Monthly Archives: February 2022

February 24, 2022

After the Storm Spicy Pancakes

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Three storms in a week left our garden in tatters. Lettercollum –  Leitir Colm in Irish, doesn’t translate as windy hillside for nothing.

We had to use the chainsaw to cut our way out the morning after storm Eunice rocked by and any previous complacency that we had about the imminent arrival of an early crop of spinach and chard vanished when Eunice whisked the plastic off of the tunnel. It was left flapping in the wind like wet washing which mixed in with the debris of the uprooted tree and broken fruit cages made sad viewing.

Luckily the glasshouse is secure and is a comfortable refuge. There’s a kettle on the bench, teabags and a small stash of snacks. All mod cons.

The propagator is cranked up and I am slowly sowing seeds. The next crop of spinach and chard are in the seed trays as are the tomatoes, aubergines and chillies – no sign of them yet but it is early days. I have sown salad, rocket and herb seeds in the tunnel that’s still standing and the rocket true to it’s name has shot up. Another growing season is on the move.

Exciting times – one way or the other.

With the spinach on hold we’ve been enjoying Kimchi.

Kimchi is a spicy fermented Korean cabbage dish, like an Asian sauerkraut. It’s made by salting and spicing cabbages that are then allowed to ferment with wild cultures. It’s very much part of the Korean food culture. 

Fermented foods are full of probiotics which in turn are good for our gut health and immune systems. I reckon our immune systems could do with a boost after two years of covid/covid avoidance.

One of my favourite ways to eat kimchi is a kimchi pancake, known as Kimchijeong.

Kimchijeong are very easy to prepare as is kimchi if you have the time. For those of us who don’t there’s the perfect solution- open a jar! We use a locally produced Kimchi that is made by the Cultured Food Company. Not as spicy as Korean kimchi it is perhaps better tuned to the Irish palate and one jar of this kimchi fits the recipe perfectly.

With Shrove Tuesday imminently arriving this recipe for pancakes will be like an Asian mini break. 

Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside these pancakes are addictive. Serve with little gem lettuce leaves and dipping sauce on the side, they are guaranteed to be hoovered up.

This recipe makes four medium pancakes that are designed to be shared. 

Serves 2-4 – depending on appetite!

Kimchi Pancakes – Kimchijeong

150g standard flour

75g white rice flour

½ tsp salt

1 large egg

1 x 300g jar of kimchi

Juice from the jar of kimchi (about 6tbs)

4 spring onions, finely chopped 

1/2tsp chilli flakes (optional)

250mls cold sparkling water

100mls vegetable oil for frying

Dipping Sauce

2tbs soya sauce/tamari

2tbs rice vinegar 

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame seeds

1tbs finely chopped spring onion greens

1 fresh chilli, finely chopped or ½ tsp Korean chilli flakes

Little gem salad leaves or similar for serving

First make the dipping sauce. Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until they take little colour and become fragrant. Tip into a small bowl, add all the other ingredients then stir together and put aside.

Wash the salad leaves.

Drain the jar of kimchi, reserving the liquid.

Chop the kimchi quite small.

Whisk the egg, fizzy water and kimchi juices together then whisk in the flour, rice flour, salt and chilli or chilli flakes. Stir in the chopped kimchi and spring onions.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and add roughly 2tbs oil. Add one quarter of the mix, spreading it out with the back of a wooden spoon.

Fry the pancake on a medium high heat for 2-3 minutes until a golden crust forms then using a spatula carefully flip the pancake over and cook the other side. Add a little more oil around the sides. This might seem like a lot of oil but it’s the oil that makes the pancake crispy so don’t skip this step. You should see the oil bubbling around, but not over, the pancake.

Flip the pancake one more  time and cook for a further minute or two then again on the other side. Slip the pancake onto a plate then cut like a pizza for sharing. Repeat the process 3 more times.

Put the dipping sauce, lettuce leaves and pancake on the table then tuck in. Break off pieces of the pancake, wrap in a lettuce leaf then dunk in the dipping sauce.

Delicious!

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in dairy free, eggs, fritters, General foodie news, vegetarian

February 16, 2022

Garden Gratin

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Jerusalem artichokes are easy to grow, they’re part of the sunflower family and are very undemanding on the gardening front. Pop the tubers into the ground and after that they pretty much look after themselves.

We grew Jerusalem artichokes last year and then forgot about them until last week when I went on an exploratory dig and discovered lots of knobbly roundish roots. They were in great condition and there are plenty of them. It’s presented the dilemma of what two do with them. Luckily they don’t all need to be eaten at once , they look quite comfortable in the bucket, muddy but dry, and will hopefully sit for a while whist we eat them up.

First up I made a gratin. I mixed some with potatoes, spinach, leeks and Tallegio cheese. This was adelightful combo, creamy, cheesy and very tasty with the sautéed leeks and spinach layered through and perfect eating for this weeks wet and wild weather. We ate the gratin after a beetroot and blood orange salad which is why the plate is pink.

