About Me
- CampervanChef
- Welcome to the new Campervan Chef blog! This started out life as a blog called 'Kylie's Kitchen' and ran out of steam some time ago. Since then life has changed and Kylie's Kitchen as it stood is no more. I started out as an an enthusiastic home cook but now work as a chef and cook for others in all sorts of situations. You'll find out more about this side of me if you keep tabs on my scribbles on here. I blog about food and cooking, life, family, friends and pets. I will also be keeping you up to date with our travels to our second home; the beautiful Greek island of Skiathos and the dog shelter we support there. Join us as our journey through life continues...
Monday, 6 August 2012
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Dog walk and dinner
We spent yesterday evening at Joe and Lisa's. Family barbie for Joe's birthday. Great evening. My Joe was there but Alex, Claire and The Woo's Joe were missed. There wasn't even an inkling of a family 'Bohemian Rhapsody'!
Lazy day today. Up late and a huge lunchtime brekkie with all the trimmings then a lovely long dog walk with The Woo in some gorgeous sunshine. All the dogs enjoyed it; particularly our messy partners in crime - Freya and Bobby.
Home then for a very chilled out afternoon of reading and snoozing...well The Woo was doing the reading and I was most definitely in snooze mode. I think yesterday's 4.45am alarm call, a long day in the bakery and then an exceptionally late night followed by a moonlit walk home over the fields just about did me in!
Supper this evening is some lamb steaks which I have marinated in garlic, rosemary and olive oil. With these we are having some lovely new potatoes from the garden; Arthur's garden - not mine - and easy mushy peas.
The peas are so easy to do and we have them quite a lot with all sorts of dishes. I added a small packet of frozen petit pois to a pan of boiling salted water and cooked them, covered, for a few minutes only. In the pan was a clove of garlic which was peeled and halved. The peas need to be a touch over the 'just done' stage. I drained therm whilst hot, removed the garlic as this is for background flavour only and then added some chopped mint from the garden (mine this time). The mint was allowed to warm up in the hot peas for a minute or so and then the whole lot was roughly mashed using a potato masher. You don't need to go mad with this. We're after a rough chop rather than a puree and a few whole peas among the well mashed and those in between are just fine.
To this was added a good lug of decent olive oil which was stirred through. I added a little sea salt and black pepper. Not much salt as there was a fair bit in the cooking water. The mushy peas were left to cool until ready to serve when I warmed them through; stirring occasionally to prevent them sticking to the bottom. You want them warm and not lip burningly hot as this seems to help the flavour.
This is also good with a little onion or shallot. I sometimes lightly soften these in a little butter in a pan and add them to the peas after the mashing stage. All mixed together they make a delicious variant.
Supper this evening is some lamb steaks which I have marinated in garlic, rosemary and olive oil. With these we are having some lovely new potatoes from the garden; Arthur's garden - not mine - and easy mushy peas.
The peas are so easy to do and we have them quite a lot with all sorts of dishes. I added a small packet of frozen petit pois to a pan of boiling salted water and cooked them, covered, for a few minutes only. In the pan was a clove of garlic which was peeled and halved. The peas need to be a touch over the 'just done' stage. I drained therm whilst hot, removed the garlic as this is for background flavour only and then added some chopped mint from the garden (mine this time). The mint was allowed to warm up in the hot peas for a minute or so and then the whole lot was roughly mashed using a potato masher. You don't need to go mad with this. We're after a rough chop rather than a puree and a few whole peas among the well mashed and those in between are just fine.
To this was added a good lug of decent olive oil which was stirred through. I added a little sea salt and black pepper. Not much salt as there was a fair bit in the cooking water. The mushy peas were left to cool until ready to serve when I warmed them through; stirring occasionally to prevent them sticking to the bottom. You want them warm and not lip burningly hot as this seems to help the flavour.
This is also good with a little onion or shallot. I sometimes lightly soften these in a little butter in a pan and add them to the peas after the mashing stage. All mixed together they make a delicious variant.
Friday, 3 August 2012
Braised red cabbage
Joe and Claire are hopefully up again later this evening. I'm working in the morning (4.45am alarm! Yuk!) but The Woo has promised them a freshly baked croissant breakfast! They won't get here until late so The Rock Chick and I are having the Samuel Pepys pork chops, roast potatoes and red cabbage I've blogged about earlier. I've told you about the chops but here's my braised red cabbage recipe if you fancy trying it. Great with roast duck, good sausages and lamb too. I've added chopped apple this evening as it's with pork but cherries would work well with the duck. With lamb or beef I would tend to leave any fruit out but it's really up to you either way.
You need a fairly large pan as the red cabbage, although it quickly melts down, starts off taking up loads of room.
