Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Cottage Cooking Club - January Recipes


January marks the ninth month of our international online cooking group, The Cottage Cooking Club. As a group, recipe by recipe, we are cooking and learning our way through a wonderful vegetable cookbook written in 2011 by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, called „River Cottage Everyday Veg“.

The Cottage Cooking Club is meant to be a project aimed at incorporating more vegetable dishes in our everyday cooking, getting to know less known, forgotten or heritage vegetables, learning new ways to prepare tasty and healthy dishes, and sharing them with family and friends.

All the members of this cooking group will make an effort to use as much local, regional, organic and also seasonal produce as is resonably possible. With that goal in mind, during the month of January, I prepared a nice array of vegetable dishes from the recipe line-up.

Since I prepared seven out of ten recipes, I will write about each dish according to the order in which I prepared them.

My first recipe for this January post was the Spelt Salad with Squash and Fennel (page 72) from the chapter "Hearty Salads". I have made variations of this wonderful salad many times before. Sometimes I will use medium-sized or large pearl barley, or pearled spelt and sometimes wheatberries. Depending on the season, I will also add different kinds of vegtables to it.




This time I added oven-roasted butternut squash and fennel, as per the recipe. The roasting brings out the best in those two lovely vegetables. While roasting, the butternut squash will turn sweet and creamy and the fennel will develop the most wonderful anisseed flavor paired with a distinct sweetness as well. Heavenly.The dressing is quickly prepared with olive oil from the roasting pan, lemon juice, pepper, salt, Parm and chopped Italian parsley – make sure to keep the fennel fronds for the final touch.

This salad is now a true family-favorite and I cannot stress enough that you should really be making this on a regular basis. The left-overs are almost more delicious than the freshly-prepared salad and are perfect for packing-up for the office or for school.




The second recipe was one I was looking forward the most – fennel is my very favorite veg these days and the Fennel and Celeriac Soup with Orange Zest (page 142) from the chapter „Hefty Soups“  really got my attention.




The soup is made with fennel and some celeriac as the vegtable base, then some shallots and homemade vegetable stock (page 130) and a touch of orange zest. Before serving, add a nice dollop of crème fraîche. While roasting makes fennel sweet and tender, cooking fennel in the stock brings out a rather mild aniseed flavor, one that is complemented in the most delicious of ways by the orange zest. The addition of the crème fraîche makes for an even more velvety texture. Fennel is excellent for making soup we really enjoyed it but I like fennel even better when it is sweet and oven-roasted (above) and adorned by nothing else than a really good-quality salt for example.




The third recipe I prepared was the dish with the most lovely name of them all, the Curried Bubble and Squeak (page 228)from the chapter „Store-cupboard Suppers“.




The name refers to the appetizing sound this stir-up of cooked potatoes and greens makes as it cooks. As kitchen recycling goes, this is probably the most useful of all, neatly dispensing with those most difficult of leftovers. I used cold cooked potatoes and Brussels sprouts as the main stars of this dish – then some finely sliced onions, salt, pepper and a mild curry powder. Kids loved this, it is not unlke the pan-fried potatoes that we make around here, except that you can add just about anything edible to it that strikes your fancy. Delicious. Easy. Fool-proof.




The fourth recipe this month was Big Baked Mushrooms (page 385) from the chapter „Side Dishes“. Love at first bite.




This will be my go to recipe for a mushroom side-dish in the future and although I did not find large mushrooms for this recipe, the recipe worked just the same. Dot mushrooom caps with butter, scatter on some garlic, then salt and pepper to taste and bake for a good 15 minutes, then I added some cheese and baked them for a few minutes more. Done.




When served on a bed of various greens such as red baby Swiss chard leaves that taste a little like spinach and gorgeous dark burgundy-colored red beet leaves, these easy mushrooms are the most tempting, utterly delicious side-dish that you can imagine – pure veg bliss on a plate.




The fifth recipe was my favorite dip from this book so far, the Artichoke and White Bean Dip (page 303) from the chapter of „Mezze & Tapas“.




