Pork and mushroom bake with a potato and butternut squash topping

This is like a shepherds pie but made from pork instead of lamb.  I'm not sure what to call it, maybe Hog herd's pie?  Pigman Pie perhaps?  Let me know what your suggestions are, I may even publish them!  Anyway, this is a lovely winter warmer recipe and is uses the principles of Mediterranean cooking that are supposed to be so good for us, so those of you who think Mediterranean cooking is just about summer food, think again!  It's also a perfect one pot supper dish as it has so many vegetables in it, you really don't need anything else to accompany it.  Perfect for a mid-week meal.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions
3 sticks celery
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
500g reduced fat pork mince
100g chorizo (optional) 
250g chestnut mushrooms
A small glass of white wine
300ml chicken stock
Tomato purée
½ a small butternut squash
3-4 small potatoes
2 or 3 gratings of whole nutmeg
Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Method
First, make your Soffritto by peeling and chopping the onion, celery and carrot, heating the oil in a non stick pan and frying the vegetables over a low heat with a pinch of salt to soften.  Make sure you chop the carrot finely or it takes a lot longer to cook.

Heat the oven to 220°C.  While the Soffritto is cooking, peel and chop the garlic cloves, wash and dry the mushrooms and chop them roughly.  If you have time at this stage you can also prepare the squash and potato mash.

Turn the heat up to medium then add the pork mince (along with the chorizo if using) and start to brown the mince.  When everything is taking on a little colour, add wine, turn the heat up to full and reduce the wine by at least 50%.  Add the stock, garlic and mushrooms to the pan, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the mushrooms have reduced in size and lost their water.  Turn the heat to low, add 4-5 tablespoons of tomato purée, give the whole thing a good stir and leave to reduce for 5 mins so the mix is good and thick.

If you haven't already made the mash, do that now.  Peel and cut the potatoes and squash into 2cm cubes.  To cook the potatoes with the squash, boil a pan of water, add a little salt and add the potatoes.  Boil for 3 minutes, then add the squash and cook until soft.  Drain and mash with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste and 2 or 3 gratings of whole nutmeg.

To finish off, tip the meat and vegetable mixture into an appropriate size baking dish and top with the mash.  Don't worry if you don't use all of the meat and vegetable mix, you can freeze the rest for another day.  Bake on the top of the oven until the top is nicely browned and serve as it is.  There are som many vegetables in this dish you don't need and side dishes with it, so an ideal one pot supper!  You can up the carb if you like by having some crusty white bread with it, but it's actually pretty filling as it is.

Bonfire night and a cassoulet - it's a bit of a tradition in our house.

For some years now I've been making a Cassoulet on bonfire night - it's a great party dish for a winter get together when you're going out and not sure when you'll get back as it really benefits from long, slow cooking and it's a one pot dish, perfect!  Traditionally, Cassoulet doesn't have tomatoes in it, but I like to add them to give colour and a bit more flavour.

A note before we start, a lot of the ingredients may take some time to get hold of, so I'd recommend buying and preparing well in advance and keeping them in the freezer or store cupboard until you need them.

If you've never had Cassoulet before, you should try it, it's from the Languedoc region of France and is a bit like a turbo charged sausage and beans. Let the fireworks begin.  This recipe served 12 comfortably.  Whatever's left over freezes well though and makes an extra special evening meal straight from the freezer.

Ingredients
4 duck breasts
750g dried haricot beans
300g pork belly

2 large onions
4 celery sticks
2 carrots
12 cloves of garlic
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 bay leaves
A pinch of ground cloves
24 sausages, a mix of your favourite (we love Clarks Hertforshire sausages) and some Toulouse sausages if you can find them.

Method
First, make your duck "confit".  You can buy it in tins of you like, but I like to make my own and although it's not genuine, it works very well in this recipe and it's really easy to make.  Heat the oven to 140C, put the duck breast in a shallow dish, add a little salt and pepper and roast them for 2-3 hours until all the fat has come out and the duck is cooked all the way through.  Take them out of the oven, let them cool and then freeze them with the cooking juices and fat until you need them.

The night before you are going to make the dish, put the haricot beans in a large bowl and add lots of water, at least 3 times the volume of beans, cover and leave to soak until the next day.  Take out the duck breasts you froze before and let them thaw overnight.

On the day, start by choosing a casserole that is large enough to hold all the ingredients (the beans will at least double in size, so it needs to be big).  Peel and roughly chop the onion, celery and carrots.  Peel and crush the garlic and roughly chop it.  Cut the rind off the pork belly and keep that to one side, then cut the pork belly into bite size chunks removing any bones that may be left over.

Heat the pan and add the duck fat and juices (but keep the breasts aside)  and a little olive oil, then once it's hot add the strips of pork belly rind and the diced pork and sauté over a medium heat until they are starting to brown.  Add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and sweat them over a low to medium heat with the pork until everything is soft and the pork and garlic is golden.

Now drain the beans and add them to the dish with the tomatoes, tomato purée, bay leaves and ground cloves, now add water to fully cover the ingredients, bring to the boil and then cook over the lowest heat you have to simmer very gently for around 3 hours until the beans a lovely and soft.

While the beans are cooking, grill the sausages until they're cooked as you like them and leave them to cool.

Finally, 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, slice the duck breasts into bite size morsels and add them and the sauces to the casserole, give a good stir and wait for them to heat through.  If the sauce is looking a bit thin at this stage, take the lid off, turn the heat up and reduce it down, but be careful as it will burn easily on the bottom of the pan unless you stir continuously.

Serve directly from the casserole into bowls and we like to eat our Cassoulet with fresh, crusty bread to mop up any juices, but you could equally have baked potatoes.

Butternut Squash and Spiced Lamb Stew

A tagine by any other name, except this doesn't have the dried fruit.  Nonetheless, it's still a great dish, good and warming for those autumn evenings and a nice reminder of the heat of summer!

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
500g cubed lamb
2 onions, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2.5cm piece fresh root ginger, grated
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp harissa paste (or to taste!)
25g plain flour
1.2 litres lamb or vegetable stock
1 butternut squash
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped (alternatively, use a tin of tomatoes and reduce the stock liquid)
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
225g baby spinach
2 tbsp lemon juice
Couscous and crusty bread to serve

Method
Heat the oil in a large casserole, add the lamb and brown all over, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat to medium then add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes until softened. Sprinkle in the flour and stir, then add the tomato purée and Harissa and cook for a further 1 or 2 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, cover tightly and simmer for 1-2 hours - the longer the better.

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Peel and cut the flesh into bite-size chunks.

Add the tomatoes, squash and chickpeas to the casserole and cook for 30 or so minute until the squash is tender but not too soft giving an occasional stir.  Stir in the spinach and lemon juice and cook for a further 1–2 minutes.  Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with rice or couscous and lots of crusty bread to mop up the juices!

