Christmas has come and gone and now is the time of year I try to make up for the excesses of Christmas feasts and Hogmanay partying.
2009 was a year of excess; roast duck in bed, potatoes sizzling in goose fat, everything au gratin and countless bottles of lush Cairn o Mohr wine. 2010 was healthier, as I was trying to lose a few pounds and even hitting the gym once or twice. 2011 will be a good year, I can just feel it.
I made this soup a few days ago and let me just say, it was just what I needed. Few things can beat a smoky, warming soup on a cold winters night, and you can't beat throwing in the odd ham shank either!
Ham shank and cabbage winter soup
3 tsp rapeseed oil
450 g smoked ham shank
1 head cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 onions, chopped
5 large tomatoes, quartered
2 L water
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Heat oil in pan. Brown the ham shank and remove.
Sautee onions until softened, then the cabbage and carrots. Return the ham shank to the pot and add water to cover.
Simmer for at least 1 hour, but preferably for as long as possible.
Add the tomatoes to the soup and simmer gently a further 15-20 minutes.
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Super healthy spinach and kale soup
In keeping with the soup theme, I made this tonight with a couple bags of greenery I found lurking in the fridge that has maybe seen better days. Perfect for soup thoough, and I love a green soup. May make this again for St Patrick's Day next year. Plus both me and the boy have been feeling a bit run down, so the huge amounts of garlic should hopefully help.
Spinach and kale soup
400g organic spinach (Phantassie)
200g organic kale (Phantassie)
3 medium onions, chopped (W Christie butchers)
8 cloves garlic, chopped (W Christie butchers)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp wild garlic pesto (Sacla)
2 Knorr vegetable stock pots
½ tsp black mustard seeds
A pinch of nutmeg
750 ml boiling water
Heat oil in a large pot. Sautee onions for a few minutes until translucent, then add the garlic – do not cook the garlic for very long, as it has a tendency to burn. Add the black mustard seeds to the onions and garlic to toast them slightly.
Now add the spinach (you could break it up or chop it if you like, but I was terribly lazy and just threw it all in at once. Ah well, it gets blended anyway so it shouldn’t matter). Add the kale as well – you will probably need to break it up a bit as it is hardier than the spinach.
Add the water and the stock; you could use fresh vegetable stock if you like but I had a few stock pots to hand so just used them. Cook the soup down until the spinach and kale are wilted. Season with some sea salt; add a small pinch of nutmeg, maybe some freshly ground black pepper.
Using a handheld blender, puree up the soup – the blender we have is amazing and we don’t even need to take the pot off the hob. I don’t like my soups totally smooth so I’ll usually stop just short of totally blended – I like a bit of texture!
To serve you could spoon in some crème fraiche, but this is super tasty and very healthy as it is. I think this may go some way to counteract the week of takeaways we’ve just had, bad me!
Spinach and kale soup
400g organic spinach (Phantassie)
200g organic kale (Phantassie)
3 medium onions, chopped (W Christie butchers)
8 cloves garlic, chopped (W Christie butchers)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp wild garlic pesto (Sacla)
2 Knorr vegetable stock pots
½ tsp black mustard seeds
A pinch of nutmeg
750 ml boiling water
Heat oil in a large pot. Sautee onions for a few minutes until translucent, then add the garlic – do not cook the garlic for very long, as it has a tendency to burn. Add the black mustard seeds to the onions and garlic to toast them slightly.
Now add the spinach (you could break it up or chop it if you like, but I was terribly lazy and just threw it all in at once. Ah well, it gets blended anyway so it shouldn’t matter). Add the kale as well – you will probably need to break it up a bit as it is hardier than the spinach.
Add the water and the stock; you could use fresh vegetable stock if you like but I had a few stock pots to hand so just used them. Cook the soup down until the spinach and kale are wilted. Season with some sea salt; add a small pinch of nutmeg, maybe some freshly ground black pepper.
Using a handheld blender, puree up the soup – the blender we have is amazing and we don’t even need to take the pot off the hob. I don’t like my soups totally smooth so I’ll usually stop just short of totally blended – I like a bit of texture!
