Big Grin!!!!

I found out a couple of days ago that this blog has been nominated for an Irish Blog Award in the Food and Drink category. I feel so honoured to be a part of this list, some fantastic food and drink bloggers there, most of whom I was unaware of but excited to start reading their posts too.

Here's the longlist (which will become a shortlist after the first round of judging)

Well Done Fillet
Val’s Kitchen
English Mum in Ireland
The Humble Housewife
Sour Grapes
What the Waiter Knows
Ruth's Kitchen Experiments
Food Lorists
Icecream Ireland
iFoods
Martin Dwyer
Italian Foodies
Eat, Drink, Live
The Mood Food Blog

Congrats to everyone! I hope you all have as big a grin on your face as I do!

Chicken Teriyaki

Yet another kitchen experiment. I looked at a few recipes for ideas and then made up my own recipe. Was good but a little too salty, so will need to rework this one a little. e.g. use low sodium soy sauce next time.

Chicken Teriyaki

Serves 2

Ingredients
Sesame oil
2 Chicken breasts, diced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 red chili, deseeded and finely sliced
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1 cup chicken stock
Handful of cashew nuts
Chopped scallions to serve.

Recipe
1. Heat a little sesame oil in a large pan and add the chicken and pour over the soy sauce immediately. Fry on a medium heat until golden.
2. Add the garlic and chili and fry for a minute, then add the teriyaki sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the chicken stock and cashew nuts and allow to reduce for 15 minutes.
4. Serve with rice and and top with a few chopped scallions.

Rhubarb Crumble

This is a real comfort food for me, I just love rhubarb crumble and have lots of happy memories associated with it growing up. My dad would grow it in the garden, then my sister and I would help him pick it and give it to mum to make some lovely crumble. Mum would serve it up lovely and warm with warm custard on top (then a little milk to cool it down so we didn't burn our lips!). I'm grinning away as I type this thinking about it all again. Anyways, when I spotted some rhubarb at my local green grocer I couldn't resist.

I decided to submit this for the Monthly Mingle this month taking on the theme of "comfort food".... it only seemed fitting to me.








This is a great dessert and so simple and quick to throw together.


Rhubarb Crumble

Serves 4

Ingredients
Rhubarb mix
1 lb rhubarb (4 stalks about 16" in length)
2 tbsp caster sugar (or you could use fructose sugar for a healthier alternative)
3 tbsp water
1 tsp ground ginger

Crumble mix
130g wholemeal flour
85g butter
3 tbsp caster sugar (again you could use fructose sugar for a healthier alternative)
50g whole porridge oats

Recipe
1. Wash and chop the rhubarb stalks into small chunks (about one or two cm long), place in the bottom of an oven proof dish.
2. Sprinkle the 2 tbsp of caster sugar over the top of the rhubarb, the pour over the water and ginger.
3. In a separate bowl mix the butter and flour, rubbing them together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Add the sugar and oats and mix well. Pour over the top of the rhubarb and spread to cover.
5. Bake in the oven at 180˚C for 25 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown.

Jargon busted

I posted before about Sainsburys making an effort to explain how their chicken is produced with little luck but just found this jargon buster on Channel 4's Big Food Fight section that explains this all better.

Be informed!!!!

Stir fry sauce.

Last night was another night where I was dining alone while Rob got to eat out after work, but it's good cos it means I can have things I don't normally have because he doesn't like them. So i decided to go for a veggie stir fry and was going to get a packet of sauce when I was getting my other groceries in, but when i was there decided to look at the list of ingredients for inspiration and then plan my own sauce. I ended up forgetting most of what I read on the back and just lifted all sorts of bits from my cupboards and came up with this:

Ruth's Sweet Ginger Stir Fry Sauce

Serves 1

Ingredients
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cider vinegar (I would have used Rice wine vinegar but forgot to buy more in my shop)
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp coconut milk
1 tsp soy sauce
1” ginger peeled and grated
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp honey


I just mixed it in with some stir fried veg and noodles. Delicious, nice sweet flavours that worked well with the veg. A successful kitchen experiment.

Daring Bakers

I've recently joined the Daring Bakers: a group of people from around the world who all try baking the same recipe each month and then blog about it. I'll be starting with next month's challenge but you can click through all the links on the blogroll to see this month's lemon meringue pie - all looking slightly different in size, shape etc but made from the same recipe and look delicious.