One of the properties of Jerusalem artichokes is that they have a high content of inulin. Inulin has lots of dietary bonuses; plenty of fibre which in turn is helpful in managing diabetes, constipation and general gut health but they really should come with a warning. These powerful vegetables have great flavour but are also very windy. All that fibre causes mighty flatulence. Our duvet almost hit the ceiling when we went to bed. I guess it’s the type of vegetable to be only eaten with close family or friends – they aren’t known as fartichokes for nothing. Apparently if you eat them little and often you can override this side affect so I guess we need to proceed through the stash and see what happens.

The gratin was delicious!

Garden Gratin

600g potatoes

600g jerusalem artichokes

1tbs olive oil

250g fresh spinach

2-3 leeks

25g butter

a small bunch of thyme

300mls cream

250g Tallegio cheese

salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes and artichokes then slice very thinly. Put them into a big bowl. Drizzle over little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add the thyme. Toss well .

Clean the leeks then slice small. Wash the spinach and trim any big stalks. Put a saucepan with little butter on the heat, add the leeks and when it begins to sizzle turn the heat low and cover with a lid. Shake very couple of minutes until the leeks soften then stir in the spinach. Cover again with the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes until the spinach has wilted down. Season with salt and pepper.

Pre heat the oven 190c

Rub a little butter or olive oil around a gratin dish put in a layer of half the potatoes and artichokes then add the spinach and leeks. Break the tallgio into small pieces and distribute over the top then layer up the remaining potatoes and artichokes.

Put the cream into a small saucepan and bring too the boil. Pour the cream over the vegetables. Cover the gratin dish with a piece off aluminium foil then bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the top of the gratin is golden.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes before eating. The ideal amount of time to consume a salad.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in garden produce, General foodie news, gluten-free, gratin, leeks, One pot wonders, potato, spinach, vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipes

February 1, 2022

Marvellous Leeks

By lettercollumkitchenproject

It’s like there is a switch in the middle of January which kicks everything into action again. Those few more minutes of extra daylight  give out a message that even our geriatric chickens respond to. Suddenly we have eggs and all the green things in the garden perk up. 

We have plenty to eat in our garden. Not a great deal of choice but we do have lots of kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts and winter salad. We have a mighty crop of leeks too with long white stems that we are very proud of and we’re still munching our way through last year’s pumpkin harvest. 

The spinach and chard will begin to grow again in the tunnel soon and providing there isn’t a big freeze we’ll be picking outside by the end of March.  

We have enjoyed many wintery feasts of soups, stews and gratins often complemented by the fresh crunch of slaw and our imagination and memories are always on the go wondering how else we can cook these ingredients.

One dish that we resurrected is Poireaux al la Greque. 

This long forgotten recipe was from a time when we worked in a restaurant in Belgium. It was a fairly fancy bistro which served leeks braised in white wine with coriander seeds, olive oil and lemons. The cooked leeks were then split down the centre and served with a line of creamy pink tuna piped down the middle. I could always live without the tuna part – which was simply tuna, mayo and tomato puree to make it go pink, but I did enjoy the leeks. 

To celebrate our marvellous leeks I began to play with the recipe again and we ate them piled on top of mash – any mash will do but I used carrots, celeriac and potatoes all buzzed to a puree with a generous amount of butter – served with crispy caramelised lentils strewn over the top.

This way of cooking the leeks elevates them to star status. They can be eaten with the combination that we had or can be simply served as a starter or alongside chicken or fish using the braising liquid as a sauce.

Poireaux a la Greque

6 leeks

1 large glass white wine

2tbs olive oil

½ lemon

1 tsp coriander seeds

Salt and pepper

First clean the leeks. Trim the ends, cut off the green part – put the greens aside for something else – you could use them in a soup or stew. Rinse the white part of the leeks under the tap, shake dry then line them up in the bottom of a large saucepan that has a lid.

Pour over the white wine, it should come roughly half way up the leeks. Drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle over the coriander then squeeze over the lemon juice. Put the squeezed lemon in with the leeks. Season with salt and black pepper. Put the pot on the heat and when it comes to the boil cover with a lid, reduce the heat, then gently simmer for 30 minutes.

To serve, strip off the very outer layer of each leek, lay on a plate or over mash then spoon a little cooking liquid over or around. 

Crispy Caramelised Lentils

125g lentils

20g butter*

1 tbs olive oil

1tbs light muscovado sugar

2tsps white wine vinegar

Salt.

Put the lentils into small saucepan, cover with at least twice the volume of water then bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low so that they are simmering gently then cover with a lid. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the lentils are tender – try a few to check.

Drain the lentils, rinse under the cold tap then shake dry.

Put a small frying pan on the heat. Add the butter and olive oil and when it foams up stir in the lentils. Season with a little salt. Cook on a high heat stirring until the lentils begin to colour. Add the muscovado sugar and white wine vinegar. Mix well then continue to cook and shake until crispy.

* If you would like to make this dish vegan omit the butter and use a little more olive oil

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in garden produce, General foodie news, gluten-free, leeks, vegan, vegetarian