Roasted Spatchcock Poussin with Bulgar Wheat salad

This is a lovely transitional autumn dish for those days that are bright and warm before winter really sets in. It has a Mediterranean feel to it with the middle eastern style salad and the Italian style Poussin. It would be delicious over summer too cooked in the oven then finished off on the barbecue as spatchcocking the Poussin means it can be cooked pretty quickly. If you haven't spatchcocked a bird before, there's a great BBC video on how to do it - it isn't hard as long as you have a large, sharp knife :)  I used two small Poussins, one per person, but you should adjust the number of birds to suit the number of people you're feeding. You could also use Guinea fowl too which would work equally well.

Ingredients
For the roast Poussin
2 small Poussins
A small bunch of fresh thyme
3 lemons
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
12 garlic cloves
Salt and Pepper
250ml white wine
250ml chicken stock

For the Bulgar wheat salad
50g Bulgar wheat per person
250ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ a red pepper
1 small Courgette
2 sticks Celery
2 small tomatoes or one medium
3 spring onions
1 preserved lemon or half a roasted lemon from the roasting tin.
A small bunch of fresh coriander

Method
First preheat the oven to 220°C. Next, spatchcock the Poussin using the technique from the video link above. This will take about 10 minutes.

Once you've completed that, prepare the marinade. Peel and crush the garlic cloves with the flat of a knife and add them to a casserole dish. Next halve and squeeze the lemons and add them to the dish (if you're using roasted lemon instead of preserved, put one half lemon in the dish to the side without squeezing it). Place the Thyme in the dish with the garlic and lemon halves and place the Poussin on top. Finally, drizzle the olive oil over the birds, drizzle the lemon juice over and season with salt and black pepper. Cover with cling film and leave to marinade for at least an hour at room temperature.

While the birds are marinading, make the salad. Measure out the Bulgar wheat in a cup and add to a saucepan, then add 5½ times the volume of cold stock to the pan, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

While the Bulgar wheat is simmering, slice the peppers and cut each slice into 2 or 3, peel and chop the celery into ½cm cubes, slice the Courgettes using a potato peeler and cut the slices into three even pieces and roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the olive oil to a pan and heat it until it's smoking, then add all the veg to it and stir fry until they are softened and slightly coloured. Drain in a sieve. Prepare the rest of the ingredients by peeling and slicing the spring onions, chopping the coriander leaves roughly and by thoroughly rinsing the preserved lemon (to get rid of as much salt as possible), slicing into thin slices and halving the slices. Keep half the lemon for the Poussin. Once the Bulgar wheat is cooked, drain it and leave to cool for 5 minutes, add it to a bowl then mix in the roasted veg, onions, coriander and preserved lemon. Cover with cling film and set aside. This salad can be served warm or cold depending on taste. I prefer serving it slightly warm so I leave it next to the cooker to keep it warm.

Now pop the Poussin in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until it's cooked all through and the skin is nicely browned. Once it's finished cooking, place the Poussin on a hot serving plate, cover with tin foil and let it rest. While the Poussins are resting, make the sauce by adding the white wine to the casserole dish and deglazing the pan. Add the stock and boil rapidly to reduce and get rid of the alcohol. When you have reduced the sauce by ½, strain though a fine mesh sieve, adjust for seasoning and add a small amount of sugar or honey to take off the bitterness of the lemon - careful, you'll only need about a teaspoon of sugar!

To serve, put the Poussin on a warmed plate and add some sliced preserved lemon pieces and a little sauce.  Add a tablespoon or two of sauce to the salad and serve with the Poussin.  Add some good company, a couple of glasses of chilled bone-dry white wine and enjoy!

Carrots with butter and thyme

This is especially for Rowena as it's her favourite way of cooking carrots - she asked me for the recipe, how can I resist?  :-)

Ingredients

1 carrot per person (more if you wish)
1 large and 1 small knob unsalted butter (about 25g)
½ a teaspoon of sugar
2 good size sprigs of fresh thyme
A squeeze of lemon juice - fresh of bottled, it doesn't matter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Remove the thyme leaves from the stalks, then chop them roughly and rinse in cold water. Peel and cut the carrots into thin slices (Julienne), rinse in cold water, boil a pan and cook them for 2-3 mins until just cooked. 

Heat the butter in a pan until it's melted, add the carrots and sugar, then sauté until they are slightly browned.  Drain and leave in the colander to steam while you prepare the thyme butter.  Melt the remaining butter in a pan until liquid but not coloured, add the chopped thyme and a splash of lemon juice, mix together well, then add the carrots back into the pan, heat through and serve.

Roasted pepper and tomato salad with a garlic and redcurrant dressing

Again, this is a Spanish themed salad - they seem to have the best salads from my point of view!  It's easy to make and tastes brilliant.  Go really easy on the garlic though, raw garlic is so strong it takes only a small amount to flavour the dressing.  If you add a handful of redcurrants, they are also really good crushed into the dressing to get the juice.

Ingredients
2 red peppers
8 cherry tomatoes - vine ripened if possible, even better if home grown!
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 dessertspoon red wine vinegar
½ a small garlic clove, crushed (about 2mm cubed is more than enough)
A small handful of redcurrants (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oven to 220°C, core and de-seed the peppers and cut into 1cm strip.  Place them on a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil.  Put the tray into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until soft but not burnt.

 Meanwhile, cut the cherry tomatoes in half and put into a suitable sized serving dish.  You can also start making the dressing.  Add the wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper to a small bowl, next crush the redcurrants to get the juice.  If you don't mind getting stained hands to can crush them in your fist, but you can also use a fine sieve and the back of a dessertspoon or even a garlic crusher!

Once the peppers are cooked, drain them keeping the oil and add the peppers to the tomatoes.  Add some of the drained oil to the dressing, whisk the dressing with a balloon whisk, adjust to taste with oil, salt & pepper.  Pour the dressing over the peppers and tomatoes and serve.  You can have this as a warm or cold dish, whichever you prefer.

Chicken gujons with an orange and mint sauce

This started out as a Spanish recipe where the chicken is first browned and then further cooked with the orange and mint, but to my mind it didn't work out too well, so I've modified it to suit my taste.  I've added a coating of salt, pepper, crushed garlic and then rolled the chicken pieces in wholemeal flour before frying them, and made the orange sauce separately.   Judging by the family yesterday, they really like it too!

Ingredients
2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 garlic cloves
Salt & pepper
1 tablespoon wholemeal flour
Olive oil for frying
3 whole oranges

1 good handful of mint
25g cold butter

Method
Juice two of the oranges - you should get about 150 ml of orange juice.  Slice the other range into 8 and remove the central pith and slice off the skin to leave 8 orange wedges.  Finely chop the mint and set everything aside for later.

