June 2020 Favourites list

Hello friends!

The UK is taking slow steps out of Lockdown. This means that I have little to report as I have not been up to much. So the introduction to this month's favourites list is going to be short. Summer in the UK is slowly unfolding. We just had the longest day of the year (the Summer Solstice). My cooking exploits are on Instagram and my other thoughts are on Twitter (my handle is snigskitchen for both). 

We have been told that pubs, bars, restaurants, museums and galleries can re-open from July 4th. Of course, this is going to be subject to certain safeguards. So we will have to get used to a brand new version of "the new normal". The first day that non-essential shops re-opened, people were perhaps over enthusiastic, with many queuing around the block for the Nike Shop, Selfridge's and Primark. That novelty has now worn off. What the take up will be with this new relaxation of measures, we have yet to see. 

I hope that all of you are safe and well. Please don't forget, wash your hands, cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow. If other people want to keep a distance from you, please try to be cool about it. You may not know their situation or understand their fears. If you are supposed to wear a mask on public transport, please do so. It is small preventative measures that will help us all. Because behind every person you come into contact with is in a network of other people, some of whom might be vulnerable or needed on the front line. 

We have all been through so much these last few months. A little bit of caution and care for others should help take us forward through our next steps. 

Anyway, let's get onto my collection of lovely stuff. 

Food writing and articles:  

What is in season in June: http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/june.php

 

How to grow your own salad and herbs: https://www.olivemagazine.com/guides/how-to-grow-your-own-herbs-and-salad/

How to choose and cook with fish sauce: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/may/30/it-makes-everything-taste-better-how-to-buy-and-cook-with-fish-sauce

For decades, monosodium glutamate (MSG), naturally occuring in Parmesan cheese, ripe tomatoes and some types of seaweed has been demonised as a "bad" or unhealthy food product. It all dates back to a late 1960s paper. The astonishing truth is, that paper appears to be a complete fake. https://news.colgate.edu/magazine/2019/02/06/the-strange-case-of-dr-ho-man-kwok

Recipes: 

How to make Jambalaya, a masterclass from Felicity Cloake: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jun/10/how-to-make-jambalaya-recipe-felicity-cloake-masterclass

Chef Tim Anderson's vegan cauliflower katsu curry recipe: https://www.kaveyeats.com/2020/05/vegan-japaneasy-recipe-cauliflower-katsu-curry.html

Looking for new home baking ideas? How about coming back to that school cookery class classic, the flapjack?  https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/may/25/just-add-chocolate-or-dates-or-banana-10-delicious-flapjack-recipes-to-suit-every-taste

Smoky noodle salad by David Atherton, using lapsang souchong teabags for the dressing: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/may/13/david-athertons-recipe-for-smoky-rice-noodle-salad

Thai sweetcorn cake recipe from Rosa’s Thai Café: https://www.rosasthaicafe.com/recipes/sweet-corn-patties

Ishan Kolhatkar’s recipe for a “Bigish Mac”, a copycat version of the fast food classic: https://medium.com/@kolhatkar/bigish-mac-350bf816dd64

Miso salmon and ginger noodles (I would use buckwheat soba for this): https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/miso-salmon-ginger-noodles

No-cook chickpea, tomato and cucumber salad, a vegan recipe from Meera Sodha: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/may/30/meera-sodha-vegan-recipe-no-cook-salad-chickpea-tomato-cucumber-salad

What you might have missed at Snig's Kitchen

My recipe for lockdown freezer ragu sauce means one lot of cooking and 10 portions of delicious pasta sauce: http://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/06/lockdown-freezer-ragu-sauce.html  

Music:

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Pet Shop Boys - Introspective
Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold

TV:

What We Do In The Shadows (Series 1 & 2)
Black Books (Seasons 1-3)

Film:

What We Do In The Shadows
Withnail and I 
The Red Riding Trilogy

Please note: as with every monthly Favourites List, all of these items have been selected by me simply because I love them. I do not receive any money, benefits in kind or other incentive for posting these links or recommendations.    

