Quick Rhubarb and Custard Tarts

This recipe was one of those 'I have a little pastry left over' moments on Sunday after having made some little chicken tartlets. I had already cut them in 6 circles, so I thought for a moment. Then I ran into the garden and cut 2 stems of rhubarb... it sort of went from there.

They took about 10 minutes to make them and about the same again to cook. They were rather delicious and we ate the lot immediately with the help of our neighbour who happened to be out in his garden too!

Ingredients:    (makes 6)

Half a pack of ready rolled puff pastry
2 sticks rhubarb
25g sugar (depending on how sweet your rhubarb is)
carton of ready made custard
icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Cut the pastry into 6 circles, grease 6 of the holes in a tart tin and line them with the pastry. Put the rhubarb in a small saucepan with a tiny splash of water and the sugar. Cook on high for about 4 minutes until softening. Taste to check for sweetness - you don't want it too sweet.

Spoon the  rhubarb into the pastry cases and top with about 2 tbsp. each of the custard. Pop in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until pastry browned and tops bubbling. Remove from oven, leave to cool and dust with icing sugar. EAT!


Note: you can make as many as you like, just use more ingredients!

Note 2: You can use any fruit you have in the cupboard too - tinned peaches chopped would be delicious!

Chicken Shawarma with Zhug sauce & baked chips

I decided to cook this after seeing a photograph I saw from a friend who was visiting Jordan for work. The photo of this Chicken Shawarma he sent was something I had heard of, but never cooked, nor eaten. I wanted to make it straight away, but after research found that it contained a product called 'mastic'. No doubt I could have cooked it without it, but I wanted to be as authentic as I could and found some reasonably priced on Amazon. It arrived a few days later and still I held out on cooking the dish. Partly as it had a few elements and I wanted to ensure I was in a cooking mood and had the time.

Turns out - it didn't take as much time as I thought. And the taste? Wow. It is now my current favourite dish. There are plenty of ingredients and if you rarely buy spices - it'll look like a lot. But I have a good stash of spices and had everything I needed. Particularly now I had the mastic! I SO hope people give this one a go. It is totally worth it!! Absolutely divine. Chicken Shawarma.

So, I marinated the chicken for a full 24 hours. One hour will do but I wanted to give this dish its best possible chance. I made the 'Zhug' (chilli & coriander) sauce, the tahini sauce and the bread and I was good to go! I actually just made chapati, but made them bigger than usual so I could wrap the meat and sauces before griddling; they worked perfectly. You can also buy large flatbreads from most grocery stores.

For the chicken marinade:

Juice & zest of one lemon
1 cup natural yogurt
3 dried bay leaves
6 cloves
seeds from 5 cardamom pods
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1/2 tsp. mastic
1 tbsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. all spice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp tahini
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

In a pestle and mortar, crumble in the bay leaves and add the cardamom seeds and mastic. Pound to a powder. Add the this the rest of the above ingredients in a bowl. Slice the chicken breasts into strips and add to the marinade. Refrigerate for 1-24 hours.

For the tahini sauce:

2 tbsp. tahini
5 tbsp of boiling water
Juice of half a lemon
1 clove garlic crushed with salt

Combine the above ingredients. When you first add the water it will look curdled; just keep stirring and it will be a creamy paste in minutes.

For the Zhug sauce:

2 tsp. black peppercorns
seeds from 5 cardamom pods
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
approx. 50g of fresh coriander
2 large mild green chillies and 2 small hot green chillies
2 cloves garlic
juice from 1 lemon
60 ml of olive oil
pinch of salt

In a dry frying pan, toast the peppercorns, cardamom, caraway seeds and cumin seeds until the release a lovely aroma (don't burn!). Put in a pestle and mortar and bash until fine. Put into a hand blender with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

To cook & assemble:

Drain the meat from the marinade and discard marinade. Stir fry the chicken quickly over a high heat for 4-5 minutes until cooked.

Place a flatbread on the counter and spread a line of the tahini sauce. Cover this with a generous line of the zhug sauce. Top with some chicken and roll up the flatbread. Brush with olive oil and place on a hot griddle for 4 minutes each side until crispy. Cut into thick slices.

Serve with hand cut baked chips, red cabbage, pickles, red onion and tomatoes. Simply delicious!

Pork Wonton Noodle Soup with Green Beans

I remember the first time I tried Wonton Soup. It was in Chinatown in London and I think I was probably about 17 years old. These days (The Chilli Years), I'd probably order the Hot & Sour Soup, but the memories of how wonton soup being my favourite thing ever, went on for years and years. I've always been a fan of anything wrapped in little parcels, be it ravioli, spring rolls or filled dumplings of any kind. Its like a little gift.

