This was Monday nights dinner and mmm it was so simple but so gorgeous. On Sunday night I took out some beef mince to thaw, with no particular plan for cooking it but then I dreamt of this and just had to make!
Simply cook a couple of baking potatoes in the microwave until nearly cooked through (you can fully oven them of course but I like half and half option), cut into wedges and place on a baking tray, spray with a little oil and bake in a hot oven for a further 20 minutes or until fully cooked through and nicely browned. Seperately cook up a small batch of chilli con carne; I always use Jo Pratt's recipe (I made a quarter of this quantity for 2 people) then spoon over the wedges, grate over some mature cheese, I also had leftover some spicy cheese mix lurking in the freezer, so added a few tbsp worth, return to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted.
Grab a fork and dive in :)
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
New cute toast stamp!
A silly post but I couldn't resist this little bargain in the sales!
Happy toasting!
Happy toasting!
Friday, 8 January 2010
Mushroom & Stilton Cannelloni
Still got some Stilton hanging around from Christmas? Why not give it a good send off with this gorgeously creamy cannelloni!
I adore the mushroom and blue cheese combo and constantly work out ways to eat together (you will probably have noticed this in my blog postings!), this dish is definately a keeper! The Stilton is very mellow in it, if you like stronger then simply add more! For me it was a perfect balance :)
Serves 4
Ingredients
550g brown mushrooms, cut into 1 cm chunks
200g half fat creme fraiche (I like Yeo Valley Organic)
500g carton plain passatta
80g apx finely crumbled Stilton
15 cannelloni shells
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 weeny bit of butter
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
S&P
*You will need a hand blender or similar for this*
Heat the oil in a large saute/ lidded frying pan, gently fry the onion for 10 mins, without browning, add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes until all softened and translucent, tip into a bowl
Place the pan back on the heat, add the mushrooms and butter, cook for 15-20 minutes or until the mushrooms are softened, add the thyme leaves - do not brown the mushrooms too much, strain off and reserve the juices, stir the onion mixture back in, 2/3 of the Stilton and allow to cool down, once cooled, gently blitz with a hand blender but not to a puree, stir in 2 heaped tbsp of the creme fraiche
In a jug mix together the passatta and all bar 2 tbsp of the remaining creme fraiche, season with s&p.
Now mix the remaining creme fraiche with 2 tsp of the reserved mushroom juices, the remaining Stilton and 1 tbsp of the tomato and creme fraiche mixture.
Pre-heat oven to 170 fan/ 190o
To assemble, pour the passatta and creme fraiche mixture into a dish that fits the shells in one layer, fill the shells with the mushroom mixture, roll over in the sauce to coat, repeat until all filled and lined up in the dish. Spoon over the Stilton mixture and sprinkle the Parmesan, bake for 30 minutes, if the shells during cooking are looking dry or are not fully immersed gently press down with a fork or spoon to allow the mixture to re-cover.
Serve and enjoy! Salad would be lovely but in the middle of this cold snap cabbage and hot bread rolls made a lovely accompaniment!
I didn't remember to get a picture of the finished dish but this is the last piece in my lunchbox!
I adore the mushroom and blue cheese combo and constantly work out ways to eat together (you will probably have noticed this in my blog postings!), this dish is definately a keeper! The Stilton is very mellow in it, if you like stronger then simply add more! For me it was a perfect balance :)
Serves 4Ingredients
550g brown mushrooms, cut into 1 cm chunks
200g half fat creme fraiche (I like Yeo Valley Organic)
500g carton plain passatta
80g apx finely crumbled Stilton
15 cannelloni shells
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 weeny bit of butter
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
S&P
*You will need a hand blender or similar for this*
Heat the oil in a large saute/ lidded frying pan, gently fry the onion for 10 mins, without browning, add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes until all softened and translucent, tip into a bowl
Place the pan back on the heat, add the mushrooms and butter, cook for 15-20 minutes or until the mushrooms are softened, add the thyme leaves - do not brown the mushrooms too much, strain off and reserve the juices, stir the onion mixture back in, 2/3 of the Stilton and allow to cool down, once cooled, gently blitz with a hand blender but not to a puree, stir in 2 heaped tbsp of the creme fraiche
In a jug mix together the passatta and all bar 2 tbsp of the remaining creme fraiche, season with s&p.
