Proper egg fried rice

Another simple yet delicious supper which, made this way, is surprisingly healthy. Nick was taught to make this by his friend Clem who is from Malaysia, and when it comes to authenticity that’s good enough for me!

If you want to serve it as a main course (as I often do) rather than an accompaniment to stirfries or a curry, you can add shredded pork or chicken, peas, shrimps, anything you fancy really.

One tip: make sure your wok is truly non-stick, that way hardly any oil is required and the washing up isn’t a complete bitch!

Ingredients (makes enough for three as a main course, four to five as a side dish)

• 3 large free range eggs
• Approximately 500-600gms cooked and cooled rice- made the day before if possible
• 1 medium white onion finely chopped
• 3 spring onions finely chopped
• Approx 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• Approx 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Warm the oil in the wok over a medium heat. Add the white onion and sweat it for a few mins- you want it to soften not brown, so if it starts to catch, turn down the heat a little.
2. Add the spring onion and fry for a further minute then add the rice and cook, stirring frequently for about five minutes. The rice needs to be piping hot.
3. Stir in the soy and oyster sauces and mix well until all the rice is coated, then crack in the eggs.
4. Keep stirring the mixture and scraping round the bottom of the pan. It will take about 3-4 minutes for the eggs to set- the rice will look dry once it’s ready.
5. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary by adding a little more soy or oyster sauce before serving.

Sunshine smoothie

This glorious concoction of fruit and yoghurt felt right on Saturday morning. I drank it while sunning myself in the garden.

Ingredients

• 1 very ripe mango
• 1 small box of ripe strawberries
• 6 tbsp low fat vanilla yoghurt (I used Rachel’s)
• Small cup of good quality cloudy apple juice

Method

1. Stone and skin the mango, wash and chop the strawberries then blitz everything in a blender until there are no lumps left.
2. Check for taste and consistency before serving- if the smoothie is too thick, add a little more juice, too tart add a little more yoghurt and so forth.

Greek style salad

This is a regular fixture in my household come summer. It is especially good with barbeque food.

Ingredients

• ½ a cucumber
• Small bag of cherry tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine
• Small pack of basil
• ½ pack of feta
• Extra virgin olive oil
• small red onion, finely sliced
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Chop the cucumber into small dice and place in a large salad bowl with the onion.
2. Halve the tomatoes and add to the bowl with the torn up basil leaves.
3. Crumble over the feta with your hands.
4. Dress the salad with about 2-3tbsp of olive oil and season to taste.

Garlic mushroom and mascarpone tart

Another recipe from the Good Food stable and an excellent option of you have a vegetarian in the house.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 525g family pack mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 250g tub of mascarpone
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• ¼ small pack parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped
• 50g rocket

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220C. Unroll the pastry and, keeping it on its baking parchment, lay it on a baking sheet.
2. Score a border around the pastry about 1.5cm in from the edge and bake it for 10-15 mins until puffy and lightly golden.
3. While the pastry bakes, heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the mushrooms for 2-3 mins stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, season well and continue to cook until the mushrooms are wilted and there is no liquid left in the pan.
4. Mix the mascarpone with the parsley and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
5. Remove the pastry from the oven and carefully push down the risen centre. Spread over the mascarpone mixture, then spoon on the mushrooms. Bake for 2-3mins to melt the cheese then remove from the oven, scatter over the rocket and serve with a green salad.

Slow-cooked smoky chilli

There was an excellent link in the Good Food newsletter last week- five nights of family suppers for £30 http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/five-nights-budget-suppers-four?cm_mmc=ExactTarget-_-email-_-Good-food-newsletter-387_2014_04_30-_-email&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=Good-food-newsletter-387_2014_04_30 which sounded spot on given the current climate of austerity on the home cooking front. The recipes looked lovely too, no scrimping on taste, and so I decided to put a few to the test.

Here is Good Food’s chunky chilli with a few twists of my own.

