Superfood Sleuth

A few days ago I casually posted a list of 28 'superfoods' on my Facebook page. I stated that I was taking on a 'superfood challenge... to cook a meal with each of them as the star ingredient.' I honestly didn't realise what a can of worms I was opening (worms, thank goodness are not on the list... not yet). 

I've never really paid much attention to the superfood buzz. I've always had a pretty healthy diet and have never had any major health concerns so haven't really felt the need to get involved. I also have a healthy disdain for most fads. However, just out of curiosity I started to think to myself... 'What the bloody hell are superfoods anyway?' The only thing I really know is that whenever I complain about the expense of blueberries people always justify it by telling me that they're a superfood. However, I know oats are classified as such too and they're about as cheap as anything.

A quick Google later... OK, very quick Google later (my research style has always been nothing if not casual/slap dash), revealed this list:

"Oats, seeds, watercress, red peppers, mackerel, herring, salmon, tuna, berries (especially blueberries), eggs, winter squash, beetroot, broccoli, sweet potatoes, red wine, live yoghurt, pomegranate juice, dark chocolate, turkey, tomatoes, brown rice, almonds, green tea, ginger, rhubarb, linseed, wheatgrass, durian fruit."

Fine. A few old favourites, a few challenges and few things I'd never heard of! I like new reasons to unearth recipes that wouldn't have occurred to me before. However this list just seemed to open more questions, from me and from friends:

"Chocolate and and wine, seriously?!"

"Why just pomegranate juice, why not pomegranates?"

"Have you tried Durian fruit? It smells like poo"

"Which seeds? Surely it couldn't be ALL of them?"

"What about goji berries? I'm sure I've seen them on superfood lists"

So, I decided to dig a little deeper and all I found was continual mentions of more and different foods, conjecture, news paper articles making big claims about all sorts of things, but most importantly seemingly no concrete medical evidence about any of them. The most interesting thing is that the word it's self it not allowed to be used on food packaging as it's deemed to be misleading. So, it seemed my superfoods list may well be a large amount of nonsense. 
I don't think anyone is denying that eating any of the foods above is bad for you (well, I say it again, wine and chocolate? Seriously?!). 

They're all high in various nutrients, have good fats or are low in fat. The word 'antioxidant' is also bandied around at will. However, are there actually any special health benefits to eat these foods? The NHS's take the subject is that you can't promote individual foods and you have to focus on an over all healthy diet. This seems kind of obvious but when you're dealing with a population that is likely to live on chips then have a handful of blueberries expecting it to save them, that's probably a sensible.

So, even though it may be nonsense and my list maybe based in almost nothing, it still seems to be as good a point to start as any. It will be interesting to do some more research into what these foods actually do for you and find some new recipes along the way.

So, whilst I do the research and find the recipes here's the result of a challenge that Mish laid down. She found this salad that has at least four superfoods in it (beetroot, seeds, squash & red wine vinegar), so it seemed like a good start...

This looked a bit simple when I looked at it but the dressing was lovely and regardless of having no carbs it was pretty filling. I did break though and throw in some sizzled chorizo at the end. It also reminded me that I really like beetroot and should really start buying it a bit more.

Squash and Beetroot Superfood Salad

Serves 2

1 small squash
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
a drizzle of olive oil
A good grating of nutmeg
2 cooked beetroot, quartered
1 handful green beans, briefly cooked
2 spring onions
1 bag rocket leves
1 handful sunflower seeds/pine nuts, toasted
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 small bunch basil, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200c and then peel and de-seed the squash. Cut into bite-sized pieces and then toss in the balsamic and a little oil and then grate on the nutmeg. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until soft and golden

Next make the dressing. Whisk together the red wine vinegar, oil, mustard, herbs (fresh and dried) and seasoning. Set aside.

Compose the plate with the leaves, squash, beetroot, green beans and spring onions. Drizzle over the dressing. Scatter with seeds/pine nuts.

Mushroom Ravioli

So, I had may amazing home grown mushrooms (from the Espresso Mushroom Company) and being Easter weekend, I had a bit more time to make something special. Time to break out the pasta machine. I love making pasta, especially filled pasta, but dear god, it really does take time and it's a real fiddle.

It's not the best thing to do for a big dinner because it's so labour intensive and quite last minute. This means you end up in the kitchen freaking out whilst your guests sit around the table laughing and having fun. It's also a lot of effort for one person. It's kind of a couples thing I suppose. Whoever would have thought being single would preclude you having pasta? Well sod this, I'm just going to make it for me.

If you've not tried filling your own pasta, you have time and can be bothered to get a few pieces of kit, it really is delicious. I've tried to buy fresh filled pasta and no matter what flavour you buy and where from, it always just seems to be full of brown paste. When you fill your own you get fresh ingredients and textures that you can differentiate between.

You will need a pasta machine, a ravioli press or cutter and be able to get your hands on some 00 flour.

