The problem with skipping something in your delivery is that you don’t know what it’ll be replaced with and when I skipped potatoes one week, I received beetroot instead. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? (Well, actually I grated it and had it in a salad and it was fine with the added bonus of turning the feta cheese a nice pink colour.)

But wanting to avoid any more ‘what the hell do I do with that?’ vegetables, although I’ve had a delivery of courgettes for two weeks running, I decide to keep the courgettes and find a nice recipe for them. Having eggs to use up in the fridge, a frittata seemed to be the obvious choice. Although, having an oven with a grill that doesn’t work, it had to be an oven-baked frittata and the last time I made a frittata and put it in the oven instead of under the grill, it turned out to be a soggy mess.

Still, Google came to my rescue and I found an oven-baked frittata recipe which I can’t link to, as I just scribbled down some notes into my notebook and can’t remember where I found it.

I also used the cherry tomatoes that came in the box and it turned out perfectly, which is more than can be said for the home-grown potatoes that I overcooked into near-disintegration.

Oven-baked frittata (serves 2)

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 courgette, diced
75ml milk
1 tbsp cornflour
3 eggs
70ml single cream
25g cheese
70g cherry tomatoes, quartered

Method

1. Fry the courgette for 5 minutes
2. Blend a little milk with the flour, add eggs, cream and rest of the milk
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Add the cheese
5. Pour mixture into an oven-proof dish
6. Add the courgettes and tomatoes
7. Cook for 25-30 minutes on 200c

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They weren’t.

But yesterday when I cycled past, THERE WERE EGGS THERE and I had money on me and everything and so I threw caution to the wind and put all my eggs in one basket and put £1 in the jar and cycled home happily with my fresh out of a chicken’s bum eggs.  And so tonight I made a cheese, tomato and mushroom omelette.  And very nice it was too.

Fresh out of a chicken's bum omelette

Ingredients (serves 2):

4 eggs
1 green chili, chopped
150g mushrooms, sliced
100g cheese, grated
1 tomato, sliced

Fry the mushrooms in some butter and set aside.
Beat the eggs with the green chili.
Heat some butter in a large frying pan.
Add the beaten egg.
Cook until nearly set.
Add the mushrooms, tomato and cheese over half of the omelette.
Fold over the uncovered half over the half with the mushrooms, etc. on.
Slide onto a plate.
Slice into two.
Serve with jacket wedges and peas.
If you’re a wuss like The Meat Eater, pick out the pieces of green chili and leave them on your plate.

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Leith's Vegetarian Bible

This recipe, from Leith’s Vegetarian Bible, was so amazingly nice that, after eating it, I didn’t want to eat anything else ever.  I just wanted to eat this every day.  I don’t eat a lot of eggs; they have a bit of a squeamish factor for me as they’re a bit too close to an animal for my liking, but I eat them occasionally for a change.  And I’m very glad I made this.  Gorgeous.

Ingredients (serves 2)

4 eggs
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
110g/4oz French beans
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
1 small carrot, very finely shredded
55g/2oz beansprouts
1 stalk of lemongrass, outer leaves removed and finely chopped
1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 small clove of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon soft light brown sugar
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice or white wine vinegar
15g/½ oz butter
a few sprigs of fresh coriander, to garnish

1. Beat the eggs with the chilli and water in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Top and tail the beans and cut them in half.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or heavy frying pan, add the spring onions, carrot, beansprouts and beans and stir-fry for a few minutes.  Add the lemongrass, ginger and garlic and fry for 1 further minute, then stir in the sugar, soy sauce and vinegar.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Melt the butter in a large omelette pan or non-stick frying pan.  When foaming, pour in the eggs.  As the egg sets around the edge of the pan, hold the pan handle and use a palette knife to draw the cooked egg to the middle, while tipping the runny egg to the edge of the the pan.  Repeat once or twice until the omelette is set at the sides and underneath but is still a little runny on top.  Pile the vegetables over half of the omelette.  Fold the other half on top.  Slice in half crossways and serve scattered with coriander.

Thai vegetable omelette

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I decide to take a before photo

Souffle unrisen before it went in the oven

to compare the difference between that and after it had been cooked, as I think soufflés are supposed to rise, aren’t they?

Souffle, er, still unrisen after it had been in the oven

Hmm, oh well.   Still, it tasted very nice and I served it up with a veggie sausage, mushrooms, new potatoes and the fonduta sauce.

There is a sausage hiding behind the souffle

Spinach and ricotta souffles with fonduta sauce
(serves 8 )

For the soufflés:

2 lb (900 g) young leaf spinach

2 oz (50 g) ricotta cheese

4 large eggs, separated

2 oz (50 g) butter, plus a little extra for greasing the ramekins

freshly grated parmesan for dusting the insides of the ramekins and sprinkling on top of the soufflés

10 fl oz (275 ml) milk

2 oz (50 g) plain flour

freshly grated nutmeg

pinch cayenne pepper

salt and freshly milled black pepper

For the fonduta sauce:

7 fl oz (200 ml) crème fraiche

6 oz (175 g) Fontina, Gruyere or Emmental, cut into very small cubes

a good pinch cayenne pepper

a squeeze of lemon juice

You will also need eight 1 1/2 inch (4cm) deep ramekins, with a base diameter of 3 inches (7.5 cm), and a large baking sheet.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375F (190C), and pop the baking sheet in to pre-heat too.