Ingredients, serves 4

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra if needed
• 800g diced stewing beef
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1½ tsp ground cumin
• 1-2 tbsp chipotle paste, depending on how spicy you like it
• 400g can kidney beans in chilli sauce
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 pint of beef stock made with one stock cube
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ small pack coriander, leaves only
• Small pot of sour cream
• Cooked rice, to serve
• Optional- grated cheddar cheese to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 130oC.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole to which you have a lid and cook the beef pieces for a few mins on each side until browned all over (you may have to do this in batches). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Add the onion to the pan, with extra oil if needed, and cook until softened. Stir in the garlic, cumin and chipotle paste, and cook for 1 min.
4. Add the beef back to the pan, sprinkle over the flour and stir until everything is well coated.
5. Sieve the kidney beans, reserving the sauce. Add the chilli sauce, along with the chopped tomatoes and stock to the pan. Stir well, bring to a simmer, then cover the dish and bake in the oven for 3 hours.
6. After this time, give the chilli a good stir, add the kidney beans, then cover and return to the oven for a further hour.
7. When you are ready to serve the chilli, chop the coriander leaves and stir them through the sauce. Plate up the chilli with a generous serving of rice, a big dollop of cream and a handful of cheese on each helping. My husband also recommends crumbling over a handful of nachos, although I draw the line at putting crisps in my dinner. Try it if you’re feeling adventurous and very hungry.

Chicken, leek and chestnut pie

This is a brilliant way to use up leftovers after a Sunday roast and it looks like you’ve put loads of effort in when actually, it’s very easy to make.

I made this pie for the first time in the days following Christmas when we had turkey and ham to use up (instead of chicken) and it went down a treat. Feel free to substitute any of the ingredients for whatever’s in your fridge, I’ve also added broccoli florets instead of the chestnuts before and mushrooms would work well too.

Serves 4, or 2 with leftovers for the next day

Ingredients

• 1 pack of ready rolled butter puff pastry- I get frozen sometimes and defrost it before making the pie
• Approximately 300gms leftover roast chicken or whatever meat you prefer to use
• 2 large leeks, washed well and finely sliced
• 100gms cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
• ¾ pint of chicken stock made with one stock cubes
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme
• 2 tbsp crème fraiche
• Salt and pepper
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 beaten egg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC. In a large saucepan or wok melt the butter, add the leeks and sweat them over a low heat for 10mins- you don’t want them to brown, just soften.
2. Add the chicken and chestnuts. Sprinkle over the flour and stir well until it has coated all of the ingredients.
3. Add the stock and bring to the boil, it should thicken up nicely thanks to the flour. Simmer gently for 5mins to get rid of the floury taste, then add the crème fraiche, thyme and season to taste.
4. Pour the pie filling into a large, shallow oven proof dish. Unroll the pastry and lay it over the dish. Tuck the excess pastry in around the filling and cut a cross in the top to let the steam out.
5. Brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and, if you’ve got a bit of pastry leftover, cut out some pleasing shapes and decorate the top.
6. Bake the pie in the oven for about 40mins or until golden and puffed. Serve with piles of buttery mash and green beans.

Tuna, borlotti and basil salad

This is a big, joyous throw-together of delicious ingredients which I break out every summer for lunch boxes. I think I originally had a proper recipe, one which came from a book, but many years have passed and this salad has evolved to suit my tastes and which ingredients I can remember when I hit Sainsburys.

The quantities given here make enough for three lunches. I make the salad in a big bowl then divide it into three separate plastic pots ready to be taken to work. I was a bit worried about the salad going soggy by day three at first. However, I think it actually gets better as the flavours mingle. See what you think.

Ingredients

• 1 tin of borlotti or cannellini beans
• 1 small can (120g) of tuna steak in brine
• Approximately 100gms sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
• Approximately 100gms green or black olives- I’ve found that some supermarkets sell little bags of herby olives with their antipasti- these are perfect
• Approximately 1/3 of a large cucumber cut into small cubes
• Zest and juice of ½ a lemon
• Small bunch of basil finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 2tbsp good quality olive oil

Method

1. Empty the beans into a sieve over the sink and give them a good rinse. Once they have drained put them into a large mixing bowl with the cucumber.
2. Drain the tuna, break it up into small flakes with a fork and add it to the beans.
3. Drain the tomatoes of their oil, chop them roughly along with the olives and add to the salad with the basil.
4. Grate the lemon zest (use the finest grater blade) over the salad and squeeze over the juice. Add the oil along with a good pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Serve.

P.s. it really doesn’t matter in which order you add the ingredients- just chuck it all in the bowl.

Pork with ginger

This recipe requires a bit of preparation before you start cooking but don’t let that put you off. Once the ingredients are ready it only takes ten minutes and it’s a fantastic week night dinner. Because the meat is so lean and there’s hardly any oil involved, the dish is actually quite low in calories and the ginger is great if you’ve got a cold or are just recovering. 

