Smoked Mackerel and veggie packed Buckwheat-otto

Soooo.. its been a while! I had completely lost my blogging mojo and over the past year I've really been questioning in general how much I share and how much time I spend online. Tweeting this, Instagramming that, posting various things on Facebook and updating on other groups meant there was not enough time leftover just for me and so I decided enough is enough, no more blogging and a real cut back of being online. So I did nothing. Absolutely nothing. And its lovely to do nothing. The last year or so has frankly been far too stressful (though there were some good things too) and it was taking a toll on my health and so I took a month off. My inbox is full but it doesn't bother me anymore. My blog has only ever meant to be a hobby and I had been thinking about giving up entirely but I will hang in a bit longer and see how I feel.. 9 years is a long time!!

These winter nights are not helping either with the blogging!! Everything I photograph looks odd and I've spent ages trying to adjust the colour balance!! Fingers crossed in the new year we may also be in pastures new...hopefully with much better lighting too!! Though the whole process is the part of my current stress levels, it will be worth it in the end! I've already decided summer cannot come around quick enough - our current kitchen is freezing and I am currently huddled under my snuggie blanket typing, thawing out from cooking our dinner tonight!!

Comfort food is definitely winning at the moment and this is one of those dishes! I am following my FODMAP about 80% of the time and whilst I think I've worked out both wheat and dairy are not my BFF's, we are alright mates if we don't hang out too frequently! I missed bread to much to carry on long term, also with it being the 'C' season I've been eating out a lot and doing FODMAP + restaurants is always a bad idea!! I have been avoiding garlic but a little in this would be probably rather lovely!!

A few months back when I started re-assessing my diet, I discovered Buckwheat, which isn't actually a type of wheat and is more grain like in texture. Its slightly nutty and its really versatile - it soaks up flavours brilliantly too and I've been making lots of risotto style dishes with it. This dish is also a one pan winner - less washing up is always good!! Its also fairly cheap to make, in a month full of annual type bills its very welcome! 

Serves 3

Ingredients

100g buckwheat

200g smoked peppered mackerel, skinned and shredded

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1/2 courgette, cut into strips

1/2 red pepper, diced

1 small stick of celery, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

5 tbsp parmesan, grated

1/2 tbsp herbs de provence

2 tbsp basil leaves, chopped

S&P to taste

Soak the buckwheat for about 10 minutes in cold water and rinse well. (This helps to remove any wheaty dust etc but isn't the end of the world if you forget!)

Heat a glug of olive oil in a saute pan till hot and fry the carrot and celery for 5 minutes, until starting to soften and then stir in the remaining veggies and fry until the courgette is starting to become lightly golden - about 5 minutes. 

Stir in the prepared buckwheat, herbs de provence and add the tomatoes. Fill the empty tin with water and pour over, cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid has absorbed, stirring every 5-10 minutes.

Fold in the prepared mackerel and half the parmesan and heat through. Scatter over the basil and remaining parmesan and serve

Serve in big bowls and enjoy!

Tuna Meatball and Courgette Risotto

A few years back I recall making some tuna meatballs but I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed and I never revisited them... they were kind of stodgy and er dense from memory… until one particular night recently... I had planned a risotto of some sort for dinner and I thought about using up the bacon lurking in the fridge but as we were planning sausages on the Thursday and my head started muttering too many nitrates in the week, I decided to cook something fishy instead but we only had tinned tuna, tinned mackerel or tinned salmon and nothing in the fridge or freezer.. and I wondered if could we dare brave tuna meatballs again? Plus the thought of tuna stirred through risotto didn’t exactly sound inviting at all yet alone the mental imagery and I thought about making tuna meatballs again but smaller this time and a completely different recipe – so I tweaked a few things and voila! Success! Apart from Mr B initially thinking the meatballs were actually made of chicken it was a resounding success!

Since making this courgette version, I also made another one with finely sliced leek, added at the same stage as the courgette in the original version and a cupful of petit pois near the end, along with roasting cherry tomatoes instead of peeling etc as basically they are less faffy to do, oh and I used some lovely fresh rosemary instead of Basil – both risottos were resounding successes and I am making mental note of both to remake! Don’t be shy with the parmesan – I have in the back of my mind somewhere that cheese and fish are not very Italian but I am part Polish and the rest a mixed English bag and well I don’t really care! It tastes great and surely that’s all that matters?!

 

The meatballs are easy to make - I have tried both with and without flour to roll in and providing you work quickly, the less flour the better! Its a fairly cheap dish to make as well - tinned tuna is so handy to keep on standby this makes a great week night or weekend meal to cook!

Serves Two – Easily doubled.