Now mix the remaining creme fraiche with 2 tsp of the reserved mushroom juices, the remaining Stilton and 1 tbsp of the tomato and creme fraiche mixture.
Pre-heat oven to 170 fan/ 190o
To assemble, pour the passatta and creme fraiche mixture into a dish that fits the shells in one layer, fill the shells with the mushroom mixture, roll over in the sauce to coat, repeat until all filled and lined up in the dish. Spoon over the Stilton mixture and sprinkle the Parmesan, bake for 30 minutes, if the shells during cooking are looking dry or are not fully immersed gently press down with a fork or spoon to allow the mixture to re-cover.
Serve and enjoy! Salad would be lovely but in the middle of this cold snap cabbage and hot bread rolls made a lovely accompaniment!
I didn't remember to get a picture of the finished dish but this is the last piece in my lunchbox!
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Things to do with lots of yoghurt…
This post is a bit long overdue! Total very kindly sent me a while back an assortment of yoghurt products from their range, as I had not really cooked a lot before with yoghurt it was a great chance to experiment with a variety of products. I didn't get pictures of everything as between the dark nights and an old camera, nothing looked particuarly appetizing!
Alongside the yoghurt they also sent me a book with their recipes in. I will be honest in that one dish really failed from it, the yoghurt muffins. Yes, they may be very low in fat / calories etc but they just didn’t work for us, the texture was too light and a bit odd, unfortunately the whole batch got binned. Another disappointment was a curry I made split quite badly, however I think that was also due to my inexperience using it the 2% version.
On a more positive note, there were also successes! The best was a dip I made using very 1 stick of finely minced, de-stringed fresh crisp celery, mixed with a few tbsp of their 0% greek yoghurt, a splash of white balsamic, s&p and a squeeze of lemon, S&P and then left to stand a while. The result was similar to tzatziki and really fresh tasting, was great with crudités and nachos! If left overnight it becomes more cottage cheese like in texture but still tastes great.
Another winner for me was a very simple combination of my favourite fruit muesli, topped with the 0% or 2% yoghurt and a sprinkling of mixed seeds. It felt very healthy for breakfast and tasted good too!
The final dish was an experiment made on a day off from work and inspired from giant sized tomatoes that I was given. There were a few stages but was worth it in the end! Basically I sliced the tops off and hollowed out the tomatoes, blitzed in the blender, then simmered for about 20 minutes with red wine vinegar, smoked paprika S&P, then removed from the heat and stirred in about 6 tbsp 2% Total greek yoghurt. I used this sauce to line a dish, then place the hollowed out tomatoes snugly on top. I filled them with a mixture of cooked bulghar wheat, onion, yellow pepper, diced bockwurst, a little chilli powder, S&P, binded with a little more yoghurt, placed the tops back on, sprinkled with grated cheese and baked for approx 25 minutes until soft and bubbling. Serve with fresh greenery. The real highlight of this dish was the sauce! The yoghurt worked perfectly in it and will definitely use it this way again.
Alongside the yoghurt they also sent me a book with their recipes in. I will be honest in that one dish really failed from it, the yoghurt muffins. Yes, they may be very low in fat / calories etc but they just didn’t work for us, the texture was too light and a bit odd, unfortunately the whole batch got binned. Another disappointment was a curry I made split quite badly, however I think that was also due to my inexperience using it the 2% version.
On a more positive note, there were also successes! The best was a dip I made using very 1 stick of finely minced, de-stringed fresh crisp celery, mixed with a few tbsp of their 0% greek yoghurt, a splash of white balsamic, s&p and a squeeze of lemon, S&P and then left to stand a while. The result was similar to tzatziki and really fresh tasting, was great with crudités and nachos! If left overnight it becomes more cottage cheese like in texture but still tastes great.
Another winner for me was a very simple combination of my favourite fruit muesli, topped with the 0% or 2% yoghurt and a sprinkling of mixed seeds. It felt very healthy for breakfast and tasted good too!
