Decided i wanted to have a tasty but light meal for Xmas eve, so here goes.
Scallops with Black pudding, asparagus tips and Apple & Sage sauce.
4-5 large Fresh Scallops per person.
1 cm thick piece of Black Pudding per person.
Asparagus tips.
Apple Jam.
Fresh Sage leave, finely chopped.
Juice of Half a lemon.
Salted butter
Rapeseed Oil
Start by blanching the Asparagus tips in boiling salted water for no more than one minute ( depends on thickness).
Then heat a frying pan with some good oil, i used rapeseed. Gently fry the black pudding slices for 2-3 minutes per side until cooked, be careful to not let them go too soft else then break up.
Take out asparagus and black pudding and place on a hot plate.
Heat more oil and butter (50/50) in a pan until the butter starts to froth. Place the scallops in the pan and do not move them until they unstick, this is when you know they have seared and caramelised. Turn over and cook on other side. (1-2 minutes maximum total cooking).
Whilst the scallops are searing, place the blackpudding and asparagus on hot plates.
Take out the scallops once nicely browned, should be a brown/orange tint to them when cooked.
Deglaze the pan used for the scallops with the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of Apple Jam, and the finely chopped sage leaves, plus salt and pepper to taste.
Put this sweet and sour mixture on the plate, place black pudding then scallops on top, arrange asparagus tips as you wish.
Drizzle over remaining the remaining Apple, Sage and Lemon sauce. I served with a small salad of watercress and rockets with some balsamic vinegar.
Delicious, and takes about 10 minutes to prepare and cook.
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Baba Ganoush.
One of the best names for a dish- ever!
Baba Ganoush, a wonderful dip made from Aubergines and Tahini is one of the most flavourful mouthfuls of food you will ever taste.
Follow this recipe and find out how:
Ingredients
4 Aubergines
3 Cloves Garlic
1 small Shallot
2 Teaspoons Smoked Paprika
150ml Tahini Paste
Handful of Fresh Coriander leaves
1 Tablespoon of good Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of half a lemon.
1-2 teaspoons of coarse salt
Grinds of black pepper to taste
1 Small Red Chilli ( if you like heat )
50g Pine Nuts.
Fresh bread of choice ( I prefer Sour Dough bread)
Food mixer required.
Warning, this recipe takes one day. I will explain later.
This makes enough for 4-6 portions. If you are willing to share it that is.
Method
The Aubergines need to be roasted, so preheat an oven to 220c.
Start by scorching the skin of the Aubergines over a direct gas flame- this takes about 10 minutes per Aubergine
Then place in roasting tin and cook in oven for 25-30 minutes at 220c.
During this time, take a small frying pan, and toast the pine nuts until they start to colour ( and smell), takes 3-4 minutes usually.
When finished you should be able to put a knife through the vegetable and feel that it is soft all the way in.
Take the Aubergines out of the oven and leave to cool for a while.
Get your food processor out and put all of the remaining ingredients in the bowl.
When the Aubergines have cooled, slit them in half lengthways, and scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon, placing it directly into the food mixer bowl with the other ingredients.
Mix the ingredients until smooth. Taste, and adjust the lemon juice, chilli and coriander until you find a nice balance.
Now here comes the hard part. Walk away from the Baba Ganoush for a day, for it will improve massively if you leave it in the fridge, either in a sealed airtight container or just in a bowl underneath several layers of clingfilm.
The next day, take it out of the fridge about 15 minutes before eating, garnish with the pine nuts and a sprinkling of the Smoked Paprika, serve with crusty or crunchy bread, salad leaves and some raw peppers.
Trust me, it's delicious.
Baba Ganoush, a wonderful dip made from Aubergines and Tahini is one of the most flavourful mouthfuls of food you will ever taste.
Follow this recipe and find out how:
Ingredients
4 Aubergines
3 Cloves Garlic
1 small Shallot
2 Teaspoons Smoked Paprika
150ml Tahini Paste
Handful of Fresh Coriander leaves
1 Tablespoon of good Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of half a lemon.
1-2 teaspoons of coarse salt
Grinds of black pepper to taste
1 Small Red Chilli ( if you like heat )
50g Pine Nuts.
Fresh bread of choice ( I prefer Sour Dough bread)
Food mixer required.
Warning, this recipe takes one day. I will explain later.
This makes enough for 4-6 portions. If you are willing to share it that is.
Method
The Aubergines need to be roasted, so preheat an oven to 220c.
