Roasted Tomato Soup

Batman and Robin, Bacon and eggs, Strawberries and Cream. Some things were just made for each other. This soup contains another classic culinary combo, Tomatoes and Worcester sauce.

Aiding the dynamic duo on this occasion is that other kitchen stalwart balsamic vinegar. Together they add a certain Kapow to this dish which comes from Marcus Wareing's How to Cook the Perfect....

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Ingredients

• 150 ml Olive Oil
• 1/2 a small Onion Chopped
• 3 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
• 1kg Ripe On the Vine Tomatoes
• 150g sun dried tomatoes in Oil
• 3 Sprigs of Basil
• 3 Sprigs Of Coriander
• 2tbsp Tomato Puree
• Worcester Sauce
• Balsamic Vinegar
• 500ml Chicken Stock
• Maldon Salt and Freshly Milled Black Pepper

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Preparation

• Heat the oven to 220C for a fan oven 240C for anything else.

• Heat a roasting tin big enough to hold the tomatoes for 3-4 mins.

• Add the Olive Oil, onion, garlic and the tomatoes.

• Season then roast for 15 minutes.

• Add the herbs, sun dried tomatoes and their oil.

• Roast for another 10 minutes.

• Stir in the tomato puree.

• Roast for a final 5 minutes.

• Tip the contents of the dish into a large bowl and add 2 tbsp of Worcester Sauce and 2tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar. Note- My wife thought it could have done with a tad less Balsamic so you may want to reduce the amount of vinegar slightly. On the other hand, I though it was fine with this amount.
  

• Cover with cling film and leave to marinade for half an hour.

• Puree in a liquidiser in batches till smooth.

• Pour through a sieve into a pan, which will get rid of the tomato skins. This is where the hard work is done in this recipe, which is one of the reasons I didn't do it (it's what a wife and son is for).
  

• Heat to simmering point and add the stock.

• Add up to 4tbsp more Worcester sauce and up to 3 tbsp more balsamic to taste.

• Season to taste.

• Serve hot with some crusty bread and a piece of cheese.

After eating this you'll feel like 'Souperman'. Up, up and puree...

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New York Cheesecake

This cheesecake floats into your mouth like a New York ferry into a New Jersey dock.

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Ingredients

• 90g Unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 200g plain digestive biscuits crushed (Put them in a plastic food bag and hit them. Rolling pin, hammer fist strike, whatever it takes.)
• 500g full-fat soft cheese, at room temperature (As an experiment try Philadelphia. Your cheesecake may go backwards in time though.)
• 200g of caster sugar
• 5 tbsp of double cream
• 30g of cornflour
• 4 large free range eggs, beaten

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Preparation

• Heat the oven to 100C for a fan oven or 120 otherwise.

• Mix the crushed biscuits with the butter and press into the base of a 20cm by 5cm cake tin.

• Put the cheese in a bowl and using a spatula mix in the sugar, cream and cornflour.

• Pour in the eggs a bit at a time. Beating them in. Unless your name is Clark Kent I would recommend using an electric mixer set to high for the desired consistency.

• Pour the mix over the biscuit base, shaking the tin to flatten it out.

• Using your finger, or other suitable appendage, remove any air bubbles that formed. This will prevent the cake rising unevenly.

• Bake on the middle shelf for 1 1/2 hours. It should be just set at this point with a slight wobble in the middle.

• Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from the tin.

• Don't store it in the fridge as it will go hard. You want it firm but not hard.

Try to resist the temptation of eating it all at once, that means you Stuart, although, with it tasting so good and being so light and airy, it would be very easy to do so.

Eat with a damn fine cup of coffee, while reading one of F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels.

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Marinated Miniature Figs and Mascarpone

This one's easy. Apart from finding the marinated figs, which I've done for you. You get them here: Merchant Gourmet - Marinated Miniature Figs. A jar looks as though it should serve eight, but I'd get a couple of jars because you'll want to serve this again. It's on the menu at Pizza Express (and at my brother's house) and is served with an espresso or cappuccino. Go and do thou likewise.

Ingredients
marinated miniature figs
mascarpone

Preparation
Place a good dollop of mascarpone in the centre of a plate and surround it with eight or so miniature figs. Dribble some of the juice from the jar over the whole assembly. Serve with a nice zippy coffee. Wonderful!

Leek and Potato Soup

I was contemplating committing the heinous crime of going to my local Asda to pick up some tins of soup for lunch (they've go a deal on with Heinz Soup at the moment), when I remembered the copy of 400 Best-Ever Soups I picked up for £4.99 from WH Smith in the January sales. I also remembered the leeks and potatoes I had stashed in our conservatory, which doubles as a fridge this time of the year. Hmmmm... Half an hour later the following leek and potato apparition emerged from my kitchen and was laid to rest in my stomach.

Ah well, when in Scotland, cook leek and potato soup.