I have made the effort in the past of making the wonton wrappers myself, which is in itself quite simple, but combined with the slight 'fiddliness' of having to fill each one soon had me heading for Hoo Hing, which is an Asian Wholesaler that happens to be in East London, rather close to me. There I can but wonton wrappers to stick in the freezer for when I want them. So I do. You can buy them in any Asian store now fortunately, so this is what I'd recommend.

Wonton soup doesn't traditionally come with noodles - or green beans either, but I wanted a more substantial evening meal, rather than a small starter.

Ingredients:

For the soup:
1.5 litre of vegetable stock
30g miso paste
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. fish stock
1 stick lemongrass, bashed with a rolling pin
pinch chilli flakes
6 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
1.4 small white cabbage chopped
handful green beans, chopped
handful broccoli, chopped
2 spring onions, sliced
200g egg noodles

For the wontons:
1 pack square wonton wrappers
200g pork mince
1 inch piece ginger
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
2 spring onions
1 tsp. sesame oil.

First, start the broth by putting the stock, miso, soy, fish stock, lemongrass and chilli into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and let simmer as you make the wontons.

To make the wontons, put all of the wonton ingredients, apart from the wrappers, into a food processor and process for about 30 seconds until well chopped and combined. Take a wonton wrapper (have a small bowl of water beside you). Place the square shape into a diagonal facing you on a board. Put a heaped teaspoon of the pork mixture onto the top end of the diagonal. wet the edges of the wrapper and lift the bottom corner of the wrapper over the meat, and press onto the top corner. Press the sides closed making a triangle shape, ensuring to push out any trapped air and sealing well. I tend to fold the side corners over to make a neat package but you can wrap wontons anyway you like, as long as they are sealed. Place onto a plate and repeat until the meat is used up. Set to one side.

Back to the soup. Add the chopped cabbage, green beans, broccoli and spring onion and continue to cook on a low heat. Cook the noodles to packet instructions (usually about 3 mins), drain and put in a bowl with 1 tsp. sesame oil to prevent sticking. Cover with cling film and leave to one side.

Boil a pan of water and pop in half of the wontons. They will go to the bottom of the pan. Cook on a low boil until the wontons float to the top - that means they are cooked. Using a slotted spoon, remove and put the wontons into the broth. Repeat with the remaining wontons. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

To plate up, put some of the noodles into a large bowl. Top with 6 wontons and ladle over the broth and vegetables. Garnish with more spring onions and serve with a good chilli oil.

Filling and delicious!

Note: You could save yourself an half an hour and get some wontons ready made from a local Asian store if you like!!  

Beef & Red Pepper Bake

I've had a few requests recently for some new recipes using beef mince. I can understand why, because beef mince seems so versatile, yet the only recipes you generally see are bolognaise, cottage pie, chilli or meatballs/kofta. Even if you dig deep you find a rare few, like South African Bobotie or a Palestinian dish using beef mince and tahini sauce. I wanted something new. So I took a few ideas from all of them and came up with this Beef & Red Pepper Bake.

It doesn't contain anything unusual for a standard kitchen and is quite cheap to make, but is a nice twist on a shepherds pie. Or a European twist on the Palestinian 'Kofta bi Tahini'. Rustic and full of flavour - a perfect midweek bake.

Ingredients:

2 large red peppers
500g beef mince
1 large onion, peeled and halved
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 medium tomatoes
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. ground cumin
25g fresh parsley, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and sliced to 1/2cm
30g  cheddar cheese, grated

Method:

Set the oven to 200 C and put the two large red peppers on a baking sheet. Cook for 25 minutes, until skin is blackened. Put into a plastic freezer bag or cling film to steam as it cools.

Put the two tomatoes into a microwavable jug and cook for about 1 minute, until soft. Remove the skin from the peppers and put the flesh into the jug with the tomatoes. Add one of the halves of onion, roughly chopped, the garlic, 1 tbsp. paprika and 1 tbsp. cumin and blend with a hand blender to make a paste. Add approx. 150ml water and blend again, making a pourable sauce. Set to one side.

Finely chop the other half of onion and put into a bowl with the beef mince, the 1 tsp. of cumin and paprika, the parsley and some salt & pepper. Mix well and press into a baking dish (see photo below). Using a clean finger, press holes into the mince and pour about half of the pepper sauce over the top. Put in the oven for 15 minutes

While the mince is in the oven, put the sliced potatoes on a microwavable plate and par cook for about 3-4 minutes (you can par boil in water if preferred).

