The Grazing Wildebeest

Gobi Daal

2012-02-10T18:30:00.000Z

This is a simple and straight forward curry dish which can be a good way to use up a spare cauliflower.

Ingredients:

150g split yellow peas, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
1 cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, roughly cut
2 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Method:

Drain the yellow split peas and place them in a large saucepan with plenty of water.
Bring to the boil and boil vigorously for 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat down to a simmer and add the cauliflower.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain the liquid off the peas and cauliflower and put to once side.
Blend the onion, tomato puree, turmeric, cumin and oil in a blender until it's a smooth paste. If it's too dry to blend then add a couple of tablespoons of water.
Fry the onion and spice paste over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add the peas and cauliflower to the paste and mix well.
Heat through and then serve with basmati rice.

Serves 2.

Potato and Turnip Bake

2012-02-08T18:30:00.000Z

This dish is quick to prepare and wonderfully filling. The only downside is that it does take a fair bit of forward planning as it needs to be in the oven for about and hour and a half.

Ingredients:

140g tomato purée
2 vegetable stock cubes
750ml boiling water
5 large potatoes, peeled and sliced as thinly as possible
1 large turnip, peeled, cut into quarters and thinly sliced
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 thin slices of butter, cut into quarters
fresh ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Put the tomato purée and stock cubes into a large jug and pour the boiling water over them.
Mix well until all the tomato and stock is dissolved.
Grease a large roasting dish with high sides with some butter.
Place half the sliced potatoes over the bottom of the dish.
Next sprinkle half the chopped garlic over the potatoes, season with pepper and add the quarters of one of the slices of butter.
Then create a layer using the sliced turnip. Cover the turnip with the rest of the garlic, some pepper and the quarters of another slice of butter.
Finally put a top layer of the remaining potatoes over the top.
Pour the stock and purée mixture all over the dish.
Season with pepper and the last bits of butter. Ddo this after you pour on the stock, otherwise it'll get washed away.
Cover the dish with foil and tuck the foil in at the edges.
Place in the oven for an hour.
Once the hour is up remove the foil and turn the temperature down to 160 degrees.
Bake for a further 30 minutes with the foil off to create a nice crisp top.

Serves 2 as a main on it's own or 4 to 6 as a side dish.

Red Wine and Walnut Cabbage

2012-02-03T18:30:00.000Z

Cabbage cooked in red wine is a common side dish for various meat dishes. The addition of chopped walnuts help to fill this out to a full meal.

Ingredients:

2 tsp sunflower oil
1 whole red cabbage, cut into quarters and finely sliced
400ml red wine
generous seasoning of salt and pepper
125g chopped walnuts

Method:

Put the oil, cabbage, red wine and salt and pepper in a large sauce pan and bring to a low simmer.
Simmer on a low heat with a lid on for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
Add the malnuts and mix well. If it's starting to look a bit dry then add a bit more wine.
Simmer for a further 30 minutes, checking halfway through to make sure it's not got dry. If it has gone dry then add a bit more wine or water to stop it from burning on the bottom. However you don't want any liquid at the end, so don't add too much.
When the 30 minutes is up, check the cabbage is cooked through and no longer crisp before serving. If it's still got a bit of crunch then simmer it all a bit longer.
Serve with long grain rice.

Serves 3 to 4.

Spicy Carrot and Turnip Stew

2012-02-01T18:30:00.000Z

This is a great one pan dish which can be served on it's own as a hearty meal.

Ingredients:

2 onions, finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 heaped tsp chilli powder
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
1 turnip, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
150ml fresh water
1 tin of chick peas, drained

Method:

Add the onions, oil and chilli powder to a large sauce pan and fry over a medium heat until the onion starts to soften.
Add all the other ingredients apart from the chick peas to the pan and bring to a simmer.
Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes or so to stop it burning or sticking.
Add the chick peas and stir in.
Simmer for 5 more minutes and then serve.

Serves 2.

Vegetarian Barley Haggis

2012-01-20T18:30:00.001Z

This is another variation of a vegetarian haggis which uses barley to add a more traditional texture to the haggis.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp ghee
150g dried barley
4 carrots, washed and sliced
100g porridge oats
100g chopped mixed nuts
600ml vegetable stock

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Fry the onion in ghee until soft over a medium heat.
Pour boiling water over the barley to pre-soak it.
Add the carrots and fry for 5 minutes.
Drain the excess liquid off the barley.
Add the barley and oats to the carrots and onions and mix well.
Fry for 3 minutes.
Add nuts and then pour in the vegetable stock.
Mix everything well and turn the heat down to low.
Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent it sticking.
Press the mixture into a large pre-greased dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Serve with neeps and tatties.

Serves 4.

Carrot and Leek Haggis

2012-01-18T18:30:00.000Z

Someone once told me that vegetarian haggis was 'an affront to man and god'. While this might be true, it is tasty and allows vegetarians to join in the fun of haggis with none of the offal.

Ingredients:

3 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
4 carrots, peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp sunflower oil
4 tsp vegetable bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1000ml boiling water
150g pearl barley
100g porridge oats

Method:

Add the leeks, carrots, oil, bouillon and cayenne pepper to a large sauce pan.
Place a lid on the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
Add the pearl barley and boiling water to the pan and bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 50 minutes with the lid on.
Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees.
Add the porridge oats and simmer for a further 10 minutes with the lid off. Stir it well every minute or so to stop it sticking on the bottom of the pan as it thickens.
Pour into a large, pre-greased, oven proof dish.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes.
Serve with mashed neeps and tatties.

Serves 6 to 8.

Celariac Madras

2011-12-16T18:30:00.000Z

The sweetness of the celariac compliments the smooth warmth of the madras well in this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 onions, finely chopped
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 celariac, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces
1 dried chilli, crushed
1 star of star anise, whole
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp asafoetida compound (optional)
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
100ml yoghurt

Method:

Fry the onion in the oil in a large sauce pan until soft.
Add all the other ingredients to the pan apart from the yoghurt. Add 150ml of water.
Stir well and bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the celariac starts to soften. Stir every couple of minutes to ensure even cooking.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yoghurt just before serving. If you do it too early then it can curdle and separate in the heat.
Serve with rice and/or naan bread.

Serves 2.

Mushroom Quesadilla

2011-12-14T18:30:00.000Z

Baking quesadilla in the oven might not be traditional, but it does make them easier to make and removes the need to turn them over in a frying pan.

Ingredients:

1 onion finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp chilli powder
juice of one lime
2 large mushrooms, cut in half and thinly sliced
175g mild cheese, grated
8 medium size tortilla

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
Put the onion, oil and chilli powder in a large sauce pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes with the lid on.
Add the lime juice and mushrooms and stir well.
Cook for a further 5 minutes with the lid on.
Place 4 of the tortilla on a couple of baking trays.
Once the mushrooms have started to soften, divide the mushroom mixture between the 4 tortillas and spread out evenly on each one using the back of a spoon.
Divide the cheese between the four tortillas and sprinkle it over the mushroom mixture.
Place the other tortillas over the top of the cheese and gently press down.
Put the baking trays in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the edges of the tortilla start to go crisp.
Divide each tortilla sandwich isn't quarters and serve with dips such as guacamole.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as starters.

Chipotle Meatballs

2011-12-02T18:30:00.000Z

The chipotle pepper add a great smoky flavour to this dish.

Ingredients:

5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 or 2 chipotle chillis, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sunflower oil
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
300g packet of Quorn Swedish style balls

Method:

Fry the garlic, chillis, paprika and cumin with the oil in a deep frying pan for a couple of minutes over a medium heat.
Add the tomatoes and the meatballs.
Simmer for 25 minutes.
Serve with rice or a congee and a sprinkle of grated cheese.

Serves 3 to 4.

Rice Congee

2011-11-30T18:30:00.000Z

A congee is a type of porridge. By cooking the rice very slowly it falls apart, thickening the dish. This goes well with a variety of toppings, such as meatballs or toasted nuts.

Ingredients:

250g long grain rice
2 stock cubes
1000 ml boiling water
1000 ml cold water

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a large pan.
Heat on the lowest heat for 2 hours.
Turn the heat up to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes to ensure that it's not sticking on the bottom of the pan.

Serves 4.

Beetroot Pasta

2011-11-11T18:30:00.000Z

This receipe is worth making just for the colour that the beetroot gives to it. Luckily it's also not just an amazing colour but also tastes nice; the roasted beetroot adds a slight sweetness which goes well with the cream.

Ingredients:

7 or 8 small beetroot or 4 large, well washed
3 tbsp olive oil
50g of cashew nuts, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
400g pasta, penne work best
3 tbsp lemon juice
200ml double cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Add the beetroot to a roasting tin and add the olive oil. Mix it all around so that everything is well covered with the oil.
Roast in the oven for an hour.
Remove the beetroot from the oven and set aside to cool.
Put on a large pan of water for the pasta.
Add the cashew nuts to a large frying pan over a medium heat(without any oil). Turn every minute or so.
When the cashew nuts start to toast then remove them from the pan and set aside.
Pour the oil from the beetroot roasting tin into the frying pan and add the garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes.
While the garlic is frying, peel the beetroot to remove the outer skin and chop into 1cm or smaller pieces.
Add the chopped beetroot to the frying pan and leave to cook.
Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook as per the instructions.
When the beetroot has heated through for a couple of minutes in the frying pan, add the lemon juice and mix well.
Next add half the double cream and mix well. Then add the remaining cream.
Turn the heat on the frying pan right down and leave it to gently come to a simmer.
By now the pasta should be done so drain it and mix it with the beetroot mixture from the frying pan.
Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and with the roasted cashew nuts sprinkled on the top.

Serves 3 to 4.

Refried Mashed Potato

2011-11-09T18:30:00.000Z

This is a very simply recipe that I learnt off my dad. It's a great way of using up leftover mashed potato, especially as part of a morning fry-up.

Ingredients:

1 bowl of mashed potato
enough oil to thinly cover the bottom of your frying pan

Method:

Heat up the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. I recommend using a non-stick frying pan as otherwise you'll find that the crispy potato bits stick to the pan.
Add the mashed potato to the frying pan and press down so that it's well spread out in the pan.
Fry for 5 minutes and then turn over. It doesn't matter if it breaks up as you turn over, this will just mean that the crispy bits end up inside the mashed potato.
After another 5 minutes remove the mashed potato from the pan and place on a plate.

Serves 1 or more, depending on how much mashed potato you have.

Mushroom and Blue Cheese Mashed Potato

2011-11-04T18:30:00.000Z

Caramelizing onions and mushrooms comes up a fair bit in extravagant recipes. This recipe is a good introduction to how to do it and the flavours it produces. Don't worry about the mushrooms and onions burning and sticking to the pan a bit, that's all part of the process to bring out the rich flavours. However it is possible to go too far: you don't want a black lump of dry charcoal, so be ready to add some liquid (stock or wine) if it starts burning so much that pieces of mushroom or onion are burnt to the pan.

Ingredients:

3 onions, chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
350g mushrooms, washed and chopped
6 potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into 2cm pieces
200ml vegetable stock
30ml milk
200g blue cheese such as Stilton, cut into 2cm pieces

Method:

Place the onions and oil in a saucepan with a lid.
Put over a medium heat and cook for 20 minutes or so. Stir well every 5 minutes.
When the onions are soft and started to caramelize/burn, add the onions to the pan and place the lid back on.
Put the potato pieces into a pan and bring to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes or until soft.
While the potatoes are cooking keep stiring the mushroom mixture every 5 minutes.
After 15 minutes remove the lid from the pan and let the mushroom mixture simmer down.
When the mushroom mixture starts to caramelize/burn on the bottom of the pan add the vegetable stock and stir well to 'deglaze' the pan (which is the cooking way of saying wash the burnt bits off).
Leave the mushroom mixture simmering for 5 minutes while you prepare the mashed potato.
Make the mashed potato by mashing the potatoes, milk and cheese together until smooth.
Serve immediately by putting the potato onto a place, making a well in the center and spooning the mushroom mixture onto it.

Serves 2.

Creamy Turnip Curry

2011-11-02T18:30:00.000Z

Just before making this curry for the first time I heard about two different techniques for making thicker curry sauces. The first of these is to use a blender to blend the onions with the spices until they make a thick paste and then fry that paste. The second was the addition of ground almonds just before the end to add a nice nutty taste and texture. I can happily report that both techniques work very well.

Ingredients:

4 onions, chopped
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp curry powder
1 chilli, roughly chopped
3 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large turnip, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
2 stock cubes
750ml boiling water
100g ground almonds
150ml plain yoghurt

Method:

Put the onions, turmeric, coriander, curry powder, chilli, water and oil in a blender. Blend until it forms a smooth paste. This will take a minute or two and you'll probably need to keep on stopping to mix it up manually.
Put the onion paste in a large sauce pan and fry over a medium heat for a couple of minutes, stiring constantly.
Add the turnip, potatoes, stock cubes and boiling water to the saucepan and bring to the boil.
Boil with the lid off for 20 minutes, or until the turnip has started to go soft.
Mix up the almond and yoghurt in a mixing jug.
Stir in the almond and yoghurt mixture just before serving.
Serve with rice, naan bread or both.