First of all, butter the ramekins and lightly dust the insides with parmesan.  Then thoroughly wash the spinach in several changes of cold water and pick it over, removing any thick, tough stalks or damaged leaves.  Next, press the leaves into a large, saucepan, sprinkle in some salt (but don’t add water), cover and cook over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes.  Just let it collapse down into its own juices and then give it a stir halfway through.  Now drain the spinach thoroughly in a colander, pressing it very firmly with a sauce to extract every last bit of juice, it needs to be quite dry.  Then chop it fairly finely.

For the soufflés, put the milk in a saucepan, then simply add the flour and butter and bring everything gradually up to simmering point, whisking continuously with a balloon whisk, until the sauce has thickened and becomes smooth and glossy.  Then turn the heat down to its lowest possible setting and let the sauce cook very gently for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.  Now remove the pan from the heat and transfer the sauce to a large bowl.  Next, beat the chopped spinach and the ricotta into the sauce with the egg yolks.  Now season with salt, pepper, a generous amount of nutmeg and the cayenne.  Beat the egg whites in a large clean bowl until stiff, then using a large metal spoon, fold one spoonful into the spinach sauce to ‘loosen’ it.  Now carefully fold the remaining egg whites into the spinach mixture before dividing it equally between the 8 ramekins.  Sprinkle the tops of the soufflés with a little parmesan and bake on the baking sheet for 25-30 minutes, or until well risen and slightly browned on top.

While the soufflés are cooking you can make the fonduta sauce.  Put the crème fraiche into a small saucepan with the cheese and slowly bring it up to simmering point, with the cayenne and a good squeeze of lemon juice, whisking as the cheese melts.  The soufflés need to be served hot and puffy from the oven.  Make an incision into each soufflé with a knife and pour in a little sauce, then hand the rest around separately in a jug.

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As well as blogging my dinner, I’ve somehow been talked into drawing it too.  My mountain mate David has started a Facebook group called Draw Your Dinner where people draw pictures of their dinner (or lunch) and post them for everyone to see.  It is strangely fun.  You can join the group here.

Now, back to my dinner.

There’s eggs in here somewhere

Eggs set and cheese melted, before going under the grill

And served up with jacket wedges, peas, broad beans and sweetcorn

Chilli-baked eggs (this recipe serves 4, but I halved it)

1 small red pepper

1 small green pepper

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 jalapeno chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/ teaspoon chilli powder

1 x 400g/14 oz can of chopped tomatoes

1 x 225g/8 oz can of chopped tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and freshly ground pepper

8 medium eggs

110g/4 oz Cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

1. Cut the red and green peppers in half and remove the stalks, pith and seeds.  Cut the flesh into small dice.
2. Heat the oil in a large, deep, non-stick frying pan with a lid.  Add the peppers and onion and fry over a low heat for 4-5 minutes until soft but not browned.  Add the garlic, chillies, cumin and chilli powder and fry for 1 minute.  Add the chopped tomatoes, Tabasco and oregano and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Make 8 hollows in the sauce with the back of a wooden spoon and carefully break an egg into each one.  Crumble over the cheese, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes until the eggs are set to your liking and the cheese has melted.  Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high.
4. Slide the frying pan under the grill and cook for 1 minute until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

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Good Housekeeping Step by Step Vegetarian Cookbook

Back to an old faithful cookbook tonight, the Good Housekeeping Step by Step Vegetarian Cookbook.  I’ve never made a bad meal out of it and it has the added bonus of every single dish in it being indexed at the beginning with a colour photograph, along with plenty of colour photographs in the main sections too.  It also gives you useful information such as calories, suitability for freezing and preparation and cooking time. 

I originally thought this was going to be a healthyish meal, but after seeing how much cheese and butter went into it, I’ve since changed my mind.  Especially as after conferring with The Meat Eater that if the recipe says it serves 2-4, does that mean we should eat all of it, he said yes, we should.  But I cycled 17.3 miles today so I don’t feel too much of a pig.  A small pig, maybe.

Asparagus, broad bean and parmesan frittata

 Asparagus, broad bean and parmesan frittata (serves 2-4)
175 g (6 oz) small new potatoes
225 g (8 oz) asparagus spears
225 g (8 oz) frozen broad beans, thawed
6 eggs
Salt and pepper
50 g (2 oz) vegetarian Parmesan, freshly grated
45 ml (3 tbsp) chopped mixed herbs, such as parsley, oregano and thyme
50 g (2 oz) unsalted butter

1.  Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 15-20 minutes until tender.  Allow to cool, then slice thickly.
2. Meanwhile, trim the asparagus, removing any woody parts of the stems.  Place in a steamer over boiling water and cook for 12 minutes until tender.  Immediately plunge into cold water to set the colour and cool completely.
3. Slip the broad beans out of their waxy skins.  Drain the asparagus, pat dry, then cut into short lengths.  Mix with the broad beans.
4. Put the eggs in a bowl with a good pinch of salt, plenty of pepper and half of the vegetarian Parmesan cheese.  Beat well, then stir in the asparagus, broad beans and chopped herbs.
5. Melt 40 g butter in a 25 cm (10 inch) heavy-based non-stick frying pan.  When foaming, pour in the egg mixture.  Turn down the heat to as low as possible.  Cook for about 15 minutes, until the frittata is set but the top is still a little runny.
6. Scatter the cooked sliced potato over the frittata and sprinkle with the remaining vegetarian Parmesan cheese.  Dot with the rest of the butter.
7. Place under a hot grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling and the top is just set.  Slice the frittata onto a warmed plate and cut into wedges to serve.

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