http://moonbites.info/index.htmlHot News!en2012-05-18T16:32:04+01:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Tue, 15 May 2012 17:43:39 +0100Recipes to cook Now2012-05-18T16:32:04+01:00http://moonbites.info/blog/files/2e92edda57ee968eb850819a9f308030-5.html#unique-entry-id-5http://moonbites.info/blog/files/2e92edda57ee968eb850819a9f308030-5.html#unique-entry-id-5
Serves 4

We’ve got chard and spinach in the Community garden right now (thank goodness, not much else is growing!), but not enough for any of the 30 of us who garden to have a feast. Still, just a few leaves and stalks is plenty for making this, one of my favourite pasta recipes. It is a breeze for a mid-week supper. Use frozen spinach if you like, or if you don’t grow your own produce.



12 Peppadew whole sweet peppers, from a jar
300g dried pasta of your choice - I like Mafalda Corta
250g leaf spinach
Knob of butter
100g local goat’s cheese such as Stonegate, or Pant-ysgawn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg

1 Drain and slice the Pappadews finely and set to one side.
2 Cook the pasta in boiling water for 9 minutes, or as directed on the packet.
3 Place the spinach in a colander and set it over the pasta in the pan while it is cooking - place the saucepan lid over the spinach and steam for 2 minutes (the base of the colander may be in the pasta water, but that is OK). Remove the colander and chop the spinach in it with a metal spoon in the sink, until all the water has drained away and the spinach is shredded. Set aside on a plate.
4 Drain the pasta in the colander.
5 Melt the butter with the cheese in the saucepan, then add the pasta and spinach and toss them together in the cheese. Season well, then add the sliced Pappadews. Grate a little nutmeg over the pasta before serving.]]>Recipes to cook Now2012-05-18T16:20:59+01:00http://moonbites.info/blog/files/a2ea72df57251c66df6ecc71ff83565f-4.html#unique-entry-id-4http://moonbites.info/blog/files/a2ea72df57251c66df6ecc71ff83565f-4.html#unique-entry-id-4
Serves 4, or 2 as a main course

Here’s a recipe to make your asparagus go further. I really like the contrast in textures between the beans and the asparagus spears, and this year, with the weather playing havoc with the harvest, it’s a good way to make a meal out of a bundle.



2 bunches asparagus
1 tsp olive oil
1 red onion
1 red chilli
Small bunch flat leaf parsley
400g can flageolet beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

1 Snap the ends off the asparagus and place the spears on a plate. Drizzle with the olive oil. Prepare the remaining vegetables. Finely chop the red onion, chilli and parsley. Drain and rinse the beans in a sieve and shake dry.
2 Heat a ridged griddle pan or large frying pan until hot over a medium heat. Add the asparagus and cook, turning occasionally, until the spears are just tender. This will take about 8 minutes for medium thickness spears. Transfer to a plate and leave to cool.
3 Mix together the onion, chilli, parsley and beans in a bowl. Chop the thick stalks from the asparagus, leaving the spears about 10cm long. Roughly chop the ends and add them to the bowl. Mix well, season with salt and pepper and moisten the salad with some extra virgin olive oil.
4 Serve the asparagus spears with the bean and asparagus salad to one side.]]>Recipes to cook Now2012-05-18T16:16:11+01:00http://moonbites.info/blog/files/7e085bd18c36569db57afbecd524b2f4-3.html#unique-entry-id-3http://moonbites.info/blog/files/7e085bd18c36569db57afbecd524b2f4-3.html#unique-entry-id-3
Serves 6-8

How do you choose between trifle and Queen of puddings? You don’t have to with this dish! Of course it's best when created with home-made gingercake but the Co-op Truly Irresistible Ginger Loaf is excellent - not too sweet and stuffed full of preserved ginger.



500g rhubarb
4 large eggs
1 Co-op Truly Irresistible Ginger Loaf or similar ginger cake
75g granulated sugar
500ml milk
2 tbsp + 75g caster sugar
1 level tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Wash and trim the rhubarb, then cut it into 2cm chunks. Separate 3 of the eggs, adding the yolks to the remaining whole egg in a medium sized bowl. Keep the egg whites in a large bowl until required. Slice, then roughly crumble the cake into the bottom of a 1 - 1 1/2 litre ovenproof dish.
2 Cook the rhubarb in a covered saucepan with 2 tbsp water over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the granulated sugar, then pour the rhubarb over the cake in the dish.
3 Heat the milk in a pan until almost boiling. Meanwhile, lightly whisk the egg and yolks with the 2 tbsp caster sugar, cornflour and vanilla extract. Pour the hot milk onto the mixture, stirring all the time, then pour the custard back into the pan. Cook slowly over a moderate heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from catching and burning as it thickens. Cook until the custard thickly coats the back of the wooden spoon, then pour it gently and evenly into the dish over the rhubarb. Allow to cool, then use a piece of kitchen paper to remove any rhubarb juice that rises around the edge of the custard.
4 Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 200℃, 400℉. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then gradually whisk in the remaining sugar. Stop whisking as soon as the last of the sugar is incorporated. Pile the meringue carefully over the custard, then use of fork to pull it into peaks and ensure that every last bit of custard is covered. Bake for 5 minutes, until lightly golden. Serve warm or cold.]]>Recipes to cook Now2012-05-15T17:47:16+01:00http://moonbites.info/blog/files/f4ad0432ba64f50bd5dc17dd006adc12-2.html#unique-entry-id-2http://moonbites.info/blog/files/f4ad0432ba64f50bd5dc17dd006adc12-2.html#unique-entry-id-2
Serves 4
This has long been a Moonbites May favourite. OK, salmon is not local, but you could use trout from any one of our local fisheries, or Robbie the Fish at Jordan at Rose Green often stocks trout caught locally.



