The Fife Diet

I have a longing to be one of those people who gets organic veggie boxes delivered to the house, visits farm shops at weekends to do the shopping and has a small allotment that produces wonderful salads, fruits and flowers. But I am not like that. I mainly shop at Tesco, making a detour to the local butcher when I have time and every so often popping into random shops that sell specific produce like the Valvona and Crolla deli in Edinburgh.

I do not live a lifestyle that lends itself to my little day dream. I live in Dundee, work in Edinburgh and stay three nights a week there courtesy of a fantastic friend-rental deal I have with my roomy Calum. So food shopping has to take into account living in two places, eating at random times, a nod to healthy eating in Edinburgh and in Dundee to the huge amounts of food my husband can consume without putting on any weight at all. This does not make food shopping easy. But, in hope that at some point I manage the daydream, my efforts will go into finding out about all of these things and hoping that those who get home from work at a normal time and don't have to co-ordinate the contents of two fridges in different cities can benefit from them.

The first I would like to highlight is the Fife Diet - now, this is maybe a phrase that conjours up visions of fried food and a glut of fatty meats and badly cooked root vegetables. But please do not be so narrow minded because in fact Fife produces amazing foodstuffs. The Fife Diet asks people to sign-up to eating food from Fife, for a year, monitor their progress and share their experience. This is a celebration of local goodness not an exercise in self-denial. Like most regions Fife has loads of fruit and vegetables, fantastic farm-reared lamb, beef, poultry, and amazing seafood. The project was inspired by Vancouver’s 100 Mile Diet and aims to bring people together who are into preparing for a low-carbon future. To be honest, although I care about the low carbon stuff and the environment etc I do think that the only argument you need is that when you have fantastic food right on your doorstep why not eat it? It has inspired me to re-prioritise. Yes, I have a busy lifestyle complicated by having two living places - but wouldn't it be better to spend Saturdays enjoying the beautiful Fife countryside and picking up something that is yummy and good in many different was - taste, environmental impact, fun to shop for - rather than the usual stuff from Tesco?

The second is a website dedicated to veggie boxes and what wonderful meals you can make out of them. I have to say the downside to veggie boxes may be that you don't know exactly what you are getting and it may be you end up with five turnips and an onion. So some inspiration on how to manage your veggie box contents I reckon would be an essential. It includes a function to find out the identity of vegetables you haven't seen before and one on 20 minute recipes - useful for days when time is precious.

In my larder - Creme Fraiche

Creme fraiche is brilliant. It can be used for a lot of different recipes and makes an easy base for creamy sauces. It doesn't split like cream can, it can boil and it won't curdle and it is lower in fat than cream. Not that I don't like cream by CF also has a better shelf life. You can do half and half with CF and cream too.

Here are some of my favourite things to do with Creme Fraiche (in a clean way people!)

Macaroni Cheese

Tub of Creme Fraiche (small tub will do 2, large tub 6)
Pasta (100g per person)
Cheddar - grated
Tomatoes

You can make the cheese sauce by making up a roux but this is time consuming and also sometimes I get it wrong when I am tired and home from work. You also have to build the sauce up gradually so it takes more time.

Put the CF in a pot and heat up. As the CF is heating, add the cheese. With a roux you woudl have to do this gradually but with CF just bung it in. Take a taste of eth sauce and check it is cheesey enough. Give it a stir every now and then.

Cook pasta as per packet instructions, drain, and mix in the sauce. I like to serve it with some tomatoes shopped up.

To make it interesting you can add ham to the sauce, or like I sometimes do, left over chorizo or salami. And although I use cheddar here, macaroni chese is also a good way to use up any parmesan or mozzarella - so long as you have cheddar as a base. I have also added mustard on occasion.

My favourite thing though is to have plenty of HP sauce with it!

Pesto sauce

Tub of Creme Fraiche (small tub will do 2, large tub 6)
Pasta (100g per person)
Pesto
Parmesan

Heat the CF and add pesto to tase. You get a fantastic green sauce. Cook your pasta and mix in the sauce. Sprinkle some parmesan over the top.

Sauce for Steak

Tub of Creme Fraiche (small tub will do 2, large tub 6)
Wholegrain mustard

Heat the CF and add a couple of teaspoons of mustard. You need to let the sauce simmer away for 15-20 minutes so the flavour really gets drawn out and the whiteness of the creme fraiche looks more creamy. Taste and check if you need more mustard.

This is great poured over some nice steaks with some good bread to mop up the sauce and meat juices.

In my larder - Tinned tomatoes

I think tinned tomatoes are amazing. Even Nigella thinks so. Who can be bothered with all of that blanching and peeling anyway? And there are so many things they can be used for. Here are two of my favourite 5 minute recipes.

Tomatoe and basil soup (good hot or cold)

Two tins of tomatoes
Red oinion
Garlic (I use half a bulb but one clove may be enough for others!)
Basil (a handful)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

In the pot you want to cook your soup in, add the oil and saute the finely chopped onion and garlic. Add the tomatoes and basil. Simmer for an hour. Add a squirt of vinegar - some might find this takes the tanginess too far. Serve with crusty bread and a dollopof creme fraiche on top if liked.

