Beef brisket - slow cooked on the hob

Some meat just needs to be slow cooked.

I also can't resist a bargain, brisket is a good value cut of meat but it needs to be given some time or you'll just end up with a tough, chewy mess.

So this is what I did to bring out that brilliant flavour.

First seal off the meat in a frying pan, I seasoned the brisket with a little bit of salt and lots of black pepper and used a knob of butter and a splash of oil in the pan. Keep the heat high and turn quickly in the pan. It only needs to be in there long enough for all the sides to be sealed.

Once the brisket is sealed, put it in a big pan and add the following:

1/2 bottle of red wine
2 beef stock cubes
1 red onion roughly chopped
3tsp mustard
1dessert spoon of tomato paste/puree
1tsp of paprika
4 cloves of garlic
pinch of celery salt
1/2 tsp each of oregano, rosemary and thyme (all mine were dried herbs)

Top up the pan with water until the brisket is covered and pop the lid on bring to the boil and then reduce down until it is very lightly simmering.
Leave it like this,topping up with water and checking occasionally. I actually forgot about mine and left it ticking over for 4 hours!


The meat should shred apart pretty easy with just a normal knife and fork. We had ours in gravy with a big pile of mash (click here for a recipe that includes smooth tasty mash) and green beans.
Simply comforting food. 

Also great to use as a pie filling or as a great value roast dinner. :)

Chicken Leek and Mushroom Pie

So, my first thing I want to champion is not wasting a drop after roasting a chicken. If you don't use the pan juices after for gravy or you have some left over, pour it into a little dish or ramekin. It splits into two delicious layers, both of which I use in this recipe. If you haven't got this, you can use any fat and a chicken stockcube instead.

This is a cheats pie, only using a pastry lid, but hey it saves on the calories.
You will need a big flat dish for your pie I used a 8 1/2 inch pyrex dish. (Don't forget it's going in the oven!)


So, as well as the jar of loveliness you will need:

2 chicken breasts ( or equivalent of thighs) cut into bite size pieces
5 mushrooms ( chestnut mushrooms if you have them, not the fiddly baby ones)
1/2 a leek sliced into little half discs
2 cloves of garlic chopped up tiny
1 spring onion sliced finely
pinch of dried parsely
pinch of dried tarragon
1/2 glass of white wine
dsrt spn of plain flour
2 dsrt spn of plain cream cheese
pack of rolled puff pastry (cut a square that is a bit bigger than your pie dish)
1 beaten egg - to glaze.


To make the filling:

Melt the top layer of the chickeny loveliness (or some butter and oil) in a big frying pan.
Add the leeks and spring onion and cook on a medium heat until softened. Add the garlic mushrooms and chicken and stir until the chicken is sealed.
Now add the white wine and the bottom part of the chicken juices, stir until incorporated then sprinkle over the flour.
Keep stiring as it turns into a sauce and add the cream cheese and herbs.
Once the cheese has melted turn off the heat and tip the mixture into the pie dish.

I left mine to cool a bit whilst I waited for my oven to get up to temperature about 180°c.
Then brush the edges of the pie dish with beaten egg and laid the pastry over the top. push the fork prongs around the edges to make sure it stays stuck on. Brush the egg all over the lid and I also topped mine with some mature grated cheddar ( not essential but very tasty) I also used some bits of pastry to decorate the top (but then I like to do faffy cheffy things occasionally!)



Cook the pie for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is puffy and golden brown. We served ours with green beans and carrots. And well, there's no leftovers!

festive flavoured pastries

These came about as a combination of a hungry toddler and mum; and what was left in the fridge!

Here is what I used,
2 inches at the end of some ready rolled puff pastry, cut into inch squares. This will make 8 pastries.
handful of raisins
2 dried apricots chopped up small
1tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
grated rind of small orange
milk to glaze
● pre heat oven to 180°c
●lay out pastry squares on a baking tray covered in baking paper.
●mix everything else except the milk in a bowl and put a small teaspoon of the mixture in the middle of each pastry square.
● pickup each corner of the pastry and fold into the centre, use wet fingers so the corners (now in the middle) stay stuck down.
●brush over the milk ( or dab with your fingers if you dont have a pastry brush) and dust over some more cinnamon.
● cook in the oven for ten minutes until golden brown.

Lovely with a cup of tea, but this time the little man ate most.
Will have to go get some more pastry!

Lamb steaks, with roasted veg and cous cous

 Birthday treat!

So, it was my birthday yesterday, yeay!
With it being a 'school' night we didnt go out but I got free reign on choice of tea.
This is an old classic in our house that just got forgotten about!

so first things first, get the roasted veg on (click here for recipe)
then you get to chill out for 15 minutes before starting on the cous cous.

Cous cous -
Finely dice a red onion and cook it in saucepan on a medium heat with a glug of olive oil.
Also add 1shake each of paprika, cumin, garlic and two shakes of turmeric. After a minute or so of stirring put the kettle on and tip enough cous cous for two (it doubles in size) stir until all the cous cous is covered in the oil and spices add a handful of raisins or other dried fruit, a handful of sundried tomatoes and  a pinch if cinnamon. Turn the heat off and pour over the boiling water until everything in the pan is covered with 1cm / 1/2 inch extra. Leave for 5 mins for all the water to be absorbed.

