Chicken & Pork Meatball Pasta Bake

I made these meatballs recently and decided they are now my absolutle favourite. The pork sausage meat has just the right about of fat levels to keep it juicy and moist and the chicken adds a little firmness and flavour. I had planned to make meatball lasagne but changed my mind at the last minute to a pasta bake. Its pretty much the same in theory. Still the fresh tomato sauce, still the creamy béchamel, topped with bubbling melted cheese.

You can, of course, buy the sauces from a store, for ease and to cut down the time, It took me an hour to make the whole thing from scratch, so decide how much or how little you want to do. I have added the recipes for both the tomato sauce and the béchamel. Its absolutely worth it and everyone will love it!! Comfort food at its best.

For the meatballs:

400g pork sausages, skins removed
2 chicken breasts, skinless & chopped
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
a little salt & black pepper
handful fresh basil
1 tbsp. oil

Put all of the about into a food processor and process until well combined. With wet hands, shape the meatballs, about 1 inch diameter. Put into a large frying pan with the oil and cook, turning frequently, until browned. Drain on kitchen paper and set to one side.

Cook 250g pasta (shape of your choice - I used fusilli) in boiling water, until just al dente. Drain and add the meatballs to the pasta.

For the tomato sauce:

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. oil
handful fresh basil
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp. each salt & pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar

In a small pan, heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic on a gentle heat for a few minutes. Add the basil and stir in. Then add the tinned tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Use a stick blender to blend until smooth. Taste to check for seasoning.

For the béchamel:

40g butter
3 tbsp. flour
(about) 1 pint milk.

Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the flour and stir to combine. Add the milk a good splash at a time and keep stirring to keep the sauce smooth. I say (about) 1 pint milk as you may like it thinner or thicker than me. You can also add some grated cheese at this stage if you like.

To assemble:

Set the oven to 180 C. Spoon some of the tomato sauce into a 9-10 inch diameter dish. Add the pasta and meatballs. Then spoon over more tomato sauce and top with the béchamel sauce. Top with a few handfuls of grated cheddar cheese. Cook for about half an hour until the cheese is browned and bubbling. Serve with a green side salad.

Green Harissa Iskender Chicken & Lamb Kebabs

Iskender kebabs are a Turkish recipe and remains as one of my favourite meals I have ever eaten when out. Its quite simple really, just bread (pitta) in little pieces, flavoured yoghurt sauce, topped with kebab meat - I used chicken and lamb - topped with a tomato sauce.

I have vaguely kept to those rules but have made it slightly different by marinating the meat in a mix of yoghurt and green Harissa (which is more Tunisian) and topped with a slightly spicier version of the tomato sauce. Green Harissa is an incredibly versatile hot paste of green chillies, coriander, garlic & cumin - all my favourite flavours.

The only thing I actually omitted was their way of topping the lot with melted butter. As amazing at the sounds - I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It seems not just unhealthy, but a little 'gilding the lily' for my taste. Its perfect enough without the added butter.

Ingredients:

For the marinade:
1 large chicken breast, skinless
240g fillet lamb, fat removed
1 cup yoghurt
1 heaped tbsp. green Harissa paste
pinch pepper

Method:

Cut the chicken and lamb into chunks and place in a bowl. Add the yoghurt, Harissa and pepper and stir well to cover. Leave to marinade for 1 hour minimum, in the fridge.

For the yoghurt sauce, mix 1 cup yoghurt with 1 clove of garlic which has been pounded to a paste in a pestle and mortar (or similar), a tbsp. lemon juice and a little salt. Stir well.

For the tomato sauce, fry 1 clove garlic, chopped, in 1 tsp olive oil. Add 2 tsp paprika and stir in. Then add 1 cup water and 3 tbsp. tomato puree & 1-2 tsp. chilli flakes. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for 15 minutes to thicken a little.

To assemble:

Skewer the chopped chicken and lamb and put under a HOT grill for about 10  minutes, turning a few times. If they blacken a bit - all the better, but don't overcook. Toast the pitta breads and cut into little pieces. Put the pitta bread pieces on a plate, top with some garlic yoghurt sauce, then the piping hot kebab meat, followed by some spicy tomato sauce.