Meatballs:

1 x tin tuna in spring water
1 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
1 medium egg
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
1 tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
1tbsp olive oil

Risotto:

175g carnaroli rice
1 white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 courgette, trimmed, cut into thin quarters
1 tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
50ml dry white wine (or vermouth)
1 large tomato (or 6 cherry tomatoes)
1 heaped tsp vegetable stock powder, made up in 700ml boiling water
½ lemon, zest only
2 heaped tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese + more to serve
3 basil leaves, for garnish

Pre-heat the oven 10 low – about 80o

Start by preparing the meatballs. Mix lightly the tuna, basil. Egg, parmesan and breadcrumbs. Use a teaspoon and hands to create mini meatballs. Heat the olive oil, fry the meatballs for about a minute or so on each side until lightly crispy, place in a baking tray, cover loosely with foil and keep warm in the oven.

Place the pan back on the heat and melt the butter, gently sauté the onion until translucent, being cautious not to brown it then add the courgettes and fry for 5 minutes to lightly colour.

 

Add the white wine, allow to burn off then stir through the garlic and rice, fry for a minute then add a good splash of stock to loosen, reduce the heat slightly and when the stock has evaporated and starting to sizzle slightly, add a splash more and repeat until the rice has fluffed up - about 30 minutes give or take. You may choose to spend this time getting to know your wine better.

 

When its almost cooked through add the prepared tomato, and lemon zest. The texture should be slightly loose but not sloppy! Turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper and stir through the parmesan.

Serve in bowls with a good sprinkle of parmesan and a basil leaf

 

Risotto really is perfect comfort food – who can resist a big steaming bowl of hot creamy, fragrant rice on a chilly winters night? The flavours all worked so well together and it will definitely be made again soon!

 

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If my risotto has whetted your appetite why not check up this little round-up of deliciousness:

 

An intriguing sounding and gloriously golden Prawn Savoury from FabFood4All

 

This simple but delicious looking Tomato and Basil Risotto from Happiness is Homemade

 

If you have not tried using pearl barley instead of risotto rice it makes for a delicious risotto still - this Chorizo and pea one from What to Have For Dinner Tonight (I make a similar one myself and I agree the flavours work so well together!)

 

I adore the name of this newly discovered blog Knead Whine and her risotto of Butternut Squash and Sage looks scrumptious!

 

Seeing this lush looking Baked Wild Mushroom Risotto from Family-Friends-Food makes me pine for my old cast iron casserole.. which I regrettably sold to make space a few years back...one day we will meet again!

 

There is also another lovely oozing Mushroom one - this tasty risotto from Munchies and Munchkins also contains black garlic - something I recall seeing at a food show with a morbid fascination!

 

 

 

Bratwurst, Roots and Kale Casserole

This particular recipe was born out of hurriedly putting together last week’s meal plan, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and a good idea it was! There is something so wonderfully warming about a hearty sausage casserole and its great if you are feeding family arriving at uncertain times! My recipe for sausage casserole seem to vary slightly every time as to what is in the fridge but every time fortunately they are always so comforting and delicious! I hadn't really planned to blog this recipe but I had a lovely comment on the meal plan post, and so I remembered to note down the ingredients!
 
For the sausage part of this casserole I used a packet of Nuremberg Bratwurst, that my dad had gifted for us to try – they are sort of chipolata in size and consist of Pork, seasoned with earthy spices, including marjoram and a hint of citrus to lift the flavour. They are delicious simply grilled or fried but work very well too in casserole form. We normally buy the standard sized Bratwurst so it made a nice change to discover a new version of them!

 

 

Stock wise a light chicken or vegetable stock will suit best – I used Bisto stock melts on this occasion, purely as they were on offer when I went hopping and they worked out a good choice. My dad often finds dishes too salty if I use another well known brand of stock pots but if anything he added salt for the first time to this, I was so shocked!
 
To speed up cooking time you can pre-soak the barley in boiling water first, though I forgot to prepare this in the morning so they only had a quick bathe but was enough to get the barley started. Its a handy dish to put on the hob and then ignore whilst you get on with important things like opening up wine bottles for example.

 

Serves 4-6

Easy

 
Ingredients:
300g Nuremberg Bratwurst
3 medium carrots, diced into 1/2cm chunks
3 medium parsnips, diced into 1/2cm chunks
1 white onion, diced
80g kale, hard bits removed and leaves shredded
1 leek, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
100g pearl barley
3 bay leaves
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 chicken stock pot – I used Bisto stock melts
1200 ml boiling water 

Method:
 
Heat half the oil in a large lidded saute pan and fry the sausages for about 10 minutes or until nicely browned all over, remove from the pan and when cool enough to touch cut into 4 or 5 chunks.

Put the pan back on the heat with the remaining oil and fry the onion until golden, then stir in the parsnips, carrots and leeks and fry gently for a good ten minutes to add a little colour. Add the barley, tomato puree, mustard and bay leaves. Combine the stock pot with the boiling water and pour over the mixture, bring to the boil then add the cut up sausages and then reduce to a gentle bubbling simmer for about an hour and a half or until the barley is tender.

 

 

Stir through the kale, cover and simmer for a further 5 minutes then serve immediately into nice big bowls.