If you’re feeling thrifty, buy a big pack of pork loin steaks from the supermarket (it’s cheaper that way) then freeze them in bags of two. All you have to do in the morning is take a pack out from the freezer and they’re ready to go when you get home. Also, if there’s just two of you eating, still make the full amount- the other 1-2 portions can be potted up and taken to work for lunches the following day.

Feeds four with moderate sized portions, three if you’re greedy like me

Ingredients

• 2 pork loin steaks, fat removed and cut into thin slices- about 2-3mm thick
• 1 small onion sliced finely into half moons
• 4 spring onions finely sliced
• 1 pack of chestnut mushrooms washed and finely sliced
• A large thumb sized piece of ginger, skinned and chopped into matchsticks
• 2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
• 200ml chicken stock made with one stock cube
• 3tbsp oyster sauce
• 1tbsp sesame oil
• Enough rice for 3-4 people

Method

1. Put the rice on to cook and prepare all of your meat and veg.
2. After about 10mins of the rice bubbling away, put a large wok on to your largest hob to heat up- it needs to be screaming hot before you add the oil so be patient.
3. After about 3 mins or when you have reached the limits of your bravery, pour the oil into the wok, add the pork and stirfry hard for 2-3mins or until the pork has browned. Be careful, it will spit.
4. Add the garlic, both types of onion and ginger and stirfry for a further 2 mins. Add the mushrooms and keep stirring until they start to wilt down.
5. Add the stock and oyster sauce and allow the sauce to reduce slightly- no more than 2 mins.
6. Your rice should be ready by now so serve it up and top with the stirfry. Guzzle.

Warm spinach salad with feta and roasted tomatoes

I arrived back in the UK last week following a two-week jaunt to Thailand. The bank holiday seemed like the perfect excuse to do a BBQ and catch up with friends and family. I asked my mum to bring a salad and this is what she made. Simple but very effective.

Ingredients

• 4-5 handfuls of raw baby spinach leaves
• 4 whole garlic cloves
• 2 red peppers halved and deseeded
• 1 pack feta cheese (or any other kind of goats cheese you fancy)
• 10-12 cherry tomatoes on the vine
• Balsamic vinegar
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC. Place the pepper halves on a baking tray. Place the garlic cloves inside the peppers (keep the skins on the cloves), drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper then bake for about 25mins. After this time, place the tomato vines on top of the peppers and bake for a further 10mins.
2. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the peppers and tomatoes to cool for a few minutes.
3. Meanwhile, wash the spinach leaves, dry well and put them into a nice salad bowl. Remove the feta from its packet and crumble it over the leaves.
4. Cut the peppers into strips and place them on top of the spinach. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins (they should be soft and juicy) and add them to the salad.
5. Drizzle over the salad about 2tbsp of olive oil and 1-2tbsp of balsamic vinegar depending on your taste (I like more but some prefer less). Mix carefully with your hands so that all of the ingredients are dressed.
6. Place the tomatoes still on their vines on top of the salad. Grind over a little black pepper and serve.

Eggs benedict

This is one of my favourite meals. When eggs benedict is done right it is oh so good. Done bad, it’s bloody awful.

It takes a little while to make but it's well worth it. Nick was working this morning so I decided to treat myself and make a feast for breakfast, which I then gobbled with a hot cup of tea while sitting out in the early morning sunshine. Bliss.

Breakfast or brunch for one greedy person

Ingredients

For the hollandaise sauce

• 2 egg yolks
• 1tsp white wine vinegar
• 60gms butter melted
• Pinch of salt and black pepper

For the rest

• 2 eggs (I like Cotswold Legbar ones that come in a blue box from Sainsburys. They’re much tastiest that the normal ones and the yolks are such a dark orange they’re almost red)
• 1 English muffin split in half
• Butter to spread on the crumpet
• 4 slices good quality ham
• 2-3 chives to snip over the top

Method

1. Make the hollandaise first. Put the vinegar and egg yolks into a small heatproof bowl that will fit snugly on top of a saucepan with an inch of water in the bottom. The bottom of the bowl must not touch the water.
2. Bring the water to a gentle simmer, place the bowl on top and start whisking briskly. Keep doing this while very gradually adding the melted butter and whisk for 5 mins continuously or until the sauce is thick. Beware of overheating the sauce- if it looks like it’s going to split, remove the bowl from the pan and whisk hard off the heat for a minute.
3. Once thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stir in the salt and pepper then take the sauce off of the heat and cover with a tea towel to keep warm.
4. Bring another large saucepan of water to a rolling boil, stir fast in a circle to create a whirlpool in the water then slip the two whole eggs in to poach. Keep an eye on the pan so that it doesn’t boil over. The eggs will take about 3 mins to cook with a runny yolk, 4 if you like them set.
5. Meanwhile, put the muffin halves into toast. Once done, butter lightly and pile two slices of ham on each side. Use a slotted spoon to remove the poached eggs from the water, drain well and place on top of the ham.
6. Pour over the hollandaise, snip over the chives and devour.

