Nigerian Lamb Curry Stew

I have been looking at Nigerian recipes recently and have been finding it hard to locate Nigerian curries. There are some, but I thought there would be more. It seems that lamb stew is the more popular. 

Here I have cooked a typical local dish of a lamb stew - the thyme and the seasoning cubes are always used in their dishes. I have added curry powder and coconut milk to make a creamy curry, with the spice from the scotch bonnets. The dish is slow cooked so that the lamb is fall apart tender and the flavours combine beautifully.

300g lamb leg steaks, trimmed of fat and cubed
1 vegetable seasoning cube
salt & pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch piece ginger, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 scotch bonnet chillies (1 chopped, 1 left whole and pierced)
1 cup coconut milk (200ml)
1 cup water
200g tinned chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp. curry powder

Put the lamb into a bowl and sprinkle over the seasoning cube, salt & pepper. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, thyme and the chopped scotch bonnet chilli in a hand blender and blend to a paste. Add the paste to the lamb and stir well. Leave in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour.

In a sauce pan, add the coconut milk, water, tomatoes and curry powder and bring to the boil. Add the lamb and its marinade along with the whole scotch bonnet. Stir well, cover and turn the heat to low. Cook gently for about 2 hours. For the last 15 minutes, take the lid off the pan and turn up the heat to reduce the sauce until its thickened.

Serve with rice and fried plantain. A delicious warming curry - that is surprisingly not that hot! It is, however, delicious!

Yankee Beans & Biscuits

Again, for Independence Day - these are a couple of sides I added to the meal. For anyone who has tasted the standard baked beans, this is sort of similar in a way... but takes the flavours to another dimension. Only the Americans can make beans taste this good - trust me!

Now the biscuits may not be something that would be eaten with this meal particularly. But even since I was a little girl watching a fantastic US TV show called Little House On The Prairie, I remember 'biscuits' being made. Now these weren't biscuits like you get in the UK, which are like cookies, but more like savoury light, fluffy scones. So apologies for going a little 'off piste' but I really wanted to try them. Made with buttermilk, they were as light as a feather. First - the Yankee Beans:

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
120g streaky bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. paprika
400g tin cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1 tbsp. tomato puree
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. English mustard powder
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
hot sauce to taste (optional)

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and bacon for 5 mins. Then add the garlic to cook for another couple of minutes on a medium heat. Add the thyme, paprika, beans, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder and bay leaves. Stir well. Now add 1 cup of water, stir and bring to the boil. Pop a lid on the pan and turn the heat to low.

Cook on a gentle heat for 30 minutes. Then add the vinegar. Add 1 tbsp. of your favourite hot sauce (if you like it hot) and serve sprinkled with parsley. The flavours are amazing and this tastes great with steak, or chicken.. or just simply on toast!

For the American biscuits:

250g plain flour            
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2tsp. salt
90g cold butter, cubed
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk

Set the oven to 220 C. Put the dry ingredients in a food processor with the butter and pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the buttermilk and blend to make a very soft dough. Tip onto a floured board. You can add a little more flour if you like but it is meant to be very soft.

Press out to about 1 cm high with your fingers - don't roll with a rolling pin. Cut rounds with a cutter and place onto a floured baking sheet. Cook for 10-12 minutes until golden and soft. Cool on a wire rack.   

Garlic Butter Basted Rib Eye & Parmesan Crusted Corn Cobs

For American Independence Day I decided to cook up a 4th July American dinner. The bone-in rib eye steak was a must - simply pan fried with some herbs from the garden, garlic and basted with butter to let its perfect flavours shine through. Here I have cooked it on the bone and then removed it to serve - it was huge!

The corn was baked with a salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and freshly grated parmesan, making it a little healthier than the usual lashing of butter, but keeping the flavour. Delicious. First - the steak..

Ingredients:      (Serves 2)

2 rib eye steaks, on the bone, trimmed of fat
salt & pepper
2 tbsp. oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled & bashed but together
1 spring fresh rosemary
2 springs fresh thyme
20g butter

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan and season the beef with salt & pepper. Add the sprigs of herbs and garlic and cook on one side for 5 minutes. Add the butter to the pan and flip the steak over. Cook for a further 5-6 minutes, basting the butter over the steaks until browned and cooked to your liking, I did medium here. Remove from the pan and loosely wrap in kitchen foil to rest for 5 minutes. Then cut off the bone, slice and serve.

