Cooking At Zero Degrees

This is a blog (it also works on an ipad and now has a Facebook page) about what we eat at home.  Starters, mains, sauces, side dishes, cocktails and links to local shops. It’s all here.

Food is fun,  it should be fun to make and fun to eat. For some people making a meal is a chore. If it is then don’t do it;  but please, it’s better to eat something, anything, that you make at home from scratch, because prepared, packaged supermarket dinners  and food have about as much flavour as the plastic or cardboard package they come in.  Food cultivation and husbandry is not just a moral argument.  Eggs that don’t come from battery hens do taste better, cattle properly reared have more flavour -  and just think about it: at its most simple, if they’re not being pumped full of chemicals then you’re not being pumped full of chemicals. How good is that? If you can buy local, use your neighbourhood shops, you will miss them when they are gone.  Most of all, have fun making a meal of it!

Oh, and why at zero degrees? Because that’s where we live – in Greenwich, London.

Scandinavian New Potato Salad – Färskpotatissalad

Sometimes you need that potato salad thing going, but don’t want to go through the effort of celery, bacon and all the other stuff. So here is a quick Scandinavian potato salad. It has a freshness about it, and works (as you would expect) really well with fish. It is also quick and cheap.

Hangover Drinks

With the taste of the flavours of Christmas can come, for many of us, the unwanted after effect of the hangover. These two drinks don’t actually cure the hangover, but they can make your feelings change from one of imminent demise to at least agreed mutual tolerance with your brain’s response to the night before. The ease of the Corpse Reviver is that you don’t have to worry about measurements.

Christmas Morning Muffins

Christmas Muffins

Christmas is coming, with the baking smells that always tell you the time of year. Here are some easy bake muffins. Just mix the dry ingredients together the night before, add the wet ingredients the following morning and bake. You can have these throughout the year, but on Christmas morning these work a treat for the guests when you really have other major cooking to worry about.  You can also make these in small bite sizes as canapés. I have tweaked the original recipe.

Quick Flapjacks

Quick Flapjacks

I am not really one for looking into the cupboard suddenly finding a myriad of ingredients and whipping up a storm of luscious bakefulness. Yet, bored (as I was the other evening) I decided to see what was in the cupboard and then make something.  By far the easiest thing to make, I mean in only minutes, are flapjacks. Oats, syrup, couple of handfuls of chopped dried fruit or even chocolate if you would like, mix it all together and put in the oven until golden. Really, these couldn’t be easier and taste just as good the next day – if they last that long.

Cheat’s Sausage Rolls.

Quick Sausage Rolls

The thing about parties, at least in my house, is that they are just not the same without a plate of sausage rolls. Warm or cold, these little morsels of meat and pastry delights are the first thing I aim for on the buffet table, and the last thing I want to leave. One problem is that the shop-bought ones can be mean and nasty – an insult to the beauty that is this party treat. The alternative, mixing this and butter flaking pastry that, can be daunting and I am more than happy to cook something that has the homemade flavour without the chef effort. So here it is, the homemade cheat’s sausage roll.

Hummus with Flat Bread

Ok this really is as easy to make as it sounds. Hummus made from scratch with your own flatbread. You can make it as a quick canape or in more substantial amounts to replace a starter. Homemade hummus and browned puffed flatbread beats shop bought every time.

Chicken Chorizo and Potatoes

Chicken and Chorizo

I have a thing about all in one cooking at the moment. Maybe the season lends itself to that type of food, communal dishes. This one, like my other dish Sticky Chicken is a great dish for parties and (in the right season) barbecues. This one has that depth and warmth that chorizo brings, and while based on a Nigella Lawson the ingredients have been tweaked slightly so there is more smokeiness and a richer flavour. 

Sticky Chicken with Coleslaw and Olives

Sticky Chicken with Olives

This is a great dish for parties and barbecues. It is made in one baking dish, looks good when it comes out of the oven, and virtually makes itself. What’s not to like? Admittedly, this was a Nigel Slater dish, but the ingredients have been tweaked slightly so that is a little less lemon fresh and a little more sticky. I serve with a quick homemade coleslaw and the dish is done.

Peanut Butter Parfait

We had nine people joining us for Sunday lunch, so three courses is always a challenge. The best way to avoid a kitchen train wreck is to make the pudding far enough in advance that you only need take it from the fridge or  freezer. Admittedly this particular recipe does take a bit of work, but it is worth it. A peanut butter parfait that melts in the mouth and is one pudding that gets people asking for seconds. Creamy-rich, but light in texture, you could add some biscuits for a hard edge to the softness. Now for a couple of tips: it can be made two weeks ahead, and if you don’t want to make your own cherry compote buy some in a liquor, strain and use those. Lovely.

Baby Aubergine Tagine with Coriander and Mint

Aubergine Tagine

The thing about this weather is that even if it is a hot July (ok this is July in 2012 but you can use your imagination) Moroccan food still works. This is great, quick and has some deep flavours. The extra special thing about it is that the aubergine, sweet onions, mint and coriander work well along side a piece of lamb or can be eaten as a dish in themselves with some couscous and a dollop of thick, creamy yoghurt.