Smashing Veggie Squeak

Look, I know it's not exactly a culinary sensation, and it's not the healthiest dinner in the world, but here's the thing: if you feel like chips or chocolate, or you have a cheese craving, this is a fix that will make you feel far less guilty. It feels like a treat - and, containing just a splash of olive oil and a sprinkling of cheddar, it's not quite so bad as a giant Dairy Milk. But you'll feel equally rewarded.

Eat with fresh bread and butter!

Smashing veggie squeak
For 2

2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed (1")
1 cup fresh borlotti or other haricot-type beans
1tsp Marigold vegetable bouillon
2 cobs of sweetcorn, kernels removed
1tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
1tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2-3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
Plenty of salt and pepper
Large handful cheddar cheese, grated
OPTIONAL: also good would be mushrooms, sweet potato, red pepper, spinach.

Put the potatoes and beans into a pan and just cover with water; sprinkle over the stock, bring to a boil, and cook for 4 minutes; add the sweetcorn kernels and continue for another 2 minutes - until the potato pieces are knife-tender. Drain in a colander.

In a wok or large frying pan, heat 1tbsp olive oil. Toss in the onion, the rosemary, and then the drained vegetables. Season very generously with both salt and pepper. Stir-fry on a high heat for about 4 minutes, getting lots of golden crunchy bits. Preheat the grill. Add the tomatoes and continue for 1 more minute. Taste for seasoning (I seasoned again here - lots of pepper and salt is GOOD).

Dish up into large bowls or plates and sprinkle over the cheese, then put under the grill until melted. Serve.

Five-Step Korma
The easiest vegetable curry on record...


ONE: In a large frying pan (choose one which has a lid), warm 1tbsp groundnut oil, and soften 1 onion (diced) with 1 red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped).





TWO: Using a pestle and mortar, pound a 1" piece of peeled ginger with 2tsp of flaked or blanched almonds and 1 generous tsp of sea salt.










THREE: To the pan add half a head of cauliflower (broken into florets), one potato (peeled and cubed) and one courgette (chopped into 2cm chunks), then stir in the ginger mixture and 1 loaded tablespoon of Patak's Korma Paste.

FOUR: Pour in one can of low-fat Coconut Milk (available in the oriental section of supermarket), cover the pan, and leave to simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.

FIVE: Serve!

WELSH HOMITY PIE

I'm not really obsessed with leeks and potatoes, it's just that they're all we're getting in the box right now. Well, those plus cabbage and broccoli. And carrots. I like carrots, but they're not very inspiring when it comes to recipes. Although the New Covent Garden Soup Company has a great recipe for carrot and cardamom soup. And I don't mind a carrot risotto with garden thyme, either.

I'm hungry, in case you didn't notice. I am about to go and whip up a pumpkin lasagne using yesterday's goat's cheese and some leftover spinach pesto (from Sainsbury's). Well, it won't be whipping-up so much as hacking-up, I suppose, which is why I'm not desperately keen to start. I do love pumpinks (interesting spelling) but they're not for ladies to chop up, are they? Sigh.

You're probably hungry too. Here's the pie. Ordinary Homity Pie is made with onion, potato and cheese; my Welsh version uses the symbol of God's land - the Leek. Just like everything else, the Homity pie is better in Welsh.

PASTRY

4oz wholemeal flour
4oz plain white flour
Pinch salt
2oz Trex
2oz butter
Iced water

Weigh out the butter and Trex, dice them, and put in the freezer for twenty minutes or so. Weight out the flour, and rub in the cold fats. Then add a pinch of salt and enough iced water to bind the pastry. Wrap in cling-film and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

WELSH HOMITY PIE

2 small leeks, sliced
4 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
1dstsp butter
1tbsp plain flour
0.4 pint milk
0.5tsp mustard powder
2 large handfuls (about 2oz) grated mature cheddar
Plenty of ground pepper

Preheat the oven to about 180 deg C.

