Slow cooker recipe corner: North Carolina style baked beans

Picture taken from theodysseyonline.com

Welcome back to the deep South of America!  Actually, is North Carolina in the South?  I'm not entirely sure.  Anyway, as promised, here is the fabulous baked bean recipe, again taken from Waitrose "Kitchen" magazine, which pairs so well with the pulled pork in my last post.

I must admit that those beans that didn't accompany the pork ended up on toast with a sprinkle of cheese and very delicious they were too.

Now we cheated a little here by using canned beans.  One can of plain and one can of...well, Heinz.  I'm not sorry though.  We're pimping those beans up with plenty of other ingredients, but I think the back drop of the (almost) too sweet tomato sauce is very much in the spirit of the dish.

You don't have to do this in the slow cooker, but it does help the flavours develop beautifully and you can do it during the four hours that the pork is in the oven.  If not, start it on the hob, use about double the amount of liquid and then transfer, covered, to the oven to bake for an hour or so.

Ingredients

1 large can haricot beans, drained
1 large can baked beans
150g smoked bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Tsp English mustard powder
3 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 bay leaves
sprig of thyme
Tsp Worcestershire sauce

Serves 6, 5 pro points per portion

Add the bacon to a cold frying pan and raise the heat gradually so that it browns in its own fat.  Once the pan is up to heat, add the onion and soften for around 5 minutes, then add the garlic for a further two minutes.

Transfer the contents of the pan, along with all of the other ingredients to the slow cooker.  Add half a bean can of water, season and stir well.  Slow cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Recipe corner: Banana and cinnamon blondies

When I returned from my jaunting at the weekend I was met by the sad sight of two dead bananas in the fruit bowl. Not just on the turn, or a bit spotty, but dead. And they’d taken half a lemon with them.

Now, we all know that the only thing a dead banana is good for is baking. Usually I turn to my go-to recipe for banana bread but I decided to go for something a little different which I’ve had bookmarked for a while.

I think I ever so slightly over cooked these, so I’ve adjusted the baking time to reflect that. Brownies and blondies are tricky animals – you want them crusty on top and gooey in the middle and these were tending towards the cakey in the outer pieces. I also have upped the cinnamon on the original recipe, but then I am a cinnamon fiend, so feel free to turn it back down. It’s subsequently occurred to me that these would be fantastic with pecans rather than hazelnuts and also that chunks of white chocolate running through might be quite tasty – although given how sweet these little beauties are already this might push them over the edge.

Oh, and also, these are seriously good as a pudding – try blasting them in the microwave for 30 seconds and then serving with half fat crème fraiche and a trickle of golden syrup or toffee sauce. Divine.

I’ve suggested cutting these into sixteen pieces, but, to be honest they are sweet enough that twenty would probably do as well – this would reduce them to 4 pro points each which is well worth it.

Ingredients

2 dead bananas, mashed
125g unsalted butter
325g light brown sugar
150g plain flour
2 scant tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g chopped hazelnuts (or any other nut you happen to fancy)

Makes 16, 5 pro points per portion

Although easy to make, these blondies to require a few different bowls. So be prepared for some washing up while they are in the oven.

Speaking of the oven, preheat to 180. And line a square baking tin – 8 by 8 should give you a decent depth.

In a saucepan, over a low heat, melt together the butter and the sugar until it is liquid gold. Set aside to cool slightly.

Sieve together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Lightly beat the eggs together with the vanilla essence. Pour in the cooled butter and sugar, stir, add the chopped nuts and mashed banana and stir again until well combined.

Now gently mix in your dried ingredients. You will be presented with quite a loose batter. Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for around 20 minutes and check – the top should be golden and crusty and there should be a slight wobble to the cake which will set as it cools. It may require more time but keep an eye on it after the 20 minutes stage.

Allow to cool slightly before turning out and cutting into sixteen pieces. Serve with a cup of tea. Those bananas did not die in vain.

Recipe Corner - Winter Minestrone soup (just in time for spring...)

Providing a soup recipe always feels like a bit of a cop out. I mean, the basic premise of soup is: cook ingredients, blitz, consume. But a hearty, tasty soup is the dieter’s friend. Soup is, apparently, more filling than consuming food and water separately. It said so on the BBC website. But I could have told you that from anecdotal evidence; I NEVER have soup as a starter when I go out to eat because I never fancy a full meal afterwards.

This soup is particularly robust, and you get a generous portion for the points. I do recommend blitzing some of it, which is not usual with any sort of minestrone, because the whizzed up potatoes and beans provide an almost creamy texture which makes the soup feel more luxurious than otherwise.

If you have the points the pesto croutons are a lovely addition.

