onion tart and two potatoe salads

We have been getting a veggie box delivered each week and it has meant we are a) eating with the season and b)responding to what has arrived and thinking up recipes to use up the food rather than planning what we want to eat then shopping for the veg. This has been quite good because it forces you to look out new recipes.

This week we had a glut of potatoes and onions [white and spring]. It is still too warm to go into proper winter food yet so I searched my cookery books and my brain for a solution. The result - two types of potatoe salad and Nigella's onion tart [page 392, How to Eat].


Now, I cheated a bit. I left out the nutmeg because I really don't like it, and swapped the marsala to red wine. And, the tart calls for a pastry case and I have been really busy so I bought one.

Ingredients
30g butter
Drop of oil
500g white onions, sliced very thinly
1-2 teaspoons of sugar
4 tbsp red wine
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
300ml creme fraiche

Melt the butter with the oil in your frying pan and then add the onions.
Stir and cook on a medium to low heat for about 10-12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.


Stir in the sugar and reduce to the lowest heat and cover [with a lid, foil or, as I did, a large dinner plate].
Leave to cook for about 20 minutes. The onions should be all tender and almost going to mush.
Add in the wine, turn up the heat and cook for about 8 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn't catch.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool a bit.
[you could also do this bit in the morning or the night before]

If you are using a homemade pastry case, make it while all the onion prep is going on.

Make a custard by beating the eggs, egg yolk, creme fraiche and half a teaspoon of salt together.
Add a good grinding of pepper - I like a lot so it is more like several grindings.
Take your onions and line the pastry case with them.
Then carefully pour over your egg mix - Nigella gives a good tip at this point - don't fill your case right up with the liquid - leave some aside and top up once you have it on the rack in the oven to avoid the wobbly, shaky, drippy trip from surface to oven.
Nigella doesn't say this but if you have a pastry case that isn't in a tin/foil [because like me you bought it!] place it on a baking sheet with a strip of greaseproof paper underneath it. This means that when you come to remove it you can lift it and slide it onto a plate without breaking the pastry.


Grind some more pepper on the top.
Bake it at Gas 6/180 degrees for about 35 minutes or until it is golden on top. It should be set but not rubbery and overly firm. It will cook a bit still as it cools down.
Remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 10-15 minutes before slicing up and serving.


For the potatoes
As many potatoes as your local veggie box man has delivered![about 750kg in my case...]
A jar of good quality mayonnaise
A tbsp of mustard
A glug of oil
A large handful of chopped spring onions
Salt and pepper

Potatoe salad needs cold potatoes so either boil them while doing the onions or do them the night/morning before.


The first thing to do though was to scrub the soily potatoes - which Andy really enjoys...


When cold, divide them between 2 bowls.
In one bowl add two tbsp of good mayonnaise and the spring onions - mix well.




Some like lots of creamy mayonnaise so once you have done the first two tbsp judge yourself what you would like. Grind over some pepper and give it a final mix.
In the other, add the mustard and the oil and mix well.


I also served some cherry toms mixed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some salad leaves which I thought cut through the dairy centred nature of the rest of the dish.

ssssausages

I had my wee brother Theo over and needed some easy peasy recipes that would fill up a 15 year old with, apparently, hollow legs.

I picked up this recipe from Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie at Home' - I didn't follow it quite to the letter but here is my version.

Ingredients

12 sausages
Two punnets of cherry tomatoes
2-3 sprigs of Thyme
2-3 sprigs of Rosemary
2-3 garlic cloves - crushed and chopped
A tbsp of crushed Oregano
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Baking potatoes

Prep

You will need a large roasting tin and the oven preheated to about Gas 6, 180 degrees
Foil for the baked potatoes

Method

Prick the potatoes all over, wrap in foil and start to bake in the oven immediately


Slice up the cherry toms in half and place in a large roasting tin


Scatter the herbs and garlic over the tomatoes


Glug 3-4 tbsp of olive oil and 1-2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar over the herbs, garlic and tomatoes

Now for the messy bit...

Dump the sausages on the top and with your hands mix everything up until the sausages are all coated
Before putting in the oven, arrange it so the sausages are on top


Bake for 30 minutes, then turn over the sausages and divest the potatoes of their foil so the skins bake crispy, and bake for another 15-20 minutes

Voila!

Tips

I made this the day of the Bridge of Allan games - torrential rain ensued. To save time I baked my potatoes in foil at breakfast time - I sometimes find that although usually they take an hour you might need longer and I like my skins really crispy. I also prepared the toms and sausages in their seasoning and left them in the tin covered in cling film. This meant that dinner was even quicker and easier and the food kept fine like that until it was time to bake it. And if you make this quantity just for two there will be enough for two nights or, in our case, for a hungry person to have as a rather nice packed lunch to reheat at work.

bloggin'

I am starting to blog again - slowly - but after a break it's hard to get back into the swing of it! I have also started a new blog - it is for my political/newsy stuff as I want this blog to be pure fun and food and funky cool stuff.