Serves 3 to 4.

Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

2011-10-28T18:30:00.000+01:00

Everyone loves chocolate, oranges and cheesecakes, so when someone mentioned combining them together I jumped at the chance.

Ingredients:

250g Hobnob biscuits
170g butter, at room temperature
200g dark chocolate
100ml orange juice
500g cream cheese
125g caster sugar
50ml double cream
3 eggs
8 segments from a chocolate orange
25g dark chocolate, finely grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees.
Use a blender to combine the biscuits and butter together until they form into a ball of dough.
Press the biscuit and butter mixture into a pre-greased flan dish or springform tin. The larger the better, I used a 23cm one. If you use a larger one then adjust the cooking time down by 15 minutes or so.
Put a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and add the 200g of dark chocolate and orange juice to the bowl. Keep a gentle heat under the saucepan to keep the water hot.
Leave the chocolate to melt into the orange juice and don't get tempted to stir it until it's all melted, otherwise the chocolate can separate.
In a large mixing bowl combine the cream cheese and sugar with a spoon until it's well mixed.
Add the double cream to the mixture and mix well.
Next stir in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each one.
The chocolate should have melted by now, so mix it well in the bowl over the pan of water until it's smooth.
Add the melted chocolate to the cheese mixture and stir well.
Pour over the biscuit mixture and put in the oven.
Add a dish or roasting tin of boiling water to the oven to keep the air nice and moist.
Bake for an hour or until the center of the cheesecake has just gone soft.
Leave to cool for a couple of hours and then place in the fridge for another few hours.
Garnish with the chocolate orange segments and the grated chocolate.

Serves 8 to 10.

Carrot and Cabbage Stew

2011-10-26T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a warming recipe which is ideal for cold autumn nights.

Ingredients:

1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 cabbages, core removed and shredded
2 tsp cornflour
2 stock cubes
1 tbsp marmite
3.5 litre boiling water
750g carrots, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces
1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2cm pieces
150g french beans, cut into 2cm lengths
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Method:

Use a large pan (at least 6.5 litres) to fry the onion in the sunflower oil over a medium heat until it starts to soften.
Add the cabbage and stir well. Add a couple of drops of water to keep it moist and place a lid on the pan.
Cook the cabbage with the onion for five minutes and then stir it well.
Leave the cabbage cooking for a further five minutes.
In a cup mix up the cornflour with a bit of water to make a paste.
Add the cornflour, stock cubes, marmite and boiling water to the pan and bring to a simmer. I normally turn the heat to high while trying to bring it to a simmer, but be careful it doesn't burn on the bottom if you do this.
Reduce the heat so that the simmer is just kept.
Add the carrots and potatoes and place the lid back on the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the french beans and parsley and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Check that the potatoes and cooked all the way through and then serve.

Serves 8.

Vegetarian Toad in the Hole

2011-10-21T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a vegetarian version of the classic autumn dish of toad in the hole. As vegetarian sausages have far less fat than their meat based relatives it's necessary to add a bit of oil to make sure it doesn't stick.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 vegetarian sausages
2 tbsp sunflower oil
80g plain flour
1 egg
135ml milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Place the sausages and oil in a large ovenproof dish, pyrex or thick ceramic works best.
Place in oven and roast for 15 minutes.
While they are roasting in the oven, mix the flour, egg and half the milk in a bowl or jug. Whisk with a fork until it's a smooth paste.
Add the remaining milk to the mixture, season with salt and pepper and mix until a smooth batter is formed. It's best to add the milk in two lots to prevent lumps from forming. You can do it all in one go, but you'll end up whisking it far more to get rid of the lumps.
Remove the sausages from the oven and pour the batter over them.
Return to the oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Try to not open the oven door as the batter will crisp best if it's kept very hot.
Once the batter has risen and gone a wonderful brown, remove from the oven and serve. I recommend with gravy and peas.

Serves 2.

Baked Squash and Couscous

2011-10-19T18:30:00.000+01:00

Having had couscous as a topping for various dishes in restaurants, I decided to give it a go as a topping for a butternut squash. The couscous crisps up very nicely in the oven, gaining a stronger flavour as it does.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, cut in half, seeds scooped out with a teaspoon
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 tsp olive oil
6 sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
120g cous cous
1 stock cube, crumbled
300ml boiling water
30g grated cheese, I used spicy cheddar but you can use your personal favourite

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Place the squash halves into a large ovenproof dish and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning over halfway through.
Fry the leek in the olive oil over a medium heat until it has softened.
Add the tomatoes, cous cous, stock cube and boiling water to the leeks and stir well.
Turn the heat down low and bring the cous cous and vegetable mixture to a simmer.
Stir the cous cous frequently until it has absorbed all the water.
Add the cheese to the cous cous and stir it in.
Remove the squashes from the oven and top with the cous cous. You'll probably end up having some cous cous in the sides of the dish as well.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cous cous is nice and toasty on the top.
Cut into pieces with a sharp knife and serve. It's ok, and recommended, to eat the skin of the butternut squash; the slow roasting will have made it very soft.

Serves 3 to 4.

Leek and Potato Stew

2011-10-14T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a warming stew which is great for autumn evenings.

Ingredients:

2 onions, finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 large leek, peeled and finely chopped
700ml vegetable stock
3 tsp cornflour
50ml double cream
salt and pepper to taste
6 medium size potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
25g grated cheese

Method:

Fry the onions in the oil over a medium heat until soft.
Add the chopped leek, mix well and cook with the lid on for 5 minutes.
In a jug mix the cornflour with a couple of table spoons of the stock.
When it's a smooth paste mix it with the rest of the stock and the cream.
Season the stock and cream mixture with salt and pepper and then add it to the leeks and onion.
Bring to a simmer and then add the potatoes.
Simmer with the lid on for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
Spoon into bowls, top with the grated cheese and serve.

Serves 2.

Butternut Squash in the Hole

2011-10-12T18:30:00.000+01:00

When I came to make this toad in the hole dish I was going to use vegetarian sausages, but then decided to try using butternut squash instead. I reasoned that oven roasted squash is just as tasty as sausages and it transpires that this is a correct assumption.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1.5cm slices with seeds removed
2 tbsp sunflower oil
80g plain flour
1 egg
135ml milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Run a knife around the corner edges of the slices of butternut squash so as to round them off. This prevents them from burning during the cooking.
Heat up the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Fry the slices of butternut squash for a couple of minutes on each side, just until it starts to change colour a bit.
Place the butternut squash pieces and the oil from the pan into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish with high sides, such as a roasting tin.
Place in oven and roast for 15 minutes.
While it's roasting in the oven, mix the flour, egg and half the milk in a bowl or jug. Whisk with a fork until it's a smooth paste.
Add the remaining milk to the mixture, season with salt and pepper and mix until a smooth batter is formed. It's best to add the milk in two lots to prevent lumps from forming. You can do it all in one go, but you'll end up whisking it far more to get rid of the lumps.
Remove the butternut squash from the oven and pour the batter all around the dish, especially at the edges.
Return to the oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Try to not open the oven door as the batter rises best if it's kept in a hot oven.
Once the batter has risen and crisped up, remove from the oven and serve with lashings of gravy. I generally go for roast onion gravy using instant gravy granules.

Serves 2.

Cabbage and Cauliflower Gratin

2011-10-07T18:30:00.000+01:00

Although this isn't really a gratin (as it lacks the toasty top) I still think of anything in white sauce as being a gratin, so it's a gratin in my mind.

Ingredients:

1 cabbage, quartered, core removed and sliced into 1/2 cm slices
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp plain flour
1 cauliflower, cut into small pieces about 2 cm in length
150g penne pasta
560ml milk
16 green olives, cut in half

Method:

Put the cabbage, olive oil and flour in a large pan.
Cook the cabbage over a low to medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently to stop it sticking.
While the cabbage is cooking, put on a large pan of water to boil and add the cauliflower to it.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta to it and cook as per the instructions on the pasta, probably 12 to 14 minutes.
When you add the pasta to the boiling water, add the milk to the cabbage pan.
Stir the cabbage and milk mixture frequently as it heats up to make sure it doesn't stick.
When the pasta is cooked the milk mixture should have thickened, so drain the pasta and cauliflower and add it to the milk mixture.
Mix well and then stir in the green olives.
Serve with grated cheese and ground black pepper to garnish.

Diced Quorn Basque

2011-10-05T18:30:00.000+01:00

When making this recipe I used some homemade orange wine (which it turns out is only really any good for use in cooking), but a mixture of white wine and orange juice works as a suitable replacement.

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
300g Quorn pieces
250g basmati rice
8 sun-dried tomatos, roughly sliced
1 pepper, sliced into 1/2 cm strips
660ml orange wine or 330ml orange juice and 330ml dry white wine
2 tsp paprika, preferably smoked
14 green olives, cut in half

Method:

Add the onions, oil and Quorn pieces to a large saucepan with a well fitting lid and fry on a high heat until it starts to brown.
Add all the other ingredients, other than the olives, and bring to a simmer.
Stir well, turn the heat down low and put the lid on the pan.
Leave to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, checking a couple of times to make sure that it's not got too dry or started burning on the bottom.
Add the olives when all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.
Mix well and serve immediately.

Serves 3 to 4.

Aubergine Parmigiana

2011-09-30T18:30:00.000+01:00

Stictly speaking this isn't parmigiana as it should use Parmesan cheese. However as Parmesan cheese isn't vegetarian I used Sainsbury's Basic Italian Hard cheese, which is vegetarian and similar in taste to Parmesan. I would also recommend the exceptionally good hard Italian style cheese from Bookhams, but I've yet to find that for sale anywhere near me.

Ingredients:

1 onion, very finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
50g tomato puree
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
5 aubergines, washed and sliced into 1cm slices
3 x 125g mozzarella balls, sliced into thin slices
50g grated hard italian cheese (Parmesan or equivalent)
50g grated mozzerella

Method:

Fry the onion in the oil until soft.
Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and bay leaves and leave to simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally.
While that's simmering, cook the aubergine on a griddle or in a frying pan. Cook it on a medium to high heat until each side is nicely browned off, turning it over once each side is done.
Put the aubergine on a plate to the side while you wait for it to cool a bit.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Remove the 3 bay leaves from the tomato sauce.
In a couple of large oven proof dishes, spread 1/4 of the tomato sauce over the base of each one.
Next layer half the aubergines between the two dishes, then a layer of the sliced mozzarella followed by a sprinkling of 1/4 of the Parmesan in each of the two dishes.
Then layer the remaining aubergines on top of the Parmesan layer, followed by the remaining Parmesan.
Carefully divide the remaining tomato sauce between the two dishes, trying to not disturb the layer of Parmesan as you spoon it on.
Finally sprinkle the grated mozzarella over the dishes.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
Serve with a fresh green salad.

Serves 6.

Spinach Grill Pizza

2011-09-28T18:30:00.000+01:00

I heard about being able to cook pizza on a barbecue too late in the year to be able to try it. However I realised that a similar technique could be used to cook using a grill, so I gave it ago. It leaves you with a pizza with a wonderfully crisp base and I highly recommend giving it a go.

Ingredients:

1 quantity of pizza dough
1 tsp sunflower oil
150g leaf spinach, washed
125g ball of mozzarella, thinly sliced
50g grated mozzarella
25g thin shavings of Parmesan or other hard Italian cheese

Method:

Make the pizza dough as described in the other recipe.
Grease a baking tray with the oil.
Place the spinach in a microwave proof bowl with a lid and add a couple of drops of water. Microwave for 4 minutes. If you don't have a microwave then a saucepan over a low heat will work just as well.
Roll out the pizza dough so that it covers most of the baking tray.
Put the grill on medium-high power and wait for it to get up to temperature.
Grill the dough under the grill for 5 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and crisp.
Carefully turn over the pizza on the baking tray so that the raw dough side is face up.
Pop under the grill for a couple of minutes, but only enough to slightly dry out the dough.
Spread the cooked spinach out over the top of the pizza.
Arrange the sliced mozzarella, then the grated and finally the Paremsan over the top of the pizza. Season with black pepper.
Place back under the grill for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melted.

Serves 2.

Satay Vegetable Stirfry

2011-09-23T18:30:00.000+01:00

I'm a big fan of satay sauce and always like finding a new way of using it. This recipe is a simple stir-fry where the vegetables end up being coated in the satay sauce.