Watercress and pecorino pesto

This is easily the best pesto recipe I’ve come across, and once you’ve tasted it I guarantee you will never go back to shop bought. It works well with pasta or can be used to jazz up soups, vegetables (works really well with steamed green beans) or chicken dishes. The nice thing is you don’t need to be too exact on the ingredients, just taste as you go along and add more if necessary. And it only takes ten minutes to make- perfect for a week night supper.

Ingredients

• Small handful of pinenuts
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Small bunch of basil (I use a small bag from the supermarket)
• ¾ of a bag of watercress- not to be confused with those little plastic tubs of salad cress (I use the bags that you get in the salad section of the supermarket)
• Large handful of grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Dried pasta for two people- don’t bother with penne or spaghetti, go for a really twisty style with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the sauce

Method

1. Put the pasta on to cook. Toast the pinenuts in a frying pan, tossing them frequently. This will only take a matter of minutes, keep a close eye on the nuts as they will burn very easily once they start to brown. Once browned remove to a bowl and allow to cool for a minute.
2. Use a hand blender (or a pestle and mortar if you don’t mind the extra work) to blend the garlic, basil, watercress (don’t bother removing the stems, it’s all going to get blitzed anyway), parmesan and pinenuts with a good glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. It’s up to you how much you blend- if you like chunky pesto just give it a rough blitz, if you like it smooth, go a bit longer. If the pesto looks a bit dry add a tablespoon of water to loosen it.
3. Drain the pasta and mix in the pesto stirring well so that the heat from the pasta melts the cheese. Serve with lots of black pepper and extra grated pecorino.

Stirfried pork with green beans and oyster sauce

I made this for dinner last night and it was good!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 100ml water
• 400g pork fillet, cut into thin slices
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 red birds eye chilli finely sliced (seeds left in)
• 1 red onion, cut into chunky pieces
• 140g green beans, halved
• Cooked rice to serve

Method

1. In a small bowl mix together the lime juice, oyster sauce, soy sauce and caster sugar. Set aside, and unless you don’t mind your smoke alarm going off, I’d open a window now- it’s going to get smoky in a minute!
2. Heat a large wok until it is screaming hot. Add the sesame oil and quickly stirfry the pork until it is lightly browned.
3. Add all of the vegetables and stirfry for about two minutes. Then add the sauce and the water. Keep stirfrying for another 2-3 minutes until the beans are just tender and the sauce has reduced slightly.
4. Serve with boiled or steamed rice- I put this on to cook before doing all the chopping and cooking for the stirfry, then they will be ready at about the same time.

Vietnamese chicken noodle salad

Taken from Bill Granger’s Everyday cookbook and presented in homage to spring which appears to have arrived in London.

Ingredients, serves 2

For the spicy chicken

• Two large chicken breasts, skinned and sliced into thin strips
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
• 2 large red chillies, finely chopped
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp sesame oil

For the salad

• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 200g fresh vermicelli rice noodles- these can be found in the refrigerated veg stir fry section in the supermarkets. They’re very fine, white and come in bags. You could use dried but they’re not as nice in this recipe.
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced into match sticks
• small handful or bag of fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
• 4 spring onions, sliced finely
• 2 tbsp cashews, crushed

Method

1. For the spicy chicken, whisk the fish sauce, pepper, garlic, chillies and sugar together in a small bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, pour half the marinade over the chicken pieces and mix well (you can leave this to rest for 20mins or so at this point if you like). Reserve the rest of the marinade.
3. Meanwhile, get a heavy bottomed frying pan heating up, boil the kettle and place your noodles into a sieve over the sink or a large bowl. Once the kettle has boiled, pour the hot water over the noodles to refresh them, then leave them to drain for 10 mins.
4. Now the frying pan is hot add the chicken. You want it to cook through and gain a nice honeyed glaze as the sugar caramelises. Keep an eye on it and turn the pieces occasionally. It will probably take about 10mins (I suggest you open the window- this can get smoky!) . Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside to rest.
5. For the salad, make a dressing by adding the lime juice, soy and sugar to the reserved marinade, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Mix the drained noodles in a large bowl with the cucumber, mint, spring onions, cashews and the dressing until well combined.
7. To serve, divide the salad among four plates, and top with the chicken.

