes).

Take them out of the oven and let them cool a bit.

Make a dressing from the rest of the capers, Dijon mustard, basil leaves, lemon juice, salt and olive oil.

Slice the Halloumi, brush with olive oil and put it into a hot griddled pan.

Fry for about 5-8 minutes and then arrange the peppers on a plate, put the olives in and around it, top with the Halloumi and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Verdict:

I don’t think the tomatoes worked here well, so I will omit them in the future. Apart from it: Very nice and and will definitely do again.

Slow and Quick. Chinese Duck soup.

West or southwest 4 or 5 occasionally 6 at first, increasing 7 or gale 8 later, perhaps severe gale 9 later.

Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later.

Rain later.

Good, occasionally poor later.

Request number 2

This recipe is adapted from a Sainsbury magazine; dated December 2001, page 72 to 74. Since I lost page 72 in the last 13 years, I have no idea who contributed it. Or what the title was. At the end I will give a quicker version which I have done in the past (the recipe is a family favourite). Not saying that the quicker version is equally good, but good enough if you are really in a hurry and need soul food.

I replaced the chicken stock with Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian Non Chicken Base.

Despite the fact that I eat once every 6-8 weeks meat, I try to avoid unnecessary meat products if a Vegetarian alternative is equal/ better/ or slightly less good. Most Vegetarian versions fall into this category. This one is even better than a chicken stock, despite the fact that it does not taste of chicken (cant stand chicken anymore). Yes, it is blooming expensive in the UK, but worth every penny.

But feel free to use chicken stock if you have a good home made one, or any other Vegetarian alternative; and feel also free to substitute the duck with pressed firm tofu. Treat it exactly like the duck, but reduce the steaming period or it will disintegrate (or leave that steaming out).

Ideally you need to start the day before. Or even 2 days.

Chinese Duck Soup

1 duck breast, trimmed of any sinew

3 tablespoons (Kikkoman) teriyaki marinade

1 tablespoon honey

300ml stock (either Vegetarian, see above, or Chicken)

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices

1 small birds eye chilli, only the tip until you come to the seeds if you don’t like it hot 

2 star anise

2 tablespoon of oil

30gr of flat rice noodles

1 large Chinese cabbage leave or leaves of a Cos lettuce, cut into thin slices and stalk discarded if they are big leaves, but you can leave small leaves whole

1 spring onion, cut into thin slices

some coriander leaves for garnish

soya sauce to taste

Mix the teriyaki marinade and the honey in a ziplock bag and add the duck breast. Close bag and massage the marinade into the duck (be careful if you use tofu, just give it a gentle stroke), then let it rest in the fridge, ideally overnight.

The next day take the duck out of the marinade; let the marinade drip down into the bag and steam the duck in a steamer insert for 15-20 minutes. Let it rest, don’t discard the water.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil into a pot and heat. Add garlic, chilli and ginger and let soften a bit. Add the water in which the duck has steamed, the stock and the 2 star anise. Cook down until you have about 250ml, reduce the heat to the slightest of simmer and add all of the duck marinate.

Shred the leave and the spring onions and put into a serving bowl.

Heat the other tablespoon of oil in a pan until very hot and fry the duck on both sides. Press down so the skin gets really crispy and sticky.

In the meantime cook the rice noodles in slightly salted water and drain once finishes (yes, you have at one point three pots on the go).

Let the duck rest for a minute, put soup on high so its really hot. Taste and adjust with soya sauce if necessary. Fill noodles into your bowl, top with the sliced duck breast, add the stock and sprinkle with coriander leaves.

Quick version:

Buy a ready cooked Peking (“pancake”) duck (Aldi has an excellent ready cooked half duck in the freezer but this of course needs defrosting), put into marinade for as long as possible (minimum 15 minutes). Make the soup as above, fry the duck as above, assemble your bowl but use one pack of ready cooked thin rice noodles (while I prefer for the slow version the flat noodles, this wont work here, they don’t heat quick enough).

Verdict:
Despite it being meat, it was exactly what I needed. Comfort food. Worked hard, back hurts like hell but I am down to 4 boxes. YEAH!

Quintessential English. Homemade Salad Cream.

West or southwest 5 or 6, veering northwest 4 or 5 for a time.

Slight or moderate.

Mainly fair.

Moderate or good.

The next 3 posts deal with requests.

The first one is an odd one. I am no fan of it. But it seems to be a bit like Marmite; you either love or hate it.

When I came to the UK, the request for a salad dressing (yes, leaves were often served bare) resulted in a bottle put on the table. Heinz Salad Cream. Resembling a mayonnaise which has been thinned, sweet and sour, mainly sweet. It also served as a dip or a condiment to put on your bread. There was no escaping salad cream. You could it even get on your chips. Especially in a chip butty.

This British oddity is now over 100 years old and I still have no clue how anyone can come up with such an idea. Yes, there is the famous Mrs Beeton`s recipe.

But in the original she uses only the egg yolks and cream. No oil or butter. She also suggests, much to my amusement Boil the eggs until hard, which will be in about 1/4 hour or 20 minutes. I always wondered if she uses goose eggs.

The Heinz recipe however used (now vegetable oil and milk) butter. Which makes sense, vegetable oil was not much in use in common households; you either had lard or butter. It is also cooked. An odd mixture between a basic white sauce and a hollandaise.

The following recipe was given to me by a neighbour. Not because I liked it, but my son, who ate everything as long as it is not a vegetable, devoured in her house (and later in mine) even raw vegetables. As long as the dip was there.

I did cut the sugar and the salt as given in the original recipe. Bear in mind that in the UK you have normally salted butter. After all I made it for a child, and the older we get less salt is better for us. Before you put it in the fridge for the first time, don’t thin it further. The butter will of course solidify a bit and you can thin it afterwards. It might also taste a bit bland since I cut the sugar and salt by half. But you have now the perfect canvas to change it according to your personal taste. If you add later a bit of coarse French mustard and thin it with more vinegar and pour it over hot boiled small potatoes, you will have a safe potato salad for a picnic, BBQ or the elderly.

The amount given here results in about 150ml, and it will keep easy in the fridge for a week

Salad Cream

1 egg

2 tablespoons malt, or another white, vinegar

4 tablespoons of COLD water

1 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons flour (or corn starch or both mixed)

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon salt, a bit of white pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons salted butter (or a mixture between vegetable oil and milk)

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add water and mix thoroughly, removing any lumps. Beat egg well, add vinegar pour into the water mixture. Heat gently in a double boiler, stirring constantly until it thickens. Take off the heat and stir in butter, bit by bit and whisk constantly.

When the butter is melted, add a bit of (more) cold water until you get the desired consistency (a bit like thick double cream).

Cover and put into the fridge. Once it is cold and set, adjust seasoning to your taste and thin further if desired or if it is too thick.

Verdict: 

Maybe my taste buds have changed, but after I did add a bit of coarse mustard and more vinegar, and poured if over the hot potatoes, I actually liked it. Not as heavy as mayonnaise, certainly less calories, but a bit more substantial than a simple dressing.

Might revive the taste of the seventies