I can't wait to get started and try out some new things!

Mushroom and Garden Pea Risotto

I've only recently tried risotto and fell in love instantly, so tonight i had a go at making it seeing as Rob and I aren't eating together and it turned out fantastic.

Mushroom and Garden Pea Risotto

Makes 1 large portion

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
5/6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
4oz arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
350ml hot vegetable stock
Small tin of peas (about 90g drained weight)
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 oz butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Recipe
1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy based saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Fry over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes, until softened.
2. Add the mushrooms and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, until browned.
3. Stir in the rice and coat in the oil. Pour in the wine and simmer, stirring, until the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Add a ladleful of the stock and simmer, stirring again, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and tender. Add the drained peas with the last ladle of stock.
5. Stir in the parsley, butter and salt and pepper. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Fifteens

I looooooove fifteens. I didn't really start loving them until I was about 17 or 18. I was buying some dessicated coconut for another recipe and decided I just had to make some of these too!

There's really not much to these by way of ingredients or work, in fact this is a fantastic recipe for cooking with little kids (which I've done before). And they taste fantastic. I divided the biscuit and marshmallow mix in half to make a batch for Rob without the cherries and coconut, but the recipe should be as it is here:

Fifteens

Make 20-24 small biscuits

Ingredients
15 Digestive biscuits (like Graham crackers)
15 glacé cherries
15 marshmallows (best with the big pink and whites, the little ones don't work as well for this recipe)
2/3 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

Recipe
1. Place the biscuits in a large ziplock bag and smash into fine crumbs.
2. Mix the biscuit crumbs, cherries and marshmallows in a bowl.
3. Slowly mix in the condensed milk until the mix all comes together into a ball.
4. Roll into a sausage shape (or 2 if it's easier) about 2" thick.
5. Spread the coconut over a counter of board and roll the "sausage" over it until it's covered.
6. Wrap in a double layer of cling film and refridgerate for 2-3 hours to help it set.
7. Unwrap and slice into biscuits.


Love it!!!!

Turkish Lamb and Apricot Stew

Due to finding it hard getting free range or "Freedom Food" chicken recently and also because we were watching a cooking show that was using lamb, I've decided to diversify our menu a little more and try new meats and new cuts. Lamb was never a regular meat for me growing up so besides Irish Stew and I thought I would love to try something altogether new for my palate. After searching through my cookbooks I found a great recipe for Turkish lamb and apricot stew and thought it was worth trying. I had to edit it slightly though seeing as my husband is a carnivore and left out the aubergine and chick peas (and when serving it picked the apricots out of his dish). This was very tasty and quite sweet. the cookbook recommends serving this with couscous, but I hate the texture of it so we were typically Irish and had potato! Here's the recipe as i cooked it:

Turkish Lamb and Apricot Stew

Serves 2 or 3

Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 whole cloves
400 g boned leg of lamb, cubed
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 pint water
10-14 dried apricots
1 tsp clear honey
chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
chopped toasted almonds, to garnish
salt and pepper

Recipe
1. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole or large pot. Add the onion and garlic, cook for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the ground cinnamon and cloves; fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the lamb, cook for 5-6 minutes, stir until browned.
4. Add the tomatoes, water, apricots and add seasoning. Bring to the boil the cover the pan, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Stir in the honey and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the lamb is tender.
6. Serve garnished with some chopped almonds and parsley.

And if you want to add the aubergine and chick peas here are the missing steps:

Cube 1 large aubergine, place in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse, drain and pat dry then add to the pan (just after step 3), cook for about 3 minutes. Then move on to step 4.
Stir in 2/3 cup of canned chick peas at the same time as the honey (step 5).

Beef stew with chorizo

I adapted this from a recipe in a free magazine from my supermarket.
Really tasty and easy but required a lot of prep time. Prepare and measure as many ingredients as you can to make this easier for yourself.