Ingredients

For the soup:
Tbsp olive oil
90g (approx 3 rashers) back bacon, chopped
200g (approx 1 medium) potato, peeled and diced
1 tin (200g drained weight) of haricot beans (drained and rinsed)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
Onion, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin of tomatoes
750ml chicken stock
2 tsp dried sage
40g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

For the croutons:
4 slices of bread from a medium white loaf, cut into squares
Tbsp olive oil
40g pesto sauce

Serves 4, 5 pro points per portion for the soup with an additional 5 pro points per portion for the pesto croutons

Chop your vegetables as desired – I prefer a fine dice for this sort of soup.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the bacon and onion for about five minutes. Keep the heat quite low so that the fat renders from the bacon and the onion turns golden brown.

Now add the carrot, celery and potato dice and the crushed garlic and cook for a few more minutes.

Next go in the tomatoes, stock and sage, plus seasoning as required (remember the stock and the bacon will be quite salty), bring to the boil and then reduce and simmer for around 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain and rinse the beans and prepare your croutons. Slice the bread into squares, mix the oil and the pesto and toss the bread in the mixture. Season. Preheat the oven to 180.

After 30 minutes, add the beans to the pan and continue to simmer. Place the croutons in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Grate the Parmesan.

Just prior to removing the croutons from the oven, take about a third of the soup (ensuring you have a good range of the diced ingredients) and whizz up in a blender until smooth. Return to the pan. Check the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or sage as necessary.

Serve, sprinkled with Parmesan and the pesto croutons (or not, if you’re feeling virtuous).

Curry Night (2)

In which we are introduced to a York institution and cook a delicious (Miss) dahl.

Sometimes, only a curry will do. But long time WWers, and indeed anyone who takes so much as a passing interest in the calorific content of their scran, will know that those fragrant foil trays from their local curry house are drenched in oil and ghee and all manner of fattening things. An Indian takeaway consisting of curry, pilau rice and half a naan will easily set you back over a day’s worth of points.

I don’t know an awful lot about genuine Indian cookery, but I have started in recent years to dip my toe in the water. There are few things more satisfying than making a curry from scratch – toasting and blending up all the spices…if I could just get over my bread baking phobia I’d be well on the way to calling myself an official Earth Mother. But for those days where one just can’t be bothered, there is always Rafi’s.

Rafi’s is a modest looking little shop, tucked away behind the York Minster. The premise is simple – you request a curry and they make up, fresh, before your eyes, a pack of spices that will form the basis of it. Just add water, simmer for a few minutes, then tip in raw ingredients to suit and pow – curry in a hurry and no need to wash out the pestle and mortar. They recommend that you make it up the day before you wish to eat it to allow the flavours to develop, which is no great hardship. The results are delicious – the curries have the depth and complexity of flavour that one would expect to find in the very best curry houses, but without the gleaming slick of oil on top. Having closely examined the content of last week’s bhuna pack I decided to point it at 1 tbsp of oil per portion (assuming 4 portions) which I suspect is slightly on the high side. I added king prawns, onion, celery and a diced red pepper and cursed myself for not having any mushrooms. The result was a gorgeous, medium hot king prawn bhuna for 5 pro points.

Rafi’s do mail order, so if you are a curry fan, I would urge you to check out their website. And if you’re ever in York do go for a browse around – they sell all manner of yummy looking pickles and sauces.

Meanwhile, I would also like to commend to your attention this rather delicious split pea dahl recipe, which I served on the side. It came from a blog and is presented here with only the minorest of tweaks – but unfortunately I can’t remember which one, so if it was yours then I apologise for not giving credit where it is due. If it is any consolation, I thought it was delicious. I’m eating leftovers for lunch today.

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 piece of ginger, about 1 inch long, grated
Small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1-2 tsp dried chillies
1 tbsp garam masala
200g yellow split peas
1 tomato, diced roughly
Large handful of fresh spinach
Salt
Tbsp vegetable oil
Lemon juice
Fresh coriander, to garnish

Serves 4, 5 pro points per serving

Heat the oil in a pan and when it is hot and shimmering, add the mustard seeds. When these start to pop (expect a few to come flying across your kitchen) add the onion and cook until starting to soften and then add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further couple of minutes, being careful that nothing starts to stick or burn.

Next, add the garam masala, chillies, chopped tomatoes and turmeric and stir fry for another minutes or so, until the spices are deeply aromatic. Now is the time to tip in your split peas and a good pinch of salt. Stir the peas around to get them well coated in spice and then add enough water to cover and simmer on a low heat, with a lid on for about 45 minutes. Check regularly and top up the water as necessary. At the end of cooking the peas should still retain some bite – you’re not looking for mush here.

Cook’s Note: As with any curry the flavours will develop on sitting, so I would recommend doing up to this stage a few hours before you intend to serve and then cover and let the peas sit and ponder their existence for a while.

Just before serving, chuck in your spinach (it will reduce down dramatically, so use slightly more than you think you need) cover, and put over a low heat for about 5 minutes to allow the spinach to wilt. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh chopped coriander.