So, in the pan I gently cooked two small and finely sliced red onions in about a glass and a half of red wine. To this was added sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, a heaped teaspoon of ground cumin and about half as much ground coriander. As the onions started to soften in the wine I added a healthy lug of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of sugar. Don't worry at this stage whether it's too sweet or too vinegary as you can adjust the balance later on and it's very much a question of personal taste as anyway. With the pork chops I make it a little sweeter as the accompanying sauce is very sharp but with duck a bit more vinegar helps to cut through the fat. Once the onions were fairly soft (about 20 minutes on a very low heat) I added half of a large, finely sliced red cabbage. You can do more if you want as this cabbage goes really well with cheese and biscuits once it's cooled down, keeps in the fridge for a good three or four days and freezes well too.
This was then cooked on a very low heat with the lid on for about an hour, stirring occasionally to get the reduced wine well and truly soaked up. I tasted a couple of times to check for balance and this is when you can bung in a bit more sugar or vinegar if required. I've done this so many times I had it just about right so left it alone. Once the cabbage is lovely and soft you can either serve or just turn off the gas and reheat when required. With this dish I think it's better to overcook rather than undercook it as you do want it all meltingly soft and unctuous.
You need a fairly large pan as the red cabbage, although it quickly melts down, starts off taking up loads of room.
So, in the pan I gently cooked two small and finely sliced red onions in about a glass and a half of red wine. To this was added sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, a heaped teaspoon of ground cumin and about half as much ground coriander. As the onions started to soften in the wine I added a healthy lug of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of sugar. Don't worry at this stage whether it's too sweet or too vinegary as you can adjust the balance later on and it's very much a question of personal taste as anyway. With the pork chops I make it a little sweeter as the accompanying sauce is very sharp but with duck a bit more vinegar helps to cut through the fat. Once the onions were fairly soft (about 20 minutes on a very low heat) I added half of a large, finely sliced red cabbage. You can do more if you want as this cabbage goes really well with cheese and biscuits once it's cooled down, keeps in the fridge for a good three or four days and freezes well too.
This was then cooked on a very low heat with the lid on for about an hour, stirring occasionally to get the reduced wine well and truly soaked up. I tasted a couple of times to check for balance and this is when you can bung in a bit more sugar or vinegar if required. I've done this so many times I had it just about right so left it alone. Once the cabbage is lovely and soft you can either serve or just turn off the gas and reheat when required. With this dish I think it's better to overcook rather than undercook it as you do want it all meltingly soft and unctuous.
Saying goodbye
Jen's funeral was yesterday. It was a sad but exceptionally beautiful event. Tears and laughter; with the laughter probably the greater part. Just what the lovely lady herself would have wanted. Loads of people turned up at the crem for the very non-religious celebration of her life and all five of her grandchildren made everyone exceptionally proud by sharing some very poignant memories of their beloved grandma. Lots of colour in evidence as she left strict instructions to that effect!
Back to The Rose and Crown in Tonbridge for a lovely spread of sarnies, cakes, canapés etc. The guys there did us proud! This is where we have the monthly Tweet Up although The Woo and I have missed the last couple due to circumstances beyond our control. It's a great place for an informal function and the staff are always so helpful and pleasant. Highly recommended.
Then it was back to Coppins HQ for a serious family piss up. The Woo and I don't remember getting home and David can't remember anyone leaving...so it was clearly a good do and well needed!
5am alarm for me this morning as I was doing my first day on the fish counter at Waitrose. The walk in certainly cleared my head and I had a great day. Thoroughly enjoyable. I'm there most Thursdays and Fridays now so pop in and say hello (and buy some fish!) if you're passing.
Back to The Rose and Crown in Tonbridge for a lovely spread of sarnies, cakes, canapés etc. The guys there did us proud! This is where we have the monthly Tweet Up although The Woo and I have missed the last couple due to circumstances beyond our control. It's a great place for an informal function and the staff are always so helpful and pleasant. Highly recommended.
Then it was back to Coppins HQ for a serious family piss up. The Woo and I don't remember getting home and David can't remember anyone leaving...so it was clearly a good do and well needed!
5am alarm for me this morning as I was doing my first day on the fish counter at Waitrose. The walk in certainly cleared my head and I had a great day. Thoroughly enjoyable. I'm there most Thursdays and Fridays now so pop in and say hello (and buy some fish!) if you're passing.
Monday, 30 July 2012
More chicken and chorizo
Busy day today. The Woo has been giving the front room and hall a good old clean as it's all been a bit neglected with recent events. Sam did the first floor bathroom but forgot to clean the loo! I was busy painting the new guest bedroom after the departure of Joe to pastures new. He's sharing a house near Gillingham with the rest of his band. Check them out, by the way. They're called The Vibes and are a great covers band for weddings etc. They're on YouTube and have a site if you google the name.