Lamb steaks-
Season and oil the lamb steaks and simply fry over a high heat ( if you have any in the fridge add a splash of wine to the pan as you turn them over, helps them keep really soft)

Simply serve with some minty yoghurt drizzle (mix some plain yoghurt with mint sauce)
We also had some cheesy garlic mushrooms!
enjoy xx

Time for tea part 1

So, not a recipe but what I'm going to do is when I have something good for tea I'll take a pick and share with you!

Tonights tea using yesterdays roast chicken and new potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary. With a egg, green olive and sundried tomato salad. A sprinkle of smoked paprika and a tasty homemade balsamic dressing.

I've got a brilliant salad dressing messure/shaker with recipes and the quantities marked on the side, easy to use and cheaper than buying pricey bottles of dressing that sit in the fridge door for weeks on end whilst you deliberate if it's still edible.

Dave's Baked Sea Bass

Today we have a guest recipe from my lovely husband Dave! A much more grown up version of fish fingers and much more tasty. Here's our version, feel free to change it up with different fish, flavours of cream cheese and the herb flavouring in the breadcrunbs.


You will need:

2 Sea bass fillets
Bread (leave 2 slices out so they go dry, or for more flavour, use that hard end of posh/homemade loaf that no-one wants to finish!)
Cream cheese (as light or as 'un-light' as you want we use philly light)
half a handful of fresh parsley.
1/2 a lemons worth of lemon zest.

★ use a stick blender/food processor/ sharp knife to chop the bread and parsley together untill you have green flecked breadcrumbs, then add the lemon zest.
★ put the sea bass fillets skin side down on a tray covered in lightly oiled baking/greaseproof paper. Smooth over a thin layer of cream cheese and then cover the fillet with a layer of breadcrumbs.
★ how long your fish will take to cook will vary, as a guideline I'd recommend 15mins in a pre heated 170°c oven.

Quickly boil, then roast new potatoes with rosemary and garlic on another baking tray. serve alongside the fish with peas, or even try minty smushed peas.

Enjoy!

morrocan inspired sauce

This is a sauce concocted to put a different spin on roast chicken. Served with rice and roasted butternut squash and sweet potato.

In a saucepan heat up:

1 chopped onion, heat until softened then add
1 tin of plum tomatoes.
turn off the heat and allow to cool, then blend (with a stick blender) until smooth.
Put back on the heat and add:

Splash of red wine
splash of balsamic vinegar.
1/2 tsp each of cumin, paprika, ground coriander and mustard seed.
heaped tsp of brown sugar
big pinch of ground cinnamon
big pinch of ground ginger
Then add 65g of dried fruit ( I bought a mixed bag that had raisins, sultanas and dried apricots.)

 This could be used as a tagine sauce for lamb or mixed veg.

Enjoy!

Bacon, Blue Cheese and Spring Onion Stuffed Jackets

Baked Potatoes are great. Filling, cheap and you can put almost anything on them (great for clearing out the fridge).

A recent thrifty thing of mine has been buying the big pack of bacon off cuts/ bits from the butchers (supermarket ones aren't so great) it's only £2 a pack and it lasts forever!
But if you're veggie or don't eat bacon, this recipe is also very tasty without!

So you will need:

3 spring onions
2 handfuls of bacon, (snip it with scissors into bite size pieces)
1/2 a pack of blue cheese (approx g)
2 big baking potatoes, or 3 medium ones ( I used 3 medium ones)
heaped teaspoon of cream cheese

prick the skins on the potatoes and cook them in the microwave for about 10 mins or until they're soft all the way through. Slice through lengthways and scoop out the insides into a bowl. Arrange the skins onto a baking tray (pre-heat the oven to 180°c)

Cook the bacon strips in the frying pan until crispy and add to the spooned out potato.
Mix the crumbled blue cheese in with potato and snip in the spring onions. Add the cream cheese and mix thoroughly. Spoon it back into the potato skins and cook for ten minutes or until they're starting to brown on top.

Serve with a big handful of peppery salad leaves or dark green leafy veg

Enjoy!

Ginger and spring onion sauce

I love chinese inspired food, here's another takeaway favourite!

You will need:

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks.
3 spring onions, cut into similar sized strips
one clove of garlic, in thin slices.

Put all this into a heat proof bowl.

Add to this:
3tblsp chicken stock.
2tblsp soy sauce.
2 tsp brown sugar.
1/2  tsp smooth peanut butter.

Heat up 4 tblspn vegetable oil in a pan until it is very hot but not quite smoking, then tip it into the bowl with the other ingredients. It will fizzle for a few seconds, then once it stops you can use it with stir fried meat or veg and fried rice/ noodles.

Tonight we had it with beef, sugar snap peas carrots and fried rice.

Enjoy :-)

Its a roast poatato, its a chip, it's a Crispy Gnocchi!