Herby Black Eyed Beans

Sometimes, when deciding what to make as a side dish that doesn't involve either pasta, rice or potatoes it can get a little overwhelming or puzzling. Afterall I also have polenta, Kaska grains, bulgur wheat, couscous, toasted couscous and various tins of beans at any one time to choose from!   And this is where tinned beans are magic friends! I was a bit of a latecomer to tinned beans, I really disliked baked beans growing up, and thanks to my mum thought I didn’t like kidney beans either (yes I was that fussy fellow diner picking those red beans out, sorry, beans, please forgive me!) but a chance eating out of politeness at a family gathering I realised actually they are rather nice, and indeed edible and I started exploring things with beans… quite often they are just part of the fabric of a recipe – take chilli con carne as a prime example or within the spicy bean burgers I often make, with sweet potato but its not often they are a side dish in their own right – times are a’changin and beans are getting a new lease of life!

Black eyed beans were a random purchase, I think they had various beans & pulses on offer at 4 tins for one whole pound and I stumbled across the b-e-b’s and vaguely remembered that I thought I liked them, and I most definitely do! They are nicely creamy, savoury and overall very versatile bean. Definitely hoarding material friendly!

I loved this dish – in fact we both did and its something that will be on my repertoire of quick and tasty side dishes! The creamy beans, fragrant hints of mint and earthiness from the cumin, plus a little green chilli zing made for a very pleasant meal!

This works really well as part of a mezze type affair, served warm.

1 x 400g tin Black eyed Beans, drained

2 large salad tomatoes, quartered

½ red onion finely sliced

½ tsp dried mint

½ tsp cumin seed

½ green chilli, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

Water, to loosen

Greek yoghurt with a squeeze of lime if you have some, to serve

In a shallow frying pan, heat the oil and fry the onion until lightly golden. Stir in the chilli, tomatoes, cumin, mint, reduce the heat and gently poke around for about 5 minutes or until the tomato chunks are starting to go squishy. Add a little water if its getting too dry but not enough to flood the pans contents either! Stir through the beans and gently cook, covered for a further ten minutes to fully heat through the beans and keeping the mixture moist. Stir occasionally, allowing the tomato to break down into the mixture.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve on the side of something nice and add a dollop of lime streaked yoghurt on top. 

Spicy Chorizo and Egg Fried Wholegrain Rice

Fried rice in some sort of variation is a staple meal in our household. Fitting easily into a busy lifestyle, its also a great way to use up odds and ends from the fridge too! I really hate wasting anything so it’s a perfect mid-week meal and whilst having spare cooked rice is very handy, it also if not properly chilled and stored can harbour bad things that we really don’t need to eat and whilst it’s a bit of a cheat the Veetee rice trays are a great store cupboard standby! Its quick and easy to make a meal using them and most importantly delicious!

Veetee sent me a box full of goodies (along with some stunning rice bowls that have left me coveting the rest of the range, shown in the last image below!) with the challenge to create a meal using either their Wholegrain or Egg Fried rice trays. Brown rice can be somewhat, earthy and rather too wholesome I find but theirs was surprisingly light and very tasty, stir frying in two minutes meant dinner was on the table in under ten minutes! Very welcome after a late afternoon spent baking all sorts ahead of the weekend to be able to produce something tasty and fuss free!

Now its not often I confess that I have bought ready cooked rice, I find rice so simple to cook anyway its really no bother, plus previous ready versions I have found can be a bit unpleasant texture wise and even worse when they have gone cold. However I was very pleased to discover that the Veetee rice tasted just as good as home cooked rice, exactly as it should be. Its also produced safely and so you can trust that the rice is safe to be re-heated. Cooking for yourself is one thing but when serving to friends and family of all ages you have to be certain of these things! I had heard through friends about Veetee's rice products before how good they were, so it was great to get play with them myself!


Spicy Chorizo and Egg Fried Wholegrain Rice

Serves 2

Quick and Easy

Ingredients:

1 x Veetee Wholegrain rice tray

60g Chorizo, halved lengthways and sliced ¼ cm pieces

2 Spring onions, finely sliced – separate the greener bits into one pile and whitey bits in another pile

½ orange pepper, chopped finely

1 egg

½ green chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp coconut oil

S&P

Beat the egg lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper, stir through half the green sliced onion.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until melted, add the beaten egg quickly swirling around the pan to form a flat thin omelette. Remove onto a chopping board and roll up tightly.

Meanwhile heat the pan with a little more oil if required and stir fry the chorizo slices, spring onion white parts and pepper for 4-5 minutes or until the chorizo has released its lovely oil and the vegetables are lightly browned and stir through the rice and chilli. Heat through, season to taste and toss together for 2-3 minutes and serve in your pretty bowls or one big pasta plate for your man!

Slice the reserved omelette finely and sprinkle over with any remaining spring onion to garnish.

Mr B's serving bowl!

My pretty serving bowl!