For the corn:

2 whole or 4 half corn cobs
a little mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Set the oven to 200 C and cut some kitchen foil to loosely package one of the cobs. Brush a little oil on the foil to help prevent the cheese sticking too much.

Brush a little mayonnaise on the corn - you don't want much, just enough to get the spices and cheese to stick. Sprinkle the spice mix and then roll in the parmesan. Put on the foil and wrap the foil in a loose package so only the bottom of the corn is touching the foil. Pop in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve with the steak and enjoy!

 

 

The 4th July meal all together - it was absolutely delicious. I hope the American readers of this blog feel I did them proud! And Happy Independence Day to them all.

Quick Little Chocolate & Key Lime Pies

Yesterday was 4th July and celebrations were held across the USA for Independence Day. So in keeping with this, we had an fabulous American dinner (which I'll be posting later). This was the dessert that we had.

Key Lime pie is an American dessert and the 'key' part is named after the limes from Florida Keys. I didn't have those particular ones - but I did have a bowl of limes. This recipe uses just a few ingredients and I had all of them, so I made a last minute decision as dinner was cooking and thought I'd surprise The Bloke by whipping up little individual versions. Ideally you need a couple of little chefs rings - I used 3 x 1.5 inch ones.

Ingredients:     (Serves 2)

6-7 chocolate chip cookies
20g butter
150ml double cream
200ml condensed milk
juice of 3 limes and zest of 1
milk chocolate for grating

Method:

Put the chefs rings onto a small wooden chopping board. Put the cookies into a small freezer bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin or bottom of a saucepan. Melt the butter in the microwave (or in a pan) and add to the biscuits; mix well. Spoon the biscuit mix into the bottom of the two rings and press down with the back of a spoon. Pop in the fridge for a minute while you make the topping.

Put the cream, condensed milk, lime zest and juice into a bowl and whisk together using an electric or hand whisk. it will thicken up quickly. Share the mixture into the two rings until full and tidy the tops by sliding a knife across. Pop in the fridge for about 2 hours. Its worth the wait!

When just about to serve, grate some milk chocolate over the top of the key lime pies and use a spatula to loosen the bottom from the board. Use a sharp knife to work around the edges of the rind and the put onto a small serving dish. Then remove the metal ring. Grate chocolate over the top (I put some chocolate into the freezer for a little while to make the grating easier). Serve and enjoy!

Spanish Hake with Chorizo One Pot

There was me thinking that The Bloke was odd not liking fish with tomatoes.. and then I found out there are hundreds of people who agree. I find this odd as there are so many dishes that have the two ingredients together. But having asked around it seems there are a pocket of people who find that tomatoes make fish taste stronger and therefore don't like it. Over the years I have been working ways of getting The Bloke to eat fish and ensuring no tomatoes go near it!!

This Spanish one is a recipe that I created when I found that most shops sell pepper paste. In the past, a great thickener for sauces would be tomato paste - but this pepper paste worked the same and no tomatoes. Having a Spanish friend and neighbour helps for this recipe - certainly as she always very kindly brings me back some great chorizo when she visits her family. So this is a much loved recipe in this house - Hake with Chorizo.

Ingredients:

120g cooking chorizo, sliced 1cm
6 shallots, peeled and quartered
1 red pepper, cubed
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. paprika
salt & pepper

85ml white wine

300ml water

1 tbsp. pepper paste

200g baby potatoes, quartered

100g asparagus
4 hake steaks (or 1 large fillet cut into 4)
salt & pepper

Method:

Find a large pan with a lid and heat the oil. Cook the shallots for a couple of minutes and then add the chorizo. Cook until the red oil starts to run out of the chorizo (about 5 minutes) and then add the red pepper and garlic. Continue to cook over a medium heat for a further 8 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the veg is soft and chorizo browning. Add the paprika, a little salt & pepper and stir well.