Serve with some chillies and rice on the side. Lovely!

Swede & Carrot Soup with Crispy Chorizo

Having started back at my day job (engineering mostly), I have found my fridge getting more and more barren, as I have failed to do any food shopping! My mind also elsewhere, I hadn't planned food the way I sometimes do - but on Saturday afternoon we always love soup. I looked in the fridge to see what vegetables we had and we literally had 1/2 swede and some tired looking carrots. A further hunt brought me an onion - so this is what we had.

It was a thick, comforting bowl of steaming hot soup with the punchy flavour of chorizo melding perfectly with the mild yet distinct swede. Really, really delicious!

I have deliberately omitted salt along with the white pepper, as the vegetable stock cube I used contains salt and the chorizo I tend to find salty too - you can add some if you wish.

Ingredients:

1 onion, peeled & chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 swede, peeled & chopped
4 carrots, peeled & chopped
(approx.) 400ml vegetable stock (cube is fine)
3 tbsp. sour cream
white pepper

toppings:
40g chorizo
few stems chives
little sour cream

Method:

In a deep pan, fry the onion and garlic gently for 4 minutes, until soft. Add the swede and carrots and continue to cook, stirring, for a further five minutes. Add enough hot stock to just cover the vegetables, season with pepper and cook on a medium/low heat for 30 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and using a stick blender, blend the soup until smooth. Put back onto the heat and keep on low while you do the toppings.

Crumble the chorizo into a dry frying pan and fry until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve the soup in a wide bowl topped with the crispy chorizo, a teaspoon of sour cream and some snipped chives. Enjoy with some fresh bread.

Jerk Turkey Patties with a Yoghurt Dip

The wonderful thing about making something like a jerk paste - is that it can sit in the fridge for 10 weeks or so, minding its own business. And one night you really fancy something with a kick - and there it is. Making this one of the tastiest and simplest meals around.

You literally just add it to whatever mince you have, no other seasoning needed as jerk already has all the flavour. Pan fry in the smallest amount of oil and you can serve with a dip, salad, flatbreads, mashed potatoes, coleslaw... anything! And if you do use turkey - its still low fat, as long as you are gentle with the oil when frying.

I have added my recipe for jerk seasoning paste here. As long as you have a food processor - it takes 5 minutes to make. Pop it in a clean jar and have it waiting in the fridge for one of those nights when you want tasty, spicy and best of all - easy food.

Ingredients:

500g turkey mince
4 tbsp. jerk seasoning paste (recipe below)
a little oil.

Simply mix the paste into the mince and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1/2 hour. Then shape into patties and fry. Drain on kitchen paper.

Mix some natural yoghurt with freshly chopped coriander or parsley and serve with the spicy patties.


For the Jerk Seasoning:

Ingredients:
20g Ground Allspice
180g soft brown sugar
7 garlic cloves
7-8 scotch bonnet chillies
1 tbsp. dried thyme
180g spring onions (scallions)
1 tsp. cinnamon
half a tsp. nutmeg
a little salt & pepper
Soy sauce

Method:

Simply put all of the ingredients apart from the soy sauce into  food processor. Process until all finely chopped and is a thick paste. Add about 2 tbsp. soy sauce to loosen a little, blend again, and its done.

Now you can marinade chicken, fish... anything you like. Don't forget though - its pretty spicy, so make sure you serve it with a nice cooling coleslaw or yoghurt dip!

This marinade keeps well in the fridge for about 3 months.

BLT Salad with Goats Cheese

One of my favourite sandwiches is a good old classic BLT with its crispy bacon, fresh lettuce and juicy tomatoes. Last night I decided I was craving a salad so, similar to the club sandwich salad I put on here weeks back, I did similar here. With a jacket potato on the side - perfect for after work.

