It’s always good to be told that the food you are eating is good for you and a piece by Cate Devine in todays  Glasgow Herald about Scottish Rapeseed Oil confirms that.  Research carried out by Dr Jayne Mckenzie of Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh analysed Black and Gold oil from East Lothian and confirmed that Scottish cold pressed rapeseed oil  is probably superior to olive oil in health terms.

Rapeseed oil is one of my kitchen staples for a number of reasons and one of those is the balance between the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Dr McKenzie’s research was able to confirm that the balance between the omega 3 and 6 in the East Lothian oil confirms to the World Health Organisations guidelElse’s.

Looking through cook books, you will see many of the older books mentioning vegetable oil, olive oil or butter but in recent years rapeseed oil has crept onto that list and is now a favourite of many chefs, including 2011 Scottish Chef of the Year Neil Forbes at Cafe St Honore in Edinburgh.

As a supporter of local food producers and healthy cooking ,cold pressed rapeseed oil ticks that box for me and there’s rarely a day passes that I don’t use it in my cooking.

Like many of the products I use, there are favourites and when it comes to rapeseed oil my favourite and nearest producer is ‘Summer Harvest,  an award winning rapeseed oil produced by Mark and Maggie Bush at their family farm, Madderty Farm in Strathearn,  Perthshire.

If you attend Scotland’s farmers markets on the east side of Scotland or the various food festival and shows you will,no doubt have come across their oils, delicious  dressings and mayonnaise and of course tasted them.

A recent addition to the product range has been the wonderful vinegars that are used in the Summer Harvest dressings .  Like the oil, these are a must have and my favourites are  the Bramble and the Raspberry, a real taste of the Scottish Countryside in a bottle.

When I mention my love of rapeseed oil to others the first thing that is usually mentioned is   Olive oil, a long time favourite of cooks and the oil that is well know for its health giving properties.

There is no disputing the health benefits of Olive and it’s place in the kitchen and its not my intention to compare them, rather to concentrate on the benefits and way rapeseed oil can be used in everyday cooking.

If you are health conscious, have problems such as high cholesterol then rapeseed oil is an obvious choice when it comes to cooking with oil.  With a saturated fat content of around 6%, a high monosaturated fat content of over 60%,  polyunsaturated fat at over 27% along with a good balanced of omega 3 6 and 9, cold pressed rapeseed oil is definitely one for the store cupboard and everyday use.

The Summer Harvest website , www.summerharvestoils.co.uk has  some great recipes for using rapeseed oil and lots interesting facts about the oil and also how it is produced. In addition to cold pressed rapeseed oil there’s Chilli infused rapeseed oil along with four delicious dressings/marinades, several fruit vinegars and mayonnaise

Rapeseed oil,is a storecupboard staple for me and in the past where I always used Olive oil, I’ve adapted many of my recipes and use cold pressed rapeseed instead. In this post I’ve include a couple of my recipes and there are some fantastic recipes on the Summer Harvest Website including the Chocolate Beetroot Cake which is one of my favourites.

As I cook for my mother who has a cholesterol problems, rapeseed oil has been an ideal replacement for butter in cakes and if I need an oil for Sauteing then rapeseed is my choice. With a flash point of 240 c, it’s my choice when it comes to roast potatoes and also for any deep frying. It’s ideal is a dipping oil having a milder nutty flavour and also a drizzle over salads and pizzas.

Hummus 

This is my basic recipe but you can adapt to suit your own taste by increasing or reducing the amount of lemon juice and yoghurt.

1 400g can of chickpeas

3 desert spoons of Tahini

2 large garlic cloves

2 – 3 desert spoons of natural yoghurt

3 – 4 tbsp of rapeseed or for an extra kick use the Chilli infused oil.

Juice of 1 lemon

Seasoning.

Place all the chickpeas, tahini, garlic, yoghurt, oil and half of the lemon juice and seasoning in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Taste and adjust the seasoning and if needed add the remaining lemon juice.

This is a good healthy snack and would be ideal in lunch boxes or simply as nice light lunch.

Hummus also makes a nice vegetarian starter with vegetables and pitta bread or on one big platter with the accompaniments for everyone to share. Add some extra small dishes such as olives, sundries tomatoes and its a perfect starter to a meal rather than a snack.

Chocolate and Orange Pumpkin Cake.

My healthy cake offering is a Chocolate & Orange Pumpkin cake and although it contains sugar , there are no artificial colourings, it’s made with fresh pumpkin and rapeseed oil which lowers the saturated fat content. Nothing like a healthy cake!

Ingredients

Cake,

300g self raising flour

300g light muscovada sugar

1tbsp ginger

2.5 tsp cinnamon

60g cocoa powder (Green and Blacks gives the best flavour)

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs beaten

140 ml rapeseed oil

30 ml natural yoghurt

Zest of 1 orange

650g pumpkin grated.

