Spag bol!

When you really fancy it there's nothing on earth like a good old spag bol!  Everyone has their own way of making it and mine varies a little each time; depending what there is that needs using up in the cupboards or fridge.  We usually have ours a bit spicy but that depends on who's eating it.  This evening there was just The Woo and I so we had ours at two scotch bonnet strength!

What rules I do have are:

Always use at least onion and garlic as a base for the sauce.  My usuals also include a mirepoix of onion, celery and carrot softened in a little olive oil but I have done the sauce without the latter two on previous occasions.  Mine will nearly always have oregano, sun dried tomato paste or tomato puree as a bare minimum.  Other things I will always use if I have them are freshly chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.

Always brown the mince in a separate pan on a high heat and then add it to the softened onions etc.  I stir the browned meat into whatever's in the pan and THEN add the chopped tomatoes or passata.  I don't know why, maybe the drier ingredients work well together this way, but it does make the final dish taste better.  That's my opinion, anyway.

Always use a bit of red wine to deglaze the pan and then add it to the sauce.

I can't remember the last time a spag bol took less than about 90 minutes to cook out.  I think you need that sort of time for the sauce to reduce down and for whatever you've used in the pan to get early acquainted and share a bit of flavour.

Don't skimp on the seasoning.  Good quality sea salt and freshly ground black pepper never fails to enhance a saucy dish like this one.

I always stir the pasta into the sauce to get it well coated.  I usually use either linguine (my absolute preference) or spaghetti.  Parmesan cheese is an option but we're hardly ever without some in the fridge.  If you like parmesan as much as we do you can save the rind from your previous chunk and cook it in the sauce.  It imparts a lovely flavour - just remember to fish it out before you serve or warn people it's there!

…and my top tip is…I always add a splash of balsamic vinegar to mine and about the same quantity of sugar to cancel out the sharpness.  If you get the balance right I think it takes the humble spag bol to a whole new level!

Buon appetito!

Bacon and avocado salad

Sam's off down to Portsmouth to see Lydia for his birthday tomorrow so we took him out this morning to get the clothes he wanted as his present.  That done we headed into Maidstone for The Woo to pop her Nando's cherry.

We had the 'hot' whole chicken sharing platter and Sam had the half chicken with the same marinade.  I went for the X-rated sauce to dunk my chicken and chips in.  It really is searingly hot - at one point I could actually feel the inside of my ears burning!

She loved it, though, and already looking forward to a return visit sometime soon.  I think it's great value as well; just over thirty quid for the three of us and we were all full at close of play.

We dropped Sam off at home to do some drum practice while the Wicked Witch of North Tonbridge was out next door and then popped into Arthur's for a quick visit.  Into town for a mini-shop where we picked up a few salad bits as we fancied an avocado and bacon salad to use up some bits in the fridge.

Lovely, light and fresh with a zingy lime dressing.  Topped with crispy streaky bacon bits for a nice bit of crunch.

Slow braised venison shank with celeriac mash

As mentioned earlier we picked up some lovely venison shanks from the market and I decided to braise them and serve them up with celeriac mash.

In a large, oven-proof pan I started to soften three roughly chopped carrots, a couple of quartered onions and a couple of chopped sticks of celery in a little of the recently purchased Kent cob nut oil (although any vegetable oil works, obviously).  In also went two crushed cloves of garlic, a squeeze of tomato puree, a couple of bay leaves and a half teaspoon each of dried oregano, thyme and sage.  Once the vegetables had started to soften a little and the pan was fairly hot I poured in half a bottle of red wine.

In a separate pan I seared the shanks in a little more of the oil; seasoning with a little salt and pepper as I went.  These then went into the vegetables and the pan was deglazed with a little more wine and that too added to the braising melting pot.  I then added enough boiling water to just cover the shanks.  On went the lid and into a 140* oven for three and a half hours.  I checked twice and turned the shanks to ensure they were well and truly slow cooked.

For the mash I peeled and chunked up the celeriac, popped it all in a pan and covered with milk.  Into this went a couple of cloves of garlic and some seasoning.  The celeriac was cooked, at a simmer rather than a boil, until tender (about 20 minutes).  When cooked I drained and reserved the milk then blitzed the celeriac with a hand blender; adding a little of the milk to keep the mixture loose.  Into this was then stirred a leek which had been finely sliced and cooked until soft in about 25g of butter.  This was seasoned with a little black pepper.  No salt as there was already plenty in the mash.  A diced apple and about a tablespoon of chopped parsley was added in the last few minutes of cooking.

Once the shanks were cooked until the meat was literally falling off the bone I lifted them from the pan and kept them warm; wrapped in foil.  I drained the vegetables from the sauce and then reduced the liquid by about half and stirred in a few lumps of cold butter to make the resulting sauce good and glossy.

Served as shown with plenty of sauce for the mash to suck up.  They were delicious and a pleasant change from lamb; which could be cooked in exactly the same way.

Tonbridge Farmers' Market

The second Sunday of the month and there's only one place to be and that's Tonbridge Farmers' Market.  Steve has done such a wonderful thing with this event and obviously worked really hard to get it where it is now; in the final three competing for the top Kent market!

We got there for a bit of a family brunch and browse round.  I had a delicious breakfast roll from the Roundwood Orchard Pig stall (www.roundwoodorchardpig.co.uk); packed with sausage and bacon from their own pigs and a lovely egg with optional cheese and onion.  I went for the option...was so tempted to say opted for the option...but I won't!  It was delicious and highly recommended.  Alex and Joe had a hog roast roll and then a breakfast roll for seconds.  My second helping was a mackerel bap; a freshly barbecue grilled fillet with watercress and a very yummy horseradish and lemon mayonnaise which I will most definitely be copying!