The only changes to the standard BLT is the addition of creamy goats cheese, some spring onions and snipped chives. The tomatoes were 'sun blush' - a bit like sun dried but softer. And the oil that the tomatoes came in were a perfect base for the dressing along with some balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients:   (Serves 2-3 as a main)

250g unsmoked streaky bacon
200g sundried tomatoes, chopped 
4 spring onions, chopped
100g bag baby leaf salad leaves
30g goats cheese
oil from the sun blush tomatoes
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
few snipped chives

Method:

Grill the bacon under a high heat and dab with kitchen paper to remove as much fat as possible, this makes it nice and crisp. When cooked - drain on more kitchen paper as you assemble the salad.

In a large bowl mix the spring onions, tomatoes and salad leaves Crumble in the bacon and dress with the oil mixed with the vinegar. Then add the snipped chives. Toss well and serve, finally adding the goats cheese by crumbling it between your fingers over the whole salad. Season with ground black pepper and enjoy!

I had this with a simple baked potato and it was filling and everso tasty!

Japanese Soba Noodle Salad (V)

A lovely simple salad here, that takes hardly any time to make. I have this regularly for lunch - its worth making a batch and putting it into cartons to take to the office. Its simple and refreshing in its simplicity and really is more than happy by itself. You can of course, add vegetables or a piece of grilled salmon too.

Soba is Japanese for buckwheat and the noodles are readily available. They are easy to digest and contain antioxidants, making them a healthy choice.

Ingredients:

250g Soba noodles
1 carrot, grated
1 birds eye chilli, seeds removed and sliced thinly
6 spring onions, sliced
25g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. sesame seeds

juice of 2 small limes

1 tbsp. sesame oil

 

Cook the noodles as per packet instructions (about 6 minutes in boiling water) and drain. Put into a bowl and add the carrot, chilli, spring onions, coriander and sesame seeds.

 

Squeeze over the lime juice and stir through the sesame oil. Serve as it is. Delicious!

 

 

Note: A handful of fresh edamame beans would be a lovely addition!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Courgette & Parmesan Soup

We have been a little busy recently, so have been watering the greenhouse vegetables somewhat sporadically. The little cute round courgettes (zucchini) were left to grow.. a little larger than I intended. So I get to Saturday lunchtime and fancy soup (not much of a change there). I had to use the courgettes up so made this soup.

I was half expecting it to be a little flavourless as there is quite a bit of water in a courgette and they are quite mild - but oh it was good. I didn't blend it completely with the hand blender so it had random chunks in it for texture. You can use any colour courgette in this recipe. I just happened to have a large green and a large yellow (picture at the bottom of this blog) and it was so good. And proper decent homemade fresh soup!

Ingredients:

1kg courgette, chopped
handful (20g) fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
400ml chicken stock (veg is fine - also a stock cube is fine!)
50g parmesan, finely grated
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Method:

Put the courgette, basil and garlic into a deep saucepan and cook in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the stock and cook for 8 minutes, uncovered on a medium heat.

Take off the heat and use an hand blender to blitz the soup but try and leave a few chunks of courgette for texture. Put back on the heat and add most of the grated parmesan. Stir through.

Serve with the rest of the parmesan on top with a small sprig of basil and some bread and butter for a delicious weekend lunch!

We ate the lot - it was delicious! See below a photo of the daft sized courgettes. I put a lemon in the photo to show how big they were!

 

Note: taste as you go if you don't like salt, as parmesan is quite salty.

Healthy Roast Chicken Dinner

A proper roast dinner on a Sunday is oh so very English and traditional. But I was reading a newspaper recently and hear that its popularity is on the wane. This not only surprises, but disappoints me and I am a huge fan of tradition and when I was a child - it wasn't a Sunday without a roast.

The three main reasons why they seem to be less popular are three myths. One, they take too long to make. Two, they are unhealthy and three, they are expensive. Now I am putting up this blog to prove that doesn't have to be the case! This delicious chicken roast took 45 minutes to cook in total including the preparation, the washing up was minimal and it is healthy! You don't NEED to have loads of goose fat on the potatoes and you don't need to struggle with a huge joint of pork or a large chicken. You can follow this recipe and enjoy without the guilt. The dinner per serving costs under £3.50 per person. And its STILL delicious.