This is possibly a Nigella idea or another TV cook/chef (I watch so many!!) I adopted a while ago. Very true to the blog, fast tasty and great value!

Gnocchi!?

Gnocchi are little italian potato dumplings, which are very nice cooked quickly in a pan (the way you would fresh pasta) and tossed in some tasty pesto. 
But for when you're not feeling quiet so virtuous and craving something crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, there is another way...

Heat a good slosh of olive oil in a frying pan and add a big handful of gnocchi per person. Keep stirring around with the pan hot and add what ever seasoning/flavouring you like. I personally like garlic powder and dried rosemary. Stir until they have all turned a nice golden colour and then eat them whilst they're still hot!

We had some last night with steak and salad. Lovely!

A great store cupboard standby, I used half a vacuum pack I got from the supermarket for less than 70p.
Enjoy!

Goulash - well my easy tasty interpretation of it!

I'm sure I'm not the only person in the UK who is glad to see the back of our frankly, rubbish summer and is welcoming the dark and cosy nights of autumn with open arms (maybe not this much rain though!)

Autumn is all about slow cooked pieces of meat that melt in your mouth and strong rich flavours for me and this goulash is spot on.

Sorry all the veggies for the 'melt in the mouth' comment. You can also make this goulash with some chunky portabello mushrooms and a teaspoon of marmite / other yeast extract.

You will need:

1lb stewing steak (cubed into bite size pieces, dont be too finnicky about trimming off the fat)
1 big sweet potato (slighty bigger bits than the beef if you can)
4 medium sized carrot (slightly smaller bits than the beef)
6 teaspoons of paprika (I like 3 each of both normal and smoked paprika) - yes, really that much!
Small bottle of red wine (250ml)
2 cloves of garlic
Dessert spoon of tomato paste
1 red onion, chunky chopped

In a big frying pan, gently cook the onion garlic and tomato paste in olive oil, after a couple of minutes, turn up the heat and add the beef and paprika. Keep stirring until all the beef is sealed.

Tip it all into a big casserole dish then add the red wine to frying pan (this will pick up all the bits off the bottom of the pan), then tip that into the casserole dish aswell.

Add the sweet potato and carrot to the dish and top up with some freshly boiled water out of the kettle.

Put a lid on and cook on a low oven (140C) for two hours, or longer if you like! Stir in a bit of flour mashed with butter to thicken (or even some gravy granules) if you like your sauce thick.

Serve with a dollop of soured cream and fluffy white rice ( you could serve with another starchy carb, but I think the clean taste of the rice contrasts wonderfully with the rich goulash)

Enjoy, pics when mine comes out of the oven!

sunkiss tomato and almond pesto

What's in the fridge tonight? Well there was some fresh pasta we got in and some chicken breast fillets. I also had the leftover tomatoes and ham from the Tomato and Prosciutto Tart the other night. Flicking through a few recipes online (I was looking for some pasta sauce inspiration but didn't want anything too tomatoey or too cheesy) I can across pesto recipies using almonds...bingo! Almonds on the 'baking' shelf in my cupboard.

So after chargrilling the chicken strips on the griddle with a splash of oil and lemon juice, this is what I did next...

Put a handful of flaked almonds in a dry pan and keep them moving around so they brown but don't burn.

Add them to a bowl with:
a handful of sunkiss tomatoes
tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
tablespoon of strong grated cheese (I had a cheddar with some pickled onion in, tasty!)
handful of fresh basil
pinch of dried italian herb blend

Blitz with a stick blender until a thick paste.

Stir into freshly cooked hot pasta with another glug of oil and salt and pepper. Tear in a couple of slices of proscuitto and top with fresh basil leaves and chargrilled strips of chicken.


Enjoy!
abz x

Tomato and Proscuitto Tart

Tea for one tonight, and not really in the mood to stand and chop or stir, so my lazy, but indulgent tea tonight is a ready rolled puff pastry tart!




Ready rolled pastry has really taken off recently with 'just roll' leading the brands, however, the convenience queen in me loves ASDA own brand puff, as it's already on baking paper!
Whichever you buy and what ever you're planning to do with it, make sure it stays cold. Warm pastry gets sticky, is hard to manouver and doesn't crisp so good!

All convenience aside, I'd love to have the time to stand and make my own rough puff, but as I said this is a lazy night, so another day/post!

The co-op do some great deli bits and one of the things I absolutely adore is their sunkiss tomatoes. They're not chewy like some dried ones are but have that gorgeous intense flavour of sundried tomato, I can just pick away at a box of them.........sorry tempatation's too much *saunters off to kitchen*.

Anyway!
They are even better paired with a scrunched up bit of proscuitto or serrano ham, ideal on a tart!

• Cut your pastry down to size (or do what I did and reassembled left over bits from the other nights Goat cheese and caramelised red onion tart remenants)

• Draw your border around the edge (to get nice puffy sides)

• 'paint' the inside of your tart - pesto, cream cheese, tomato paste and leftover smooshed minty peas have all worked well in the past! only a thin layer, not too soggy!