The dip consists of artichoke hearts (a great staple to have), onion, garlic, cannellini beans (another great staple to have), fresh lemon juice, ground red pepper flakes, Greek yogurt, salt and pepper. Heat it all up and give the ingredients a good whiz in the food processor – done.




Add some homemade pita chips with chives to the mix or serve alongside fresh veg (as soon as spring rolls around, that will be my go to option) and you will have a winner. It is a creamy dip, not heavy at all, with just the right tang from the yogurt and the fresh lemon juice – to round out the taste of the dip, I added a few drops of cold-pressed hemp oil  – this cold-pressed oil from our beloved oil mill in Bonn, was given to me as a Christmas gift. While this oil is one of the most healthy oils you can use to finish-off a dish, it does have a distinct taste that paired well with the creamy dip. Besides, since my artichoke hearts were packed in water, not oil, the dip was not weighed down at all – just right.




The sixth recipe was Cauliflower with toasted Seeds (page 108) from the chapter „Raw Assemblies“. What a lovely way to enjoy cauliflower.




At first you need to lightly dry-roast sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. Then you slice some cauliflower florets as thinly as possible. All that is left to do is prepare the vinaigrette using lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest (instead if the sumac), pepper and salt – served on a bed of various salad greens, this makes one wonderful winter salad with lots of diffferent textures. The crunchiness from the nuts and the raw cauliflower and the freshness from the greens easily made this one of my favorite dishes.




The last recipe for this month was the Beetroot Pizza with Cheddar (page 180) from the chapter of „Bready Things“.

Now this is one fun way to enjoy pizza. With a rather unusual topping of homemade tomato sauce (page 58), roasted beetroots (page 92) and one portion of the magic bread dough (page 172), this pizza turned out so fabulous, I could not believe it.




Potentially, this pizza can be put together in no time at all using storebought sauce, pre-cooked beets (available around here in the veg isle) and ready-made pizza dough and there is nothing wrong with that. But if you have the time (maybe on the weekend) to make all the elements of this pizza at home, go for it, at least once, you will not regret it. We loved this smoky-sweet pizza and I cannot wait to make it again.




Another month full of wonderful vegetable dishes – we certainly love the recipes from this cookbook.

Please note, that for copyright reasons, we do NOT publish the recipes. If you enjoy the recipes in our series, hopefully, the wonderfully talented and enthusiastic members of the Cottage Cooking Club and their wonderful posts can convince you to get a copy of this lovely book. Better yet, do make sure to join us in this cooking adventure!




For more information on the participation rules, please go here.

To see which wonderful dishes the other members of the Cottage Cooking Club prepared during the month of January, please go here.


21 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos and write up as always, Andrea. This was a delicious month cooking from this book and you've captured it very well. The cauliflower salad was definitely a surprise with that great crunch and flavour, and though I had large portobello caps that I used for vegetarian burgers, I love the idea of serving smaller ones on a bed of greens. But it's really the beet pizza I would love to try - next pizza night I'm making one just for myself!

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    1. Zosia, so glad that you enjoyed another month of cooking along with The Cottage Cooking Club - time always seems to fly..There were a lot of favorites this month for my different taste testers, some thought the pizza was the best they ever had, I thought the dip was out of this world delicious, the mushrooms were also a huge hit, even with the mushroom critics...overall a huge success.
      Thank you for the kind comment,
      Andrea

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  2. Oh Dear Andrea, you've done it again, so truly spectacular and your effort is inspiring and admirable. I'm fascinated on the beet pizza, and also I have never heard of vacuum packed beets, but we are plentiful on this vegetable around here in any event. Nice touch of oil on your dip, I shall prepare the dip this month, along with the cauliflower salad that I also somewhere that this was one of your current salad favorites.
    Thanks so very much for everything you do in leadership and coordination for the Cottage Cooking Club, it is so much fun and I know everyone appreciates all that you do as much as I do! See you soon. Many Big Giant Hugs Your Way!