As mentioned at the beginning of my post, fried rice is great for using up leftovers and odd's n ends and this took care of two neglected spring onions, half a pack of abandoned chorizo and the last lonely egg from the fridge and so I am sending it over to Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary No Waste Food challenge, held by Laura over at 'I'd much rather bake Than' this month. (You can see my July round-up here).

As my rice dinner was also super quick to prepare and cook, plus it stretches out a small amount of Chorizo, I am also sending it over to this months Credit Crunch Munch, created by Camilla and Helen, and held by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary for August.

Many thanks to Gemma and Harriet at Phipps, and to Veetee for my samples.

Disclaimer: The recipe and images remain the property of Anne’s Kitchen and must not be reproduced without written consent. I received no payment and all opinions are my own.

Sweet Potato falafel with Chorizo Bulgur salad

Now, those who know me on twitter know I had some issues when making these and I apologise if my language went colourful at any point..... Cooked, mashed sweet potato is a blinking nightmare to roll – its best just to use two spoons and hope for the best. However by some miracle these actually came out pretty good and were very tasty. Once I had gotten over my anger and washed my hands of their orange hue I rather enjoyed them both hot for dinner and cold in my lunchbox the following day. The bulgur salad was so tasty, my dad likes to pick me up random ingredients and this was a fine grade of Bulgur, more the size of couscous and it had a very good mouth-feel. Combined with the spicy chorizo and sweet smoky peppers it made a for a very tasty dinner both hot and cold as leftovers.

To bring you up to date with making these falafel, I have history with steamers. A few years back when they became the in thing I purchased one on sale.. and I really hated it! In theory I should of loved it, I love vegetables so much but I could never tell the accurate time on the water display and had to use separate dishes to serve at the table after of course dripping all over my feet or the counter-top’s, creating more mess.. eventually we parted ways and I have not given it a second thought about one since then… 

...roll on a few years later and obviously technology has moved on and a very nice pr lady called Dianne, representing ‘Steama’ asked if I wanted to test it out… I eat fairly healthily but do admit I er fry a lot of veg I.e. courgettes in butter and other nice things, however my health has given me a bit of a tough ride this year and I am keen to mend my naughty ways and try and explore some healthier options so decided to at least give it a try… Steaming the sweet potatoes couldn't of been easier, chopped, chucked in the tray, water bath filled, timer set and 25 minutes lately perfectly steamed sweet potatoes! The machine is rather nifty having both an extra lid and base to fit on the steamer so you can cook extra I.e. for a latter meal and just clip the base and lid on so it doubles up as tupperware! I have used it plenty of times since and its simple to use and produces great results!

For the falafel I loosely based my recipe on a bbc one, which to be honest I looked at after mixing everything and then not being able to work out why I couldn’t roll it and added a little more flour before deciding spoons were the way forward!

450g unpeeled sweet potato, diced into 1 inch chunks

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

s&p

85g gram flour

Oven – hot. About 200o.

Start by steaming the potatoes for about 25 minutes, or until tender. 

In the Steama tray

Allow the cooked sweet potato to cool for about 5-10 minutes before mashing. I used my old favourite Masha toy. Stir through the spices and gram flour to form a smooth mixture.

Line and grease a large baking sheet, spoon the mixture onto the tray into golf ball sized lumps. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the outer is set and firm to touch. Meanwhile make the bulgur salad.

Chorizo Bulgur Salad

 300g fine Bulgur Wheat

1 yellow pepper, into 1cm dice

½ red onion, finely sliced

115g cooking chorizo, into 1cm dice

1 chopped tomato

1 tbsp cooking oil

2tsp Harrisa powder

Place the bulgur in a heat proof bowl, cover with 325g boiling water (I weighed it hence not being in ML) and cover tightly, allow to steam for about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and pepper over a moderate heat for 3 minutes, add the chorizo and tomato and fry for a further 4-5 minutes or until everything is nicely browned, combine with the prepared bulgur.

Serve the cooked falafel on a mound of the bulgur salad. A good dollop of yoghurt mint dip is very welcome here!

 Many thanks to Steama for my new steamer toy!

Aubergine Jambalaya

When it comes to aubergines, they are honestly one of my most favourite vegetables and one that seems to have a big divide in opinion after the love/ hate of marmite! So many people I say the word aubergine to are of the opinion that it’s a rather unpleasant vegetable to eat and it takes a lot of convincing that its just a special vegetable – treat it well and you are rewarded with a succulent, silky almost meaty flesh like ingredient. Treat it bad and its like eating a bathroom sponge soaked in oil and deservedly so. Aubergine flesh is great for soaking up flavours and it works a treat in this gorgeous rice dish!

I first discovered this Aubergine Jambalaya recipe via a link in a food forum I belong to, and it was featured on the Guardians website as a top ten Vegan recipe, from a Leon Fast Vegetarian cookbook (which is on my wishlist once I manage to sneak another bookcase into the flat!) and they have very kindly given me permission to reproduce it on my blog!