The final dish was an experiment made on a day off from work and inspired from giant sized tomatoes that I was given. There were a few stages but was worth it in the end! Basically I sliced the tops off and hollowed out the tomatoes, blitzed in the blender, then simmered for about 20 minutes with red wine vinegar, smoked paprika S&P, then removed from the heat and stirred in about 6 tbsp 2% Total greek yoghurt. I used this sauce to line a dish, then place the hollowed out tomatoes snugly on top. I filled them with a mixture of cooked bulghar wheat, onion, yellow pepper, diced bockwurst, a little chilli powder, S&P, binded with a little more yoghurt, placed the tops back on, sprinkled with grated cheese and baked for approx 25 minutes until soft and bubbling. Serve with fresh greenery. The real highlight of this dish was the sauce! The yoghurt worked perfectly in it and will definitely use it this way again.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Christmas meal ideas - Starter and Main Courses
I'm going to my boyfriends mum's house for Christmas Day, however this Sunday gone we had my family over for a full Christmas Meal, which almost didn't happen as I got struck by a nasty stomach bug; however I luckily recovered enough in time to make everything, though was very, very tired by about 5pm! Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any picture's worth publishing but I wanted to share with you the highlights, in time for your Christmas Meals in case you are still finalizing your menu!
For festive nibbles, please see my other post - Nigellas Spiced Nuts
Firstly, our starter was courtesy of Olive Magazine - Chicken Liver Parfaits, my picture did not come out well, mainly as they were nearly all eaten when I remembered! It was similar-ish to the one shown in the link but not as pretty! My ramekins also seemed a bit bigger as only filled 5...I would also allow a little extra butter for pouring as ran out towards the end. The only recipe amendment was that I added 3 tsp of Port to the mixture. They are a little messy to make, so best done in advance and infact improve with a few days rest. It was also my first real experience with offal and it took me some time to trim them, compared to 30 mins suggested on the site, a messy job but now I know! Verdict wise, me and my dad really liked these, they are smooth and taste smooth and meaty, I had served with suggested brioche but this divided us, me for, dad against! We also had alongside some lovely sweet cornish ale chutney, so maybe too sweet all-together for some... I don't actually like liver on its own, however for me these were very tasty but too much for our other guest...still class this as a winner and will definately make again.
400g chicken livers
150g butter , plus 50g for the top of the parfaits
1 garlic clove , crushed
1 shallot , chopped
1 large sprig thyme , plus sprigs to top
pinch Chinese five-spice powder
2 tbsp double cream
4 brioche buns, sliced and toasted, to serve (I could only find the long ones)
Trim the livers of any green bits (these will be bitter) or sinews. Heat a knob of the butter in a large frying pan and gently fry the livers with the garlic, shallot, thyme and Chinese five-spice. Fry until the livers are browned but still soft when pressed, and pink (but not raw) in the middle.
Tip the livers into a food processor. Whizz to a paste, then whizz in the remaining butter and cream. Push the mixture through a sieve - this is boring, but worth it for a really smooth texture. Season well. Divide the mixture between 6 small china or glass ramekins and smooth the surface.
Melt the final 50g butter in a pan and let the milk solids settle to the bottom. Put a sprig of thyme on top of each ramekin and pour a little butter over each. Chill to set.
To serve, bring the parfaits up to room temperature and eat with toasted brioche buns. (I took them out about 1 hour beforehand)
The main beast was a rather big Turkey Crown, being all I could get at the time before the main lot came into stock, which fed us very well, I still have leftovers in the fridge! I borrowed Jamie Oliver's suggestion from his recent TV programme and made a herb butter with dried chopped cranberries (obviously everyone else watched this as got the last packet of pricey organic ones the next morning!), butter, rosemary and thyme. I think it also was supposed to have sage and nutmeg but forgot/ omitted these, once basheed together it was pushed under the skin and then roasted. The turkey was very good and can really recommend this method!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegetables wise, for the carrots I also looked to the BBC Good Food website and made baby carrots with orange butter http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3191/glazed-orange-carrots . The orange made a really tasty addition, without over-powering orange flavour, am converted to making this way as the carrots shine and taste great. They can also be made in advance and re-heated - I made in the morning, placed in serving dish then re-heated when we were ready to eat.
Ingredients
600g baby carrots, trimmed as desired (or smallies - mine were value ones!)
1½ tbsp butter
3 tbsp orange juice
handful parsley leaves, chopped (I used thyme as not keen on parsley)
Cook the carrots in boiling water for until tender, then drain.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan (I used the saucepan, quickly dried with paper!), add the drained carrots, then fry over a high heat for 1 min. Pour over the orange juice and cook for a further 2-3 mins, bubbling the sauce and stirring to thoroughly coat the carrots. Finally, stir in the chopped parsley* and serve.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of traditional roast potatoes, I made a rosti 'cake' with bacon, also from the BBC website and was featured in Good Food December 2009. I tried to cheat and use the food processor to grate but it turned a little mushy, find someone with good arm muscles and get them to do the grating! Its relatively easy to make, even though I did slightly mis-read the recipe it survived well! This was a winner for us all. It came out very similar looking to their picture. I made in the morning, up to assembled point then cooked when ready.
