Aga Cooking in Cornwall

We've been on holiday in the far west of Cornwall in a lovely cottage with a great farmhouse kitchen  - but only an Aga and microwave to cook with!  I've never really cooked on an Aga before so the thought of not being able to control the temperature of the oven or the hobs was a bit scary.

Apparently one of the advantages of an aga is that it's always on, so I decided to do some slow cooking - Beef Bourguignon (a good excuse to buy a second bottle of wine) and chicken curry for the week's main meals along with some bread, scones and profiteroles filled with Baileys cream (a 1980s throwback worthy of Back to the Future day and one of Mr Vitty's favourite puddings).

The most difficult thing about cooking on the aga was not being able to see what was going on in the ovens and trying to figure out what 200 C related to in terms of the position of the trays in the two ovens.  Having less oven space than at home, with only one shelf in each oven, also meant I had to think a bit more about the logistics of what was being cooked when.  That said, with the help of the internet, everything worked out well. The best thing cooked in the aga was probably bacon and eggs for breakfast on our final day - much easier than on a conventional hob.

Chicken Curry (serves 6)

Ingredients 8 Chicken Thigh Fillets Tikka Spice mix Garam Masala Olive Oil Onion Ginger Red Pepper Green Pepper Mushrooms Garlic Chillies Tin Tomatoes Potatoes Salt Pepper Spinach Coconut cream Fresh Coriander

Method Cut the chicken thighs into small strips and marinade in the tikka spice mix, garam masala and olive oil whilst you prepare the vegetables.  Chop the onions, ginger and chillies. Slice the peppers and cut any large mushrooms in half or quarters. Crush the garlic. Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes.  Rinse the spinach. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large casserole dish over a high heat and brown the chicken  in small batches.  If the chicken sticks a little to the pan add a little more oil or water and scrape the pieces from the bottom of the casserole.  Keep the chicken to one side and fry the onion and pepper until soft.  Add the mushrooms, ginger, chillies and garlic along with some more of the tikka spice mix and garam masala.  Cook for a few minutes and then pour in the tinned tomatoes.  Bring to the boil and add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Cover with a lid and put in the cool oven of the aga for an hour, or until the potatoes are soft and the chicken is tender. Check the seasoning and add the spinach.  Put back into the cool oven and cook for 20 minutes or until the spinach is wilted (during which time you can boil the rice).  Stir through a couple of table spoons of cocount cream and a fresh coriander.  Serve with rice and a little more coriander as a garnish. (If I was at home I'd have used a spice mix that included coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamon and fennel seeds - but that's the other thing about cooking on holiday - you make do with what you have)

Baileys Profiteroles (Serves 6)

Ingredients Choux buns 60 g Butter 225 ml Water 125 g Plain Flour 1/2 Teaspoon Salt 4 Eggs Baileys Cream 300 ml Double Cream Baileys Sugar Chocolate Sauce 175 g Dark Chocolate 100 ml Water 50 g Caster Sugar

Method  Place the water and butter into a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Tip in the flour and salt and beat over a medium heat until a smooth paste is formed that comes away from the pan.  Tip the paste into a cool bowl (or the bowl of a food processor - but I didn't have one in Cornwall).  Beat in one egg at a time until you have a smooth batter that can be piped or dropped onto a greased baking tray, you may not need all the eggs (I forgot my piping kit so dropped teaspoons of mixture onto the tray resulting in some misshapen choux buns).  Put the tray in a hot oven (200 C) for 20 minutes or until the choux buns are golden brown.  Remove from oven and pierce the profiteroles with a fork or tooth pick.  Return to the oven for 4-5 minutes leaving the door ajar to help the buns dry out.  Allow to cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight container. Whip the cream to soft peaks, being careful not to overwhip.  Towards the end whisk in baileys and sugar to taste.  Use the flavoured cream to fill the choux buns, either by piping it into the shells or cutting each bun in half and adding a spoon of filling.  Don't do this too much in advance as the choux buns will go soggy. Melt the chocolate in a microwave.  Dissolve the sugar in the water over a medium heat and then bring to the boil.  Boil for a couple of minutes and then stir into the melted chocolate to form a hot chocolate sauce. We ate these over a number of evenings keeping the choux buns unfilled and putting them in a hot oven for 10 minutes to crisp up and then allowed to cool before filling.  The cream and chocolate sauce kept well in the fridge for a couple of days and the sauce reheated well in a saucepan.