… Ratatouille & Saffron Rice

I have a freezer full of meat.  I have just bulk bought a load of beef from some friends with a small farm.  They have Dexter cows and the meat is delicious.  The knowledge that I have some of the most beautiful beef in the freezer inspired me to cook this meal. 

I have my church meeting tonight so it’s a perfect opportunity for me to have some friends round before hand. 

When I went shopping yesterday for the ingredients for yesterday’s and today’s meal the boy at the till couldn’t believe that I would spend so much money on something so small.  He asked what you use saffron for, but even after I explained, it didn’t seem to help him understand. 

There’s no food processor with this meal all the chopping is done by hand. The meal seems quite easy to cook, but I am a little worried that the veg will cook enough in the time. 

This really is a very lovely meal.  The rice looks great.  The ratatouille taste amazing (and the veg was sufficiently cooked).  The steak tasted lovely (largely down to the quality of the meat). But the best thing was the little mustardy, parsley sauce that you served with the beef.  It was just chopped up on the board with the mustard and olive oil and lemon drizzled on it mixed together and then the steak slices were rolled in it.  It was great. 

A good meal and not a bad time.   No left overs for lunch this time!

Who with: Peter, Alison, Ed

How long: Fifteen minutes and twenty nine seconds

… Poached Chicken and Salsa Verde 

I have enjoyed the Soups and Sarnies section of this book a lot.  This meal seems like a good place to start a renewed effort to finish this project. 

Tonight I’m cooking for my housemate Gavin and my friend Lasma.  It’s dinner then backgammon. Lasma brought a Latvian beer for us to drink it was very nice. 

This meal has one of the longest list of ingredients in the book.  From experience this often means that getting the meal done within fifteen minutes is a challenge.  It is also a bit of a strange one because it is all cooked in one pot.  The soup ingredients all go in a pot and the chicken is boiled/poached in the soup pan. 

This was one of those meals where in the end it didn’t turn out to be the amount of things to did that got me.  In the end it was just the time it took to cook.  As has happened before, waiting for the chicken to cook through was the main culprit.  That and the crappy hob I have to work with.  It seems to heat up very slowly so it was ages until the soup was bubbling away despite the fact that the water is first boiled in the kettle. 

Slightly unusually the soup has rice in it as well as macaroni.

In the end I was nearly six minutes over time.  I blame the hob mostly.  What is interesting is that when I cook for other people, and I go over time, they are also keen to find an excuse for me rather than my own skills. Lasma blamed the hob too.

This was a very lovely meal.  The soup tasted great.  The chicken was simple but succulent.  The salsa verde was great too. 

It made for a very good pre-back gammon meal and not a bad lunch the next day either. 

Who with: Lasma and Gavin

How long: Twenty Minutes and Forty Nine Seconds 

… Kinda Nicoise Salad 

This is one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It seems like a great summer dish, so perfect for a warm Friday evening. 

There really isn’t a lot to report with this one.  I could not get “yellow beans” so my mix of green and yellow beans was a mix of green and green beans.  This wasn’t a surprise to me.  What was a surprise was that there weren’t any stones still in black olives in the supermarket, so I had to use green ones.  Ultimately this made my dish look a little greener than Jamie’s. 

The cooking process went very smoothly and I was able to do a bit of tidying as I went along. 

This is a lovely meal. Really very tasty.  It went perfectly with a bottle of wine and eating out in the garden.  A pretty good Friday evening I’d say. 

Who with: Tam and Gavin

How long: Fourteen minutes and twenty-two seconds 

… Beans, Greens & Chilli Yoghurt 

When I started this project I didn’t think that I’d be cooking a 15 minute meal while camping.  This is partly because I thought I would have long since finished the project by the summer but also because cooking food like this on camp is a bit of a mad thing to do!

So I’m at Newday.  This is a Christian camp for about 7,000 teenagers.  I have been to this 4 times in the last five years and have a great time every time I come.  I’m doing the cooking for my church, or rather the church I was part of before I moved.  I’ve come up early, with my friend Steve, to set the camp up and make sure the kids have something to eat when they get here.  I looked through the book and given the limitations of cooking on camp (mainly not having electricity to run a food processor) and the relatively few meals I have left to cook from the book I give Steve a choice of 2.  He chooses this one. 

