Fromage Fort

This recipe comes as a result of the end of holiday scrounge to use up leftovers that I mentioned in the previous post. I had seen a version of this dish on Smitten Kitchen ages ago and been itching to give it a try. It's the perfect way to use up what's in the fridge since any type of cheese will work fine. All you need are a few bits of cheese to use up and a splash of white wine and you're set!

Possibly the world's worst photo of such a delicious dish!

Usually, you would pop all the cheese into a blender or food processor to mix it up but we didn't have one so I improvised with the microwave. This meant that I had to set the mix aside to set since it was pretty watery at first. It also meant that we had a nice intermediate fondue-esque stage that was a happy accident. Basically, any way you make this will be delicious! I had some cheddar slices to use up so I chopped them finely but grating any hard cheese would also be a good idea. I was very pleased with this and will definitely give it a go the next time we have leftovers from a wine and cheese party! I served it with veggies (again, using up leftovers!) but a baguette would also work perfectly. Finally, the amounts in the recipe below are not specific since it will depend on what you have to use up! Feel free to substitute any cheese you have on hand... I'm debating giving this a go with some leftover Yarg, Keltic Gold and Cornish Blue that I brought home with me... 

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Serves: Many

Ingredients: 

Brie, with the rind cut off.

Cheddar, grated

Blue Cheese, crumbled

Splash of white wine

Method: 

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and microwave in 20 second intervals, mixing between each microwave session, until you reach the desired consistency and the different cheeses have been incorporated. 

Vegetarian Samosas

Hello lovely readers! Apologies once again for the long delay in posting - things have been a bit busy on the PhD front, which now also includes a soul crushing search for a part time job that has so far been unsuccessful. Sigh! However, I did have a great time at the recent launch of our Science, Medicine and Society network (the organization for which I've been working with a few other postgrads to gather ethnographic fieldwork at community groups around London). We had a great launch and we were able to present our findings so far in a special session. All in all, it was a great event and I even had my first experience live tweeting something (@caitiescapers). I'll be using twitter to announce new recipes in the works and when posts will be going up so make sure to follow me (still learning the lingo...). Now that I'm finally back to my more normal routine, I thought it was time for a new recipe!

Step one: lay out one sheet of filo dough

Step two: brush with melted butter 

Step three: fold by thirds until you have a three layer strip

I've been wanting to try out samosas for a while since they're probably my favorite Indian dish but I wasn't sure if I wanted to take on what seemed to be a pretty involved process. However, after having a look online at different options, I decided to try it out with filo dough as a first attempt because it was the most readily available in my local supermarket in Rome. I thought this led to a pretty tasty result and I'll definitely be making these again. I'd like to experiment with making them smaller to suit party food so that might be a future post on this blog! (You know how much I love party nibbles!). Huge thank you to Laure for the photos of the rolling method and to Anna for being patient enough to stay and chat to us throughout the process! Finally, next time I make them, I'll include the coriander sauce that's a traditional accompaniment and I'll be sure to post that recipe. 

Step four: place a spoonful of filling at the end of the strip

Step five: fold over to make a triangle

Step six: continue folding in a triangle shape

Step seven: finish with more melted butter on the last section and seal

Recipe via www.bbc.co.uk/food

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 60 min

Serves: 18

Ingredients: 

Vegetable oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

60g onion, chopped

1 tsp ginger, finely chopped

60g frozen peas

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp garam masala 

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Salt

600g potatoes

4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

2 packets of ready made filo pastry 

5 tbsp butter, melted. 

Method: 

Peel and chop the potatoes into large wedges. Add to a pot of water and boil until the potatoes are soft. Drain and set aside.

In a large pan, add the vegetable oil and the mustard seeds and leave over medium heat until the seeds start to pop. When ready, add the onion and ginger and saute until they have softened and the ginger is fragrant. Add the ground coriander, cumin, chili powder, garam masala and the juice of half a lemon. Leave to saute for a minute or so before adding the frozen peas and the potatoes. Mix well and saute for a further few minutes to ensure the spices are well mixed and coating all the ingredients. Sprinkle in the fresh coriander leaves and set aside to cool.