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    1. Dear Peggy, you are certainl a trooper - thank you so much for your kind words! Always enjoy cooking along with you in the Cottage Cooking Club! I saw that you made the lasagna and I will have to make it again, prpoere pictures and all during our make-up month in March! The weather was not very coopertive as far as picture taking was concerned and I am looking forward to better natural light in spring!
      The vacuum-packed red beets are readily available in this country in the veg isle, they are pre-cooked and very handy when hard-pressed for time (aren´t we all most of the time).
      Looking forward to visiting your post for comments later today- thank you for your participation!
      And many giant big fat hugs back!
      Andrea

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  3. Schon beim Ansehen dieser wundervollen Fotos bekommt man Lust die Rezepte auszuprobieren.
    Ich denke ich würde mit der Fenchel Sellerie Suppe mit Orangenaroma beginnen, das klingt sehr vielversprechend.
    Vielen Dank für die Inspiration, liebe Andrea Du hast es geschafft, vegetarischen Gerichten Sex Appeal zu verleihen :)
    Wieder zurück in Peru schicke ich Dir liebe Grüße aus Lima,
    Daniela

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    1. Liebe Daniela, herzlichen Dank für deinen netten Kommentar - schön, dass dir meine Fotos so gut gefallen. Es freut mich immer zu hören, dass meine Cottage Cooking Club Posts ein wenig Inspiration liefern - vielleicht möchte sich ja doch der eine oder andere Blogger unserer Gruppe anschließen - würde mich sehr freuen. Wie wäre es denn mit dir?
      Schön, dass ihr wieder gesund in Lima angekommen seid - hoffe, es geht euch allen bestens!
      Herzliche Grüße aus dem etwas weniger spektakulären Bonn und bis bald,
      Andrea

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  4. I love the idea of using wheatberries in the first salad. I really enjoy them, but always forget to make them. Thanks for the suggestion! Your homemade pita chips look absolutely delicious too. I think I would've enjoyed the dip more if I had those alongside it. Everything looks beautiful, as always. I hope you and your family have a fun weekend!

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    1. Dear Jora, thank you very much for your kind comment. I love the convenience of the wheatberries, their long shelf-life, their taste and texture - they will hold up to whatever you add to and on top of this amazingly versatile salad. As far as the homemade pita chips are concerned, we loved them quite a bit with the dip but I am planning on serving the dip with fresh veg once spring rolls around.
      Hugs to Charlotte and thank you very much for participating again this month in the Cottage Cooking Club! I appreciate all your input!
      Have a great weekend,
      Andrea

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  5. Everything you made looks so good, Andrea! I agree with you about the grain salad (though we make it quinoa salad at our house). Some variation on that on a regular basis is a healthy, delicious habit. I really want to try the artichoke dip. You make it look especially elegant. Thanks for all you do for us in this endeavour!

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    1. Dear Teresa, this is one of my very favorite recipes from the book - I just bought another butternut squash yesterday and fresh fennel - I will be making the salad again on Sunday - the kids will take left-overs to school on Monday!
      So much fun to have you as part of the Cottage Cookiing Club - hope construction stress has subsided by now!
      Regards to you and Kevin,
      Andrea

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  6. All of these dishes look really wonderful. I love vegetables and finding creative ways to use them in my cooking. That beet pizza looks really good and I also really like the potato and brussels spouts dish!

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    1. Dear Amy, then how about joining us at the Cottage Cooking Club - maybe for a guest blooger month first? By the end of February we will have cooked half-way through the entire book - still about one hundred recipes to go and lots of great veg recipes to come...We would love to have you onboard!

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  7. Hi Andrea, the beet and cheddar pizza looks divine, who would of thought that combination of ingredients would work, that's what I thought about the potato and eggplant combo too, it was delicious, magically actually. Thanks you for all you do. Cheri

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    1. Cheri, hope your mother is feeling better by now! Thank you for the kind comment - I saw that you really enjoyed the potatoes and aubergines - glad that you joined us for another month of Cottage Cooking Club cooking again!