Add the wine, scraping any browning bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook on a high heat for a couple of minutes, until the wine has almost evaporated and then add the pepper paste and the water. Bring to the boil and add the potatoes. Pop a lid on the pan and turn the heat to a simmer and leave for about 20 minutes for the potatoes to cook and the sauce to thicken.

(If prepping early, you can turn the heat off at this stage and reheat later before adding the fish and asparagus, making a quick dinner if you have guests!)

Still on a low simmer, add the asparagus and hake skin side up, to the top of the sauce; don't stir in. Put the lid back on and let steam for 4 minutes. Lift the lid and carefully remove the skin off the hake, it should come away quite easily. Turn the fish over and put the lid back on to steam the other side for another 4 minutes.

Fill bowls with the fish and vegetables, with plenty of the rich flavourful sauce. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve with crusty buttered bread to dip in! Enjoy.



Note: You can also use tomato paste in this recipe as a thickener, but you can also just let the sauce cook with the lid off on a high heat, to thicken the sauce too.

Baked Crispy Chicken with Warm Sesame Spuds

Potato salad is one of those recipes that seems to be everywhere. So many countries have their version of it, and the majority seem to be the type in mayonnaise. I do like that version, sure but have started getting into s habit of dressing little baby potatoes in a salad dressing while they are still warm. You can try so many different flavours and the warm, cut potatoes absorb the flavours so well. This is my current favourite. Sesame oil and sesame seeds are perfect for this salad.

The chicken is crunchy on the outside and soft and juicy in the middle - and its not fried! Its baked, so this dinner is very low in fat, but tastes amazing.

Ingredients:       (Serves 2)

2 chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
60g (ideally panko) breadcrumbs
flour, for dusting
250g baby potatoes, halved, skin on
1 tsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. dijon mustard


Method:

Set the oven to 190 C. Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of cling film and batter out as thin as you can with a rolling pin. Dust the chicken with flour and dip first into the egg and then the breadcrumbs, pressing them on well. Place on a baking sheet covered with greaseproof paper and pop in the oven for 30 minutes.

Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until tender. (Best way to tell if they are cooked is to put a knife in one and lift out of the water. If it slides off the knife they are ready.) Put into a bowl and add the sesame seeds, oil, vinegar and mustard. Stir well and serve warm with the chicken and some steamed vegetables. Lovely!

Thai Balls & Spicy Mooli Noodles

This meal, in all honesty, was made from leftovers. Last weekend we had a BBQ and one of the burgers I made was a Thai pork burger. I didn't put a recipe up for this at the time as I was too busy cooking for the party, but the recipe for those were the same as these Thai balls.

Either way, six Thai burgers were leftover so I popped them in the freezer, only to be defrosted yesterday and re-invented as Thai Pork Balls making a thrifty, and very quick, meal for two.

Ingredients for Thai Balls (or burgers)

3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 spring onions, chopped
1 red chilli, seeds removed
1 inch piece ginger, chopped
1 tbsp. lemongrass paste
handful fresh coriander
grated zest and juice of 1 lime
500g (1lb 4oz) pork mince
1 egg, beaten
25g breadcrumbs
vegetable oil to fry

Put the garlic, spring onions, chilli, ginger, lemongrass and coriander into a hand blender and blitz to a paste. Alternatively, chop everything finely. Put into a large bowl with the pork mince, lime zest and juice, egg and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Now you can shape into balls (for this recipe) or patties for burgers.

For the Thai balls, roll into 1 inch balls. Heat oil in a heavy based pan to about an inch up the sides. When hot, fry the balls for about 5 minutes until brown and cooked through.


For the Spicy Mooli Noodles:

1 small mooli (or half a large)
1 carrot
1 cloves garlic
1 Thai chilli (seeds removed)
1/4 tsp. salt
8 green beans, cut into thirds
5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp. palm sugar (white works too but palm sugar is better)
1 tbsp. Thai fish sauce
1 large lime, juice only

Peel the mooli and carrot and cut into julienne strips. Put into a large bowl. Using a pestle and mortar, pop in one garlic clove and a chopped Thai red chilli (seeds removed). Crush to a pulp with a 1/4 tsp. salt. Add the green beans and pound a little more. Then add 4-5 cherry tomatoes, quartered and pound again. It should look like this:

Then add 1 tablespoon of palm sugar, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and the juice of one lime. Mix thoroughly and put into the bowl with the vegetables. Cook some rice noodles to packet instructions and rinse under cold water. Now add the noodles to the marinade and mix well.