When the 15 minutes are up, turn the oven down to 180 C, take the mince out of the oven and layer over the potatoes, with a little more salt & pepper. Pour over the remaining pepper sauce, cover with foil and put back in the oven for 25 minutes. Take the dish out of the oven, remove the foil and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes, uncovered, until the potatoes are cooked through and the cheese bubbling. 

Serve with a side salad for a delicious, filling dinner.

Red & Green Mojo with Alomogrote

These dishes are true Canarian Island dishes, which is a place I would rather like to live (and may do one day!). When we were in La Gomera, we found ourselves at a café in the middle of nowhere. There was no menu, we were fed what they had, which was all delicious. One dish stood out and we ate so much of it. Almogrote. A cheesy, garlicky chunky paste which, in La Gomera, is eaten with toast. I like it with a crunchy baguette. I have been making it ever since.

Also on all of the Canary Islands, you'd find it difficult to sit down to eat without being immediately served bread with red mojo, pronounced mo-ho (mojo picante) and green mojo (mojo verde). Again, delicious as a dip or served with fish or chicken. They soon became a staple in this house in London and I always make them.

This is for all of those who have been to Tenerife, or maybe Gran Canaria and remember these delicious little table sauces.

Almogrote:

150g Manchego cheese
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 red chilli (seeds removed)
2 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp. paprika
100ml olive oil

Method:

Chop the cheese into cubes and put in a food processor along with the tomatoes. Add the garlic, chilli and paprika and blend until the cheese is in small pieces..
Using the pulse button, slowly add the olive oil, bit by bit until you have a texture that is slightly dryer than a dip but wetter than a paste.  Serve with some sliced baguette for a lovely starter to a meal.

For the green mojo:

1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled
180ml olive oil
100ml white wine vinegar
50g fresh coriander (cilantro)
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. of sea salt

Add the garlic, cumin, sea salt and vinegar into a blender or food processor and mix into a paste. Chop the coriander leaves and add to the blender. Then slowly add the olive oil into the paste, to make a lose dip.

For the red mojo:

2-3 dried chillies (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 garlic bulb, peeled
180ml olive oil
100ml white wine vinegar
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. sea salt

Cover the chillies in boiling water, boil for 10 minutes and let them soak for about an hour, until softened. Place all the ingredients, except for the olive oil, into a food processor or blender and blend to form a paste. Slowly mix in the olive oil with the motor still running, until you have a loose dip.

Both of the mojo's may need adjusting to your taste - some like them with less garlic, or less vinegar. Use the above as a guide and add more or less as you wish. Enjoy!

Pulled Pork with Pineapple

This was another one of the Mexican dishes I made last weekend when we had guests. I always knew that pulled pork would be in the menu and it wasn't until the last minute, when about to start cooking that I realised I had a slow cooker sitting quietly, rather ignored, in the kitchen. I could have put it in the oven for 4 hours, but to save the oven being on for so long (the room gets so hot), I pulled out the slow cooker and used that instead.

The pineapple part was, as it often is, something I had bought on a whim and realised needed eating. So figuring that pork and fruit go well together this is what we had. Pulled Pork with Pineapple dressing. Lovely.

For the pork:

1.2kg piece of pork shoulder, skin and outer fat removed
1/2 tsp. salt.
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika

Method:

Rub the paprika and seasoning into the pork and put in the slow cooker with about 150ml water. Leave to cook on low for 8 hours. Alternatively, put in a roasting tray with 200ml water, covered with foil for 4 hours and topping up the water as needed. When cooked - use two forks to shred the meat and leave to one side while you make the dressing.

For the dressing:

2 tbsp. chipotle chilli sauce (depends on the heat - I used my own recipe here)

2 tbsp. honey

2 clove garlic, peeled

1/2 small pineapple, cut into chunks

25g fresh coriander

1/2 onion, roughly chopped

Using a hand blender, blitz all of the dressing ingredients and pour over the shredded pork. Stir in well and serve with tacos and a little sour cream.

You can make a salsa with the remaining 1/2 pineapple by putting large slices on a griddle and chopping. Then put into a bowl with chopped spring onions and fresh coriander.