•  Top with your favourite flavour combinations, or whatever's left in the fridge! 'shred it all up into bite size pieces before arranging. I always finish with a sprinkle of cheese and some fresh herbs, usually Mr basil :).

• Brush the edges with milk or a beaten egg and cook in the oven on a 170 fan or 180C normal oven for 15mins, or untill puffed up and golden.

It's that quick I've been eating mine and typing one handed!

Of course, with a nice salad and some posh bread it can be a little bit more sophisticated :)

Feel free to share your favourite fillings!

Spring Lamb Stew

Now I know summer is not the season for stew, but with all the rubbish rain recently, we all needed a bowl of something warm and comforting. This gives just that, without the rich autumnal punch of my Classic Beef Stew.

You will need:

300g approx of cubed lamb neck fillet  (into bitesize pieces), seasoned.
handful of baby new potatoes (into bitesize pieces)
2 handfuls of chanternay carrots(or normal will do) (into bitesize pieces)
a leek trimmed, halfed and sliced thinly ( slice in half and run under the tap with root end pointing upwards to remove any trapped dirt!)
2 big shallots (finely chopped)
1/2 mug of frozen peas
lamb stock cube
mint sauce
1/2 glass of white wine
splash of olive oil
big knob of butter

IN  A BIG PAN

• cook the shallot until soft in the olive oil, then add the lamb chunks, stir gently until browned.
• pour in the white wine, crumble in the stock cube and add enough water untill the lamb hunks are covered by about and inch. Leave this so it's just bubbling on a low heat for about an hour, give it an occasional stir and top up the water if necessary.
• In a small saucepan - cook the leeks off gently in half the butter until they're soft, then turn off the heat.
• Now the lamb has been cooking for a bit, throw in the carrots and potato, top up with boiling water so everything is covered and cook on a medium heat for 15 mins.
• check the potato and carrot has cooked through, then add the leeks, frozen peas and a heaped teaspoon of mint sauce.
• If you like the gravy thick, mash the butter with a pinch of flour and stir it in gently ( or be lazy and stir in some chicken/lamb gravy granules, adding the butter will make the gravy glossy and even more tasty!)
• Taste to check for seasoning, this is usually the point I add another spoonful of mint sauce!

Enjoy!

Is anybody cooking?

I know I have lots of lovely people who click on my links from facebook, but is anybody trying out the recipes?

If not, at least I'm amassing a virtual cookbook, will save it for the kids when they move out :).

But if you have, could you please let me know? Let me know how you found it.

Even if you were inspired to hit the kitchen,

Please let me know!

Abz xx

Child and Chilli-phobe Thai Green Curry Paste

I really enjoy thai flavours, but everytime I've tried buying curry paste, it's just been too hot for my chilli-phobe husband to enjoy. So many recipies for thai curry have 'curry paste' as an ingredient and after a bit of research and some trial and error, here is my best effort at a tasty (but reduced heat) green curry paste. It may not be authentic, but even my 18 month old loves it!

Enough for 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 kids!

2 Spring Onions
2 Shallots
3 Cloves of Garlic
2 teaspoons of chopped lemongrass (or 1 lemongrass stalk)
2 inch chunk of ginger
zest and juice of 1 lime
small bunch flat parsley
small bunch basil
1/2 teaspoon of dried coriander
1/2 of a big green chilli (big = less spicy!) seeds out
teaspoon of fish sauce
couple of pinches of curry powder (I use the rajah madras powder,  for seasoning/depth)

If you have a mini chopper or food processor I'd suggest you use it, a bit of chilli, or anything else flying into your eye is never fun! I use my stick blender at arms length and blend it until there are no big chunks.

Use in any thai recipe for the 'curry paste' component!

I simply cook it off first with a splash of oil in a big pan, then add all my veg and/or meat, a can of coconut milk and some stock and a tablespoon of coconut cream to thicken (if you want the recipe in a bit more detail (not that there's much) just ask!)

enjoy!

Cous cous Stuffed Roasted Peppers

Cous cous, is great and a true fast food!

At it's most basic, simply pour over boiling water and cover until it puffs up.
That is a little bit too basic tho!

After a week of indulgence and way too much clotted cream, we've decided to have a veggie-orientated week to detox and re-energise. This is my husband's favourite veggie recipe, as always change it up how you like!

You will need (for 2):

2 Peppers, try and find ones with flat bottoms!
1 salad tomato
1 flat mushroom
1 Spring onion (shallot or 1/4 onion)
1/4 block of feta
cous cous for 2 (read your pack, if you make any extra it's great at room temp for packed lunch!)
mixed herbs / garlic (I used oregano and parsley)
olive oil

• Get your oven nice and hot, we're looking at 200 C on a fan.
•  Cut off the top of the peppers and pull out the white core and all the pips, its a bit fiddly but worth it as it doesn't taste too nice! Drizzle over some olive oil and seasoning and pop on a baking tray (standing upright) for 12 minutes or untill the peppers are just starting to blacken on the skin.
• Whilst this is going on, dice up your onion and mushroom, stir it round the bottom of a saucepan with a glug of oil and the garlic untill softened and then add the cous cous to the pan.
• Pop the kettle on whilst your stir the cous cous around the saucepan until it is all coated in oil, turn the heat OFF on the pan, pour enough boiling water to cover the cous cous and then put the pan lid on. This makes the cous cous go lovely and plump and fluffy in a few minutes!