First slice up the leeks and put into a little hot water, then bring to the boil briefly. While this is happening, slice the potatoes as finely as you can. Drain the leeks and then put the sliced potatoes on to simmer for about 10 minutes, just until tender to the point of a knife (watch to make sure they don't fall apart).

Set aside the vegetables to cool a little. Make the cheese sauce: melt the butter, take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour and mustard powder with a wooden spoon, to a yellow paste. Add a little milk and return to a gentle heat, then continue to add the milk, a splash at a time. You're aiming for a very thick white sauce, so stop when it reaches a thick, sloppy stage. Add the cheddar and allow it to melt. Set the sauce aside to cool a bit.

Now roll out the pastry to fit an 8-10" tart tin, leaving plenty of overhang. Prick the base with a fork. Pop this into the preheated oven for 10 minutes to dry out a little.

Press the leeks with kitchen paper to get rid of excess moisture and then spoon them into the pastry case to cover the bottom. Add a spoonful of cheese sauce. Now arrange the potato slices prettily on top in two layers, adding ground pepper and cheese sauce in between. Finish with the remaining cheese sauce, or as much as you can pour into the gaps.

Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown, and serve with steamed broccoli.

ROMAN POTATO FOCACCIA

On honeymoon in Rome, we bought and ate slices of this potato-topped focaccia, bought from a little take-away pizzeria tucked behind one of the squares. It was cold out, but we wrapped up and strolled along with this hot bread, and I wondered how I could make it at home.

Although the pizzeria was selling this alongside lots of other huge, square pizzas, cut into slices and served in napkins, the base was fluffier than the stone-baked dough we'd been eating at dinner time. I tried it at home with a focaccia base and it seemed about right. The Roman version was sprinkled generously with spikes of rosemary and plenty of rock salt, but we like finely-grated Parmesan on ours too.

This made a marvellous Saturday lunch after we'd spent the morning working in the garden.

Focaccia Base

3 cups strong white bread flour

1 cup warm water

3tbsp olive oil

1tsp rock salt

1tsp yeast

Topping

4 medium potatoes, washed and checked for eyes (peeled if very dirty)

1dstsp chopped rosemary (optional)

Olive oil

1-2tsp rock salt

1-2tbsp parmesan

Start the focaccia off hours before you need it. Put the water, one cup of flour, the olive oil and the yeast into the bread pan, and cover with a clean tea-towel dampened with hot water. Leave for 1-5 hours, or at least until bubbles start to appear. (NB: If very pushed for time, leave for as long as you can manage - as long as you put it into a hot oven, the bread rises on contact. But I think the dough starter guarantees good results.)

Add the salt and the remaining 2 cups of white flour. Set to PIZZA or DOUGH on the breadmaker. (Or, of course, you can knead by hand - thoroughly, until the dough is soft and spongy when prodded, and then leave to rise in a warm place for an hour.)

While it's rising, thinly slice the potatoes, and put into a pan of hot water. Par-boil them for only about 5-10 minutes: not so they're falling apart, but to achieve tenderness. Drain thoroughly.

The dough will be risen after an hour or so. Knock the dough down a little and stretch and punch it into a floured baking tray, pulling it into a loose rectangle. Cover again with a warm tea-towel, and put in the warmest place you can find. (Be careful! Putting it into a preheated-and-turned-off oven is a BAD idea.... it kills the yeast and you get flatbread! I know!) After about half an hour, turn on the oven and preheat it to about 180 degrees C (300 deg F).

After another hour or more, finish the focaccia: arrange the slices of potato over the top, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with rock salt and chopped rosemary (if you have any). Bake in the oven for about half an hour. It should be risen and starting to turn gold. (See below.)

Bring it out of the oven, sprinkle with the Parmesan, and put under the grill to melt - and make the potatoes extra crispy. (First picture.)

Serve. Who needs anything else but a glass of wine?

Go on, give it a try... ARTICHOKE RECIPES

Jerusalem artichokes may not be in your vegbox - they're special order only with my scheme - but they're available about now. And it's ABOUT TIME! This unpopular, windy vegetable is entirely unattractive but, like the celeriac or the sweet potato, their beauty lies within. Although I only discovered it a couple of years ago, I thought I'd post some of the ideas I've tried, and encourage you to try it too. You might hate it, but you can always throw it in the bin and go to the chippy.

