The Cottage Cooking Club | October Recipes

The CCC cooking their way through River Cottage Veg
by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

October Recipe Choices:

Warm Salad of Mushrooms and Roasted Squash
Cannellini Bean and Leek Soup with Chile Oil
Carrot, Orange, and Cashews
Baby Beet Tarte Tatin 
Pumpkin and Raisin Tea loaf 
Vegeree 
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots
Broccoli Salad with Asian-Style Dressing
White Beans with Artichokes
Kale and Onion Pizza

Warm Salad of Mushrooms and Roasted Squash

Close your eyes, and imagine little cubes of blue cheese scattered throughout this most delicious salad of roasted squash, sautéed mushrooms, and arugula, that has been dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

I was lucky I had enough roasted squash for the salad, for I could not stop picking at it while it cooled; I'm a sucker for anything roasted, especially squash.

Cooled? - you may be asking. This is supposed to be a warm salad... The squash cooked quicker than expected and I could not resist sneaking a few bites (OK, a lot) while prepping the rest of the salad.

This is the second recipe in as many months that we used roasted squash in a recipe. I truly am amazed at just how much flavor the squash picks up from the herbs (sage) that are left whole, and the garlic (in this recipe) was thickly sliced, though left whole (with skin on) in a previous recipe.

No cheese? No worries! I had maybe three or four bites left to eat before I realized I forgot to add the cheese! Dang! As much as I love a creamy blue, this salad tasted great without it.

Throughout the rest of the evening, I kept thinking to myself, mmm - that was really good.


Cannellini Bean and Leek Soup with Chile Oil

So excited to see new buds on my Thai hot pepper plant. :)

The chile oil is made from simmering chile peppers, thyme, and garlic in olive oil. The instructions say to remove the membrane and seeds from the pepper and slice. I sliced horizontally, so it was more minced than sliced. I think Hugh must have meant to slice the peppers lengthwise for my peppers (and everything else) charred. My oil never turned red and had a burnt taste to it. Total fail on the oil part of this recipe. It was not a good day in the kitchen for me, as you may know if you read my post on French bread (the bread, shown below).

This soup is made up of leeks, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, vegetable stock, cannellini beans, oregano, and parsley. It comes together rather quickly (no long simmering times) and makes for a delicious weeknight dinner.

The leeks, thyme, and bay leaf are sautéed first until the leeks are tender, then the garlic is added and cooked for just another minute or so. The broth is added along with the oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper, and simmered gently for twenty minutes. Bam! Done.  The soup is now ready to be served with a trickle of chile oil - if it had turned out.

The soup, it was a success - and it tasted even better the following day.


Carrot, Orange, and Cashews

I knew I would like this - I love anything citrus.

This salad of sort, is made up of oranges, carrots, toasted cashews, and cumin seed, with a splash of oil and vinegar, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. I did not have cumin seed, so I subbed celery seed.

I will make a couple of changes the next time a make this. I would pass on toasting the cashews - I prefer them raw; and I would julienne the carrots finer using a kinpira peeler, for the thick carrots were awkward to eat - this would not be a good choice for a first date meal!  I took the leftovers to my sister and she said the same; she liked the salad, except for the thickness of the carrots.

 The kinpira peeler - awesome tool.

This was a wonderful dish, and can only be made better by using oranges that are in season.


Baby Beet Tarte Tatin

They say you feast with your eyes first...

It may not look like much in the beginning, but once it is turned out and dressed with the vinaigrette, it is absolutely gorgeous.

Hugh has a recipe for a "rough puff pastry" that is a cheater version of true homemade puff that you can use. I opted for store-bought - and by store-bought I mean this brand - it is as close to homemade as one can get.

This was a first for me, eating the skin of the beet. I have always skinned them. I must have re-read that recipe again and again, looking for when the beets were to be skinned - peeled before cooking, or slipped off afterward. I tried slipping them off after they were roasted, but it was not happening. And after a quick Google search, there really is no need to peel your beets if they are young - older beets, the skin can be a little tough.

The beets are first roasted until tender in a mixture of butter (I used all oil, for I thought I was out of butter - gasp! though I did find it a day later - in plain sight of course), oil, cider vinegar, sugar, and salt & pepper. Once the beets are ready, they are arranged cut side up and covered with the puff pastry and returned to the oven until the pastry is puffed and golden.

Once the tarte is cooled, it is turned out onto a serving platter. 

I wish I had left the tips on a few of the beets - it would have made for a more artistic design - and I'm thinking, using red and golden beets would be beautiful too. Next time - and I do hope there will be a next time.

After the tarte has been placed on its serving platter, it is dressed with a vinaigrette made of shallots (or scallions can be used), English mustard, cider vinegar, canola oil, sugar, and parsley.

We had this for dinner alongside a basic green salad. This would also make for a fun and delicious appetizer or light lunch.

Unfortunately, it cannot be made ahead of time for the bottom crust will become soggy. We had leftovers the next evening, in which I warmed it in a 350°F oven for about half an hour. Aside from a soggy bottom (despite being re-heated on a rack that was placed over a baking sheet), we thought it tasted even better the next day.