On a large chopping board, lay out one sheet of filo dough (be sure to cover the remaining sheets with a lightly damp towel so they don't dry out). Brush with melted butter and fold into thirds. In the corner of the resulting three layer strip, place a spoonful of the filling and fold over to make a triangle shape. Add a bit more butter to the strip and continue folding, maintaining the triangle shape and ensuring the filling is securely wrapped. On the final fold, add more butter and press lightly to make certain the edges are secure. Place samosa on a baking paper lined tray and continue with the remaining pastry and filling.

When ready, pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F. Brush the tops of the samosas with a bit more butter and bake for 30 minutes, flipping half way through. Serve with your favorite pickle or chutney and enjoy! Next time I make them, I'll include the coriander sauce that's a traditional accompaniment and I'll be sure to post that recipe. 

Wine and Cheese Party

Last Friday, my lovely flatmate Laure was returning from Paris laden with lots of delicious cheese so we thought it was a great opportunity to have a few friends round for a little wine and cheese night. I love these sorts of evenings since they tend to be cheaper than going out and are pretty simple to pull together in terms of food. I always go a little overboard and serve things other than just cheese and wine because I party food is my favorite food group. It just includes so many of the slightly naughty dishes that I would only ever have a treat or recipes that might be a bit strange if you made them for dinner. And, of course, party nibbles are delicious! Apologies in advance: the pictures aren't brilliant since I was using my phone and trying to be as unobtrusive to our guests as possible... and a few of the recipe results were eaten too quickly to photograph!

Marbled Deviled Eggs

Cheese, Breads and Crackers

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Cookies, Cheddar and Leek Muffins, Veggies

Because this was just a small get together with a few friends, I didn't want to go too crazy and somehow managed to keep things relatively simple. Another benefit was that I tried to use up ingredients I already had on hand so that they wouldn't go off while I'm in Rome next week. All the recipes included are super easy and can be thrown together pretty quickly if you're trying to host a party after a pretty crazy week like I was! I've given the recipes their own pages so click the links below for more details. Enjoy!

• Spinach and Artichoke Dip
• Deviled Marbled Eggs
• Cheddar and Leek Muffins
• Pigs in a Blanket
• Parmesan Stars 

Cheddar Leek Muffins

After last week's trip to the farmer's market in Brixton, I still had two leeks leftover from the risotto we made. And, since I'm off to Rome this coming week to visit my family, I was looking for a way to include them into the party food. A quick search led me to this recipe on the netmums website. I was a little worried that because this is designed for kids the salt level might be a bit too low (and it was.. but only a little!) so in the future I might add a bit more before baking. Other than that, this was a great recipe since it was easy, quick and made a pretty good amount of muffins for our party. Another benefit was that I already had everything in my cupboards so there was no need to rush out to the shops - exactly what I need from a party food recipe!

Muffins along with some cookies and veggies

Recipe via www.netmums.com

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15-20 min

Makes: 24 muffins

Ingredients: 

2 leeks, white part only chopped
30 g butter
450g self raising flour (or the same amount of plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
2 tsp mustard powder
200g cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
300ml milk
100ml olive oil
2 tsp salt

Method: 

Saute the chopped leeks in the butter over a medium heat until they have softened. Set aside. Meanwhile, sift the flour and mustard powder together in a bowl. In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and olive oil before slowly adding to the flour mixture. Add in the cheese, leeks, and salt and mix thoroughly to incorporate all the ingredients. Line two muffin trays with paper liners and fill them 3/4 of their capacity. Bake for 15-20 min, until a skewer placed in the center of a muffin comes out cleanly. Enjoy! 

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

When I'm at home in the United States, this is one of my favorite restaurant appetizers since it's filled with cheesy goodness while still masquerading as vaguely healthy by including spinach. I know, that's not very convincing as far as health food goes but this is too tasty to care! It's also one of my go to party recipes because it comes together so quickly and can be served hot or room temperature so you don't need to worry about keeping it warm. Finally, I used low-fat cheese and light cream cheese to try and keep the calories down and the flavor was still fantastic.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: A lot! 

