Princess Candy Whips it up!

The Princess is a big fan of Chinese food, and she especially loves the delicate way they have with aubergine (or eggplant as it’s known in some countries).

In this version, bite sized pieces of aubergine are doused in a quick and simple sauce to create a wonderful side dish.

Make sure you have everything ready to go!

Ingredients

2 or 3 aubergines

Spring Onion and Garlic Dressing

• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon Chiu Chow chilli oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander

Method.

1. Slice the aubergine into batons around 1 inch by half an inch- ie of a size that can easily be picked up in chopsticks. Place in colander about steaming water and cover. Steam until tender.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing, and when the aubergine is steamed, pour it over.
3. Get eating!

The ever-hordes in Candyland have long been beseeching the Princess to find some refreshingly new way to serve their cucumber ration;  at last, it has happened!

This is a super easy way to make something interesting out of that fabled vegetable.

The dish comes together very quickly so make sure everything is prepped beforehand!

It goes very well with cold chicken, and it also complements tofu very well.

Ingredients

1 large cucumbers roughly peeled and cut first into long strips and then chopped into bite-size pieces 

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Finely chopped scallions, toasted white sesame seeds and steamed rice, for serving (optional)

1 tbs Sesame oil

For the sauce

2 tsp light soy sauce I tsp rice vinegar

1teaspoon sesame oil

1teaspoon cornstarch

½teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Method

1. Make the sauce by combining the elements listed above: have a little extra water standing by to thin the sauce once it’s been added to the stir fry.

2. Heat the sesame oil in a wok on a setting of 7 and when it’s hot, toss in the chopped garlic. Push it round for a few seconds until it releases its flavour.

3. Throw in the chopped up cucumber and stir fry it with the garlic for about two minutes.

4. Tip in the sauce and allow it to coat the cucumber.  Thin with water as seems appropriate and let it cook for a couple of minutes on a moderate heat.

5. Bingo!  It’s time to serve it up!

Chinese food is very popular in Candyland.  This is partly because the Princess herself is a big fan of China, or at least, a big fan of Chinese people and culture. 

This delicious and very simple aubergine dish – a Shanghainese appetiser which is often served as a main course chez moi – is very simple to make and has a wonderfully exciting finale when the heated oil is poured onto the minced aromatics just before serving.

A dramatic and flavourful dish that’s wonderful hot and equally tasty the following day. Make lots!

Ingredients:

2 decent sized aubergines

2 tbs of light soy sauce

1 tsp of Chinkiang vinegar

¼ tsp of sugar

[optional: 1 tbs Chilli Crisp containing Sichuan pepper]

1 tbsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbs finely chopped ginger

2 tbs of finely chopped spring onion

2 tbs of cooking oil

Method

1. Begin by slicing the aubergine into bit size (2cm x 1cm) pieces

2. Bring a pan of water to a vigorous boil on the stove and then place the aubergines in a steamer or colander over it, topped with a lid. Keep it boiling – you probably want the dial set to 7 all the way through.  Check every couple of minutes and give the aubergine a shake or a stir so that no one is missing out on the hot steam!

3. Mix together the soy, vinegar, and sugar [plus chilli crisp, if using]

4. Finely chop and mix the garlic, ginger and spring onions 

5. Heat the oil till it’s at a frying temperature and a little bit of spring onion sizzles when dropped into the pan

6. Assemble the dish.  When the aubergine is nice and soft, place it on a platter, sprinkle the garlic-ginger-spring onion medley over the top and then pour the oil over it.  Finally, add the soy mixture, and bring the whole thing to the table.

“Princess, jege hen hao!”

You might have thought that with all the work of ruling a kingdom like Candyland, the Princess would not get involved with such an activity as supermarket shopping. After all, she has plenty of minions – scores of them – all of whom could be commanded to go and undertake so apparently menial a chore.

Well nothing could be the further from the truth. The Princes loves shopping of all kinds, and food shopping above all others. Selecting good quality ingredients is essential and the Princess believes in the old adage ‘if you want a job well done, do it yourself’.

Besides, the health and happiness of her subjects in Candyland depends primarily on their being well-fed, so she rightly deems it a key part of her work as Ruler to ensure that only good things appear n their plates.