1.5kg maris piper potatoes peeled
1 small onion grated
5 tbsp olive oil
butter
5 rashers streaky bacon
Cook the bacon in a dry pan until crispy, dice up.
Boil the whole potatoes for 5 minutes, place in cold water and grate when cool enough to handle, add the oil, onion and bacon and toss together lightly.
Pre-heat oven 190o/ gas 5, place a flat baking sheet in for 5 minutes
Butter a 23cm springform tin and tip the mixture in, gently smooth over and place tin on heated tray, dot with butter and cook for 1hr 20 mins until cooked and crispy (I used foil towards end as quite browned)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bread sauce also came from the BBC Good Food area, featuring previously in Olive Magazine. I realise a lot of my recipes are from there but am no way affiliated with them, just happen to like and trust them :)
I made this one though omittted the cloves (dad hates them!) and strained the mixture to remove the onions as well, its a very thick sauce and did dilute it further as thickened on standing. A nicely balanced sauce.
Brussel sprouts were left pretty much alone, boiled for 8 minutes then tossed with freshly sliced garlic and butter, simple and great :)
Pudding will be blogged in next couple of days!
Hope some of you may find this useful, merry cooking and merry Christmas! xx
For festive nibbles, please see my other post - Nigellas Spiced Nuts
Firstly, our starter was courtesy of Olive Magazine - Chicken Liver Parfaits, my picture did not come out well, mainly as they were nearly all eaten when I remembered! It was similar-ish to the one shown in the link but not as pretty! My ramekins also seemed a bit bigger as only filled 5...I would also allow a little extra butter for pouring as ran out towards the end. The only recipe amendment was that I added 3 tsp of Port to the mixture. They are a little messy to make, so best done in advance and infact improve with a few days rest. It was also my first real experience with offal and it took me some time to trim them, compared to 30 mins suggested on the site, a messy job but now I know! Verdict wise, me and my dad really liked these, they are smooth and taste smooth and meaty, I had served with suggested brioche but this divided us, me for, dad against! We also had alongside some lovely sweet cornish ale chutney, so maybe too sweet all-together for some... I don't actually like liver on its own, however for me these were very tasty but too much for our other guest...still class this as a winner and will definately make again.
400g chicken livers
150g butter , plus 50g for the top of the parfaits
1 garlic clove , crushed
1 shallot , chopped
1 large sprig thyme , plus sprigs to top
pinch Chinese five-spice powder
2 tbsp double cream
4 brioche buns, sliced and toasted, to serve (I could only find the long ones)
Trim the livers of any green bits (these will be bitter) or sinews. Heat a knob of the butter in a large frying pan and gently fry the livers with the garlic, shallot, thyme and Chinese five-spice. Fry until the livers are browned but still soft when pressed, and pink (but not raw) in the middle.
Tip the livers into a food processor. Whizz to a paste, then whizz in the remaining butter and cream. Push the mixture through a sieve - this is boring, but worth it for a really smooth texture. Season well. Divide the mixture between 6 small china or glass ramekins and smooth the surface.
Melt the final 50g butter in a pan and let the milk solids settle to the bottom. Put a sprig of thyme on top of each ramekin and pour a little butter over each. Chill to set.
To serve, bring the parfaits up to room temperature and eat with toasted brioche buns. (I took them out about 1 hour beforehand)
The main beast was a rather big Turkey Crown, being all I could get at the time before the main lot came into stock, which fed us very well, I still have leftovers in the fridge! I borrowed Jamie Oliver's suggestion from his recent TV programme and made a herb butter with dried chopped cranberries (obviously everyone else watched this as got the last packet of pricey organic ones the next morning!), butter, rosemary and thyme. I think it also was supposed to have sage and nutmeg but forgot/ omitted these, once basheed together it was pushed under the skin and then roasted. The turkey was very good and can really recommend this method!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegetables wise, for the carrots I also looked to the BBC Good Food website and made baby carrots with orange butter http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3191/glazed-orange-carrots . The orange made a really tasty addition, without over-powering orange flavour, am converted to making this way as the carrots shine and taste great. They can also be made in advance and re-heated - I made in the morning, placed in serving dish then re-heated when we were ready to eat.