The coffee from Jo's stall was a great early kick off as well!

The Woo and I came away with a couple of venison shanks, great value at around four quid each, which are slow braising in the oven as we speak.  She also treated me to a box of my favourite Dudda's Tun cider and some Kent cob nut oil.  I picked up some lovely (still earth encrusted) carrots, celeriac and leeks for the mash to accompany the venison.

If you're local don't miss this monthly market.  We see people we know every time and it's a great place to meet for a bite to eat and/or a mooch around a huge variety of stalls.  It's not just a food market and there are some amazing things for sale - plus free tasters at most of them.  Apparently there were over 60 stalls there this morning and it was really starting to buzz as we left.

You can follow the market on Twitter - @TonbridgeFmMrkt and sign up for a reminder email/text so you don't miss the next one.  The next one's Feb 10th so maybe see you there?

Chilli Christmas

Alex and Joe, my two sons, arrived on this afternoon for our belated Christmas.  I had a few beers with them and Sam whist the chilli was on the go for the evening feast and we waited for The Woo to get back from Cath's.  Once she arrived and Annie and Ben turned up there was a bit of festive pressie swapping prior to supper.  Annie and Ben left to do a bit of shopping and take Jack home then she came back for a bit of food and (much more!) drink.

During the afternoon I'd rustled up a decently hot chilli which had two scotch bonnets hidden deep inside and we had this with some turmeric vegetable rice, guacamole,  salsa and soured cream.  On the side we had a cheesy nacho sort of thing just to use up some tortilla chips.

The guacamole was a fairly standard offering; three mashed up avocados, a couple of cloves of garlic that had been finely chopped, a little olive oil to loosen things up, the juice of a lime, a little chopped coriander and a touch of seasoning.  All mixed together and left in the fridge for an hour or so to let the flavours develop.

The salsa is one that I have made for years and hasn't changed even slightly in all that time.  I made a large bowlful as there were a few of us but you can cut the measurements down to suit you.  This one was enough for the seven of us.

Into the bowl went four finely chopped (everything in this dish needs to be finely chopped and the end result is well worth the time) plum tomatoes which had been de-skinned and deseeded.  Next a large red onion, a couple of garlic cloves, two red chillies, also deseeded, and the juice of a lime.  A good handful of chopped coriander, a decent pinch of salt and pepper and enough olive oil to get things moving and it was job done.  Don't overdo the oil; you want just enough to lubricate the salsa and help get the flavours going but not too much as to make it really gloopy...and yes, it is a real word...ask Phoebe!

This was clingfilmed and into the fridge for a good couple of hours.  It needs to have at least this long in the fridge to get really tasty - trust me.

It went really well with the chilli but is also a great favourite at barbecues where it's a delicious accompaniment to any grilled meat or fish.  It keeps well in the fridge for a day or so but any longer and it gets a bit tired looking (and tasting).  If you like it as much as we do there's never any left anyway!

After supper the google drinking game started and everything rapidly degenerated; I was in my usual starring role as stupidly grinning drunk by the end of proceedings!

Birthday curry night

Today was The Woo's birthday.  A fairly quiet day but spent together so well worth it.  Breakfast in bed was a nice cheesy omelette each and then a few chores as we had David and Louise over for the evening.

The Coppinses arrived and a curry from Ashanok in York Parade was ordered to be delivered.  Garlic chilli chicken for me and the lamb version for The Woo and her brother.  Louise went for the dohi murgh.  Rice, nans, various bhajis and we were set to rock and roll.

A great evening where the wine flowed; as did the conversation.  Probably a bit too much vino collapso but, hey ho, that's what a birthday's all about!

A great evening.  Thanks guys!

Cottage Pie three ways

Sister-in-Law, Lisa, is in a bit of a bad way at the moment.  She's hurt her neck and is having to take it easy and rest.  She's so bad that Joe had to take the day off work to look after her.  Lisa's an absolute dynamo usually so hopefully it won't last too long and get her down.  I had already planned a cottage pie for today; with an extra bit for Arthur (The Woo's dad) but my early morning instructions from The Woo were that we were making enough for Joe, Lisa and the girls as well!

So, just over a kilo of mince and about four kilos of potatoes later we were ready to go.  I rustled up the mixture during the afternoon and made up the three lots of pies in various sized dishes and we were all set to go with all guns blazing!

Half past four was Zero Hour and it was into the car with the deliveries with the first stop at Arthur's.  Oven on and pie in on a low heat with instructions to get the kettle filled and ready for our return.

Round to Joe and Lisa's with their two pies.  Poor Lisa was flat on her back on the sofa with their dog, Ruby, making the most of the fact that she was allowed up there too!  A brief visit as we had to get back to sort the Patriarch out!

Back to Arthur's and the oven was turned up to brown the cheese topping, his marrowfat peas (a favourite of mine too!) were zapped in the microwave and The Woo rustled up a quick gravy.  We had a quick cuppa while he ate and then back to QFK to sort ours out.

I'm blogging whilst ours heats up in the oven and we're having curly kale and tat soi with ours.  We found the latter whilst shopping in Waitrose earlier and it looks like bok choi but with thinner stems and is a bit less leafy.

So that's cottage pie three ways.  One dish but, in true family style, shared at three different locations.  I'm lucky to be part of this family and it's nice to be able to do something in return for all the wonderful things they have done for us in the past couple of years.  Bargain!