Ingredients:

2 small onions, finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 small chilli, crushed/finely chopped
3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
30ml water
4 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
3 carrots, washed and sliced into thin slices
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 sweet pepper, cut into strips
2 blocks of medium egg noodles

Method:

Put on a pan of water to boil for the noodles.
Fry the onions in a small pan with 1 tsp of sunflower oil until they start to soften.
Add the chilli, peanut butter and water to the small pan and mix well. Turn the heat down low so it just simmers.
Stir the peanut butter mixture every couple of minutes to ensure that it's well mixed.
When the water for the noodles is boiling, cook the noodles as per the instructions on their packet (usually 4 minutes).
Fry the potato and carrots in a wok with the other tsp of sunflower oil. Use a low to medium heat.
Stir the potatoes and carrots every couple of minutes to ensure that they are evenly cooked.
When the noodles are cooked drain them and then return them to the pan. Add a couple of drops of oil and mix well. Place a lid on the pan and put to one side. The small amount of oil and the lid on the pan will stop them from becoming one solid block of noodles as they cool.
After 10 to 15 minutes check how soft the potatoes are. They should be starting to soften but still be firm.
Add the sweet pepper to the wok and turn the heat up to medium-high.
Stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the peanut sauce to the wok, give it a quick stir and then serve it on top of the noodles.

Serves 2.

Cauliflower Cheese

2011-09-21T18:30:00.000+01:00

Generally cauliflower cheese is made with pieces of cauliflower. However I think it's a shame to chop up the wonderful dome shape of the cauliflower so prefer to keep it whole until serving it.

Ingredients:

One whole cauliflower, green leaves removed and washed
600ml milk
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp dried mustard
200g coarsely grated cheese
50g finely grated cheese
25g breadcrumbs

Method:

Steam the cauliflower in a steamer for 15 to 20 minutes. Test the stalk at the bottom has started to go soft before removing it from the steamer.
Add the milk, flour and mustard to a cool saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a whisk to stop it sticking or burning.
Simmer and stir the milk and flour mixture until it thickens into a white sauce.
Pre-heat the grill on high.
Stir the coarsely grated cheese into the white sauce and remove from the heat.
Place the cauliflower in a large ovenproof dish with the stalk side up. Pour a bit of sauce into the spaces between the stalks and then turn over so the dome of the cauliflower is face up.
Pour the rest of the cheese sauce over the top of the cauliflower.
Mix the finely grated cheese and breadcrumbs on a plate and then sprinkle over the top of the cauliflower.
Place under the grill for 5 minutes or until the top is nicely toasted (but not burnt!).
Serve on it's own or with baked potatoes. The cauliflower goes especially well with some ketchup or english mustard as condiments.

Serves 2 to 3.

Savoury Crunchy Cornflake Cake

2011-09-16T18:30:00.000+01:00

After finding out that Pizza Hut can put cornflakes on a pizza, I decided to make a savoury version of chocolate cornflake cakes.

Ingredients:

1 egg white
75g cornflakes
50g parmesan or paremsan style cheese, finely grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
In a clean bowl whisk the egg white until it becomes a stiff white foam.
Fold in the cornflakes to the egg whites, being careful not to beat the air out of the foam.
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the cornflake and egg white mixture and mix well.
Use your hands to form the sticky mixture into a block about 1cm high, or into 6 small round blocks, again 1cm high.
Place on baking parchement on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the cornflakes start to brown.
Serve hot or cold as a started with some green salad.

Makes 1 large or 6 small cornflake cakes.

Feta and Olive Pie

2011-09-14T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a quick and simple pie which looks great. The use of ready rolled puff pastry is a bit lazy, but does eliminate the need to get floury hands making pastry.

Ingredients:

4 onions, finely chopped
25g butter
100g black olives, finely chopped
100g feta cheese, finely chopped
1 sheet of puff pastry, rolled out thinly
1 egg, beaten in a cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Sweat the onions and butter in a saucepan with the lid on over a medium heat until they are soft, this will probably be 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the black olives and feta cheese to the pan and stir well.
Roll the sheet of pastry out slightly thinner so that you can make two large squares with it.
Place one square in the middle of a greased baking tray and spread the olive and feta mixture over the middle of it, leaving a 1 cm gap at the edges.
Dampen the 1cm gap at the edges with water so that the pastry goes sticky and then place the second square of pastry over the top.
Fold and press the edges together until they are well sealed.
Use a sharp knife to gently score a pattern into the top of the pasty. Don't worry if you go through in a few parts, it will help to let steam escape when cooking.
Brush the egg over the top of the pastry so that it's all coated in a thin layer. If you don't have a pastry brush to do this then a bit of scrunched up kitchen roll works just as well.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until nicely browned.

Serves 3 to 4, depending on what you serve with it.

Aubergine and Tomato Pasta

2011-09-09T18:30:00.000+01:00

This dish has a flavoursome and rich sauce which only needs a handful of ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 aubergines, washed, top and bottom removed and cut into half inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
250g dried pasta
75g black olives, chopped in half
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Method:

Put on a large pan of water to boil for the pasta.
Put the oil, garlic and aubergines in a big pan (I prefer a flat bottomed wok) and fry over a medium heat, stiring frequently.
When the aubergine has nicely browned, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for the time it says on the packet.
After adding the pasta to the boiling water, add the olives and chopped tomatoes to the aubergines and bring to a simmer.
Simmer the tomato mixture over a low heat while the pasta cooks (so about 10 to 15 minutes)
Drain the pasta, season with black pepper and serve with the aubergine sauce spooned oever the top.

Serves 2.

Foil Wrapped Leek and Potatoes

2011-09-07T18:30:00.000+01:00

Wrapping these vegetables in foil while they're cooking in the oven allows all the delicate flavours to be trapped in the food. I recommend trying it with other vegetables as well, it makes a nice change from the traditional roast vegetable flavour.

Ingredients:

2 leeks, washed and sliced into 1cm slices
10g butter, thinly sliced
1/4 red cabbage, core removed and thinly sliced
2 onions, thinly sliced, not chopped
8 new potatoes, washed
3 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole
1 tsp mixed herbs
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Tear off 2 strips of foil each about 70cm long and place on two sides of a baking tray.
Place the leeks near one end of each of the strips of foil. Top with the butter.
Mix the cabbage and onions together in a small bowl and then divide between the two strips of foil, placing the mixture next to the leeks so that it's just touching.
In a large bowl mix the potatoes, garlic and herbs with the olive oil until everything has a nice coating.
Divide the potatoes between the two strips of foil, placing next to the cabbage.
Fold the foil over and scrunch the edges together to get a good seal.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
Serve still wrapped in the foil to allow people the pleasure of unwrapping it themselves.

Serves 2.

Baked New Potatoes

2011-09-02T10:30:00.000+01:00

This method of cooking new potatoes leaves you with something which is halfway between roast potatoes and baked potatoes. It's a nice change from the usually ways of cooking new potatoes and it's especially fun to let your dinners unwrap the paper themselves.

Ingredients:

12 new potatoes (6 per person), washed, any bad bits removed and cut in half
4 cloves of garlic (2 per person), peeled
4 tbsp olive oil (2 per person)
2 tsp chopped herbs (1 per person), sage is good, but you can use the same herbs that you've used in the dish the potatoes are accompanying
salt and pepper to season

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until the potatoes are all covered evenly in oil and herbs.
Take a large piece of greaseproof paper and place 6 potatoes and 2 cloves of garlic in the middle of it.
Fold the edges of the greaseproof paper into the center and fold over themselves a few times to seal the package shut. If you can't get it to keep shut using just folding then use a couple of staples.
Place on a baking tray and make the other package(s) with the remaining potatoes.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
Serve on the plate while still wrapped up.

Serves 2.

Baked Cabbage and Sausage

2011-08-31T10:30:00.000+01:00

Cooking the sausage and cabbage slowly in the oven allows their flavours to develop nicely. The one drawback is that the sausages won't brown on the outside, but don't let that put you off. If the lack of browning concerns you then fry them in a hot pan before putting them in the foil.

Ingredients:

5 vegetarian sausaged, frozen
1 cabbage, core removed, chopped into quarters and thinly sliced
2 onions, cut in half and thinly sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Place a large sheet of foil on a baking tray. You'll want lots of extra foil so make sure there is plenty of spare foil over the edges of the baking tray.
Place the onions in the middle of the foil and spread out so that they form a thin base.
Pile the cabbage on to the onion so that it covers all the onions.
Finally balance the sausages on top of the cabbage.
Fold the foil in on itself and scrunch together the edges to get a good seal.
Place the foil package into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Serves 2.

Halloumi and Tomato Potatoes

2011-08-26T18:30:00.000+01:00

The smokey tomato flavour of the potatoes compliments the halloumi cheese in this dish very well. If you can't get hold of liquid smoke then don't worry about leaving it out; the sauce still works without it.

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp cumin
4 drops liquid smoke (about half a tsp)
2 dried chillies, crushed into small flakes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
6 or 7 new potatoes, washed and cut into 2cm pieces
50g kale leaves, stalks removed and shredded (if you can't get kale then spinach works)
1 block of halloumi, cut into 1/2 cm slices
2 tbsp sunflower oil

Method:

Add the ingredients other than the halloumi and sunflower oil to a large saucepan.
Mix well and bring to a simmer on a low heat.
Simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on, stirring every 5 minutes.
After 15 minutes heat up a frying pan on a medium heat.
Fry the halloumi with the sunflower oil in the frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side, or until a nice golden colour.
Serve on plates with the halloumi on one side and the potato/tomato mix on the other.

Serves 2.

Baked Stuffed Chili Peppers

2011-08-24T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is an easier form of stuffed peppers which doesn't require a deep fat fryer. They work well as a starter or as a side dish for a main course.

Ingredients:

3 large peppers, cut in half with seeds and white flesh removed
6 spring onions, washed and finely chopped
150g grated cheddar
6 tsp tomato puree
1 egg, beaten in a cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Place the 6 halves of peppers on a baking tray.
Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl.
Spoon the mixture into each of the peppers, making sure to press it down into the peppers.
Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

Serves 2.

Smoked Bean Chilli

2011-08-19T18:30:00.000+01:00

The smoked paprika and liquid smoke add a wonderful depth to this chilli. It's ok to leave out the liquid smoke if you can't find any, but it really is worth using smoked paprika.

Ingredients:

1 tsp sunflower oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 stock cube
350ml boiling water
1 tin red kidney beans, drained
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
4 drops liquid smoke (about 1/2 a tsp)

Method:

Fry the onion in the sunflower oil in a large saucepan until soft.
Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve with tortilla bread or rice. Fresh coriander works well as a garnish.

Serves 2.

Fresh Tortilla Bread

2011-08-17T18:30:00.001+01:00

Homemade tortillas are surprisingly easy to make. While they might not be as perfectly circular as shop bought ones, they're certainly worth that little bit of extra effort.

Ingredients:

500g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt and pepper
6 tbsp olive oil
125ml warm water (but not boiling!)

Method:

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Add the olive oil to the flour and mix well so that there are no noticeable bits of oil. The easiest way to do this is to rub it with the tips of your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs in texture.
Add the warm water, 3 or 4 tbsp at a time and mix into the flour. You will probably not need to use all the water. You want to aim for a soft dough, but it shouldn't be sticky. It takes a while for the flour to absorb all the water, so kneed it for a few seconds after it's mixed to make sure that it's not going to turn too sticky.
Divide the dough into 12 even sized balls and place in a covered ball for 15 minutes.
Heat up a frying pan with a thick base to a medium-hot temperature. Do not add any oil.
Use a rolling pin to roll out a ball of dough into a thin tortilla. It should be as thin as you can roll it. If it starts to stick to the board or the rolling pin then lightly dust it with flour.
Place the rolled out dough into the frying pan and cook for a few seconds on each side. Once the side starts to get toasted spots on it then it's time to turn it over. Depending on how hot your frying pan is it can take between 5 and 30 seconds on each side.
Place the cooked tortilla on a plate and cover with a tea towel to keep warm.
Repeat for the remaining dough balls. I generally roll out the next tortilla as the previous one is cooking in the frying pan, but I don't recommend doing this for the first couple of tortillas you cook until you know how long they need on each side.
Serve with a salsa, chilli or other suitable spicy tex-mex dish.

Makes 12.

Tamalie Pie

2011-08-12T18:30:00.000+01:00

This could best be described as a tex-mex shepherds' pie. The filling of the pie is flavoured like a chilli and instead of mashed potato, cornmeal is used as the topping.