First cut the chicken breasts into bite size gujons.  Crush the garlic onto the chicken pieces and add the salt and pepper to taste.  Mix the chicken with the garlic, salt and pepper to evenly coat the chicken, then dust with the wholemeal flour.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a non stick pan and fry the chicken pieces until lightly browned.  Take the chicken off the heat, wrap it in foil and keep warm ready for serving,

Now make the sauce.  Using the same pan the chicken was fried in, add the orange juice and bring to the boil, then reduce it just a little for no longer than 1-2 minutes - it should still be liquid and not starting to thicken.  Now add the chopped mint and the butter and stir vigorously until the butter has melted but not clarified.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, put the chicken gujons on a plate, spoon the sauce over and garnish with the orange wedges.  This goes well with a red pepper salad, or any leaves and either potato salad (my favourite) or rice (Suzanne's favourite)

Bulgar wheat and roasted vegetable salad

I made this up to go with the middle eastern lamb shanks recipe as I wanted something nice and summery to go with it. You could use pretty much anything you want in any measure, including carb, so feel free to substitute rice or couscous but I like the wholegrain taste of the bulgar wheat.  The only thing you really need to do is to include a mix of roasted veg and traditional salad veg.  It was an instant hit and a number of folks have asked if I'm putting up the recipe, so here it is... enjoy :-) This will easily serve 8 but keeps in the 'fridge for 2-3 days and goes with any grilled meat or fish. If you want to just have it on it's own you can add some cubes of feta cheese to bump up the protein.

Ingredients
150-200g bulgar wheat
1 handful broad beans
1 handful peas
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red pepper1 yellow pepper
1 aubergine
3 good size tomatoes
2 courgettes
1 corn on the cob
6 radishes
1 bunch spring onions
75g feta cheese (optional)
The juice of ½ a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
First prepare the bulgar wheat. Measure the wheat into a cup or measuring jug, add it to a saucepan and then add 5½ times the volume of boiling water and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and keep on a rolling boil for 15 minutes. When the wheat is cooked, drain in a sieve and leave to cool.

Prepare the beans and peas by shelling them (you can use frozen if you like) and then add them to boiling water, bring to the boil and cook for no more than 2 minutes. Drain them and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

While the bulgar wheat is cooking and cooling, prepare the roasted veg. I tend to fry them rather than cook in the oven as I have a griddle pan, but you can do either. De seed the peppers and cut into bite size pieces. Slice the aubergine and tomatoes 1½cm thick. Now heat a small amount of olive oil in the griddle pan until smoking and add the sliced pepper, aubergine and tomato (or spread on a non-stick baking sheet if using the oven and heat the oven to 200°ree;C), add a little salt and brown on each side, adding a little extra oil if needed.  The aubergine should be done last as it will absorb all the oil. Don't be tempted to use too much oil as this will make the whole dish greasy, try and use as little as possible - we're aiming for "fresh"!

To prepare the courgette, top and tail them and then using a potato peeler or mandolin slice them really finely then add a little salt and pepper to them. Cook them by adding them to the pan used for the other vegetables and be careful as they will cook quickly and go from raw to burnt so don't be tempted to take your eyes off them.

To cook the corn on the cob, again use the same pan and brown the cob on all sides b(this will take some time). Once it's cooked, leave to cool so you can handle it then top and tail the cob and slice off the corn from the core.

Prepare the radishes, spring onion and feta by slicing or cutting them to your preference (I'd suggest disks for the radish and spring onion and ½cm chunks for the feta).

Finally, mix everything together, add the juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or cold.

Middle eastern spiced lamb shanks

This has a middle eastern flavour but is not genuine middle east, however, the ingredients are from Iran, Morocco and a little bit of Spanish thrown in for good measure!  It's a beautiful dish and makes a beautifully rich sauce that is just divine :)  As it's so rich, be careful what you serve it with.  I made a bulgar wheat salad with a mix of roasted and raw vegetables and this worked really well, all the family came back for more.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 lamb shanks
1 large knob of butter
2 large onions, roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
A good pinch of saffron strands (optional)
1½ heaped tbsp tomato purée
1 dessert spoon clear honey
400ml lamb stock
2 teaspoons quince jelly

Method
Heat oven to 160C. Heat the oil and butter in a large casserole. Season the shanks, then brown in the oil for 10 mins until golden all over. While the shanks are browning add the onions and garlic to the casserole and cook with the lamb - once the lamb's done, they'll be turning golden too.

Add the lemon zest and all the spices to the casserole and cook for 1 min, then add the tomato purée, honey, stock, the lemon juice and quince jelly and stir to combine.  Bring the casserole to a simmer, then cover with a tight fitting lid and braise in the oven for 2½-3 hrs.

Once the meat's done, spoon away any excess fat, then check the consistency and if it looks a little thin, remove the lid and reduce the whole lot until it's a good, thick, rich gravy.  Season to taste and serve with rice, salad or my bulgar wheat salad recipe.

Vietnamese style crispy pork

This is originally a recipe from Ainsley Harriott but I've modified the ingredients to suit our own taste.  We love eastern dishes as you can no doubt see, and I also love pepping up dishes with a little extra heat and some lime juice, so be warned, hopefully it isn't too hot for you.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 dessertspoon garlic/ginger paste (you can make your own, but I buy it bottled online)
450g extra lean pork mince
1 red chilli, topped and tailed and finely chopped1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and chopped into rounds
1 large bunch fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 limes, 1 zested and juiced, the other cut into quarters
75g dry roasted peanuts
3-4 little gem lettuces

Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok, then add the garlic/ginger paste and cook for 30 seconds, then add the pork mince, mix well and fry over a high heat, moving continually until it's crisp.  Take if off the heat and drain quickly to stop the cooking process.

Add all the other ingredients except half the coriander leaves, the lime quarters and the lettuce and mix it together well.

Arrange the lettuce leaves in a serving dish so they cover the bottom, then spoon the meat mixture to cover the leaves.  Finish with the remaining coriander on top and add the lime quarters around the side.

Serve with rice or bread.

Thai style fried rice

I'm really pleased with this one, it works brilliantly with Thai food, but can be used as a salad too as it's just as good cold.  The original recipe was made with pineapple and I'll definitely do it with that as I love the combinaiton of acid and sweet that comes with fresh pineapple, but cashews work really well too.  You judge and let me know with a comment what's your favourite.

Ingredients
5 dessert spoons Jasmine rice
5 baby sweetcorn cut into 1cm lengths
70g fine beans, top and tailed and cut into 2cm lengths
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped root ginger
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
75g roasted, salted cashew nuts
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground white pepper

A small handful of fresh, chopped coriander to serve

Method
First cook the rice - I find it takes 10 minutes to cook in boiling, salted water.  1 minute before the rice is cooked, add the sweetcorn, beans and garlic into the pan to blanch for the final minute.  Drain and leave to cool slightly.

Mix the soy sauce, sugar and pepper together and set to one side.

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and when smoking add the rice and all the other ingredients except the chopped coriander and stir fry them for 2 minutes until everything is nice and hot.  To server, put the rice on a warmed plate if serving immediately and scatter the chopped coriander over the top.

Chicken and Coriander burgers

I made these as I wanted a good, fresh taste. I ended up frying them and the family loved them that way, but I'll probably grill them next time, or even better cook them on the barbecue. I served them with a black cherry jam, but that wasn't too good so I'll not put that recipe up, but I think a sour cherry jam would work really well with these. Fresh coriander oil would also work well, or to make it a little more eastern, why not try a Thai dipping sauce?