Start by scorching the skin of the Aubergines over a direct gas flame- this takes about 10 minutes per Aubergine
Then place in roasting tin and cook in oven for 25-30 minutes at 220c.
During this time, take a small frying pan, and toast the pine nuts until they start to colour ( and smell), takes 3-4 minutes usually.
When finished you should be able to put a knife through the vegetable and feel that it is soft all the way in.
Take the Aubergines out of the oven and leave to cool for a while.
Get your food processor out and put all of the remaining ingredients in the bowl.
When the Aubergines have cooled, slit them in half lengthways, and scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon, placing it directly into the food mixer bowl with the other ingredients.
Mix the ingredients until smooth. Taste, and adjust the lemon juice, chilli and coriander until you find a nice balance.
Now here comes the hard part. Walk away from the Baba Ganoush for a day, for it will improve massively if you leave it in the fridge, either in a sealed airtight container or just in a bowl underneath several layers of clingfilm.
The next day, take it out of the fridge about 15 minutes before eating, garnish with the pine nuts and a sprinkling of the Smoked Paprika, serve with crusty or crunchy bread, salad leaves and some raw peppers.
Trust me, it's delicious.
Monday, 21 January 2013
Spicy Harissa Prawns
Quick and easy one here. Was not in the mood for anything substantial or that would take a long time.
Ingredients:
Raw prawns - 100g per person is usually a decent portion.
200G spinach per person, washed and drained.
2 large tomatoes
1 small Shallot
2 cloves of garlic
2 heaped tablespoons of Cumin seeds
Lemon Juice, from half a large lemon
3 teaspoons of Harissa paste (see below)
1/2 teaspoon of Balsamic Vinegar
Handful of chopped fresh Coriander
2 tablespoons of good Olive Oil.
Seasoning to taste.
This is so simple. You should end up with a nice spicy and tangy prawn dish! Adjust the amount of Harissa paste to your desired level of heat.
Start by toasting the Cumin seeds in a hot pan. You will smell within 90 secs that the seeds have toasted.
At this point add in the olive oil and the Spinach, cook until wilted.
Whilst the Spinach is frying, chop your Tomatoes, Garlic Cloves and the Shallot finely.
When the Spinach has wilted down, add in the Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Turn down the heat to a medium heat, and stir the mixture until it reduces down. Then add in the Balsamic vinegar.
Briefly rinse your Prawns, and devein them if necessary.
When the spinach and tomato sauce has thickened, pour this into a bowl, and put the raw prawns directly into the same pan. Cook these for a few minutes until they just turn pink, then add in the 2 spoonfuls of Rose Harissa Paste. If you have not used this before, i urge you to try it. Fairly hot, it adds loads of flavour.
Toss the Prawns in the paste, then add the spinach and tomato sauce back in and stir well for 30 seconds on a high heat to warm through again. Throw the Coriander leaves in at the last second then serve with Cous Cous or some really crusty bread, or as i have done tonight, some toasted Muffins!
Ingredients:
Raw prawns - 100g per person is usually a decent portion.
200G spinach per person, washed and drained.
2 large tomatoes
1 small Shallot
2 cloves of garlic
2 heaped tablespoons of Cumin seeds
Lemon Juice, from half a large lemon
3 teaspoons of Harissa paste (see below)
1/2 teaspoon of Balsamic Vinegar
Handful of chopped fresh Coriander
2 tablespoons of good Olive Oil.
Seasoning to taste.
This is so simple. You should end up with a nice spicy and tangy prawn dish! Adjust the amount of Harissa paste to your desired level of heat.
Start by toasting the Cumin seeds in a hot pan. You will smell within 90 secs that the seeds have toasted.
At this point add in the olive oil and the Spinach, cook until wilted.
Whilst the Spinach is frying, chop your Tomatoes, Garlic Cloves and the Shallot finely.
When the Spinach has wilted down, add in the Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Turn down the heat to a medium heat, and stir the mixture until it reduces down. Then add in the Balsamic vinegar.
Briefly rinse your Prawns, and devein them if necessary.
Toss the Prawns in the paste, then add the spinach and tomato sauce back in and stir well for 30 seconds on a high heat to warm through again. Throw the Coriander leaves in at the last second then serve with Cous Cous or some really crusty bread, or as i have done tonight, some toasted Muffins!
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Something green and garlicky
Feeling a little under the weather again today, so after my earlier protein craving was sated by some roast chicken in a lovely sandwich, felt the need for something green.