To serve you could spoon in some crème fraiche, but this is super tasty and very healthy as it is. I think this may go some way to counteract the week of takeaways we’ve just had, bad me!
Monday, 22 November 2010
Oxtail soup
Tis the time of year for soup. I’m not usually a huge soup person, especially during the summer months; I’m more a solid food kind of girl, with the emphasis on chewing. Makes me feel like I’ve worked for it – pureed food just seems too easy.
I get lazy in winter, and I think it’s a fabulous time of year to get cosy under a thick tartan blanket on an armchair of epic proportions, with the lights down low and a good film on the telly. There’s really nothing better to get me in that snuggly frame of mind than a nice bowl of steaming hot soup and some crusty bread. My favourite at the moment is Falko’s spelt and honey (dinkelbrot mit honig), which is amaaazing. It may be the best bread I have ever tasted, and I buy it every weekend at the farmers market. And as far as the soup element is concerned, nothing beats homemade.
My lovely boy made a version of oxtail soup over the weekend; it is gorgeous, but quite different from any other oxtail soup, I promise!
Hearty oxtail soup
1.5 kg oxtail
1 bottle Madeira wine, medium dry
Flour
500 ml beef stock
3-5 onions, chopped
Carrots, chopped
Romanesco, in florets
Brussels sprouts, halved
20 cherry tomatoes
Dust the oxtail with flour, then brown in some oil (we use Summer Harvest rapeseed oil) in a heavy, lidded casserole dish. Remove the meat and set aside. Add the onions and sauté – you might need to add some more oil at this point. When the onions have softened, return the oxtail to the pot; now is the time to add the whole bottle of Madeira. Cook it all down for about 15-20 minutes before adding the beef stock. Season. Simmer over a very low heat for a very long time; my boyfriend cooked this soup over a period of 5 hours, but you could probably get away with a couple hours.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot of salted water, blanch the vegetables. You can add as many or as few vegetables to this as you like, but we used a couple large carrots, half a huge head of romanesco, and about 10-12 sprouts. Drain.
Once the soup has sat simmering for what seems like forever, and you can no longer remember a time when you did not have soup simmering on the hob, remove the oxtail from the broth.
Set the meat aside and add the drained vegetables to the soup. Toss in the cherry tomatoes as well; there is no need to chop as the soup will cook down further;
simmer the soup with the vegetables and tomatoes for about 20 minutes, mashing the vegetables with a wooden spoon if you prefer soups with a chunkier texture, or puree with a handheld blender if you prefer something a little smoother. I personally like mine with a bit of texture, so only lightly blended it.
Now, you have one of two choices. You could shred the meat and add it to the soup, or you could leave it out altogether. We did half and half; as there is quite a lot of soup yield, we added shredded oxtail to half the batch and left it out of the other batch. It’s wonderful and yummy either way, and I can’t think of a more perfect meal on a freezing cold Edinburgh winter night.
I get lazy in winter, and I think it’s a fabulous time of year to get cosy under a thick tartan blanket on an armchair of epic proportions, with the lights down low and a good film on the telly. There’s really nothing better to get me in that snuggly frame of mind than a nice bowl of steaming hot soup and some crusty bread. My favourite at the moment is Falko’s spelt and honey (dinkelbrot mit honig), which is amaaazing. It may be the best bread I have ever tasted, and I buy it every weekend at the farmers market. And as far as the soup element is concerned, nothing beats homemade.
My lovely boy made a version of oxtail soup over the weekend; it is gorgeous, but quite different from any other oxtail soup, I promise!
Hearty oxtail soup
1.5 kg oxtail
1 bottle Madeira wine, medium dry
Flour
500 ml beef stock
3-5 onions, chopped
Carrots, chopped
Romanesco, in florets
Brussels sprouts, halved
20 cherry tomatoes
Dust the oxtail with flour, then brown in some oil (we use Summer Harvest rapeseed oil) in a heavy, lidded casserole dish. Remove the meat and set aside. Add the onions and sauté – you might need to add some more oil at this point. When the onions have softened, return the oxtail to the pot; now is the time to add the whole bottle of Madeira. Cook it all down for about 15-20 minutes before adding the beef stock. Season. Simmer over a very low heat for a very long time; my boyfriend cooked this soup over a period of 5 hours, but you could probably get away with a couple hours.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot of salted water, blanch the vegetables. You can add as many or as few vegetables to this as you like, but we used a couple large carrots, half a huge head of romanesco, and about 10-12 sprouts. Drain.