Ingredients:                 (Serves 2)

2 skinless chicken breasts
3 large potatoes
50g Paxo stuffing Mix
2-3 carrots, sliced
100g green beans, halved
large handful frozen peas
pack of ready made frozen Yorkshire puddings
1 cube chicken stock
60g (approx.) bisto gravy granules

Method:

Set the oven to 200 C. Then peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Par boil in a saucepan for about 5 minutes (until the very outer layer begins to cook). Drain the water, put the lid on the pan and shake the pan to fluff up the edges of the potatoes (this will make them crispier). Tip onto a baking sheet and drizzle very lightly with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for 35-40 minutes. You can make the rest of the dinner while these are cooking.

Boil a kettle of water and crumble the stock cube in a jug. Add about 1 pint of water and stir. While it is still hot add enough bisto granules to get to the thickness you like. Cover with cling film and set aside. You can microwave to heat up when you are serving.
Put the stuffing mix into a small ovenproof dish and add enough water to make a firm but not dry stuffing. Put the chicken breasts in a separate small ovenproof dish and drizzle with scant olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put both the chicken and the stuffing on a shelf under the potatoes in the oven for 25 minutes.

Get a medium saucepan and put the carrots in water. Put the green veg into a little steamer. The carrots take about 20 minutes to boil and the greens over the top of the carrots for about 10 minutes. (Of you don't have a steamer - just add the green veg to the carrots.)

When the potatoes are ready, take everything out of the oven and put a couple of Yorkshire frozen pudding directly on the rack. Turn the oven off - the heat will be enough to heat up the puddings.

Now you can serve. Pop the gravy in the microwave for a minute or two and grab the plates. Enjoy!!

Note: Yes I know there are a lot of cheats in this - and you can adapt if you want to make your own Yorkshire puddings, gravy or stuffing. I will put up another blog soon for that. But this is THE easiest way to make a roast and still impress the family and enjoy without much work. Happy Sundays!

Baked Pine Nut & Parsley Hake Goujons with Aioli

Yes, I suppose these are fish fingers - but so, so much nicer. And bigger! I have loved fish fingers since as long as I can remember and always felt they needed to be bigger and more juicy so you can really taste the fish. I used hake for these as its a good firm white fish and the flavour works perfectly. You can use any white firm fish for these of course, and pollock is also a good choice. These are baked instead of fried, making them healthy too!

Served here with chips, steamed spinach and garlic aioli, its a delicious dinner. But I would just as happily have them in a ciabatta roll with a generous spoonful of the aioli and some crisp lettuce.

 
Ingredients:

1 large fillet of hake, skinned
1 tbsp. flour
1 egg, beaten
60g dried white breadcrumbs
30g pine nuts
1 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tbsp. parmesan (finely grated)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Method

Set the oven to 180 C. Cut the fish fillet into large fingers and place on a plate. Sprinkle over the flour and turn so the fish is lightly coated. Beat the egg in a bowl and set both to one side.

Put the pine nuts & parsley into a hand blender and blend until finely chopped. Put onto a large plate along with the breadcrumbs, parmesan and seasoning. Stir together.

Dip the floured fish into the egg and then roll gently in the breadcrumbs to coat. Place on a baking tray and continue until all coated.

Cook for approx. 15 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and the fish is cooked through.

Serve with garlic aioli (recipe below) with chunky chips and some steamed greens.

For the garlic aioli:

4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 egg yolks
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup (240ml) extra virgin olive oil

Crush the garlic on a board with the salt until a paste. Put into a bowl with the egg yolks and using a hand blender on a low speed, slowly add the oil in a steam until incorporated. Do the same with the lemon juice until you have a creamy mix. Serve with the Hake Goujons and enjoy!