Ingredients

2 large onions, roughly chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
300g vegetarian mince
1 to 2 tsp chilli powder
140g (about 3 tbsp) tomato puree
1 orange pepper, cut into thin strips
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
190g tin of sweetcorn
20 pitted green olives, cut in half
150g cheddar cheese, grated
2 vegetable stock cubes
150g fine cornmeal (might also be called polenta in some shops, but don't confuse it with pre-cooked blocks of polenta)

Method:

Fry the onion in the sunflower oil in a large pan (I used a wok) until it starts to soften.
Add the vegetarian mince, chilli powder, tomato puree and 300ml of water to the onion. Stir well.
Simmer for 15 minutes on a medium heat.
While that's bubbling away, in a separate sauce pan put the cornmeal, 400ml of water and one of the stock cubes.
Heat the cornmeal mixture over a medium heat to bring it to a simmer, stirring frequently to stop it sticking.
Once it's come to a simmer, turn the heat down and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the peppers, sweetcorn, olives and one of the stock cubes to the mince mixture. Mix well.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Simmer the mince mixture for 5 more minutes.
Stir in the cheese and heat through until it's all melted.
Pour the mince mixture into a large and deep oven proof dish.
Spread the cornmeal mixture over the top of the mince mixture.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top starts to crisp up.

Serves 3.

Chilli Cornbread

2011-08-10T18:30:00.002+01:00

Ingredients:

250g cornmeal (might also be called fine polenta)
100g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
3 chillis, dried or fresh, finely chopped (add more or less to taste)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 egg
400ml milk
150g cheddar cheese, grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Grease a 9 inch (23cm) square tin with a bit of butter.
In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, chilli and garlic.
Add the egg and half of the milk. Stir with a spoon until well mixed.
Add half of the cheese and the remainder of the milk and mix once more.
Pour into the greased square tin and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
When the time is up, check that it's cooked all the way through by inserting a knife into the centre. It should come out clean. If it comes out with some batter on it then cook it for a bit longer.
When it's cooked, remove it from the oven and leave to stand for a couple of minutes.
Cut into squares and serve with a tex-mex style dish.

Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.

Kale and Cheese Flan

2011-08-05T18:30:00.000+01:00

The soft cheese in this flan sets nicely when it's baked in the oven

Ingredients:

1 quantity of shortcrust pastry (about 225g if using pre-made pastry)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
150g kale, washed, stalks removed and shredded
200g cream cheese
1 tsp garlic puree
50g parmesan (or vegetarian hard Italian cheese), finely grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
Roll the pastry out and line a flan dish with it. You'll want the sides to be about 2 cm deep.
Fry the onion in the sunflower oil until soft.
Add the kale and turn the heat down low. Put a lid on the saucepan and leave for 5 to 10 minutes, until the kale has reduced down.
After the kale has cooked to a dark green mixture at the bottom of the pan, remove it from the heat.
Add the cream cheese and puree to the kale and mix well.
Pour cheese and kale mixture into the flan dish and top with the grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serves 2, more if served with new potatoes.

Shortcrust Pastry

2011-08-03T18:30:00.000+01:00

Some people are scared of making pastry or think it takes a lot of effort. While this is true for some pastries, shortcrust pastry is very quick and simple to make.

Ingredients:

150g plain flour
a pinch of salt
75g butter
2 tbsp cold water

Method:

Mix the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
Cut up the butter into small pieces and add to the flour in the bowl.
Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs in texture (and no lumps of butter remain). To rub the butter in pick up bits of the mixture and simply rub it between your finger tips with your thumb, letting bits fall back into the bowl.
Once the butter is all rubbed in, add the tbsp of water and kneed with your hands until it forms a neat ball of dough.
Use as directed in a recipe requiring shortcrust pastry.

Makes about 225g of shortcrust pastry, which is enough to make a reasonable size flan, but not quite enough to make a pie with lid.

Kale Stuffed Aubergines

2011-07-29T18:30:00.002+01:00

The combination of roasted kale and carrots combine well with the aubergines flavours in this dish. The use of foil to cover the dish as it's baked traps all the flavours and moistness in the dish.

Ingredients:

4 small carrots, washed and finely sliced
25g kale, stalks removed and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1 tsp sage
25g butter, cut into small pieces
3 aubergines, cut in half

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Mix the carrots, kale, garlic, sage and butter in a large bowl.
Use the end of a teaspoon to scrape the seeds and most of the insides out of the aubergine halves, but leave the outside flesh.
Finely chop the insides of the aubergine and add about half of it to the large bowl.
Place the aubergine halves into a large ovenproof dish and fill the aubergines with the carrot and kale mixture.
Pile any excess carrot and kale mixture on top of the aubergines.
Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 60 minutes.
Serve with roast or mashed potatoes.

Serves 2 to 3.

Vege Philly Cheesesteak

2011-07-27T18:30:00.003+01:00

This isn't an entirely accurate Philly cheesesteak recipe, but it's the most accurate I could come up with using easy to obtain ingredients in the UK.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 Quorn peppered steaks
2 slices of processed (or burger) cheese
1 small white baton of bread

Method:

Add the onion, sunflower oil and Quorn steaks to a frying pan and cook on a medium heat.
After 5 minutes turn the Quorn steaks.
Once the other side have had 5 minutes, cut the steak up using the edge of a knife or fish-slice so that it's in small chunks.
Cut the baton in half with a sharp knife and cut it down the middle.
Divide the steak and onion mixture between the two halves of the batton.
Place the cheese slices on top of the steak mixture and wait 30 seconds for it to melt.
Enjoy!

Serves 1 to 2 people, depending on how hungry they are.

Pasta Genovese

2011-07-22T18:30:00.001+01:00

This is a great one pan dish which is made more interesting than plain pasta and sauce by the addition of some vegetables.

Ingredients:

100g dried pasta
2 large potatoes, cut into 2cm pieces
12 to 14 broad beans, ends trimmed and cut into 2 cm pieces
100g basil pesto

Method:

Put a large pan of water on to boil.
Once the water is boiling add the pasta, potatoes and beans to it.
Boil for 15 minutes.
Drain the pan and add the pesto.
Mix well and serve while hot.

Serves 2.

Pesto Genovese

2011-07-20T18:30:00.001+01:00

If you can find enough fresh basil to make pesto yourself then it's certainly worth it.

Ingredients:

50g pine nuts
100g fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
40g parmesan cheese (or vegetarian Italian style hard cheese), finely grated
3 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Place the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and heat on a medium heat.
Move the pine nuts around in the pan every couple of minutes to stop them burning.
Once brown patches start to develop on the nuts, remove the pan from the heat.
Combine all the ingredients, including the toasted pine nuts, in a blender.
Blend until a smooth paste forms.
Serve with pasta or on toast. This will keep for a few days in a jar in the fridge as well.

Makes about 200g of pesto (half a normal size jam jar).

Mini Cheesecakes

2011-07-15T18:30:00.002+01:00

Cheesecakes don't need to be cake sized to be enjoyable. These mini cheesecakes make great finger food at parties or as an alternative to cup cakes.

Ingredients:

200g chocolate digestives, crushed
100g butter, at room temperature
500g cream cheese
175g caster sugar
juice and rind of 2 lemons
3 eggs
100ml double cream
12 strawberries, washed and cut in half

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Mix the crushed digestives and butter together using a blender until evenly mixed.
Place 12 cupcake liners into a cupcake dish.
Divide the crushed digestives between the cupcake lines, pressing into a firm layer in the bottom.
In a large bowl mix the cream cheese and caster sugar until well mixed.
Add the lemon juice and rind and mix again.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each egg.
Once all the eggs have been added stir in the double cream.
Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake lines.
Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
When the cheesecakes are firm turn off the oven and open the door a little, but let the cheesecakes cool in the oven.
Once the cheesecakes are cooled garnish with the strawberry halves and serve.

Makes 12 mini cheesecakes.

Deviled Eggs

2011-07-13T18:30:00.000+01:00

Devilled eggs are a food which I associate with the 70s for some reason, even though I wasn't even alive in the 70s. They're great party snacks though and turned out to be a hidden favourite of several of my friends.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
paprika to garnish

Method:

Boil the eggs in water for 10 minutes.
Once the 10 minutes are up drain the pan and cover the eggs in cold water to cool them.
While the eggs cool, mix the mayonnaise, mustard, vingear and salt/pepper in a bowl.
Carefully peel all the eggs and discard the shells.
Cut each egg in half and remove the yolk, adding the yolk to the mustard mixture.
Place the empty white halves of the egg onto a big dish.
Mash and mix the yolks into the mayonnaise mixture until it's an even texture.
Fill the egg whites with the egg yolk mixture where the yolk used to be.
Carefully sprinkle paprika over the eggs to garnish just before serving.

Makes 12 deviled eggs.

Triple Chocolate and Mint Brownies

2011-07-08T18:30:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

200g unsalted butter, cut into 1cm pieces
200g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
100g white chocolate, broken into chunks
100g milk chocolate, broken into chunks
290g caster sugar
3 large eggs
100g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
16 after dinner mints, such as 'after eights'

Method:

Place the butter and dark chocolate into a bowl which is large enough to sit over a sauce pan.
Place enough water in the sauce pan so that it comfortable covers the bottom of the pan, but isn't deep enough to touch the bottom of the bowl.
Place the bowl over the sauce pan and heat the water on a medium heat. Turn the heat down low as soon as you can see any steam. Stir the mixture every few minutes until it's all melted into a thick but even liquid. Don't over heat it or it'll start to separate.
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
Place the bowl of chocolate and butter to one side to cool.
While it's cooling chop the white and milk chocolate pieces into smaller blocks. This is easiest to do by resting the point of a sharp knife in a chopping board and then bringing the knife blade down onto the chocolate.
Find a tin with reasonably high sides and an area of about 400 square cms. This means a 20cm square tin or a 13cm by 30cm tin. Cut out some greaseproof paper so that it fits the bottom of the pan and lightly grease it with some butter. Also grease the sides of the tin slightly to help prevent sticking.
In a large bowl mix the eggs and caster sugar. Get a whisk (preferrably an electric one) and whisk for about 5 minutes.
When the mixture has increased in size considerable and started to be thick enough that it takes a second or two for your whisk marks to disappear then it's done.
Carefully fold in the butter and dark chocolate mixture by lifting liquid from the bottom of the bowl to the top in a smooth flicking motion. I prefer to use a spachelor here, as a spoon can break too many of the bubbles that you whisked in.
When the chocolate is all folded in, use a sieve to add the flour and cocoa powder. I don't usually think that a sieve is necessary in recipes, but it is in this one to make sure that there are no lumps of flour or cocoa in the mixture.
Carefully fold in the flour and cocoa until it's a smooth mixture.
Finally stir in the pieces of milk and white chocolate.
Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin and use the spachelor to push it to the edges.
Place the after dinner mints flat over the top of the mixture and pour in the rest of the mixture over the mints.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes is up give the dish a sideways shake to check that the middle is firm and doesn't wobble. If it does wobble then give it another 5 minutes and repeat the shaking until it's solid enough. There should also be a lovely paper thin crisp layer forming on the top.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the side. It's important to wait until it's fully cool before trying to remove it from the tin, otherwise it can still be a bit runny and collapse.
When it is fully cool, remove it from the pan and cut into 16 squares.
Store in an air tight container and eat as soon as possible.

Makes 16 brownies.

Gazpacho Soup

2011-07-06T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a really easy summer recipe which you just need to prepare the night before.

Ingredients:

2 red peppers, chopped with seeds removed
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
3 salad onions, washed and roughly chopped
2 tins chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Blend using a blender until it's a smooth soup.
Chill in a fridge for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.
Serve cold, possibly with some bread or croutons.

Serves 6 as a starter.

Aubergine Steaks

2011-07-01T18:30:00.000+01:00

These stuffed aubergine steaks make an unusual, but tasty, vegetarian main dish.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into 2 cm pieces
1/2 cauliflower, cut into small 2cm pieces
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 dried chili, crushed
1/2 tsp asafoetida compound (optional)
1 tsp caster sugar
4 aubergines, sliced into 1.5cm slices and insides removed
2 tbsp sunflower oil

Method:

Boil the potatoes and cauliflower in a large pan of water for 20 minutes and then drain.
Mash the potatoes and cauliflower together until they are roughly blended.
Fry all the spices, apart from the sugar, in a small pan for 5 minutes in the 1 tsp of oil.
Mix the spices, sugar and mashed potato and cauliflower mixture until well mixed.
Stuff the mixture into the aubergine slices and press into a flat surface on both sides of the aubergine slice.
Heat the 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
Fry each aubergine slice for 5 minutes on each side, or until browned.
Serve with rice.

Poppadum Packets

2011-06-29T18:30:00.001+01:00

The hardest to find ingredient for this recipe is the raw poppadums, but any large supermarket should have them.

Ingredients:

10 uncooked poppadums
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, crushed
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp sunflower oil
3 tbps tomato puree
4 tbsp sunflower oil for frying

Method:

Place the raw poppadums in a dish or pan with sides and pour hot water over the poppadums until they are well covered. Leave to soften while you prepare the filling.
Boil the sweet potato pieces in water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Fry the onion, garlic, chilli, garam masala and coriander seeds in 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan.
When the onion starts to soften add the tomato puree and sweet potato pieces and mix well. Remove from the heat.
Add the 4 tbsp sunflower oil to a large frying pan and heat over a medium heat.
While the oil is heating in the frying pan, take an uncooked poppadum and fill it with some of the sweet potato filling. Carefully fold the edges over to seal it into a little packet. I'd recommend using a heaped tbsp of the filling at most for each poppadum; any more and you risk not being able to fold it up without breaking it.
Fry the packets in the frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side, or until the poppadum has crisped up and started to bubble.
Serve with a green leafy salad.