 

Ingredients

1 chicken breast and 2 chicken thighs
1 small onion
3 garlic cloves
A large handful of coriander, stalks included
1 green chilli, chopped
50g white breadcrumbs
Salt & Pepper
Juice of ½ a lime
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method
Peel the onion and garlic. Roughly chop the chicken, onion, garlic, coriander and chilli and add them to the blender with the salt, pepper, breadcrumbs and lime juice, then blend for a short time so they're well chopped but still have a little "chunky" consistency.

Form the mixture into patties, then cook them under a high grill until nicely browned.  Serve with salads of your choice. 

Chicken with peppers and tomato

This is a popular dish all over Spain, but works equally well in the UK when the weather is a little colder or even on those rare days when it's warm and sunny!

Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 skinless chicken legs
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 onions, chopped finely
50g parma ham, sliced
2 yellow peppers, cored, deseeded and cut into thin strips
1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and cut into thin strips
3 400g cans chopped tomatoes
A sprig each of oregano and marjoram
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oil in a large casserole over a medium heat, add the chicken, garlic and onion and fry until the chicken is golden on each sid, this will take about 10 minutes.

Add the ham and peppers and cook for a further 5 minutes so the peppers are softened but not coloured.

Add the tomatoes, herbs and bay leaves and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to minimum, cover and simmer for 1-1.5 hours, by which time the chicken will be falling off the bone.

Skim off as much of the fat as you can from the top of the dish, season to taste with salt and pepper and server with boiled rice or a rice salad of peas, broad beans, chopped spring onion and cucumber.

Gazpacho

I've been making Delia's version of gazpacho for some time and it's pretty good, but I find it a little acidic for my taste, so I've used the recipe from my "Fresh Spanish" cookbook this time with a few variations.  So far, it's tasting very good, but I'll need to see what it's like when it's chilled.

In the meantime, here's the recipe...

Ingredients

For the soup

1.4 kg Vine ripened tomatoes, as ripe as you can get them

2 slices of white bread

1 red pepper, cored and de seeded

4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 level teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

To serve

⅓ cucumber

½ red onion

2 slices bread

1 tablespoon finely chopped red pepper

Method

Cut a cross in the bottom of the tomatoes, then put them in a bowl and pour over boiling water, soak for 1 minute and then drain and cover in cold water.  Peel the skin off the tomatoes, cut them in half and deseed them, putting the seeds into a sieve suspended over a bowl to catch the juice.

Put the tomatoes into the food processor or blender and add the rest of the ingredients except the bread.  Make sure you get as much juice from the tomato seeds as you can, then soak the bread slices in the juice and add this to the blender.  You may need to do this in to stages depending in the size of the blender or food processor.  Put the soup into a large bowl and chill for at least 4 hours.

Make the croutons by cutting the bread into 5mm cubes and fry in hot olive oil until golden.  Peel the red onion and chop finely.  Peel and chop the cucumber into fine dice.  Serve in bowls with the croutons, onion, cucumber and red pepper piled into the middle of each bowl.  It tastes even better with some freshly make ciabatta.

Armenian kebabs

If you want a quick and easy meal for after work and are prepared to plan ahead, this is the one for you!   Alternatively, prepare it in advance before you go out and leave it to marinade in the fridge to cook when you get back from the pub or club and save yourself the cost of a kebab :-) You can also cook these on the barbie and they'll taste even better, but make sure you leave the barbie to cool slightly before cooking them otherwise they'll burn on the outside.

You need to marinade the meat, ideally overnight, so be warned!  Rowena is especially keen on shish kebabs so she'll love this I'm sure.  It's not too expensive either, especially if you make it by buying lamb chops and cutting them up into pieces - this cost me a tenner for three people.

Ingredients
1 decent size lamb chop per person, fat and bone cut off and chopped into 2cm cubes
150ml red wine
50ml oil - olive oil by preference
1 small teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt

To serve
Lettuce or Salad leaves - I prefer Little Gem lettuces
1 medium tomato
A few slices of cucumber
A few slices of raw onion
1 green chilli (optional)
Half a lemon or lemon juice
1 pitta bread, toasted
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
First, mix all the marinade ingredients together in a non-metallic bowl and add the diced lamb.  Cover and put in the fridge ideally overnight but for at least a few hours.

Next day, turn the grill on full then thread the meat cubes onto skewers (I use metal skewers but you can use wood if you prefer) then place them under the grill, adding a little of the marinade over the top to keep the meat moist.  If you're using the chilli, top, tail and deseed it and cut in n half lengthways and add it to the grill pan with a little of the marinade.  Cook the meat, turning regularly, until it is slightly browned on all sides - it takes bout 10-15 mins with my grill.

While the meat is cooking, prep all the salad. Shred the lettuce, quarter the lemon, slice the tomtato, cucumber and onion and slit the pitta bread across the long side to make a pocket.

Once the meat is cooked, put it on the plate and while it's resting for a couple of minutes lightly toast one side of the pitta.  I prefer serving it all separately so you can mix and match what you put in your kebab but if you prefer you can assemble them in advance, it's up to you.

Finally, serve with some chilli sauce - there's my recipe here if you want to make your own!

Hot and spicy tofu

Many years ago we used to visit the Penang Satay House restaurant (if my memory serves correctly) on Turnpike Lane, Woodgreen, London.  We had many a lovely Thai meal there and the satay was fantastic, but one dish that was fantastic and I've never found a recipe for it was a Tofu dish that was marinaded in a hot and spicy sauce.  This is my attempt to recreate the dish - long years may have dimmed my memory, but I thin this is pretty good!

Ingredients

1 350g pack firm soy bean tofu

Sechuan pepper

Salt

plain flour

salt

oil for frying

1 dessertspoon light soy sauce

1 dessertspoon dark soy sauce

1 dessertspoon fish sauce

1 dessertspoon chinkiang vinegar

2 teaspoons chilli oil

½ teaspoon honey

Fresh coriander (optional)

Method

Chop the tofu into 1cm slices and carefully coat the slices with a little salt, a good few grindings of sechuan pepper and a coating of a little flour.  Heat the oil in a pan until it is hot, then fry the tofu on both sides until golden brown.

Combine the soy sauces, fish sauce, vinegar, chilli oil and honey together and once the tofu is golden, chop it into bite size pieces and add it to the mixture.  Adjust for taste with chilli and fish sauce and serve as is with a little chopped coriander for garnish or use it to make some Pad Thai.

Asian style turkey burgers with rice and guacamole

This was from a website originally, but I've made a few changes to the recipe as the ingredients left the burgers rather bland.  We had this as a midweek meal and it was really quick to prepare and cook and perfect for a Tuesday in our house where we are all doing different acivities.

Ingredients

500g turkey mince
75g breadcrumbs
30g packet of fresh coriander
1 fresh green chilli
1 large red onion
juice of 1½ limes
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Worcester sauce

To serve

Plain boiled rice
Avocado and cucumber guacamole
Lime cut into thin slices
Pepperdew peppers sliced into strips
Chopped fresh coriander

Method

Make the avocado and cucumber guacamole first using the linked recipe, put it into a bowl, cover with cling film and push the film onto the surface before sealing to exclude all the air so the guacamole doesn't go brown.

