Radio Cumbria 27/9/10

Cooking with Grannie took to the airwaves today. I was featured on Radio Cumbria with Fern on the wireless and my Vegetarian Chilli which he ate all up. Describing how to cut up an onion without visuals took a bit of thinking about but made it. Peeling like a banana came from that and I have included it in the post about onions. There is not a lot of room in a studio to put a chopping board.

Carrot and Coriander soup

Dry fry the coriander seeds until they just turn brown.

The second photo is before it is liquised.

Some friends of mine have been waiting a long time for this recipe so here it is. You need

3 fairly large carrots

1 onion

1 teaspoon of coriander seeds

2 vegetable stock cubes

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

water

Method

Cut up the onion in to smallish pieces and peel and chop the carrots into smallish chunks. Large chunks just take longer to cook. Cook the onion in the oil until transparent. Make sure the heat is not too hot as you do not want the onions to go brown for this dish. Add the stock cubes and the carrots. While you are waiting for the onions to cook, dry fry the coriander seeds. Heat your frying pan and then put the seeds into it. Dry fry them for only a few minutes and they have changed colour slightly. Don't let them get really brown otherwise the soup will be bitter.

Add the seeds and water enought to just cover the vegetables. Cook with a lid on until the carrots are soft. About 20 mins. Either liquidise with a liquidiser or use a stick blender to smooth the soup. Dont use the soup while its hot in a liquidiser it will splash out of the top of it. Leave it to cool a bit or add cold water to it to liquidise. It will need more water to finish it anyway as this is too concentrated. This batch of soup measured 2 pints before it was liquidised and I added 1 more pint of cold water. Just keep tasting until you get the right amount of water.

Re-heat and serve with either some chopped chives or creme fraiche.

Peaches with almonds and vanilla

Peaches this time of year in the UK are delicious. Soft and juicy and the fragrance fills your nose when eating them. They are summer on a plate.

This dish is maximum nutrition and flavour for minimum effort which is what this blog is about.

Method

Cut a peach in two and then slice it. Put the cut side down on the cutting board do not try and cut it towards you into your hand.

Put the slices on a plate. The photo on the left is half a peach. Drizzle over the top vanilla extract. Its brown and sticky and has the seeds in it. Vanilla essence is a substitute but is not quite the same. Top with ground almonds and serve with creme fraiche.

Coming soon.....a dish that can be a summer salad or main course

How to cut up an onion

There are many ways of cutting up an onion this is one of them that will produce small squares usually called dice.

1 There is a top and bottom to an onion. The bottom has roots on it and the top is like a daffodil bulb. Slice off the top and leave the bottom on with the roots.

2 Peel back the brown skin like peeling a banana
and leave it on. This and the roots will create a handle to hold.










3 Slice the onion down into the handle you have made but not all the way through. The closer the cuts the smaller the dice will be.



4 Then cut across the onion the other way to make small squares.
































5 Finally hold the handle end, squeeze the cut sides together and cut down onto the board. Throw away the remaining brown leaves and root which is left.

Vegetarian Chilli

This vegetarian chilli takes about 20 minutes to make. The amount of chilli powder can vary depending how hot you like your chilli. If you like it fairly hot add a small fresh chilli. If you cut up a fresh chilli always wash your hands immediately. The juice burns your skin so do not touch your face or anywhere else.
I like to serve the meal with a spoon of plain yogurt or creme fraiche.





Ingredients

1 onion
1tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 carrot
about 10 green beans
1 can of chopped tomatoes
half a can of red kidney beans
1 stock cube
to finish the dish
basil leaves from the supermarket plant on my windowsill
plain yogurt or creme fraiche

Method

Cut up a small or medium onion fairly small and cook it on a low heat in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until it is transparent. About 5 minutes. Add the chilli powder and cook for a minute still on a low heat. Add a carrot cut up fairly small and some halved green beans then the can of tomato's and the stock cube.
Cook for 20 minutes on a low heat until the carrots are soft then add the red beans and heat through for 5 minutes.
Serve with cooked rice, some basil leaves on top and plain yoghourt.




coming soon .......how to cut up an onion

Tomato and watercress salad

This very simple salad or side dish is packed with vitamins and takes minutes to prepare. Eat with crusty bread for a lunch dish or other salads for a main meal.

I like baby plum tomato's for this salad as the flavour is very sweet. They are packed with vitamin C. It is not usual for a green leafy vegetable to be packed with Vitamin C but Watercress is and iron.

The shavings of parmesan cheese look cheffy and all you do is put the blade of a heavy knife on a piece of hard salty cheese and pull the blade towards you. It will produce the shavings in the photo above.

Method.

Cut 6 baby plum tomatoes in two.
Tear in two about 6 black olives.
Add a bunch of watercress.
Drizzle french dressing on the tomatoes.
Top with a few shavings of parmesan or other hard salty cheese.

Radio Cumbria

Radio Cumbria are interested in what I have been doing recently and I have recorded five slots for their Little Cumbria session. It is broadcast between 17.45 and 1800 Monday 23 August to Friday 27 August. Cooking with Grannie is mentioned quite a lot.
Please do listen and leave a post what you think of it.