 

 

Perfect Beef Brisket Hot Pot

I have actually been working on this recipe for many, many years now. My late father used to make a beef hot pot and I could never work out how he got it tasting so melt in the mouth delicious. I tried everything. Apart from beef brisket! There it was. The same flavours, the same taste.

The vegetables take on the heady flavour of beef from the slow cooking in the oven. The beef falling apart delicious. I am so pleased to now have this recipe. Its a winner and stayed firmly in my mind for 40 years until I could replicate it... it really is that good.

Ingredients:           (serves 4)
 
800g rolled beef brisket
2 small onions, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
6-8 carrots, peeled
1/4 swede, peeled
1 tbsp. olive oil
600ml beef stock  (a cube is fine)
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper
fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish

Method:       

Set oven to 140 C.

Chop the onions, carrots and swede into rough chunks - crush the garlic. Set to one side. Heat the oil in a casserole and pop in the beef. Brown the beef, turning every few minutes until browned all over. Remove from the pan and put onto a plate. Then add the vegetables to the casserole dish and cook for 3-4 minutes. Return the beef to the pan with the beef stock, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce and some salt & pepper.

Cover tightly with kitchen foil and then put the casserole lid on the top. Cook for 5 hours, checking after 4 hours to ensure it has enough liquid. There should be enough at the end for just enough gravy.

Serve the beef in chunks with the vegetables along with some perfectly crispy roast potatoes and a dollop of English mustard. A little fresh chopped parsley finishes it of with a flourish. Simple, easy, perfect.

Greek Lamb Burgers with Scallion Tzatziki

Its not often we eat burgers, apart from when we have the odd barbecue. Even then, we rarely have barbecues as we seem to both be so busy. But, its looking like the final days of summer here in London, as it has turned a bit colder so I decided to say farewell to the sun by making lamb burgers.

A fairly simple recipe (especially if you have a hand blender and you don't have to chop everything by hand) this can be cooked up in 15 minutes and is lovely with some fries and a little side salad.

Ingredients:

500g lamb mince
1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, halved
8 black olives (kalamata ideally)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
30g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. tomato paste
50g feta
1 egg, beaten

In a small hand blender, finely chop the onion and garlic. Add the olives, herbs, seasoning and breadcrumbs and briefly pulse until all mixed. Put into a bowl with the lamb mince, tomato paste and egg. Crumble in the feta cheese and mix thoroughly with your hands.

Shape into burgers (makes about 7) and place a small square of greaseproof paper in between each one. Chill for an hour for the flavours to meld and to hold the shape. Either shallow fry in a tsp. or oil or grill for 8 minutes, turning once, until cooked through.

For the Scallion Tzatziki:

180g Total Greek yoghurt
1/4 cucumber
6 scallions (spring onions), chopped finely
1 tbsp. olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon

Peel the cucumber and cut in half lengthways. Use a spoon to remove the seeds from the middle and then grate coarsely. Put into the centre of a clean tea towel and holding it over the kitchen sink, squeeze as much water as you can out of the cucumber. Put into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well and check the seasoning. Chill.

Serve the burgers with lettuce, tomato, sliced red onion with a good portion of tzatziki on the top. A little salad and fries and you have a lovely Greek style dinner. Delicious!

Hearty Gammon 'One Pot' Soup

This is such a comfort food recipe, to be eaten on those nights where its just getting a bit colder in the season. Its only August but the temptation to put the central heating on keeps coming into my mind. I won't yet... but I am going to make more stews and soups to warm me up.

I have been making this gammon recipe for many, many years now and the base of it doesn't change - just the added vegetables, as its more of what I happen to have - with a few staples (carrots, potatoes etc.) You can add cabbage, swede, parsnips, kale.. anything you fancy.

I tend to buy a 1kg piece of unsmoked gammon for this, as it makes loads (it freezes well). You need to soak this joint though, to remove the salt. I tend to do this overnight in the fridge in a large pot of water, ready to be drained and refreshed the next day. So we have a lovely warming soup/stew with tons of flavour. And its a one pot dish too!