Make 10 packets. Use 2 packets per person as a starter.

Feta and Spinach Pie

2011-06-24T18:30:00.002+01:00

Some people might not call this a proper pie, as it lacks any pasty on the underside. However I didn't want the shortcrust pastry to be too overpowering, so I think it works best if there's only a lid of pastry, otherwise the subtle flavours of the feta and spinach could be lost.

Ingredients:

190g spinach, washed and rougly chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
250g flour
125g butter, ideally at room temperature
4 tbsp water
200g feta, cut into 1cm cubes

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
Find a suitable dish to go in the oven. I used a 22cm pie dish, but any oven-proof 1.0 litre container should do.
Put the spinach, oregano, olive oil and black pepper in a large saucepan, add 3 tablespoons of water and put a lid on the saucepan.
Heat over a low heat for 20 minutes. Once the spinach has cooked down to a denser green mess, make sure to stir it every few minutes to stop it burning.
While the spinach is cooking make the pastry by placing the flour in a large bowl.
Cut the butter into small cubes and add it to the flour. Now you need to rub-in the butter and flour. To do this use your finger tips to pick up flour and butter and rub it together. You need to do this until all the butter is mixed. When you've done this the flour and butter mixture should look a bit like breadcrumbs.
Add the water and mix well. You should be able to form a ball of pastry. If it's not sticking together then add some more water, a small amount at a time.
Once the pastry is made, roll it out to the diameter of your pie dish.
When the spinach is done remove it from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.
Add the feta to the spinach and mix well.
Put the feta and spinach mixture into the pie dish and cover with the pastry.
Poke a couple of holes in the pastry to allow air to escape and place in the oven.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Leave to stand for 5 minutes after removing from the oven to allow the filling to cool a bit.

Serves 2.

Spiced Butternut Squash Pie

2011-06-22T18:30:00.003+01:00

I recently got a nice pie dish as a present so I've been trying to think up exciting vegetarian pie recipes. The filling for this pie is suitable rich and develops a lovely thick gravy around the chunks of squash.

Ingredients:

1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2/3 tsp ground fenugreek
a pinch of salt
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into 1cm pieces
300ml water
175g plain flour
75g sunflower oil
50ml water

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Place the onion, turmeric, pepper, fenugreek and salt in a small blender and blend until it's a smooth paste.
Put the smooth paste into a large saucepan which you have a lid for and head over a medium heat for 3 minutes.
Add the butternut squash pieces and 300ml water and mix well.
Turn the heat down, place the lid on the mixture and leave to simmer for 30 minutes over a low heat. Stir it every 5 minutes to make sure that the butternut squash isn't burning on the bottom of the pan.
While that simmers away, put the flour in a large bowl and add the oil.
Mix well with a knife until the oil is absorbed by the flour. Season the mixture with ground black pepper if desired.
Add the 50ml water to the flour and oil mixture and mix with the knife until all the water is absorbed.
Use your hands to kneed to dough for a couple of minutes.
Divide the dough in half and roll out one half of it so it's large enough to cover your pie dish. I used a 22cm wide pie dish, but a slightly larger or smaller one should be fine. If you don't have a pie dish then any oven proof dish which can hold about 1.5 litres will do.
Use a fork to gently dent the pastry in the dish. You just want to leave a few dimples all over the pastry, don't press anywhere near hard enough to go all the way through.
By now the butternut squash should be cooked, so pour it into the pie dish over the pastry.
Roll out the other half of pastry so that it will cover the pie dish. Use a pastry brush (or repeated dipping of your finger into a cup of water) to dampen the edge of the pastry that is in the pie dish.
Place the rolled out pastry on top of the pie dish and press down the edges to seal it.
Spike a couple of holes in the pastry top to let gas escape.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving to allow the inside time to cool down and solidify a bit.

Serves 3.

Asparagus Risotto

2011-06-17T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a good dish for lazy summer evenings. Roasting the asparagus covered in lemon in the oven provides it with a delightfully tangy coating.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus, washed and tough ends removed by gently bending until they snap
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried mint
1 onion, finely chopped
25g butter
200g risotto rice
200ml white wine
400ml vegetable stock

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
In a bowl combine the asparagus, lemon juice and dried mint and use your hands to make sure it's well coated.
Place the asparagus on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until soft.
In a large sauce pan fry the onion in the butter over a medium heat until it starts to go soft.
Add the risotto rice to the pan and stir well so the rice gets coated in the butter.
After about half a minute add the white wine and stir well.
Continue to stir the risotto mixture every couple of minutes. When it starts to get dry add 50ml of the vegetable stock.
Repeat this process of waiting until the rice has absorbed the liquid before adding more until all the vegetable stock is used up.
This should take about 20 minutes and so the asparagus should be nicely roasted now. Remove it from the oven and chop all but two of the spears into 2cm pieces.
Stir the chopped asparagus into the risotto and leave for a minute to heat through.
Season with fresh black pepper and serve with the whole asparagus spears placed on top.

Serves 2.

Soy Bean Noodles

2011-06-15T18:30:00.000+01:00

Soy beans have a subtle nutty flavour which goes well with the deep flavours of the miso in this dish.

Ingredients:

75g dried soy beans, soaked overnight in plenty of water
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
3 sticks of celery, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 blocks of medium egg noodles
1 tbsp brown miso paste

Method:

Drain the soy beans and add them to a pan with plenty of fresh water.
Bring to the boil and simmer for at least and hour and a half. If using fresh soy beans then you don't need to boil them for more than a couple of minutes, but dried soy beans can make some people ill if not boiled for long enough.
When the beans have about 30 minutes left, add the onion, coriander seeds, leeks and celery to a small pan with the oil and fry over a medium heat, stirring frequently.
Heat some water in another pan and cook the noodles as per the instructions on their packet.
When the onions and leeks start to soften, which should be after about 10 minutes, drain the soy beans and the noodles.
Combine all the ingredients together in a large sauce pan and add in the tablespoon of miso paste.
Stir well until all the miso has disolved and serve in bowls.

Serves 2.

Bread Dumplings with Cabbage

2011-06-10T18:30:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine introduced me to the wonders of bread dumplings via his Austrian grandmother. The chunks of bread in them give a variable texture, which is a nice alternative to the uniformity of other types of dumplings.

Ingredients:

2 red onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
4 slices of bread, made into breadcrumbs
4 slices of bread, roughly cut into 1cm squares
1 egg, well beaten
2 white onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 tsp dried juniper berries, crushed
2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
1 small cabbage, sliced into small strips

Method:

Fry the red onions in the olive oil until soft.
In a large bowl combine the red onions, breadcrumbs and bread cubes together and mix well.
Add the egg to the mixture and stir well.
Use your hands to press the egg/bread mixture into 4 large dumplings.
In a deep pan fry the white onions in the sunflower oil over a medium heat until they start to soften.
Add the juniper berries, leeks and cabbage and mix well.
Turn the heat right down low and make 4 depressions in the leek and cabbage mixture, large enough for the dumplings to rest in.
Add four tablespoons of cold water to the pan.
Place the dumplings in the depressions and then put a good fitting lid on the pan.
Cook for 40 minutes or until the cabbage has softened. If it all starts to look a bit dry then add a couple more tablespoons of fresh water to the pan.

Serves 2.

Meatballs and Vegetables

2011-06-09T08:19:00.001+01:00

Although meatballs are usually had with spaghetti pasta, I decided that I wanted a bit of a change from meatballs in sauce over pasta. This recipe keeps the tomato sauce but makes it into a thick stew with vegetables. It's also a great dish for saving on washing up as it only uses one pan to cook and one bowl to eat.

Ingredients:

2 small onions, thickly chopped
300g Quorn Swedish style balls
3 carrots, washed and sliced
2 potatoes, washed and cut into 2cm cubes
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 vegetable stock cube

Method:

Fry the onions, meatballs, carrots and potatoes in the sunflower oil in a large pan, such as a wok. Use a medium heat to cook them reasonably slowly.
Stir frequently and cook for 15 minutes or until the potato starts to soften a big.
Add the chopped tomatoes, paprika and stock cube and mix well.
Bring to a simmer and keep it at a simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve in bowls as it can be quite liquid.

Serves 2.

Sweet and Sour Quorn Noodles

2011-06-03T18:30:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

2 small onions, finely chopped
300g beef style Quorn pieces
1 tsp sunflower oil
2 carrots, washed and cut into 2 cm long pieces (with thickness of a few mm)
2 blocks of medium egg noodles
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light soy sauce (if you can only find dark then only add it right at the end)
1 tbsp tomato puree
150ml water

Method:

Put on a pan of water to boil for the noodles.
Stir-fry the onion and Quorn pieces over a medium heat in the sunflower oil until they start to brown.
Add the carrots and continue to stir-fry.
When the pan of water is boiling, add the blocks of noodles to it and cook as per instructions on noodle packet.
Mix up the ginger, cornflour, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, tomato puree and water in a mug or small jug.
After a few minutes of stir-frying the carrots add the cornflour liquid mixture to the wok and mix well.
Carry on stirring well as the sauce around the carrots and Quorn starts to thicken.
Drain the water from the noodles when they are done and add to the wok.
Stir a couple of times to get the noodles well mixed and covered in the sauce.
Serve in bowls immediately. It's easiest to use forks or chopsticks to move the noodles from the wok to the bowls.

Serves 2.

Blue Cheese and Cauliflower Pasta

2011-06-01T18:30:00.001+01:00

This is a simple one pan dish which has a strong flavoured sauce from the blue cheese.

Ingredients:

200g dried tagliatelle pasta
1 cauliflower, cut into small 2 cm pieces
150g green beans
75g blue cheese, such as danish blue, crumbled or finely chopped

Method:

Put on a large pan of boiling water.
Add the pasta, cauliflower and green beans to the water.
Bring to the boil and boil for 15 minutes.
Drain most of the liquid off, but leave 30ml or so of the cooking liquid behind.
While everything is still very hot, stir in the blue cheese. Stir until the cheese has all melted.
Serve immediately while piping hot.

Serves 2.

Root Vegetable and Dumpling Soup

2011-05-27T18:30:00.000+01:00

Ingredients:

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp ghee
3 potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks
3 parsnips, washed and cut into 2 cm pieces
3 carrots, washed and cut into 2 cm pieces
6 leaves of kale, washed and roughly chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp marjoram
3 stock cubes
1.5 litre water
250g self raising flour
125g vegetable suet
4 to 6 tbsp cold water

Method:

Fry the onion in the ghee until it starts to brown in a large soup pan.
Add all the ingredients apart from the flour, suet and tablespoons of water.
Bring to the boil.
While it's heating, mix the flour and suet together and then add the tbsp of water.
Mix the flour and water into a dough and roll into 4 balls.
Place balls of dough into soup.
Simmer soup for 20 minutes with a lid on the pan.
Serve soup with one dumpling per person.

Serves 4.

Vegetable Lasagna

2011-05-25T18:30:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine showed me the trick of using cottage cheese instead of white sauce in lasagna and it does make it considerably easier to make (as well as using one less saucepan as you don't need to make the white sauce).

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tin of tomatoes
6 tomatoes, chopped into quarters
3 peppers, cut into thin strips
150g mushrooms, washed and sliced
400g fresh spinach
200g sheets of ready to cook lasagne which doesn't need pre-cooking
350g cottage cheese
50g mozzarella cheese, grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Fry the onion in the olive oil until soft.
Add the tinned and quartered tomatoes and peppers and simmer for 5 minutes.
Mix the spinach and mushrooms in a big bowl.
Cook the spinach and mushrooms over a low heat with a tablespoon of water in a large sauce pan. It should only need a couple of minutes until it's started to reduce down into a smaller volume.
Construct the lasagne in a lasagne dish by doing a layer of half the tomato sauce, followed by half the spinach and mushroom mix. Then a layer of sheets of lasagne, followed by the rest of the tomato sauce then the rest of the spinach mixtures and another layer of sheets of lasagne.
Finally spread the cottage cheese over the top and sprinkle the mozzarella over the top.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serves 4.

Tofu Noodle Stir Fry

2011-05-20T18:30:00.001+01:00

I cooked this after visiting a local Chinese supermarket and picked up a couple of the ingredients from there. It's great to experience the new range of flavours that such shops offer, I highly recommend random purchases from them.