Serve with tostadas or tacos. If you have corn tortillas, just drape them over the rungs in the oven to make a taco shape and bake for 5-6 minutes in a 180 C oven to make tacos. Flour tortillas? Cut into smaller circles with a cookie cutter and fry briefly in oil for 2 mins each side - you have tostadas!

Perfect Apple Tart Tatin

My number one favourite dessert. Looks impressive, tastes delicious and if you use ready rolled pastry - only four ingredients! Be sure to use white sugar - I tried with brown once and its really hard to see the sugar turn to a caramel colour when its already brown!

Originating in France, this tart seems to be unsure of its roots. It was either an accident by the hotelier Tatin sisters in the 1880's who left the apples in the sauce to long and saved it by topping with pastry and inverting it. Or its an improved version of the "tarte solognotte", a traditional dish named after the Sologne region which surrounds Lamotte-Beuvron.

You can use many different fillings. I have made this with pineapples, pears and earlier on this blog a version made with tomatoes and roasted garlic (recipe here) which is lovely in the summer. Here is the original, and best version. Perfect Apple Tart Tatin.

Ingredients:    (Serves 6)

1 x 320g pack ready rolled shortcrust pastry
4-5 Braeburn apples
200g white sugar
50g butter
pinch of salt
Method:
Peel, core and quarter the apples. Don't worry if the apples go a little brown as you work - it doesn't hurt the dish. Put in a bowl to one side.
Put the sugar into the frying pan with 50ml of water and cook over a medium heat until the colour changes to a golden, fudgy colour. Add the butter with a pinch a salt and quickly stir in. The butter will cool the caramel, so work quickly. Take off the heat. Put in the quartered apples, round side down, in the caramel in a nice circular pattern. Put it back on the heat for a few moments, then take off the heat and allow to cool completely.
Heat the oven to 200 C. Cut the pastry to just a little larger than the top of the pan and lay it over the apples, tucking any bits in. Put in the oven for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden. Leave to one side to cool for 5 mins and very carefully invert the tart onto a plate - do it quickly as you can as the sauce is runny!
Serve at room temperature with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

NOTE: You WILL need a frying pan with a metal handle as its going into the oven.

Chicken Shashlik with Chapatis

It's when I cook dishes like this, that I wish so much I had a tandoor oven. Maybe one day in the mists of time when we move out of London to sunnier climes, we'll build one. I know I could now, but in London it doesn't make sense as we just don't have enough hot weather to eat outside often enough. Yes the grill worked perfectly fine and this was absolutely yummy - but I know it would taste so much better done properly in a 480 C heated tandoor!

However, for now - this is a lovely recipe that you can prepare in the morning before work by marinating the chicken and when you get home pop it on a skewer and grill as hot as you can, with onions and tomatoes. Its a dish cooked all over the world but I like the Indian spiced ones the best.

You may notice that I haven't added a sauce as I normally would...or a dollop of natural yoghurt. But it just doesn't need it! The chicken was juicy and the tomatoes just about collapsing so it was juicy and perfect just as it was.

Ingredients:  (Serves 2-4)

4 chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
200g natural yoghurt
1 tbsp. garum masala
1 tbsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
3 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. chilli powder
juice of a lemon
5 tomatoes, quartered
1 large onion, cut into chunks
1/4 tsp. salt
4-5 skewers

Method:

Combine the spices, yoghurt and lemon juice and add the chunks of chicken. Marinade for anything between 1 and 12 hours.

Heat the grill to its hottest setting and skewer the chicken, onion and tomatoes evenly. Sprinkle with a little salt. Grill for 8-10 minutes until cooked.

Serve hot with chapatis (you can use flatbreads or tortillas if liked) and a side salad. Delicious and rather low in fat.

For the chapati:

280g chapati flour (or wholemeal flour)
170ml tepid water
1 tbsp. olive oil

Tip the flour into a bowl and add the water & oil. Knead well for 5-10 minutes until smooth. Pick golf ball sized pieces of dough and roll out into 15cm circles. Cook both sides in a dry non stick frying pan and repeat with the remaining dough. Cool on a tea towel.

Serve the chapatis with the Chicken Shashlik and enjoy!

Blackberry Crumble Cheesecake

This is a dessert I have been cooking for years. It started as a baked cheesecake. I then added fruit. Finally I decided to put a crumble on the top and baked it again. It was lovely and I love trying different fruits on the top from rhubarb to apple to strawberries in the summer.

The original recipe was the blackberry version, so this was one of the two desserts I made this weekend, as we had friends over.