Despite having a well stocked store cupboard, its not often I look at a list of ingredients for a recipe and realise I gave everything actually in for once and so I bookmarked it for later in the week. It made a fantastic, tasty and something new dinner – I love making big one pot rice dishes and this fitted the bill perfectly both for a tasty after work dinner and cool for lunch the next day. 

The recipe is stated as having Deep South; Creole roots, minus the meat – a whole new cuisine for us and now one I have a definite taste for and want to explore further! The smooth smoky chilli bite, with sweet peppers, silky aubergine chunks and little crunchy celery pieces and earthy herbs was a really good start to the week and even my meat loving man enjoyed this dish!

Serves 4 – generously
Easy

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf – mine are teeny dried ones, I used two
A pinch of dried oregano
A pinch of dried thyme – I used fresh from my neighbours garden
A pinch of dried chilli flakes
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
220g long-grain rice
1 medium sized aubergine, cut into 1cm dice
1 tbsp tomato puree – mine was a cherry tomato version
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
400ml vegetable stock – I used a tsp of Marigold vegetable boullion powder in boiling water
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large (lidded) saute pan and fry the onion, pepper and celery for about 5 minutes over a medium heat. Add the garlic, herbs and spices and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the rice, aubergine chunks, tomato puree and tinned tomatoes and stir well, season with a little salt and pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the stock, bring to a simmer, then cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to steam for 5 minutes. Use a large spoon to fluff up the rice and if you like then serve with a green salad. We had leftover bhajis!

With thanks to Leon Fast Vegetarian, by Henry Dimbleby and Jane Baxter

Chilli Chicken Bean Bowls

Have you heard of Uniform Dating? For those who don't know they are a dating website and whilst I didn't meet my B via there, in these modern times I think dating sites are a great idea to find people with shared interests without having to hang around a bar trying to catch someones eye or some dingy pub batting off the undesirables! I have had my fair share of that and I am so glad to have settled down now! Anyway over the past few months Uniform Dating have been working with Chef Michael Caines to create a new Uniform Foodies dating app, featuring his recipes - and as of today it has my Chilli Chicken Bean Bowls too! It goes live today so do check it out! Its currently only 69p to download in the app store!

Whilst I am not a Nurse, outside of blogging I actually work in a hospital and up until very recently worked as a Healthcare Assistant alongside the Nurses on a busy medical ward, and for my Uniform Foodies recipe challenge I of course chose to create a Nurses favourite meal – which following a national survey by Uniform Dating was salad! (I wont mention how quickly a box of chocolates or biscuits will disappear in when left at the desk!) 

For my salad I wanted to keep it simple but special as when you are working shifts around the clock and often lack time to create something tasty the instant noodle packs become far too appealing – so when planning my salad for the challenge I decided to go with some lean protein – chicken breast and lots of veggies for replacing all those vitamins lost during a busy shift along with some carbs in the form of a tortilla wrap that forms the base of the meal too and kidney beans for extra protein! Its also quick to assemble with fairly normal ingredients to find and can be prepared in advance around your life!

By making my salad a little spicy plus the idea to eat with your hands if desired, you can potentially eat this with your loved one (who you might perhaps find on Uniform dating!) and turn on a bit of caveman instinct getting a little dirty by breaking off chunks of the crispy tortilla to scoop the filling out or simply enjoy by yourself and save the leftovers for lunch the next day! Either way its quick, tasty and super easy to make!

Serves 2

Easy

Ingredients

Bowls:

2 tortilla wraps

Spray oil

Salad:

375g Chicken breast diced into ½ inch chunks

½ red onion finely sliced

120g cooked kidney beans

1 spring onion, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp Lime juice

1 tsp cumin seed

2 tsp Smoked paprika

½ tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

½ Yellow pepper sliced

20g coriander leaves shredded – save the stalkier parts to put with the chicken

6 outer leaves Romaine lettuce

1/6^th Cucumber, halved cored and finely sliced

1 salad Tomato

Salt and pepper

4 heaped tbsp sour cream

Olive oil

Start in advance by making the ‘taco bowls’. There are a few different methods I found on the internet but I used one of our large cereal bowls. Spray with oil soften the wrap in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make pliable and shape around the upturned bowl. Place on a baking tray (it will be easier to get our the oven!) and cook in a hot oven – about 200o for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy. Allow to cool fully and if not using straight away store in a food bag or air tight container.

Marinade the chicken in a bowl with the lime juice, smoked paprika, chilli powder, cumin, ground coriander, season with salt and pepper and add a teaspoon of olive oil and mix well.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, sauté the onion until lightly browned, add the chicken and brown on both sides before adding the pepper, fry for a further 3-4 minutes then stir through the beans and tomato slices, cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until the tomato is starting to break up, stir through the spring onion and coriander stalks then turn off the heat and put to one side.

By hand, halve the romaine leaves through the middle. Use the top parts to garnish your taco bowl and finely chop the remainder. Place in a bowl with the cucumber slices and most of the fresh coriander.