Ingredients:

1kg joint of boneless unsmoked gammon
4 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
500g small new potatoes, quartered
1 onion, roughly chopped
8 carrots, cut into chunks
1 bulb fennel, roughly chopped
100g thin green beans, halved
100g broccoli, cut into florets, stem chopped

Method:

After soaking the gammon overnight (or up to 5 hours), put in a large pot and cover with water, peppercorns and bay leaves. Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook for 90 minutes.

Add the potatoes, carrots, onion and fennel and continue to cook on the stove top for 15 minutes. Then add the green beans and broccoli along with a good grind of black pepper (you don't want any salt).

Carefully take the gammon out and put onto a chopping board. Shred the meat with two forks and add the meat back to the veg. Stir to combine.

Ten minutes later it should be ready. Serve the gammon and veg with some of the delicious stock and a spoon of English mustard on the side. With a few pieces of bread and butter - is there anything more comforting?

Orzo Broccoli Risotto with Sausages

I guess this isn't really a risotto, as risotto is made with rice and orzo is pasta. But having said that - it works in the same way, has a fantastic texture and it a lovely change. Also - you can just pour the stock in and let it simmer for 15 minutes, rather than having to stand over it stirring for ages. Which is definitely a bonus for me. A nice, simple, filling meal this dish can also be eaten the next day for lunch. And its lovely cold too!

I have served this risotto with sausages, but its also lovely with a piece of pan fried chicken breast.. or a couple of lamb chops.

Ingredients:              

1 cup orzo pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 head broccoli, in florets
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp. parmesan, finely grated
salt & pepper
chives, chopped, to garnish
a few sausages of your choice

Method:

Fry the onion and garlic in a sauté pan in the oil for 4 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the butter and melt. Then add the orzo and stir fry for a few minutes. Add the wine and let that boil for a minute to cook of the alcohol and then add the stock. Bring to the boil, add the and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally.

Steam (or boil) the broccoli for 4 minutes and add to the risotto along with the parmesan and salt & pepper.

You can have the sausages in the oven while you are making the risotto. I tend to bake them in the oven for 35 minutes on 200 C.

Serve with the chopped chives and a little more parmesan on top. Lovely!

Pulled Pork in an Easy BBQ Sauce

I often get asked the best cut of pork for pulled pork recipes. The only one that works well for me is always pork shoulder. Cooked for seven hours in a slow cooker with a few minimal ingredients while you go about your business all day.. then shredded and mixed with a quick homemade bbq sauce, this recipe is easy and so tasty.

I have added liquid smoke in this recipe because I happen to have it, but its not needed and the recipe is just as delicious without it. It just adds a little bbq smoke flavour to it.

 

For the pork:

1 pork shoulder (any size you need)
250ml cider
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
few sprays of liquid smoke (optional)

Cut the skin off the pork, leaving a layer of fat. Cut into the fat with a sharp knife and rub in the salt and sugar. Spray a few squirts of liquid smoke (if using). Pop into the slow cooker with the cider and put the lid on cook for 7 hours on low.

When cooked remove from the liquid and shred with two forks into a large bowl.


For the bbq sauce:

1/2 cup ( apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tbsp. yellow (American) mustard
3 tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. salt

Simply whisk all the ingredients together and pour over the pork. You may not want to use all the sauce (it depends on the size of pork you have).

Stir well until combined and serve with flatbreads or mini tacos along with sour cream and chilli sauce..

Note: For mini taco shells, I simply cut 2-3 circles with a cookie cutter out of a corn tortilla. Fold the little circle in half and drape over the rungs of the oven bars. If you do them next to each other in a row, each one will stop the other from springing open. Cook in a medium oven for about 3-4 minutes and you have a mini taco shell!

 

Chicken in a Hot Jalapeno Sauce

I am always trying new green sauce recipes, as I think there are too many tomato based sauces out there. And I love chillies - this sauce has a lovely spicy kick from the jalapenos - its hotter than you think it may be! Its similar to a Mexican Mole sauce (pronounced mow-lay) with the added tortillas, but is spicier and fresh with the coriander and full of flavour. Its rather low fat too!