Serve the mooli noodles with the Thai balls and a little sweet chilli dipping sauce. Garnish with a little fresh coriander and enjoy!

Moroccan Ostrich with Couscous

It was only recently that I learned that Ostrich farms are appearing in the Middle East. And why not indeed. Ostrich meat is one of the healthiest meats you can eat and its absolutely delicious. Not only that but the UK shops has started to realise this and you can now buy it in so many places. I love it myself. AND its low fat.

Here I have kept it simple. Moroccan spiced ostrich steak, served with couscous. This meal takes about ten minutes to make - what's not to like?!

Ingredients:      (Serves 2)

2 ostrich steaks
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. sumac, optional
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
salt & pepper
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup (230ml) chicken stock
1 roasted pepper (from a jar), chopped
1/4 red onion chopped finely
coriander to serve

Method:

Put the couscous into a bowl and add the hot stock. Cover with cling film and leave to steam while you cook the ostrich.

In a frying pan, heat the oil. Sprinkle the ostrich with the spices and salt & pepper. Add to the pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of the steak. Remove from pan and let rest for a minute on a board.

Add the onion and pepper to the couscous and stir, adding just a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt & pepper. Cut the steaks on a diagonal and serve on top of the couscous with a garnish of fresh coriander. Easy, quick and very, very tasty.

Note: I served mine with roast carrot salad, flatbreads and aubergine hummus for a delicious feast!

Note 2: You can use anything you like in the couscous, instead of the peppers you can use chopped tomatoes, or raw courgette.

Aubergine Hummus

No, this isn't Baba Ganoush, the usual dish that one would expect as an eastern dip to accompany my Moroccan meal. I wanted to make something slightly different - so we have aubergine hummus. Or eggplant hummus (depending on where you're from).

A creamy delicious change from normal chickpea hummus - this mixes the chickpeas with roasted aubergine, with notes of garlic, lemon juice and a touch of cumin. Lovely with anything.

Ingredients:

1 aubergine, sliced into rings
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp. olive oil
300g chick peas, rinsed
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin


Set the oven to 190 C. Place the aubergine slices onto a baking sheet, sprinkle the garlic over the top and drizzle with one of the tablespoons of olive oil. Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it - if the slices are too thin it will burn. You want the aubergine to be tender.

Remove the aubergine from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Then tip into a food processor along with the chick peas, lemon, cumin and remaining olive oil. Process until smooth and put into a nice serving dish. Dress with a drizzle more oil and some pickles on the side.

Note: I have decorated this with redcurrants as I harvested some today from the garden, but you can use anything you like. Indecently, the redcurrants were lovely with the hummus! Enjoy!

Moroccan Roast Carrot Salad (V)

This is a lovely dish that I made last night whilst making a Moroccan meal. It could be a side dish but holds its own as a lunch with some flatbreads. I am so glad that there are leftovers as I know that this will be my lunch today, along with some simple bread.

I'm not sure why but every time I have made a carrot salad in the past I have used raw carrots, usually grated. These are cooked with eastern spices and are warm, sweet, tender and delicious!

Ingredients:    (Serves 2)

 

4 small carrots, peeled and quartered

1/2 red onion, peeled cut into wedges

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. sumac, optional

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1 tbsp. paprika

1 preserved lemon halved or 1/2 fresh lemon halved

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbs olive oil

salt & pepper

150g chickpeas, drained

1 cup rocket or lambs leaf lettuce

1 tbs sliced almonds

 

Method:

 

Set the oven to 180 C. Put all of the ingredients, apart from the chickpeas, rocket and almonds, into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Put onto a baking sheet and roast for around 30 minutes, or until the carrot is tender.