Add to the bowl the warm chicken mixture, toss together and fill the taco bowls. Top each bowl with 2 tablespoons of the sour cream and a little remaining coriander to garnish.

My spicy Chilli Chicken Bean Bowls were great fun to make and to eat! I constantly try new things and it ticked the boxes with a tongue tingling chilli kick! Its healthy, affordable and of course very tasty! Don't forget I am on twitter under @anneskitchen and you can also check out other #Uniform foodies on there too!

I am sending my recipe over to this months Cooking with Herbs challenge, held by Lancashire Food this month:

Disclaimer: I received vouchers to cover the cost of ingredients and my time developing the recipe for Uniform Dating

Sticky Ginger and Almond Rice Pudding (Dairy and Gluten free)

Allergy friendly cooking with Eating Smart Magazine, from Woman and Home 

Over the past few years I’ve not always been that well but I’ve somehow battled through and as I’ve spoken about before, I think diet plays a huge part  in healing and recovery but when food can be a cause of illness it can be very hard to get back on track. It can be also quite overwhelming to work out what is good to eat – and can be a constant source of anxiety... overall my insides are better behaved than ever before nowadays just by relaxing about food..

The recent diagnosis of Fibromyalgia has knocked me a bit, though not entirely unexpected. Some days I lack the energy to even go down stairs and get something to eat but I’ve been reading up on gluten free diets easing the symptoms and starting to explore that area further. .Whilst I have been tested for Coeliac disease and it was negative, if it relieves symptoms and allows to claim some life back its worth a shot!

Overall its still very much work in progress though and as I love food so much on the good days, its fun to discover new food and drink, and Woman & Home very kindly sent me a box full of free-from goodies to experiment with and a copy of their fabulous Eating Smart magazine to give some inspiration, it is jam packed full of delicious ideas and recipes, including useful product guides depending on your dietary needs.

With dairy, I seem fairly tolerant I just don’t over do it but my lovely auntie can’t have milk anymore, even things like milky rice pudding can make her poorly and I recently stayed with her for a few days and I decided to try and recreate a few favourites dairy free and also discover some new delights along the way! This pudding I made happened to be both dairy and gluten free so suitable for lots of people following special diets.

I have tried a few different dairy free milks with mixed results, I don’t mind soya in things, I rather like hazelnut milk and I had not used Almond milk before this but it screamed pudding to me and I set about recreating a rice pudding to remember! Keeping on the almond theme I chose flaked almonds to create a crunchy topping and sweet fragrant stem ginger to give it a very delicious twist! I think I actually prefer this now over regular rice pudding and my auntie loved it! Which was of course the main reason I made it, fortunately everyone else liked it too and B had seconds. And I may have too….

Sticky Ginger and Almond Rice Pudding

90g pudding rice

1 litre unsweetened Almond milk

60g sugar

2 tsp stem ginger syrup (from the jar)

Topping:

30g flaked almonds

 2 balls stem ginger finely chopped

1 + 1 heaped tsp dairy free margarine/ butter

NB: We had the oven on high cooking dinner but you can cook just a bit longer on the same temperature if you prefer. All ovens vary too so judge accordingly!

Serves 4 generously

Preheat oven to 185o

Grease a suitable baking dish with 1 tsp of the dairy free margarine. Ideally the dish 2-3 inches deep.

Place the rice, sugar, milk and syrup in the dish and bake for an hour. Reduce the temperature to 140o and cook for a further 1 ½ hours or until it has developed a golden skin and most of the milk has been absorbed and the rice is fluffy.

Meanwhile toast the almonds lightly in a dry heavy frying pan, add the 1 heaped tsp of margarine and the ginger pieces, fry for a further minute then reserve to one side, occasionally stirring to break up the mixture, it should be light and slightly crispy. 

About 10 minutes before serving, sprinkle over the top of the rice pudding and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, allowing the ginger to melt slightly into the mixture.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving into bowls, making sure the crunchy topping remains on top! It will be very hot to be careful!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Disclaimer: This post was in collaboration with Eating Smart Magazine from Woman and Home, recipe and images remains the property of Anne's Kitchen. I received products for review and expenses to cover my time and ingredients

Tandoori Beef Kofta Masala with Pilau Rice

I am a bit of a naughty magpie for getting new spices and herbs, my poor kitchen cupboards are bursting at the seams from things like tubes of Harissa paste to tubs to Polish beetroot Borszcw powder and pretty much everything inbetween – as you can see by the random recipes competition late last year I have just a few random bags and tubs!). When an email appeared in my inbox at the end of last year to try the new Bart Blends range I jumped at the opportunity to receive some to play with though making room has been a bit of a challenge!