Beef stew with chorizo


Serves 3

Ingredients
5 oz piece of chorizo, chopped into slices about 0.5cm thick.
Olive oil
700g stewing beef, cut into 1.5cm cubes
2 tbsp flour, seasoned
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 medium red onion, finely sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 red chili, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground allspice (I didn't have this but substituted for a pinch of cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger and grated nutmeg)
1 tsp paprika
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 pt chicken stock
1 x 1" cinnamon stick
Pinch of brown sugar

Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 180˚C.
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and add chorizo. Cook for 3 minutes on a medium heat, turning once.
3. Using tongs lift the chorizo from the pan to a plate and set to the side.
4. Toss the beef in the seasoned flour, then add to the same pan used for the chorizo. Cook on a high heat until the beef is browned then add to a casserole dish.
5. Lower the heat and add 1 tsp oil. Add the onions and cook gently for 10 minutes.
6. Add the garlic, chili and cumin. Mix and fry for 3 minutes.
7. Add the thyme, allspice (cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg) and paprika, followed by the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
8. Pour in the stock, add the cinnamon stick and bring to the boil.
9. Add to the casserole dish and mix with the beef. Place the lid on top and cook in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
10. Remove the casserole from the oven, stir in the chorizo and the pinch of brown sugar. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
11. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Happy Birthday Stewie

Today was little Stewie's first birthday and being a weirdo like I said earlier today in my other blog I decided to make him a birthday cake. I can't give my opinion on the taste but Stewie has ate half of it quite happily! And he loved licking the spoon too.

Stewie's birthday cake - aka Chicken and Bacon cake

Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup corn oil
2 jars (125ml) chicken & rice baby food
1/2 carrot, finely shredded
plain yoghurt
3 strips of bacon, fried crisp, then crumbled

Recipe
1. Generously grease and flour two 8" round cake pans; set aside.
2. Mix flour and baking powder in a bowl then set to the side.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat softened butter until smooth.
4. Add the eggs and the corn oil and mix.
5. Then add the chicken baby food and shredded carrots, and mix.
6. Add the flour and baking powder and mix thoroughly.
7. Pour the batter into the 2 cake pans.
8. Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes.
9. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
10. Slice through the top of one of the cakes to make it flat and set on a serving plate, then spread some yogurt over the top. 11. Set the second layer on top, then spread some more yogurt on top.
12. Sprinkle crumbled bacon or bits of jerky strips over top.

Still on the chicken run

Since we decided to buy chicken that has been given a better life than intensively farmed chicken I've had real trouble getting any. Is it because more and more are buying it? Or do the stores just not have the stock? Well, I was in our local town yesterday passing by the "posh" deli café and noticed something I recognised......

Continue reading here....

Roast Duck

I'm very aware that most of the meat dishes I have cooked recently have been chicken, so on Tuesday while I was at my local butcher I ordered a duck, collected it on Thursday and cooked it yesterday. Well when I say cooked, I mean I started it all off and had prepped the veg and glaze and everything, went out to work for an hour leaving hubby with a list of times and what to do at those times. He did well, but decided when it came to adding the glaze to the duck that he didn't want to, so it was added when I phoned to say I was on my way home and that he had to add it so it only got 10 minutes instead of the 30 minutes I was planning for it to be on for. Aaaaaanyways, he's all forgiven cos it turned out lovely still, beautifully moist and full of flavour.

I read a recipe in a supermaket magazine for duck casserole and adapted it for doing a roast, so here it is (as it was done)

Roast Duck

Serves 3

Ingredients
2.5 kg duck
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chinese 5 spice

For the glaze
5 tbsp marmalade
3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1" fresh ginger, (finely shopped or grated)
1 tbsp cider vinegar
4 star anise

Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C and prepare the duck in a deep baking tray. Rub on the chinese 5 spice and drizzle the soy sauce on.
2. Place the duck in the oven and turn the heat up to 230˚C. Reduce to 200˚C again after 30 minutes. Cook for a further hour and 20 minutes
3. Mix all the ingredients for the glaze well.
4. Pour the glaze over the duck and return to the oven for a further 10/15 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven, baste with the glaze again and move to a board to rest for 5 minutes.
6. Carve and serve.

Stack o pancakes

Rob and I were watching some TV yesterday morning just before we got up and we saw one of the characters in the show eating pancakes, we looked at each other and knew we had to have some. I hadn't made pancakes in well over a year, I had to look up my recipe again!

