Breaded Haddock with Tangy Tomato Linguine

So the other night playing the 'no money - what's in the fridge' game. I came up with this, which is now going to be a making a regular appearance for tea!

The tangy sauce cuts through the rich fish brilliantly - such a tasty combination....Well by my opinion anyway :)

You will need:

2 haddock (or similar) fish fillets
1 tsp dried Italian mixed herbs (or similar)
1 tablespoon cream cheese
2 tablespoon of breadcrumbs (whizz up a couple of crusts with a blender stick or chop finely)
Linguine (or similar) enough for 2 (sorry I don't weigh pasta!)
2 cloves of garlic
200g cherry tomatoes
Diced red pepper (approx.) tablespoon
1/2 a capful of white wine (or cider) vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Big handful of fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried) I would recommend fresh though.
Pinch of chilli flakes
1 teaspoon of sugar

- Pre heat the oven to 180c
- Put your fish fillets on an oiled tray, smear over the cream cheese to make a thin layer, sprinkle with the Italian herb mix and top with the bread crumbs. (I spritz a bit of oil over too to help them crisp.)
- Put in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Boil the kettle for your pasta and if it's dried you need to get it on to cook straight away, if it's fresh wait until your fish has been cooking for 10 minutes. I always cook mine a la Nigella "salty as the sea and a splash of olive oil".
- Chop up your tomatoes (I quartered/ halved mine depending on size) garlic and pepper. Heat up some olive oil in a pan and add half the tomatoes, all the garlic and all the pepper. Cook on a medium heat until the tomatoes have gone all gooey.
- Now add everything else including the rest of the tomatoes except the basil and stir for a couple of minutes. Taste the sauce to make sure it's the right balance of sweet and sour and season with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Add in the cooked pasta and a tablespoon of pasta water into the sauce. Then tear up the basil and stir it in with a splash of extra virgin olive oil (if you have it)
Serve up with the crispy fish. This pasta would be lovely with prawns or chicken. Or even try adding some chopped olives into the mix and serve with some bread for a veggie option.

Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato Soup (four 4)

This is my favourite soup recipe, quick, easy and so tasty!

• 750g sweet potato - peeled and cubed (or a mix of sweet pots, butternut squash and carrots)
• 1 litre veg stock ( I use a stock cube)
• 1/2 onion (diced)
• coconut cream - tablespoon grated
• Spring onion - chopped, teaspoon grated ginger and teaspoon chopped garlic
• Pinch dried chilli flakes

 Cook onion gently in the pan and add stir fry paste until softened. Add vegetables and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins. Take off the heat and add the coconut cream, stir in until melted. 

Use a stick blender to blitz or pour into a blender and blitz until smooth,sprinkle in the chilli flakes and season to taste.

This is a thick wholesome soup, great served with a dollop of soured cream or yoghurt. Or if you add more stock or even a can of coconut milk to thin it out it's a lovely light starter.

Sorry no pics at the moment - will add some next time I whizz up a batch!

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Ham peas and noodles!

Just a quick tasty lunch idea if you have some leftover cola boiled ham. Slightly less slobby than a pot noodle!

You will need:

leftover ham (cubed-ish) handful
1 portion of dried noodles
frozen peas
soy sauce
sweet chilli sauce (if you like it)

-Simply put the noodles on to boil in a saucepan with the frozen peas and add a few shakes of soy sauce. Once cooked, drain and add the ham and a couple more splashes of soy.
-Serve drizzled with sweet chilli sauce.

Nom.

Enjoy.

Roasted red pepper and almond pesto

Made this pesto as a base for a proscuitto, carmelized red onion and goats cheese tart and man, it was tasty!

You will need:
1 small red pepper
2 handfuls of flaked almonds
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
dessert spoon of diced cheese (I used mature cheddar)

-Pre-heat your oven to around 190°c
- Core and slice the pepper, arrange on a baking tray and drizzle over olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop the tray in the oven and keep checking them and turn reguarly just so they are starting to blacken at the edges.
- Meanwhile heat up a frying pan and stir round the almonds untill they are lightly browned.
- Put the almonds, pepper, chopped garlic cloves, basil and cheese in a bowl and blitz with a stick blender until it's a rough paste.

There you are, as I said I had it on pastry, but should be proper tasty with pasta also!

Enjoy.

Chicken Ham and Leek Pie

So, using some of the cola boiled ham from the other night I just tweaked the recipe I used for the Chicken Leek and Mushroom Pie and simply added a handful of roast ham (cubed). Served with roast potatoes that I tossed in flour flavoured with dried tarragon and a big pile of broccoli.

Very nice

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Cola boiled ham with a honey mustard glaze

This is one of my favourite recipes I've inherited from my in-laws. A true northern classic that's really versatile. Great with egg and chips, new potatoes and minted pea puree, traditional veg and potatoes with parsley sauce, or chopped up in pasta, pies or egg fried rice! Also shredded on sandwiches with some cheese and chutney is lovely :
So, you will need:

1kg approx. smoked/ unsmoked ham joint - either's fine.
(small or bigger joint is fine but you'll need to adjust the cooking times/amount of glaze accordingly)
A 2ltr bottle of cheap full sugar coke(diet versions wont work as you need the sugar)

For the glaze:
2tsp English mustard
2tsp French (Dijon) mustard
1dspn Brown sugar (the darker the better as it adds a lovely treacly flavour without the faff)
1dspn Honey - the cheap squeezy kind is fine.

So, put your ham joint in a pan just a bit bigger than it and pour over the cola, it needs to just cover the joint. Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer for 45 minutes. If like me
your pan is a bit small, just turn over the joint every 15 mins or so to make sure it cooks evenly.

Whilst the joint is simmering make up the glaze, simply mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste a tiny bit and make sure the balance of heat to sweet is to your liking, add extra honey/mustard as required. Once that's done pre-heat your oven to 190C or 180C on a fan oven and then line a roasting tin with foil, (believe me you do not want to be scrubbing this off later!)

Once the ham has finished boiling put it onto a chopping board. You now need to take the rind off, using a nice sharp knife cut off the harder layer to expose the layer of fat underneath. Now cut shallowly through the fat diagonally to create diamond shapes.

Put the joint into the roasting tin. Ideally using a silicone brush, or by spooning over the glaze, cover the ham in the honey and mustard mixture.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the glaze has started to caramelize. Get it onto a chopping board and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before you start slicing. (I give in and start picking off the crispy bits almost immediately!)

Enjoy,

Fresh Mint and Lemon Tea

I've been trying to give up drinking tea after 7ish so I get to sleep better.

I ordered this in cafe in Amsterdam and it looked and tasted amazing in a big clunky glass mug packed full of minty stems.
I then promptly forgot about it until I was staring a my overgrown mint plant the other day. This is what I did.

Stuff a big handful of mint stems into a mug with a sliver of lemon rind and a generous pinch of sugar.
Pour over boiling water and leave to steep for a couple of minutes then viola,
tasty refreshing tea and caffine free!

Homemade Salsa - as featured in the Quesadillas Photo

With just a few ingredients (probably already in your fridge) you can make vibrant tasty salsa that is the fraction of the price of the pots from the supermarket and is a simple case of chop and stir....

You will need:

5/6 cherry toms - remove the seeds and finely dice
Half a small red onion -finely diced
Quarter of a red pepper -finely diced
Half a capful of cider vinegar
Pinch of dried parsley
Pinch of dried coriander

If you want a kick of heat add a pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Stir and leave to sit for at least 10 minutes.

Great with quesadillas, with tuna wraps/sandwiches or however you'd like!

Enjoy x