Aubergine And Tomato Pasta

I made a bit of a breakthrough tonight. I ate some goats cheese and liked it. Goats cheese is one of the few foods that I struggle with, partly because when I was a vegetarian between 2003 and 2005 every single vegetarian option in a restaurant used to be some form of goats cheese tar. Anyway I always think its good to re asses with food as as tastes change. I tried a tomato in a restaurant after 20 year of refusing to eat them and enjoyed it. Quite why I decided to be brave with goats cheese when feeling incredibly hungover after the work Christmas party I don't know. I just liked the thought of having little white crumbs of cheese sitting like snowflakes on top of my pasta.

Aubergine and tomato pasta (serves 1)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 aubergine, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red chilli, Finely chopped
4 tomatoes, blanched, skinned, deseeded and chopped
125g fusili pasta
goats cheese

1) Cut the aubergine up into cubes and toss in the salt. Put the aubergine cubes in a col lander, leave it to bleed for around ten minutes and then give them a rinse under the tap before patting dry witrh kitchen paper and setting aside.
2) Meanwhile pour some boiling water over the tomatoes. Leave them for five minutes then skin them, remove all the seeds and chop.
3) Fry the aubergine in the olive oil for 5-10 minutes until its really soft. Then remove from the pan and using the same oil, fry the garlic and chilli for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for ten minutes until the tomatoes have broken down into a mush. Stir in the aubergine.
4) While the tomatoes are cooking put the pasta onto boil. When ready, drain it and them mix it with the sauce. Pour all the pasta into a bowl and crumble goats cheese over the top.

This goats cheese was relatively mild so it didn't over power the sauce but it still made it a bit more interesting. You can see why chefs use goats cheese for the vegetarian options. A lot of chefs believe that vegetarian food is boring and they couldn't live without meat. Of course they're wrong but you can see why they go for the goats cheese option as it is strong and can making a dull dinner a bit more exciting.

Best Ever Vegetarian Chilli

Provided you've got some dried ancho and chipotle chillis in your store cupboad (you can order them from the cool chile co) you should ignore the three bean chilli I made on the night of England's defeat against Croatia. This, with melting aubergines, black beans and smoky chipotles and ancho paste has a depth of flavour that makes it far superior. I was going to top it with sliced aubergines and bake it in the oven but it was late and I couldn't be bothered.

Black Bean and Aubergine chilli (serves 3-4)

1 large aubergine
2 tbsp sunflower oil
5 ancho chillies
3 chipotle chillies
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
2 red onions
2 garlic cloves
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of black beans
15g ((or three squares) dark chocolate, grated
salt and pepper

1) Put the chillies in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for half an hour. Remove the chillis and keep the soaking liquid. Then leave to cool, remove the stalks and put them in a blender with the cumin seeds, paprika and enough of the sokaing water to loosen and form a paste.
2) Meanwhile cut the aubergines into cubes, put them in a collander, sprionkle with salt and leave for 20 minutes. Fry in the oil until soft. This should take around four to five minutes. Remove the aubergines from the pan and set aside.
3) Fry the onions in the same pan you cooked the aubergines in. Cook for 15 minutes until soft and light brown. Now add the garlic to the middle of the pan, cooking until the raw aroma has gone (about two minutes).
4) Now add the chilli paste to the pan and cook for a few minutes before adding the beans, tomatoes and aubergines. Add a little more of that soaking water to loosen the sauce again and simmer for 15 minutes. At the end, grate the chocolate into the chilli and stir around. Serve with plain boiled rice.

This vegetarian chilli is probably the finest I've ever made but I'd still like to try it slow cooked in the oven with stewing beef and dried black beans. Chilli really isn't a good sporting omen for me though. I made this one the night of another English defeat. This time it was Ricky Hatton against Floyd Mayweather. At least his defeat wasn't embarrassing. Unlike the England football team's.

Beef & Guinness Stew

Last Sunday I asked Andy whether he preferred a roast or a stew. I think my answer would always be a stew. The thing like about a roast is all the trimmings - the roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and those little sausages wrapped in bacon you get at Christmas. Yet I love slow cooked, soft meat cooked in a pot and this sort of cooking always brings back happy memories of returning from Carrow Road to find a hotpot bubbling away on the hob. So here is a beef and Guinness stew with thyme dumplings

Beef & Guinness Stew (Serves 4)

750g good stewing beef
1 tbsp butter
125g shallots
25g plain flour
500ml Guinness
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved
60g suet
60g self-raising flour
60g white breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp thyme leaves
salt and pepper

1) Pre-heat the oven to 120c. Heat the butter in a frying pan and cook the onions until light brown. Transfer to a casserole dish. Then mix the beef with the flour in a bowl and brown in batches in the frying pan. Again transfer to the casserole dish.
2) Now pour the Guinness over the meat and top up with a little water if needed to cover the meat. Put in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.
3) With an hour to go, fry the mushrooms in a little butter and add them to the stew. Then start work on the dumplings. Mix the flour, breadcrumbs and suet in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in the beaten egg and mix it around with your hands until you have a dough. Add the thyme leaves and rub into the mix. Drop the dumplings into the stew with 40 minutes to go.

This stew is fantastic with mash potato. The meat is so tender it breaks up when you put it in your mouth, the onions will have melted into the rich Guinness sauce and the mushrooms and thyme add some more big flavours. Contrast that with some crusty, herby dumplings and you've got a perfect autumn/winter dinner.

Rabbit Stew

A few weeks ago I was on my way to buy some fish and stopped off at the butcher's for a scotch egg for lunch. Seeing they had some wild rabbits, I bought one for dinner that evening. It was just £4.50 which is quite incredible when you consider that a chicken breast can cost £5 these days. Admittedly one rabbit will only serve two by my generous portions but it's great value for such a tasty animal. Until then I'd never eaten rabbit before so was hoping for great (okay, decent) results from this Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall stew.

Rabbit Stew (serves two)

1 wild rabbit, jointed into six (I asked the butcher to do this for me)
125g pancetta
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thickly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, cut into four
2 celery sticks, cut into four
1 bay leaf
thyme sprigs
250 ml dry cider (I used Aspalls)
1 tsp honey
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper

1) Pre-heat the oven to 120c. Then heat some olive oil in a large frying pan and sizzle the bacon until it is lightly browned. Transfer to a casserole dish.
2) Next brown the rabbit pieces and add them to the casserole dish as well. In the same pan, fry the onions for five minutes and then add the garlic, cooking it for a few more minutes. Add to the casserole with the carrots, celery, bay leaf thyme, cider, honey, mustard and enough water to just cover the rabbit.
3) Put a lid on the casserole dish and place in the oven for one hour and twenty minutes. Serve with mash potato.

I've never eaten rabbit before and although it was slightly overcooked I'd say it went pretty well. The rabbit had a surprising amount of meat on it and it was very tasty although it is slightly annoying to eat with all the bones. As for the rabbit is has a plesant mild game flavour which is nothing like chicken.