Ingredients:

2 large mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 floret of broccoli, cut into 2cm pieces
1 chili, finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp olive vegetables (this is pickled vegetables and olives, again available from Chinese supermarkets)
150g deep fried tofu, thinly sliced (this is available already deep friend from Chinese supermarkets)
2 blocks of noodles

Method:

Put on a pan of water for cooking the noodles.
Stir fry the mushrooms, broccoli and chili in the sunflower oil and soy sauce over a high heat for five minutes.
Put the noodles in to the boiling water and cook for the time given on their package.
Add the olive vegetables and tofu to the wok and stir fry for another few minutes.
Drain the noodles and split them between two plates.
Serve the stir-fried tofu and vegetable over the noodles.

Serves 2.

Cabbage and Cottage Cheese Enchilladas

2011-05-18T18:30:00.000+01:00

I won't even attempt to pretend that this is a traditional mix of flavours. However don't be put off by the strange combination, it works very well.

Ingredients:

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 small cabbage, roughly chopped
6 french beans, ends removed and chopped into 1cm pieces
1 floret of broccoli, cut into small pieces
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp sunflower oil
350g cottage cheese
juice of 4 limes
200g pasta tomato sauce or passata
100g grated cheddar
8 large tortilla wraps

Method:

Put the onion, cabbage, beans, broccoli, paprika, chilli powder and oil into a big wok and stir fry over a medium heat until it all goes soft. This should take 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the cottage cheese followed by the lime juice.
Heat the oven up to 200 degrees.
Divide the mixture between the eight tortillas and wrap it up in them. Place them in a greased oven proof dish once you've wrapped them.
Pour the tomato sauce over the top of the tortillas. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the top is nice and crispy.

Carrot Maki (Sushi)

2011-05-13T18:30:00.002+01:00

Ingredients:

125g sushi rice
3 carrots
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp soy sauce, if you can get it then get Japanese soy sauce as it's less salty, but light soy sauce works too
2 or 3 sheets sushi nori

You'll also need a sushi rolling mat.

Method:

Cook the sushi rice according to the instructions on the packet. This will usually involve rinsing it a couple of times and then cooking it slowly in a sauce pan with a lid and a measured amount of water.
Wash and peel the carrots. Cut off the top and bottom of each carrot.
Carefully slice each carrot in half lengthways.
To get strips of carrot which are suitably thin then it's necessary to cut the halves of carrots in half again, but going in the same direction as the other cut. This will give you two thin strips of carrot, rather than 2 quarters. It can be tricky to do, and be careful not to slip and cut yourself with the knife.
Having got the 4 thin lengthways slices from the carrots, cut them into thin strips, no more than a couple of cm long.
Put the strips into a sauce pan, add the water and soy sauce and place a lid on the pan.
Bring to a simmer on a low heat and cook for 10 minutes, keeping the lid on the pan.
The carrot should now be softer, but not completely cooked, so they still have some bite.
Leave to cool.
To make the rolls, place a sheet of sushi nori on the rolling mat and cover 2/3rds of the nori with a thin layer of the sushi rice. Leave a gap of about half an inch at the bottom and about an inch at the top.
Place the strips of part-cooked carrot down the centre of the sushi rice. Be careful not to over fill it, otherwise it'll be hard to roll. However it's difficult to know how much to fill it without trying. Just don't be worried about failing to get a neat roll, it'll still taste as nice and after making it a couple more times you'll perfect it.
Before starting to roll up the sushi, brush cold water on the top edge of the nori so that it sticks to itself more easily when you roll it up.
Carefully roll up the sushi, starting at the bottom edge.
Once the mat is rolled up, press firmly all long it to help seal it all together.
Unroll and then cut into bit size pieces using a sharp knife. It generally helps if the knife is a bit damp as this prevents it sticking to the filling or the nori.
Serve with wasabi, if you like it, and pickled ginger, to cleanse your palette between pieces of sushi.

Serves 1, but you probably want to make some other types of sushi to go with it.

Tamagoyaki (Egg Sushi)

2011-05-11T18:30:00.001+01:00

Ingredients:

125g sushi rice
3 eggs
1 tbsp soy sauce, Japanese soy sauce is best as it's less salty, but light soy sauce works too
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar, or if you can't get that then white wine vinegar
1 tbsp sesame or sunflower oil
2 to 3 large sheets of sushi nori

You'll also need a sushi rolling mat.

Method:

Cook the sushi rice according to the instructions on the packet. This will usually involve rinsing it a couple of times and then cooking it slowly in a sauce pan with a lid and a measured amount of water.
Break the eggs into a measuring jug and mix well with a fork.
Add the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce to the egg and mix well.
Heat a large frying pan (or a Tamagoyaki pan if you have one) on a medium heat.
Oil the pan with the sesame/sunflower oil, making sure it's well covered.
Drop a small drop of the egg mixture to the pan to check it's the right temperature. You want it to be hot enough to start cooking, with a quite fizz, but not too hot that it sizzles loudly.
When the pan is the correct temperature then pour in the mixture and leave to cook.
When the top has started to become firm (usually by bubbles that start to appear on the surface) carefully fold over the egg mixture, either in half or in thirds, depending on how thick you like it.
Remove from the pan and transfer to a plate. Don't worry if it falls apart a bit, once you chop it up to fill the sushi rolls it won't matter.
Leave to cool.
To make the rolls, place a sheet of sushi nori on the rolling mat and cover 2/3rds of the nori with a thin layer of the sushi rice. Leave a gap of about half an inch at the bottom and about an inch at the top.
Slice the cooked egg mixture into strips and place down the centre of the sushi rice. Be careful not to over fill it, otherwise it'll be hard to roll. However it's difficult to know how much to fill it without trying. Just don't be worried about failing to get a neat roll, it'll still taste as nice and after making it a couple more times you'll perfect it.
Before starting to roll up the sushi, brush cold water on the top edge of the nori so that it sticks to itself more easily when you roll it up.
Carefully roll up the sushi, starting at the bottom edge.
Once the mat is rolled up, press firmly all long it to help seal it all together.
Unroll and then cut into bit size pieces using a sharp knife. It generally helps if the knife is a bit damp as this prevents it sticking to the filling or the nori.
The cooked egg mixture is very nice on it's own, so if you have some left over then just cut it into bite sized slices and serve it on the side with the other sushi.

Serves 1, but you probably want to make some other types of sushi to go with it.

Parsnip Cakes

2011-05-06T18:30:00.000+01:00

These are a refreshing way to prepare root vegetables in a way which isn't mashed or roasted.

Ingredients:

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 parsnips, washed and coarsely grated
2 carrots, washed and coarsely grated
50g plain flour
1 large egg
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme

Method:

Fry the onion in a saucepan with the olive oil until soft.
Add the chopped tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and leave to simmer while you prepare the parsnips cakes.
Mix the grated parsnip, grated carrots, flour, egg, oregano and thyme in a large bowl.
Heat up a frying pan or griddle to a medium heat.
Use your hands to press 1/6th of the parsnip mixture into round patties about 2 cm thick.
Repeat this so you have 6 parsnip cakes.
Fry or griddle the patties in the pan you've heated up. They'll take about 10 minutes on each side. Turn them once during cooking to brown both sides. If you try to turn them too early then they might fall apart!
Serve with cous-cous and the tomato sauce on the side.

Serves 2.

Raspberry and Lime Cheesecake

2011-05-04T18:30:00.001+01:00

This is a nice combination of flavours in a traditional (and very filling) dessert.

Ingredients:

300g dark chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed
125g butter, melted by heating in the microwave in a cup
600g cream cheese, I recommend light to make it a bit 'healthier'
140g caster sugar
juice and zest from 2 limes
4 eggs, separated
180ml double cream
175g raspberries

Method:

Mix the crushed biscuits with the butter until they are really sticking together.
Press the biscuit mixture into the bottom and sides of a buttered 23cm tin. I recommend using a springform tin, otherwise it's always difficult to remove the cheesecake.
Place the biscuit tin into the fridge to cool.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, lime juice and lime zest together in a large bowl.
Mix in the 4 yolks from the eggs and the cream.
Whip the whites from 2 of the eggs in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks. (You don't need the other 2 whites for anything).
Carefully fold the whipped whites into the cheese and cream mixture, trying to not be too violent so the little air bubbles aren't broken.
Use the edge of a metal spoon to carefully fold and mix the whites into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into the biscuit lined tin.
Place the raspberries onto the top of the mixture. They should slowly sink in as you place them evenly over it.
Place in the oven (on top of a baking tray to catch any drips or leaks). Bake for 1 hour.
After the hour is up just turn the oven off and wedge the door slightly ajar to let it cool slowly.
Once it's cooled in the oven place it in the fridge for at least a couple of hours (preferably overnight).
Enjoy in small slices, as it's quite filling.

Serves 10 to 12.

Fresh Croutons

2011-04-29T18:30:00.002+01:00

Fresh croutons are incredibly easy to make but can make any soup more exciting.

Ingredients:

1/2 french loaf, cut into 1cm to 2cm squares
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
Use your hands to gently mix all the ingredients together to make sure all the bread has a coating of oil. Don't be too rough or you risk squashing the bread.
Spread out one layer thick on a baking tray.
Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bread has a nice golden colour.
Serve with a variety of soups.

Makes enough croutons for 2 to 4 bowls of soup.

Spicy Parsnip Soup

2011-04-27T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a great winter warmer, especially if you've got a cold.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ghee or butter
4 parsnips, washed and cut into 2cm pieces.
2 dried chilis, finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
2 nodules of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp garam masala
650ml vegetable stock
150ml milk
40g fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method:

Melt the ghee/butter in a large pan.
Add the parsnips, chilis, onion, ginger and coriander seeds to the pan. Fry on a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the garam masala, stock and milk.
Bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Just before it's ready to serve, add the fresh coriander and use a blender to blend it all together.
Serve in a bowl with some crusty white bread on the side.

Serves 3 to 4.

Tofu Kare

2011-04-22T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is my attempt at a Japanese kare. I couldn't get hold of the kare seasoning which is usual, so I had to improvise.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp plain flour
1 lump of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp medium curry powder
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
200ml vegetable stock, room temperature
8 carrots, washed and sliced into 1/2 cm slices
1 tin of pre-cooked tofu, drained

Method:

Fry the onion over a medium heat in a large sauce pan with the sunflower oil until it goes soft.
Add the flour, ginger, garam masala, curry powder and garlic and mix well. Fry everything, stirring to stop it sticking, for a couple of minutes.
Add the carrots, tofu and stock to the pan and mix well. It's easiest to add everything except the stock, mix it all around and then add the stock.
Bring to a simmer, stirring continuously.
Simmer for 15 minutes, again stirring frequently. The flour will cook and make the sauce considerably thicker, so it's important to stir to prevent lumps forming or it sticking on the bottom.
Serve with rice.

Serves 2 to 3.

Wensleydale Pasta ala Hane

2011-04-20T18:30:00.000+01:00

I got this recipe from a friend after he'd been on a holiday to Wensleydale. It's a great combination of bold and subtle flavours.

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
juice and zest of one lemon
100g Wensleydale cheese, finely chopped
250g pasta
black pepper to taste

Put on a large pan of water to boil for the pasta.
Mix the garlic, oil, lemon and cheese in a bowl.
Season the mixture with fresh black pepper, but don't add any salt as the cheese has enough in it.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta to it and cook according to instructions.
Drain the pasta when it's cooked, but leave a bit of liquid on it, to help the sauce.
Return the pasta to the pan and add the lemon and cheese mixture.
Stir well and let the remaining heat in the pasta and pan warm the sauce through. If it's all cooled down too much then put it over a low heat for 30 seconds or so.
Serve while still warm.

Serves 2.

Broccoli and Halloumi Riccioli Bake

2011-04-15T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is another variation on a favourite dish of mine: halloumi pasta bakes.

Ingredients:

2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 florets of broccoli, washed and cut into 2cm pieces
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 blocks of halloumi, about 250g each, sliced into 1/2 cm slices
1 tsp olive oil
500g riccioli pasta
75g grated mozzarella

Method:

Put on a large pan of water to boil for the riccioli pasta.
Put the tomatoes, broccoli, chilli powder and vinegar into a different saucepan and bring to a simmer on a medium heat.
Turn the heat on the tomatoes down to keep it just at a simmer and cover. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Fry the halloumi in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Be sure to move the halloumi around a bit so that it doesn't stick. When it's nice and golden remove it from the pan and leave to cool.
Once it's cooled enough to handle, chop the halloumi into 1cm pieces.
When the pasta water is boiling add the riccioli pasta and cook as per the instructions on the packet.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Drain the pasta once it's cooked and combine with the tomato sauce and the halloumi in an oven proof dish.
Sprinkle the mozzarella over the top and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the top is nice and crisp.

Serves 4

Croque-Monsieur

2011-04-13T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is a vegetarian version of the classic French dish.