Ingredients:

150g digestive biscuits
50g melted butter

2 x 280g tubs cream cheese
2 medium eggs
1 lemon (zest only)
90g caster sugar

250-300g blackberries
85g caster sugar

100g plain flour
75g butter
50g caster sugar

Method:

Set oven to 180 degrees C. Make the base of the cheesecake by putting the biscuits in a sealed bag and crushing into crumbs with a rolling pin. Or whatever is to hand! put into a bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave or a spall pan and add to the biscuits. Mix well and press into the bottom of an 8" loose bottomed cake tin. Put in the fridge while you make the cheesecake.
Mix the cheese, eggs, zest and 90g sugar in a bowl until well blended. Pour onto biscuit base and bake for 45 minutes.
Put the blackberries in a saucepan with 85g sugar and 1 tbsp. water. Simmer until fruit broken down, but still with the majority keeping their shape and leave to cool.
In a bowl mix the flour and 50g sugar. Add the cold butter in cubes and rub with your fingertips until crumbly.
When the cheesecake is ready, remove from the oven. With a slotted spoon, spoon out the berries onto the top of the cheesecake adding just a tbsp. of the juice, reserving the rest. Scatter over the prepared crumble and return to the oven for 25 minutes.
Leave to cool and serve in a huge slice with a drizzle of the reserved juice. Delicious!

Chorizo & Feta Tostadas with Avocado sauce

This was one of the many dishes I made at the weekend whilst we had friends round for a Spanish/Mexican fusion dinner. It was a bit of a put together appetiser at the last minute and ended up being the best thing on the table (well it was my favourite, certainly). This is great as an appetiser or as a party type finger food and has so much flavour they'll be cleared in no time!

Serve them hot as you make them and you'll be surprised how simple yet delicious they are. Crumbled. crispy chorizo, creamy feta, a lovely sauce made from tomatoes, chilli and avocado, drizzled with honey. I imagine this dish would be better with green tomatoes, but the red large ones I used were still gorgeous for the dish.

Ingredients:

1 pack flour tortillas
150g cooking chorizo, skin removed
40g feta cheese
3-4 large tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 green chilli
25g fresh coriander
1 ripe avocado, peeled and roughly chopped
runny honey

Method:

Fry the tomatoes in a dry non-stick pan; cut side down to blacken a little. Add the whole garlic cloves. Then transfer to a bowl and put in the microwave to cook until tomatoes soft and collapsing.

Add the coriander, chilli and avocado and blend to a paste with a hand blender. Add enough water to make a looser sauce. Pop in the fridge.

Use a cookie cutter to make tostadas from the flour tortillas, you should get 2-3 from one tortilla. Put a little oil in a frying pan and fry the tostadas on both sides until browning and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.

In the same pan, crumble the chorizo in and fry until crispy, drain on kitchen paper. To assemble, lay the tostadas on a serving plate and portion out the chorizo onto each. Crumble over the feta cheese and top with a spoonful of the sauce. Drizzle over the honey and serve immediately. Delicious!!

Pancetta wrapped Lambs Liver with Roast Tomato Sauce

We fancied liver last night, but are getting bored of the usual way of cooking it - plain pan fried with bacon & onion gravy. So I grabbed a pack of pancetta from the fridge and a half a pack of roasted tomatoes I had left over; still unsure how it would pan out.

Pancetta is an Italian mildly spiced bacon made from the pork belly and often comes in cubes. It also comes in thin strips, which is what I have used here.

I ended up cutting the liver into strips and wrapping each strip completely in the pancetta (I think it needs plenty of the salty flavour) and fried them on a high heat. The roasted tomatoes from last week (recipe here) were simply seasoned with salt and pepper along with 2 tsp. sugar and 100ml water and blitzed into a thick sauce. Spinach and garlic seemed a nice accompaniment. It was lovely!

Ingredients:

300g lambs liver, cut into strips
1/4 cup flour
80g pancetta
1 tbsp. oil

Method:

Simply coat the liver strips in flour (this helps the pancetta to stick) and roll up in the pancetta. Put in the fridge to firm up the parcels for 15 minutes and then pan fry in a little oil. Serve on some spinach wilted in garlic and a little butter with the tomato sauce on the side. Delicious and simple!

I imagine you could pop these bacon & liver parcels onto a skewer and put them on the barbeque. A delicious alternative meat side dish, which I am thinking... would taste lovely dipped in a good barbeque sauce! I must try that this summer!!

