Foodie Film Friday - Eat, Pray, Love

I know it's been a long time since the first of my 'Foodie Film Friday' posts but now that exams are over I can get this going properly.  So this week I am reviewing 'Eat Pray Love'.  For those of you who haven't seen it, it is a film about an American woman, Liz, who decides to go travelling in order to get her life back on track after a messy divorce.  She spends a third of a year in Italy - Eat - a third in India - Pray - and a third in Bali - Love.  I realise that this film is not entirely about food but it does feature prominently!

While in Italy Liz (played by Julia Roberts) decides to indulge herself, learning the language and enjoying copious amounts of Italian food.  The part of her journey spent in Italy is my favourite of the three because it is exactly what I like to do when I travel, pick up some of the language, sample the local delicacies and, if possible, get to know some locals to show me some things off the beaten track.

In Italy Liz's experiences range from enjoying the quiet calm of her small apartment as she sits down to a simple meal of asparagus and eggs (something which I am very partial to as you may have noticed, whether it be for  breakfast or brunch), to the hustle and bustle of Naples as she tries an authentic Neapolitan pizza.

Food is also something which brings people together throughout the film.  In Italy not only does she go out to restaurants to enjoy a meal with friends, she also tries to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for them.  You should never underestimate the value of food in helping to forge friendships.  Last year I met many of my closest friends over a beer and we cemented those friendships over food, whether we cooked or baked it together or went out to eat in a local restaurant.  Food is a very personal thing and by sharing the experience of eating it with someone you can really get to know them.  I will forever treasure the memories of our dinners in Bamberg, because even though we came from all over the world and had experiences of lots of different cuisines, cooking, baking and trying new food brought us together.

After watching the film (several times!) I finally got round to reading the book last year.  However, rather like with Julie & Julia I was rather disappointed.  I felt that Liz came across as far more self-centred in the book than in the film and not being spiritual myself I found it very hard to empathise with her experiences in the Indian ashram.

So on to my ratings:

Overall I would give this film 3/5 because although I adore the part set in Italy and I have been inspired to travel to Indonesia at some point, I find the part set in India less interesting.

As for how serious this film is (where one is serious and 5 is lighthearted) I would give it  3/5 as it is a fun film but it does make you think.

As food is only featured in one third of the film I will have to give it a 2/5 on the foodie front.

Frying pan pizza - take two

On Friday evening I had lots of friends over to celebrate the end of exams.  Originally we planned to order a take-away but I couldn't resist another attempt at my no oven, no grill pizza.  This time I used a proper pizza dough recipe from the July edition of the BBC GoodFood magazine which arrived just a couple of days before then end of my exams.

For 4 pizzas you will need:
500g plain flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried yeast (or 1/4 tsp fast-action yeast)
400ml warm water
oil for greasing

Frying pan pizza

I used strong white bread flour but it didn't work amazingly well so I think plain white flour would be better.  As I don't have a mixer the dough took about 45 minutes to make but if you do have a mixer with a dough hook then it can be done in as little as 15 minutes.

If you're making the dough in a mixer make sure you've attached the dough hook, if not get a large bowl and start off mixing with a wooden spoon and as the mixture thickens use your hands to bring the dough together.  All you need to do is weigh out the flour, add the salt and yeast (if it's fast-action, if not add it to the water first and wait five minutes to allow the yeast to start working).  Pour the liquid in gradually while mixing until the dough comes together in a ball.  If the dough is too sticky add a little extra flour (but remember that this dough is meant to be a little sticky), if it's too dry add some more water a little at a time but be careful not to add too much.

In a mixer the dough should be kneaded for 5-7 minutes, but hand this supposedly takes 10 minutes but I found it took longer than that (partly because I was kneading a larger quantity of dough) even with the help of D.  Knead the dough until it is shiny and springs back when you press your finger into it.