Stack o pancakes

Makes 7 or 8 pancakes

Ingredients
500 ml (2 cups) flour
250 ml (1 cup) milk
65 ml (1/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
Butter

Recipe
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add in the milk and eggs and stir well, don't whisk, but be sure there are no lumps
3. Add a little butter to a large cast iron pan or crêpe pan and heat on a medium heat.
4. Pour in half a ladle of the batter and tilt the pan with your other hand to spread the batter evenly and to make a round shape
5. Once the edges begin to colour and small bubbles appear all over the surface, flip the pancake.
6. Cook for a few moments on the other side and slide onto a plate. Keep warm until all the pancakes are cooked. Remember to add a little more butter to the pan for each pancake.

We had ours with maple syrup and a little melted chocolate this time. Delicious!

Garlic and Tomato roast potatoes

A little variation on my Garlic Roast Potatoes where I added a teaspoon of tomato puree to the butter mix. Delicious!

Aloha Chicken

I had spotted this recipe a while ago on All Recipes and had it saved in my bookmarks. Eventually tonight I opened the link again and decided to have a go at it for dinner, but made a few little tweaks to it myself. Really yum, but next time might change garlic salt to 1/2 tbsp garlic powder.

Aloha Chicken

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
650g Chicken breast (or 3 chicken breasts)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 tbsp dark brown soft sugar
Spring onions

Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 200˚C.
2. Arrange chicken in a single layer in a well greased baking dish.
3. In a small bowl mix together the ginger, paprika, garlic salt and cinnamon. Add the vinegar and mix well. Divide this mixture. Brush 1/2 over the chicken pieces and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
4. Turn the chicken pieces, baste with the remaining 1/2 of the vinegar mixture and bake for 15 minutes longer.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine the ketchup, soy sauce, pineapple juice and brown sugar.
6. When chicken baking time is up, spoon the pineapple/soy mixture over the chicken.
7. Bake for another 30 minutes. Serve while still hot and garnish with spring onions

Balsamic grilled chicken

Katie from Good things catered made some great looking and very easy looking pan grilled chicken, which I ended us making tonight. She's right, it's so simple, and it's lovely and tender.

I made it with chicken thighs (with bones and skins removed) and it was beautiful. Added a little extra pepper and parsley flakes.

Balsamic Grilled Chicken

Serves 2

Ingredients
5 chicken thighs (deboned and skinned)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper

Directions
1. Heat grill pan over low to medium low heat
2. Place the chicken in large dish and top with oil, vinegar, and seasonings. Using tongs turn gently to coat all the chicken. Leave for 5 minutes.
3. Spray the pan with cooking spray or add a little oil. Add the chicken, do not move meat as much as possible until finished cooking on one side (about 8 minutes)
4. Flip breasts over and continue cooking until cooked through (about 8 minutes).

Pizza dough

I decided that pizza was the way to go for tonight's dinner, however I usually buy pizza bases from the supermarket and throw on my toppings. I decided to have a go at making my own pizza dough and learning something new.

This recipe turned out fantastically. It turned out light and soft and really tasty.

Pizza dough

Makes 2 12" bases or 1 16" base

Ingredients
3/4 tbsp yeast
1.5 cups warm water
1.5 tsp salt
3 tbsp oil
2 cups plain flour
3 cups wholewheat flour
You can use all plain flour or all wholewheat, I went for a mix)|

Recipe
1. Put the warm water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Leave it to set until it begins to foam (about 5 minutes).
2. Stir in the salt, oil and the 2 cups of plain flour. Then gradually mix in the 3 cups of wholewheat flour. (I used an electric mixer for this part to help make it easier and quicker). Make sure it is all mixed well.
3. Knead for 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and let rise for 30 mins. Punch it down again and allow to rise for a further half hour.
4. Punch down the dough once more and divide for 2 12" pizzas or keep together for 1 16" pizza. Pat out on two pizza pans.
5. Add your choice of toppings. Bake at 190˚C for 20-25 minutes.

Parma wrapped Chicken breast

Sorry I haven't posted here in a while , I've been having problems with a tooth - well non tooth now and eating has been somewhat limited, sauces can't be too runny, food can't be too chewy or dry for that matter because it's awkward to drink! Anyway I haven't had this in ages and in fact I've only ever had it in a restaurant so it was time to come up with my own recipe.
So simple and delicious! Great for a weeknight meal and worked well with my limited diet.

Parma wrapped chicken breast

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
4 slices of parma ham
salt & pepper to season
oil
4 peeled cloves of garlic
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp rosemary

Recipe
1. Wrap the chicken breasts in the parma ham, add some salt and pepper to season.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Cook the wrapped chicken on both sides for 3 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 190˚C. Spread the garlic cloves, thyme and rosemary in an oven proof dish. Set chicken on top.
4. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes and serve.