Chilli with chorizo and dark chocolate

Sounds wrong but tastes so right! The cocoa solids in the chocolate lend a rich smoky edge to the sauce and, contrary to what most people think, it won’t make the chilli sweet. Good quality dark chocolate contains very little sugar, hence the reason it is so bitter. So, the darker the better, and for gods sake don’t use milk chocolate or it will taste awful.

Ingredients

• 500gms lean beef mince
• 1 packet chilli con carne seasoning mix (I used Schwartz)
• 1 can kidney beans in water, drained and rinsed
• ½ a chorizo sausage skinned and roughly chopped
• 1 family-sized jar (or two regular-sized ones) Lloyd Grossman tomato and basil pasta sauce
• Cold water
• 2 squares dark chocolate- must be 70% cocoa solids or higher
• Rice and grated cheddar cheese to serve

Method

1. Brown the mince in a deep casserole or saucepan, then add the chorizo, seasoning and tomato sauce.
2. Half fill the empty sauce jar with cold water and pour this in too.
3. Add the kidney beans and grate in the dark chocolate. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. Put the lid on and leave to simmer while the rice cooks (about 20 mins but longer won't hurt). Serve with a big handful of grated cheese on top. 

Note: the quantities don't need to be too exact in this recipe and if there's anything else that you would like to add go ahead. For those who like it hot, try adding 1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes

Chicken and chorizo bake

I’ve been working on this recipe for a while. It’s very similar to Greek chicken (for those who know what that is) but it’s quicker and lighter. Perfect for a week night dinner,

Serves two but can easily be multiplied to feed more

Ingredients

• 4 large chicken thighs (2 per person)
• 1 large red onion quartered
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 peppers (1 red, one orange) deseeded and chopped into large chunks
• ½ a courgette chopped into large chunks
• Small bag of new potatoes (or 3 large bakers chopped into small dice)
• 10 cherry tomatoes (left whole)
• ½ a chorizo sausage, skinned and chopped into thick rounds
• 1 red chilli chopped finely, seeds left in
• 3 tbsp paprika (I use sweet but smoked is fine)
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC. Put the potatoes into a large baking tray, halving any which are particularly big.
2. Add to the baking tray the chicken, chorizo, chilli and all of the vegetables.
3. Pour over the olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and mix with your hands to make sure everything is coated. Then sprinkle over the paprika and oregano.
4. Bake in the oven for 45mins, turning carefully with a spoon halfway through. Make sure the chicken is golden and cooked through before serving.
5. When the chicken is cooked and the veg are tender, pour over the vinegar and give everything a good stir. Serve in a lovely big dish so that everyone can help themselves. Crusty bread and a green salad would go well here.

Melt-in-the-middle smoked mackerel fish cakes

I made some beautiful fish cakes last week based on Jack Monroe’s recipe from the Guardian website http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/22/jack-monroe-smoked-mackerel-fishcakes-recipe Rather than flavouring mine with lemon and chilli, I added spring onions and a melt-in-the-middle cheddar cheese centre. Both ways are delicious- try them and let me know what you think.

It would also be easy to adapt this recipe, adding lemongrass, garlic and ginger to give the cakes a Thai feel. If you do this I would suggest making 12 little fishcakes rather than four large ones, frying them in a pan on the hob with a little vegetable oil, and having some sweet chilli sauce on hand for dipping.

Ingredients

• 500g potatoes, diced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• 5 spring onions finely chopped (greens and all)
• 300g smoked mackerel
• 3 tbsp breadcrumbs (brown or white bread, doesn’t matter)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 100gms cheddar cheese cut into four cubes

Method

1. Put the oven on to heat at 200oC and get yourself a baking tray.
2. Put the potatoes into a saucepan of boiling water, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender.
3. Drain and mash with the lemon juice, butter and salt and pepper. Flake the fish into the mash, add the spring onions and mix well.
4. Shape the mixture into four large fishcakes. Press your thumb into the centre of each to make a dimple, add a cube of cheese then squash the mixture around it so that the cheese is completely contained.
5. At this stage you can put the cakes into the fridge to chill and firm up for 30 minutes, or you can just carry on- do whatever suits you and the time you have- I crumbed and cooked them straight away and they were fine.
6. When chilled or ready to cook, pour the oil on to a small plate and spread the breadcrumbs out on a slightly larger one. Dip each cake briefly into the oil on both sides then roll in the breadcrumbs to coat.
7. Place on the baking tray and bake for 30mins or until golden. I served them with purple sprouting broccoli, but a salad would work very nicely too.