375g pack ready-rolled puff pastry
1 bunch asparagus
1 tsp olive oil
3 tomatoes
Large bunch chives
1 egg
2 medium salmon fillets, about 150g each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200ml tub creme fraiche

1 Preheat the oven to gas mark 7, 225℃, 425℉. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave to stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Snap the ends off the asparagus and cut the spears into 2-3cm lengths, then toss them in the olive oil. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds and core with a teaspoon. Finely dice the flesh. Finely chop most of the chives and set the rest to one side. Beat the egg in a small bowl.
2 Bake the salmon on an oiled baking sheet for 10 minutes. Add the prepared asparagus and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool slightly then pull the salmon off the skin into large thick flakes. Mix the salmon and asparagus with the tomatoes, chopped chives and seasonings, then carefully fold in the creme fraiche.
3 Unroll the pastry, leaving it on the plastic sheet. Spoon the filling down the middle, then brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Use the plastic to help you fold the pastry over the filling to make a long roll, and carefully seal the edges by pinching them together.
4 Carefully transfer the pie to an oiled baking sheet and brush all over with beaten egg. Slash the pastry at regular intervals with a sharp knife, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Snip the remaining chives into long lengths and scatter them over the pie before serving, hot or cold, in slices.]]>Recipes to cook Now2012-05-15T17:46:14+01:00http://moonbites.info/blog/files/2f9741216d2b16f4683e6daf7b075749-1.html#unique-entry-id-1http://moonbites.info/blog/files/2f9741216d2b16f4683e6daf7b075749-1.html#unique-entry-id-1Serves 3

I’ve had really enthusiastic feedback on this recipe over the past couple of years. When I first made it, it fed three of us because that was how many sat down to eat. Smaller portions and it would have done four. I am writing it without quantities (although, as a hint, we did use a 250ml pot of Goodwood cream between us and 4 sticks of rhubarb) as it’s the sort of thing you make with what you have. If you haven’t got gingercake crumbs, use oatmeal, toasted in a dry frying pan.



Trim, slice and stew some garden rhubarb with enough sugar to sweeten it. Cook until soft and then leave to cool. If you have some left-over ginger cake, break it into crumbs with your fingers and dry it out in a slow oven (gas 3, 160℃, 325℉) until crispy, or in the grill pan under a low grill. Stir frequently to prevent burning, then allow to cool. Whip some cream until thick and floppy, then add a little syrup from some preserved ginger and a couple of spoonfuls of the cake crumbs. Whip again. Finely chop one piece of preserved ginger per person.

Layer the cream, rhubarb and crumbs in glasses and decorate with a small splodge of cream and the chopped ginger. Eat as soon as you can - the ‘cranachan’ will last in the fridge but the layers will run together.]]>Recipes to cook Now2012-05-15T17:44:17+01:00http://moonbites.info/blog/files/9c5e74f9e13891705c4a0eb71c45d080-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://moonbites.info/blog/files/9c5e74f9e13891705c4a0eb71c45d080-0.html#unique-entry-id-0
How did we ever lose sight of the deliciousness of potato salad? I think it was the canned stuff that did it for me - dubiously textured vegetables in vinegary dressing and everything diced into regular pieces. A fine salad of waxy tubers is a treat and there is no better time than this, in my opinion, to be making it, before the new potatoes arrive and while country walks yield one of the treats of spring. Use chives all year round but right now, use the leaves or the stems and flowers of wild garlic for extra flavour - perfect. You don’t need quantities for this recipe - makes lots as it keeps well in the fridge although the salad is at it’s most sublime at room temperature, having never been chilled.



Waxy potatoes
Sussex Valley Classic Mayonnaise, or similar
Natural yogurt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 gherkins
A handful of leaves, or 3-4 stalks and flower-heads of wild garlic, or a handful of chives

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-2cm dice. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Mix equal quantities of mayo and yogurt together in a bowl and season. Drain the potatoes and cool for 5 minutes, then add them, warm to the dressing. Toss well and leave to cool. Slice or dice the gherkins and shred the garlic leaves, or finely chop the garlic stalks and any unopened flower heads. Add them to the cooled salad, then garnish with the open flowers just before serving.]]>