Rather exciting!

It's always good to hear when people like what you've cooked for them, but I got really excited and happy when a parent at church came to me asking how I made the Thai Green Chicken Curry at the Elders Dinner because her daughter loved it so much and whatever she does to try making it, "it's just not the same". I feel sorry for this mum who's been working hard trying to make her daughter happy, hopefully now everyone's happy now!

Sainsburys are keen

I was doing our weekly shop yesterday and couldn't help but notice the signs everywhere....

Continue reading here.....

The great chicken race

Last monday to wednesday Hugh's chicken run was on Channel 4 where Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall sets up a chicken farm where one half of the barn has intensively farmed chickens and the other half has free range chickens to show how over 90% of the chickens in our local supermarkets are produced. Then on Friday there was Jamie's Fowl Dinners where.....


Continue reading here....

More label changes

I've gone through all my recipes and removed the "Easy" labels and given ratings of difficulty out of 5 shown as e.g. "- Difficulty 1/5"


Hope it helps people!

Oriental Chicken Curry

The way I usually make this is by buying a portion of curry sauce from the chinese take away, cooking the chicken, add the sauce. I decided it was time I tried to make it for myself and it was delicious!

Oriental Chicken Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients
50 g creamed coconut, cut into chunks
300ml boiling water
1.5 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 chicken breasts, diced
2 tbsp oil (I used sesame oil)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
Salt
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

Recipe
1. Place the creamed coconut in a bowl and stir in the water. When dissolved stir in the curry powder, chinese 5 spice and ginger. Add the chicken and allow to marinate for an hour.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or pan. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook in the wok/pan for 5 minutes, stirring.
4. Reduce the heat, add the marinade and the soy sauce. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
5. Season with salt and the coriander.

Classic North Indian Chicken Curry Recipe

I was given "Indian Food Made Easy" By Anjum Anand for Christmas and tonight have been rather busy with it having made the classic northern chicken curry and tried the Naan bread recipe which didn't turn out too well and I'm not even going to blog about it. However the curry turned out great with about medium- hot spiciness to it.

I reduced the quantities of the ingredients because the original recipe served 6-8 which just sounded like too much for just the two of us.

I'm giving this a 3/5 difficulty rating, mainly because you need to pay very close attention when cooking this. Otherwise it's not very difficult at all. One warning though is to prepare your ingredients as much as possible before you even think of turning the heat on for the pan! The ingredients are listed here in order of when they are needed and grouped together for when they are needed.

Classic North Indian Chicken Curry Recipe

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 or 4 cloves
3 x 1" cinnamon sticks
3 or 4 cardamom pods

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1.5 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
4 cloves of garlic, chopped and finely peeled

salt to season
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp ground coriander

2 medium cooking tomatoes, pureed (or finely chopped)

3 chicken breasts, sliced in half to make then thin and flat

350ml water, or more if needed

1/2 tsp garam masala
handful of fresh coriander leaves (aka cilantro)

Recipe
1. Chop your onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and slice your chicken breasts in half. Measure out your spices and group together as they are grouped in the ingredient list.
2. Heat the oil in a large non stick pan. Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods and fry for about 20 seconds until aromatic.
3. Add the onion and cook for 8-10 minutes over a moderate heat until a rich golden brown, stirring often.
4. Stir in garlic and ginger, cook for 40 seconds then add the salt and powdered spices. Stir for 10 seconds then add the tomatoes and cook over a moderate heat for 10 minutes until the liquid has dried off.

5. Add the chicken and brown for 3-4 minutes. Add the water, add extra if needed to almost cover the chicken and reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
6. Stir in the garam masala and coriander leaves just before serving.

Onion Potato Bhajis

One of my favourite cookery bloggers who I've copied before is Jeena. I recently spotted her Onion Bhaji Recipe where they are cooked in the oven not deep fried. I'm not fond of deep frying and we don't have a deep fryer anyway so this sounded perfect. The only problem was that my darling dearest hubby is "allergic" to vegetables other than potatoes and peas so I made these with shredded potato instead and maybe sometime I'll make them using onion for just me. I also reduced the recipe that Jeena has by half.