Despite being on camp, this goes really quite smoothly and I’m on target to finish this in about 16 minutes.  Then disaster strikes.  My boiled eggs haven’t cooked properly, when I go to de-shell them they are still pretty raw.  I put the, now partly de-shelled, eggs back in the pan and cook them for a few more minutes.  The eggs are cooked in a frying pan that the smoked fish is also cooked in, I assume this is to avoid using yet another pan.  I use my deepest fraying pan, but the water still doesn’t quite cover the eggs in their entirety.  I’m not sure if the problem with the method (using a frying pan) or the cooker (the hob isn’t as fierce as a normal cooker).  Ultimately it was a slightly disappointing time but a lovely lunch for two and breakfast for some people the next morning.  I forgot how lovely a bit of smoked fish can be.  This is well worth a go.  After lunch there was a chilli to finish off and then a week of having a great time and cooking.  Below are a few pictures of some of the food I cooked on camp this year. 

Who with: Steve 

 How Long: Twenty one Minutes and Twenty five seconds

… Couscous, pomegranate & Harissa 

Tonight it felt like the project was back on track.  I don’t really know why.  I was cooking for someone new.  I was cooking one of the meals I’ve wanted to cook since the start of the project.  What ever it was, it felt good.

An added bonus to this project is that I think that maybe if my career dies I may be able to become a fishmonger.  There are quite a few fish recipes in this book.  More than any other type of meal.  Which is good.  I know I don’t really eat enough fish and I’m still a bit nervous about cooking it! Not all of it, just some of it. Anyway … Often the fish recipes calls for fish prepared in a certain way.  A certain way that often turns put not to be the way it’s sold to me.  Or, on some occasions ,not the way the fishmonger can be bothered to prepare the fish when requested by the poor person I have asked to buy the fish for me.  All that to say … I am now getting OK at preparing fish.  I de-headed, de-tailed, and removed the left over scales from the Bream in just a few minutes tonight, and so they were ready in the form required by the recipe. 

This is genuinely one of those meals where there is nothing, but also everything, to  report.  Nothing, in that it was done on time with no issues.  None at all, it was really stress free.  But everything, in that this was one of the good ones.  One of the really good ones.  It was fun too cook too.  Great to eat. Lots of food.  But still felt healthy. What more can I say.  Nothing … other than it was a pleasure to cook for some one new … Tam. 

Who with: Tam and Gav

How long: Fourteen Minutes and fifteen seconds 

… Porcini Rice & Spring Greens

So this one I did, more than a little while ago, for my friend Hannah and my house mate Gavin.  This wasn’t one of the best ones.  I should clarify it wasn’t not one of the best ones because of the company.  It wasn’t one of the best ones because it wasn’t one of the best ones …

It was done in time but that’s about all I can really recall. Ohh other than this was the first one I did on my own.  Like actually on my own.  There was a bit of a tight time scale with eating, me and Hannah chatting a bout a few things, and then getting to the meeting we had to go to. So I started cooking exactly 14 minutes before Hannah was due to arrive.   I have always waited for my guests to arrive until start to cook before now. At the 14:40 ish mark I’m done.  All the hobs are turned off. I wait. Gav and Hannah arrive at basically the same time.  The clock is put back on and I do the last minute (not actually a minute) serving up.

It’s in time.  It looks nice.  It smells nice, with the Marsala and all.  But it’s not the best one.  It’s another one with 10 minute rice.  I don’t really think 10 minute rice is that great and the rest of the meal tastes ok.  It’s ok.  Ok is ok. Ok is not what I expect from these meals, not anymore.  

Still how much can you complain about a meal cooked in less than fifteen minutes that’s ok?  Not much I should say! 

Who with: Hannah and Gav

How long: Fourteen Minutes and Fifty Six Seconds

… Tapenade Toasties & Cucumber Salad 

So as of yesterday it had been a month since my last Fifteen Minute Meal, and after today it will be a month before the next one.  I’m about to go of on my Canadian adventure (with a small detour to Seattle) and I won’t be back until June.  No doubt there will be lots of eating but no cooking at all.  I’ll make up for that when I’m back, I promise.  The lack of cooking that is, not the eating. 

 I like mussels.  I really, really like mussels.  I mean I really, really, really like mussels. There was a time in my life where I eat very, very, very good mussels relatively regularly in Belgium.  I miss that.  And so this is yet another one where I’ve been waiting to cook it for some time. 

There was an early issue when it became apparent that my roasting tray was not really big enough for all the mussels, but they fitted, just.  Although I don’t think they cooked as fast as they should have.  I blame the roasting tin for making me fifty-four seconds late.  

This really is a very nice dish.  It’s easy too.  The ciabatta and salad are very quick to do.  The sauce that the mussels are cooked in is lovely. I was hanging around, waiting for the mussels to cook for quite some time.  It was a good meal to finish of a nice day with a great morning at church and a great afternoon walk in Exmoor. 