Oven Temp 180oc/ fan 160oc gas 4

30×20 cm loose bottomed cake tin – greased and lined with baking parchment

Put the dry ingredients, flour,sugar, spice, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and salt in to a large mixing bowl.

Beat the eggs, add the oil and yoghurt and orange zest and mix well. Fold in to the dry ingredients and then stir in the grated pumpkin ensuring that it is mixed well.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 35 – 40 mins or until springy to touch.

Orange drizzle icing.

Juice of 1 orange and zest of 1/2.

100g granulated sugar

Mix ingredients together and drizzle over cake.

Food programmes are always of interest to me and one that caught my attention this week was the new series ‘Rip Off Food on BBC,Presented by Gloria Hunniford.

The programme looks at the tricks of the trade used by food manufacturers and supermarkets, revealing how customers are fooled and misled when chosing what to buy.

Takeaway food was highlighted,in particular the lamb kebab and lamb curry and what concerned me was that some of the lamb dishes tested contained not only lamb but chicken and beef. The food tested on the programme came from food outlets in 4 Warickshire towns and was tested by the local trading Standards Officers. 20 restaurants were visited and 39 dishes were bought for sampling and out of the 19 Donner  kebabs analysed all in addition to lamb contained other meats such as chicken, beef and pork. According to the head of Warickshire Trading Standards this is a nationwide problem so does make you wonder just what is in take away food. The food samples were also tested for artificial colourings and some were found to contain 18 times the permitted limit, quite alarming when you consider the effects on children and people with health problems such as asthma.

Donner kebabs are traditionally made with minced lamb so it is probably once of the easier dishes to disguise with other meats and given the levels of fat, salt and colourings in such takeaway dishes it really does not make for a healthy meal.

I’m sure there are some very good kebab takeaway establishments around and it was listening to my boys talking about how Glasgow had some fantastic kebab houses that got me cooking my own version for them. Apparently they know where the best kebabs in Glasgow can be found and it was that announcement that first led me to ‘Take on the Takeaway’…….a lamb kebab…all the trimmings and the first time I made it I even wrapped it in paper for them.

This version is much healthier and can be made with any meat although I usually use lamb leg steaks, and serve on a large round pitta with salad,red onion, tomatoes, raita and a chili sauce.

Do the boys enjoy the homemade kebab? Yes, they do indeed and it’s been cooking dishes like this that has encouraged them to become more interested in food and to start experimenting with different flavours in the kitchen
Lamb kebab.

Approx 6 lamb leg steak
4 tsp Harissa paste…….I use Belazu Rose Harissa
2 Tbsp oil….I tend to use rapeseed although olive will be fine.

Place the lamb steaks in a plastic bag , mix the Harissa and oil together and add to the lamb, mix well and leave to marinade either overnight or for a few hours.
When ready to cook, heat a griddle or grill and cook steak for approx 4 minutes each side or to your liking. When cooked serve on pita bread with the accompaniments.

Accompaniments.Pitta bread…the large round pitta bread from Warburtons are ideal as you can lay kebab on top and fold.
Chopped tomatoes
Sliced red onion
Shredded lettuce

Chili sauce
250ml Natural yogurt
100 ml tomato ketchup
1 tsp chili powder
1tsp mint sauce

Raita
250ml Natural yoghurt
Half a cucumber-chopped
1tbsp chopped fresh mint
Half Tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

It’s British Egg Week and therefore seems appropriate for me as an egg lover and chicken keeper to pay homage to my Chooks and blog about the delicious eggs they lay.

 

 

Eggs are  nutritious fast food, containing a wealth of vitamins and minerals and are so easy to cook in a variety of ways yet recent research from YouGov revealed 35% of 18 to 24 year olds have never poached and egg, 1 in 5 (21%) have never made an omelette, 1 in 6 (17%) have never scrambled or fried and egg and 16% have never boiled and egg.

A box of eggs can contribute to a great breakfast or meal and as the mother of an 18 year and 24 year old I’m afraid to say that they are amongst the 35% who have never poached an egg! Of course that will now change and I will task their dad who I refer to as the ‘King of poached eggs’ to teach them his secrets of cooking the perfect eggs.

Having 6 chickens means that eggs feature a lot in our diet and being such a versatile food they are one of the best healthy ‘fast foods’ available.  In recent years health advice about restricting the numberof eggs in the weekly diet has changed and there is no longer a recommended limit on how many eggs people can eat.  The Food Standards Agency describe eggs as a good choice when part of a healthy balanced diet and  British Heart Foundation advice suggests that the cholesterol found in food such as eggs does not usually make a great contribution to the level of cholesterol in your blood, concluding that it is much more important to eat foods that are low in saturated fat.