 

Remove from oven, add the chick peas and stir in. and leave to cool a little. Put some rocket on a serving dish and place the carrot mixture on top. Drizzle over some olive oil, sprinkle with sliced almonds and serve at room temperature with some flatbreads or crusty bread. Enjoy!

 

 

Thai Beef Massaman Curry

This is one of those recipes that takes time and has a lot of ingredients, but it absolutely worth it. If you have friends over for dinner and you want to impress them with a curry - and they like it hot - this is the curry to impress. The beef is melt in the mouth soft, the potatoes get saturated with the sauce and go almost chewy and the sauce is spicy with chillies, yet sweet with coconut and the whole thing together is like a bowl of just....awesome.

 

You can, of course buy massaman curry paste in most stores, I haven't tried them yet, but am sure would be lovely if you buy a good brand. I have added the curry paste recipe, as I had the ingredients and with one of those mini blenders, takes about 10 minutes to make. I really can't recommend those mini blenders more - I use mine all the time.

 

It is such a shame that the photo doesn't really do the dish justice. It looks like beef and potatoes in a gravy. But read through the ingredients and you may just begin to imagine...or you may have eaten it before somewhere. It is an absolute wow of a dish. But again I warn you, my paste recipe is rather spicy!

 

 

 

For the curry paste:

 

13 dried red chillies

1 tbsp. coriander seeds, ground

1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground

5 peppercorns

3 cloves, ground

5 shallots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp. shrimp paste

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 - 2 sticks lemongrass, chopped (or 1 heaped tbsp. paste)

1 inch piece ginger, chopped

1 tsp. fish sauce

 

Toast the whole spices and then put into a grinder, or crush with a pestle and mortar. Then add to all the other ingredients and blend until a thick paste.

 

For the curry

 

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, cut into large pieces

about 1/3 cup massaman curry paste

1 kg beef stewing steak    

1 inch piece ginger, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

 400ml can of coconut milk

1/2 cup (125ml) beef stock (cube is fine)

300g potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

2 bay leaves

1 stick cinnamon                                                           

2 tbsp. palm sugar

juice of 2 limes                                                        

1 tbsp. fish sauce                                                        

1/3 cup (45g) roasted unsalted peanuts

 

Steamed rice

Fresh coriander, to serve

                              

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and cook the onion until beginning to brown. Add the curry paste and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Then add the beef, stirring until beginning to brown.

 

Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes. Then you can add the coconut milk, stock, potatoes, bay, cinnamon, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and peanuts. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and leave to gently simmer for about 2 hours.

 

Serve the curry over some steamed rice and garnish with a little fresh coriander.

 

 

 

Fresh Salmon & Leek Tart

Sunny summer days just call for a tart like this. Freshly poached salmon, flaked into a crisp pastry case with buttery leeks and fragrant dill.

Served with some brown bread and butter and an ice cold juice drink, its a lovely lunch for a Saturday in the garden.

Ingredients;

2 salmon fillets
pack readymade shortcrust pastry
1 large leek, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
handful grated cheese (gruyere or cheddar)
3 eggs
140ml double cream
50ml milk
sprig fresh dill chopped
salt & pepper
milk for brushing

Method:

Bring a pot of water to the boil and poach the salmon for about 7-8 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to poach for another 5 minutes in the hot water. Drain and flake into large pieces.

Lightly butter a 9 inch shallow loose bottomed tart tin, and line with the pastry. Pop case in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Put the oven on to 180 C. Lightly fry the leek for 5 minutes and then add the garlic for a further few minutes. Leave to cool a little. In a jug, whisk the eggs with the milk, cream and a little salt & pepper.

Put the tart tin onto a baking sheet and sprinkle a small handful of grated cheese over the base. Top with the cooled leeks and garlic. and then the salmon. Spread around evenly and then pour over the egg/milk mix. Brush the edges of the pastry with milk.

Put into the oven for approx. 30 minutes until the centre is firm and the pastry golden. Leave to cool and serve with some buttered brown bread or fries and a salad.

Club Sandwich Salad

Its been a bit quiet here the last few days as we have been on holiday relaxing. But back home now, with a lovely long sunny day off stretching out in front of us, so am looking forward to some good food.