The kick of harissa in the sauce was perfect …

… by the way, that reminds me that when I bought this particular jar of harrissa there was an incident.  A significant one.  I went shopping, for a few things, but opted for the no basket option.  A few things turned into a really quite a few things.  A few too many to carry, even with tuck some stuff under the arm method.  I dropped something.  It was the harrissa.  Of course it was.  Some of it went on my shoes.  My new shoes.  Most of it went on the floor of Tesco.  I found out the next day that the person who had to clear my mess up was my friend, Chris, from church … sorry Chris. I did feel a bit bad – would cooking for you make up for it?

By the way my cat has gone missing.  It’s been over a week since he’s been home.  He does occasionally go of for three, four, maybe five days … but not eight. I’m sad.  If you happen to see a black, half Siamese, cat with a kink in his tail could you ask him to come home?

Anyway that’s it, for a bit.  I’ll see you in June. 

Who with: Gordy and Gav

How long: Fifteen minutes and fifty four seconds 

… Little Welsh ‘Rarebites’

Shame, Shame, Shame on me … Forgive me for I have sinned, it has be a month since my last … since I last cooked a Fifteen Minute Meal. 

I’m very aware I’m behind on this project.  I’m very, very aware that I’ve been cooking badly again, which can be roughly translated as not really cooking very much at all.  Something I’ve learnt about myself is that if I’m not cooking, I’m not happy.  I’ve not been cooking properly for the last month or so. I’ve not been happy for the last month or so.  It’s a bank holiday a busy one.  But a holiday nonetheless.  It’s time to cook again. 

This is a meal I cooked for my brother who is staying this weekend.  It turned out to be a bit of a film night.  It reminded me a bit of our old “exclusive film club” nights. We watched 4 ¼ films on Saturday night and ate this meal during the first (and best) one.  That film was “Safety not Guaranteed”.  It was great.  If you like slightly odd, quirky, funny (but a bit sad) films, you’ll like this.  I fell a little bit in love with Aubrey Plaza and, if you watch the film, you might do too. 

So this was a very nice meal.  The salad was great.  The salad was especially great with the little rarebits.  I would make the salad with the rarebits as a little meal on its own.  The liver was nice – I should have chopped it a bit finer – the chucks felt a bit big and unwieldy – but it was ok.  The liver cost ninety pence – so a cheap bit of meat.  The meal needed Marsala.  I don’t have any.  That cost about twelve pounds – so quite an expensive meal all in all.  I must remember this salad for later. 

Who with: Gordy 

How long: Fourteen minutes and forty seconds 

… Carrot, Coriander & Clementine Salad 

So this is also one of those meals that I’ve been looking forward to cooking from the start, but I’m only getting round to it now.  In part that was due to the recipe needing a preserved lemon and it took a while to source those. Latterly it’s been down to this being my back up meal. I have learnt with the fish dishes that I’m not always able to get the piece of fish I need and so I write down the ingredients for another meal or two just in case I can’t get the fish for my meal of choice.  This one has been that back up meal several times.  But I have finally cooked it.  

This is one where there is very little to report (assuming I remember it properly – it was also over a month ago that I cooked this one).  I do remember lamenting the fact that I now only have an eclectic hob and that I miss my gas one.  I’m always very nervous cooking by just putting a roasting tray on an electric hob – something I would do without hesitation on a gas hob. 

The fish was nice – the salad was great.  A good little dish.  A good little dish done in time! 

Who with: Gav and Gordy 

How Long: Fourteen Minutes and thirty seconds 

… Bubble & Squeak Mash, Red Onion Gravy 

Ok so this one was also over a month ago.  What I know is that this was one that I have been looking forward to cooking since I started this project.  It’s just that the pool of people who I know will enjoy the meal and not turn their noses up at liver is quite small.  Cooking this for my brother seemed ideal.  And while he may not be 100% sold on the idea of liver, it was more than made up for by he offer of a bit of fillet steak. My, supposed “vegetarian”, house mate, Gavin also ate this …

If I remember rightly, which is not guaranteed at all, the steak was cooked quickly and rested for a suitable period of time and beautifully pink in the middle. 

If remember rightly the onion gravy was good.  It was very good.  It was far too good to be able to be made it ten minutes.  Yet it was made in ten minutes.

If I remember rightly the small amount of the onion gravy that was left was used as part of the gravy for the massive roast lamb dinner I cooked for lots of my friends the next day. 

If I remember rightly I couldn’t get Brussels sprouts for the bubble and squeak and so I used a savoy cabbage. 

I do remember that this was nice.  It was fillet steak – cooked very well (I don’t always cook steak well).  And it was calf’s livers – I like liver – I really like calf’s livers.  Oh and by the way when I say well I don’t mean well, as in well done, I mean cooked properly – dark and slightly crispy on the outside and very pink and juicy in the middle.  And it seems that I did it in not too bad a time.  So a good one all in all. 

 Who with: Gordy and Gav

How long: Fifteen minutes and forty seven seconds