Spinach and Garlic Pasta
Serves 2 people
300-400g of Spinach, washed and drained
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large squeeze of fresh lemon juice
50g of Pancetta, finely diced
1 tsp of Harissa paste
75g per person of pasta of your choice
Place the pasta in boiling water and cook; the sauce will only take 4-5 minutes to make so this might even suit fresh pasta.
Warm some olive oil in a pan on a medium heat, place in the pancetta so that it sizzles and starts to crisp up.
When the pancetta starts to look golden, add in the garlic and spinach, grind in some black pepper.
Salt is not necessary as you get this from the pancetta.
When your pasta is ready, drain, and leave to one side.
Stir in the Harissa paste, finely chopped garlic, and squeeze in the lemon juice to taste and mix in the pasta with your sauce.
Serve immediately.
I know the garlic might sound excessive, but cooking it at the last minute and having it really strong does work.
Feel free to add in other vegetables and fresh herbs, but this simple recipe stands on its own.
I ate it so quickly i forgot to take a photo, so will do that next time.
Spinach and Garlic Pasta
Serves 2 people
300-400g of Spinach, washed and drained
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large squeeze of fresh lemon juice
50g of Pancetta, finely diced
1 tsp of Harissa paste
75g per person of pasta of your choice
Place the pasta in boiling water and cook; the sauce will only take 4-5 minutes to make so this might even suit fresh pasta.
Warm some olive oil in a pan on a medium heat, place in the pancetta so that it sizzles and starts to crisp up.
When the pancetta starts to look golden, add in the garlic and spinach, grind in some black pepper.
Salt is not necessary as you get this from the pancetta.
When your pasta is ready, drain, and leave to one side.
Stir in the Harissa paste, finely chopped garlic, and squeeze in the lemon juice to taste and mix in the pasta with your sauce.
Serve immediately.
I know the garlic might sound excessive, but cooking it at the last minute and having it really strong does work.
Feel free to add in other vegetables and fresh herbs, but this simple recipe stands on its own.
I ate it so quickly i forgot to take a photo, so will do that next time.
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Chilli !
What better on a winters day to cook a nice chilli? This should make enough for 8-10 hungry people.
Have a large pan ready, capable of 4-5 litres capacity.
Ingredients:
Stage one
3 packets of quality Steak Mince (1.2-1.5kg) , I used Aberdeen Angus mince.
3 large strong white Onions
2 large banana Shallots
1 red Onion
2 large pinches of Saffron.
1 Tbsp of dried Cumin
1 Tbsp of dried Ginger
4-6 small chilli's - this is a medium spice level.
2 tbsp of Smoked Paprika
2 tsp of Chilli powder
2 large cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1 large squeeze of good Tomato Puree
Stage 2
1 litre of Beef stock (fresh if possible)
100g of dark Chocolate (70% solids is fine)
4 large Red peppers
3 tins of chopped plum Tomatoes
4 tins of Kidney Beans
1 glass Red wine
1 tbsp of Cognac
Stage 3
Juice of 6 Limes
6 drips of sesame oil
1 tbsp of good Soy sauce
1x 300ml tub of Creme Fraiche
50-100ml of Vinegar
3 large sprigs of Thyme
Good quality salt, like Maldon salt, to be added at the very end.
Stage 1
This is actually a very easy recipe as you cook the ingredients in 3 stages ( labelled above).
First start of my preparing all of the onions, roughly chopped.
Put olive oil in a large pan, allow to heat to medium temperature.
Add the onions, garlic and mince steak into the pan, let it sizzle away together until the meat is browned . Depending on the size of the pan, you might want to add the beef in stages, put it is important that it cooks with the onions so it can absorb the onions juices. This should take about 5 minutes, constantly stirring the mixture.
Add the remaining ingredients from stage one and stir in well for another 2-3 minutes.
Stage 2
Add the Beef stock all in one go, turn the heat up to get a furious boil going.
Then add the remaining ingredients of stage 2 and keep stirring. This will fill your pan quite nicely and don't worry if it looks quite liquid at this stage, we want it to reduce it for an hour or so to thicken up and concentrate those flavours. You will now need to turn this down to a light simmer, or En Tremblant as the French describe it. This is where the time element comes in, the contents of the pan now need to simmer for around 60-90 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop anything sticking to the bottom. We are trying to reduce the liquid down significantly so that we get a good thick meaty sauce.
Stage 3
The taste of a good Chilli in my opinion should be this; Meaty, salty, spicy and sour.