I had a 'Mexican night' on Saturday and this was one of the dishes I put on the table. After a few initial comments of "ooh its quite spicy", I started seeing it disappear from sight as the guests piled it on flatbreads and in tacos with sour cream. I rather loved it myself (when I eventually finished cooking and got to have some!)

Ingredients     (Serve 3-4)

230g yellow tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 large fresh jalapeno chillies, sliced
handful (about 1/2 cup) fresh coriander
2 flour tortillas, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. olive oil

Method:   

Put the tomatoes and garlic into a dry frying pan and cook until the tomato skins blacken a bit. Transfer both to a bowl and peel the skin off the tomatoes (you don't need to remove it all, just as much as you can). Add the sliced jalapenos, chopped tortillas, lime juice and salt and blitz with a hand blender until smooth and thick. Set to one side.

Place the chicken breasts in between two sheets of cling film and hit firmly with a rolling pin (or the bottom of a saucepan) until flattened slightly. Then cut each breast into 3 or 4 pieces. Sprinkle with flour and pan fry the mini fillets on each side for about 3 minutes in the oil, until browned and cooked through. Then pour the jalapeno sauce over the top and combine well.

Garnish with a little fresh coriander and a grind of fresh black pepper. Serve with flatbreads, tacos or rice with a cooling sour cream on the side - delicious!

Chicken Koftas & Curry Sauce

This is a meal that I will fondly call 'scran'. My dear best friend who lives in Wales used to call all food scran which basically means food, or quick munchies.

It was Friday yesterday and I had to go to a training course in the afternoon followed by meeting some friends so we both got home late. That morning I had suggested to The Bloke that we got a takeaway later. His face dropped with disappointment. Neither of us like resorting to a takeaway (its never a treat to us). So I thought quickly and it took me 10 minutes to make the mix for the koftas to marinade while we were out of the house. The sauce I had already so I had quick and easy meal for later. It was quick. And it was perfect.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, skin removed and chopped
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced
1 inch piece ginger, peeled & sliced
small handful fresh coriander
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper

Put all the ingredients into a hand blender or food processor and blend till finely chopped and combined. Leave to marinate in the fridge for up to 5 hours.

Soak 8 wooden skewers in some cold water and divide the chicken mix into 8. Shape the mix around the skewers and pop under the grill for 7-8 minutes, turning to brown all sides, until cooked through.

Serve with some salad, chips and homemade curry sauce (recipe here).

Perfect, tasty and quick!

Duck Tequila Fajitas with Avocado

You could call these soft tacos too. Either way, I used my own fajita seasoning that I normally use and added some tequila and lime juice. Plenty of marinating makes the duck take on the fabulous flavours of the spices and the tequila. And such a nice change from duck with Asian flavours! Why not Mexican duck! Its delicious.

Its a good idea to brine the duck first as it can taste a little 'gamey' which  you don't want. Soak the duck breast in a bowl of cold water with a teaspoon of salt for a while (anything between 30 minutes - two hours) and pat dry with kitchen paper so it takes on the marinade. This brining extracts the blood from the meat and makes it taste more delicate and less gamey.

Ingredients:

2 small duck breasts
1 tbsp. chilli powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. black pepper
3 tbsp. tequila
juice of one lime

1 large onion, sliced
1 red pepper sliced
pack 8 flour tortillas
little gem or iceberg lettuce, sliced
sliced jalapenos (from a jar)

Method:

Remove any fat and skin from the duck and put in brine (as above). Cut into strips. Drain and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Put the duck strips into a Ziploc bag and add the spices, tequila and lime juice. Massage into the meat and pop in the fridge for up to four hours (Less will do if you have little time).

In a large pan (or even a wok) fry the onion and red pepper in 1 tbsp. oil, until beginning to soften. Push the vegetables up the sides of the pan, add another tbsp. oil and the duck strips. Pan fry for about 3-4 minutes - you don't want to overcook it. Then stir the duck and vegetables together until well combined.