I love club sandwiches - and that was my plan. Chicken, bacon, lettuce and tomato with lashings of mayonnaise in between slices of toasted bread. However, The Bloke wanted a salad. Easy enough. Club Sandwich Salad it is. Same ingredients, made into a large salad with loads of flavour.

In this recipe I have quoted streaky bacon, but I used speck which is a sort of prosciutto. It can be quite difficult to buy in some places, but I buy it regularly in Borough Market in London. Streaky bacon works just as well, so have whichever you like.

Ingredients:            (serves 2)

1/4 ciabatta loaf, cubed
a little oil
2 chicken breasts, skin removed
8 rashers streaky bacon or speck
2/3 little gem lettuces, sliced
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing:
1 tsp. dijon mustard
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
pinch salt
pinch black pepper
pinch sugar

Method:

Set the oven to 180 C. Toss the bread cubes in a little oil and season with salt & pepper. Pop in the hot oven for about 5 minutes, until the croutons are crisp. Set to one side.

Put the chicken breasts in between two pieces of cling film. Hit the fattest part firmly with a rolling pin or similar, until the chicken is flattened and of the same thickness. Remove the cling film and put the chicken onto a plate. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. In a pan, fry the chicken both sides for about 7 minutes, or until cooked through. Cover in foil and leave to rest.

Grill the streaky bacon or speck, dabbing the fat off as you grill, to make crispy strips. Make the dressing by whisking together ingredients listed above.

To assemble. In a large bowl toss the lettuce, onion and cherry tomatoes. Break the bacon into pieces and add to the salad, along with the croutons. Add the dressing and mix well. Slice the chicken into strips and place on the top of the salad and serve! Lovely.

 

 

Note: I used speck instead of bacon as I am a big fan losing as much fat as I can from a meal. Speck grills quickly and crisps up beautifully with less fat (see below).

Quick Mandarin Cheesecake

This is one of those desserts that you can make in literally 10 minutes. Its also good because it was totally unplanned, yet the ingredients are often found in the fridge! This is a non baked cheesecake and is made as individual servings which make it look cute and like it has taken a lot longer to prepare than it did!!

You can use any biscuits you have as the base. I used digestives as I had some but other types work just as well. You can also use any fruit.

If you don't have any chefs rings I recommend you have a couple in a cupboard somewhere - they can be so useful in many, many ways. Here they were a godsend. Quick, no fuss mandarin cheesecakes.

Ingredients:    (makes 2)

50g biscuits, crushed
40g butter, melted
200g soft cheese (Philadelphia)
50ml double cream
3 tbsp. icing sugar
295g tin mandarin segments

Method:

Sit the chefs rings onto a board (that will fit in the fridge) covered with greaseproof paper. Stir the melted butter into the crushed biscuits in a bowl and use to cover the base inside the rings. Pop in the fridge for 2 minutes to set.

Drain the mandarin segments and remove 6 pieces, set to one side for garnish. Chop the rest and gently press some kitchen roll on top to remove excess juice.

In a bowl mix the cream cheese, sugar and cream until smooth. Stir in the chopped mandarins and put on top of the biscuit bases. Level with a knife and decorate with the mandarin slices. Pop in the fridge to set for about 30 minutes.

Lift the cheesecake rings onto a serving plate using a fish slice or palette knife. Then, run a sharp knife around the edges of the cheesecake and lift off the metal ring. Serve dusted with a little icing sugar and enjoy!!

Country Chicken Pie

After having a bbq at the weekend, full of marinated spicy chicken and Thai pork burgers, come Monday night we were craving comfort food. After a busy day, I picked up some chicken breasts on the way home from meetings and pondered on what to make.

As far as I am aware, Shepherds Pie is lamb mince with mashed potatoes. And Cottage Pie is with beef. I realised that I had never had one in that style make with chicken. I think its because you rarely see minced chicken that these thoughts don't occur - its a bit like my Spaghetti Chickenase (recipe here) - so why not? So here is my version which I have called Country Chicken Pie.