Now make the burgers.  Peel and chop the onion and chilli as finely as you can, then wash and chop the coriander leaves making sure you leave a few for garnish.  Add the Worcester sauce, breadcrumbs, onion, coriander, chilli, lime juice, salt and pepper to a large bowl and mix together well.  If you're cooking these later, cover with cling film and keep in the 'fridge.

Set the rice to boil and while it's cooking fry the burgers.  I like to cook them in a non stick griddle pan with a little olive oil.  Cooke them on a medium heat until they are browned on each side, then leave them to rest while you plate up.

Drain the rice and serve in a mould to add a little interest to the dish, add a couple of spoonfuls of guacamole then pile the burgers next to them.  Decorate with the thinly sliced lime, coriander and pepperdew peppers and enjoy!

A favourite Sunday lunch, slow roasted pork belly

Of all the roasts, this is probably my favourite.  I know it's very fatty, but slow roasting reduces the fat by quite a bit and leaves to meat tasty and melting in the mouth.  Most of the cooking fat is simply thrown away, but it's essential to use some of the cooking juices for the flavour.  Best of all is the wonderful crackling :-)

Ingredients

2-3 ribs of pork belly per person depending on appetite, skin scored

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

½ teaspoon of salt

5 cloves of garlic

5 or 7 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 large carrot

1 large or 2 small onions

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large old potato per person

1 small brown onion per person

600ml chicken stock

125ml white wine

A handful of curly kale per person, tough central stalk removed
2 large teaspoons cornflour

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Dry fry the cumin seeds and black peppercorns in a non stick pan over  medium heat until they release the flavour.

Add the seeds to a mortar with the salt. Pick the leaves off the thyme and add them to the mortar, then crush the garlic cloves and add these too.  Grind the mix together until it's a paste.

Peel the carrot and the onion, chop into medium chunks and add them to a roasting tray so you can rest the meat on them.

Prepare the meat by washing and drying thoroughly, then coat the underside of the meat with the herb and spice mixture and add it to the roasting tray skin side up on top of the onion and carrot.  Now add a liberal amount of salt to the skin, cover the meat with aluminium foil and place in the oven.

Peel the potatoes and onions and slice them thickly (1 cm slices is perfect) and add them to a second roasting tray.  At this stage I add a couple of cloves of garlic sliced thinly but this is optional.  Add a sprinkle of salt and a good few grindings of black pepper and mix the potatoes, onion and garlic together.  Pour the chicken stock over the mixture and set to one side.

After 30 minutes, take the meat out of the oven and check to see if the carrots and onions are starting to brown, if not then put the meat back and leave for another 10 minutes. When the carrot and onion is browning, turn the heat down to 150°C, take the meat off and scrape the cumin and peppercorn mix off the bottom into the roasting tray.  Now place the meat on top of the potato and onion mix and put it back in the oven for 3 hours.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Drain the fat from the roasting pan keeping the juices. De glaze the roasting pan with the white wine to get off as much of the roasting juices as possible - you may need to add a little water to this. After 1½ hours of cooking, decant off about 200ml of the stock and roasting juice mixture from the oven  and add this to the sauce.  Turn the heat to medium under the sauce and start reducing the sauce to concentrate the flavour.  As you cook more vegetables, add 100-200ml of the cooking water to the sauce when you drain them to add more flavour.

When the 3 hours is up, take the meat out of the oven, put it on a warmed plate and cover with foil to rest it.  At this point, if the potatoes and onions still have a lot of liquid, add it to the sauce leaving about ½cm in the bottom of the tin.  The potato and onion mixture should be nicely browned on top, if it isn't turn the oven up to maximum and put the mix on the top shelf to crisp it off.

Cut the skin off the meat and brown it under a hot grill to make the crackling.  I find the best results are to put the grill pan on the bottom of the shelf leaving a 10cm gap between the element and the skin otherwise the crackling will burn in some parts but won't be cooked in others.

Meanwhile cook the kale for no more than 2 minutes in boiling water, drain and keep warm. Mix the cornflour with a little water and add this to the sauce to thicken, season to taste and keep the sauce warm.

Carve the pork and plate up, add a spoonful or two of the potato and onion mixture, a little cracking and some kale and serve with the sauce and a glass or wine.  I prefer white with pork, but read works equally well!

Red Pepper pasta sauce

This is a quick and easy sauce to knock up and then freeze for a really quick tasty supper through the week.  This recipe makes 2 good sized portions for 3 people.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large red peppers
2 red onions
4 clover garlic
2 400g cans Italian chopped tomato
1/2 a teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
Salt and ground black pepper

Method

Peel and finely chop the onions, peel and crush the garlic.  De seed and slice the peppers into 5 mm slices, then chop into 3-4 cm lengths.  Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and add the onion and garlic and fry until slightly softened.

Add the chopped peppers and sauté over a high heat until they start to brown  Add the chilli and smoked paprika and cook for a further 30 seconds.

Finally add the two tins of chopped tomatoes, bring to the boil and reduce until you have the sauce consistency you prefer with pasta - we like ours quite thick.  At this point, leave it to cool fully, split it into however many portions you want and freeze them.

To serve, thaw out the sauce, heat it and add some freshly chopped basil.  Serve with the pasta of your choice and some grated parmesan.

Smoked Haddock Chowder

This is based on an Ainsley Harriott recipe, it's easy to prepare and tastes good too.  You can buy the smoked haddock in advance and freeze it but you can't freeze the prepared dish well as the potato doesn't freeze well, but if you know better, let me know!  These quantities server 4 if you're hungry.

Ingredients

25g unsalted butter
1 leek
1 onion
2 rashers smoked back bacon
600g undyed smoked haddock
450ml skimmed milk
2 bay leaves
300g peeled potatoes
500ml fish or chicken stock
150g frozen sweetcorn
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
30g pack of flatleaf parsley

Method

Chop the onion, leek and bacon finely, melt the butter in a large sauté pan, add the onion, leek and bacon and sauté over a medium to low heat for 10-15 minutes to soften but not colour the mixture. Meanwhile prepare the fish by putting the bay leaves, fish and milk into a pan, bring the milk to the boil then turn down to simmer for 10 minutes then turn the heat off.

Peel the potato and cut into 5mm dice, then rinse and add to the onion, leek and bacon mix, add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potato is soft.  Drain the fish adding the cooking milk directly into the potato, onion, leek and bacon mixture.  Add the sweet corn and mustard, stirring to mix them well. You'll need to bring the mix to the boil a second time as the corn will cool things down, once it's boiled, continue cooking over a very low heat while you prepare the rest of the dish.  At this stage, the mixture should be a fairly thick soup consistency, if it's too thin reduce it down while you prepare the fish.

Wait for the fish to cool enough to flake into bite size chunks. Separate the leaves from the stalks of the parsley and chop roughly, now add the fish and the parsley to the mix and heat through until it's all piping hot.

Serve in soup bowls with nice crusty bread and enjoy!

Home made Minestrone - so different to shop bought version!