Didn't get out shopping as I wanted to get as much done in the bedroom as possible. We want it ready for Joe and Claire when they come on Wednesday. We did pop up and see Arthur early evening, though, just to make sure he was OK. He's doing really well in the circumstances and is being well looked after by the family. Good timing, too, as he gave us a couple of yummy looking, garden fresh yellow courgettes.
So this evening it's a 'use up what's in the fridge' day with freebie courgettes!
Chicken and chorizo rice with mixed vegetables
We had a bit of raw chicken left over from yesterday and loads of chorizo so I came up with this twist on my jewelled rice that's been blogged about before.
In a large pan I softened a small sliced onion in about 25g of butter and the usual lug of olive oil to prevent the butter from burning. To this was added a couple of finely chopped big fat garlic cloves from the farm shop, a couple of sliced red chillies, about a teaspoon of tomato puree and a sprinkle of dried oregano. As this was softening I sliced up about 8" of chorizo and diced about 150g of chicken breast. This was added and the heat turned up a bit to colour the chicken on all sides. I diced it in about 1cm cubes so it cooked through really quickly. Once the chicken was coloured I added a handful of frozen peas, about half a small tin of sweetcorn, half a dozen small mixed heritage tomatoes (again from Hadlow Farm Shop) which I halved/quartered depending on size and the sliced courgette. This was all stirred together and cooked through.
Once done I added enough cooked brown rice for the two of us, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mixed it all together. Easy and yummy!
Didn't get out shopping as I wanted to get as much done in the bedroom as possible. We want it ready for Joe and Claire when they come on Wednesday. We did pop up and see Arthur early evening, though, just to make sure he was OK. He's doing really well in the circumstances and is being well looked after by the family. Good timing, too, as he gave us a couple of yummy looking, garden fresh yellow courgettes.
So this evening it's a 'use up what's in the fridge' day with freebie courgettes!
Chicken and chorizo rice with mixed vegetables
We had a bit of raw chicken left over from yesterday and loads of chorizo so I came up with this twist on my jewelled rice that's been blogged about before.
In a large pan I softened a small sliced onion in about 25g of butter and the usual lug of olive oil to prevent the butter from burning. To this was added a couple of finely chopped big fat garlic cloves from the farm shop, a couple of sliced red chillies, about a teaspoon of tomato puree and a sprinkle of dried oregano. As this was softening I sliced up about 8" of chorizo and diced about 150g of chicken breast. This was added and the heat turned up a bit to colour the chicken on all sides. I diced it in about 1cm cubes so it cooked through really quickly. Once the chicken was coloured I added a handful of frozen peas, about half a small tin of sweetcorn, half a dozen small mixed heritage tomatoes (again from Hadlow Farm Shop) which I halved/quartered depending on size and the sliced courgette. This was all stirred together and cooked through.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Allotted time
Found out yesterday that I am now the proud owner of a five rod (steady campers!) allotment at Longmead...which for you non-locals is about 10 minutes walk from home. Well overgrown but all mine so watch this space for updates!
Back with a vengeance!
First post for a while after a few difficult weeks so it might take a while to get back in the groove...bear with me!
The Woo's had a nightmare time recently looking after her mum and that, coupled with a glut of eggs from the girls, had her wanting a frittata for supper. We've had a bit of a chicken and chorizo vibe going on for a few days and that got me thinking...
My chicken and chorizo frittata...bet you didn't see that one coming!!
In an oven proof frying pan I softened a finely sliced small onion in about 25g of unsalted butter with a glug of olive oil to make sure it didn't burn. To this I added three finely chopped cloves of garlic, a chopped up red chilli, about 8" of chorizo (on offer in Sainsbury's at the moment at two whole rings for £4) which was finely sliced, 150g of cubed chicken breast (small dice), about two teaspoons of tomato puree and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Once this was cooked through I added half a dozen lightly seasoned, lightly beaten eggs and swirled the pan to ensure that there was an even covering of yellow gorgeousness. This was cooked on a medium heat for a few minutes and then whacked in a 180* oven for about 3 minutes to cook the egg to setting point. The main thing is to make sure the chicken is cooked through but if you make sure the dice is small it will be done in just a minute or three. This was the end result. We like ours slightly underdone as we know how fresh the eggs are but you can adjust the oven time to suit your preference.
Wendy's mum, Jen, passed away late Wednesday afternoon after a battle with that bastard cancer thing. I had only known her two years but loved her dearly; as did everyone who knew her. She will be so so sadly missed but I am daily blessed by being part of the loving family that she and her husband, Arthur, created. Sleep soundly, Jen.
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