I’m always hearing that people can’t cook or are to busy to cook but it’s important to realise that cooking a healthy meal doesn’t need to be time consuming or complicated and eggs are an ideal food for this.

In our house, eggs tend to be used to make great wholesome breakfasts, quick lunchtime omelettes or a large tortilla for dinner, served along with salad and bread, but they are included as part of so many other recipes including, baking, a binding ingredient in meatloaf, meatball or  fishcakes. An egg really is little powerhouse of nutrition and a rich source of good protein and with less than 70 calories in a medium egg why not think about including them for quick and easy meals.

If you’re looking for new ideas on how to cook with eggs the ‘Take a Box of Eggs’ is a new cookbook by Lucy Knox,  launched for British Egg Week. It is the latest in the ‘Dairy Cookbook Series and with more than 100 tasty recipes you’ll never be short of ideas for a quick meal. There are seven sections, covering basic recipes, toasts and snacks, vegetarian, fish, meat, bakes and deserts.

Each recipe has its own QR code which can be scanned with a smartphone for an instant ingredients shopping list.

What kind of eggs? ……..There’s a variety of eggs available now and what you chose to buy is a matter of personal preference and very often cost as many families are now on tight budgets. A dozen large eggs will make a great meal for a family of 4. A check at my local supermarket revealed a range of prices e.g.  £3 for a box of 30 mixed weight eggs, £3 for 10 organic eggs or £2.70 for 12 free range. If I have the need to buy eggs then a local egg producer is usually my choice as I prefer to buy local food wherever possible and I find the quality much better than some supermarket eggs.

I haven’t included any recipes as there are so many great recipes available from the following:-

www.BritishEggInfoService.co.uk

www.dairydiary.co.uk (Take a Box of Eggs and other titles in series available from this site)

www.britegg.co.uk

 

 

 

As Scottish Food Fortnight draws to an end for another year, my final blog to celebrate the event will be a wee sweet treat. Tablet or Helensburgh Toffee as my mother calls it, is a delightful fudge like  sugary treat and although similar in appearance to fudge, the texture is different to both fudge and toffee!

Over the years she has made it for church sales, coffee mornings, family dinners, gifts and wedding favours. When I was young I remember it being cut into bars and wrapped in grease proof  paper but these days it has more elaborate packaging such as cellophane bags tied with ribbon or boxed with the tissue to match the theme colours of a wedding. This weekend she has taken it south and we will enjoy it as the favours at a family wedding in Yorkshire….where mother will take great delight in sharing her recipe.

When I was taught to make tablet, my mothers recipe was a knob of butter, a cup of milk, a bag of sugar and a tin of condensed milk. As with many old recipes she never really measured ingredients but this recipe contains the measurements for the quantities she uses.

Recipe                                                                                          

1kg bag of sugar

397g tin of condensed milk

50g butter

275 ml milk

Add the milk and butter  to a large heavy based saucepan, allow to melt over a medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Try not to dissolve the sugar to quickly as it can affect the finished texture of the tablet.

Bring to the boil,  add the condensed milk and continue stirring, slowly bringing back to the boil. Stirring continuously cook for approximately 20 minutes until the mixture darkens.

Remove from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and feels sandy against the side of the pot.

Pour into a well buttered tin 11″ x 7″ Swiss roll tin to set. After about 10 minutes mark the tablet either into squares or bars for easier cutting once it has set.

 

Scottish  Food  fortnight is in full swing with a great programme of events and  lots of well known chefs demonstrating their dishes to lovers of Scottish food. My contribution has been a commitment to using as much Scottish and local produce in our family meals, something I always try to do but for this fortnight I’m making an extra special effort and will try as much as possible to cook dishes which reflect the great produce that Scotland is known for. I’m in no way a ‘chef’ type cook, I like to cook a good variety of wholesome and healthy meals for my family so I hope you enjoy my recipes.

Stovies is a dish that just sings out ‘comfort food; warm and comforting, filling and tasty. Over the years I’ve had many different types of Stovies and once when I was in Fife a lady told me that the ingredients depended on what part of Scotland you came from. My mother tells me that Stovies were Monday nights dinner, made with whatever was left over from Sunday dinner..meat, sliced potatoes and onion, layered in a casserole.

History however tells me that Stovies have been around for a long time, the word having come from the French ‘étouffér …to cook in a closed pot and dates from the Auld Alliance links in the 17th century.

This is my take on a Stoved dish, there are many recipes available, some with beef, some with lamb and in Fife I had the dish made with corned beef. The main ingredients for Stovies are meat, sliced potatoes and onions but I have added a few extra ingredients as my intention was to make a good Scottish dish to celebrate Food Fortnight. I have used free range Scottish Chicken thighs for my recipe, with the addition of Macsweens’s haggis for extra depth of flavour.

The recipe serves  5 but quantities can be easily adapted.