Luxury Meat Terrine with Cabbage Avocado Slaw

Yes, Luxury Meat Terrine. Or 'Posh Meat Loaf' as I also like to call it. This is really quite special and happens to be something I don't cook very often. It has chicken, duck, pork sausage meat and pork tenderloin in it and is just so, so special. I sometimes leave the pork tenderloin out if I am feeling a bit thrifty, but with that extra texture, it just works that little bit better. And the leftover pork tenderloin is great for so many other recipes like my American Pork & Beans (recipe here).

This is an impressive looking and tasty dish that can be made 'winter' served hot with roasted potatoes, veg and a nice thin chicken gravy from the juices OR can also be a 'summer' dish served with pickles, salad and a crisp white wine in the garden. Either way it is a dish to impress! I have always, in the past, made this a hot dish but this time I am serving it the latter. Room temperature Luxury Meat Terrine with chutney, Spanish padron chillies and home-made slaw of red & white cabbage, lime and avocado dressing.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast, skin removed
1 small duck breast, skin removed
100g piece of pork tenderloin (optional)
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 tbsp. brandy
1 tsp. dried thyme
hefty pinch black pepper
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
250g pack streaky bacon
1 pack good quality pork sausages (400g)
1 tbsp. hot creamed horseradish
100ml double cream
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley


Method:

Slice the chicken and duck breasts into a mix of thin strips and 1cm dice. Cut the pork tenderloin the same (if using) and add the meats to a bowl. Measure 2 tbsp. brandy into the bowl along with the thyme, chopped garlic and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour to marinade (you can leave longer).

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the chopped meats for about 7-8 minutes until cooked and leave to cool. Using a loaf tin, arrange the strips of bacon so that they cover the bottom and overhang the sides (see picture).

Set the oven to 180 C. Slit the skins on the sausages and put the sausage meat into a bowl along with the cream and horseradish. Mash together and then add the cooled, cooked meats. Combine well and add the parsley. Spoon the meat mixture into the loaf tin and wrap the overhanging bacon over the top.

Wrap the whole thing in a double layer of kitchen foil and place into a roasting tin. Pour water so it comes halfway up the tin and place into the pre heated oven for one hour. Press the top to ensure the meat feels firm. 

Then remove the tin from the oven, take out of the water bath and pull back the foil. Put back in the oven for a further 10 minutes to brown the bacon on top. Remove from the oven and drain the juice, reserving for gravy if needed. Either slice hot or leave to cool to have with a lovely creamy coleslaw and some pickles. Delicious!

For the slaw:

1/4 red cabbage
1/4 white cabbage
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. white vinegar
3 spring onions, chopped
1 avocado
4 tbsp. mayonnaise
pepper

Shed the cabbages as thinly as you can and put into a sieve over a bowl. Add the sugar, salt & vinegar and mix through. Leave for an hour to soften.

Push the excess water out of the cabbage and put into a clean bowl. Add the spring onions. In a small bowl, crush the avocado and mix in with the mayonnaise. Stir into the cabbage and onion mix and add a little ground pepper. Serve with the meatloaf. Lovely!

Perfect Roast Sirloin of Beef

It took me quite some years so perfect roast beef. I know topside and silverside are meant to be the best cuts, so I kept buying them; occasionally overcooking and getting frustrated over the fat involved (I detest fat!). As I eat beef the least of all meats - it something that I never got round to perfecting. But on I tried. And I have decided that the leanest, healthiest, easiest piece of beef to roast for me, is a sirloin of beef, off the bone. That may sound an expensive way to do it - and its not the cheapest I agree. But it is the best for healthy, juicy delicious roast beef.

A 1.5kg piece of sirloin costs around £20, sometimes less. Having roasted and sliced it - it makes enough for 6 generous meals which is about £3.30 a person. Added to vegetables, the meal still comes in well under £5.00 and tastes perfect. Unless you actually like fat on your beef, which means its probably not for you. But this is lean and juicy. And makes the most gorgeous gravy, of which I make enough for the whole roast so I can bag and freeze the remaining 4 portions after serving for an easy week day roast beef with mashed potatoes with gravy.

Ingredients:

1.5kg sirloin of beef
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, peeled
small bunch fresh thyme
4 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 litre beef stock (cube is fine)

Method:

Set the oven to 240 C. Trim the majority of fat off the beef so you have a thin layer and massage the tbsp. oil into the beef. Slice the onion thickly and  lay in a roasting tin. Put the thyme on the onion and place the beef on top, seasoning with salt and pepper (see photo below).