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  8. Andrea, I so enjoy participating in this group. My favorite part is comparing notes with the other cooks to see how it worked out. The three I made, you enjoyed also, which is fun to know. I would have a hard time picking a favorite between the squash/fennel salad, the artichoke dip and the mushrooms. Hugh really has a way with vegetables. I can't see what you pick out for February.

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    1. Betsy, my friend, so nice to count you among the members of the Cottage Cooking Club - I am so very happy and proud (if I may say so) that you decided to join us for this lovely cooking adventure! I kind of like this format as well - allowing me the privilege of comparing notes and a "peak" into every members personal taste as far as recipes are concerned!
      Looking forward to "seeing" you very soon,
      Andrea

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  9. Gorgeous, as ever, dear friend! I have my eye on the fennel and celeriac soup, but the fennel and butternut salad also sounds amazing. (I think Mark would not be happy if I made pizza with beets!) Wishing you a wonderful week! ~ David

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    1. David, thank you - the funny thing is that that the kids (and myself) raved about the beetroot pizza, it was one of the best we ever had - but then agian, we live in a country of serious beet lovers and that might be a contributing factor, who knows?!
      Vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar und liebe Grüsse nach Tuscon,
      Andrea

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  10. One thing I will also mention about the Lovely Lioness is that she is a good sport. Yes, Ms. Andrea, you are shy in a European sort-of-way. And, remember, you are hanging out in this group as well as French Fridays with Dorie with an assortment of not-shy, opinionated, boisterous, and amusing (in our own minds) Americans and Canadians. I would have been happy to accompany you on your field trip. When Michael and I remodeled our Aspen house in 1988, I chose an All German-designed kitchen. The company has gone out of business now, I think, and the name escapes me. It began with an "A" and I thot it was Allimoto, something like that. It was efficient and compact and very Bauhaus and gave me storage in my small space. It was pricey and a stretch but we never had to change or update a thing for the many, many years we lived in that house. As always, I learned many things from your well-written and photographed post. Never have I heard of hemp oil, cold-pressed or not. And, of course you made your own Pita chips (which you've done before) which are gorgeous in appearance. I am out of altitude so no excuses so may try to see if I can do my pita chips and thinkly as yours. As I commented to Candy, I wanted to make the pizza but didn't have my stone and paddle. But, I may re-think that. Remember the Baby Beets Tarte Tatin? Man, was that good. I can't remember having as much fun with a dish as I had with the Bubble & Squeak. Just love cooking through this book and look forward to a make-up month. That's a great idea. Now, stop reading this and get back to cleaning the castle. I so hope you have help! I am going to pour through all your photos until I find the background photo of you. Please relay that to Thomas.

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    1. My dear friend, you are such a wonderful and thoughtful person! I cannot say how happy I am to have "met" you through FFwD - and how proud I am to count you among the members of the Cottage Cooking Club!
      I believe that the German kitchen company that you are referring to is the "Allmilmö" (http://www.allmilmoe.de) - they are still in business and thriving, I believe - incredible design of kitchens, making me totally jealous! You would have loved to visit the Kitchen Fair with me - so many things to admire - my fav part (of course) being the live cooking shows.
      I did take a pause from cleaning that darn castle of mine - it is so difficult to find good help these days (just joking, unfortunately I am on my own here).
      By the way, the picture you are "looking for", can be found here (HA - just be kind, that was taken a few days after I left the hospital after my second hospital stay/sugery this year - http://kitchenlioness.blogspot.de/2014/12/book-review-stevan-pauls-new-cookbook.html).
      Many, many hugs and kissses from all of us - your friendship means the world to me!
      So, you are getting extra hugs from me!
      Andrea

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  11. A fabulous post once again! The spelt salad is wonderful, isn't it? Loved the bubble and squeak, though I did not get any squeaking out of mine. Your mushrooms look lovely on the bed of lettuces, Andrea. And your artichoke and bean dip looks so good, wish I had puréed mine more. Now, the cauliflower! This one surprised me - Loved it! I don't recall why I did not choose the beet pizza - it looks fabulous - and we love beets here.

    Thanks for another wonderful month! Looking forward to making February's recipes. Have a wonderful week, Andrea!

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