Talking of cool stuff - here is a pic of the Joseph Joseph salt and pepper grinder we got today -

go read this blog

One of the best bits of my job is meeting people living with diabetes and hearing about their experiences. Sometimes I don't get to meet them in person - sometimes it is a patient survey or letter or email. How people talk about their diabetes and deal with it is diverse and fascinating. Joe Freeman - our social media guy - pointed me in the direction of the Diabetes UK blog - which I knew about but hadn't made time to go and see [bad me]. The first post I read was about a person who wanted to know what they looked like when they have a hypo. What an amazing thing - it wouldn't have occured to me that someone would think of that and yet it makes perfect sense. Knowing your condition includes knowing about how it manifests itself and as the blogger notes how it looks may not automatically mean people know it is a hypo. I know of people who have been assumed to be drunk or on drugs when having a hypo - of people being picked up by the police or thrown out of shops/restaurants etc for being disorderly. Hearing directly from people with diabetes reminds all of us that raising awareness and making sure everyone knows about diabetes is really important. And that being let into a persons experience is a real privelege. Go read it!

gin is good

But don't say I said that. Working for a health charity means you are much more conscious than usual over what you are 'supposed' to be doing to be healthy. I have a heightened awareness for the foods and exercise avoidance that mean a less healthy lifestyle. However, heightened awareness also means I think even more about chips than I ever did. And chocolate. And gin. I want them.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to clean up my act. Moving job to a health charity may mean I know more about and are more aware of health messages - but this hasn't turned into a super healthy lifestyle. If anything the travel, odd working hours, evening events with buffets and a weakness for comfort eating when juggling 'competing priorities' means I have in fact put on weight and developed some not-so-great habits.

While working on our South Asian Community project a lot of the feedback from participants has been about the basic, simple changes you can make. How to give up sugar in your tea, or change your cooking oil. It's easy to say - harder to implement. Everyone in a household may need to make the change around you. For many they are trying to break the habits and practices of a lifetime. More than that, it is about culture too. For me food is a social thing. Breaking bread - or sitting down to a lovingly prepared meal and sharing the food and our reactions to it - is part of my culture and background. So taking a leaf out of their book, instead of thinking 'I must be able to cycle 50 miles before work NOW' I have taken a gentler approach.

I haven't fully given up coffee but I have limited myself to coffee on a Sunday. The cravings were bad - the headache coincided with a few stressful days at work so I convinced myself it wasn't the caffeine withdrawal. I even tried - horror of horrors - decaf coffee at work.

I haven't fully given up chocolate either - but I have cut down drastically. No Milky Bar on the train home [they are really small these days!]. I did have a dark chocolate covered ginger biscuit - but that doesn't count?

And last night on our walk along the river to get ice cream I went for a modest small scoop - not my usual greedy two scoop with a Flake.

I now also walk a lot more when I am in London instead of resorting to the tube. I get some exercise but also get to see and learn about the city I am working in. I am also walking to the train station in the village at home and back each day. Not quite my 'big goal' but better than nought.

These are all small changes - but I am proud of making them. They are the first step to getting healthier - and without that sense of failure when in the first week you haven't lost a stone and bagged a Munro, because who could achieve that? I am also reminded though of how hard it is to make those changes. I am surrounded by the information and guidance needed - and yet I still find it hard. It makes me realise how much we ask of those around us when we talk about five-a-day and doing more exercise. We need to realise that this stuff isn't as easy as it looks in a leaflet and that daily life and ingrained habits are hard to change.

And I have my wee brother coming to stay next week. So the next step is some big walks in the amazing countryside I have around me. He is great company and likes to get out and about so that will get my walking legs up to speed again.

So - back to the gin - I have not given up alcohol. I am not a big drinker but I do like 'a wee swally'. And I am not a martyr so I have to keep one fun thing. I can go weeks without a glass of wine - although in the modern way of the young professional I will have several glasses when out with friends but rate it ok because we were also having dinner - bourgeoise drinking is just as bad as any other kind. Also cocktails are not necessarily better than drinking Buckie. It's just more stylish. But I don't believe in giving up every fun thing. So I have this evening sat down to a lovely Blackwood's gin which has aided my 'work diary tidy up' and allowed me to feel like working late isn't too much of a bind. For me it is small steps, big changes, and if I am going to preach the message I should live it too.

back online

It has been a while since I last posted which has been down to a combination of moving house, no internet and an incredibly busy time at work. I am back on the internet though and blogging has recommenced. I will be sifting through the scraps, photos and other flotsam and jetsam I have gathered thinking 'that would be good for the blog' and getting it posted. So bear with me - I am gearing up again for the blogosphere!

In the meantime, you can catch me on twitter @JCJudson...

style blogs

Most style blogs are focused on London, NY, Paris, Milan etc etc. So it is good to see a blog that, while it does include some London street style, includes that capital of fashion - Glasgow [Les Garcons de Glasgow]. The Sunday Herald did a piece on it - and ran a street style spread. Apparently next week they are in Stirling - do you think my hoody, skinnies and boots combo for sorting out the house will be a hit?

For a good take on LFW see dressmebest - not a Glasgow blog but it brought me to this amazing red and black dress...