Warm New Potato Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese

Here's a fantastic recipe and another one that I've made several times now but for some reason haven't got round to writing about.

Salad doesn't always sound like the most exciting option on the menu but this one is so much more than just a salad and the fact that it's warm means that it's just as nice to eat in the winter as it is in the summer.

It's not the quickest salad to throw together as the potatoes and onions need to be roasted for 40 minutes and then left to cool for a bit so your salad leaves don't dissolve into a soggy mess on contact. That said though, if you're not under pressure to get dinner on the table quickly then it's relatively hassle-free.

Warm potatoes, bacon, blue cheese...what's not to like? It's definitely a dinner I particularly look forward to when it's on the menu.

Warm New Potato Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese
(from BBC Good Food Magazine)

500g/1lb 2oz salad potatoes, halved
2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, each sliced into 6 wedges
4 rashers smoked bacon, trimmed and cut into large pieces
140g/5oz mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (Dijon mustard works just aswell)
1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
100g bag mixed watercress and spinach salad (or any other mixed leaves you fancy)
85g/3oz creamy blue cheese, eg St Agur

1) Heat the oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7. Place the potatoes in a roasting tin, then rub with 1 tbsp oil and a sprinkling of salt. Roast for 20 minutes, then add the onion wedges to the tin and everything a good shake.  Roast for 20 minutes more until the potatoes have turned a deep golden brown and the onions have caramelised and softened. Leave to cool slightly.

2) Heat a non-stick frying pan and dry-fry the bacon until crisp. Add the sliced mushrooms and fry for 5 minutes more until they have softened.

3) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Whisk the mustard, vinegar and remaining 1 tbsp oil with a splash of water. Place the potatoes, onions, bacon and mushrooms in a large bowl with the salad leaves, pour over the dressing and mix well. Divide between 4 plates (see below!), then crumble over the blue cheese.

Serves 4 - that's 4 very small people presumably. Two of us can polish this off in one sitting without breaking a sweat.
 

Pasta with Bacon & Vegetable Sauce

This recipe comes from Tana Ramsey's recent cookbook, which I picked up on a whim for the bargain price of £3 in one of the discount bookstores.  I really shouldn't have but at that price I just couldn't resist.

I'm welcoming my weak will on this occasion, though, as it is a very nice book with lots of great-sounding recipes suitable for all the family.  This one is the first I've tried so far and on the whole it was a success (my eldest was a bit sniffy about the aubergine).  The best part of the dish for me was the bacon as this one of my favourite things to pair with pasta.  It effortlessly adds bags of flavour and texture.  This is a great everyday pasta recipe that I'll definitely be using again.

Pasta with Bacon & Vegetable Sauce
(adapted from Tana's Kitchen Secrets by Tana Ramsey)

2 tbsp olive oil
150g/5 1/2oz fresh breadcrumbs
50g/1 3/4oz parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
400g/14oz spaghetti, or pasta of your choice

For the sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 courgette, cut into half moons
1 small aubergine, diced
8 rashers of smoked bacon, diced
400g can tomatoes
12 button mushrooms, halved
salt and pepper

1) First make the sauce. Put the oil into a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion, chilli (if using) and garlic. Fry gently for 5 minutes, until the onion has softened but not coloured.  Add the courgette, aubergine and bacon and cook for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.  Add the tomatoes, mushrooms and basil and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

2) Bring a large pan of water to the boil ready for the pasta.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan over a high heat and toss in the breadcrumbs, stirring constantly until they are toasted a light golden brown. Remove from the heat and mix in the parmesan and basil. Set aside.

3) Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Drain and drizzle over a little oil.

4) Serve the pasta in warmed serving bowls or plates and spoon the sauce over the top, then top with the toasted breadcrumbs and a little more chopped basil.

Serves 4

Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta

I do like it when I come across a recipe that fits in with the title of my blog! If you happen to have a bit of cream to spare then this is just the thing if you want to rustle up something simple for tea. It's a lovely variation on the creamy, carbonara theme that I discovered in Rachel Allen's recent book, Home Cooking, a really good book full of great ideas for family-friendly meals. Salty bacon and mushrooms are fried and mixed with cream, gruyere and parmesan cheese to make deliciously flavoured pasta sauce which I'll definitely be making again.

Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

(adapted from Home Cooking by Rachel Allen)

1 tbsp olive oil

175g/6oz back bacon (about 6 rashers), chopped

250g/9oz button mushrooms

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

250ml/9 fl oz double or regular cream

75g/3oz gruyere cheese, grated

25g/1oz parmesan cheese, grated

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Squeeze of lemon juice

1) Pour the olive oil into a frying pan on a medium heat, add the bacon and fry for 3-4 minutes or until crisp and golden.

2) Meanwhile, blend the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped, or chop by hand. Add to the bacon and saute for a further 3-4 minutes or until softened. Season with a little salt and plenty of pepper

3) Reduce the heat, add the cream and simmer gently for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Gruyere and Parmesan, followed by the parsley and lemon juice and check the seasoning. Pour the sauce over cooked pasta (I do about 100g per person), tossing together to coat evenly, and serve.

Serves 4

Oven-Baked Wild Mushroom Risotto

This is lovely recipe if you're in the mood for something savoury and filling for dinner. It also works really well, in smaller portions, as a starter. This recipe comes from Delia's Vegetarian Collection, although it can be found on her website aswell. I have to confess that I'm not a great lover of Delia's recipes, having had one too many fail on me. Having said that, there are still a few I turn to on a regular basis, and this is one of them.

While there is a bit preparation involved, one of the benefits of this recipe is that it doesn't require a lengthy hob-side session stirring in the stock. Instead it is baked in the oven and just requires a quick stir about halfway through the cooking time. A definite plus if you plan on serving this for friends and don't want to be tied to the kitchen all evening.

You can find the recipe on Delia's website by clicking here. If you don't serve it as a starter it feeds two hungry people nicely.

Vegetable Enchilladas

Oh dear, poor neglected blog. I can't believe it's almost a month since my last post. I've been stuck in a bit of a cooking rut of late but I've had a good rifle through some of my cookbooks and earmarked a few ideas to help me rediscover my cooking mojo.

This recipe is one of my stock recipes and is a great way of fitting in a few of your five-a-day without too much trouble. It's another one of those recipes-that's-hardly-a-recipe but worthy of mention nonetheless. It's very straigtforward to assemble and you can adapt it to whatever you have in the fridge or garden. What I've listed below is my standard recipe but you could add anything you like...courgettes, peas etc.

Vegetable Enchilladas

(origin unknown)

1-2 red or yellow peppers

1-2 leeks

1-2 cloves of garlic

Handful of mushrooms

1/2 - 1 cup of sweetcorn, tinned or frozen

Large handful of spinach

6-8 tortillas

Jar of Tomato & Chargrilled Veg Pasta sauce

Grated cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 180c

2) Slice or chop up the veg into bite sized pieces. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan and add the veg. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened.

3) Pile a spoonful of veg onto a one of the tortillas and fold up (I put the veg on the top half, fold up the bottom of the tortilla then fold in the sides). Place the parcel in a large baking dish and repeat until all the vegetables are used up (6 tortillas are usually enough to fill my large oval baking dish).

4) Spoon the pasta sauce over the top of the tortillas and top with grated cheese. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Serves 2-3

The Creme Fraiche Challenge - Recipe No 1

When discussing my blog with a friend she requested some recipes using creme fraiche as she often ends up with some leftover when cooking.  I was more than willing to take up the challenge as, when cooking for two, I rarely find a recipe that uses a whole pot and more often than not end up throwing the rest away.

So, the first recipe I was going to cook as part of this challenge was supposed to be a lemon-based pasta dish.  However, the lemon I was relying on to make this had, to put it mildly, seen better days (ok, it was green and furry).  Luckily I already had the necessary ingredients for an alternative dish.

Pasta with Rich Mushroom Sauce

(adapted from Waitrose Magazine)

Serves 4

500g pasta (I like rigatoni for this one)

1 onion, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

400g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp sherry

200ml creme fraiche

parmesan shavings

1) Cook the pasta in boiling water

2) Fry the onion in the olive oil then add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes.

3) Add the sherry and simmer for a minute before adding the creme fraiche and warming through.

4) Mix with the cooked pasta and top with parmesan shavings