I used a large Le Crueset pot  although you can use a large deep casserole and cover tightly with tin foil.

Ingredients

Scottish rapeseed oil

10 Free range chicken thighs. I like to remove the skin to reduce the fat content (the bacon gives additional flavour)

2 rashers of thick Scottish bacon chopped into small lardons or 2 small packets of lardons.

Haggis, I used half a pack of Macsweens cocktail haggis and it kept its shape during cooking.

Approx 300g of shallots, sliced

Sliced potatoes, I left the skin on.

Few sprigs of Thyme

150 ml

500ml Chicken  stock

3 Tbs well seasoned flour.

Coat the chicken thighs with flour, heat the oil in a large pan and brown the chicken pieces for a few minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.

Add the bacon to the pan, brown and set aside.

Place a layer of the sliced potatoes followed by the shallots and half of the bacon pieces in the base of a large casserole. Sprinkle with Thyme leaves, season and  drizzle with rapeseed oil. Place the chicken thighs on top and arrange the haggis in between.

Arrange the remaining potatoes, onions, bacon pieces and thyme on top. Season, drizzle with a little more oil then add the chicken stock and wine.

Cook at 170oc/Fan 150oc Gas 3 for 90 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender. Once cooked, brown the top under a hot grill before serving.

Cooks notes.

Vary the recipe by using thickly sliced Venison Chorizo instead of bacon or replace the haggis with Black Pudding.

Although I love spending time in the kitchen, there are nights when I’m short of time and need to cook up something quick and tasty with very little effort. We all have those nights in our week, late home from work or needing something quick and healthy for the kids following the after school activities.  A nice easy pasta dish that suits everyone is usually what I make and just because it’s quick to make it doesn’t mean that it’s any less tasty.

The supermarket shelves are laden with pasta sauces but it is so easy to make your own and at least you know it’s full of flavour and goodness. This is one of my favourites and all it needs to accompany is a green salad and bread
Creamy Chilli and Bacon Penne

500g Penne
560g bottle of Passatta ….I used Cirio Tuscan creamed tomatoes.
1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
2 red or green chillies – finely chopped
3 garlic cloves – crushed
2 180g packs of lardons. Use 1 packet if you prefer less bacon
2 heaped desert spoonfuls of Light Philadelphia cream cheese with garlic and herbs
A wee pinch of sugar!
Chopped flat leaf parsley or basil leaves and grated parmesan to serve.

Cook the lardons until the pieces start to brown, add the chilli and garlic and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes. Add the passata and cook for approx 10 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

Stir the cream cheese in to the tomato sauce, do this one spoonful at a time, mixing each thoroughly through the sauce.

Add the pasta to the sauce and mix to combine. Sprinkle with parsley or basil and serve with parmesan cheese, a green salad and some nice crusty bread.

Variations.
Make it veggie by omitting the bacon.
Use different Flavours of Philadelphia.
Serve with a crisp topping ….sprinkle with grated cheese and brown under the grill for a few minutes.

Monday nights tend to be leftover night in our house and it’s usually reasonably easy to find sufficient ingredients from the fridge, freezer and store cupboard to cook up something quick and of course healthy.

The fridge revealed green beans, red chilli, yellow pepper, chorizo and
half a tin of chopped tomatoes ; the freezer had prawns and the store cupboards contribution was brown basmati and wild rice. You can change this recipe to suit whatever ingredients are to hand; make it veggie or meat free by leaving out the chorizo or substitute both prawns and chorizo with additional veg such as courgettes,aubergine and extra peppers. If leaving out the chorizo then think about adding some additional spices as the paprika in the chorizo does add a nice flavour to the dish.

This recipe fits in well with the household healthy eating plan and if you read the earlier blog post ‘The Cook has Gained Weight’ , although the calories haven’t been calculated it is reasonably low fat and probably under 500 calories.

Brown and Wild Rice with Prawns and Chorizo

Serves 2
1 tbsp oil- olive or rapeseed
1 Red onion -thinly sliced
1 red chilli – chopped
2 Large garlic cloves – chopped
1 Pepper – sliced
Handful,of green beans – halved
Handful,of frozen peas
200g tinned chopped tomatoes
5oz Brown basmati and wild rice
Approx 350 ml stock- Vegetable or chicken works well.
225 g bag of frozen cooked large prawns

Handful of chopped parsley for serving.

In a sauté pan heat the oil and cook the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften, add the chilli and garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Add the chorizo and cook for a few minutes, then add tomatoes, rice, stock and stir well, cover and cook for approx 20 minutes. Add the green beans, frozen peas and continue cooking for approximately 5 minutes or until the rice is tender, adding more stock if needed. Stir in the prawns and cook for a few minutes until heated through.

Sprinkle with a good handful of parsley and serve.