We had some Cavolo Nero left over, so I made a minestrone soup.  The River Café recipe is the closest to this but I can't find Swiss Chard in Ware for love or money :(  This is the winter version; they also do a summer version but it's not that time of year yet and it has too much cream in it for my liking!  This serves 4 as a supper dish served with extra virgin olive oil, fresh grated parmesan and a crusty baguette.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion
2 carrots
1 head of celery
½ a bulb of garlic
1 30g pack of flat leaf parsley
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
160g pack of Cavolo Nero
1 large head of spring greens
1 can cannellini beans
500ml chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated parmesan
1 baguette

Method

Peel the onions, carrots and celery and chop into large pieces.   Set aside the celery leaves for later.  Chop the onions, carrots and celery in the food processor finely to create the soffrito.  Heat the oil in a large pan and add the soffrito and fry over a medium heat until well cooked.  This takes quite a while.

While the soffrito cooks prepare the rest of the ingredients.  Peel and thinly slice the garlic, chop the parsley finely, prepare the chicken stock.  Prepare the cavolo nero and spring greens by cutting away the stalks, then slicing into thin strips and finally chopping to leave 5mm long slices of greens.   Wash the greens and leave them to drain.  Open the cannellini beans and drain, then take a quarter of the beans, add a little chicken stock and purée until smooth, setting this aside for later.

By now the soffrito should be cooked; add the garlic and half the parsley and cook for a further 5 mins.  Add the chopped tomatoes and reduce.

Once the tomatoes have thickened, add half of the greens, the remaining cannellini beans and the chicken stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins.  Adjust the seasoning to taste and add the rest of the greens, cannellini bean purée and the herbs and warm through until the greens are just cooked.

Serve in bowls with a warm crusty baguette, olive olive oil and parmesan.

Scallops and Brown Shrimp with Pea Puree

I've already posted the salmon and beurre blanc recipe.  To start, I cooked scallops seared with bacon and brown shrimp served on a bed of pea puree and garnished with wild rocket.  It's become one of our favourites.

Ingredients

8-12 wild rocket leaves per person

250g fresh or frozen peas

20g unsalted butter

2 rashers of the best smoked back bacon you can get hold of

100g peeled and cooked brown shrimp

A dash of olive oil

3 scallops per person, cut in half width ways

Method

First, make the pea puree by boiling the peas in salted water for 3 minutes, drain them and pass them through a fine sieve or tamis to puree them, add a know of butter (alternatively you can add cream) salt and pepper to taste and put to one side for later.

Next, chop the bacon and fry until just off crisp.  Halve the scallops and add them to the pan on a high heat and sear on each side until they are browned.  Finally turn off the heat and add the brown shrimp to heat through.

Microwave the pea puree for 60 seconds to heat thoroughly and spread in a thin layer on a serving plate.  Now add the scallops to the puree and add the shrimp and bacon around he scallops.  Finish by adding  the rocket leaves on top and serve with a quarter of lemon.

Salmon in Beurre Blanc

It's a long time since I last posted on here and it's about time I caught up!  I always cook something special for Mother's day and today is no exception, so it's Suzanne's favourite dish, Salmon in beurre blanc.  It's *very* naughty and uses a whole lot of butter, but what the heck, it's only once a year :).  I served it with wilted cavolo nero and roasted potatoes (I would prefer crushed new potatoes and a little olive oil and black pepper but Suzanne prefer roasties and it's mothers day...)

I get fed up with going into restaurants (and indeed seeing TV chef programmes) who say they are making beurre blanc and then proceed to add cream to the sauce.  NO, that is NOT beurre blanc but beurre nantais.  The original recipe uses only butter to make the sauce but Larousse says you *CAN* add a *small* amount of double cream to stabilise the sauce, but it's not hard to stop it separating anyway and I suspect chefs only add cream if the sauce is made well in advance and kept warm.  Do everyone a favour and add the butter at the last minute, the sauce is way better this way.

So, in our opinion beurre blanc is much better without cream as it retains a little of the sharpness that goes exceptionally well with salmon or sea bass.  Here's my recipe which is a little different to the classic so judge for yourselves.

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet or bass fillet per person
Olive oil for frying the salmon
2 large shallots, chopped finely
150ml white wine vinegar
300ml white wine, ideally muscadet
500ml fish stock
Black pepper
250g unsalted butter kept cold in the fridge
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Put the shallots, vinegar, wine, stock and pepper into a pan and reduce by two thirds.  You can do this in advance and leave it until you need to add the butter.  Just before you cook the fish put the reduction back on the heat and keep it warm until you need to make the sauce.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan, season the fish and add it skin side down in the pan.  Fry on a medium heat until the skin is lovely and crispy.  Turn the fish over and turn the heat right down or off depending on the thickness of the fillet.  If it's a thin fillet you can cover the fish and turn the heat off as the cooking will continue with the residual heat from the pan, if it's thicker you may need to cook for two minutes of so more.  The aim with the salmon is to cook it until it's still slightly darker in the centre, that way it keeps the fish really moist and retains the flavour, overcook it and the fish becomes dry.  Once it's cooked, take it off the heat, cover the pan and leave it to settle while you finish the sauce

To finish the sauce, cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the reduction.  Now stir it continuously keeping the heat as low as possible so that the butter melts and emulsifies without separating.  When the butter has melted completely, give it a quick whisk to make the sauce light and airy, season to taste with salt and pepper and it's ready to serve.  At this point you can add some herbs if you wish, chives or dill work really well with salmon, but it's optional and I usually don't bother.

Carrot, parsnip and leek mash

I made this recipe up as we had a number of parsnips, a couple of carrots and a leek left over and I needed something to go with grilled pork chops, so we had garlic coated pork chops, grilled with a little olive oil, some potatoes roasted in olive oil and this as the veg course.  We loved it, hope you do too if you decide to cook it.

Ingredients

5 or 6 small parsnips

2 carrots

1 leek

500ml beef stock

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

Peel the parsnips and carrots and cut them into small chunks, then boil them in the beef stock for about 15 minutes until they are nice and soft.  Keep a little of the cooking liquor for the mash. Mash the carrot and parsnip with half the olive oil until they are nice and smooth, adding a little of the liquor to get a good consistency.  

Next, peel and crush the garlic and chop it finely.  Peel, finely slice and wash the white parts of the leek.  Heat the remaining oil in a non stick pan and add the leek and garlic and sauté until it's softened but not coloured.

Mix the leek and garlic with the parsnip and carrot mash, season to taste - I like quite a lot of freshly ground black pepper - and serve.

Meatballs in a tomato sauce with tripoline

I first saw this recipe in a Nigel Slater cookbook and thought it sounded good, but needed a few extra ingredients for a main meal, so added an onion, some chilli and made a tomato sauce to go with it.

Ingredients
For the meatballs
1 small onion
500g pork mince
10 anchovy fillets
½ a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
½ a lemon, zest and juice
70g breadcrumbs
6 fresh thyme stalks
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Salt & pepper to taste

For the tomato sauce
1 dessert spoon olive oil
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
½ a small glass of red wine
400g tin of Italian chopped tomatoes

To serve
200g tripoline pasta, cooked and drained
A handful of chopped fresh basil
Grated parmesan

Method
Add all the meatball ingredients to the food processor and whizz until everything is smooth.  Leave for 20 mins or more for the flavours to develop.

Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Chop the onion finely and crush the garlic, then heat the oil in a small saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Fry until starting to brown slightly, add the red wine and boil until almost dry, then add the chopped tomatoes, bring to the boil and reduce until slightly thickened.

Heat the oven to 180°C. To cook the meatballs, shape them into 2cm round balls and fry them in a little olive oil until they are browned on each side. Place them in a heatproof dish and put them in the oven while you cook the pasta.

Once the pasta is nearly cooked, take the meatballs out of the oven and put them back in the pan, add 100ml chicken stock and the tomato sauce then boil rapidly to reduce to a thick sauce.

To server, add the pasta to a bowl, pour over the sauce and add the chopped basil, mix well to coat the pasta and put n the table with the grated parmesan.

Tomato and pepper pasta sauce

This is another sauce like the Bacon, cheese and onion sauce, great to freeze and then makes a quick and easy workday supper.  Have it with whatever pasta you prefer, it works with almost anything!

Ingredients
2 Red peppers
3 Garlic cloves
1 small onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 400g tins of chopped Italian tomatoes
½ a small glass of red wine
½ a teaspoon of dried, crushed chilli flakes
30g pack of fresh basil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oven to 200°C.  Remove the stalk and de seed the red peppers and chop them into thin strips.  Crush the garlic cloves and chop them finely.  Peel and quarter the onion and slice thinly. Put the peppers, garlic and onion in a roasting pan, drizzle with the oil, put the pan in the middle of the oven and roast for 30 mins.

Remove the pan from the oven and tip the oil, peppers, garlic and onion into a saucepan then add the tomatoes, wine and chilli, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer until you have a good sauce consistency.  Chop the basil leaves finely add add them to the sauce then dd slat and black pepper to taste.

Leave the sauce to cool, divide into 2 portions and freeze.  Take a portion out of the freezer before heading off to work and when you get home heat the sauce through and serve with pasta, a little grated parmesan and some more fresh basil.

Bacon, cheese and onion pasta sauce

This is a great sauce to have in the freezer for those work days, take it out in the morning to let it thaw, warm it up in a pan when the pastas cooking and serve.  Easy to cook, easy to wash up as everything goes in the dishwasher and very quick, that's my kind of workday meal!

Ingredients
30g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 rashers of smoked back bacon
2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2½ pints of semi skimmed milk
1 heaped teaspoon English mustard
½ teaspoon white pepper
250g mascapone cheese
100g strong cheddar cheese
70g parmesan
4 heaped teaspoons corn flour

Method
Finely chop the onion, garlic and bacon - I use the food processor for this as it's very quick.  Heat the butter and oil in a pan large enough to take all the ingredients.  Once the butter has melted add the onion, garlic and bacon and cook over a medium heat until the onion is transparent and the bacon is cooked through.  Now grate the nutmeg into the pan, add the pepper, mustard and milk and heat until just off boiling.  Add all the cheeses, making sure you cut the marscapone into small chunks so that it melts easily and stir well until the cheese has melted.  Mix the cornflour with a little milk and stir until you have a paste, then add the cornflour little by little until you have the right consistency for a pasta sauce - it should be thick but pourable.  Adjust the seasoning to taste (I didn't add any salt as there was plenty in the bacon and cheese).

Divide the mixture into three containers, leave it to cool and then freeze for later.  Serve it with your choice of pasta and some freshly chopped basil.

My version of a low GI bread recipe

When I worked at the RSPB in Sandy there was an old established baker in the town square called Gunns.  They made the most delicious low GI bread we've ever tasted and when I left the RSPB I vowed to make a loaf that was as close to their recipe as I could - they didn't give the ingredients list sadly.  I've since researched low GI bread and this is the closest to that recipe that I can get, though still quite a way off.  We all liked this recipe a lot so I wanted to get this down lest I forget the recipe, you'll see it's got a lot of ingredients. This recipe makes one 2lb loaf.

I've updated the recipe for this as for some reason this version stopped rising properly.  I have tried some other flours and come up with what I think is a better version!

Ingredients
7g dried yeast suitable for bread makers
100g Strong white bread flour
280g stone ground wholemeal flour20g wholemeal stone ground rye flour
2 tablespoons wheat gluten
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 heaped dessert spoons malted wheat flakes
3 heaped dessert spoons mixed seeds - I use a mixture of sunflower, linseed and pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon nut brown malt flour
310ml water

Method
Add the ingredients to the bread maker in the order for your bread maker. Set the bread maker to dough only and start the process. Remove the bread from the maker after 1hour 45 minutes (I find my bread doesn't rise properly if I leave it in - how weird is that!).  On a floured surface, split the mixture into two equal parts and put it into two 2lb loaf tins. Leave in a warm place to rise, it will take 30-60 mins depending on temp. I leave mine next to the oven while it's heating up to temperature. Pre heat the oven to 200°C.

Put the risen bread on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 30-35 mins. If it's browned on top its done, otherwise leave it for a little longer until it's cooked through. Take it out of the bread tin and leave on a wire rack to cool.

Once the bread is cool, I cut the bread into slices and then freeze it whole, then you can get it out of the freezer a slice at a time when you want it. A loaf will last us 1 week, the bread will last longer in the freezer but I'm not sure how long as we've eaten it well before then!

Conchiglie with a sausage and arrabiata sauce

I first made this a number of years ago when we stayed in Tuscany.  Naomi was so taken with this recipe that she insisted we write it down and keep it.  We did that and it came back with us; however time waits for no man and the recipe and technology have moved on, so here it is in it's latest version in electronic format.  It's still just as good and everyone still likes it!

Ingredients
2 medium onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic
A pinch of crushed, dried chilli
1 small glass of red wine
A dash of balsamic vinegar
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 400g tin cannelini beans
4-6 of the best sausages you can get - we love Clark's sausages, available from Byrons deli.
200g conchiglie pasta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Finely slice the onions, heat the oil in a good sized frying pan and add the onion.  Sauté on a medium heat until the onion is transparent but not coloured.  Now add the garlic and dried chilli and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.  Add the wine and the  balsamic vinegar and cook until the mix is almost dry.

Put the sausages under the grill, prick them and grill until nicely browned.  While the sausages cook, add the tomatoes, beans, salt and pepper to the onion mixture, cover and simmer on a low heat until the sausages are cooked.

Boil some water, add a pinch of salt and the pasta and cook as the pack directs until it's softened (normally about 10-12 minutes).  Increase the heat under the sauce enough to reduce the it to a good, thick consistency.

Drain the pasta and serve in bowls with a tablespoon or two of sauce.  You can add grated parmesan if you wish but I don't think it's needed.

Enjoy!