Ingredients: 

1 can of artichoke hearts in water, drained and rinsed.
250 g of fresh spinach
A handful of fresh basil (chopped) or 1 tsp dry basil
200g light cream cheese
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
100g low fat mozzarella cheese, grated
100g parmesan cheese, grated
Tortilla chips to serve

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Fill a kettle with water and allow to boil while you place the spinach into a colander in the sink. When the kettle has boiled, slowly pour over the spinach to wilt. Follow with cold water so that you can handle the spinach and press out all the excess liquid. When ready, place the spinach and artichoke hearts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (this can also be done by hand if you prefer a chunkier consistency). Remove the mix to a bowl and add the cream cheese, basil, mayonnaise, and cheese. Mix thoroughly and place in an oven safe dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy! 

Parmesan Stars

And... this is the second recipe that I managed to make and consume without photographing. Sorry! They were just too tasty! This is also a fantastic recipe to make if you're using puff pastry for other dishes as well since that means there will be lots of leftover pieces of pastry that might otherwise be wasted. All you need is a small cookie cutter shape (I used a star but any shape will work), an egg wash, some grated parmesan and paprika.

Photo from myrecipes.com, by Ian Bagwell and Heather Chadduck

I can't remember where I saw the original recipe that made me start making these a few years ago but the internet has several different incarnations of it: with basil or other spices, different types of cheese, etc. I prefer to keep things simple with just parmesan and a little pop of paprika and I basically make it up as I go along so apologies in advance for vague ingredient amounts! The final amount of stars you'll have will depend on the size of your cookie cutter so that is also a bit vague I'm afraid. I had about 30 and that was after only using the pastry leftover after the pigs in a blanket. 

Prep TIme: 10 min

Cook Time: 7-10 min

Makes: Lots! 

Ingredients: 

Puff pastry sheets

Grated parmesan cheese

Paprika

1 Egg 

Method: 

Roll out the puff pastry and cut into the bite size pieces with your cookie cutter. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and paint with an egg wash. Sprinkle generous helpings of parmesan cheese onto the top of each piece and follow with a tiny bit of paprika. Bake for 7-10 minutes (until the cheese has melted to a golden brown and the pastry has puffed up) and enjoy! 

Pigs in a Blanket

This recipe came about after an internet search to try and find a slightly cheaper/quicker alternative to sausage rolls since the party was coming on the heels of a surprisingly busy week. This method could not be simpler. Buy puff pastry and hotdogs. Roll hotdogs in puff pastry and seal with egg wash. Slice into four pieces. Bake. Eat. Done. Seriously, it's that easy.

Photo credit: www.leitesculinaria.com

The picture isn't mine since we ate the little rolls too quickly for me to remember to take their picture! Oh well. They were delicious and I served them with little bowls of ketchup and mustard. Perfect party food! I didn't have my computer open while making these so I used the cooking times/temperatures found in Lorraine Pascal's "hotdog's big night out" recipe.

Recipe via www.leitesculinaria.com

Prep Time: 5 min 

Cook Time: 15-20 min

Makes: 40

Ingredients: 

10 hotdogs
2 sheets of puff pastry
1 egg

Method: 

Preheat the oven to

Beat the egg in a small bowl and add a tablespoon of water, then set aside. Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Place a hotdog along the short end of the pastry and, using your knife, slice the pastry so that it's as wide as the length of the hotdog. This way, when you begin rolling the hotdog in the pastry, you won't have excess pastry at the ends. When rolling, cut the pastry just past the point where the pastry around the hotdog meets the remaining pastry so that you only have a little bit of overlap. Seal the edges with an egg wash and place onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Continue with the remaining hotdogs and pastry, reserving the leftover pastry for the parmesan stars. Place the baking tray into the refrigerator for half an hour. Just before baking, slice the rolls into four pieces and evenly distribute around the tray. Serve with your favorite dipping sauces and enjoy! 

Mexican Seven Layer Dip

I have a slightly unhealthy love for this dip. It's great for parties, super easy to put together and delicious. I had been a little worried about introducing it to my British friends since refried beans aren't as popular here as they are back home but it went down a treat! I made this for a little taco night get together yesterday and it proved to be a great appetizer to share while we chatted before getting to the main course. I served this with tortilla chips and a bowl of homemade salsa so it was more of a nibble than a starter. The rest of the menu included beef tacos (recipe for seasoning mix coming soon), chicken and chorizo empanadas (recipe coming soon) and a cranberry granita for dessert (recipe coming soon). It was such a nice relaxing end to the weekend and I think I'll definitely have to repeat the evening. Plus, I still have lots of leftovers so my meals this week are basically sorted, which is lucky since I have some serious plans for my Valentines Day menu... more on that later this week.

