Leek and Potato Soup Topped with Broccoli Shards, Crispy Bacon and Brie Bombs

I'm staying in the caravan on my own this week as I'm working away from home in The Cotswolds. The town of Moreton-in-Marsh is my host and a quick dash to the local Co-op just before closing time provided some leeks and potatoes, coupled with broccoli, bacon and brie a soup recipe was born. Leek and potato soup on its own is a gratifying winter dish but add a few toppings and it takes it to the next level. The little bombs of gooey brie are tremendous surprise nuggets of pure joy, give them a go and I promise you will love it.

Ingredients:

2x Leeks
6x Potatoes
1x Vegetable stock cube
2x Broccoli Florets
4x Bacon Rashers
1tsp English mustard powder
80g Brie
Chili flakes (optional)
Onion flakes (optional)
Cold pressed rapeseed oil

Method:

1. Peel and chop the potatoes into fairly small chunks then bring to a simmer in a lidded pan with the water just covering the potatoes.
2. Wash and slice the leeks then add to pan 10 minutes after the potatoes, continue to simmer until soft.
3. Crumble in the vegetable stock cube and stir through the mustard powder then blend with a hand blender until smooth.
4. Taste, season, keep warm with the lid on the pan.
5. Fry the bacon rasher in a frying pan until crispy, set aside on some kitchen paper to dry then break up with your fingers into crispy bits.
6. Thinly slice the broccoli and gently fry in the bacon fat.
7. Serve in a bowl topped with the florets first, then the bacon bits followed by the brie cut into little cubes. For an extra kick add the onion and chili flakes then drizzle over a drop of rapeseed oil.

Easy Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker

What can be more inviting than returning to the van to smell the aroma of a hearty beef stew bubbling away nicely in the slow cooker? It is so simple to make in the morning then leave it all day so its really just a case of dishing up when you're ready for it. No cooking tonight and very little washing up gets a big thumbs up from our family.

Ingredients:

Phase 1:
750g Stewing steak
1x Bottle (330ml) Cider
300g Carrots, chopped and peeled
200g Baby button mushrooms
500g Pancetta
1x Can of chickpeas (300g)
2x Garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
500g New potatoes
2x Onions
1tbsp Dijon mustard
1tbsp Soy sauce
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1tsp Ground black pepper
1tsp Smoked paprika
1tsp Dried mixed herbs
1x Bay leaf
1x Star anise petal
500ml Water
2x Beef stock cubes

Phase 2:
1x Can of butter beans
1x Cup of peas
1x Cup of broad beans
1tbsp Butter
1tbsp Plain flour


Method:

1. If the stewing steak isn't cut into chunks do that then season and brown in a frying pan before putting in the slow cooker.
2. Add everything else in phase 1 to the slow cooker then leave it on low all day.
3. When you get back to the van  commence phase 2 by mixing the butter and flour into a paste to make a beurre manié and add it to the slow cooker along with beans and peas. Allow to cook for half an hour then serve with some nice bread and butter.

Leek and Potato Frittata

It was tea time in the van and we had some leeks, potatoes, eggs and cheese so what else to make but a frittata. We used new potatoes halved then cut into 1cm slices but you can use any spud you like, in fact you can use any vegetable you might have left over in the fridge to make this simple satisfying dish.

Ingredients:

10x New potatoes, halved and sliced.
1x Leeks, also halved and sliced
1x Garlic clove, crushed
6x Eggs
Grated cheese, a couple of handfuls
Fresh herbs of choice to top, I used dill because it is all I had.
Butter for frying


Method:

1. Cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and allow to dry off.
2. In a frying pan cook the potatoes in butter until just about turning golden. Add the leeks and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Beat the eggs together with some salt and pepper then add to the pan and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes.
4. Top with grated cheese then pop under a medium grill until the cheese is bubbling.
5. Dust with some fresh herbs, allow to cool for 5 minutes then serve.

Simple Pan Fried Sea Bass with French Beans and New Potatoes

No sauce, no spice, no flavours. Good, fresh food cooked simply can be just as delicious as the most complex dishes. Simply pan fried in rapeseed oil the fresh sea bass fillets are perfectly joined with fresh, boiled new potatoes topped with a bit of dill, and french beans blanched then finished off in a pan with a bit of butter. The whole thing takes about 10 minutes and is a delightful summertime dinner.

Ingredients:

Sea bass fillets
New Potatoes
French Beans
Fresh Dill
Butter
Rapeseed oil
Lemon


Method:

1. Bring a pan of salted water to boil then add the new potatoes and simmer for about ten minutes or until soft. Stab them with a fork and if they slide off they are ready. Drain then add a blob of butter, salt and pepper and spin around the pan to evenly coat.
2. Blanch the beans in boiling water for about three minutes then drain. Allow to dry then finish off in a frying pan with a blob of butter and somne salt and pepper.
3. Season the sea bass fillets then fry skin side down in a drop of rapeseed oil in a  frying pan on mid-high heat for 2-3 minutes, flip over for a minute then serve with the beans and the spuds topped with dill and a wedge of lemon. Simple and delicious.

Shropshire Fidget Pancakes topped with Shropshire Blue Cheese

It's pancake day today and as we are in Shropshire I wanted to find a meal that ticked the local recipes box but also worked well with pancakes. Shropshire Fidget Pie was heading for extinction until The Hairy Bikers rode into Ludlow and revived the recipe, and the creamy, porky, appley filling lends itself perfectly to a savoury yet sweet pancake. Topped with Shropshire blue cheese it cant be more Shroppy!