Beets and puff pastry - enough said.

Pumpkin and Raisin Tea Loaf

So much for my thinking this was a quick-bread, that I was going to whip it out in no time in between my morning workout and a bike ride. One should never assume... it was a little more involved than I realized:

1. Grinding the almonds

2. Separating the eggs

3. Juicing and zesting of a lemon

4. Making my own self-rising flour (flour/baking powder/salt)

5. Whipping of the egg whites and folding the egg whites into the batter

6. A longer baking time (18 minutes more)

So much for that one bowl recipe I was thinking of too.

It's all good though - it was worth it.

This delightful bread is made from muscovado sugar (I used dark brown sugar), eggs, raw pumpkin flesh (I used canned), lemon juice & zest, raisins, ground almonds, self-rising flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

I do like Hugh's idea of lining the loaf pan with parchment - something I had never thought to do when baking bread; it made for easy removal.

I'm glad I decided to use the raisins I had on hand - Sunmaid Mixed Jumbo Raisins - I think it made for a very pretty raisin-studded loaf.

This bread turned out quite moist despite not having any added oil or butter, and quite tasty; and is so frigging good toasted and buttered - maybe the only way it should be eaten.


Vegeree

Vegeree - you may be thinking it sounds familiar. This is actually a take on kedgeree, the curried rice dish made with fish, cream, and hard-boiled eggs. Here Hugh omits the cream, swaps out the fish with eggplant, and has added some zucchini as well.

I had some butternut squash I needed to use, so I tossed that in too, along with some garlic. The vegetables are tossed together with oil, salt, pepper, and curry powder (I also added a bit of cumin), and roasted until the vegetables are tender.

While the vegetables are roasting the rice and hard-boiled eggs are cooked.

Hugh has an interesting way to cook the rice. First it is boiled uncovered until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, a damp kitchen towel (I used strong paper towels) is placed under the lid and cooks for ten minutes more on the lowest heat setting; then off heat, is allowed to sit for another five minutes.

I found all this fuss unnecessary. Cooking the rice according to the package directions would work just as well. 

After everything is cooked, the rice and vegetables are tossed together, and then topped with the eggs and some fresh ground black pepper. 

Traditionally, kedgeree is eaten at breakfast; I however, chose to serve our vegeree for dinner.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots

As I have said before, I love any and all roasted vegetables. So there is no surprise that this was a hit we me - hubby seems to have an aversion to anything onion, or anything that even resembles an onion..

As all roasted vegetables are, this was easy and quick to make. Just tossed the prepped vegetables with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and a few sprigs of thyme, and roasted until tender - around a half hour or so, stirring at least once half way through.

The recipe calls for a drizzle of lemon juice and fresh thyme before serving. However, The Mr. also is not a fan of citrus used in this way. So instead of squeezing lemon juice over the roasted vegetables as the recipe calls for, I served the vegetables with wedges of lemon alongside. The lemon adds a lightness, and bright taste to the dish.

You can't go wrong with roasted vegetables of any kind. It's amazing how vegetables are transformed when roasted. They caramelize on the outside while becoming soft and tender, and develop a concentrated and sweetened flavor. If you haven't tried roasting your favorite vegetable, you're missing out.  

 Broccoli Salad with Asian-Style Dressing

I think this as more of a side-dish than a salad. The only ingredients are broccoli, green onion, sesame seeds, and a vinaigrette made from garlic, ginger, sugar, salt, pepper, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce.

The broccoli is first blanched to soften it slightly. The vinaigrette is added to the still warm broccoli and allowed to sit until cooled. Just before serving, toasted sesame seeds (as you can see, I did not toast mine) and sliced scallions are scattered over the top.

This was OK. The vinaigrette has good flavor. I think I would have preferred this served warm as a side dish, rather than at room temperature as a salad.

White Beans with Artichokes

This would have been a lot more visually appealing if I did not forget to scatter over the cheese! Gahhh! I can't believe I forgot - again!

For this salad, slivered garlic (as usual - I doubled up on the garlic) is sautéed in a tablespoon of oil from the marinated artichoke hearts, then the hearts themselves are added and cooked for a very short time before the beans are added, and everything is heated through.

After removing the pan from the heat, lemon juice, salt, and pepper are added and combined, then this mixture is placed on top of salad greens.

The forgotten cheese.

Wait a minute.. what about dressing for the salad? This would make for a rather dry salad with no dressing. Was the lemon juice supposed to stand in for a dressing? The beans pretty much soaked the lemon juice all up. I made a quick, light vinaigrette - I mixed up some olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemon juice, and a dash of salt.

Again, another OK recipe. The cheese was my favorite part. To my surprise, The Mr. said he liked it - he does love his beans.

Well, I made nine out of the ten recipes I committed to this month- time just got away. With the holidays upon us, I don't see myself committing to ten each month until at least January. 

To see what recipes the other members chose for this month, head over to the September LYL post on the CCC website, by clicking here.

We have been asked not to publish the recipes here on our blogs. We encourage you to go out and purchase the book and join us on this fun and healthy adventure! (Some of the recipes from the book are posted on-line on Hugh's website [and others], just do a Google search.)