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    Flash Loaf

    31 October 2021 - By 

    A quick proving recipe with a high yeast content.  Difficult to judge on this showing due to a couple of significant change, such as the white flour being replaced with 00 pasta flour by necessity, naturally gumming up the outcome a little.  I always think Dan Lepard’s kneading methods are a little fussy, and I’d much rather have one longer kneading at the start than multiple short ones over a couple of hours, however this is a solid set of instructions for a quick, crusty loaf. The other change from the recipe is using grated apple rather than grated potato,…

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    Pak choy & Shiitake

    28 October 2021 - By 

    Very quick, simple stir fry, lovely and fresh tasting and could be a main or a side quite happily.  The sauce somewhat gummed up here and reduced to a coating, not at all unpleasant, but I’d love a touch more liquidity, so go easy on the potato flour. From Every Grain of Rice, pg. 180

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    Oven baked aubergine, tomato & sheep's cheese bechamel

    28 October 2021 - By 

    This is not what the book intends, the aubergine shells did not come out crispy and could in no way be filled so much as they could be draped into a lasagne dish.  So I took inspiration from this new physical form and created a sort of lasagne.  Flexible in that it can be a sauce with other things or a sort of stew on its own. Oo, also cheddar is not the suggested cheese, but used here it was fine.  I do think the nuttiness of gruyere would be a benefit, however. From Aegean, by Marianna Leivaditaki, pg. 118

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    Roast Roots & Feta

    27 October 2021 - By 

    A variation on a perviously cooked dish, no soft cheese was available so feta was experimented with, thrown in to the roasting dish with the roots. It seemed like this would be too much for it, with a part way trend towards becoming a burnt liquid, but blind faith was had and it ended up just perfect, squishy but firm and caramelised. Also in the mix this time were beetroot and green pepper, both fine additions. Though I certainly missed the parsnip. King of the roast vegetable… Ok, I’m not sure about that, the roast vegetable bracket is a fiercely…

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    Baked feta

    12 October 2021 - By 

    Exceptional thing to do to a slab of feta. Easy, quick, delicious. A subsequent ordering of the dish in a taverna revealed that you can really push the grilling quite far and let the feta soften more than I did here. Either way though, this should be repeated often. Greek-Style Baked Feta Recipe

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    Basque-style cheese cake

    4 October 2021 - By 

    I do believe that this is now my favourite cheesecake recipe. It turns out having the best qualities of both unbaked and baked cheesecakes. Though do remember to let it fully chill! Allowed to do so the texture is improved immeasurably and the lemon within intensifies and become syrupy. Some modifications made here out of necessity. No sour cream, the task of translating the entire refrigerated aisle of the Greek supermarket proving too much for me. The volume being made up with normal double cream. Only 500ml of cream cheese. No cornflour. These changes worked just fine, and I could…

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    Briam

    4 October 2021 - By 

    Tasty and flexible veggie bake, can make a batch and have many meals from it. As much as I have repeatedly, with single-minded insistence, attempted to make it work with sausages, they muddy the flavours a little and this is best with fish. Pictured here with too many chunks of sausage and a lovely cut of, I think, red mullet. Made in a beautiful Greek kitchen in Lefkada with presumably the same lighting designer as a Cornish tin mine, requiring the fumbled light of a phone to perform all but the most rudimentary tasks. Baffling.  This inadequacy also resulted in…

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    Everyday stir-fry

    23 September 2021 - By 

    Pleasant and relatively speedy. The de-seeded cucumber is a treat in stir frys. As ever I replaced the spring onion with leek. Would look to push the flavours a little here, I feel like the quality of my ingredients is perhaps letting some of these dishes down… Martini is not quite the substitute for shaoxing wine that sherry is. But this is good nonetheless. From Every Grain of Rice, pg. 120

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    Braised chicken with Chestnuts

    22 September 2021 - By 

    Wonderfully simple and quick.  A real comfort meal for a day that just doesn’t afford much space for cooking. Steaming hot, gentle flavours, a little sweet but not too much.  Very nice. Would perhaps look to thicken the sauce just a smidge more, either through flour or reduction.  It could stand the gentle heat of a pricked chilli, perhaps, but not at all essential.  And I would love to make a big batch with a whole chicken, to really pump those savoury flavours into it. From Every Grain of Rice, pg. 124