Onion Potato Bhajis

Makes 4

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes
2.5 Tbsp Buckwheat Flour (I forgot to get this when I was out today and used plain flour instead
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
Olive Oil
Large 1/2 tsp Tomato Puree
3/4 Shot Glass Measure Water (a small egg cup can be used to measure)

Spices for the Pan
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
1/8 tsp Cumin Powder
1/8 tsp Ginger Powder
1/8 Chilli Powder

Recipe
1. Peel and shred your potatoes coarsely.
2. Drizzle a little oil into a large pan/wok and gently cook your potato until it starts to crispen up and loose some of the moisture. Do not brown them or over cook them. This should take no longer than 5-6 minutes. Keep stiring them so they don't over cook.
3. When the potato is ready sprinkle in your chilli powder and mix well. Then straight after add your turmeric, cumin, ginger and coriander, stir well again then switch off the heat.
4. In a bowl place (buckwheat) flour, salt, coriander and cumin. Mix them together well.
5. Now place your onions into your bowl and mix well again.
6. Once your flour mixture has coated all of your onions 3/4 fill your shot glass/egg cup with water and add the tomato puree Mix your puree in with the water then pour into your onion mixture. Stir very well. (You want your mixture to be wet and easy to stir but not watery or too sloppy in texture. If you added too much water add a few pinches of flour till you get the right consistency. If your mixture is a little too thick and dry add a little drop of water at a time till it loosens up. Try to keep to the measurements of the recipe as closely as possible.
7. Drizzle some oil onto a baking tray. Place a tablespoon of your onion mixture onto your oven tray per onion bhaji, flatten a little with the back of your spoon. Place into a pre-heated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.

8.After 10 minutes take your onion bhaji's out of the oven. Drizzle a little oil over the tops of your bhaji's. Place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. For the full deep fried effect of your onion bhajis you must drizzle on the oil half way through.
9. When your onion bhaji's are golden brown they are ready. Take out of the oven and remove straight from the tray to your plate.

Thanks again Jeena!!!!

Jamie's Mince Pies

Jamie Oliver did a great Christmas special a few days before Christmas and made some mince pies with a difference. Despite having already made some mince pies I was tempted to try these. They are so incredibly easy they get a 1/5 Difficulty rating and are so incredibly delicious.

Jamie Oliver's Mince Pies with a Twist


Makes 12

Ingredients
A packet of pre made filo pastry
A packet of pre made puff pastry (about 500g)
1 jar of mincemeat
Chopped Chestnuts (roasted or boiled) (I omitted)
Zest of 1/2 an orange
Dried Cranberries(I omitted)
5 or 6 dried apricots, finely chopped (I added)
Some mixed spice (I added)
Icing sugar (I omitted)
Melted Butter

Recipe
1. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface until it is about 3 mm thick and about 12" by 12"
2. Paste a thin-to-medium layer of mincemeat on the puff pastry sheet. Add the (cranberries, chopped up chestnuts,) dried apricots and orange zest.

3. Roll up the pastry into a roll, slice a cm off each end of the roll and cut the rest into slices about 2 cm wide. Place your sliced puff pastry mincemeat slices to one side.

4. Take 4-6 sheets of filo pastry and brush them with melted butter. Lie the pastry over your bun tray, butter side down, covering the whole tray.
5. With any left over puff pastry, mould the filo pastry into the shape of the bun tray.
6. Into each bun case place one of the puff pastry roll slices. Butter around the edges of the filo pastry.

7. Add to an oven at 180˚C for 20-25 minutes.
8. Remove and allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar and a little mixed spice.

9. To separate the pies, you just snap them off.

Absolutely delicious! Thanks Jamie.

Garlic roast potatoes

We had bought some garlic potatoes from a deli and roasted them ourselves and they were delicious. Something I never thought of cooking because Rob isn't very fond of garlic but he liked these, so I thought I'd come up with my own version.

Garlic roast potatoes

Serves 2

Ingredients
4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
3 veggie oxo/stock cubes
1 tsp garlic puree/2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp dried parsley
(you can use garlic butter instead of the garlic, butter and parsley)
Salt and Pepper

Recipe
1. Add the potatoes to a pot, crush the oxo/stock cubes over the potatoes. Add enough water to cover then parboil the potato chunks for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile mix the garlic puree/garlic, butter and parsley.
3. Drain the liquid and place the potatoes in an oven proof dish.
4. Pour the garlic butter over the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper
5. Roast at 180˚C for 15-20 minutes.