In minature

One of my colleagues brought these gorgeous minature cheesecakes into work today. Each had half an Oreo cookie in lieu of a base.

White on blonde

I made Nick a little valentines treat- the cheesecake from earlier this week minus the raspberries but adorned with a white chocolate heart. Yum!

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Salad nicoise

I picked up this recipe while flying home from the US in late February a couple of years ago. Boredom struck and I found myself flicking through the TV shows available on the in flight entertainment system. I was delighted to find several episodes of The Good Cook with Simon Hopkinson and couldn’t wait to get home and rustle up this treat of a recipe. I did so the following weekend and we ate the results while sitting in the sunshine in the garden; yes, it was warm in February that year! 
For those who don’t like anchovies, you could replace them with fresh tuna- select a large fresh fillet of tuna and sear it in a frying pan on both sides for two minutes before slicing into strips and adorning the salad. Or, for the fish-phobic, try grilled chicken strips. Don’t forget to season them though or you won’t get the sweet-salty contrast that is so important here.

Serves 3-4 for lunch

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 8 artichoke hearts (bottled) in olive oil
• 16 black olives
• 2tsp green capers drained of their brine
• 4 large, very ripe tomatoes quartered
• ½ a cucumber, peeled and sliced in chunks
• 4 spring onions finely chopped
• Handful of green beans blanched and chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 tin anchovies in olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped chervil
• Small handful basil
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 175ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 little gem lettuces, leaves washed and sliced
• Loaf of sourdough bread to serve

Method

1. First make the dressing- whisk together the garlic and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside. The vinegar will start to cook the garlic and take the edge off of its flavour.
2. Place the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil then switch off the heat and leave to cook for five minutes.
3. Meanwhile, arrange the lettuce leaves in a large bowl. Chop and sprinkle over the herbs. Add the cucumber, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, capers, spring onions and green beans. Drain the anchovies of their oil and lay them on the top (discard the oil).
4. Add the olive oil to the vinegar dressing along with the salt and pepper, mix well and pour over the salad.
5. Cool the eggs under cold running water for two minutes then peel and slice into quarters. It’s best to slice them over the salad bowl as the yolks will still be runny.
6. Serve with toasted slices of sour dough bread and eat in the sunshine

Baked raspberry cheesecake

This was the highest rated recipe on the Good Food website for many years, although for some reason when they revamped the site it disappeared. I replicate it here for you now in homage to its success. It is everything you would want a cheesecake to be, with or without the raspberries.

Ingredients

• 8 digestive biscuits
• 50gms melted butter
• 600gms cream cheese (such as original Philadelphia)
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 175gms caster sugar
• Vanilla extract
• 2 eggs plus 1 extra yolk
• 142ml pot of sour cream
• 300gms raspberries
• Icing sugar to dust

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180oC, and grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin.
2. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until crumbly then mix in the butter and press the mixture gently into the base of the cake tin to form the cheesecake base.
3. Beat the cream cheese together with the flour, caster sugar and 1tsp of vanilla extract, then beat in the eggs and sour cream until the mixture is light and fluffy. To be honest, I normally clean out the food processor bowl and just blitz this mixture together quickly.
4. Once your mixture is ready, pour it into the tin on top of the biscuits and sprinkle over half the raspberries- they will sink but don’t worry, they’re meant to.
5. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40mins (no bain marie or any of that guff needed)- when ready the cake should be set but still wobbly in the middle if you jiggle the tin a little.
6. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely in its tin (will take about 3hrs). You can then serve it straight away decorated with the remaining raspberries and dusted with icing sugar, or you can pop the cake in the fridge ready for decorating later. It will keep well for several days.

Winter ragu with beef and pancetta

This recipe is adapted from Michaela Chiappa’s Simply Italian version. I cook mine in the oven so that I can potter round the house rather than stand watch over the stove. It’s a great alternative to Bolognese- and you know how strongly I feel about Bolognese- so trust me when I say it’s worth a go.