Once the soup has sat simmering for what seems like forever, and you can no longer remember a time when you did not have soup simmering on the hob, remove the oxtail from the broth.
Set the meat aside and add the drained vegetables to the soup. Toss in the cherry tomatoes as well; there is no need to chop as the soup will cook down further;
simmer the soup with the vegetables and tomatoes for about 20 minutes, mashing the vegetables with a wooden spoon if you prefer soups with a chunkier texture, or puree with a handheld blender if you prefer something a little smoother. I personally like mine with a bit of texture, so only lightly blended it.
Now, you have one of two choices. You could shred the meat and add it to the soup, or you could leave it out altogether. We did half and half; as there is quite a lot of soup yield, we added shredded oxtail to half the batch and left it out of the other batch. It’s wonderful and yummy either way, and I can’t think of a more perfect meal on a freezing cold Edinburgh winter night.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Tatties Bojangles
My boy treated me to a gorgeous roast dinner tonight; roast chicken with tomato gravy and roast potatoes on the side. I'm usually more a fan of the red meats when it comes to roasting, but this was sooo good.
Everything came from the market of course, except the shallots which came from our neighbourhood butcher W. Christie. It's a fantastic family-run shop who know us by name - one of the sons taught us how to make perfect crackling!
This is definitely a rustic style meal, but you can't beat it for proper comfort food. We're not big choppers in our house, so if it can be crushed, mashed or left unpeeled, you can be assured it will be!
Roast chicken with tomato gravy
Medium organic chicken (Hugh Grierson)
Giblets
6 shallots, quartered (W Christie butchers, Bruntsfield)
8-10 vine tomatoes (JM Craig)
Chilli infused rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest)
Sea salt
Green peppercorns, crushed
Preheat oven to 180*C
Rub the bird with sea salt and green peppercorns. Drizzle a roasting pan with the chilli oil, place the bird in the centre and arrange the shallots and tomatoes around it. Place in oven to roast for about 1.5 hours, depending on the size of the bird. Prepare the potatoes and roast alongside the chicken.
Meanwhile simmer the giblets in some water and a pinch of salt.
Remove the bird from the oven and place onto a serving platter and leave covered in a warm place to rest. Whilst the bird is sitting nicely, add a spoonful of plain flour to the juices and whisk well to remove the lumps; then strain the giblet stock directly into the roasting tray. Simmer gently, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Season if needed.
Roasted chilli potatoes with brussels sprouts
500g roasting potatoes, peeled (Phantassie)
10-15 brussels sprouts, scored with an X (Phantassie)
Chilli oil (Summer Harvest)
Dried chilli flakes
Sea salt
Drizzle plenty of chilli oil into a roasting tray and heat in the bottom tier of the oven.
Slice potatoes about 4-5 mm thick. Toss directly into the hot roasting tray and heat quickly on the hob a few minutes until the potato slices are coated. Season with sea salt and chilli flakes. Place in the bottom of the oven with the roasting chicken.
About 30 mins before the chicken is ready, toss in the brussels sprouts and continue to roast until tender. This is the simplest potato recipe I have come across - no parboiling!
We ate this with Phantassie's beetroot relish rather than the more traditional cranberry sauce, and it was lush.
Everything came from the market of course, except the shallots which came from our neighbourhood butcher W. Christie. It's a fantastic family-run shop who know us by name - one of the sons taught us how to make perfect crackling!
This is definitely a rustic style meal, but you can't beat it for proper comfort food. We're not big choppers in our house, so if it can be crushed, mashed or left unpeeled, you can be assured it will be!