CARROT AND ARTICHOKE SOUP

This is Delia's favourite soup - she says she likes to keep people guessing regarding the 'secret' ingredient!

450g carrots, peeled and chopped
700g jerusalem artichokes, peeled, chopped, and dropped into a bowl of lemon-scented water
1tbsp butter
2 pints stock made from Marigold bouillon
Salt and pepper

It's easy as pie. Saute the carrots and artichokes gently in the butter for about 10 minutes on a low heat (avoid browning). Add the stock and simmer for about 20 minutes, then cool, puree, and season generously.

LEEK AND ARTICHOKE SOUP

This is a totally fabulous soup and possibly the best place to start with artichokes. You'll be instantly convinced, I know it. Replacing the potatoes of Vichysoisse with chopped artichoke was a stroke of genius - resulting in a velvety, rich, and glam-looking white soup. Garnish with croutons or snipped chives. Just please, please try it...

2 leeks (white part only - be strict!)
500g Jerusalem artichokes
1 scant tsp lemon juice
1dsstsp butter
2tsp Marigold Bouillon powder
0.5tsp salt
1tbsp single cream

Chop the leeks roughly, and put them with the butter in a large saucepan. Sprinkle the lemon juice into the pan and now prepare the artichokes as quickly as you can. Peel and chop one at a time, stirring it into the lemony, buttery pan straight away. This prevents the artichokes from discolouring, which they'll do very quickly if left on the chopping board. (It doesn't alter the taste but this soup is such a lovely white colour if you take care!)

Saute the leeks and artichokes very gently in butter, letting them soften and become buttery but not brown. Next, add the stock powder, cover with water, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Cool, add the single cream, then puree, add some salt, and serve with snipped chives.

ARTICHOKE AND POTATO GRATIN

I didn't weigh the quantities here: look at your gratin dish and judge accordingly.

Peeled and sliced artichokes and potatoes (half-and-half)
0.5 pint milk
0.5 pint vegetable stock
Butter

Boil the potatoes and artichokes very briefly - about 5 minutes max - and drain, running cold water over to stop them crumbling. Layer them carefully in your dish, seasoning between, and then pour over the milk/stock mixture. Dot the top with butter and bake on a medium heat for about 1 hour. (Cover with foil if you don't like the crunchy brown bits on the top.)


More ways with artichokes...
Abel and Cole suggest sauteeing with butter, then braising them in white wine with a sprig of rosemary, and adding a splash of double cream at the end. You can also add some chopped artichoke to your mashed potato pre-mashing, like celeriac.

LEEK AND POTATO PASTIES WITH SAGE
This is rather a prized recipe of mine, and I post it with some reluctance, having spent a lot of time perfecting it. Delicious hot with beans and equally good cold, with ketchup. It's a good use of the leeks that arrive all autumn, and I always keep a pot of sage in the garden.

Makes 6
1 leek, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled
1 handful spinach, shredded (optional)
0.5 tub of creme fraiche
2tbsp chopped sage
1tsp Marigold bouillon
2tsp wholegrain mustard

Pastry - either Delia's wholewheat shortcrust, or ready-made shortcrust or puff.

Put the leek and spinach in a saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil, and leave to saute for a few minutes. Put the potatoes in a bowl with the creme fraiche, sage, bouillon and mustard, and mash together. Season generously.

Add the spinach and leeks to the potato mixture and set aside.

Roll out the pastry quite thinly and cut into rounds (using a saucer). Place on a baking sheet. Next, brush the edges with beaten egg, and put a tbsp of filling on each circle. Bring the sides together to form a half-moon pasty, and pinch the edges together firmly.

When they're ready, brush with the egg, and put into a preheated oven at about 180 degrees C for 20 minutes, until golden.