You can also make this more special by cutting some cherry tomatoes in half, tossing in olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper andn roasting them. Scatter over the top of the soup as you serve it.

Pasta sauce

Tin of tomatoes
Pesto
Parmesan
Tomatoe puree

Heat the tomatoes in a pot, add a tbsp of pesto, thicken if needed with puree. Serve over hot pasta with some parmesan.

This makes a great base and you can add bacon, chicken, vegetables like mushrooms, peppers etc and spices and herbs like chilli and basil to create a dozen different sauces.

In my larder

You often get a section in recipe books that tells you what the author thinks you should have in your kitchen to be a 'good cook'. Now, I don't really subscribe to that idea - and it would cost a fortune to keep all of the ingredients they suggest on the go all of the time - I mean, things go off, even dried spices etc can get a bit fusty musty.

But - I am intrigued by figuring out what the basics are to make interesting, healthy and easy meals. Are there items that I can't live without? Are there things that really I keep buying but hardly use and throw out more than actually makes it into a dish?

So I am going to start listing what I keep handy and are my mainstays. At the right hand side you will see a list 'In my larder' where I will list what I keep close to me in the kitchen and I will also blog about why these ingredients or tools are important and what I discover is not so important. And maybe I will clear out my utensils drawer at some point so it is easy to shut!

Eating out - Rick's

As well as cooking in my own kitchen, I like to go out for food. So I thought I would also record places I have been to eat, and any ideas for my own cooking they have given me.

Last week I went to Rick's on Frederick Street in Edinburgh with my friend Duncan. We hadn't seen each other since January so we indulged in some luscious espresso and rum cocktails.

Then we had sweet potatoe and chilli soup to start. The soup was really good, although they are not joking about the chilli. The interesting thing though is that most potatoe based soups are thick - this one wasn't - very liquid - but in a good way. And it meant we weren't too full for our mains. Duncan had salmon which he seemed to enjoy and I had the asparagus and garden pea risotto. It was very good - the peas actually tasted like they may come from a garden rather than a factory - but as always the risotto didn't quite make it to the high standards I get at home. I think Andy uses more parmesan and garlic - and he serves cherry tomatoes and salad leaves with some bread and and olive oil/balsamic vinegar dip with it which I find cuts through the creaminess really well.

But - all in all would give it a 6/10. The bill came to £56 which for two courses, cocktails and a glass of wine each isn't bad.

The decor and atmosphere are also good - I like places that are dark enough to feel intimate but not so much you can't se your food. In that sense Rick's does well. I also liked the leather booth seats. There was a good mix of age groups but it does veer towards the upwardly mobile set.

The bar staff are also easy on the eye!

Pizza

Andy is making this for me tonight. I make it a lot and taught Andy the recipe a couple of months ago. When I cook I am quite messy but have my little rituals and when I showed him how to do this recipe he laughed at the processes I go through - I like to set out all the toppings on a large plate so that when the dough is ready and rolled out they are all ready and I can add them in turn. This meticulous approach tickled Andy's funny bone it seems.

Anyway - this recipe is very easy and Andy sometimes makes teh dough and leaves it to rise while I am coming home on the train from Edinburgh. Then, when we get in from him picking me up from the station all we need to do is roll out teh dough,add the toppings and pop in the oven. Fresh, homemade pizza on a Friday night - perfect!

Pizza dough

225g/1lb plain flour
13g/.5oz yeast (or one pack dried)
half a teaspoon of salt
half a pint of hand hot water
(you can also half the water and make up with olive oil if you want to be fancy!)

Mix the flour, salt and dried yeast (if using fresh, dissolve in a little water then add).
Bit by bit add the water until you get a soft, pliable dough
Knead for 2-3 minutes until light and elastic
Roll into a ball and leave in a bowl covered with a clean, dry tea towel for an hour
Knead the dough for 30 - 60 seconds then roll out to desired shape. I like my pizza thin and crispy so use a large oven sized baking sheet)
Add toppings
Bake in oven 180-200c for 10-15 minutes

Cured meats pizza toppings

Take a tube of tomatoe purree and sqeeze it out in an ever decreasing circle on your pizza dough. Take a dessert spoon and spread the purree in half circle motions.
Thinly slice an onion and a pepper and a large portobello mushroom and sprinkle over the pizza
Add a selection of cured meats such as salami, chorizo and parma ham
Add finely slicedcherry tomatoes
Topwith grated mozzarella

Once cooked sprinkle with some parmesan grated using the biggest grate size on your grater

Rocket, parmesan and olives

In Pizza Express they do a pizza called the 'soho'. This is my version.

Take a tube of tomatoe purree and sqeeze it out in an ever decreasing circle on your pizza dough. Take a dessert spoon and spread the purree in half circle motions.
Add thinly sliced red ionion
Add black olives

Once baked top with shaves of parmesan, a handful of rocket and a generous drizzling of olive oil.

Calzone

This probably isn't the real Italian way to do it but I basically take the pizza dough but instead of topping it like a pizza cover half with the toppings, foldover and crimp the dough, then bake in the oven. This is a good way to cook if you have 'sloppy' toppings like chilli beef. It is basically an italian pastie.

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