• Now it's an assembly line, turn down the oven to 170 C, stir in your chosen herbs into the cooked cous cous and then spoon the mixture into the peppers. Top with crumbled feta and cook until the cheese has got blackened edges. 

Viola! Lovely with a big fresh salad (I topped mine with more crumbled feta to tie it all together)

Mash not Smash! (other instant mash products are available ;) )

Hello!

Sorry I've been a bit quiet, just spent a week in NOT so sunny Cornwall, getting stuck in torrential rain but still resolutely eating lots of ice cream!

So not a recipe for now but instead a quick top tip

Mash potato for one

Instant mash potato is one of those things that's not even worth putting the kettle on for, BUT

Instead of peeling, chopping and boiling potatoes in a pan, instead  keep the skin on, prick it all over and put in the microwave for at least 5 mins (for a small potato) you can feel when its done if you give it a squeeze and it's very soft, then simply scoop out the insides into a bowl, batter around with a spoon and add whatever bits you like to add (for me it's just a knob of butter and some seasoning when I'm keeping it simple) make it as simple or as complicated as you like!

This also works for sweet potatoes!

Ax

P-P-Paella!

Love Spainish flavours, chorizo is a fridge staple and just the smell of saffron steeping in hot chicken stock makes my mouth water.

However, I do not like fishy fish, you know what I mean! So this Paella with just prawns (and not those faffy ones, time and a place for those is not today) gives a hint of seafood flavour without being overpowering.

Ingredients:

Handful cubed chorizo (75g ish)
200g prawns peeled and no heads/legs etc! (big or small, only know the weight cause it's on the packet!)
1 big shallot diced (or 1/2 onion)
1/2 mug of frozen peas
handful of roasted red peppers (the ones from a jar, or fresh if you'd like some crunch)
150g rice basmati or long grain (I would reccomend you weigh the rice)
500ml chicken stock (fresh ideally or a stock cube will be ok)
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp turmeric
Pinch Saffron

• Heat up the stock to a simmer (or make up your stock cube with boiling water) and add the saffron.
• Soften the shallot and garlic in a large frying pan with olive oil and then add the chorizo - cook for 3 mins, stir occasionally
• Stir in rice and turmeric until it's all coated in the oil.
• Pour over the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins
• Add all the other ingredients and cook (lid on) for 5 mins.

If you want to bulk it out a bit more or to feed an extra bod, add some cook chicken or pan fry some chicken strips with the onion and garlic before adding the chorizo.

Roast Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato

Super sides!

I discovered sweet potato a few years ago now, not being something I ever ate in my childhood (to the best of my knowledge) and it is just so nice. Roasted in a big dish with Butternut Squash and a few extra flavours it is one of my favourite sides.

Only a few ingredients:
Sweet potato ( 2 medium sized )
Butternut Squash (1/2 a medium sized one)
Olive oil
Garlic (fresh, granules, pre-chopped however you have it)
Rosemary (fresh or dried)
Salt and Pepper

Pre-Heat your oven to 190*C

Peel and chop your butternut squash into chunky cubes (but definately no bigger than an inch, if you're being pedantic 1.5cm/ 1/2 inch is ideal).
Do the same for the sweet potato (but if you want to leave the skin on, it's very good for you!)

Place in a big roasting dish and drizzle liberally with the olive oil, dot/ sprinkle in a couple of cloves of garlic, (or more if you love it as much as I do!) and sprinkle over your rosemary. move it all around with a spoon to ensure everything is nicely coated and pop it in the oven for at least 20 minutes.

Check it by sticking a fork in the biggest bit you see, it should be nice and soft and just starting to catch on the edges of the chunks.

Enjoy!
PS: this is just the basic recipe, try adding some smoked paprika, cumin or other spices to the seasoning, or experiment with other veg ( a bit of red pepper is nice!).



In the picture I've had it with minted lamb cous cous, yoghurt drizzle and a pitta. Recipe for the cous cous coming soon!

Griddled Honey and Mustard Chicken

I love using my griddle pan in the Summer, those charred lines are so evocative of barbeques. (Which I unfortunately don't have in my puny garden.) Plus it's also a very healthy way to cook as the fat can drain away!

Honey and mustard is a classic flavour combination, here I've used it with chicken but you can also use it with pork, maybe even hard tofu!

For the Marinade:

1tsp wholegrain mustard
2tsp english mustard
1dsp Olive oil
1tsp minced garlic
2tsp soy sauce
2tsp runny honey
tiny splash of cider vinegar

Butterfly  2 chicken breasts (cut it in half, but not all the way and opened like the pages of a book).