Ingredients
600g baby carrots, trimmed as desired (or smallies - mine were value ones!)
1½ tbsp butter
3 tbsp orange juice
handful parsley leaves, chopped (I used thyme as not keen on parsley)
Cook the carrots in boiling water for until tender, then drain.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan (I used the saucepan, quickly dried with paper!), add the drained carrots, then fry over a high heat for 1 min. Pour over the orange juice and cook for a further 2-3 mins, bubbling the sauce and stirring to thoroughly coat the carrots. Finally, stir in the chopped parsley* and serve.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of traditional roast potatoes, I made a rosti 'cake' with bacon, also from the BBC website and was featured in Good Food December 2009. I tried to cheat and use the food processor to grate but it turned a little mushy, find someone with good arm muscles and get them to do the grating! Its relatively easy to make, even though I did slightly mis-read the recipe it survived well! This was a winner for us all. It came out very similar looking to their picture. I made in the morning, up to assembled point then cooked when ready.
1.5kg maris piper potatoes peeled
1 small onion grated
5 tbsp olive oil
butter
5 rashers streaky bacon
Cook the bacon in a dry pan until crispy, dice up.
Boil the whole potatoes for 5 minutes, place in cold water and grate when cool enough to handle, add the oil, onion and bacon and toss together lightly.
Pre-heat oven 190o/ gas 5, place a flat baking sheet in for 5 minutes
Butter a 23cm springform tin and tip the mixture in, gently smooth over and place tin on heated tray, dot with butter and cook for 1hr 20 mins until cooked and crispy (I used foil towards end as quite browned)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bread sauce also came from the BBC Good Food area, featuring previously in Olive Magazine. I realise a lot of my recipes are from there but am no way affiliated with them, just happen to like and trust them :)
I made this one though omittted the cloves (dad hates them!) and strained the mixture to remove the onions as well, its a very thick sauce and did dilute it further as thickened on standing. A nicely balanced sauce.
Brussel sprouts were left pretty much alone, boiled for 8 minutes then tossed with freshly sliced garlic and butter, simple and great :)
Pudding will be blogged in next couple of days!
Hope some of you may find this useful, merry cooking and merry Christmas! xx
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Nigellas Spiced Nuts
Last Christmas I was given a copy of Nigella Christmas, which I really love and read all year round to keep the festive spirit alive! This weekend we had some family over for an early, full, Christmas meal and I had been meaning to make these 'Seasonally spiced nuts' for ages, and with two nut lovers over it was the perfect opportunity. Or at least it seemed a good idea when planning, forgetting I was doing everything else from scratch on the day! Luckily these only take about 10 minutes from start to finish, and can also be made up to a day ahead. Makes a great little, rather addictive nibble!
The recipe made a very large baking tray full, which I decanted into bowls over the day, and also sent little bags home with our happy guests!
500g mixed nuts (mine were Sainsburys basics!)
1 tsp celery salt
1.5 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp light muscovado or soft light brown sugar
3 sprigs rosemary, + extra for garnishing
sprinkle salt (I left this out)
Prepare a large baking tray with foil.
Heat a large frying pan, add the nuts (dry) and toast for 2-3 mins until lightly browned, add the garam masala and celery salt, and mix well
Add the oil, sugar, rosemary, stir again, when the nuts are browned, transfer to the baking sheet, sprinkle with salt if desired
Serve warm (I kept mine loosely wrapped in foil) Serve and garnish as desired
The recipe made a very large baking tray full, which I decanted into bowls over the day, and also sent little bags home with our happy guests!
500g mixed nuts (mine were Sainsburys basics!)
1 tsp celery salt
1.5 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp light muscovado or soft light brown sugar
3 sprigs rosemary, + extra for garnishing
sprinkle salt (I left this out)
Prepare a large baking tray with foil.
Heat a large frying pan, add the nuts (dry) and toast for 2-3 mins until lightly browned, add the garam masala and celery salt, and mix well
Add the oil, sugar, rosemary, stir again, when the nuts are browned, transfer to the baking sheet, sprinkle with salt if desired
Serve warm (I kept mine loosely wrapped in foil) Serve and garnish as desired
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