Oil a bowl (I used olive oil) and place the dough in it, turning it so it's coated in the oil.  Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and place a tea towel over the top.  Leave the bowl in a safe, warm place, out of the way of draughts for 2-4 hours.

These pizzas can be cooked on a BBQ but I used my trusty frying pan.  The main problem I encountered was that my toppings were generally too wet, meaning the base became soggy, so although the pizzas tasted good they were a little tricky to eat and not as crispy as I would have liked.

For the tomato sauce (per pizza):
a handful of cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 tsp tomato puree
1/4 can chopped tomatoes (strained)

Mix the tomatoes together with some seasoning and warm through in a saucepan.  I didn't strain my chopped tomatoes but I think it would be a good idea to help get rid of some of the excess moisture (and for anyone else just finishing exams you could save the juice to use in a Bloody Mary!)

Cooking the pizza base

To cook the pizza base take a quarter of your dough and stretch it out until it is the right size (for me this was dictated by the size of my saucepan).  I found it best to heat a teaspoon of olive oil in the saucepan, then to place my dough into the pan and cook it on very low for 4-5 minutes until the underside was browned.

Then flip the dough over.  Place your tomatoes on top along with any other toppings you fancy (microwave-steamed asparagus worked well as did pepperoni and mushrooms) finally sprinkle some cheese over the top.  I used mozzarella but although I had tried to squeeze out some of the moisture it was still too wet.  I am still on the hunt for a better option (let me know in the comments if you have any better ideas).

Adding the toppings

Once again cook on low for 4-5 minutes, this time covering the frying pan with a lid to trap in the heat and melt the mozzarella.  Check to make sure the bottom has browned and cook for a further couple of minutes if it hasn't.  Then transfer to a plate and top with a couple of basil leaves to serve.  I got my basil leaves from a plant I've had in my room and managed to keep alive for over a month now!

Basil

It seems strange to think that in just over a couple of weeks time I will be leaving Cambridge and my little kitchen.  As much as I'm excited to move on to new places and new experiences I will really miss Cambridge with all its lovely quirks.

Pancakes galore!

Happy Pancake day everyone!  I've been cooking a lot recently and so have a lot of things to post about, but I couldn't let pancake day pass me by without a related blog post.  This has to be one of my favourite days of the year, not only do you have the right to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner (don't judge!) but it's also a chance to get together with friends and enjoy this really simple food which offers literally endless possibilities.

I started off the day by making American M&M pancakes for breakfast.  I decided to take full advantage of my new measuring cups and delighted in not having to do any conversions when using this American recipe for pancakes.  They may not look fantastic, but they sure did taste good!

M&Ms pancake

For 4-6 pancakes you will need:
1 cup plain flour
2tbsp sugar
2tsps baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1 cup milk
2tbsp unsalted butter (melted) or vegetable oil
1 large egg
some oil or butter for frying

Mmmm&mmmms

1. Mix the wet ingredients together (milk, butter/oil and egg).
2. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in thoroughly but don't overmix.
3. Heat a frying pan and add some oil or butter (use a sheet of kitchen roll to wipe away any excess)
4. Add about 2-3 tbps batter to the pan and fry on each side for 1-2 mins (it was at this point that I added the M&Ms so that they cooked into the pancake!)

If you're making a lot then you can keep them warm in the oven while you make more.  Alternatively you can do what I do (since I don't have an oven) which is to eat them as I go along!

This evening I had a few friends round for, you guessed it, more pancakes.  This time, however, I made good old traditional English pancakes - so for this I'll switch back to my normal metric measurements.

Makes 6-8 pancakes:
110g flour (sifted)
2 eggs
200ml milk
75ml water
(butter for frying)

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl (which will hold all the mixture) then make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs, whisk into the flour.
2. Then gradually add the milk while still whisking to make sure you get all the lumps out as you go (I used an electric mixer for this as it's so much easier).
3. Melt some butter in a frying pan (not too large and preferably non-stick) - enough to coat the bottom.  Make sure the pan is nice and hot before adding some of the mixture (not too much or the pancake will be too thick and won't cook nicely - these aren't like American pancakes).
4. Cook for a minute or too on one side before flipping - if you don't feel confident enough to toss the pancake then just use a spatula.
5. Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side until browned and flip it over again if the first side needs to brown a bit more, before turning the pancake out onto a plate.

