H is for Homebound

The latest version of Homebound is available and there's a sample to read on Issuu if you wanted to see what's in this boutique magazine.

F is for Father's Day

Father's Day is really a 20th century event created to help make sure fathers didn't feel left out following Mothering Sunday.  That has roots going back at least to the 16th Century and encouraged people to go back to their 'mother' church and home.

But if the weather doesn't beckon a BBQ or because you don't want the main man left glued to the griddle, serve up a mix of frankfurter sausages and English sausages as hot dogs in white, long buns on 9 June.

And as usual, I would like some decorations.  Bunting's always a good start and a basic one can be downloaded in a pdf from here, printed onto card, cut out and then strung on string around the place.

 Download complementary signs for the tables...

..and for the sauces and trimmings.

Onions are most easily cooked in the microwave with some butter as you can cook them in the dish in which they'll be served.

For the crispy leeks:

Gather:

• 1 large leek, cleaned, trimmed, and the leaves cut into 3-4" long thin strips
• Slug of light olive oil
• 3 tbspn plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 teaspn paprika
• S&P

Then...

1. Preheat your oven to 220°C
2. Pat your leek strips dry with some kitchen paper
3. Pop them in a plastic (freezer) bag with the oil
4. Twist the top of the bag together and hold as you toss the leeks in the oil until coated
5. Add in the flour, spices and seasoning
6. Twist and shake again
7. Lay out the coated leek strips in one layer on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown, tossing around half way through cooking

Mushrooms work well (see the Tapas mushrooms up to step 9), with a few sliced cucumber, radish and tomato and small salad leaves for the healthier among us.

On the drinks' station, have white and red wine, some real ales, and traditional soft drinks such as ginger beer and lemonade.

For fun you can hold a crossword or quiz (using this online tool) based on all things fatherly. The person to complete your chosen game quickest wins.

And my eclectic, background soundtrack would include:

• Good Rockin' Daddy, Etta James
• Daddy Daddy, Ruth Brown
• It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World, James Brown
• Daddy's Home, The Delfonics
• Father & Son, Ronan Keating
• Daughters, John Mayer
• Father & Daughter, Paul Simon
• Mama Don't Dance & Your Daddy Don't Rock & Roll, Dr. Hook
• Daddy Cool, Boney M
• I Learned from You, Billy Ray Cyrus & Miley Cyrus 
• Just the Two of Us, Will Smith

Just don't play 'Oh Father' by Madonna!

C is for Cheese

One way of celebrating Whit Weekend could be copying the cheese rolling competition at Cooper's Hill (Brockworth, Gloucestershire).

Recent events have been quite quiet after the 1998 event was cancelled due to the number of injuries in 1997 and a revolt by locals about plans for the event to be commercialized.

But before you head to the hills, you could decide to hold your own cheese event.

If you have a steep hill nearby you could of course stage your own cheese rolling event involving a large cheese or a small wooden barrel as the Cooper's Hill organizers did during World War II due to rationing.

Or watch it at home using the previous year's video as a prequel. A video of the current year's event bound to be available quickly on the internet for later on in the day.  

Afterwards celebrate all things cheese by serving a good range of six or seven British cheeses. Most supermarkets stock:

• Cornish Yard
• Double Gloucester (in honour of the winning prize of a 3.5kg round of the cheese at the said event)
• Innes Log (Goats)
• Somerset Brie
• Stilton
• Stinking Bishop
• Wensleydale
• Wigmore

Serve the cheese buffet style with big chunks of cheeses on wooden platters (such as these from Jamie Oliver).  Pre-cut slices quickly curl up and the edges harden--not attractive.

Or  use Rock UR Party's suggestion of chalkboard paper (available from Amazon).

You can label your cheese using thin card and glueing a cork onto the back of each piece of card at the bottom so they stand upright.

Serve your cheese with sticks of celery (trimmed and stuck upright in a glass), bowls of dried apricots (sliced), olives and nuts, and apple slices (tossed in lemon juice to stop them browning).  Grapes should be served only with French cheeses and who needs the, when we have so many of our own!

Serve crackers and crostini (thin slices of toasted baguette) in baskets.

Condiments include fig or quince jam, rhubarb compote, and English mustard.

If you want something meatier, serve cold/cured continental cuts, honey-glazed sausages hot from the oven or have a roast ham ready to carve.

To decorate your table, keep the theme fresh to complement the cheese.

I also make up a radish mouse or two for platters à la Martha Stewart.

And Real Simple's take-home cards allow guests to make a note of any cheese/wine that they particularly liked.

Freeze any cheese left over in more manageable lumps for mini cheese parties for two.

F is for Festivities Magazine

The summer edition of festivities is out.

If the British weather holds out, stage a tent party such as that featured on the inside cover.

Or if not have a Robin Hood themed party as per page 41, compete with a felt fire.

M is for Mushrooms

If you feel lazy (as I frequently do), you can cook the mushrooms all in one go, stir frying them all in a big wok before adding in the garlic, sherry and tarragon.  However, the mushrooms will throw off a lot of liquid and stew rather than fry.

It is much nicer to take the time and cook off the mushrooms individually first.