Baby spuds in Blankets?

I love pigs in blankets (cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon) so when I saw this recipe as a "Try something new today" idea from Sainsburys ages ago i had to try it. We loved it and we still do it. So simple and very tasty. But it can also be very versatile, you can add some spices or herbs, garlic salt, honey, maple syrup, cheese, mushroom etc. Enjoy!

Baby spuds in blankets

Serves 2

Ingredients
8-12 baby potatoes
4 slices of back bacon, sliced into 12 - 16 quarter inch wide strips
salt and pepper
oil

Recipe
1. Parboil the potatoes for 5-10 minutes
2. Drain off the water and allow to cool for a few minutes until they can be handled easily.
3. Wrap a strip or two around each potato and place on a greased/oiled oven tray

4. Drizzle a little more oil over the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
5. Cook in the oven at 190˚C for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the bacon crispy.

Spicy Caribbean Jerk Rub

One of the fun presents I was given for Christmas was Jamie Oliver's Flavour Shaker

And have had a go at one of the recipes on the flavour shaker site. I used it on a turkey breast I was roasting tonight for a little variety on the turkey from what I've had recently. It was delicious and very easy to do. However if you don't have a flavour shaker it's very easy to do in a mortar and pestle or blender. What's great about this rub is you can make a little batch of it and store it.

Spicy Caribbean Jerk Rub Source Flavourshaker.co.uk

Ingredients
2-inch piece cinnamon stick, roughly broken up
2 cloves
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp rock salt
a strip of lemon zest
½ clove garlic, peeled or 1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp paprika

Recipe
1. Put the cinnamon, cloves, thyme and peppercorns in the bottom of the Flavour Shaker™, drop the ball in and screw the top on tightly.
2. Shake well for 30 seconds, or until the ingredients are broken into small pieces, then add the salt, lemon zest, garlic and paprika.
3. Screw the top back on and shake for another 20 seconds and your rub is ready. Smell that brilliant aroma!

Serving suggestion
Massage it well into chicken or fish before roasting, grilling or barbecuing and transform a midweek meal into an exotic dish you’ll want to repeat every day!

I forgot to take a photo but I'll definitely be doing this again anyway!

New blog bits

I've just added the "What's cooking blogroll" to my sidebar which is a list of blogs by some of the girls on a cookery forum that I look at and occasionally post on too.

I've also gone through all my posts and sorted out all the Labels, so if you need a recipe with a certain ingredient you can search that way. However I left out things like oil, salt, pepper, water and other very basic things. And have changed the origin of the food to have stars round it so they're at the top of the list to save looking through the whole list for "Italian" or "Thai" etc.

2007 Site Stats

I've already reviewed 2007 based on some favourite recipes but thought I should maybe do the site stats for 2007 too. I know it doesn't cover a full year but here goes anyways.

Number of posts - 65
Most viewed post - Smarties Cookies
Total visits - 1667
Total pageviews - 2405
Total Absolute Unique Visitors - 1037

Most visits in one day - 46 (26th November)
Most search results in one day - 15 (31st December)

% New visitors - 62.21%
% Returning visitors - 37.79%

Top 10 searches that lead here: (out of 335 visits by 287 search terms)
10. chicken goujons
9. chicken curry with egg
8. chicken
7. smarties
6. raspberry chocolate chip muffins
5. bread
4. roast parsnips
3. purpose of eggs
2. creamy garlic mushroom chicken
1. http://justaddeggs.blogspot.com

Top 10 countries that visited (out of 50)
10. India
9. South Africa
8. Singapore
7. Spain
6. Ireland
5. Germany
4. Canada
3. Australia
2. USA
1. United Kingdom

2007 Review

As a review of what has been posted in 2007 I wanted to go month by month and highlight a couple of my favourite meals from each month.

August
Spaghetti Carbonara
Chicken Tikka Masala

September
Butternut squash with sage
BBQ ribs

October
Chicken in coke
Thai style cooking - chicken, sticky coconut rice and dip

November
Spaghetti with tuna in garlic and white wine
Bourbon chicken

December
Thai red chicken curry
Ginger glazed gammon

Favourite sweets and treats of 2007
Mince pies
Smarties cookies


Happy new year! I'm looking forward to some new cooking adventures.