This is the best bit - toppings!  I normally go quite traditional, sugar and a squeeze of lemon, or, if I'm feeling in a more extravagant mood then sliced banana and nutella.  However, having had sweet pancakes for breakfast I decided to go for something more savory.

Russian maslenitsa (their religious/folk holiday in the last week before Lent celebrating both the end of winter and, like in England, the period just before fasting begins) finished a couple of days ago and in honour of this I decided to make a Russian-themed pancake.  So I diced up a beetroot, scattered it over the pancake and finished it off with a dollop of sour cream (this along with creme fraiche is the closest English equivalent to Russian smetana) and, naturally, a sprig of dill (Russians love this herb and use it with everything).

For my second pancake I sliced a tomato and melted some mozzarella over the top while the pancake was still in the pan, finishing it off with a sprinkle of dried basil (fresh would have been better but I forgot to get any).

All in all I had another lovely pancake day and can go to bed shortly very full and content.

Fajitas

Although cooking for yourself is good if you want to experiment or try a recipe you're not so sure about, it is definitely more fun cooking with friends.  The other day I got together with a couple of people to cook dinner and as one of them is a vegetarian I decided to try a recipe I've had my eye on for a couple of weeks now in my GoodFood Magazine; mushroom fajitas with avocado houmous.  Although not a vegetarian myself this doesn't stop me from enjoying a good veggie meal from time to time and I love houmous so this recipe seemed perfect.

Mushroom fajitas with houmous

As there were 5 of us we had to scale up the recipe but I think the quantities were about right in the end, although we did have some of the houmous left over (no worries, I had it for lunch the following day!)

For the houmous:

3 avocados

1kg chickpeas (weight of chickpeas before draining - drain and rinse)

1 large garlic clove (use 2 if the cloves are small - crushed)

the zest and juice of two lemons (if you're not as keen on lemon just use 1)

5 tomatoes (deseeded and diced)

It has to be said that making houmous without a food processor is tricky and probably not worth the effort.  I tried it last year in Germany and with only a garlic press to crush the chickpeas it took me a while!  Fortunately, at the beginning of the year I invested in a mini 250ml food processor (the Kenwood mini chopper).  As it is quite small I had to add the ingredients in stages and mix them together in a large bowl afterwards.  I did the chickpeas first, then the avocado and once I had processed them I mixed them together with the crushed garlic, lemon zest and juice and the diced tomatoes.

While I was busy doing that one of my friends was making the fajita spice mix.  You can buy this pre-made but as I had all the necessary spices I decided to make my own.  We used:

2tsp chilli powder

1tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp cumin

2tsp ground coriander

1tsp salt

1tsp white caster sugar

1tbsp corn starch (if you don't want to buy/use this then use more of the other spices but be aware that you won't need as much spice mix as what you have will be spicier)

(you could also add 1/2 tsp onion powder but as we were using fresh onions anyway we decided not to)

To make the fajita spice just mix all these things together in a bowl.

The rest of the ingredients

2 onions

5 large flat mushrooms

olive oil (for coating and frying)

tortillas (at least 1 each)

lettuce (little gem works well - shredded)

Tabasco sauce (optional)

My lovely friends sliced the onions and mushrooms for me nice and thickly.  I then drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled over the spice mix and used my hands to toss them to make sure they were nicely coated in the mix.  Heat some olive oil in a pan, make sure it is really hot, then fry the onions and mushrooms for about 5 mins until they are nicely browned.  For an even better effect you can use a griddle pan but a frying pan works just as well.