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Ingredients

• 3 Leeks, trimmed, washed thoroughly and diced
• 1 Small Onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 large potatoes (about 350g) peeled and chopped
• 1 1/2 pints of chicken stock
• 50 g of butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

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Preparation

• Heat half the butter over a medium heat in a large pan until it's foaming.

• Add the leeks and onions and cook gently for about 7 minutes until softened.

• Add the potatoes and cook for another 3 minutes.

• Add the stock and bring to the boil.

• Cover and simmer on a low heat for 30-35 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.

• Season to taste with the salt and pepper and take the pan off the heat.

• Chop and stir in the remaining butter.

• For a smoother soup, liquidise all or part of the soup in a blender
  

• Serve with hot crusty bread
  

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Potatato and Pea Curry

Necessity was the mother, father and midwife of invention in the case of this dish. I'd chopped an onion and 3 cloves of garlic in preparation for the shepherds pie I planned to make. Pulling the lamb mince from the fridge however, I found that It had passed it's use by date by about a week. Damn. I then decided to use what I had available to make a meal on-the-fly. The following recipe is the fruit of my labors and as it tasted pretty good I thought I might as well blog it.

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Groundnut Oil
• 3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 hot Red Chili, seeded and finely chopped
  
• 3 Sticks of Celery
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into 2mm slices
• Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1 tbsp Curry Powder
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1 1/2 pints of Beef Stock
• 1 can of Peas (or equivalent of the frozen variety)

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Preparation

• Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan
• Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for a few seconds to infuse the oil
• Add the Onion, Celery and Chili and fry on a medium-high heat until golden brown
• Add the Potatoes and fry until browned
• Shake in the curry powder and stir for 1 minute
• Season with salt and pepper
  
• Add the stock, stir and cook over a low heat for around 40 minutes until the potatoes are cooked
• Crush about half the potatoes with a spatula
  
• Add the peas and cook until warmed through
• Add the Garam Masala
• Serve

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I served this up with some Tracklements Fig Relish and Indian Mango Chutney and it was excellent.

Shame about the lack of shepherds though. A little Bo Peep moment.

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Chicken Tikka Kebabs

These kebabs can either be served on their own as a starter, when they'll serve 8 people, or with a sauce to make Chicken Tikka Masala, when they'll serve 4. For greedy hungry people change those numbers to 6 and 3.

Ideally these should be marinated overnight, so marinade them up the day before you are going to eat them.

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Ingredients

• 675g (1 1/2 lb) boned & skinned chicken breasts cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic peeled and pulped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 - 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 6 tbsp whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 3 tbsp peanut oil

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Marinading

• Put the chicken in a bowl and rub in the salt and lemon juice.

• Prod the pieces lightly with a knife and rub in again.

• Set aside for 20 minutes.

• Add the: -
• ginger;
• garlic;
• cumin;
• paprika;
• cayenne;
• garam masala;
• cream.

• Mix well, cover and put in the fridge for 6 - 8 hours, or preferably overnight.

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Cooking

• Preheat the grill just before serving (If like me your grill is rubbish, you can cook the chicken on a griddle pan).

• Thread the meat onto 2 - 4 long metal skewers.

• Brush with oil and balance on rim of a small shallow baking tray.

• Place about 13cm (5 inches) from the heat source and grill for about 6 minutes a side until lightly browned and cooked through.
  

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Chicken Tikka Masala

I guess at some point I had to include the nations favourite food. Apart from being very popular, this is also very good.

Please note that the Chicken Tikka Kebabs in this recipe need 6-8 hours to marinade (or preferably overnight), so marinade them before starting in on the masala sauce.

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Ingredients

• 4 tbsp oil peanut or olive
• 140g (5 oz) onions sliced finely into half rings
• 1 tbsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic pulped
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tbsp ground tumeric
• 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp paprika (I'd recommend Pimenton de la vera if you can get hold of it)
• 4 tbsp full fat natural yoghurt such as greek (don't use a low fat yoghurt)
• 3 medium tomatoes peeled, seeded and finely chopped
• 350 ml (12 fl oz) chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped
• 1 batch of freshly made Chicken Tikka Kebabs

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Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a wok or large non-stick saucepan over a medium-high heat.
2. When it is hot add the onions and stir fry for about 6-7 minutes until they turn light brown.
3. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for another minute.
4. Add the coriander, tumeric, cayenne and paprika.
5. Stir for around ten seconds
6. Add a tablespoon of the yoghurt.
7. Stir until absorbed.
8. Repeat steps 6 -7 until all the yoghurt has been used.
9. Add the tomatoes and fry them for 3-4 minutes, pressing them with a spatula or wooden spoon to turn them into a pulp.
10. Add the stock and season with salt to taste.
11. Reduce to a low heat, cover and continue to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it until the kebabs are cooked.
    
12. When the kebabs are cooked reheat the sauce.
13. Stir in the garam masala and coriander leaves and add more salt to taste.
14. Fold in the kebabs and serve.
    

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