Now put the tray in the oven and turn the heat immediately down to 200 C. Cook for 55 minutes for rare. One hour for medium rare, 1 hour 5 mins for medium and 1 hour 10 mins for well done. When the time is up, take the tray out of the oven, remove the beef and loosely wrap in foil to rest.

To make the gravy, set the oven tray directly onto the hob. Depending on the amount of fat you left on the beef (there should be very little), add about 1 tbsp. oil to the onions. The onions will be very dark, but that is what will be colouring the gravy. Turn the heat to medium under the roasting dish to heat up the oil. Add the flour and stir well, getting the onions incorporated and off the bottom of the tray. Now add a little stock at a time until you have a lovely meaty gravy. Add any juices from the rested beef for more flavour, strain and pour into a jug.

Slice the beef and enjoy!

Perfect Roast Beef

Diabetic Lemon Drizzle Cake

Some years ago, I used to make cakes for The Bloke's workplace, which they loved and I got to practice different recipes. The favourite was always my Lemon Drizzle Cake.

There was one chap there who is a diabetic so always missed out - so I came up with this recipe for a diabetic version. He was delighted as he got a whole cake when the others just got a slice! I've been promising him this recipe for ages, so Tony, here it is.

I use Hermesetas granulated sweetener in this recipe. As it is a very light product, rather than weigh the sugar - I find it best to use volume. 1 cup sweetener = 1 cup sugar.

Ingredients:

175g butter, softened
1 cup granulated sweetener
3 eggs
2 lemons
100g self raising flour
75g ground almonds
4-5 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup granulated sweetener


Method:

Set the oven to 180 C. Grease and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, mix the sweetener into the butter until incorporated and light. You can use an electric whisk but I used a fork. Break the eggs into the mix, one at a time until blended. Add the zest of the two lemons and stir in.

Sieve the flour into the bowl and fold in gently, followed by the ground almonds. It will be quite a stiff paste, so add about 4-5 tablespoons of milk, one at a time until you have a soft, dropping consistency.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cake.

While the cake is baking, make the drizzle. In a small pan combine the juice from the 2 lemons and 1/2 cup of sweetener. Bring to the boil and reduce by about a third (about 3-4 minutes). Set to one side.

When the cake is cooked, leave to cool a little for 5 minutes. Using a skewer, make deep holes into the cake all over. Then spoon the drizzle over the top of the cake. Leave to cool completely before serving.

For those who want the recipe for a Lemon Drizzle using sugar, just substitute the sweetener for caster sugar!

Enjoy!

 

Spaghetti with Spicy Aribiatta Sauce (V)

This is an Italian dish that a friend requested a recipe for; I'm glad she did - it was a lovely lunch! Its another one of those dishes that has had all sorts of ingredients added to it, but I usually try to strip recipes back basics. Find out what the dish is trying to say to me and keep it simple. It never ceases to amaze me how much nicer food is when you don't mess around with it too much.

Arribiata literally means 'angry' in Italian, which can only be from the fiery heat of the chilli used in the sauce (of which there is quite a lot). You should really only have this sauce with penne pasta - but I like it with spaghetti and you must use fresh tomatoes, rather than tinned. You can also make this a meat dish by adding a chicken breast, maybe poached and sliced over the top with a drizzle more sauce. I wanted a light lunch and I also wanted the sauce to be the main ingredient. You don't need much - just enough to coat the pasta. With a little parmesan. Delicious!

Ingredients:    (Serves 2)

4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. chilli flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. sugar
200g dried pasta

Method:

Using a hand blender, process the tomatoes to a paste (its fine if you have a few whole pieces, in fact rather better if you do). Set to one side.

In a frying pan add the olive oil, garlic and chilli flakes. Now put on a very gentle heat. You don't want to burn or brown the garlic, you just need to cook gently and flavour the oil. It should take about 5 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. At this stage the tomatoes will be quite light in colour.

Keeping on a low heat, cook the sauce for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes will darken as they cook. Taste to check for seasoning.

Cook the pasta of choice to the packets instructions, or until al dente, drain and add the pasta to the sauce, tossing well.

Serve with parmesan shavings and enjoy. Beware though...its HOT!

Simple ingredients!

This recipe can me made less hot by, of course, adding less chilli but I think its a sauce literally made for chilli fans!

Betty's Baked Pie

Over this coming weekend of 8-10 May 2015, The Royal British Legion will join the nation in marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. It is with this in mind that I made this pie. Its main ingredient is one of the most famous rationed meat from wartime England - corned beef. Its a little less popular these days but is still sometimes seen in a sandwich with pickles or as corned beef hash; fried with potatoes. Here it is used in my Bettys Baked Pie.