Ingredients:

2 large (or 3 medium) chicken breasts, chopped finely
1 tbsp. oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chicken stock cube
3 tbsp. flour
3 cups chicken stock (about
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
100g frozen peas
salt & pepper
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
3-4 white potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
knob of butter


Method:

Boil the potatoes in boiling water for about 15 minutes until soft. Drain and mash with a knob of butter and season with salt & pepper. Set to one side.

In a large pan, fry the onion until translucent and then add the garlic. Cook for another few minutes and add the chicken. Cook on a high heat, stirring, until cooked through. Turn down the heat to medium and crumble in the stock cube and the flour, stirring to incorporate. Then add the stock a cup at a time to get a thick sauce consistency. Add the peas, herbs, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and some salt & pepper and let cook on a low heat for five minutes. Pour into a pie dish and top with the mashed potatoes.

Cook in the oven (180 C) for 30 minutes, or until bubbling and the top is nicely browning. Serve with vegetables.  Delicious!

Baguette Pizza

I have never been one to buy pizza. Maybe its just me but if I wanted pizza I just made cheese on toast with some toppings. Its cheaper, tastes just as good and its somehow more honest. These days I like using these part baked baguettes that seem to be everywhere in the shops. Lazy Saturday afternoons usually call for these baguette pizzas and its one that The Bloke likes to make for me.

The secret is his way of mixing everything in a bowl after having chopped it finely. Then he piles it on halved baguettes and pops them in the oven for 10 minutes. I adore them!

Ingredients:

2 part baked baguettes, halved
100g grated cheese (gruyere is good)
1/3 cup tomato and chilli sauce (we use blitzed chipotle in adobe - recipe here)
50g ham, chopped finely
1/2 onion, chopped finely
10g basil leaves, torn
2 medium tomatoes, chopped finely
pinch black pepper

Method:

Set the oven to 220 C. Spread the tomato/chilli sauce onto the halved baguettes. In a bowl mix half of the cheese (50g) with the remaining ingredients so it is well combined.

Share the mixture out on top of the halves baguettes and top with the remaining cheese and place onto a baking sheet.

Now pop in the oven for 10 minutes until hot and bubbling. Perfect pizza baguettes!

Chinese Sui Mai Cabbage Rolls

I nearly didn't make these last night. I didn't feel like cooking and although had planned what to make with pack of pork mince, I felt (wrongly as it turned out) that they would take too long to make. They took just over 10 mins to put together and in the 20 mins cooking time, I made the rice and the dip. And the garnish. Excellent!

It was a lonely pack of pork mince that was sitting in a relatively empty fridge yesterday morning, that brought me to this. Initially they were going to be Polish cabbage rolls, but I fancied Chinese flavours, so I grabbed some frozen prawns and instead filled them with a sui mai filling. Now, sui mai is normally a Chinese dim sum dumpling, which has the same filling as this recipe - but would normally be wrapped in a wonton wrapper. These are wrapped in cabbage leaves and I love them!

Ingredients:    (Makes 8 rolls)

500g pork mince
140g small cooked prawns (or shrimp)
1 tbsp. finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
salt & pepper
8 leaves savoy cabbage, ends of thick stem cut away in a 'v' shape

Method:

Boil the kettle and fill a large pot with the cabbage leaves. Bring up to boil on a medium heat for about 4 minutes and then remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

In a bowl mix the remaining ingredients. Lay a cabbage leaf on a board with the stalk end nearest to you. Put about 3 tbsp. of the mix onto the end of the leaf and roll once. Bring in the sides of the leaf and roll forward a second time. Do it quite tightly, but being careful not to break the leaf. Repeat with the other cabbage leaves.

Now you can use a steamer if you have one, or using a steamer tray (picture above), pop it in the large pot that you cooked the cabbage in. Use a little water (I used some of the water I cooked the cabbage leaves in) and pop the lid on. Steam for 20 minutes.

While the cabbage rolls are steaming, steam some rice, make a dipping sauce with sesame oil, sake, soy, garlic and Chinese rice vinegar and chop spring onion and red chilli for garnish.

Serve piping hot and enjoy!