Toss the mushrooms and onion in the spices

Once cooked you're ready to make and serve your fajitas, we just put everything in bowls on the table and helped ourselves but if you want to present them nicely then spread some of the houmous down the middle of each wrap and top with the mushrooms and onions.  Then sprinkle over some shredded lettuce (little gem lettuce works well for fajitas) and if you fancy you can add a dash of tabasco sauce.

The fajitas were really tasty and went well with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Nachos!

My boyfriend has recently got me into watching more of the NFL (American Football) and last weekend we decided to watch some of the play-offs.  I wanted something reasonably simple that didn't take too long to prepare that we could munch on during the match and maybe its a cliché but I always associate nachos with watching American football.  So here's what I did.

I've done Nachos before where I buy a bag of tortilla chips along with a ready-made jar of salsa and guacamole, scatter on some cheese, microwave it and dollop on the sour cream.  However, I wanted to try and make a few more of the elements this time.  As I didn't have an oven and I wanted this not to take too long I decided to buy the tortilla chips.  However, I did make the guacamole, salsa and beans to go on top.

I made this for two people and it was a large portion.  The good thing about nachos is it's really easy to scale the quantity up or down depending on how many people there are and how hungry you are.

For the salsa:

2 tomatoes - seeds removed, finely chopped

1/4 red onion - finely chopped

1/2 garlic clove (or one small clove) - finely chopped/crushed

a squeeze of lime juice

a dash of olive oil

The main work to do when preparing salsa is the chopping!  Once you've chopped everything simply combine the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste and set to one side.  I've been a little vague about the amount of lime juice because it really is up to you, I like using quite a bit of lime juice but if you're not a big fan then don't put as much in.  You do need a little bit of acidity in there to freshen the dish up a bit though so I wouldn't leave the lime out all together.

Ok, on to the guacamole.  I've done a post before where I used guacamole in a wrap as a quick lunch (see http://www.littlecambridgekitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/keeping-it-simple.html).  I really do love it as it's so simple to make, really tasty and very versatile, you can add so many different ingredients to it depending on what you fancy.  I kept the guacamole for the nachos really simple.

1 avocado

a squeeze of lime juice

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped coriander

a couple of drops of tabasco

All you have to do is mash up the avocado roughly in a bowl (make it as smooth as you like but I tend to leave a few lumps in mine for a bit of texture), stir in the spring onions and lime juice (once again as much as you fancy), add the coriander (you don't have to measure it out exactly the measurement is just to give you a rough idea) and season with the Tabasco.  Be careful!  I wasn't and added too much, you really do need only 2 or 3 drops.  If you do accidentally add too much then you'll have to do what I did which is mash up an extra avocado and combine it with the existing guacamole, then add a little extra lime juice and coriander.  You'll have a lot of guacamole but it will taste a lot better!

As I said above you can add other things if you fancy - red onion, diced tomatoes, chilli flakes for a bit of heat.  I didn't use these in mine as I've used the ingredients elsewhere in this recipe but if you just want to make a guacamole dip to go with your nachos then you can bulk up the guacamole with other things.

Finally on to the beans.  This is a really good way of turning nachos from a snack into more of a meal.

200g red kidney beans - drained and rinsed

1/2 garlic clove - finely chopped/crushed

(mild/medium chilli powder)

ground cumin

Tip the beans into a bowl and add a little chilli powder (I mean a little - if you're doing this recipe for two then you need less than 1/4 tsp), garlic and cumin powder (once again less than 1/4 tsp), then mash with a fork.  Add a tbsp of water, season and set aside.  If you want to make your beans a little hotter then add some more chilli powder, just add extra gradually and taste a little each time so that you don't overdo it.