Since their arrival I have been playing with several of them and one of my favourites was this Tandoori Beef Kofta Masala I made – so much so that I’ve now used up all of my Tandoori Masala tin after recreating it several times! It’s a gorgeous blend of spices, fragrant, not to spicy (though add a little more chilli powder if you fancy it spicy!) It also makes a lush spicy beetroot soup too! Apologies for the not so brilliant pictures - winter lighting is not very friendly!

We love meatballs here - well proper homemade ones at least, I remember my mum forcing upon us tinned ones and still shudder inside at the thought of them! These ones fortunately are delicious and serve well to erase bad memories! The sauce is fragrant, delicious and quite mild as B doesn't care for much heat, and nor does my silly stomach at times but do feel free to add a little extra chilli if you prefer a bit more bite to it!

Serves 3 / 4 adults

Ingredients:

1 large white onion, diced

1 large green pepper, cut into 1cm chunks

400g lean Beef steak mince

½ tbsp ginger and garlic puree

1.5 tbsp Bart Blends Tandoori Masala

1 tin good quality chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 beaten egg

1 heaped tbsp dried breadcrumbs

3 tbsp yoghurt or crème fraiche

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Method:

In a large mixing bowl combine the mince, egg, breadcrumbs and a little salt and pepper, roll into 16 meatballs and put to one side

Heat a large sauté pan, soften the onion in the oil, add the pepper and fry until lightly browned and nearly cooked through– about 5 minutes. 

Add the spice powder along with the garlic and ginger, fry for a further minute and stir in the tomatoes, cover and simmer on a medium heat for ten minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and blitz until smooth (or use a hand blender), return to the pan and place the meatballs in the pan spaced a little apart and poach in the sauce for at least 5 minutes, covered, before gently turning around as you don’t want them to break up! 

Simmer gently for 30 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and stir through the yoghurt/ crème fraiche.

Pilau rice

I never really weigh rice – I go by one cup rice to one and a half cups of water always – and by cup sometimes it’s a bowl from the windowsill, probably more like two American cup sizes. Bart Blends Pilau spice is gently fragrant and my brother in particular was very impressed with it!

Ingredients

1 cup basamati rice

1.5 cups water

1 heaped tsp Bart Blends Pilau Rice

Heat a medium to large sized saucepan, add the Pilau spice and warm for a couple of minutes to release the fragrance, add the rice followed by the water, cover and bring to the boil for 2 minutes, turn off the heat and allow to rest, covered for 10 minutes or until the liquid has all absorbed. Fluff up with a spoon before serving and season with salt if desired.

Serve the rice along with your curry and some chapati's to mop up the sauce.

With thanks to Bart Blends and Deborah at The Mint Collective for my samples

A glass of wine with my Gammon, Pea and Cos Lettuce Risotto

To my regular readers, apologies if this recipe sounds a little familiar ....for I am re-posting this recipe from my Arrancini thread, as I missed out an essential part - the wine!

Recently Sainsbury's sent me a little selection of their single serve wines, which I find great if you just fancy a glass of wine with dinner...or whenever without feeling compelled to drink the rest... something that age and shift patterns do not mix with! Its also a great way to discover new wines or indeed revisit old favourites!

I am more a red wine drinker if anything, as I find a lot of white wines to acidic to drink or so sweet my teeth go brr at but I was very pleased to find one of the bottles was their Macon Villages. I had not bought it in a long time but it reminded me that its one of the few whites I really like - dry, crisp maybe a hint of lemon and the tartness of Chardonnay without being a footballers wife! (I know its trashy but I still miss that show!) As I also had work the next morning, my large glass  was more than enough to enjoy with the meal! 

Whilst the wine was a bit of a treat with dinner, it was a fairly frugal recipe as you have come to expect with me - the lettuce was withering in the salad draw making its escape plan (Salad and Winter are not best buddies!) and the small amount of gammon was left from a large joint we had a few weeks back everything else was in the store cupboard.

Risotto recipe:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

50ml vermouth

225g arborio rice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 slices cooked gammon finely chopped

2 heaped tbsp grana padano (or parmesan) grated

2 cos lettuce leaves, shredded

1 knorr herb stock pot into 1.5 pints boiling water

1) Melt the butter and oil, gently cook the onion and garlic without colouring, stir in the vermouth and allow to evaporate. 

2) Stir in the rice and allow it to fully coat in the liquid, add a small amount of the stock to coat and allow to cook, once the liquid has evaporated, repeat the process gently stirring through until its almost cooked through. 

3) Meanwhile place the peas in a jug with some of the remaining stock and cook for 3-4 minutes, stir it all into the risotto with the gammon pieces and lettuce, it should of absorbed most of the liquid now and be slightly loose in consistency. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese leaving a little for garnish.

Serve either on its own or with garlic bread if you like to break the rules...

The tang of Macon Villages wine worked really well with the creaminess of the risotto, they didn't compete and made a very tasty pairing! Unfortuntely winter is here with its dark nights and I resorted to going out onto the landing in an attempt to get a picture. The things us bloggers do...

Many thanks to Kate at Sainsbury's for my wine!

