Bombay chicken salad

Hi guys, here is a little doozie from good old Jamie Oliver, this one is courtesy of his superfood book.

It’s healthy, tasty, so very fresh tasting and delicious! Try it!

Pasta day!

I love making pasta, it’s easy and fun with great results.

This Saturday I spent hours rolling and cutting and ended up with a delicate spicy sausage pasta.

The dough (serves 4): 250g pasta flour, 250g semolina,3 eggs, 8 egg yolks. Simply mix the flour, pour it on to a clean surface, make a well, add the eggs, gently incorporate it all together until it’s a dough you can handle. Then knead until it’s smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes) wrap in cling film and chill until ready to shape.

To shape, split the dough in half for ease and then roll one half until it’s thin enough to put through a pasta machine, it wants to be rectangle shape. Roll it through the machine gradually dropping through the levels for an ultra thin shape. Then cut, I did tagliatelle, and dry. Boil now for 3 minutes if your ready but if you have leftovers, pop them in the freezer!

For the sauce: 250g spicy sausage meat, 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, a knob of butter, thyme. 

Chop then fry, the onion, garlic and sausage meat. When browned add the thyme and butter. When cooked, add to the cooked pasta and serve!

Beautiful fresh pasta!

Summer flan

Summer nights call for light scrumptious dishes and this meets the brief. This tomato and rocket flan throws fresh, vibrant flavours at you and treats you to a naughty pastry punch.

You can of course make your own pastry but in this case I didn’t…..hands slapped!

So all you need to do is:

1. Put your pastry in your dish and blind bake for 10 minutes with baking beads, then bake for a further 5 minutes without the beads
2. Whilst baking whisk 4 eggs with 150g chedder cheese, 150ml double cream, salt and pepper 
3. Also roast 250g cherry tomatoes in olive oil
4. When ready, fill your pastry case with as much rocket as you desire, plus the cooked tomatoes 
5. Then fill the case with the egg mix and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden
6. Serve with a simple side salad!

Chocolate Mango Madness

So This happened.

Brioche! Nutella! Mango! Chocolate Ice Cream!

Literally toasted Brioche, slathered in Nutella and then loaded with sliced Mango and Chocolate Ice Cream!

Om.

Trout, an ugly name but a beautiful taste!

Tonight’s dinner called for high protein (Minday night boot camp) with great taste (Just because Monday needs help to be good!) and so this tasty trout dish was on the menu.

Not only is it healthy and tasty but from start to finish it takes 25 minutes to prep and cook.


Simply….

1. Mix 20g butter with 1 crushed garlic cloves, 2 chopped shallots, 1 small bunch of chopped parsley and 1 tsp of Dijon mustard.
2. Score the skin of 2 trouts and rub the buttery mixture in
3. Peel 2 bulbs of chicory and lay on two individual baking sheets, place the fish on top of the chicory and fold the parchment into a parcel. Cook the fish parcel for 15-20 minutes in the fm oven at 180
4. Meanwhile boil some broccoli florets
5. Fry 2 slices of streaky bacon in 5g butter. When nearly done, add 20g pistachio nuts
6. If desired, cook 100g couscous and season with salt, pepper and ginger
7. When it’s all cooked, serve and enjoy 

*serves 2

If you are not overly familiar with Trout it’s a really delicate fish with a very light and fresh taste. It’s easy to over flavour but this dish offers a beautiful mix of bitter chicory, fresh fish and creamy nuts.

Lemon glazed turkey noodles

Noodles!!!!! 😊

I often swoon at the thought of noddles, I really have an extreme enjoyment for them but paired with Turkey (not a meat I  particularly like), well I just wasn’t sold. However I trooped on and followed the recipe. 

My oh my was I proven wrong! The turkey stayed tender and soaked up the sweet and tangy honey, lemon glaze and the noodles packed a savoury, salty punch. Thoroughly delightful!!!

Recipe

1. Fry enough turkey strips for two for 3 minutes
2. Add a bunch of chopped Spring onions and 200g of mange tout to the turkey and fry for a further 3 minutes
3. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 tbsp honey, salt, pepper and 1 tbsp sesame seeds and fry for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile boil 150g noodles in water and 2tbsp hoisin sauce until soft
5. Serve!

Fast, tasty, healthy. Bing, bang, bosh.

  

RAMEN ROMANCE

Well chaps and chapets, its been another 1st for me with this dish. Yes, can you believe I have never had Ramen before? Seriously, if you read my blog you will know I love noodles and so to have never had Ramen seemed an insult to the noodle lords!

So I recently pulled out Mr Olivers comfort food cook book and I made my way through this little beauty of a recipe. Its a somewhat complex recipe, it takes time so be prepared to enjoy your kitchen for a while but its defiantly worth it!

I really enjoyed the whole mix. The soft noodle soaked up all of the delicious salty broth and the runny soft boiled egg was beautiful against the tender flavorful meat. I even enjoyed the crackling (which I don’t normally), although it was a little awkward to eat and I resulted in diving in with the fingers!

Nommy nom nom salmon

Ummm ummmm ummm this sweet salmon with sticky coconut rice and fresh greens tasted soo good that I lost my ability to speak!

Easy, nutritional, healthy and quick…a fantastic post work out meal!

Simply make a marinade of:

• 1tbsp runny honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil
• 1tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 chopped garlic clove

And marinade the salmon for an hour if possible.

Boil 75g per person of basmati rice, when cooked add salt, pepper and 100ml coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes.

Whilst the rice is cooking boil some broccoli and green beans for just 2-3 minutes, keep them fresh! 

Also grill the salmon for 4 minutes each side. Then serve!

A really light but supremely flavoured dish, the garlic and ginger really zing on your tongue and the creamy rice just takes off the edge. As i said…..nom!

  

Just little old chicken Kiev

Chicken Kiev conjures up memories of frozen hunks of processed meat with a watery garlic mixture oozing out. I don’t know about you, by history with chicken kiev’s isn’t good.

But I don’t live in the past and when I came across this recipe in Jamie’s comfort food back I though “Yes, let’s make some good Kiev memories!”

This is one of the less complex recipes in this book, it was pretty straight forward to undertake and it did not require much prep work.

  
The result was marvellous! Soft tender chicken, oozing with a thick creamy butter and coated in a light crisp shell. Matched with a broccoli laden mash potatoe and sprinkled with fresh spinach, I found the whole thigh a hearty and comforting plate. A good Sunday dish id say.

  
Happy eating!

A dish too darn good not to share!

I always like to produce at one vegetarian dish each week, its good for our Eco system, my body and my purse!And generally, I like a good veggi dish but this was out of this world!

Its a Exotic butter bean and butternut squash stew and it offers sweet creamy tastes which are so good, I was actually disappointed to have finished.

Simply sweat a chopped onion in a large pan then add a tbsp of demarera sugar and the butter nut squash (I used spiralised squash). Then add a 400ml can of coconut milk, some chopped chili flakes and about 300ml of vegetable stock. Simmer for 20 minutes and then add the butter beans and cook for a further 10 minutes.

To serve, dish the stew up with some rice and lay on a sprinkling of chili flakes, coriander and pistachios.

Sweet, creamy and with a delicate heat smoldering in the back ground.