Which brings us – rather circuitously – to the recipe in hand. This little dish is an adaptation of one of those useful recipe cards that can be picked up in good quality stores.

The Princess served the fish with lightly fried chickpeas and spinach – a perennial favourite in Candyland where the benign climate encourages growth all year round. A little garlic and olive added at the end of the cooking period was perfect.

You don’t have to make your own Zhatar. This one is a very simple mix: more imaginative – and, who knows, more authentic? – combinations can be purchased in all good stores. The Princess, however, loves to know what goes into the things she’s eating, plus there’s something about grinding things in a pestle and mortar that appeals to the darker side of her nature.

Ingredients

For the Zhatar

2 tbs Cumin

2tbs Coriander

2 tbs Marjoram

2 tbs Sumac

For the Cucumber Tzatziki

1 Medium cucumber

100g Greek yoghurt

I garlic clove, finely chopped

salt & pepper to taste

For the main dish

a chunky salmon steak per person

Method:

1. Heat the grill to high and place a shelf about half way up the oven
2. Grate the cucumber into a sieve and add 1/4 teaspoon of salt: allow to stand for 10 mins; Meanwhile chop a clove of garlic and amalgamate with the yogurt with a small pinch of salt and a little grind of pepper. After ten mins, squeeze the moisture from the cucumber by pressing with a spoon through the sieve and then add to the yoghurt mixture.
3. Make the Zaatar by lightly toasting the cumin and coriander and grinding them to a fine powder in a pestle & mortar (or whizz them in a spice blender); amalgamate with the other ingredients.
4. Wash & pat dry the salmon steaks and then coat generously with Zataar.
5. When the over is hot, place the salmon steaks skin-side down into a pan and place on the shelf in the over: do ensure it’s not *too* close to the grill element or the Qatar will burn. Even half way from he grill you’ll soon hear it cooking away – and you need to start checking it from 6-7 minutes to see whether it’s done.
6. Finish off the tzatziki. Squeeze the moisture from the cucumber by pressing with a spoon through the sieve and then add it to the yoghurt mixture.
7. Place the salmon onto the cooked spinach with a helping of chickpeas and several spoons of the tzatziki on the side.
8. Accept the acclamation of subjects well and healthily fed which is assuredly your due!

Curries are very popular in Candyland. The Princess has issued an edict which requires all citizens to eat spicy food on days beginning with the letter ‘S’: so spicy Saturdays and spicy Sundays are mandatory!

The Princess is also keen that her citizens eat less meat. It isn’t a total ban (you’ll find many meat-based recipes here) but the Princess gains deep satisfaction from the knowledge that as her subjects eat their fill of the good things she has provided, the animals they might once have eaten are outside going about their animal business, variously clucking, mooing, grunting and baaa-ing.

Last night the Princess was in the mood for vegetable curry and something without sauce (as she had only very recently had her famous chicken curry). Some searching on the net came up with a very nice basic recipe which the Princess adapted to her needs.

The ingredient list is reasonably long, and you would be well advised to get everything chopped and prepped beforehand.

You will need a large pot with a lid.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp (44 ml) oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
• ½ inch piece ginger, finely chopped
• 1 (~120 g) medium tomato, chopped
• 1 small green chili pepper, chopped
• 3-4 (~1 cup) small carrots, peeled and diced into 2 cm chunks
• 1 cup (145 g) frozen peas
• I cup of green beans (such as runner beans)
• 1 (~250-280 g) King Edward potatoes (or some other floury variety), peeled and cubed into 2cm pieces (smaller than the picture)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1dried red chilli, crumbled
• 1 tsp table salt or sea salt

Method

1. Warm the oil over a medium heat and add the onions: cook stirring for 6-8 minutes while they soften and turn golden in places. Then add the garlic and ginger and cook them gently for a couple of minutes
2. Next add the ground spices – cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli, and cook for a couple more minutes, taking care that nothing burns: turn the heat down and add a little splash of water – like a teaspoon – if necessary
3. Add the vegetables, in this order: potatoes, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, peas. Stir each one into the spice mixture so that they get coated
4. Now put the lid on the pan and reduced the heat.
5. Check the vegetables after 15 mins; the dish is ready when a knife pierces the potatoes easily.
6. Serve with rice or Indian bread, and with lots of yoghurt on the side.
7. Settle back and listen to the contented chobbling of your subjects and the happy bleating, mooing, clucking and grunting of the animals in the barnyard. And as you sip your wine tell yourself – for it is surely true – what a great, good and merciful Princess you are!