Put a splash off oil in the bowl and put the chicken breasts in, coat them on both sides with the marinade. Cover the dish with cling film and put in the fridge for a minimum of 45 minutes.

Heat up the griddle until it's really hot and cook the chicken on one side untill you can see it turning white up the sides, then flip over and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Great with a fresh green salad and crispy potatoes!

Egg Fried Rice

Made Chinese Pork Loin last night (hence why the recipe now has a picture!) and cooked some lovely egg fried rice to go with it, so thought I would share it with you as it's a real takeaway style treat which is really easy! (Chinese purists, don't be mad at me, this is just the way I do it, I'm not saying it's authentic or anything!)

RICE is nice...

I really really recommend cooking your rice in a microwave, I've spent years messing up rice in a saucepan and never getting it quite right. Then one day (I think I didn't have a clean pan! :/) I decided to cook it in the microwave and BAM amazing rice! It is worth taking the time to measure it out like on the packet instructions (even if just for the first time) and this is coming from someone who eyeballs everything!

So once you have cooked your rice, this is what else you're going to need

Vegetable/sunflower oil

Garlic (minced or finely chopped) 1tsp

Ginger (same as garlic)

Big pinch of chilli flakes (or if you like it less spicy, use a blob of sweet chilli sauce)

Eggs (one for every portion of rice you are cooking, free range, but I don't need to tell you that!)

Soy sauce

The rest is up to you, additional bits I've put in the past include frozen peas, spring onion, tiny cooked prawns, bits of cooked ham/chicken, finely diced mushroon, fresh/dried herbs (coriander is good)

Heat up a couple of good glugs in a big frying/saute pan on a medium/high heat (if you don't use a big pan, it will get messy) or use a wok if you can be bothered cleaning the thing, anyway.

Add the garlic ginger and chilli and give it all a quick stir then crack your egg(s) in, quick stir so the yolk all breaks up and then leave it for about 30 seconds, just for the egg to start to cook.

Stir the egg around again, so some long tendril-like bits are starting to form and then tip in your cooked rice add another spalsh of oil and keep moving around the pan.

Once all the eggy oily mixture has coated the rice shake in some soy sauce, I use about four shakes for two of us, but basically you want all the rice to have gone slightly golden colour.

This is the time to add any extras you want.

Stir for another 2 mins and then you're done!

Chicken and Mushroom Pasta in Blue Cheese sauce

You know when you've had one of those days when you're fed up, tired and hungry.
Thats the time when I like pasta.
Fresh Pasta is super quick and convenient (even if you freeze it you only add a few more minutes on the cooking time). Make sure you cook it in a big pan of salty water with a splash of olive oil to stop the pasta sticking together. This recipie is good with taglitelle!

This is so rich and tasty, even if your not much of a fan of blue cheese ( maybe try with half cream cheese and half blue if you're a bit shy!)

For everything else except the pasta....
-Few chestnut mushrooms
-Big chicken breast (if you get happy free range chicken, which I can't recommend enough, it will be big enough for two) cut into strips.
-2 Shallots (1/2 an onion will do but shallot just works!)
-50g blue cheese (buy just that from the cheese counter if you don't normally eat blue cheese)
-100ml(ish) milk
-Big handful of shredded Spring Greens (or spinach, kale or savoy cabbage)

Put your water onto boil for the pasta.

Thinly slice a few chesnut mushrooms and cook them with a splash of olive oil and 1/2 a teaspoon of chopped garlic (I love the minced stuff in a jar, very convenient). Once they're browned take them out of the pan and keep them on a plate.

Thinly slice two shallots and gently cook them in the pan you just took the mushrooms out of. Once they are starting to brown add the sliced chicken and sprinkle with apprx 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika.

When the chicken is sealed (it looks white all over) crumble in the blue cheese and stir until it's all melted in. Then pour in the milk, just enough so it looks a bit too runny ( it will reduce down a bit). Season with salt and pepper and put the mushrooms back in.

Cook your pasta whilst your sauce is bubbling away and add the spring greens then drain the pasta and tip it into the sauce stirring everything together so the pasta is all coated.

Scraped the pan tonight! Very tasty!

Chips Chips Chips

I'm not usually once for absolutes, but oven chips are DISGUSTING!

Except curly fries, they're amazing once in a while (see maybe not so absolute).

The worst thing I did for my health was to buy one of those mini deep fryers you put on the hob from Wilkinsons,
Still it's a damn sight cheaper than the chippy,
And if you leave the skin on, they're kinda healthier (yeah whatever!)

After much trial and error I would recommend..
Slicing your potato into little finger ish width chips and pressing them gently between two kitchen towels whilst heating up the oil until it sizzles when you drop a chip in (I usually reserve a runty one I dont mind wasting).
Bang your chips in and put the heat on medium, for 8 minutes, then turn it up as hot as you can get for another 5, or untill they're a nice golden brown. Shake out on more kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt.

Mmm chips!
Gotta go do me some right....now!

Duck with mash, pears and a cherry-red wine sauce

Okay, so this definately doesn't fit my fast cheap and simple criteria, but boy, do I love a bit of duck!

