Flying the coup

I’m glad to say that normal service will be(is) resuming. Going back to work in May was harder than I thought it would be and two weeks later I was back in the nest rather bruised and dented. I’ve now had a wee while to recover and with Samuel about to leave, is Glasgow ready for him I wonder? I thought it was time to make sure that he could cook a meal fit for McCormack family fayre. Sorry, I just can’t resist the chance to add a little alliteration.

Sunday was the first time I had cooked a meal for weeks, which may also help to explain a lack of posts about what I’ve been doing in the kitchen. All the meals over the last three weeks, perhaps longer, have been chosen, prepared and cooked by Joseph and Samuel. The only thing we’ve done is pay for the ingredients! Oh and I have been a speaking recipe book. Stephen has had the dubious pleasure of tidying up after the kitchen has been reduced to something that looked more like a war zone.  I just wonder how often prawn toast made with 450g of king prawns will feature in Samuel’s meal plans? Not too often I suspect. Perhaps a few less dishes will also be used; unless his kitchen is an unusually well stocked for a halls of residence kitchen. He is now in a halls of residence in Glasgow and is getting a reputation as, ‘The Chef’. Result.

Since the weans, who both now tower above me, have been old enough to wield a wooden spoon they have been involved in preparing food. Samuel’s first bread making exploits are truly the stuff of family legends. Joseph is just amazed that anyone else actually ate it. The smarties in the bread were the least of his concerns; the number of times the dough hit the floor was a little more bothersome. Spinning dough is an art that not many six year olds manage to master, enough said!

I digress. What have been my aims, apart from making sure he can actually cook a meal? Obviously I wanted to make sure that he could use his limited resources wisely, so he doesn’t end up wasting either money or ingredients. Hopefully he will check his store cupboard before he restocks them it; those wilted veggies lurking all lonely and unloved could become a tempting meal. The lunch we had yesterday was the result of spotting a pair of aubergines that were no longer plump and shiny. They became Melanzane Parmigianino, an aubergine bake with tomato sauce and parmesan, cheddar or Wensleydale depending what I discover in the fridge . The alternatives were – an aubergine pasta sauce or  a Keralan curry sauce from ‘A Girl Called Jack’. Talking about food, as well as preparing it, has been part of this process too. I also wanted both Joseph and Samuel to see that cooking can be fun and that delicious meals can be made quickly and simply.

I know I’ve enjoyed sharing the kitchen with them and taking on a more advisory role. We’ve had some splendid meals too. This week we had a surplus of cannelloni beans that had made there first appearance in a green pepper and bean goulash, courtesy of Rose Eliot’s Complete Vegetarian. There was also some meat left on the skeleton of a chicken that had been lurking in the fridge with malicious intent. If it wasn’t used up very soon it would have to be binned. A Capital offence in this household. In the salad drawer a pepper was looking limp and lonely. After a brief discussion,  some  surfing the net and browsing through our collection of cookery books we decided to make enchiladas. Having no wraps in the house we would have to rustle some up, simples. To make life easier I just made up a standard white bread pizza dough and after the first rising just divided it into 60g balls. These were rolled out nice and thinly and quickly cooked in a lightly greased moderately hot skillet or heavy frying pan. Once you get a few brown spots on each side they’re done.

What I hope they have learnt is the skill of doing ‘roll – overs’ and stretching the more expensive ingredients to make follow on meals . With just small tweaks truly the phoenix of one dish can rise from the ashes of an old one. 

My initial starter was 500g of cannelloni beans which I placed in a pan with twice as much water so they had tons of room to expand, which I boiled for five minutes and then turned the water off and left for one hour. You can change the water, I don’t bother, then boil the beans for 10 minutes and simmer until tender usually about another 35 minutes drain and rinse.

For the goulash you will need
500g onions, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp oil, if a meat eater I’d use dripping or large for added unami
1 clove garlic, minced
2 peppers, deseeded and cut into chunky strips
2 × 450g tinned tomatoes
500g cooked beans. Or 2 × 450g tons cannelloni beans
1 heaped table spoon of smoked paprika

Sour cream to serve, I added a tablespoon of chopped dill to it and 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, add the onion and cook until softened.
Add the garlic, don’t let it burn so we’re talking about one minute.
Add the peppers, cook until softened 4 or 5 mins, add the paprika.
Bung the tomatoes into your pan, simmer uncovered for fifteen minutes.

Serve with rice or a baked potato, drizzle the sour cream over your goulash with a crisp green side salad dressed with a tangy lemon dressing

The next day we served the left over goulash with a little leftover roasted chicken which I fried with an onion, a red pepper and some ‘Slap yer Mamma’ – an authentic cajan spice mix.
I made same wraps using a basic white bread dough recipe allowing 60g of dough

Next I made a simple tomato sauce by heating 3tbsp of oil adding copped clove of garlic and a finely chopped red chilli, cook briefly before adding  500ml passata and salt to taste. Cook for about 5 mins. Simple.

Oil a shallow casserole dish, take a wrap and place a few table spoons of your bean, pepper and chicken mixture in a wrap. Roll it up and place in your dish.
For a lunch allow one enchilada per person, dinner two.
Continue filling and rolling your wraps until you have used them all up.
Next pour your simple tomato sauce over your wraps. I sprinkled some i.e. lots of cheddar cheese over them all at this point.
Bake at 175°c fan oven or  195°c in a standard oven until piping hot, about 15-20 mins.

I like to serve a salad with them and sour cream.

Now you should still have heaps of beans left.

I used half of them to make a lamb and bean casserole which I served with creamy polenta.

The last batch became Boston(ish) baked beans. I use my simple tomato sauce but add a couple of table spoons of molasses to it. One spoon is probably enough for most folks though.
Add your cooked beans and simmer for a few mins. These I served for brunch on sourdough toast,  a poached egg with a salsa made from diced tomatoes, diced chilly, parsley, finely sliced shallot and a little olive oil.

The possibilities are countless. I think both Joseph and Samuel have got the idea of using a base ingredient and making it into several different dishes.