Roast chicken with tomato gravy
Medium organic chicken (Hugh Grierson)
Giblets
6 shallots, quartered (W Christie butchers, Bruntsfield)
8-10 vine tomatoes (JM Craig)
Chilli infused rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest)
Sea salt
Green peppercorns, crushed
Preheat oven to 180*C
Rub the bird with sea salt and green peppercorns. Drizzle a roasting pan with the chilli oil, place the bird in the centre and arrange the shallots and tomatoes around it. Place in oven to roast for about 1.5 hours, depending on the size of the bird. Prepare the potatoes and roast alongside the chicken.
Meanwhile simmer the giblets in some water and a pinch of salt.
Remove the bird from the oven and place onto a serving platter and leave covered in a warm place to rest. Whilst the bird is sitting nicely, add a spoonful of plain flour to the juices and whisk well to remove the lumps; then strain the giblet stock directly into the roasting tray. Simmer gently, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Season if needed.
Roasted chilli potatoes with brussels sprouts
500g roasting potatoes, peeled (Phantassie)
10-15 brussels sprouts, scored with an X (Phantassie)
Chilli oil (Summer Harvest)
Dried chilli flakes
Sea salt
Drizzle plenty of chilli oil into a roasting tray and heat in the bottom tier of the oven.
Slice potatoes about 4-5 mm thick. Toss directly into the hot roasting tray and heat quickly on the hob a few minutes until the potato slices are coated. Season with sea salt and chilli flakes. Place in the bottom of the oven with the roasting chicken.
About 30 mins before the chicken is ready, toss in the brussels sprouts and continue to roast until tender. This is the simplest potato recipe I have come across - no parboiling!
We ate this with Phantassie's beetroot relish rather than the more traditional cranberry sauce, and it was lush.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Braised goose - 28 September 2010
Tuesday 28 September
I had friends staying and decided to make a last homecooked breakfast before Em went off on her travels.
In keeping with my "buy nothing" challenge, I used up the fresh ricotta I bought at the Market last Saturday.
I'd brought home two, so one was used for the previous night's veggie pasta bake, and one for ricotta pancakes for the troops this morning.
I've made these before - they're adapted from a Bill Granger recipe. Pretty foolproof, thought I may be a little out of practice at pancake flipping, so they turned out a little misshapen. No pictures unfortunately as I was in a total rush to get these made and get to uni on time! This is the recipe I used.
For dinner we had braised goose. I'm always up for trying new things in the kitchen, and I have never cooked goose this way before. In fact, other than one incident with a roast goose, it's not a meat I'd cooked before at all.
Braised goose (serves 4-6)
4 goose legs
1 goose breast fillet
10 cloves garlic
3 medium onions
1 carrot
Half bottle red wine
Leftover gravy (optional)
Leftover veg (optional, but I used steamed red cabbage and purple cauliflower from Sunday dinner)
2 tins plum tomatoes
Chicken stock
Chop onions roughly and lay on the bottom of a large slow cooker or cast iron oven pot.
Make slits in the goose flesh and push garlic cloves into the holes. Place on the bed of onions. Season. Pour over the red wine and the two tins of tomatoes. Add in any leftover ingredients and maybe some extra veg.
Cook on low in the slow cooker for 24 hours. Alternatively you could stick it in the oven at about 75'C for the same amount if time.
We had this with mash, and I think the meal went a long way to line my stomach before we went out for drinks for Em's leaving night!
I had friends staying and decided to make a last homecooked breakfast before Em went off on her travels.
In keeping with my "buy nothing" challenge, I used up the fresh ricotta I bought at the Market last Saturday.
I'd brought home two, so one was used for the previous night's veggie pasta bake, and one for ricotta pancakes for the troops this morning.
I've made these before - they're adapted from a Bill Granger recipe. Pretty foolproof, thought I may be a little out of practice at pancake flipping, so they turned out a little misshapen. No pictures unfortunately as I was in a total rush to get these made and get to uni on time! This is the recipe I used.
For dinner we had braised goose. I'm always up for trying new things in the kitchen, and I have never cooked goose this way before. In fact, other than one incident with a roast goose, it's not a meat I'd cooked before at all.
