Curried devils (deviled eggs)

I recently read a book called "The Secret Supper Club" by Dana Bate, which was about this woman who worked as a research assistant, but whose dream was to become a cook - or chef, I suppose (which is really just a posh word for "cook"). It was a good if light read, just what I'd wanted at that point. 


I'm not really going to do a book review, but I had to mention the book because there were a few recipes at the end, of things that she'd made for her secret supper club guests, and the first of them was a recipe for deviled eggs. The rest of the recipes I was not interested in because they were rather too elaborately non-vegetarian. But this one seemed doable, so I did. 

I made a couple of minor changes, but mostly this recipe is as the book had it. The filling turned out to be much more lemon-sharp than I'd anticipated, and I think it's because I used perhaps a tablespoon's worth of lemon juice rather than the 1/2 tsp called for. It wasn't really a huge mistake for us, in any case, because Pete and I both love the sourness.

Recipe for: Curried devils (deviled eggs)

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp medium or mild curry powder (or use 1/4 tsp garam masala)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
1/4 tsp smoked hot paprika/cayenne pepper
Kosher salt & freshly milled black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp sweet paprika for garnish

Method:
1. Place the eggs carefully in a large saucepan and fill with cold water to come up to 1" above the eggs.
2. Bring to a bubbling boil, then turn the heat off, cover the pan and leave for exactly 14 minutes.
3. Then drain off the water and fill the pan again with very cold water, to stop the eggs cooking any further. Set aside for 10 minutes, then peel the eggs and slice them in half vertically.
4. Remove the yolks to a small bowl. Mash them smooth with a fork, then add the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, curry powder/garam masala, lemon juice, chives and hot paprika and mix thoroughly. Taste the mixture, adding a bit more of whatever you feel is lacking. Add salt (careful with this as the mayonnaise will already have salt) and pepper to taste and mix one final time.
5. Spoon the egg yolk mixture into a sealable sandwich bag or Ziploc bag (or use a disposable pastry bag) piling the filling as far as possible into one corner. Snip off the corner of the bag with scissors, then pipe the mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with a little sweet paprika to garnish, and serve at room temperature or cold.
Note: If you have any mixture left over (and going by my experience, you will), use it in a sandwich, or as a spread on toast. You can store the unused mixture in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a day.

Spinach-potato-cheese puffs

It started with two boiled potatoes. They were left over because I'd cooked too many. I had cooked too many because the potatoes were pretty elderly and showing signs of wanting to procreate, and I didn't want to waste them.

The thing was, I didn't really know what to make with the leftover potatoes. I didn't want to make the usual tikkis or bondas - apart from being boring, they weren't suitable for the food blog (because they'd already been featured some time ago).

The box grater was on the kitchen counter, and absent-mindedly I grated the potatoes. Now there was a pile of somewhat gooey grated potatoes - and no real clue what to do with it.

So I peeled an onion and chopped it. Now I had: 1. A pile of grated cooked potatoes and 2. A chopped onion. Only one thing to do thereafter, so I heated up a tsp of oil and part cooked the onion. Some spinach caught my eye and I added that in, then the potatoes, and mixed it all up with a bunch of herbs that I've got growing (basil, thyme and rosemary) on the windowsill. And I also added salt and lots of freshly milled black pepper.

It was beginning to look like tikkis were going to happen, whether I wanted it or not.

Luckily, Pete came in just then, sniffing the air because the potato mixture smelt really rather nice. He tasted the mixture and decided to improve it by adding some parmesan cheese. He tasted it again and said that there was something still missing... and that something turned out to be mustard.

Mustard loves cheese in some mysterious way, sharpening its edges and making the cheese cheesier rather than mustard-y. It's a strange alchemy that I absolutely do not want explained in any scientific manner - it's enough for me that the mustard and cheese love each other. (Food engineers please take note.) And by the way, mustard in a cauliflower-cheese bake is fabulously good!

But we're not discussing cauliflower-cheese bake in this post, so I will desist. So, back to what I was saying... at that point, I suddenly remembered the block of puff pastry in the fridge. And just like that, the fate of the potato-cheese was decided. Not tikkis, but potato-cheese puffs. What a brilliant idea that turned out to be! Of course the parmesan alone wasnt enough, so some mature Cheddar was invited to the puff party.