 

Ingredients:

For the Pancakes:
Flour - 12 tablespoons
Eggs - 2
Milk - 300ml
Butter for frying

For the Fidget:
Cooked ham, chopped into bite size chunks, about 250g
2x Apples, peeled and diced
1x Large onion, halved and finely sliced
1/2 Bottle of dry cider (250ml)
125ml Double cream
2x Big potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite size chunks
1tsp English mustard
Sugar or honey
Sage leaves
Shropshire blue cheese, we used Peakdale
Bread crumbs


Method:

For the Pancakes:
1. Whizz up all the pancake mix with a hand-blender or beat together with a whisk until smooth.
2. Get a frying pan on medium heat and when hot chuck in a knob of butter, coat the pan then pour in a pancake.
3. Cook for about 30 seconds then flip with a fish slice. You can toss them in a caravan but be careful of those low ceilings! Make as many pancakes as you need and set aside stacked on a plate.

For the Fidget:
1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan with seasoned water and bring to the boil.
2. When the water reaches boiling point add the sliced onions. Boil for 5 minutes.
3. Drain the water from the spuds and onions then add the cider, cream, mustard, ham and apples.
4. Finely chop about 12 sage leaves and add to the pan. Heat gently until the potatoes and apples are done.
4. Season with salt and pepper and sweeten to your taste with honey or a pinch of sugar.

To Serve:
Simply get a pancake and fill it with fidget mixture and roll it all up. Leave some of the sauce for later. Top with grated Shropshire blue cheese and breadcrumbs and pop under the grill until the cheese is all bubbly melty and the breadcrumbs toasted. Plate up with some more of the creamy sauce saved earlier. You can enjoy as they or serve with some greens, we dished up with asparagus and topped with fried sage leaves.

Pan Fried Sea Bass with Potted Shrimps and Lancashire Potato Cakes

For our final homage to all foody things great about Lancashire I wanted to use potted shrimps and make a potato cake, and here it is!

Ingredients:

2x Sea bass fillets
2x Large spuds
2x Garlic cloves, peeled
1x Pot of potted shrimps
1x Small savoy cabbage
Half a lemon
Frozen peas
Self raising flour
Butter


Method:

1. Peel and chop the spuds, boil with the garlic cloves and allow to cool a little.
2. Mash the potato with a big knob of butter and season.
3. Mix self raising flour into the mash to make a dough, roughly 4 parts spud to 1 part flour.
4. Pat lumps of dough into cakes about 1/2" thick, leave them roughly shaped for rustic or trim up into squares or triangles for posh.
5. Heat some oil in a frying pan and medium heat and turn the oven on low. Fry the cakes in the pan, turning occasionally, then put them in the oven to keep warm.
6. Shred the cabbage and stir fry in a wok with lemon zest, at the end squeeze in the juice of the lemon and season.
7. At the same time as cooking the cabbage, dry the bass on kitchen roll, score the skin at 1" intervals, season, then place skinside down in the frying pan used for the cakes on medium heat. You must press the fish down gently as it curls, it will only curl for a minute or so. Fry skinside for about 3-4 minutes then flip over fry the flesh for 1 minute.
8. Remove the fish from the pan and bung in a handful of peas for a minute.
9. Put the pot of shrimps in the microwave for about 20 seconds or until the lid rises.
10. Plate up and pour over the lovely buttery shrimps. I gave mine a sprinkle with Lancashire Sauce too, yum!

Upon reflection it would probably of been easier to buy ready made potato cakes from Booths. I'll probably make this at home with rosti's. You could even use potato waffles!

Crispy Skin Salmon, Lemony Greens, Garlic New Spuds and a Poached Egg

Salmon fillets with crispy skin are delicious and easy to do too. It took me a long time to work out how to cook a perfect poached egg and then one day, whilst staying on Passage Farm CL in Gloucestershire, I learned how simple it is. The eggs have to be no older than 3 days. That's it. If they are that fresh they will poach perfectly every time, anything older will separate and get messy.

Ingredients:

2x Smoked Salmon Fillets
1x Bag of new potatoes
2x Eggs. We used bantam eggs from the local farm.
1x Garlic clove.
Half a lemon.
Butter.
Runner beans.
Peas.


Method:

1.  Peel the garlic and crush the clove with a fork until it is a smooth paste. Mix the paste with the butter, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge.
2. Get the new spuds on the boil.
3. Slice the side off the runner beans length ways, trying not to cut the kidney beans. Squeeze out the beans then slice the rest of the green bean.
4. Get a pan of water for the eggs on the heat.
5. Bung all the beans in a frying pan or work and gently saute with some nice oil.
6. After a few minutes add the peas to the beans and zest the lemon in.
7.  Oil the skin side of the salmon and season with salt. Place skin side down into a hot frying pan. Season the upturned pink side. Cook for 3 minutes then flip over and cook for 1 further minute only.
8. Crack the egg into a bowl then empty from the bowl into the pan of barely simmering water, just a few bubbles are needed.
9. Take the spuds off and drain, mix the garlic butter with the spuds and season.
10. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the runners.
11. Plate up!