Risotto with chicken, chorizo and artichoke

This has been a favourite dish in out household for long time.  I used to use a recipe that had just chorizo and artichoke in it, but the paprika from the chorizo was just a little too strong.  This version uses a blend of chorizo and fried chicken breast and it just takes the edge off the paprika.  Hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients
200g chorizo sausage - whole sausage is best
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion
3 pieces of celery
A knob of butter
2 garlic cloves
1 small chicken breast
1 teaspoon oregano - fresh if possible, but dried is OK
1 teaspoon basil - fresh if possible, but dried is OK
200g risotto rice - I use arborio
1 small glass white wine
1ltr chicken stock
1 250-300g bottle of artichoke antipasti in olive oil, drained
salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to serve

Method
First, slice the chorizo into 1cm thick disks and fry in a dry non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until the sausage is starting to brown, turn over and repeat.  This will get quite a bit of the oil out of the sausage along with some of the paprika.  Now drain the sausage in a sieve and discard the oil.

Chop the onion finely, peel and chop the celery finely and crush and chop the garlic.  Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and bring the chicken stock to a boil then reduce to the lowest heat to keep the stock warm.

If you're reusing the frying pan (and why not?  It saves washing up!) wash it out, rinse and put back on a medium to low heat.  Once the pan is dry, add a tablespoon of olive oil and add the celery and onion and sauté gently until the mix is transparent but takes no colour.

Add the butter, garlic, herbs and the chicken and sauté for 3-4 mins on high until the chicken is just starting to brown - don't worry if it's still pink in the middle, it's going to be cooked with the rice for a lot longer.  Add the rice and mix well to coat the grains with the mixture, then add the wine and boil on a low to moderate heat until almost dry.

Now add the stock, one ladle full at a time and wait until that's been absorbed by the rice before adding another.  Repeat this until the rice is slightly underdone.  Now cut the artichoke into bite size pieces and this and your chorizo to the pan.  Add the salt and pepper to taste, plus some more stock if needed, cover and cook for a further 2-3 mins until the artichoke and chorizo is heated through.

Serve with chopped fresh basil if you have some and grated parmesan.

Aloo Bogar recipe

We had a Marks and Spencer curry book many years ago and this was my favourite recipe in the book.  Imagine my disappointment when I couldn't find the book any more - heaven only knows where it went, but it is no longer with us!  I found the recipe online - of course!   I'm saving it here so it won't get lots again...

Ingredients

4 large potatoes
cooking oil
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp mustard seeds
5 curry leaves or bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 fresh green chillies
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes.  Parboil for 5 mins until they began to soften. Drain and put aside.

Heat the oil in  pan and add the cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves or bay leaves.  Do this with the kitchen fan on full as frying mustard seeds release a pungent gas - probably mustard gas at a guess, very unpleasant.

Cook the seeds for about 2mins.  Mix in chopped garlic and chopped green chilli then brown.   Add the potatoes, salt, turmeric and water and stir to coat the potatoes with the spices.  Cook or steam until potatoes are fully cooked.  Serve with chopped fresh coriander. 

Bacon and Butternut squash risotto

While we were in Pavia with Rowena I had a pumpkin risotto and it was delicious, however when I tried it here with the Halloween pumpkins it was disappointing.  I didn't want to give up on the recipe but couldn't find anything but the pumpkins sold for masks, so I decided to use butternut Squash instead and it worked really well.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
Half a butternut squash peeled and finely diced
Half a parsnip peeled and finely diced
1 small onion finely chopped
2 small celery sticks, outer skin removed and chopped finely
2 rashers smoked back bacon, diced
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
150-200g arborio rice
1 small glass dry white wine
750 ml chicken stock
50g Parmesan, finely grated plus a little more to serve
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oven to 200°C, line a roasting tin with foil, add the diced Butternut squash and parsnip and drizzle with the tablespoon of olive oil.  Roast for 30-45 minutes on the top shelf until the squash is sift and starts to blacken at the edges.  Once it's cooked, drain and keep the mix warm.

Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan and add the remaining oil and a knob of butter if you wish.  Once the oil is hot, add the bacon, onion and celery and cook on a medium heat to soften them until the bacon starts to brown.  Next add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Finally add the squash and parsnip mix.

Add the rice and mix well with the onion mixture to coat the rice with the oil, then add the glass of wine and heat over  medium flame until the liquid has been absorbed.  Now start adding the stock.  the stock should be kept hot and added a ladle full at a time, then mixed with the rice and boiled until all the liquid has been absorbed.  Continue adding the stock until the rice is cooked to your taste.

Just before serving add the cheese and chopped parsley, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve in large bowls.  As this contains so much vegetable, you don't need to serve it with anything else, but if you wish you can add some green salad leaves - rocket would be good.

Buon Appetito!

My version of Chilli con Carne

I know everyone has their own version of this dish, but over the last year or so I've been refining mine and getting ideas from Mexican cookery books so this is a bit out of the ordinary.  First of all, I use a mixture of fresh tomato and tinned as I like the flavour better.  It doesn't have to be vine ripened or anything fancy so it doesn't cost that much more and it's better in the summer when tomatoes are cheap and plentiful.  The second difference is I roast the onions, chillies, tomatoes and garlic before using them, this intensifies the flavour really well.  Next I use a mixture of pork and beef - traditionally Mexican chilli is made with pork cubes but I prefer a mixture of pork and beef cubes.  I buy them from the butcher and mince them myself using the food processor, this way you can control how fatty the meat is.  Finally there's a lot of spices added - the recipe was originally from a Mexican chef, they know what they're doing and they do all add flavour.

You'll need a big casserole for this recipe, I always make a huge batch so I can freeze it for quick mid week meals - it's like curry, freezes really well.  You can always reduce the quantities for a smaller version though if you want!  Let me know how you make your chilli, it's always interesting to see how others do it.

Ingredients
5 medium onions
12 chillies
12 cloves garlic
1.3kg fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
500g cubed beef
500g cubed pork
2 Bay leaves
1 tablespoon Vinegar
A large bunch of coriander, leaves and stalks together
teaspoon ground cinnamon
teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons marjoram
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 heaped teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 400g cans red kidney beans

Method
Heat the oven to 220°C Peel and quarter the onions, top and tail the chillis,, crush and peel the garlic cloves and quarter the tomatoes.  Put them into a large baking tray lined with foil, add 1 tablespoon oil and a teaspoon of salt and bake until they are browned, 30-40 mins.  It should eventually look something like this:

While this is baking, make the minced meat in the processor, then add the tablespoon of vinegar and another teaspoon of salt.  Now heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the casserole, add the meat and brown it all over.  If there's a lot of water in the meat at this stage, keep cooking it until all the water has evaporated.  Keep this warm if the tomato mixture isn't ready by this stage.

Back with the tomato mixture, take it out of the oven once browned and leave it to cool slightly,  Now add three quarters of the mixture, cooking juices and all, to the food processor and blend until it's chopped but still chunky and add it to the meat.  Finally add the last quarter to the processor and add the coriander leaves and stalks and process until smooth.  Add this to the meat and tomato mixture and turn the heat to full.  Now add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, stir well then turn the heat down and cook at a high simmer to reduce the mixture down to the thickness you desire, it usually takes me 1-2 hours.

Once it's cooked, serve with boiled rice and a salsa or why not try my avocado and cucumber guacamole?