Braised goose (serves 4-6)
4 goose legs
1 goose breast fillet
10 cloves garlic
3 medium onions
1 carrot
Half bottle red wine
Leftover gravy (optional)
Leftover veg (optional, but I used steamed red cabbage and purple cauliflower from Sunday dinner)
2 tins plum tomatoes
Chicken stock
Chop onions roughly and lay on the bottom of a large slow cooker or cast iron oven pot.
Make slits in the goose flesh and push garlic cloves into the holes. Place on the bed of onions. Season. Pour over the red wine and the two tins of tomatoes. Add in any leftover ingredients and maybe some extra veg.
Cook on low in the slow cooker for 24 hours. Alternatively you could stick it in the oven at about 75'C for the same amount if time.
We had this with mash, and I think the meal went a long way to line my stomach before we went out for drinks for Em's leaving night!
Monday, 27 September 2010
Spinach, ricotta and mushroom pasta bake
Tonight's dinner is in the oven. In
Keeping with my "buy nothing" experiment, I raided the fridge for ingredients.
This is a pretty basic recipe inspired by a pasta bake served during the field trip last week. Good hearty veggie food.
Spinach, ricotta and mushroom pasta bake (serves 4-6)
About 250g fresh cows milk mozarella (S S bei Naufragati)
1 onion, chopped (Phantassie organics)
1 small punnet mushrooms, sliced
1 bag spinach (Phantassie organics)
1 whole ricotta (S S bei Naufragati)
1 whole smoky garlic cheddar cheese, about 280g, grated (Isle of Arran Cheese)
280g dry pasta (Waitrose - leftover in cupboard from months ago)
Cook pasta in plenty of boiling water. Preheat oven to 180'C.
Sautee onions in a little oil until slightly softened. Add mushrooms and cook for a further couple of minutes. Let cool.
Drain ricotta. Add half the grated cheddar - you could use any strong cheddar, but I like the smoky garlic flavour of the Arran cheddar. It also saves having to chop garlic! Add the cooled onions and mushrooms and mix thoroughly.
Toss cooked pasta and the spinach in the cheese mixture, reserving some to spread on top.
Spread the mixture in a large casserole dish, spreading the remaining cheese mixture over top. Finish with the rest of the grated cheddar.
Bake in oven until the the cheese is melted and golden.
Keeping with my "buy nothing" experiment, I raided the fridge for ingredients.
This is a pretty basic recipe inspired by a pasta bake served during the field trip last week. Good hearty veggie food.
Spinach, ricotta and mushroom pasta bake (serves 4-6)
About 250g fresh cows milk mozarella (S S bei Naufragati)
1 onion, chopped (Phantassie organics)
1 small punnet mushrooms, sliced
1 bag spinach (Phantassie organics)
1 whole ricotta (S S bei Naufragati)
1 whole smoky garlic cheddar cheese, about 280g, grated (Isle of Arran Cheese)
280g dry pasta (Waitrose - leftover in cupboard from months ago)
Cook pasta in plenty of boiling water. Preheat oven to 180'C.
Sautee onions in a little oil until slightly softened. Add mushrooms and cook for a further couple of minutes. Let cool.
Drain ricotta. Add half the grated cheddar - you could use any strong cheddar, but I like the smoky garlic flavour of the Arran cheddar. It also saves having to chop garlic! Add the cooled onions and mushrooms and mix thoroughly.
Toss cooked pasta and the spinach in the cheese mixture, reserving some to spread on top.
Spread the mixture in a large casserole dish, spreading the remaining cheese mixture over top. Finish with the rest of the grated cheddar.
Bake in oven until the the cheese is melted and golden.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Squat Lobster fusilli with baby plum tomatoes
A few weeks ago I spied a wee treat at the Farmers Market - something I'd heard about from friends who came from the west coast but had never seen or tasted myself. Two wee tubs sitting amidst the peppered mackerel and smoked salmon they sell in abundance. I had to have them. They were expensive and I had no idea how to cook them, but I bought them anyways. Two 100g pots of shelled squat lobster tails.
I just threw together this little recipe tonight with what I had the fridge. The squat lobster tails had to be taken out of the freezer yesterday as the bloody thing is in serious need of defrosting, and the wee pots of loveliness were in danger of going to waste.