Arrancini con Pomodoro e salsa di Zucchine

Last week I finally got round to making risotto again, its been a while. In a past life, I used to cook a lot of Italian food but following a relationship breakdown I think I found myself shying away from anything vaguely resembling Italy but I realise now the error of my ways - you can never run away from anything so tasty! I decided also to make it sound posh by translating it fully, as Arrancini with tomato and courgette sauce sounded a little lame in comparison to a more elegant sounding 'Arrancini con pomodoro e salsa di zucchine'!

So risotto was back on the menu, and it was quite a frugal one - using up some slices of leftover gammon from the freezer, frozen peas and a sad last few leaves of Cos lettuce that were loitering in the salad draw planning their escape route! Yes lettuce, you did read it right! I have made a similar one before (little gem also does well here), and with the lettuce just wilted in at the end makes a nice interesting crunch to the creamy rice and smokey salty gammon.

For the sauce, I had picked up a tube of chilli tomato puree for a bargain 25p on offer in Sainsburys that morning, just substitute with regular tomato puree if you don't have any in. The original risotto was made using grana padano which I reguarly buy from the supermarket but the following day I had a delivery, via mums house of some new cheeses from 'Divo' and used their 'Coarsely grated heart of Parmigiano Reggiano', I was a little wary of it having previous experience with dried up ready grated parmesan but this was very good, rich creamy and a perfect pairing for the dish.

Despite the risotto being very tasty I slapped away B's fork from eating the rest as it looked like there was enough left to finally attempt something I had craved for a long time - Arancini - which their name according to wiki originated from the Italian word for oranges, due to their shape... I vaguely remember having these a long time ago possibly at a food show or restaurant and so it finally my time to have a go! Yippee!

I guess you could make the Arrancini with any leftover risotto you like, this was my base recipe, which served us two the previous night and left enough to make 9 Arrancini. The risotto needs to be fully cooled before making the Arrancini.

Risotto recipe:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

50ml vermouth

225g arborio rice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 slices cooked gammon finely chopped

2 heaped tbsp grana padano or parmesan grated

2 cos lettuce leaves, shredded

1 knorr herb stock pot into 1.5 pints boiling water

1) Melt the butter and oil, gently cook the onion and garlic without colouring, stir in the vermouth and allow to evaporate. 

2) Stir in the rice and allow it to fully coat in the liquid, add a small amount of the stock to coat and allow to cook, once the liquid has evaporated, repeat the process gently stirring through until its almost cooked through. 

3) Meanwhile place the peas in a jug with some of the remaining stock and cook for 3-4 minutes, stir it all into the risotto with the gammon pieces and lettuce, it should of absorbed most of the liquid now and be slightly loose in consistency. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese leaving a little for garnish.

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Arrancini con pomodoro e salsa di zucchine Recipe

Ingredients:

250g cold, leftover risotto

50g breadcrumbs

2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano

1 beaten egg

small bowl plain flour

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Sauce:

1/2 courgette, cut lengthways and into thin slices

1/2 finely sliced onion

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chilli tomato puree

390g chopped tomatoes (carton or tinned)

2 tsp dried Italian herbs

Fresh basil leaves, to garnish

2 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to garnish

Spray oil for coating/ lining tray

Line a baking tray with foil, and spray with oil

1) Place the breadcrumbs with the Parmigiano Reggiano in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper. Have ready the beaten egg in another bowl and the flour in another bowl. A curved tablespoon is handy here for shaping! Mine are mini russian dolls which work perfectly!

2) Using the spoon and your hands, shape the risotto into a ball, gently dip into the flour, then the egg and then into the breadcrumbs. 

 Place on the baking tray and repeat to form 9 balls. Chill in the fridge to firm up. 

3) Heat the oil in a large pan until moderately hot and fry the onion then garlic until lightly coloured, stir in the courgette slices and fry until lightly browned. Pre-heat the oven to about 180o

3) Stir through the tomato puree, and add the red wine vinegar and cook off the liquid, stir in the tomatoes, herbs and bring to a bubbling heat, cover and gently simmer. Stir now and then - you want a fairly thick sauce.

Put the arrancini in the oven, sprayed with oil and bake for 30 minutes, giving a gentle prod halfway to make sure they are not sticking to the tray.

4) Once everthing is nicely cooked through, spoon the sauce onto a plate, and place a desired amount of arrancini on top. Garnish with the basil leaves and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Considering they were my first attempt I was super happy with these - the Arrancini were crisp and surprisingly light and the sauce was rich tasty and was a very good match.

Many thanks to Divo for my cheese. This is not a sponsored posting

Whilst I have never visited Italy - its definitely up high on the list of destinations I would love to visit and I am entering my 'Arrancini con pomodoro e salsa di zucchine' into a #TuscanyNowCookOff competition with Tuscany Now, an Italian and Tuscany Villa Rental Specialist to win a trip there, which would be so amazing to finally go there! You can find more details in this link.