Ingredients

• 100gms pancetta cubes
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1 large carrot finely diced
• 2 sticks celery finely diced
• 1kg lean beef mince
• 1 large glass red wine
• 140gms tomato puree (you can buy tiny tins in the supermarket which are exactly the right amount)
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• Olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• Parmesan to serve
• Parpadelle or tagliatelle for six people

Method

1. You will need a big (and I mean BIG) casserole dish with a lid for the ragu, as well as a small frying pan to brown the pancetta in. While you find the casserole, put the oven on to preheat at 150oC.
2. Put the frying pan over a medium heat and add the pancetta allowing it to brown and go crispy. Once it’s done, remove from the heat and tip the pancetta on to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain off the fat.
3. Meanwhile, add 2tbsp of oil to the casserole, add the beef and brown all over.
4. Chop all the veg and add to the pan along with the pancetta. Fry for 10mins to soften, then pour in the wine and bring to the boil to reduce the alcohol.
5. Crumble in the bay leaves and add the tomato puree. Make up the stock cubes with 500ml of boiling water and add to the pan.
6. Bring the mixture back to a simmer then put the lid on and bake in the oven for three hours. I like to stir the ragu every hour.
7. After three hours check the seasoning- you will probably need pepper but not salt as the pancetta is quite salty. Remove two ladles of sauce to a blender (or you could use a hand blender) and blitz to make the sauce smooth, then stir this back into the main pot of ragu. This step is optional and purely for texture- if you like it chunky don’t bother- it’s good either way.
8. Cook your pasta and serve the ragu with lots of parmesan.

Note- once the three hours cooking time is up you can also cool the ragu and it will keep well in the fridge or freezer until needed.

Gnocchi with spinach and dolcelatte

Thank you Nigel Slater for this gem... http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/11/nigel-slater-gnocchi-spinach-dolcelatte-recipe

Asparagus soup

You could probably make this using two onions rather than one onion one leek if you prefer. Best served with crusty bread and maybe some crispy fried pancetta bits on top. This makes about four lunch sized portions.

Ingredients

• 400gms asparagus stalks, roughly chopped, woody ends removed
• 1 white onion roughly chopped
• 1 leek, cleaned and roughly chopped
• 1 stick of celery, washed and chopped
• 1 litre chicken stock (made with two stock cubes)
• Salt and pepper
• Small knob of butter

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions, leek and celery and fry slowly over a low heat for 5 mins to soften.
2. Add the asparagus and stock. Cover and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 15-20mins.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and blend the soup- either with a hand blender or in a a goblet-style blender. Taste and season with pepper and salt if necessary.
4. You can serve the soup as is or, if you prefer a smooth soup, push it carefully through a sieve with the back of a ladle. The result is a very clean, tasty broth

*nb this soup also freezes very well 

Hake baked with asparagus, lemon and chilli and served with salsa verde new potatoes

 

I adapted this from a Jamie Oliver recipe. It's a healthy but decadent feeling dish, perfect for if you have friends coming over for dinner or if you just want to treat yourself. This recipe feeds four but you can cut down the fish to two portions for two people. Also, I was so eager to eat this that I forgot to photograph it! So apologies, and please dont expect it to look like the picture above!

Ingredients

• Four large hake fillets (cod or pollack work well too if you can’t get hake)
• Small bag of cherry tomatoes
• 1 red chilli
• 1 lemon
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3tbsp olive oil
• 1 standard supermarket bag of asparagus (not the baby tips)
• 1 small bag of new potatoes (the very tiny ones)
• Small bunch of parsley (I just use the supermarket bags)
• Half a small bunch of mint
• 2tsp Dijon mustard
• 1tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp capers in brine
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, fill the kettle with water and put it on to boil.
2. Get a medium sized roasting tin or baking dish and empty in the bag of cherry tomatoes.
3. Chop the woody ends off of the asparagus spears, chop the spears into bit sized chunks and add them to the tomatoes.
4. Slice the garlic finely and add about three cloves worth to the tomato dish, reserve the rest for the salsa verde.
5. Finely slice the chilli and add to the tomato dish along with salt and pepper and  two tbsp of olive oil. Slice the fish into thick chunks and add to the dish skin side up. Mix everything well to coat in the oil, then quarter the lemon, squeeze over the juice and add the quarters to the dish to roast with the fish.
6. Put the baking tray into the oven- this will take about 20 mins to cook- so, in the meantime put the bag of new potatoes into a saucepan, cover with water from the kettle and bring to the boil with 2-3 sprigs of mint.
7. While the potatoes are cooking make the salsa verde, you will need a food processor or a hand blender for this. Put the mint leaves (removed from stalks) into the processor along with the whole bunch of parsley, mustard, capers (drained of their brine) one tbsp olive oil, the remaining garlic and the vinegar and blitz to a paste. Season to taste.
8. Once the potatoes are cooked drain them and put them back into the dry pan. Crush them a little with the back of a spoon, then mix in the salsa verde to coat the potatoes. Keep warm until the fish is ready.
9. Once the fish is crispy on top and cooked through, remove the lemon rinds and serve the fish and veg alongside the potatoes*