Squat lobster fusilli with baby plum tomatoes
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic
200g squat lobster tails, shell removed
10 baby plum tomatoes
Spelt fusilli (regular wheat pasta can be used as well, I'm just trying to cut down on wheat)
Cook fusilli in boiling water.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add the onions and sauté gently until softened. Add squat lobster tails and sauté until just cooked - do not overcook! Finally add tomatoes and garlic, give it a stir just to heat through, and remove from heat.
Toss with cooked pasta.
Poshest packed lunch ever!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I just threw together this little recipe tonight with what I had the fridge. The squat lobster tails had to be taken out of the freezer yesterday as the bloody thing is in serious need of defrosting, and the wee pots of loveliness were in danger of going to waste.
Squat lobster fusilli with baby plum tomatoes
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic
200g squat lobster tails, shell removed
10 baby plum tomatoes
Spelt fusilli (regular wheat pasta can be used as well, I'm just trying to cut down on wheat)
Cook fusilli in boiling water.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add the onions and sauté gently until softened. Add squat lobster tails and sauté until just cooked - do not overcook! Finally add tomatoes and garlic, give it a stir just to heat through, and remove from heat.
Toss with cooked pasta.
Poshest packed lunch ever!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Roast lamb for two with sweet potato and chilli jam
Boyfriend cleaned the kitchen whilst I was at work yesterday, which was a joy. I got a text sometime mid afternoon to let me know he’d rescue some select vegetables from the plastic veggie rack under the counter, but unfortunately some of their friends were not so lucky, and not everyone made it. The most notorious casualty was a melon that died in his hands.
We had a mini lamb roast I’d bought from the Puddledub stall at the farmers market weekend before last. I’d actually forgotten about it completely, but it’s a novel idea – a tiny lamb roast of about 350g total weight, perfect for two people as a mid-week roast, with pretty much no waste. I bought one for my friend Chris last time we went to visit him, because he only has a toaster oven so wouldn’t be able to roast a whole leg of lamb. These mini roasters are terribly cute and would be perfect for a dinner party idea I’ve been brewing since Christmas. I managed to find a handful of shallots that didn’t look too suspicious and some organic sweet potatoes from Waitrose that my boyfriend nudged me towards – probably as they didn’t have much time left, and also because he loves sweet potato.
Roast lamb for two with sweet potato and chilli jam
350g mini roast lamb (I used a Jacob mini roast from Puddledub, which is cute as hell and ready rolled)
A handful of shallots, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, chopped
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest – farmers market)
Chilli salt
1 tbsp sweet chilli jam (made by the lovely Mel)Preheat oven to 190 º.
In a heavy bottomed pot – I used a large Le Creuset – pour about a tbsp of oil. Add the sweet potatoes and shallots, taking care to spread them out so they lie in a relatively even layer covering the whole dish. Place the piece of lamb on top, season with chilli salt (don’t forget to season the veg as well) and brush with a little sweet chilli jam.
Roast 45-50 minutes for medium, 35-40 minutes for medium rare. Let rest covered.
Serve with sweet onion chutney.
We had a mini lamb roast I’d bought from the Puddledub stall at the farmers market weekend before last. I’d actually forgotten about it completely, but it’s a novel idea – a tiny lamb roast of about 350g total weight, perfect for two people as a mid-week roast, with pretty much no waste. I bought one for my friend Chris last time we went to visit him, because he only has a toaster oven so wouldn’t be able to roast a whole leg of lamb. These mini roasters are terribly cute and would be perfect for a dinner party idea I’ve been brewing since Christmas. I managed to find a handful of shallots that didn’t look too suspicious and some organic sweet potatoes from Waitrose that my boyfriend nudged me towards – probably as they didn’t have much time left, and also because he loves sweet potato.
Roast lamb for two with sweet potato and chilli jam
350g mini roast lamb (I used a Jacob mini roast from Puddledub, which is cute as hell and ready rolled)
A handful of shallots, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, chopped
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest – farmers market)
Chilli salt
1 tbsp sweet chilli jam (made by the lovely Mel)Preheat oven to 190 º.