Next, scatter your nachos onto a microwaveable plate and spoon on your salsa and beans (I also scattered on half a jalapeño - roughly chopped).  Then scatter on 50g of your favourite cheese (or more if you don't think 50g is enough).  I experimented this time with mozzarella, it tasted good but made getting the nachos apart difficult as it is so elastic when melted!  Next time I will probably go back to using cheddar.  Pop into the microwave for 1-2 mins on full power (or until the cheese has melted).  You should be ready to eat!  Dollop on some sour cream or some half-fat crème fraîche if you want to make it slightly healthier.  You can spoon the guacamole over the top but as I ended up with so much I decided to keep it in a bowl on the side and use it as a dip.

Spoon on the salsa and beans

The finished product

I hope your nachos are as satisfying as mine were, this is just one of those comfort food dishes that I don't make often but really enjoy as a treat.  Besides, it's great to make with friends as it is a perfect dish for sharing.  The team I decided to support (the Cincinnati Bengals) may have lost but the nachos more than made up for it!

A very Mexican Christmas gathering

I had a few friends over the other night for a Christmassy evening with dinner, mulled cider and Love Actually.  My Grandpa got me subscription to the GoodFood magazine for Christmas and I have been drooling over the recipes ever since the first issue arrived so I decided to use my friends coming over as an excuse to try out a couple of the recipes.

I cooked a Mexican chicken stew with rice and beans which is perfect for when you've got a group of people over, the number you can cook it for is really only limited by the size of your pan.  Luckily for my friends, I have a large pan!

The recipe says it serves 4-5 people.  I made it for 5 however, one of my friends was vegetarian, so if you are cooking for more people make sure you have enough meat.  It took me about an hour to make but half an hour of that was just leaving the rice to cook (as I only have one hob).

Mexican chicken stew with rice and beans

You will need:
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped into large chunks
3tbsp chipotle paste
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
4 skinless chicken breasts
140g long grain rice (or whatever rice you prefer, I used brown rice)
400g can pinto beans, drained (I used kidney beans as I couldn't find pinto beans - any red bean will do as a substitute)
small pack coriander, most chopped, a few left whole for garnishing
juice 1 lime
1tbsp sugar
natural yoghurt to serve

As I only had one hob I cooked the rice first, however, if you are lucky enough to not have this problem then you can save yourself some time by preparing it at the same time as the chicken.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the onion and peppers for a few mins until softened.  Stir in the chipotle paste for 1 min followed by the tomatoes.  Add the chicken breasts, with up to a tomato can-full of water to cover them, then gently simmer, turning occasionally for 20 mins until the chicken is cooked through. (To test this take a chicken breast out of the pan and cut open through the thickest part, the chicken should be white, not pink.  It doesn't matter if you do this as you will be cutting the chicken up later anyway.)

Meanwhile boil a pan of water, add the rice and cook according to the instructions on the packet, add the beans for the final minute.  Drain well and stir in the coriander and lime juice, then season.  Cover to keep warm before serving.

Lift the cooked chicken out of the pan and onto a board/plate and shred using two forks (if the chicken is cooked properly then this will be easy as the chicken will just come apart).  Stir back into the tomato sauce with the sugar and season.  Serve with the rise, scattering the stew with the leftover coriander leaves just before you serve.  Eat with a dollop of yoghurt sprinkled with black pepper.

After the meal we chatted over glasses of mulled cider.  This took about half an hour, I simply put 2 1/2 pints cider into a pan with 400ml apple juice 1tbsp dark brown sugar and a ready made sachet of spices (plus an extra cinnamon stick broken in half and a couple of cloves).  If you don't have a sachet the recipe I have (once again from GoodFood magazine) recommends using: the zest of an orange, pared into strips, 4 whole cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks broken in half and tbsp allspice berries.  If you want to make your mulled cider a little more alcoholic then you can also add some calvados/brandy, however I decided that was a little extravagant for a student who doesn't really like brandy!  Once you've put all the ingredients into a pan gently heat to mull it (don't let it simmer/boil).  Keep at a low heat for 20-30mins then serve.

Some of the recipes I have written about, including the Mexican dish, may seem a little fancy for a student, especially if you are on a budget.  However, I'd like to share with you how I make things go further.  The stew itself didn't cost the earth, between 5 of us it was about £3 per portion, however, as I'm about to show you, some of the ingredients lasted for more than just one meal.