Mash potato, there's nothing worse than lumpy mash, I can only recommend you go out and buy yourself a potato ricer, seriously, so worth it!

'Note of thanks to my mother in law who got us ours ;)'

So tonight I'm cooking duck breast - pan seared and then oven cooked.
Pile of creamy garlic mash potato
Steamed asparagus
Caramelised pear and fig
And a red wine and cherry sauce (because I found some mini jars of morello cherry jam in the cupboard!)

I'm not going to say use this or that type of potato or veg. But what I will say is get it fresh and get it local! I'm always inspired by our local greengrocers and it's such good value I'm never afraid to experiment and buy something new! Hence the fresh figs tonight. Seriously, no matter how hard I try filling my basket, I never spend more than £10!

First, make your mash, it's up to you how you like it, but we made it with a dab of butter and 100ml cream, 1 clove of garlic and seasoning. The potato ricer makes it really smooth and creamy, put it to one side to re-heat later.

Pre-heat your oven to 200*C. Cut criss-cross over the duck skin and season with salt and pepper. Heat up a frying pan with no oil untill it's very hot and put the duck skin side down, reduce the heat down to about half-way and cook for 6 minutes. Flip it onto its front and leave for 30 seconds, then slide into the oven. Leave it for 5 minutes if you like it pinker, up to 10 for well done.

Whilst the duck is in the oven, in a small saucepan make the sauce.
So 2 3rds of a little bottle of wine, 2 mini jars of cherry jam (or 80g if you're being precise). A heaped teaspoon of brown sugar. dessert spoon of balsamic vinegar and a couple of slivers of a orange citrus (I had a satsuma in the fruit bowl). Bring to boil and then turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes.

Get your asparaguas on to steam/boil/griddle however you like.

Once the duck is done get it out and remove it from the pan to rest.
Quarter a fig and peel and wedge a pear ( don't forget the cut out the woody bits), get the frying pan you cooked the duck in and put back on the heat, add the fig and pear wedges and turn occasionally until the pears are nicely golden.
Add a knob of butter and a dsrt spoon full of the duck pan juices to the sauce.

Just re-heat the mash and put it all together on the plate, gorgeous!

Pictures coming soon once I upload it! :)

Prawn Linguine

A really easy simple dish, the quantities are for 2 but feel free to double up or slim down as required!

1/2 red onion diced
200g Prawns (big work better!)
1 lemon
2 tblsp of cream cheese (I use philly light and it tastes fine by me!)
2 peoples worth of dried linguine (or spaghetti)
Handful of greenery (ideally I like baby spinach but if I haven't got it 1/2 a mug of frozen peas will do!

• Cook the pasta in a big pan of salty water (according to the wisdom of nigella, it should taste like seawater!) with a splash of olive oil.
• Just before that is finished (I go with what's on the packet) Cook the onion gently in olive oil in a frying/saute pan (it needs to be big) and then add the prawns. Melt in the cream cheese and grate 1/2 the lemon rind in aswell.
• Drain the cooked pasta and add to the pan with the prawny cream cheese mixture and add the greenery.
• Give it a good toss through, add a splash of olive oil, seasoning and squeeze over 1/2 the lemon

Enjoy!

Chinese-style Pork Loin

I just love char sui pork, this is a similar flavour just without the bright pink colour, possible msg and the takeway price tag!

This for my dad-in-law, Tony after I cooked it Friday night :) (told you I'd put it on here!)

Pork loin can look a bit unappetising before it's cooked, especially if you get a vacuum packed one from the supermarket. Alot of people are put off pork because they've eaten it when it's as dried up as an old boot, but give this a chance, it's good!

Easy and simple so I'm not even going to list the ingredients separately!

Put the pork loin in a roasting dish and add (roughly) a tablespoon of soy sauce,  and a splash of either cider, white wine or chicken stock (whatever you've got in the fridge) and sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of five-spice over the loin, also some powdered garlic if you have it (or just tuck some sliced garlic around the loin) and some star anise (if you don't have these don't worry)

Cover with foil and cook for half the time the loin needs to cook for (ask your butcher or read the packet) then remove the foil, turn the loin over, drizzle with 2 teaspoons (approx.) of honey, another sprinkle of 5 spice and soy sauce, and cook for the second half of the recommended cooking time.

Go for an all out chinese feel by slicing thinly and serving it with stir-fried vegetables cooked in a tasty sauce (try my spring onion and ginger sauce) and noodles or egg fried rice (click here for the recipe)

Feel free to experiement with different flavours (a bit of sweet chilli sauce if you like it hot) but this is a good base to work from, enjoy!

Spanish chicken bake

All quantities are approximate on this - whatever you have in fridge available at the time!

• 6 new potatoes
• 2 handfuls of cooked chicken (great for using the leftover roast from a sunday!)
• 1 handful of chopped chorizo (or use chopped bacon and 2 tsp of paprika)
• small red onion chopped into chunks
• 1 garlic clove - chopped
• 1 tin chopped toms
• splash of red wine / chicken stock

Boil new potatoes for 5 minutes, drain and add to roasting dish. Add everything else and stir well. Cook for 30mins at 200*C (gas 6), stir halfway through cooking.