Ingredients:

100ml milk
2 tbsp plain flour
4 slices of bread
2 tsp mustard
125g grated cheese
4 slices of vegetarian ham
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:

Put the cold milk and flour in a small sauce pan and put over a low heat. Stir it every minute as it warms up.
While the milk comes to a simmer (and while continuing to stir regularly), take two of the slices of bread and spread the mustard evenly over them.
Place a slice of the vegetarian ham on each of the slices of bread.
Divide half of the grated cheese between the two stacks of bread and ham.
Top each with the remaining slices of vegetarian ham, followed by the remaining slices of bread.
Gently press down on the top slices to compress the sandwich slightly.
By now the milk and flour should be starting to thicken, continue to stir it often and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Stir the remaining cheese into the milk sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the milk and cheese sauce over the top of the two sandwiches.
Place under a grill on a medium heat and cook until nicely browned.
Serve immediately so that they are still warm.

Serves 2.

Blue Cheese and Olive Baguette

2011-04-08T18:30:00.000+01:00

This is great for a filling lunch or a quick dinner.

Ingredients:

250g blue cheese, finely chopped
100g green olives, cut into quarters
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 medium sized baguette, about 45cm long

Method:

Mix the cheese, olives and tomatoes in a bowl.
Slice the baguette down the middle and scoop out some of the soft inside so that it's slightly concave.
Fill the baguette with the cheese, olive and tomato mix.
Place on a baking tray and put under a hot grill.
Grill until the cheese has melted and started to brown.
Serve on a plate and enjoy.

Serves 2.

Tortelloni Soup

2011-04-06T18:29:00.000+01:00

As it's name implies, this uses a soup to go with pasta rather than a thicker sauce. It makes a nice change from the usual pasta and sauce and is quick and easy to do.

Ingredients:

1/4 cabbage, shredded into small lengths
4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
75g green beans, sliced
1000ml water
1 stock cube
300g fresh tortelloni

Method:

Place the cabbage, carrot, beans, water and stock cube into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 10 minutes over a medium heat.
Add the tortelloni and simmer for a further 3 minutes.
Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Serves 2.

Bean and Mushroom Fajita

2011-04-01T18:30:00.000+01:00

Some people would claim that using pre-mixed spice mixes is cheating. I'm not one of those people; they provide nice variation and sometimes it's good to not have to decide what flavour spices you want to blend.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1/8 scotch bonnet chili, very finely chopped (coat your fingers in oil to stop them stinging when handling this chili)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tin kidney beans. drained
350g mushrooms, washed and chopped into 1cm to 2cm pieces
1 packet of fajita spice mix
8 flour tortilla
Favourite fajita garnishes, such as grated cheese, salsa, yoghurt, shredded lettuce

Method:

Fry the onion and chili in the oil over a medium heat until the onion starts to go soft.
Add the kidney beans, mushrooms and fajita spice mix and stir well.
Cook everything for 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes to stop it sticking.
Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 40 seconds before serving to make them softer.
Serve with everything at the table so that people can construct their own fajitas.

Serves 2 to 3.

Breaded Aubergine with Curry

2011-03-30T18:30:00.000+01:00

I came up with this recipe when thinking of doing an aubergine curry, but deciding to try something different and have the curry sauce as something on the side.

Ingredients:

1 aubergine, sliced into 1/2 cm slices
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 lump of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp medium curry powder
300ml vegetable stock
3 tbsp plain flour
1 egg, beaten with a fork
crusts from 6 slices of bread, blended into breadcrumbs

Method:

Grill or griddle the slices of aubergine until it's well browned.
In a small sauce pan mix the onion, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric, curry powder and 1 tbsp of the plain flour.
Add the vegetable stock to the mixture and mix well until all the flour is dissolved.
Bring the curry mixture to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring well every minute to stop it burning or lumps forming.
Put the other 3 tbsp of plain flour into a small plate. Do similar with the breadcrumbs and the beaten egg into a wide bowl.
Coat the aubergine pieces in bread crumbs by putting them in the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs.
Fry the breaded aubergine slices for 5 minutes on each side, or until the breadcrumbs are a nice crispy brown colour.
Serve with rice.

Serves 2.

Sausage and Cabbage Hotpot

2011-03-25T18:30:00.000Z

This is a good single pan dish, but does require you to have quite a big dish with a lid which fits it. I use a big wok, but a deep frying or saute pan should work as well.

Ingredients:

6 sausages
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, washed and thinly sliced
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 large (or 2 small) cabbage(s), washed and roughly chopped with hard core removed
6 potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes
250ml white wine
250ml water

Method:

Brown the sausages in a large and deep pan with a fitting lid.
Remove the browned sausages and put to one side.
Fry the onion and celery in the oil until soft.
Add the cabbage and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the potatoes, water and wine and reduce to a simmer.
Stir well and then place the sausages on top of the cabbage and put the lid on.
Let the pan cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Don't take the lid off to look or you'll let all the good flavours out. However it's important to use a very low heat so that it doesn't burn or boil dry.
Serve straight onto plates from the pan to minimise washing up.

Serves 2.

Chickpea and Pepper Stew

2011-03-23T18:30:00.001Z

Ingredients:

2 onions, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, washed and thinly sliced
1 tsp sunflower oil
2 peppers, washed and sliced
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tin chickpeas, drained
200ml vegetable stock

Method:

Fry the onions and celery in the oil over a medium heat until they start to soften.
Add the peppers and fry for 3 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
Simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes.
Serve with cous-cous.

Serves 2 to 3.

Carrot and Broccoli Pasta Bake

2011-03-18T18:30:00.000Z

This is another variation on the pasta bake.

Ingredients:

400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp chilli powder
5 carrots, peeled and thinly chopped
100g tomato puree
250ml water
salt and pepper to taste
2 heads of broccoli, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
300g fusilli pasta
100g grated cheese

Method:

Put on a large pan of water to boil for the pasta.
In a separate saucepan put in the tomatoes, oil, chilli powder, carrots, tomato puree and water.
Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
Heat the tomato mixture over a medium heat and simmer with a lid on for 15 minutes.
By this time the water for the pasta should be boiling, so add the pasta to the water.
At the same time add the broccoli to the tomato mixture and mix well.
Put the oven on to preheat to 170 degrees.
Cook the pasta for 15 minutes and then drain.
In a large ovenproof dish combine the pasta with the tomato and broccoli mixture and mix well.
Top with the grated cheese and place in the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is nice and golden.

Serves 3.

Hash Browns

2011-03-16T18:30:00.000Z

If you're a hash brown purist then you'll object to this recipe as it includes eggs to bind it all together. If you get the right sort of potatoes then you can get away without the egg, but the egg makes this recipe more reliable.

Ingredients:

1 onion, peeled
3 medium sized potatoes
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
sunflower oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan

Method:

Grate the onion into a clean tea towel and squeeze out excess water.
Peel the potatoes and then, taking them one potato at a time, grate them into the tea towl, squeezing out the water again. It's important to get the onion and potato as dry as possible so that it all holds together.
Put the grated onion and potato in a large bowl and add the egg.
Season with salt and pepper and mix well until it's all well combined.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat until it's hot enough that a piece of the potato mixture starts to fizzle.
Take a medium sized handful of the mixture, push it together in your hard to form a patty and then place in the frying pan.
Repeat until all the mixture has been pressed into patties.
Leave to cook for 5 minutes.
Use a fish slice to press each hash brown flat in the frying pan and then cook for another 5 minutes.
Check the underside of each hash brown and when it's nice and golden turn them over.
Cook the other side for a further 10 minutes, or until golden.
Serve while still warm with ketchup and mustard.

Serves 2.

Spanakopita (Feta and Spinach Pie)

2011-03-11T18:30:00.000Z

I'd never used fillo (or filo/phyllo) pastry before trying this recipe, but it turns out it's rather easy to work with. If you're using frozen fillo pastry then you'll need to get it out and put it in the fridge the day before you want to use it.

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp olive oil
230g spinach, washed and roughly chopped
2 tsp parsley or mixed herbs
200g feta cheese, finely chopped
2 eggs, yolk and white lightly beaten together
14 sheets of fillo pastry
100ml olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Place the spinach, 1/2 tsp olive oil and herbs in a large pan, cover with a lid and heat over a medium heat.
After about 5 to 10 minutes the spinach should have cooked down to a dark green mass. When it has, removed the pan from the heat and place it to one side to cool.
Once the pan has cooled for 5 minutes add the feta and egg to the spinach and mix well.
Use a pastry brush to coat the inside of a deep roasting tin or large cake tin with olive oil. If you don't have a pastry brush then a rolled up stick of kitchen towel can work, but won't give as even coverage and you'll need to watch for leaving behind bits of paper!
Place a sheet of fillo pastry into the dish and brush olive oil over it. If it's a bit too large for the dish then trim it down a bit or, if it's not too much bigger, just fold over the edges into the dish.
Repeat with more sheets of fillo pastry until you've got 7 layers in total.
Next spread the feta and spinach mixture over the inner layer of pastry.
Add the remaining sheets of fillo pastry to the top of the dish, on top of the feta and spinach mixture.
Place in the oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the top is a nice light golden colour.
Serve on it's own or with a tomato salad.

Serves 3.

Creamy Beetroot and Carrot Stew

2011-03-09T18:30:00.000Z

This is a good winter vegetable stew which celebrates the colourful natures of various root vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 pak choi, outer leaves removed, washed and cut into 1cm strips
1 tsp olive oil
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm lengths
4 beetroot, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
150ml crème fraîche
100g Shropshire Blue (or other blue cheese) finely chopped

Method:

Put the onion, pak choi and olive oil in a large sauce pan and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes (or until soft).
Add the carrots and beetroots to the pan and stir well. Add 50ml of water.
Place lid on pan and let simmer for 30 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes and add more water if it's starting to get dry.
After the 30 minutes add the crème fraîche and blue cheese and stir until well mixed.
Continue to stir every 30 seconds or so until all the blue cheese has melted into the sauce.
Serve on it's own as a complete dish.

Serves 2.

Carrot and Barley Soup

2011-03-04T18:30:00.000Z

This is a nice hearty soup with a good balance of interesting flavours.

Ingredients:

2 onions, finely chopped
10g butter
8 carrots, washed and sliced
100g dried barley
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
125ml red wine
250ml water
2 tsp marjoram
3 bay leaves

Method:

Fry the onions in the butter in a large sauce pan until golden.
Add the carrots and barley, stir well and fry for five minutes.
Add the tomatoes, wine, water, marjoram and bay leaves and stir well.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Serves 3 to 4.

Sausage and Red Wine Dumpling Stew

2011-03-02T18:30:00.000Z

When considering what to have for dinner one evening I saw a half open bottle of wine and started wondering if it could be used in making dumplings to give them a unique flavour. It turns out that it can.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 stock cube
5 vegetarian frankfurters, chopped into 1cm pieces
150g french beans, doesn't matter if they're frozen or not
800ml boiling water
1 tsp sage
300g self-raising flour
100ml red wine

Method:

Fry the onion in the oil until golden brown.
Add the stock cube, frankfurters, beans, water and sage to the pan and bring to a simmer.
While that's heating up, mix the self-raising flour with the wine in a bowl until a stiff dough forms.
Divide the dough into 12 balls.
Add the balls of dough to the top of the stew and place a lid on the sauce pan.
Simmer for 20 minutes, turning the dumplings after 10 minutes so that they are cooked on both sides.
Serve on a plate or in bowls.

Serves 3 to 4.

Guacamole

2011-02-25T18:30:00.000Z

As long as you have a couple of ripe avocados then this is very quick and simple to make.

Ingredients:

juice of one lime
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder
pinch of salt
2 ripe avocados

Method:

Place all the ingredients other than the avocados into a blender and blend until smooth.
Cut the avocados in half and remove the stones in the middle. If they are fairly ripe then you should be able to scoop the flesh out with a spoon. If they're not ripe enough for that then don't worry, just peel them carefully with a knife and chop them into 1 cm cubes.
Add the avocado to the onion and tomato paste and blend until no large bits of avocado remain. It's a matter of personal taste, but I prefer a slightly chunky texture, so don't blend until it's entirely smooth. However it's up to you.
Chill for at least half an hour.
Serve with tortilla chips to dip or as a topping to quesadilla.

Serves 4 or more, depending on how hungry they are and what there is to dip.

Tomato Salsa

2011-02-23T18:30:00.000Z

Freshly made tomato salsa is a totally different beast from it's pre-made jar from a shop equivalent, I highly recommend trying the difference.

Ingredients:

6 medium sized tomatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp chilli powder (more if you like a hotter salsa)
a pinch of salt

Place the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them so that they are fully covered.
In a second bowl combine the onion, vinegar, chilli powder and salt.
Leave the two bowls to stand for 5 minutes; this helps soften the onion and makes the tomatoes easier to peel. Rotate the tomatoes after a couple of minutes so that the part which was above the water is below it.
Carefully remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and peel. The boiling water should have made them easy to peel, just slide a knife over the skin to break it and it should then peel off fairly easily.
Finely chop the tomatoes, keeping all the juice that escapes.
Mix the chopped tomatoes with the onion and vinegar and mix well.
Leave to stand for at least one hour and then serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Makes a decent sized bowl of salsa.