I think that coming up with ravioli recipes is quite challenging. Not only do you have to think of something beautiful to go in the middle but also something to complement that, to go on top. The sauce to top the pasta is usually simpler than a regular pasta sauce and can sometimes be as simple as butter and herbs. However, that feels like a cop out to me and I always seem to be struggling to come up with something a little more interesting. Previous attempts have included sun blushed tomato and mozzarella filling with butter, white wine, chorizo, parmesan and parsley topping.

One of the things I liked about this recipe was that I discovered that nutmeg, tarragon and mushroom work really well together. I think I would have assumed before that they would have been too strong. The topping I made consisted of the sauce and then topped with toasted chopped hazelnuts, parmesan, chopped fresh rocket and tarragon. I think in retrospect I might have used parsley as it might have been a bit more delicate. I loved the hazelnuts though, lovely flavour and crunch being a nice alternative from the gremolata I would normally use.

As before, the espresso mushrooms really made the dish, but I think it could have taken more of the porcini powder, especially as I meant to use it in the sauce too and forgot.

This didn't really fit with the healthy eating regime but it was kind of OK as a weekend treat. If I'd not been concerned with fat content I might have used double cream rather than single and used bit more butter, pancetta and parsesan, but to be honest it was fine how it was. So, here's the recipe. Fiddly but worth it...

Mushroom and Tarragon Ravioli with Butter Cream Sauce

For the pasta:
100g 00 flour
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

For the Filling:

6 Pearl oyster mushrooms

1 largish chestnut mushroom

1 tablespoon of dried girolles (softened in boiling water, keep the water)

1/2 shallot

1 clove of garlic

2 teaspoons of butter

1 1/2 tablespoon of chopped tarragon

1 tablespoon of single cream

1/2 teaspoon of porcini powder

salt and pepper

large pinch of nutmeg

For the sauce:

30g pancetta cubes
splash or white wine
2 teaspoons of butter

2 tablespoons of single cream

1 tablespoon of parmesan

10 hazelnuts
fresh chopped rocket and tarragon to finish

Squeeze of lemon

Start by making the pasta. You do this by mixing the flour and egg, I used a magimix for this, then adding the oil until it comes into a dough. Knead for a about five minutes on an oiled surface. Then wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for an hour or so. Meanwhile make the filling.

Meanwhile make the filling. Very finely dice the shallot and soften in the butter until translucent. Crush the garlic into the pan and cook for a minute. Finely dice the fresh mushrooms and the soaked dried mushrooms and add to the frying pan. Season generously with salt, pepper, porcini powder and nutmeg and cook until the mushrooms are cooked. Once cooked add the cream and the tarragon and cook for just a minute or so more. Cool slightly.

When the pasta dough is rested you'l want to cut it into two pieces. You wont use all of the pasta for one person, probably just over half but you might as well roll it out and make the rest into tagliatelle. Then, using plenty of flour use the settings on the pasta machine to roll it out. You need to get flour everywhere. All over the machine and repeatedly flour the dough too. When you get towards the last few settings on the pasta machine the pasta can get very long and unwieldy and it can be easier to cut it in half. The aim is to end up with two pieces of pasta that are about the size of your ravioli press, the bottom piece being slightly larger is best.

To assemble the pasta, sprinkle the press with loads of flour and lay over the bottom sheet of pasta, pushing the pasta into the holes, gently. Fill the holes to the top with mushroom mixture, pressing down to expel any air. Wet the edges to allow the pasta to stick better then place the top layer of pasta on top. Press down again on top of the mushroom mixture to ensure no air pockets. If you seal air pockets in side the pasta parcels they puff up during cooking and can split the pasta. Press down around the edges to seal and then roll over the top with a rolling pin. The ravioli press has ridges that should cut the ravioli into pieces, but can sometimes need a little help. It should then be a fairly easy job to turn the pasta out of the press.

Place on a floured tray or plate until ready to cook.

To make the sauce start by browning the pancetta in a frying pan. When it's crispy add the wine and reduce down then add the butter to melt. I forgot to add garlic and porcini powder at this point but I think that would be good. Season and add the cream and a pinch of parmesan and warm through.

To cook the pasta, drop into boiling salted water and wait for the parcels to float to the top.

When the parcels are cooked, drain and mix the sauce with a spoonful of the cooking water and swirl through the pasta and tip into a bowl. Top with herbs, rocket, hazelnuts and parmesan.

The Mushroom Farmer

One thing I like about blogging, is that there's always something in the back of you mind nudging you find something interesting to write about, inventing something to cook, finding a new food market, a new ingredient, anything that will make an interesting post. This is a very exciting blog post because I've found two whole new ingredients! One is Porcini powder. The ground down result of dried porcini mushrooms which can be used to season risottos and pastas. I think the essence of mushroom can add a real kick to so many savoury dishes.