Pile onto a heated serving plate and serve with the tortillas, avocado slices, crisp lettuce and jalapenos. And enjoy!

Romanesco, Beetroot & Apple Salad

I recently bought a bunch of beetroot from the supermarket with no idea what I was going to do with them. I generally like to plan meals a bit, especially with an ingredient I don't often buy (or it sits there until its too late and its thrown away!). But I like beetroot and knew I'd think of something.

I decided on boiling the beets rather than roasting and as they cooled, I decided on a salad to go with a steak and some simple buttered new potatoes. Romanesco is a vegetable that is like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, slightly more like cauliflower, and is a vivid green colour which is why I chose it to go with the brightly coloured beetroot. With a crunch of apple - delicious!

Ingredients:

1 large raw beetroot
1/2 Romanesco, florets cut small
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1 eating apple, chopped
handful pine nuts

Dressing:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch sugar
salt & pepper

Method:

Cut most of the stem off the unpeeled beetroot, leaving about an inch (this will stop the colour bleeding into the water). Boil for up to 50 minutes. You can tell when the beetroot is cooked of you pinch the skin and it comes away easily. Drain and cool for 5 minutes and push off the skin with your fingers. Chop and set to one side. Make up the salad dressing and set to one side too.

Steam the Romanesco for about 3 minutes to keep its texture and put into a large salad bowl with the sliced onion and chopped apple. Tip in the pine nuts and pour in the dressing. Toss well and put onto a serving plate. Now you can add the beetroot (if you toss the beetroot with the salad, the colour will stain everything).

Serve with a few more pine nuts as a main salad with crusty bread or as a side with a steak. Colourful, crunchy and packed with flavour and health!

Italian Sausage Soup with Parmesan Gnocchi

This soup is a full meal in a bowl which is perfect for a midweek dinner. I normally would serve bread with soup but the gnocchi in this is the carbohydrate, so it is filling enough. I don't know many people who eat gnocchi, maybe its not advertised well enough in the supermarkets in the UK, but making it is a breeze - I would tell you if it wasn't! Its just mashed potatoes made even more tasty and takes 10 minutes to roll, shape and cook.

The flavours of the sausages cooked in the soup with the fresh vegetables is delicious and the slightly chewy, light cheesy gnocchi along with the crunchy herby breadcrumbs bring a fantastic texture.

Ingredients:

350g pork chipolata sausages
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
500ml beef stock
1 (400g) tin chopped tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced
260g spinach, torn
1 large courgette, chopped
salt & pepper

For the gnocchi:

2 medium potatoes
3/4 cup plain flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. parmesan, grated

handful toasted breadcrumbs
chopped fresh sage & parsley (optional)
 
Method:

Fry the sausages in a large saucepan until browned. Remove from the pan and cut into bite size pieces and put back in the pan with the garlic for 2 minutes. Then add the stock, tomatoes and carrots. Bring to the boil and the turn to a simmer. Cover and leave to cook on a low heat for 15 minutes.

Then add the courgettes and spinach along with 1 tsp. pepper and 1 tsp. salt and leave to simmer for a further 25 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, have the potatoes boiling. Then mash the potatoes well. You don't want any lumps as it notices more in gnocchi! Put the mashed potatoes into a bowl with the flour and egg. Knead briefly to make a dough, adding more flour if too wet. Half the dough at this stage, you only need half of this amount, so pop the other half into a freezer bag for a later recipe.

Knead the dough on a floured board and half again. Make two sausages about 1 inch diameter and then cut into inch lengths. Push the tines of a fork into the top to make a pattern.

Boil a pan of water and add half of the gnocchi. It is cooked when it rises to the top of the water. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto greased kitchen foil. Do the same with the remainder. Then sprinkle the parmesan over the top and pop under the grill, to give the gnocchi a very light cheesy crust. This will give a good texture to the soup.

Briefly fry the chopped sage, parsley and breadcrumbs. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve the soup in a large bowl and add the gnocchi. Top with the toasted herby breadcrumbs and enjoy.