First Layer: Refried Beans

Second Layer: Cheese

Third, Fourth and Fifth Layers: Salsa, Sour Cream and Spices

As for the number of servings, there were four of us last night and this was the perfect amount since we weren't too full to enjoy our tacos. If you were putting this out with a bunch of other nibbles for a party, this would easily serve ten or more. I used both store bought salsa and homemade because that's what I had on hand but you could easily substitute chopped onion and tomato for the second salsa layer. Green onion is also a nice addition but I didn't have any on hand. Also, if you don't have the spices involved, one of those taco seasoning packets is an easy substitute. Please keep in mind that the amounts in the ingredients list are sort of arbitrary since it will depend on the size of your dish.

Sixth and Seventh Layers: Fresh Salsa and Olives

Optional Eighth Layer: Jalopenos 

Finally, you will notice that there are actually more than seven layers to this dip (if you're including jalopenos). That's the beauty of this recipe - you can customize it as much or as little as you want. The main stars I think are the refried beans, sour cream, salsa and spices so everything else can be played around with to your taste.

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: N/A

Serves: 4-10

Ingredients: 

1 can of refried beans
100g low fat cheddar cheese, grated
Salsa, hot or mild
200ml low-fat sour cream
1 tsp onion granules
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
Fresh salsa
Black or green olives, sliced
Jalopenos to taste

Method: 

Place the refried beans in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds or until the beans are softened and pliable. Spread them over the bottom of the serving dish and top with the grated cheddar cheese. Carefully spread the salsa over the cheese layer and then repeat with the sour cream. Sprinkle the spices evenly over the sour cream and then dot with the fresh salsa. Finish with a sprinkling of olives and jalopenos. Enjoy!

Mandu Dumplings

I have a confession to make. I LOVE DUMPLINGS. Basically to an unhealthy degree. So, I thought I should probably learn how to make them in order to save on take out. These ones were pretty tasty, although I used super lean meat so they were possibly a bit drier than they would normally be. Also, I definitely didn't use enough soy sauce so I'll be increasing the amount next time. One important point to note on this recipe is the number of dumplings it makes... which can be anywhere between 60 and 75 (I ended up with 74) depending on how much filling you manage to include in each dumpling. The good news is these are easily frozen, making them perfect for future dinners or parties! Just make sure you leave yourself plenty of time (or gather plenty of helpers!) for the wrapping stage...

Recipe found on: www.maangchi.com

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 20 min 

Servings: 60-75

Ingredients: 

1 cup Pork mince
2 cups Beef mince
1/2 package tofu, crumbled
1 package dried Shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 bunch chives, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Gyoza or Wonton wrappers (approx: 70)
Oil for frying

Method:

Measure and mix the pork and beef mince together with a quick splash of sesame oil and place into a large mixing bowl. Next, drain the tofu, making sure to get as much water out as possible before crumbling. Add a sprinkling of sesame oil, salt and a little pinch of sugar and then place in the mixing bowl with the meat. Combine the chopped mushrooms and onion and add sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper, then add to the main bowl. Finally, add the chives and garlic to the bowl and combine all the ingredients together until well mixed.

To fill the dumpling wrappers, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and add a teaspoon of the filling mixture to the center (different wrappers will be able to accommodate a different amount of filling so a bit of experimentation is advised). With the tip of your finger, wet the outer edge all around the wrapper and bring the two sides to meet in the middle. Fold and pinch along the seal to ensure the dumplings will stay closed. For a useful video on how to do this like a pro (unlike me!), check out this one:

Finally, cook the dumplings by placing a few tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the dumplings and cook, turning frequently to ensure they brown all over. When satisfactorily brown, add a few tablespoons of water to the pan (carefully - it will splatter a bit!), cover and cook for a few more minutes (depending on the amount of dumplings being cooked). Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Yum!