The other ingredient turns up in the post and needed a little more effort. Espresso mushrooms! At some point last year I saw something on TV about a bunch of chaps down in Brighton who were growing mushrooms on used espresso grounds. They sell kits so you can grow your own over a few weeks. They're not cheap but I was really impressed by the flavour. Subtle, slightly of coffee, creamy, really really good.

Here's the growing process:

You need to soak the packet for 12 hours to start....

... and then, when the mushrooms started to grow, I just felt really sick because they looked like little black mouldy pimples.

... but then they start turning into actual mushrooms, which is very exciting!

 ... doubling in size every day or so.

... and after two weeks you have a beautiful crop.

So, the mushrooms were ready and I wanted to try them as soon as I could. My main idea was to make fresh ravioli but the idea of making pasta today wasn't appealing, I also wanted to make something that would allow the mushrooms to take centre stage and be uncomplicated by other ingredients so I decided to go simple and breakfasty and make mushrooms on toast.

The mushroom mixture was absolutely delicious and really showed off the complex taste of the espresso pearl oysters. I would highly recommend getting one of these kits if you fancy a treat. I was cooking slightly on the hop so it ended up being served on sliced granary with a fried egg. I did feel a bit bad about that. This was the kind of dish that really needed some toasted sour dough and a poached egg to make it super special.

Posh Mushrooms on Toast

Serves 1

1/2 a shallot
1 small clove of garlic
knob of butter
small sprinkle of dried thyme
about 4 pearl oyster mushrooms
about 3 chestnut mushrooms
sprinkle of porcini powder
sea salt and fresh black pepper
drizzle of cream
parsley

I started by melting a small amount of butter in a frying pan. I finely diced the shallot and softened in the butter with the thyme over a low heat before adding the sliced garlic for a minute. I then added the roughly chopped mushrooms and porcini powder and turning heat up high and cooking them hard for a few minutes, moving them around a lot so the onion and garlic didn't burn. Once they were cooked I added the cream, seasoning and parsley. I served with a fried egg on toast and coffee.

My current plans for the rest of the crop are a very exciting mushroom ravioli... Coming soon!

Lentil and Butternut Squash Salad

There's a bit of a mega health kick going at the moment. A few hedonistic months followed by an indulgent birthday last week have created the need. Most the time I actually quite enjoy a stint of healthy eating, once I get into it. Mainly because I love fish and vegetables and when I force myself to drink a bit less and take some exercise I actually feel great. I just wish I could remember that the rest of the time when red wine and cheese look like the best things EVER.

Yesterday there was a need to have something incredibly light because I was going round to my friends' house for dinner and I already knew their plans for roasting an entire suckling pig (which was awesome by the way Theresa and Ian, I'm really not sure I raved enough about this at the time, too busy yapping). So to this end it had to be something low carb and also (sob) probably even vegetarian, well as vegetarian as I ever manage, which probably means I'll throw some chorizo in at the end. This salad came in around 200 calories, leaving lots of room for wine and pork later!

One of my favourite things to eat on a health kick is butternut squash. It's got that carby, comforting, potato like feel, whilst at the same time being much lighter. I have a similar thing with celeriac, which luckily is one of my favourite things ever.

Also, if you're anything like me you wont be able to tolerate fake sweetener. No matter how healthy I'm being I also have to have real butter and real sugar. The alternatives are just too disgusting. So, on that notes another good tip is agave nectar. It's delicious and naturally sweet but is quite a bit lighter than any other type of sugar than I've found.

If you're not bothered about making this salad super light I would consider adding more oil to the dressing, doubling the amount of chorizo sausage and also maybe adding some cheese. I thought feta might be nice.

Lentil and Butternut Squash Salad

Serves 1

For the salad:
1/4 butternut squash
few pinches of smoked paprika
pinch of chilli flakes
40g puy lentils
15g chorizo sausage
mixed leaves
4 or 5 sun blushed tomatoes
4 or 5 fresh cherry tomatoes
1/4 of a red pepper
small handful of black olives
a few slices red onion

For the dressing:
splosh of sherry vinegar
1 tsp of agave nectar
1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper

Peel and cube the butternut squash and pop it in an oven dish with a tiny bit of oil, the smoked paprika, chilli flakes and some seasoning. Roast at 200c for about 40 minutes or until soft.

Towards the end of the cooking time pop the puy lentils in cold water with some salt and bring to the boil, turn down the heat and then simmer for about ten minutes. I'm never quite sure how long to cook them but the lentils MUST have a nice bite when they're done. Nothing worse than soggy overcooked lentils.

Chop the chorizo sausage into nice chunky slices and fry them off quickly in a pan until they start to crisp up and the oils have released.

At this point put all the remaining ingredients for the salad in a bowl and mix together and plate up. When the lentils, squash and sausage are ready mix the warm ingredients together and pop on top of the leaves.

For the dressing, take the pan that you've fried the chorzio in. For me I wanted to use that oil as the base of my dressing. Add a good glug of sherry vinegar, then stir in the agave nectar, the wholegrain mustard and season and throw over the salad.