Roast chicken, as everyone apart from chickens acknowledge, is a splendid thing. However, it is also universally accepted that its splendour diminishes sharply on Day 2, since few have a boundless appetite for cold chicken slices.  

In Candyland, a lot of time is devoted to thinking of things to do with left-over chicken. Chicken and mushroom pie is a particular favourite; the Princess has also been known to make a chicken leek pie.

However, last night, to enthusiastic applause from the servitors in the Castle Precincts who attended the feast, the Princess debuted a new recipe: a 70s-style left-over chicken curry.

It was based on some things retrieved from the internet which promised the ‘true 70s dining experience’; individually they sounded pretty horrible (unsurprisingly, since by all accounts British cuisine was the laughing stock of the civilised world at this time) but once they’d been brought together and expertly reassembled by the Princess, a very comely dish was presented to the table.

The dark secret at the heart of this recipe is curry powder – something of which the Princess instinctively disapproves, given her penchant for making everything from scratch.

However, on this occasion, it added such ease to the operation that even the proud Princess had to admit its value.

You can serve this with boiled rice and you’ll want to put that on before you start the curry for the recipe below is admirably quick.

INGREDIENTS

Neutral oil – 2 tbs

Onion -1 medium, sliced thinly

Ginger – thumb sized piece, grated or finely chopped

Garlic- 1 large clove, chopped fine

Curry powder – 2 tsp

Kashmiri Chilli – 1, crumbled

Salt – ½ tsp 

Tomatoes – ½ tin, (drained)

Coconut milk – 220 ml (half a tin)

Sugar –  ½ tsp

Potatoes – 2 large, cut into sugar-lump-sized cubes.

Cold left-over chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces.

METHOD

1. Heat two-thirds of the oil in a broad-based pan and add the onion, ginger and garlic.  While these are softening (about 6 mins), complete the next step.

2. Put the remaining oil into a frying pan; place over a medium heat and add the potatoes. The aim is to cook them without browning them – the oil is really just to stop them sticking to the pan.  Push them about the pan regularly and in about 10 mins they should be tender.  Set aside.

3. Returning to the first pan: once the onions, garlic and ginger are softened, add the curry powder, the chilli, and salt and turn everything round for a couple of minutes.

4. Then add the tomatoes, coconut milk and sugar, stir everything and set it on a low simmer.

5. With three minutes to go before serving, add the cold chicken and the potatoes and stir them into the sauce. Let them simmer and warm up. Don’t leave the chicken or potatoes in there too long before serving, though, or they may become mushy and unpleasant.

6. Check the seasoning and serve with rice and some chopped coriander sprinkled on top; perhaps add some form of green vegetation on the table as a nod to a balanced diet.

Then take your seat at the head of the table, soak up the admiring comments of your fellow diners, and if anyone asks say “Oh I got the recipe from a Princess I know ….”

A week or so ago I had a meal at a very nice local Italian restaurant in London, and for my first course had a soup of chick peas and chard. It was so nice that the next day I searched the internet and found the recipes both for the soup and for the second course in the same cookbook, Cucina Povera: the Italian way of transforming humble ingredients into unforgettable meals, by Giulia Scarpaleggia. That’s clearly the go-to guide in this restaurant’s kitchen.

Anyway: having done all the hard work and read up on the recipe and been shopping for the ingredients, I did what Jane Austen would have done: Reader, I made it.

Some recipes require a bit of foresight, In this case you need to soak the dried chickpeas overnight. Then you simmer them for between 45 minutes and an hour and drain, reserving the cooking liquid. I stored them in an airtight box in the fridge in a little cooking liquid until I was ready to make the soup and they were fine.

So, here’s the recipe – so easy, so delicious!