*nb a very cold glass of sauvignon blanc wouldn’t go a miss here
  

Caroll’s legendary cheesecake

This cake has been a Lovejoy family staple for as long as I can remember. The recipe was very kindly passed to me by my auntie Caroll when I was a teenager, and I’m yet to find an easier or tastier fridge-set cheesecake.
You can take the high road and top it with fresh fruit or, if we’re being entirely true to tradition, get a can of black cherries in syrup from your local supermarket for a naughty but nice touch. In fact, if you’re going down the cherry route, can I suggest getting some dark chocolate to shave over the top too, a la black forest gateau?  

Ingredients
• 14 digestive biscuits
• 100gms butter
• 2tbsp caster sugar
• 100gms icing sugar
• 100gms Original Philadelphia cream cheese
• 284ml double cream
• 1tsp vanilla essence/extract- buy the best quality you can for max taste
• Fresh fruit to top

Method
1. Crumb the biscuits in a food processor, or bash them up to fine crumbs with the end of a rolling pin.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the caster sugar and stir until dissolved. Switch off the heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs, mix until everything is well coated, then press the biscuit mix into a greased 7-8” springform tin with the back of a spoon to form the base (don’t press them down too hard or the base will be like a rock).
3. In a large mixing bowl cream together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence.
4. In a separate bowl whip the double cream until it stands in soft peaks (be careful not to whip too much or it will become solid), then fold it gently into the cream cheese mixture.
5. Spoon the creamy mixture on top of the biscuit base. Smooth the top and chill the cake for at least 2 hours.
6. To serve, remove the cake from the springform case and decorate the top with the fruit.

Beef kofta curry

Made this curry for dinner last night and it was scrummy!  http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-kofta-curry-with-fluffy-rice-beans-peas

Roast chicken with pasta

 

 

 

 

 

Because so many people have asked for this recipe…

Ingredients:
·         1 large free range chicken
·         1 small packet of basil
·         4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
·         1 lemon
·         3tbsps olive oil
·         Salt and pepper
·         5 garlic cloves
·         4tbsps balsamic vinegar
·         Approx. 300gms cherry tomatoes (I use a standard bag from the supermarket-a bit more or less won’t hurt)
·         Tagliatelle or spaghetti for 4 people
·         Parmesan to serve

Method:
1.      Preheat the oven to 190oC and find yourself a large metal roasting tin (if it has a little roasting rack inside even better, but this isn’t essential) that you won’t mind putting on the hob later
2.      Remove the chicken from its packet and remove any string binding the legs, give it a good rinse under running water then drain and place in the tray (on the rack if you’re using one).
3.      In a pestle and mortar or using a hand blender mash up the basil with the olive oil. Strip the thyme leaves from their stems, add these then give them another blend.
4.      Pour this green sticky mixture over the chicken and massage it all over, especially into the breasts and thighs, then cut the lemon in half and put it inside the chicken.
5.      Salt and pepper the top of the chicken then empty the bag of cherry tomatoes into the tray around the chicken. Take the skins off of the garlic and add the cloves to the pan too with a small splash of water.
6.      Roast the chicken for about 1.5 hours at the bottom of the oven. Make sure you check it occasionally and if the tomatoes and garlic are looking dry add a splash of water to the tray- you don’t want them to burn to a crisp.
7.      When the chicken is cooked remove it from the oven and place it on a plate to rest. Cover with foil to keep it hot.
8.      Meanwhile boil a saucepan of water and add the pasta.
9.      Place the baking tray with the chicken juices, toms etc. on the hob over a low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the balsamic to this mixture and stir well, mashing up the tomatoes and garlic with the back of the spoon. Allow the sauce to reduce down for five mins and scrape the pan to get all the nice sticky bits off the bottom.
10.  When the pasta is ready drain it and add it to the roasting tray. Mix well to coat in the sauce then serve along with a few slices of the chicken and plenty of parmesan.