Ok, I didn't make the puff pastry from scratch. Sure, the shop-bought stuff has some preservatives in it, but I buy it so rarely that I figure it's not going to make that much difference to the temple of holiness that our bodies are supposed to be. I like cooking, but making puff pastry from scratch... no, I don't think so. Life is too short.

Anyway, the puffs were absolutely lovely - not TOO cheesy, but beautifully savoury. And filling, too.
Recipe for: Spinach-potato-cheese puffs
Ingredients:

1 pack shop-bought puff pastry
2 large potatoes, boiled and grated

1 cup spinach leaves, sliced or torn up
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp fresh herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary), chopped

3 tbsp grated parmesan
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

1 tsp medium curry powder
1 htsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and herbs.

2. When the onions begin to soften (about a minute or so), add the spinach leaves.

3. Stir-fry the spinach till it's just wilted, then add the grated potatoes.

4. Mix with a light hand till the spinach is evenly distributed.

5. Turn off the heat and let the potato mixture cool. Once cool, mix in the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, the mustard and the curry powder.

6. Finally, add the cubed cheddar to the mixture. Reserve till required.

7. Now, roll the puff pastry into a rectangle. Cut it into four or five strips, depending on what size you want the puffs to be, then cut the strips in half again. Place 2-3 tbsp of the filling on one half, spreading it out to within 1/2 cm of the edges.

8. Place the other half of the strip over the filling and ensure that the filling is fully encased. Crimp the edges of the pastry to stop the filling from leaking. Use the remaining dough and filling in the same way. Make two or three slashes across the top of each puff with a sharp knife - this will make it look pretty when finished.

9. Bake the puffs in a hot oven (180C/350F) until they are golden brown and cooked.

10. Serve warm with a salad.


RECIPE: SPINACH-POTATO-CHEESE PUFFS

Ingredients

1 pack shop-bought puff pastry
2 medium potatoes, boiled and grated
1 cup spinach leaves, sliced or torn up
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp fresh herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary), chopped
3 tbsp grated parmesan
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 tsp medium curry powder
1 htsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and herbs.
2. When the onions begin to soften (about a minute or so), add the spinach leaves.
3. Stir-fry the spinach till it's just wilted, then add the grated potatoes.
4. Mix with a light hand till the spinach is evenly distributed.
5. Turn off the heat and let the potato mixture cool. Once cool, mix in the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, the mustard and the curry powder.
6. Finally, add the cubed cheddar to the mixture. Reserve till required.
7. Now, roll the puff pastry into a rectangle. Cut it into four or five strips, depending on what size you want the puffs to be, then cut the strips in half again. Place 2-3 tbsp of the filling on one half, spreading it out to within 1/2 cm of the edges.
8. Place the other half of the strip over the filling and ensure that the filling is fully encased. Crimp the edges of the pastry to stop the filling from leaking. Use the remaining dough and filling in the same way. Make two or three slashes across the top of each puff with a sharp knife - this will make it look pretty when finished.
9. Bake the puffs in a hot oven (180C/350F) until they are golden brown and cooked.
10. Serve warm with a salad. Spinach-potato-cheese puffs

Roasted green beans with balsamic vinegar syrup

I wish I had something witty and clever to say about green beans (or French beans, as they are also known), but I don’t. All I can say is that I love them – the fresher they are, the better. I could never have imagined myself eating plain boiled vegetables – I always thought that would be too bland and boring. But what do you know, the yellow French beans that I’ve grown this summer have mostly been eaten exactly like that... picked from the plant, washed, boiled, sprinkled with a little salt and absentmindedly nibbled down while doing other things.

Given that I liked green beans at their plainest, I had no qualms about not liking them roasted in the oven – although, to be fair, it would NEVER have occurred to me to actually roast green beas. It was Nupur’s post on addictive green beans that set me on that particular track... and the recipe is 99% like hers, except that I used a balsamic vinegar reduction (left over from a previous recipe I’d tried).

Pete was dubious about the edibility of roasted green beans, but I made him try them anyway... and I think perhaps that the balsamic vinegar syrup tilted the balance in favour of the beans. What a lovely recipe!

Recipe for: Roasted green beans



Ingredients:

500gm green beans, topped and tailed
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing:
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar syrup

Method:

1. Toss the green beans with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 180C on a baking sheet till they acquire black spots.



Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

2. Place the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.



Adjust the flavour to suit your taste, if required.



3. Place the beans on a serving plate and pour on the dressing, then serve immediately.