Lockdown freezer ragu sauce

Today is the day England is easing its lockdown measures. However, non essential travel and social distancing is still required. Many of us will still be staying in, and many of us will be self isolating and shielding.The lockdown has meant many of us are home cooking, both as a means of eating something good, but also to spend time in the crafting of dishes. Cooking is a creative act, but it can also be a form of meditative and immersive therapy. I've long thought it was good for the soul... and gives you a reward at the end of something delicious to eat!

This is my recipe for ragu sauce. I won't call it Bolognese on two counts. Firstly, Italian purists have a very specific notion of what a Bolognese sauce is. I doubt any self-respecting Italian would consider this recipe as authentic. The second reason is that British people have their own idea of what Bolognese is, which is something equally heartfelt. I recall when Mary Berry shared her recipe with white wine and single cream included and there was a significant British backlash. I thought she had suggested two pretty useful additions, but I was clearly in the minority. 

This ragu has a sofrito base of celery, onion and carrot. These provide the flavour base for the meat. Please do dice these extremely small, as you don't want chunks of carrot or celery in when eating the ragu. I add red wine for depth of flavour, and milk to make the browned minced meat as moist and soft as possible. These additions shocked some people I have discussed them with, especially the milk, but trust me, it works. I used fresh tomatoes because I find tinned are a little too acidic in flavour for me, and add passata for extra fluid. 

This ragu will make enough for 10 individual servings, or five meals for two... I am sure it can be used for a couple of family meals. We ate the first portion on the day we cooked it and froze the rest, split into portions of two. We have been defrosting the ragu overnight the day before eating it, reheating it until it is piping hot. I do not recommend reheating from frozen.

What about the pasta? Italians tend to serve their Bolognese with tagliatelle. The British tend to use spaghetti. I prefer shapes of pasta designed to catch the sauce. My favourite is radiatore (shaped like old school iron radiators) and second favourite is conghigle (pasta shells). But you can use whichever pasta you like, as long as it is cooked al dente. The pasta made by a bronze die is something to seek out, as the texture is improved by the manufacturing process, and this helps grasp the sauce. Of course, having saved yourself effort later by making so much of the meaty sauce in advance, you could always make a lasagne with one of your batches of ragu.

You will notice I mention using nutmeg when serving. If you freeze the ragu, do not add the nutmeg before freezing. Only add it when you reheat the ragu before serving. You want an aroma of freshly grated nutmeg to give an added dimension to the ragu sauce.

Lockdown freezer ragu sauce
Makes enough for 10 individual servings

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
170g pancetta (either cubed, or slices cut into small squares)
2 onions, peeled and finely diced (3mm-5mm)
3 sticks of celery, peeled to get rid of the stringy bits and very finely diced (3mm)
3 carrots, peeled to get rid of the stringy bits and very finely diced (3mm)
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and very finely diced (2-3mm if possible)
500g minced pork
600g minced beef
7 tomatoes, chopped (I did not bother to peel them)
500ml red wine
300ml milk
1 pack passata
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Nutmeg (optional and only when serving)


Method
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. When heated, add the pancetta and cook on a medium heat until it is becoming a little crispy at the edges.

2. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for 3 or so minutes, ensuring you can smell its aroma.
4. Add the celery and the carrot dice. Cook for 5 minutes.

5. Now add the minced meat, and if needed raise the heat a little. You need to brown the meat all over, which means you will need to keep it moving. Keep stirring and turning everything over, until it has changed colour.

6. When it has changed colour, add the red wine. You need to raise the heat now to boil off the excess alcohol, and you will need to keep it moving all the while.
7. When the wine looks like it has evaporated, you add the milk. You will then need to cook on a medium heat for around 12 minutes. Keep stirring every now and then, to ensure the milk is soaked up by the mince.
8. Now add the tomatoes and passata, and raise the heat to bring it to the boil. When it is boiling, put the heat on low, as low as your hob will manage to maintain.
9. Patience is now your challenge, you need to cook for at least one hour, and if not, an hour and a half or two hours. You want it to be a homogenous sauce, all blended and melded together.
10. Taste and season as required to your taste.

This ragu will serve 10-12 people or perhaps make 5 separate meals for a couple. I divided it up into freezer containers and chilled and frozen different portions of the ragu. 


If you have a portion now, add a little sprinkling of nutmeg as you serve up. Otherwise, only add the nutmeg on reheating.