Gather:

• 3 tblspns oil
• 3 oz butter
• 3 x 250 grams different types* of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1 packet of dried woodland mushrooms (optional)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
• ½-¾ cup of dry (cheap) sherry (supermarket own brand is fine)
• 4-5 strands of tarragon stripped of the leaves, which are then chopped fairly finely.
• S&P

Then...

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and when hot add in an ounce of butter
2. Using some tongs, add in the slices of mushrooms one by one so that each is in contact with the pan and there is space around each slice
3. Leave for a minute or so and then turn over and repeat
4. Remove when lovely and brown
5. Drain briefly on kitchen paper and then decant into a bowl
6. Repeat with more oil and butter as needed until all the mushrooms are done
7. Set aside the bowl and pan (off the heat) until needed
8. If you are using the dried mushrooms, soak them in hot water for half an hour at this point and then drain, cutting up the big bits in half
9. Reheat the pan which should have a little bit of oil/butter left
10. Add in all the mushrooms (fresh and rehydrated) and stir quickly till hot
11. Toss in the garlic and cook for a further minute
12. Pour in the sherry and throw in the tarragon
13. Fry until the liquid has reduced a little
14. Serve immediately with the liquid

* I used chestnut, oyster and shiitake.

T is for Tortilla de Patatas

Spanish tortilla is great summer lunch dish on its own with a salad.

The traditional way of making it is to deep fry the potatoes.  While this adds texture, it piles on the pounds. As a student, I used to buy a bag of fish-shop chips on my way back to my digs to use to make this without having to fry off the potatoes. It was a really quick and cheap dinner alongside some salad and a pork chop.

But most often, I gently pan fry my own potatoes with a lot less fat involved.

Gather:

• 3-4 large potatoes, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 brown/white onion, cut in half and each half is finely sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
• 4 large eggs, very lightly beaten
• Good pinch of saffron strands (about 10)
• 4 tblspns veggie oil
• S&P

If you don't have saffron, don't worry.  The taste is very delicate and most miss it.

Then...

1. Find a frying pan that can be covered a plate
2. Fry the onion gently in a tablespoon of oil until translucent; remove
3. Fry the potato gently until soft in another tablespoon of oil (takes about 15-20 minutes)
4. Drain off any excess oil
5. Add in the minced garlic and fry for another minute
6. Decant the contents of the pan and the onion into the bowl of beaten egg: crumble in the saffron strands and season well
7. Fold everything together very gently





8. Put the frying pan (empty) back on the hob, add the rest of the oil and heat till hot
9. Add in the potato-egg mix and push down the top potato bits to flatten
10. Turn down the heat to a very low setting and cook for 12-15 mins, jiggling the pan every so often to ensure the mix isn't sticking
11. Now you can flip it or put the pan in the oven at 180° for a further 10 mins (obviously only if your pan is oven proof)
12. To flip, put a flat plate upside down over the frying pan and very quickly flip both over together pushing the handle down with one hand and holding the plate edges firmly to the pan rim with your other palm splayed out over the bottom of your plate:  The cooked bit should now be facing upwards and you will be left holding the plate in your hand with your hand bent back underneath like a waiter carries a tray
13. This has to be done quickly otherwise the uncooked egg will leak
14. Slide the tortilla back into the pan so that the uncooked side is now on the bottom and can finish cooking
15. (Any slices of egg-potato left on your plate can be slid under the tortilla with a fish slice)
16. Leave for another 5-10 mins to cook through
17. Once cooked, flip it onto a clean plate and decide which is the prettiest side (the side cooked first usually does)
18. Cut out one slice and put a cake slice underneath so people can see the layers; serve with a couple of small sprigs of thyme or parsley in the centre.

M is for Meatballs

Called albóndigas in Spanish, these little meatballs are light because of the cracker crumbs and work well if the pepper and spring onions still have some crunch to add texture.

Gather

• 1½ lbs lean minced beef
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 cup of salted cracker crumbs (Jacobs are good)
• 1 teaspn mustard powder
• 1 tblspn ground cumin
• S&P
• 4-5 spring onions (scallions), cut on the diagonal into 5 mm slices
• ½ green and ½ orange/yellow pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 beef tomato, deseeded and the flesh diced (known among chefs as concassé)
• 2 cups of v8 juice (passata will work if you don't have v8, mixing in ½ cup red wine to thin it a little)

Then...

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C for fan ovens (180°C if not)
2. In a large (clean) plastic bag, put in the mince, mustard powder, cumin and season well
3. Mix together the eggs, milk and cracker crumbs in a jug and pour into the bag of mince mix.
4. Twist the top of the bag closed and squish the ingredients together through the plastic
5. Scatter half the pepper, tomato and spring onion onto the bottom of a broad ovenproof dish
6. Scoop out heaped tablespoons of the mix and roll into balls a bit bigger than a walnut
7. Place the balls in one layer on the veggies in the dish
8. Sprinkle over the rest of the veggies and pour the juice/liquid over evenly
9. Put into the oven for 30 minutes turning the meatballs over after 15 minutes
10. Stir the sauce and meatballs together (gently so as not to break up the meatballs) and season to taste

Not the best picture, but it was the only one I manage to take...