What's cooking...

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd give a quick round-up of what's been cooking over the past week. Drop me a line if something takes your fancy and you'd like a more detailed recipe.

Sous vide hand of pork
Riverford sell hand of pork (the lower part of the shoulder) with a fennel, garlic and chilli rub as a porchetta roast. They suggest roasting for 8 hours at 95℃, so I thought I'd try it sous vide and gave it 12 hours at 80℃. The meat was very tender, but a bit dry for my taste. Next time I'll try vacuum packing it with some lard, and maybe reduce the cooking time.

Gooseberry ice cream
A delightful, refreshing ice cream from Ices: The Definitive Guide. A really simple recipe, lightly cooked gooseberries, puréed and sieved, then whisked into some cream when cool and churned in the ice cream machine.

Gooseberry fool
I tried a custard-based fool for a change. It was disappointing, I'll keep it simple and use just cream next time.

Swiss chard lasagne
I thought it was spinach in the veg box until I looked more closely. Still, the chard worked very well in a lasagne, and this is something I'll definitely be making again.

Cannelleni beans, char-grilled courgettes and tomatoes
The beans cook in just 20 minutes in the pressure cooker. Drain, and toss together with char-grilled courgettes, tomatoes, and a dressing of your choice (olive oil and lemon would work well). To cook the courgettes, slice thinly along their length, salt for 30 minutes, rinse, brush with olive oil, and cook on a ridged griddle pan until just tender.

Confit chicken legs, sous vide
I didn't have any goose fat to hand, so used lard, with some garlic and lemon thyme for flavour. I chilled these down and put them in the fridge, so I'm not sure how they've come out.

Macaroni cheese with carrots, courgettes and French beans
Using up the ends of the veg box and the excess cheese sauce left over from the lasagne.

Chocolate beetroot brownies
I had some cooked beetroot in the fridge - it was intended for a risotto, but my guest turned up their nose at the idea, so it found its way into this recipe from Riverford instead. They were good, but not as nice as the chocolate beetroot cake I made earlier in the year.

Pea and mint risotto
Fresh peas from Riverford, mint from the herb garden (aka pots by the back door).

Arancini
Balls of risotto wrapped around a nugget of mozzarella, coated in bread crumbs, and deep-fried. Is there a more delicious way to use up leftover risotto?

Cranks banana and apple bread
A yeasted banana bread. This contains no eggs or butter and, being the Cranks, is made with 100% wholemeal flour. Great with a cup of tea. Recipe from The Cranks Recipe Book.