In a heavy bottomed pot – I used a large Le Creuset – pour about a tbsp of oil. Add the sweet potatoes and shallots, taking care to spread them out so they lie in a relatively even layer covering the whole dish. Place the piece of lamb on top, season with chilli salt (don’t forget to season the veg as well) and brush with a little sweet chilli jam.
Roast 45-50 minutes for medium, 35-40 minutes for medium rare. Let rest covered.
Serve with sweet onion chutney.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Turkey and avocado sandwich filling
I think I may be date dyslexic. Monday evening I was absolutely convinced Tuesday (yesterday) was the day I had plans to have lunch with my old boss, and as we’d decided on sandwiches at 1 (rather than pistols at dawn) I made up some healthy sandwich filler to take in to work in a plastic tub, and I’d even bought a healthy sunflower seed roll from RealFoods after the gym on Monday.
When I got in to work I checked my calendar, where it very clearly said in all its highlighted glory, our lunch was on Thursday. Thursday 1 July, not a difficult date to remember.
Well I had the roll anyways and it was very tasty. I overfilled it and it got messy, but I think totally worth it. Now I have to think up another sandwich filling for my lunch tomorrow…ah, such a hard life. It only took me 3 minutes to come up with the last one, and I now have leftover filling that I will introduce to a jacket potato from the canteen at work for my lunch today. Hello potato.
Turkey and avocado sandwich filling
A few slices thick cut, ready cooked turkey breast (I used a packet of Waitrose Free Range hand carved turkey breast, which was probably 150g of turkey)
1 avocado, cut into medium chunks (RealFoods)
Half a tub of half fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
A handful of cherry tomatoes (J&M Craig - farmers market)
Chop the turkey breast into roughly the same size chunks as the avocado. Quarter the tomatoes and add. Spoon in the crème fraiche and toss everything together. This will keep in the fridge for a couple days if you leave the stone for the avocado in the tub with the rest of the ingredients.
When I got in to work I checked my calendar, where it very clearly said in all its highlighted glory, our lunch was on Thursday. Thursday 1 July, not a difficult date to remember.
Well I had the roll anyways and it was very tasty. I overfilled it and it got messy, but I think totally worth it. Now I have to think up another sandwich filling for my lunch tomorrow…ah, such a hard life. It only took me 3 minutes to come up with the last one, and I now have leftover filling that I will introduce to a jacket potato from the canteen at work for my lunch today. Hello potato.
Turkey and avocado sandwich filling
A few slices thick cut, ready cooked turkey breast (I used a packet of Waitrose Free Range hand carved turkey breast, which was probably 150g of turkey)
1 avocado, cut into medium chunks (RealFoods)
Half a tub of half fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
A handful of cherry tomatoes (J&M Craig - farmers market)
Chop the turkey breast into roughly the same size chunks as the avocado. Quarter the tomatoes and add. Spoon in the crème fraiche and toss everything together. This will keep in the fridge for a couple days if you leave the stone for the avocado in the tub with the rest of the ingredients.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Steamed honey soy salmon parcels with rice noodle stir fry
We had salmon for dinner last night, which is a pretty big deal in my house as my boyfriend is not a fan of fish – childhood trauma, fish bone, choking etc. The topic has come up before how we should try to eat more fish, but we’re the kind of household that resorts to meat in a pinch, and to be honest I’m a lazy cook on days I work. So Monday to Friday we slap a slab of meat onto a plate with potatoes or rice, or pasta if I win that night. We don’t do much to the meat except grill it on the George with some balsamic.
Except last night, I had a big tail piece of salmon from Creelers calling my name in the fridge. Too often I buy fish and have to freeze it at the last minute because we’d totally forgotten about it, but I was determined that food I’d bought fresh would be eaten fresh from now on (dagnabbit!)), so into the oven it went. We even went all-out with the healthy eating and had loads of veg with it.
The fish and the onion came from the farmers market, the fennel from RealFoods (my regular stop off point in town on days I go to Pilates class), and the rest of the veg I picked up in Marks and Sparks yesterday on my way home – I don’t usually get veg from the supermarket, but their food hall is ok (I was there to return some clothes I’d bought in a moment of madness) and I only picked up produce sourced from the UK.