POTATO AND LEEK GRATIN
with wild garlic

We picked some wild garlic from the woods! Check out that foraging instinct! You see, who needs a fancy marketing job and organic supermarkets when you can write from home and pick your own dinner? Hmm?

Didn't get poisoned, neither. Am so country-girlish. (The next urban chic, you know. Primal Scream says so.)

3-4 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
2 leeks, sliced
Big handful wild garlic leaves, shredded
3 cloves of normal garlic, chopped
Tbsp butter
100ml double cream
100ml milk
1tbsp grated parmesan
Salt and pepper

Melt the butter and soften the leeks. Add the garlic leaves and cloves, and stir briefly. Add the parmesan, milk and cream and bring to the boil. Tip in the potatoes and mix well. Season generously.

Tip the lot into an ovenproof gratin dish and cover with foil. Bake at about 180 deg C (dunno, got an ancient Farenheit oven so I just guess) for an hour. Remove the foil, sprinkle with more Parmesan, and allow to brown for a few mins. Serve - delish!

THREE-CHEESE GNOCCHI WITH ASPARAGUS AND HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

A posh recipe, loosely based on some scrumptious pan-fried gnocchi which we also ate at Jack-in-the-Green. I swapped my veg box for a fruit-and-veg box this week, because the fruit-and-veg boxes promised asparagus and I can't get through April without some asparagus. This recipe serves 2.

GNOCCHI
3 medium potatoes, peeled and boiled
1tbsp parmesan
2tsp ricotta
1tsp marscapone
1 egg
1tbsp self-raising flour
Salt and pepper

VEGETABLES
1 bunch asparagus, divided into stems and tips
Green vegetables for serving (I used broccoli)
Butter

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
2 egg yolks
1dstsp lemon juice
1dstsp white wine vinegar
4oz butter

FOR THE HOLLANDAISE SAUCE, put the egg yolks into a blender or processor with a pinch of salt and blend briefly. Put the lemon juice and vinegar into a small pan and heat to simmering point, then pour slowly onto the egg yolks while blending. Put the butter into the same pan and heat until melted and starting to froth. Pour onto the eggs slowly, blending. Set the sauce aside (it can be reheated over a pan of hot water).

FOR THE GNOCCHI, push the potatoes through a ricer into the still-hot pan and leave to dry out a little. Add the egg, parmesan, ricotta and marscarpone and beat to combine. Season to taste, then add the flour slowly until the mixture is the right consistency to be shaped. Refrigerate if there's time.

Brush a griddle pan and a frying pan with olive oil and heat both.

Put the asparagus stems into the griddle pan. After a couple of minutes add the broccoli and finally the asparagus tips. When almost ready, add a blob of butter to the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pan-fry the gnocchi until brown on both sides.

Serve artistically, with the hollandaise drizzled around the edge of the plate, the gnocchi in a circle, and greens in the centre!

LOW-FAT OVEN CHIPS

Since we got a dog, I feel much healthier. I can climb hills without running out of breath and have even lost some weight. The diet has taken a back-seat (give me exercise over ryvita anyday) but these low-fat chips are still favourites. They have a mere fraction of normal chippy calories and they taste great accompanied with a big veggie-burger in a bun with salad and ketchup. Mmm!

Serves 2.

5-6 small potatoes
1dstsp olive oil
1tsp Paprika
1tsp Salt

Peel (or scrub) and chop potatoes into chips. Dry carefully on some kitchen towel. Put them in a roasting tray and turn them in the oil, trying to make sure they are all glossy. (This stops them from sticking to the tray.)

Sprinkle over the paprika and salt and turn them again.

Bake in a hot oven for about 40 mins (depending on how big you have cut them). Serve with hummous for dipping! Plus veggie burgers in buns. mmm.

WINTER VEGETABLE SOUP

Vegetables I don't like always end up in soup. It's marvellous how soup disguises the yuckiness, all merging together in a golden bowl. So I made a vast batch of mixed-root-veg soup yesterday, partly because the vegetable basket is overflowing and partly to give us instant lunches for the next few days. You have to throw in some things you like too, of course.

ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP
1 leek
1 swede
1 onion
3 carrots
2 parsnips
Tbsp butter
Marigold Vegetable Boullion
Salt and pepper

Throw chopped veg into a big casserole, add butter (improves the taste vastly over using olive oil) and put over a low heat, lidded, to 'sweat' (don't like that term). I left it for about half an hour like this, letting the veg become melty and tinged with gold.

Sprinkle in the bouillion (about 2tsp), dried herbs as preferred, and seasoning. Pour over about 2pts water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Blend until smooth, and taste for seasoning (this soup can take a lot).

I also made some bread to go with it - Cheese and Herb - but it didn't rise enough. I think the ratio of flour to cheese was too low. It still tasted nice though. Shall keep trying and post it up when I get it right!!

Without a bread machine, Delia's Goat's Cheese, Onion and Potato loaf is wondrous served with soup. And there's no kneading - and no rise time. Hurrah!

A RICH POTATO PIE

I'm still on a carb-craving curve and besides, I had some pie dishes for my birthday. It seemed about time I put them to use. Although I don't need an excuse - I have been secretly making pies in cake tins for the last few months.

So I made a double-batch of Delia's wholewheat pastry (4oz wholewheat flour, 4oz self-raising flour, 2oz butter, 2oz vegetable fat, enough water to bind) - using Nigella's foolproof method, which basically involves throwing everything in the freezer, at every opportunity, before it has the chance to start melting. And a cold kitchen helps. The pastry was perfect, so I am glad I have half left in the fridge for something else later in the week.

For the filling I used Nadine Abensur's Homity recipe - she's one of those writers whose recipes can put up with lots of tinkering, and still work like magic. So the below is slightly adapted.

HOMITY PIE

600g potatoes, chopped into chunks
300g onions, chopped
100g mushrooms, left whole
2 cloves garlic
Splash tamari (soy sauce will do)
2tbsp double cream
65g cheddar cheese
Chopped chives
Salt and pepper

Saute potatoes - slowly and lengthily, until soft in the middle and golden on the outside - in a tbsp of olive oil. Add the onions and leave over a gentle heat to turn golden. Next add mushrooms and garlic, and a splash of tamari, and turn up the heat for a couple of minutes. Take off heat. Add cream, chives, seasoning and cheddar. Put aside to cool.

Roll out the pastry to fit the pie tin, and add the cooling filling. Cover with lid (optional - Nadine's recipe is an open-top pie), brush with egg and put in oven (200 degreesC) for about half an hour.

Leave to stand before eating (it gets very hot) with green, lemony salad and sunblush tomatoes.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

Sunday night calls for comfort food and bubble & squeak is the perfect solution. Even though spring has just about sprung, Sundays still get dark too early - what we need is something in a bowl to eat in front of the Antiques Roadshow. I like it buttery, green and whipped to a soft-focus blob.

DREAMY BUBBLE & SQUEAK

Serves 2

1 leek, topped and tailed
Half a head of cabbage (Savoy is good but Pointy Hispi works too and white is fine if pushed)
1tbsp butter
7-8 medium potatoes
1tbsp double cream
3tbsp milk
Salt and pepper

Peel, chunk and boil the potatoes until they break apart. Set aside in a colander to drain. Warm the butter in the same pan, and add the leek and cabbage (both finely shredded for fast-cooking).

Stir-fry briskly, allowing to brown in places, until glossy and wilted. Turn the heat right down and tip in the cream and milk. Put the potatoes through a ricer directly into the pan. When they're all in, season generously and beat everything together with a wooden spoon. Beat, beat, and beat a bit more (get help if bored). Put lid on and get plates ready.

Dish up. Ta-da!! Dinner Supreme. Serve with onion gravy, sausages or beans (all optional - this tastes good ALL ON ITS OWN.)

Lick the pan clean.

For pudding we ate strawberry ice-cream with chopped banana, but it's no good - strawberries just aren't in season yet, no matter how much I want them to be. The ice-cream came out pallid and meek - more vanilla than strawberry - but the bowls still came out clean (of course).