Prawn and Sweetcorn Chowder

Prawn and Sweetcorn Chowder

Another beauty of a recipe from Jamie Oliver is this one.  I often see chowder on the menu when I go on holiday but have not  made it myself before, it is surprisingly quick and easy, much like soup.  This is so good you must give it a try  🙂

You will need (Serves 3):

1 medium sized leek
250g potatoes
500g chicken stock (use a stock cube)
175g of frozen sweetcorn
175g of king prawns, raw, peeled  (I bought frozen ones as they are cheaper)
150g single cream
3 rashers of bacon
3 Jacob’s cream crackers

1. Cut the ends of the leek off and slice lengthways into quarters, wash and then slice across thinly. Peel and cut the potatoes into 2cm sized chunks, and prepared your chicken stock.  If using frozen prawns make sure they are thoroughly defrosted.
2. Use a large casserole-type pan or a large wok and add some oil. Chop your bacon into small pieces and fry in the oil until crispy.  Then remove the bacon from the pan until later.
3. Keeping all the fat in the pan put in the leeks and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat until the leek has softened.
4. Add the frozen sweetcorn, the prawns, hot stock and cream to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil for 10 minutes.
5. Once cooked, take off the heat and use a hand blender to whiz it up a bit, so it is smooth but still slightly chunky.
6. Serve in a bowl with some of the bacon from earlier and some broken up crackers.  You can also add it some herbs or chilli if you want to add to the taste, but it is so delicious!!

Turkey and leek pie

Cooked pie until golden

Well it’s official I hope I do not see another turkey for a whole year because i’m stuffed!

One way to use up lots of it is in a pie.  I have not made a pie before but after drooling over Jamie Oliver’s version and encouraged by my boyfriend who informs me how much he LOVES pie, I thought I would give it a go.  It is surprisingly easy and chicken would work just as well in this.

You need:  (serves 6)

4 rashers of streaky bacon
1/2 bunch of fresh thyme
1.5 kg leeks – chopped into 1cm chunks
600g of cooked turkey (or chicken)
2 tbsp plain flour
1 pint of chicken stock
1 tbsp of creme fraiche
500g of puff pastry
1 egg
1 baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm

1. Chop the bacon into small pieces and brown in the bottom of a big pan on a medium heat with the chopped up thyme and a splash of olive oil.
2. Add the chopped up leeks with a bit of salt and pepper, put the lid on and let them cooks for 30 minutes, stirring every 5/10 minutes.
3. When the leeks are soft, stir in the turkey pieces (and stuffing if you want to) and bring it up to the boil for a few minutes.
4. Add the stock, flour and the creme fraiche and a bit more seasoning and stir through.
5. Put a sieve over a bowl and drain the whole mixture into the bowl, this will become the gravy for your dish.
6. While it is draining, roll out the puff pastry big enough to cover the baking dish.
7. Spoon the pie filling into the baking dish and lay the pastry over the top.  make sure you tuck it in to the corners of the dish and score a pattern gently across the top with a knife.
8. Beat the beat and wash over the top of the pastry, and pop the whole thing in the oven for 35 minutes at 190C/375F/Gas 5.
9. When ready serve with the heated up gravy from earlier and some veg.

It is so simple you really cannot go wrong.

Bacon and Thyme

Adding the leeks to the pan

Bacon, thyme, leeks, stock, flous and creme fraiche

Cooked pie until golden

Turkey, leek and bacon pie

What to do with a Brussel Sprout?!

Brussels with chicken, bacon, leek and a cheesy mustard sauce

Brussel the sprout gets a bad time of it really, he only comes out once a year and even when he’s popular no one really likes him, or knows what to do with him!

Well Brussel sprouts are amazingly good for you, low in GI, excellent Vitamin C, ani-oxidants to protect from cancers and they are also high in Iron.  A mighty punch of goodness from a small little veggie, have a check here if you want to read more.

So apart from boiling them to taste like mush what can you do with them?  How about:

Chicken, bacon, brussels and leeks in a cheesy mustard sauce!

This is something I made up from various other recipes but is lovely because it softens the flavour of the brussels to complement the other ingredients – so you can put loads in!

What you need: (serves 6)

3 Chicken breasts
packet of Brussel sprouts
1 leek
4 rashers of streaky bacon
milk
creme fraiche
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 handfuls of grated cheddar
knob of butter
2 tbsp of plain flour

(Serves 3 as a main)

1. Chop up the chicken into strips and lightly brown off in a frying pan with a little oil.
2. Chop up the bacon into small strips and also fry off until lightly brown.
3. Cut the hard ends of the brussels and put into a large roasting tray, chop up the leek into 1cm sized chunks and put into the tray along with the chicken and bacon.
4. For the sauce, on a low heat, melt a knob of butter into a saucepan and then mix in the flour to form a paste.
5. Pour in 300ml of milk and stir until the paste dissolves, do not let it boil.
6. Stir in 3tbsp of creme fraiche, the mustard and the grated cheese and stir until it is smooth and has thickened slightly.
7. Pour the sauce all over the roasting tray, season.  If it doesn’t cover it all then add a cup of hot water (it will not make it too runny) and place in the oven on a middle shelf for 30mins at 200C.

The result should be a nice brussel sprout bake.

Brussel Bake

Tiny pasta with mint, peas and bacon

Mint, pea and bacon conchigliette

Conchigliette!! = Teeny tiny pasta shells which are by far the cutest pasta I have ever seen!

To be honest I just fancied a change from my usual tomato based sauces for pasta, and other than carbonara, which is hugely calorific, I was lacking inspiration.  Jamie Oliver gave me a hand with suggesting this in his Ministry of Food book.

Simples, you need:

200g of conchigliette pasta
medium bunch of mint
75g grated parmesan
4 slices of smoked bacon
150g of frozen peas
2 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Boil up the pasta for about 10 mins or until it is cooked.
2. In a large frying pan add the bacon (chopped into thin slices) until lightly golden, then add the chopped mint, frozen peas and creme fraiche.  Add the lemon juice, 2 tbsp of the water from your pasta and let it cook for a few minutes until the peas soften.
3. Drain the pasta and add to the pan, stirring everything in together.
4. Add the grated parmesan and serve!

This makes enough for 2 pasta fest dinners or 4 civillised ones if you have it with salad.

Easy ‘pea’sy! haha