Ingredients

2 anchovy fillets

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped fine

3 canned plum tomatoes, chopped

400g (3/4lb) Swiss card, washed and shredded

700g cooked chickpeas

700ml (3 cups) chickpea cooking water (or water if you don’t have any)

Salt

Pepper

2 slices of toasted bread doused with a little olive oil per person.

Method

Set a heavy-bottomed pan (which has a lid for use later in the recipe) over a medium-low heat and warm the oil over a medium heat.

Put the finely chopped onion and garlic together with the anchovy into the oil. You want the onion to soften and the anchovy to melt into the oil (which it needs little persuasion to do), but you don’t want to brown either onion or garlic – so keep an eye on it and keep pushing it round the pan.

After 5 minutes or so, still with a medium-low temperature, add the chopped tomato and stir this round for another 5 minutes.

After another 5 minutes put in the chard, stir the mixture together, increase the heat slightly to medium and put a lid on the pan. Cook for 10 minutes so that the chard wilts and softens. The stems and the leaves can go in at the same time.

Blend one-third of the chickpeas in the 3 cups of cooking liquid or water.

Add these and the remaining whole chickpeas to the mixture in the pan; bring to a vigorous simmer, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Check the seasoning – you’ll likely need a fair dollop of salt, and then a grind of pepper for its aromatic quality.

And that’s it. Serve in bowls with two slices per person of bread drizzled with olive and reflect on the fact that peasant food, if cooked well, is often fit for a King … or a Princess!

This aubergine dal is one of the Princess’s absolute favourites. I go back to it again and again.

I always enjoy the ‘prep’ stage of any meal – chopping and grinding and measuring – and this recipe has just the right amount of that. Then, once everything has been put in the pot and is taking care of itself on the stove, you can do something else for a little while before settling down to a plateful of gorgeousness!

It’s pretty simple, and doesn’t take too long, so if you want a nice tasty midweek meal, go for this. I always serve it with spinach.

Ingredients

2 tbs neutral cooking oil

1 onion, chopped fine

1 aubergine cut into smallish chunks. (1-1.5cm)

2tsps cumin (ground)

1tsp coriander (ground)

Half a Kashmiri chilli

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1.5cm cube of ginger finely chopped

2 tomatoes (or 8-10 cherry tomatoes), skinned, seeded or chopped (or use one tbs of tomato puree)

1 cup of red lentils

3 cups of water

salt & pepper

Method.

1. Heat 1tbs oil over a medium heat and add the onions, aubergine and a sprinkle of salt. Fry for about 8 minutes until the contents of your pot are beginning to brown and everything looks soft; add 1-2 tbs water and scrape up any dark bits from the bottom of the pan and allow the water to soak into the onions and aubergine. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Put the second tbs of oil into the pan and add the chilli, garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander; fry for 30 seconds; then add the tomato or tomato puree. If you are using a fresh tomato, which I really recommend) turn the heat down to medium-low and let the tomato cook and break up – something that can take about 8 minutes; if you are using tomato paste, just add it to the fried spice mix and give it another 30 seconds or so before proceeding to the next step.

3. Add the lentils and three cups of water (if you like it a bit less soupy, which I confess I do, go for 2 1/2 cups); bring to the boil, then cover and lower the heat. Let it simmer for 15 minutes or so, by which time the lentils should be cooked. At this point you can adjust the consistency by simply taking off the lid and letting some of the moisture bubble away – though you may find the kitchen staff complaining: ‘Princess! You’re filling the room with steam!’

4. Finally, check the seasoning and add more salt and paper as needed. Serve with rice if there aren’t enough carbs in there already for you or eat it ‘a la Princess’, with a big side of spinach.

Between the wars there was a saying in Britain that something bland was ‘like roast beef without the mustard’. To me, the definition of culinary disappointment is roast beef without Yorkshire Pudding. You just have to have it, ladies and gentlemen.

Here in Candyland, roast beef is always accompanied by a chunk of it, crispy and puffed at the rim, soft and slightly gooey in the middle, the whole lot doused in rich gravy made in the roast beef pan.