Oh, and I don’t always do measurements. I am a firm believer in seasoning to taste, so there will be no “tbsps” and “grammes” here. Where possible I’ve included the source of the produce)
Steamed honey soy salmon parcels with rice noodle stir fry
Honey
Soy sauce (I use Kikkoman or ClearSpring)
Chilli oil
Salmon tail end, cut into fillets
1 bulb fennel, julienned (RealFoods)
1 onion, thinly sliced (Phantassie – farmers market)
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest oils – farmers market)
Bok choy, shredded (M&S – UK)
English chestnut mushrooms, sliced (Phantassie)
Broccoli, in florets (M&S – UK)
Spinach (M&S – UK)
3 cloves garlic, chopped (W Christie’s butchers)
2 packets Ready-cooked rice noodles (M&S)
Preheat oven to 180º C.
On the non-shiny side of a rectangle of foil drizzle some rapeseed oil. I folded a long sheet in half shiny side to prevent leakage. Make a bed of sliced onion and fennel. Place the salmon fillets on top, skin side down. Season
Mix up the honey, soy and chilli oil. At this point you could also add grated ginger or garlic but I just left it smooth. Brush or drizzle on the salmon fillets.
Wrap the parcels up – I found doing it in a triangle made it easier to open up and plate. Place on a tray and stick in oven – they should bake for about 30-35 mins.
About 10 mins before the salmon needs to come out, heat some rapeseed oil in a wok. Add the diced bok choy and stir fry. Add a splash of soy sauce and a little honey. Then add the rest of the ingredients in this order: mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, rice noodles, and finally spinach. By this time the salmon should be ready and the spinach should be wilted.
Plate the noodles and remove the salmon from its parcel. Serves 2 with leftover noodles for the next day
Except last night, I had a big tail piece of salmon from Creelers calling my name in the fridge. Too often I buy fish and have to freeze it at the last minute because we’d totally forgotten about it, but I was determined that food I’d bought fresh would be eaten fresh from now on (dagnabbit!)), so into the oven it went. We even went all-out with the healthy eating and had loads of veg with it.
The fish and the onion came from the farmers market, the fennel from RealFoods (my regular stop off point in town on days I go to Pilates class), and the rest of the veg I picked up in Marks and Sparks yesterday on my way home – I don’t usually get veg from the supermarket, but their food hall is ok (I was there to return some clothes I’d bought in a moment of madness) and I only picked up produce sourced from the UK.
Oh, and I don’t always do measurements. I am a firm believer in seasoning to taste, so there will be no “tbsps” and “grammes” here. Where possible I’ve included the source of the produce)
Steamed honey soy salmon parcels with rice noodle stir fry
Honey
Soy sauce (I use Kikkoman or ClearSpring)
Chilli oil
Salmon tail end, cut into fillets
1 bulb fennel, julienned (RealFoods)
1 onion, thinly sliced (Phantassie – farmers market)
Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest oils – farmers market)
Bok choy, shredded (M&S – UK)
English chestnut mushrooms, sliced (Phantassie)
Broccoli, in florets (M&S – UK)
Spinach (M&S – UK)
3 cloves garlic, chopped (W Christie’s butchers)
2 packets Ready-cooked rice noodles (M&S)
Preheat oven to 180º C.
On the non-shiny side of a rectangle of foil drizzle some rapeseed oil. I folded a long sheet in half shiny side to prevent leakage. Make a bed of sliced onion and fennel. Place the salmon fillets on top, skin side down. Season
Mix up the honey, soy and chilli oil. At this point you could also add grated ginger or garlic but I just left it smooth. Brush or drizzle on the salmon fillets.
Wrap the parcels up – I found doing it in a triangle made it easier to open up and plate. Place on a tray and stick in oven – they should bake for about 30-35 mins.
About 10 mins before the salmon needs to come out, heat some rapeseed oil in a wok. Add the diced bok choy and stir fry. Add a splash of soy sauce and a little honey. Then add the rest of the ingredients in this order: mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, rice noodles, and finally spinach. By this time the salmon should be ready and the spinach should be wilted.
Plate the noodles and remove the salmon from its parcel. Serves 2 with leftover noodles for the next day
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