When the Chilli has reduced after 90 minutes or so ( dont be afraid to let it cook for longer on a low heat, just do not let it dry out) , we are going to finish off the sauce with some very tasty ingredients.
You need more limes and vinegar than you might imagine. Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the creme fraiche, this goes in at the very end.
Taste the Chilli now, see if it needs more salt, or if the sourness needs to be cranked up a notch by either adding more fresh lime juice or Vinegar.
When you are happy with the taste, turn off the heat and stir in the entire tub of Creme Fraiche.
Serve with jacket potatoes, warm garlic bread or rice. Also a nice bowl of natural yogurt, refried beans or guacamole goes down well.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can keep it in the pan for a day or so, thoroughly reheating it every time but bringing it up to temperature slowly. Trust me the flavours get better when you do this.
I usually freeze this in portions because i deliberately make too much.
Have a large pan ready, capable of 4-5 litres capacity.
Ingredients:
Stage one
3 packets of quality Steak Mince (1.2-1.5kg) , I used Aberdeen Angus mince.
3 large strong white Onions
2 large banana Shallots
1 red Onion
2 large pinches of Saffron.
1 Tbsp of dried Cumin
1 Tbsp of dried Ginger
4-6 small chilli's - this is a medium spice level.
2 tbsp of Smoked Paprika
2 tsp of Chilli powder
2 large cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1 large squeeze of good Tomato Puree
Stage 2
1 litre of Beef stock (fresh if possible)
100g of dark Chocolate (70% solids is fine)
4 large Red peppers
3 tins of chopped plum Tomatoes
4 tins of Kidney Beans
1 glass Red wine
1 tbsp of Cognac
Stage 3
Juice of 6 Limes
6 drips of sesame oil
1 tbsp of good Soy sauce
1x 300ml tub of Creme Fraiche
50-100ml of Vinegar
3 large sprigs of Thyme
Good quality salt, like Maldon salt, to be added at the very end.
Stage 1
This is actually a very easy recipe as you cook the ingredients in 3 stages ( labelled above).
First start of my preparing all of the onions, roughly chopped.
Put olive oil in a large pan, allow to heat to medium temperature.
Add the onions, garlic and mince steak into the pan, let it sizzle away together until the meat is browned . Depending on the size of the pan, you might want to add the beef in stages, put it is important that it cooks with the onions so it can absorb the onions juices. This should take about 5 minutes, constantly stirring the mixture.
Add the remaining ingredients from stage one and stir in well for another 2-3 minutes.
Stage 2
Add the Beef stock all in one go, turn the heat up to get a furious boil going.
Then add the remaining ingredients of stage 2 and keep stirring. This will fill your pan quite nicely and don't worry if it looks quite liquid at this stage, we want it to reduce it for an hour or so to thicken up and concentrate those flavours. You will now need to turn this down to a light simmer, or En Tremblant as the French describe it. This is where the time element comes in, the contents of the pan now need to simmer for around 60-90 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop anything sticking to the bottom. We are trying to reduce the liquid down significantly so that we get a good thick meaty sauce.
Stage 3
The taste of a good Chilli in my opinion should be this; Meaty, salty, spicy and sour.
When the Chilli has reduced after 90 minutes or so ( dont be afraid to let it cook for longer on a low heat, just do not let it dry out) , we are going to finish off the sauce with some very tasty ingredients.
You need more limes and vinegar than you might imagine. Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the creme fraiche, this goes in at the very end.
Taste the Chilli now, see if it needs more salt, or if the sourness needs to be cranked up a notch by either adding more fresh lime juice or Vinegar.
When you are happy with the taste, turn off the heat and stir in the entire tub of Creme Fraiche.
Serve with jacket potatoes, warm garlic bread or rice. Also a nice bowl of natural yogurt, refried beans or guacamole goes down well.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can keep it in the pan for a day or so, thoroughly reheating it every time but bringing it up to temperature slowly. Trust me the flavours get better when you do this.
I usually freeze this in portions because i deliberately make too much.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Burgers
Fancied something quick this evening, so a tasty burger was in order.
Laverstoke Park Farm Buffalo burgers , a nice dollop of Tracklements strong mustard served with fresh avocado, sun dried tomatoes, rocket and home made mayonnaise, in a lightly toasted bun.
Very tasty, sometimes simple is best.
Laverstoke Park Farm Buffalo burgers , a nice dollop of Tracklements strong mustard served with fresh avocado, sun dried tomatoes, rocket and home made mayonnaise, in a lightly toasted bun.
Very tasty, sometimes simple is best.
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