Traditionally, YP was eaten not as an accompaniment but as a first course. The idea was that you would blunt your appetite on this delicious, but relatively inexpensive, pudding meaning that the more pricey meat element of the meal didn’t need to go so far. These days people produce “mini” Yorkshire Puddings that look like popovers, but I much prefer the old ways.

In Candyland, the go-to recipe for Yorkshire Pudding is that by St Delia of Norwich, patron saint of canaries. “Delia’s Y. P.”, as it is known within the castle kitchens, is totally reliable and produces a traditionally satisfying pudding experience every time.

I modify the exact amount of the ingredients according to how many people it’s serving and how large (or otherwise) the egg I have to hand is. But the principle I stick to is proportionality: keep the balance between the dry ingredients consistent.

I also totally agree with St D that while it’s essential to get the fat in the dish to a high temperature (220 C) before adding the batter, there’s no virtue in leaving the batter standing: just mix it up and pour it in.

I recommend you do the same: it would be a brave and foolhardy soul who chose to gainsay both St Delia and the Princess!

Equipment:

You’ll need a baking tin with a capacity of about 1.5litres – so something like 20cm by 26cm, and at least 4cm deep. If you are making a reduced amount of Y. P., then you’ll need to modify the size of the pan (obviously …).

Ingredients:

175 plain (all-purpose) flour

2 large eggs

175 semi-skimmed milk (ie. 2% milk in US terms)

110 ml water.

Method:

Heat the oven to 220C.

Place a tablespoon of fat into the baking tin: beef fat if you have it, but goose is lovely and butter will do. Place the pan in the oven and bring it to temperature, ready to receive the batter.

Sift the flour into a bowl (this is important), crack in the egg, add about one-eight of a teaspoon of salt, and amalgamate the ingredients with an electric mixer.

Now add the combined liquids gradually, continuing to stir with the electric mixer. You’re aiming to get a thin smooth liquid. Bits may stick to the side of the bowl: don’t let them evade you – push them down into the mixture with a rubber spatula and continue the stirring till everything is incorporated.

When the fat in the baking tin is at the correct temperature, pour in your batter and bake for 25-30 mins. If you’ve reduced the amounts (ie to 1 egg; 87 grams of both flour and milk, and 55 of water) then you’ll need to check it after about 20 mins.

Serve on its own as a first course with some gravy made in the pan!

I came across Anja Dunk’s sublime ‘Spiced Cauliflower’ recipe in the Guardian (2 September 2018). It also appears in her wonderful cookbook Strudel, Noodles & Dumplings, of which a well-thumbed copy exists in Candyland.

Now I have to confess that I was initially rather underwhelmed by the thought of a dish comprising some pretty basic elements – I didn’t quite see how it would (or even could) become more than the some of its simple and oily parts. But I gave it a go, and oh my goodness! what a surprise! The dish delivers a range of deep earthy flavours and textures that are truly wonderful.

It’s a tiny bit messy to make, but the more you can turn all the different things in the spiced oil the better it will be. Trust the Princess on this one!

Ingredients

1 cauliflower – broken into bite sized chunks

1 onion – medium, finely sliced

smoked paprika – 1 tsp

ground cumin – 1 tsp

ground coriander – 1/2 tsp

garlic – 3 cloves crushed and chopped

olive oil – at least 6 tablespoons

salt – 1/2tsp (or more to taste)

beans – cannellini or butterbean work well – 1 tin, drained

Lemon – juice from 1/2

Coriander – fresh bunch

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 200 c

2. In a large bowl add the spices, garlic and salt to the oil and amalgamate; then add all the other ingredients except the beans, the lemon and coriander and turn them in the oil. Get your hands in there and make sure that lovely oil invades every nook and cranny of the cauliflower!

3. Put the now-oily mass into a baking tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until the cauliflower is just tender and starting to crisp round the edges.

4. At this point, remove from the over, add the beans and the lemon juice – mix it round with a spoon to amalgamate and return to the over for another 10 mins or so.

5. Get it out of the oven, put it on plates, making sure you don’t waste any of the delicious oil, and serve with fresh coriander sprinkled over the top.

6. Then, pour a glass of wine and listen to the praises of your enthusiastic courtiers who will be blessing the fact that they live in a kingdom ruled over by such a benign Princess!