Simple Quorn Curry

2011-02-18T18:30:00.000Z

This is a quick and simple curry of no particular style.

Ingredients:

2 onions, finely chopped
2 dried chilis, crushed or finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
3 medium sized potatoes, washed and cut into 2cm cubes
1 head of broccoli, washed and cut into 2cm pieces
300g Quorn pieces
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp fenugreek powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
350ml water

Method:

Put a small pan of water on to boil for the potatoes.
In a large saucepan or wok, fry the onions and chilis in the oil over a medium heat.
While the onions are frying, boil the potatoes in the water for 10 minutes.
When the potatoes are slightly soft, drain them and add them to the onions.
Add the broccoli and quorn to the wok and stir fry everything for a 5 minutes.
Mix the cornflour, fenugreek, turmeric and garam massal with the water in a jug or bowl.
Add the cornflour mixture to the work and turn the heat down to a low heat.
Let the dish simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to check it's not burning.
Serve with rice.

Serves 3 to 4.

Cheesy Foldovers

2011-02-16T18:30:00.000Z

This was a quick and simple way to use up a bit of leftover plastic/processed cheese, but would work with more flavoursome cheeses as well.

Ingredients:

150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp mustard powder
85ml hot water
1 tsp marmite
2 slices of cheese

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Combine the flour, baking powder, mustard and sunflower oil in a bowl and mix well.
Combine the water and marmite in a cup and mix until the marmite is disolved.
Add most of the water to the dry ingredients and mix in a bowl. Add just enough water to get a sticky dough.
Kneed the dough for a few minutes and it should start to dry out and become firmer.
Split the dough into two lumps and roll out each lump into a flat disc about 1/2 cm thick.
Place a slice of cheese in the middle of each disc and fold the edges of the dough over, using water on the edges to seal the joins together.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until nice and crisp.
Serve with some pickle or chutney.

Soya Loaf

2011-02-11T18:30:00.000Z

The addition of some soya flour to a traditional brown loaf makes for a denser, more nutty flavour of bread. A good bread to go with strongly flavoured foods such as spicy bean stew.

Ingredients:

1 tsp fast action yeast
375g strong wholemeal flour
100g soya flour
1 tsp caster sugar
30g butter or olive oil
1 tsp salt
330ml warm water

Method:

Either combine the ingredients together in a bread maker and set it to make a medium sized loaf or do the following steps by hand:
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a spoon until a dough forms.
Kneed the dough for three minutes on a floured surface and then place it somewhere warm for 30 minutes.
Kneed the dough for a further three minutes and then return to the warm place for another 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 180 degrees.
Kneed the dough one last time and then put it into a greased bread tin or onto a greased baking tray.
Leave to rise for 10 minutes while the oven heats up.
Bake in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned.

Bean Stew

2011-02-09T18:30:00.000Z

This is a simple and tasty stew which requires minimal preparation.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 small dried chilis, crushed or finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 vegetable stock cube
4 tomatoes, cut into eighths
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tin chick peas
1 tin kidney beans

Method:

Fry the onion, garlic and chilis in the sunflower oil until they start to brown.
Add all the rest of the ingredients and 300ml of water.
Simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes.
Serve with crusty bread on the side.

Beetroot and Squash Fondant Stacks

2011-02-04T18:30:00.000Z

I have no idea why this technique of cooking vegetables is called fondant as it's nothing to do with fondants used in confectionary making. However it is a very tasty way to cook the vegetables, halfway between steaming and roasting. While the traditional vegetables to cook in the fondant style is potatoes, it works very nicely with butternut squash and beetroot.

Ingredients:

2 beetroot
1 butternut squash
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 vegetable stock cubes
600ml boiling water
150g block of feta, sliced in half to make it thinner then in half to make almost square pieces

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Peel the beetroot and butternut squash and cut into thick slices, about 2 cm thick. Remove the seeds (and gunky stuff around the seeds) from inside the butternut squash.
Carefully run a knife around the edges of the slices of beetroot and squash. You want to remove the sharp edge from both sides of the slices. If you don't do this then the edges will burn before the rest of the surface starts to brown.
Don't worry about some of the butternut squash slices having holes where the seeds were.
Once you've removed the edges you should have several slices with rounded edges all around.
Place the slices into deep roasting tins, you'll probably need two tins.
Mix up the boiling water, oil and stock cubes in a jug.
Split the oily stock between the roasting tins and place in the oven.
Every 15 minutes check on the slices in the oven. You'll want to turn the slices and baste them (use a spoon to pour some of the stock over the tops of the slices) to make sure they cook evenly.
After about an hour most of the stock will have evaporated and the slices should be starting to brown nicely. The beetroot slices can be hard to see the browning on, so it's best to just judge on what the butternut squash slices are doing.
When the slices are lightly browned, remove them from the oven and build them up into four stacks. Build the stacks directly on the plates you're going to serve from. It's best to alternate butternut squash and beetroot slices. You'll also probably find that some of the beetroot fits nicely inside the holes in the butternut squash slices.
Finish off the top of each stack with a slice of the feta cheese.

Serves 2 people (two stacks each).

Kale Crisps

2011-02-02T18:35:00.000Z

When I first heard about making kale crisps I was sceptical, but they are a really nice (and crunchy) snack.

Ingredients:

As much kale as you want, washed and stalks removed
1tsp olive oil for each handful of kale
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Mix the kale with the seasoning and oil in a bowl with your hands. Make sure all the kale gets a thin coating of oil.
Lie the kale out on baking trays so that it's only one layer thick.
Cook in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on it as it can go from crisp to burnt in a very short length of time.
I found my oven isn't very good at cooking the kale uniformly. I'd found I had to remove some of the cooked crisps after 5 minutes but return the baking tray to the oven to cook the other crisps for a bit longer.

Onion and Mushroom Burgers

2011-01-28T18:30:00.000Z

These burgers use whole vegetables and so make a nice change from the mashed up vegetable burgers which you generally see.

Ingredients:

2 large red onions, peeled and cut in half
4 large mushrooms, washed
4 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 burger baps

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Remove the center core of the onions so that they can fit over the stalks of the mushrooms.
Place the mushrooms and onion stacks on a baking tray.
Pour a tsp of olive oil over each one and season with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the onion is nicely caramelised.
Serve inside the baps, possibly with some relish or ketchup.

Sprout and Almond Pasta

2011-01-26T18:30:00.000Z

Another day, another sprout recipe. This one uses the different textures of the cream, pasta, sprouts and almonds to provide interest and variety as you chew.

Ingredients:

4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
40 Brussel sprouts (about 400g), ends chopped off and outer leaves remove, quartered
250g spaghetti
50g almond flakes
250ml double cream

Method:

Put on a large pan of pasta to boil.
Use a large frying pan to fry the garlic and sprouts in the olive oil over a medium heat.
Stir the sprouts and garlic every minute or so.
After frying for 5 minutes, add the spaghetti to the water and cook as per the instructions (about 10 minutes).
When the pasta is almost done, add the almonds and double cream to the sprouts and mix well.
Heat the cream and sprout sauce just long enough so that it starts to steam but not bubble.
Drain the pasta and then add it to the almonds and cream mixture.
Stir well and serve.

Serves 2.

Sprout and Potato Patties

2011-01-21T18:30:00.000Z

With it being the time of year that Brussel sprouts are available, it seems appropriate to make as many interesting and exciting recipes with them as possible. They really aren't the hated vegetable of your youth that you remember, especially if you cook them in interesting or unusual ways.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
20 sprouts, end chopped off, yellow layers of skins removed and chopped into quarters
4 tsp plain flour
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Put the potatoes in a pan with enough water to cover them and bring them to the boil.
Boil the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft.
In a frying pan fry the garlic in the teaspoon of olive oil until it just starts to darken. Over a medium heat this should be a couple of minutes.
Add the sprouts to the frying pan and stir well. Keep the heat at a medium heat and fry for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently to cook the sprouts evenly.
Drain the potatoes once they are done and put them in a large bowl.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and then add the sprouts and mash some more.
Add the plain flour and mix well.
Divide the mixture into quarters and use your hands to press into burger shaped patties.
Heat the rest of the olive oil in the frying pan on a high heat.
Add the four patties to the frying pan and fry for about 7 to 10 minutes on each side.
If you don't have a non-stick frying pan then slide a fish slice under them every minute or so to make sure they don't stick.
Serve with dressed sliced tomatoes and some relish or pickle.
It's also possible to make many more of these and to wrap them in foil and freeze them. When you want to use one, defrost it for five or six hours on a metal baking tray and then fry as above.

Serves 2.

Red Kidney Bean Hommous

2011-01-19T18:30:00.000Z

This is an easy dip/sauce which can be made with ingredients which you just store in the cupboard. It goes well with tortilla chips or as a side dish for tex-mex dishes. Just don't be put off by the colour!

Ingredients:

1 tin of red kidney beans, drained
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp chili powder
A pinch of salt

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend into a smooth paste.
Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes about 400ml of dip.

Mushroom Pate

2011-01-14T18:30:00.000Z

One of the meat dishes I miss from being vegetarian is a thick pate on toast or biscuits. Luckily mushrooms make an excellent replacement for liver.

Ingredients:

350g mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp dried majoram

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and fry over a medium heat. Stir frequently
It should take about 15 to 20 minutes for all the mushrooms to cook down and turn from white to a dark grey colour.
Turn the heat down to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes to remove some of the liquid.
Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for half an hour.
Use a blender to make the mixture into a thick paste.
Transfer to a bowl and then place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Ideal served with toast or savoury biscuits.

Roasted Sprout Noodles

2011-01-12T18:30:00.000Z

This is a tasty alternative to boiling or steaming sprouts. I recommend trying it, even if you're not keen on steamed sprouts normally.

Ingredients:

400g brussel sprouts, washed
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp water
2 tsp ground ginger
3 blocks of medium egg noodles
50g cashew nuts, chopped in half

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Put on a large pan of water for the noodles.
Carefully cut the tough end off each sprout and peel off one or two layers of skin to get at the fresh skin below.
Chop the sprouts in half (so that the blade goes splits the stalk in half, otherwise one half will fall apart).
Place the sprouts in a large roasting tin.
Mix the sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce, water and ginger in a cup until well mixed.
Pour the lemon juice mixture over the sprouts and make sure all of them have a good coating.
Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook as per instructions. Once cooked drain immediately, add a few drops of oil, mix well and then put to one side in the pan with a lid on.
Shift the roasting tin from side to side so the sprouts are one layer deep on the bottom on place in the oven.
After 10 minutes remove from the oven, add enough water to clean off the sticky sugar solution and stir well so that all the sprouts are coated again.
Return to the oven for another 10 minutes and again add just enough water to clean off the glazed sugar from the pan. Add in the cashew nuts, stir well and return to the oven.
Leave the cashews and sprouts roasting in the oven for a further 10 minutes and then remove them.
Add a bit water to deglaze the dish once again and then mix with the noodles and serve.

Serves 2

Cauliflower Quesadilla

2011-01-07T18:30:00.002Z

Cauliflower is an unusual combination to have in a quesadilla, but as long as you cut it into really small pieces it works really well.

Ingredients:

1 tsp sunflower oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
1/4 cauliflower, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp ground paprika
4 wheat tortilla wraps
60g grated cheddar cheese
10 green olives, cut in half

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Fry the onions and cauliflower in the oil in a large frying pan or wok for 5 minutes.
Add the cumin, corriander and paprika and stir over a medium heat until the cauliflower becomes softer.
Lightly grease a large baking tray and lay two of the tortilla down on it.
Divide the olives and then the cauliflower mixture over the two tortilla.
Cover with cheese and then put the other tortilla on top.
Press gently down to make sure it's reasonably flat and then place in the oven.
Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
Cut into quarters and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Serves 1 to 2.

Swede Tagine

2011-01-04T18:30:00.000Z

This recipe requires quite a few spices and ingredients, but don't let that put you off! The combination of flavours is worth it and once you've got all the spices you can make this, or similar dishes, many times.

Ingredients:

1 swede, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
3 carrots, washed and cut into 2cm pieces
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp harissa paste (or finely chopped chili if you can't find harissa paste)
1 tbsp honey
400ml vegetable stock
20g almonds, finely chopped

Method:

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Toss the carrot and swede in the sunflower oil and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
Fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat until soft. Use a large saucepan with a lid or, ideally, a tagine if you own one.
Add the coriander, cumin, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, harissa and honey to the onion pan and mix well.
Add the vegetable stock and the roasted carrot and swede and stir well.
Turn the heat down low, put the lid on the pan and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve on a bed of cous-cous.

Serves 2.