The recipe to this actually does comes from 1940 wartime. It was handed to me by a lovely old lady whose mother cooked it for her back in the day. I'm not sure where the 'Betty' comes from... maybe her mother was called Betty? I think its likely.

Either way - its a delicious little recipe and I have hardly changed it over the years. I just added a chilli as I think corned beef and chilli go very well together. But you can omit if you like. I think children would love this!

Ingredients:

1 tin corned beef, chopped
1 tsp. oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, seeds removed, chopped
pack of ready to roll pastry
3 large eggs
100g cheddar cheese, grated
dash of milk
salt & pepper

Method:

Set the oven to 180 C. Roll out your pastry to fit an 8-9 inch, loose bottomed quiche tin which has been greased. Lay the pastry in the tin, letting the pastry overhang the sides.

In 1 tsp. oil, fry the chopped onion and chilli until cooked.

Layer the corned beef, onion and cheese in the pastry case and season well with salt & pepper. Whisk together the eggs and a dash of milk and pour evenly over the top of the corned beef mix. Pop in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, until the egg is set in the middle. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and trim off the excess pastry.

You can serve this with a side salad, maybe with chips. Or take wedges of it packed in a picnic. I had it the way I have always had it. Still warm with some hot baked beans, Delicious! And a lovely remembrance of the war.

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast Burritos

We woke up hungry today which is quite rare. And as we are planning to go to a Spanish Food & Wine fair later, I want us to have a hot and filling breakfast before we go. So Breakfast Burritos it is. Nice and quick too.

Ingredients:

4 flour tortillas
4 eggs
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
80-100g grated cheddar cheese
50g hot tomato salsa
25g coriander, chopped

Method:

Set the oven to 180 C. In a small frying pan, make a one egg omelette and put onto a plate. Repeat with the other three eggs.

To assemble, lay a flour tortilla on a board and place an omelette on the tortilla - it will be slightly smaller in diameter. Put a line of cheese down the centre, followed by a few spoons of salsa and then some coriander. Roll up and place in a baking dish. Repeat with the other tortillas until you have four.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes for the cheese to melt. Serve hot.

Black Sesame Tofu with Hoisin Broccoli Noodles

Having been a vegetarian myself for many, many years (I'm not anymore), I have so many recipes I used to play with years ago. The Bloke never seemed to want to eat vegetarian but I think I may be showing him that if the effort is put in - vegetarian food is certainly as tasty as meat dishes! So I am introducing a vegan or vegetarian meal at least once or twice a week these days, which pleases me so much.

Here we have tofu, which was always a favourite of mine. I have coated the tofu chunks in soy flavoured egg and then black sesame seeds (sadly making it non vegan - I'll work on that!). Its simple and delicious with any stir fry you want to make/have ingredients in your fridge for. Low fat and good for you with plenty of taste!!!

Ingredients:

200g tofu
4-5 tbsp. black sesame seeds
1 egg
2 tbsp. soy sauce
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp. Sake or mirin
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 red chilli (I used a Thai hot chilli), finely sliced
4 spring onions, sliced
1/4 head broccoli, in florets
1/2 red pepper, sliced
25g fresh coriander, chopped
200g udon noodles
1 tsp. sesame oil

Method:

Chop the tofu into 1cm cubes (makes about 24) and dry with kitchen roll. Put the black sesame seeds onto a plate. Whisk the egg with 1 tbsp. soy sauce and add one whole peeled garlic clove, smashed. Dip the cubes of tofu into the egg mix and then into the sesame seeds to cover. Place onto a plate and refrigerate until ready to cook. Discard the egg mix.

Make the sauce. In a small pan add 3 tbsp. sake, 2 tbsp. hoisin sauce, 1 tsp. sugar & 1 tbsp. soy sauce. Bring to a boil and let reduce for about 3 minutes to thicken. Set to one side.

Cook the noodles for 7-8 minutes (or to packet instructions) and drain. Put into a bowl and add 1 tsp. sesame oil to prevent sticking. Set to one side.

Stir fry the broccoli, red pepper and the green part of the spring onions for 6-7 minutes until tender. Slice the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and the chilli and add to the veg; cook for another 2 minutes. Add the cooked noodles to the pan and mix in with the vegetables. Then stir in the sauce along with the fresh coriander. Serve the noodles in a plate, top with the tofu and garnish with the red chill. Delicious!