Minimum effort, so tasty and minimum washing up, which is what I like!

Enjoy.

Classic Beef Stew

Beef Stew taste of nostalgia (for 4)

This beef stew always makes me think of my Nan, who sadly passed away last December. Many a rainy Sunday afternoon was spent with steaming bowls of stew, a stack of buttered bread and a squeeze of either brown or tomato sauce, followed by stewed apple and custard and either a game of Newmarket or Scrabble. Lots of my favourite early memories are spending time with my Nan, who taught me, above everything else, the most important thing to do in life is to be happy.

So to the recipie, this is as simple as you can get, the quicker you can chop the quicker it is to do, and no nonsense of the beef jumping in and out of the pan :). Oh yeah, you will need a BIG pan!

1lb cubed stewing steak

4 medium potatoes

1 small swede

1 medium white onion

1 parsnip

4 medium carrots

(There's other bits aswell but that's mainly store cupboard stuff)

• Finely dice the onion and cook slowly in a splash of olive oil, untill it's really softened, but don't let it brown.
• sprinkle the cubed beef with flour and salt n pepper and add to the pan, add a beef oxo and crank the heat up. You want to seal the beef and keep stiring untill it's just starting to catch.
• Turn the heat down whilst you add all the chopped veg ( chop into bitesize chunks but make sure the potato is slightly bigger or it will break up to easily) 
• Add boiling water just until the veggies are covered, bring back to the boil and then turn down to a low simmer.
• After an hour, add a teaspoon of marmite, half a teaspoon of mustard (I use dijon but whichever) and sprinkle in gravy granules whilst stirring until the gravy is as thick as you like.
• Leave it a bit longer (30 mins) if you can, stir occasionally so it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.

 That's it, serve and enjoy!

Pimpin' Peas

Minty Pea Puree (for 2)

As per a request - it's a quick and easy way to pimp frozen peas and is lovely with fish/scampi or my favourite coke boiled ham ( Click here for the recipe!)

Cook your frozen peas in a pan in vegetable stock (i usually just use an oxo) and when cooked through drain off most of the stock but leave a little in the pan with the peas. 

Add a teaspoon of mint sauce and a heaped desert spoon of cream cheese, then blitz up roughly with a stick blender ( it's best if you leave it with some texture). Add a squeeze of lemon if you're having it with fish/chicken.

Credit for this goes to my mum-in-law Liz :) xx

Red Onion and goast cheese tart

Carmelised Red Onion and Goats Cheese Tart

The one recipie I always get asked for, and it's so easy! There's 10mins of standing and stirring, then 15mins in the oven.

Serves 4 as a starter or two for a main if you're a couple of piggies i.e. me and the hubz!

• 1 pack of pre-rolled puff pastry (the easiest option or you get can the block and roll it out, up to you!) (Asda own brand comes on greaseproof paper, even easier!)
• 2 big red onions (cut in half and thinly slice, thinner the better!)
• Brown sugar (1 table spoon)
• Balsamic Glaze (it's dead cheap from Asda, or you can use balsamic vinegar and add a pinch more sugar)
• Soft Goats Cheese (ideally you're looking for the soft one with the rind and you can get them to slice it into 1/2 cm slices at the deli counter, or do it yourself, or if you've got a block of soft cheese just crumble it over!)
• Milk or an egg to glaze the border of the pastry

• Pre heat the oven 180C/ gas mark 5
• Layout the pastry onto an oven tray (on greaseproof paper or oiled foil) and cut into quarters so you have four seperate tarts (you can cut four circles if you want to be more fancy, but I say lets not waste pastry!)
• With a knife draw roughly a cm border around the inside of the tarts, don't cut all the way through. (this helps the pastry rise).
• With a dab of butter and some olive oil, cook the onions down slowly in a frying pan. Keep stirring so they won't burn. The onions will change over time, going really soft. 

• Add the sugar and the balsamic and stir in till it's all dissolved. Done!
• Split the onions over the 4 tart bases (keep inside the borders) and top with the goats cheese slices (either one big one, or if you're using the soigon (?) cheese I use 2 as it's smaller!

• Glaze the borders with either milk or egg wash, then put in t'oven for 15mins, or until they're all risen and golden.

Gorgeous with a fresh green salad and tasty bread, enjoy!

Hello!

Welcome to cook-eat-love, this, like so many of them out there, is mainly a food and recipie blog, I hope some people find it useful and hopefully entertaining. This for me is a lazy way of sharing recipies rather than writing them down when people ask. And a way to record my experiments, thoughts and ideas about cooking (especially the 'what's left in the fridge?!' challenge we experience reguarly).

For those who don't know me, I'm a busy mum of two, I work full time in retail and I LOVE food, cooking and eating, not so hot on the washing up though! I have a wonderful family and have excellent support from my lovely husband, who also moonlights as my food guinea pig! :)

More soon!

Abz x