The following day I made myself a delicious lunch from leftovers in my fridge.  I fried up half an onion I had left over from another day and added some of the leftover chipotle paste.  I then added a half-can of chopped tomatoes which I'd kept along with some water.  I seasoned it and left to simmer and reduce.  As there was a lot of rice with beans left over from the previous night I put a portion onto a plate and heated it up for a minute in the microwave.  I served with some leftover coriander sprinkled on top, a dollop of yoghurt and some salami which needed eating up.  And there you go, a quick and easy way to make sure leftovers don't go to waste!

Leftovers lunch

By planning your meals and buying all the ingredients in one go at the start of the week you can save yourself a lot of money but still eat delicious and exciting food.

Thanks to my friends who came over the other night, I had a lovely evening!

Merry Bridgemas Everyone!

This post may seem a little premature to some but in Cambridge term is coming to an end and Bridgemas is being celebrated.  However, the highlight of my week was not the Christmas dinner in Formal Hall, rather the evenings I have spent with friends.  I love sharing food with other people, it's far more fun than just cooking on your own and I'm really glad to have had friends to cook with.  From the yummy vegetable risotto to the delicious curry which were cooked for me by friends (you know who you are!) there's nothing better than sitting down to food with friends.  So that's the theme of this post, food with friends.

This time last year I was preparing for Christmas in Germany, where I spent a year studying abroad.  Not only was there mulled wine being served on the street corners and Lebkuchen galore I was also treated to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner by my American friends!  I'm thinking of you guys and this year I'm thankful that I met you all and here's hoping that I'll be able to come and visit some of you next summer.

So this week I went over to a friend's house to cook dinner.  I know my blog is normally about how to cook food without an oven but there are some things which you just can't do without one and roast chicken with roast vegetables is one of those things!  We stuffed the chicken and prepared roast potatoes (new and sweet) with roast peppers and courgettes.  We even had stuffing, peas and gravy to go with our beautifully cooked, crispy-skinned chicken (is your mouth watering yet?)  Three of us sat down to a lovely roast dinner with mulled wine and Christmas crackers.  It was a lovely evening with good food and good friends!  Thanks guys!

Our beautifully roasted chicken 

Last night I carried on a Christmas tradition of mulled wine and mince pies with friends.  Loads of people came over and I spent a very happy evening eating, drinking and chatting, while we also tried to construct a gingerbread house.  I photographed the result, which was surprisingly good (even if I do say so myself), given how hard it was to pipe the icing!  I am so pleased to have such artistically gifted friends!  Anyway, here it is, the gingerbread house:

All we need now are Hansel and Gretel!

I have to admit that it only looked like this for about 5 minutes as I couldn't resist eating some for much longer!

As for the mulled wine, I have to admit I cheated a little.  Rather than making my own I bought some ready-made bottles as it is a lot quicker.  I did buy some spices (dried orange, cinnamon stick, cloves and some berries) in order to add to one bottle of red wine, however, although it tasted nice, I discovered that it is hard to make proper mulled wine on induction hobs as (even on the lowest setting) they get too hot, meaning it is difficult to gently heat the wine without it simmering too much.  I have to say it's at times like these when I really miss Germany with its wide range of mulled wine (Glühwein) and stands selling it throughout the town centre (at least that was the case in Bamberg where I was living).  As a result of all the mulled wine (and the oranges we stuck cloves in) my room smells lovely and Christmassy this morning!

As this has been a somewhat nostalgic post I thought I would include a couple of photos from a similar endeavour last year.  It has to be said the gingerbread house kits which you can get in German are rather superior to those in England.  I have some great memories of the evening we built this house last year, thanks for the wonderful evening guys, ihr fehltet mir gestern!

All that remains to be said is a huge thank you to all of my friends for such as wonderful year, season's greetings to you all!