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!!

Oeufs en cocotte

Oeuf en cocotte with toasted soldiers

Oeufs en cocotte.  Now this translates to eggs in pots basically, but I prefer to think of it as posh eggs and soldiers.

This is so quick and easy and can be a real treat for a light meal.

You will need:

150g creme fraiche
salt and pepper
nutmeg
2 eggs
1 tomato, chopped into small cubes (optional)

(Serves 2)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas4.
2. Season the creme fraiche with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to taste.
3. Place a heaped tablespoon of creme fraiche at the bottom of each ramekin, followed by a layer of the chopped up tomato (if using).
4. Crack an egg on top, and then finish with one more table spoon of the creme fraiche.
5. Place the ramekins in a deep baking dish and pour enough warm water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, before carefully removing from the oven and serving with some sliced bread.

I love this recipe because it is so easy to adapt to your own tastes, bechamel can be used in place of the creme fraiche, and instead of tomato, you could use pieces of ham, mushroom or even smoked salmon and spinach for a real treat.  If you do not like nutmeg you could also replace this with tobasco for a spicy twist, or use some fresh herbs.  There is something for everyone.

There really is something satisfying about dipping bread into eggs – yummy!

Paprika pork chops with vegetables

Paprika pork chops with vegetables and apple sauce

Pork chops, one of the standard ‘meat and two veg’ options we all seem to love so much in Britain.

If like me, this bores you, never fear this will spice it up nicely.  Also it’s pretty good to cook socially as you can put it all in the oven and still be with your guests without having to hover about it…as long as you remember to take it out of the oven!  I made the apple sauce too but more about that later.

On to the cooking, serves two:

1 Pork chop per person/or 2 if extra hungry
Smoked paprika
1 Chicken stock cube
1 tbsp Tomato puree.
4 Garlic cloves
Whatever vegetables you have in the fridge – I used new potatoes, green pepper, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach.

Oven needs to be 200C

1. Chop up all the vegetables into decent sized chunks and put in a large roasting tray. (not spinach if using – this goes in at the end)
2. Mix 300ml hot water with your stock cube and the tomato puree.  Then pour all over your vegetables and put in the oven for 30mins.
3. Meanwhile rub the pork chops in the smoked paprika and when your timer goes off put them in the roasting tray with the vegetables and cook for a further 15mins.
5. If using spinach put this in the tray and cook for another minute or two so it wilts slightly, and then serve!

Then you have delicious pork chops and veggies!  Tastes even better with some apple sauce, so still keeping the traditional side alive 🙂

 

Omelettes – the wonder meal

Egg and chive mixture in the frying pan

Salmon and asparagus filling

Turn the omelette

Finished omelette!

Omelettes are fantastic aren’t they!  Even if it’s the day before your weekly shop, you think the cupboards/fridge are bare, and you have a grumbly stomach that is demanding instant satisfaction.. the omelette can come to the rescue, all it takes is a few eggs and you can create a healthy quick meal in minutes no matter what you have left to go in it. A little bit of this..a little bit of that..

My mum has been telling me about these for years but until now i’ve not really appreciated how economical and tasty they can be.  My favourite is a classic cheese and mushroom, but this is my more posh one: Salmon and asparagus, which is more than enough to fill me up for tea.

I confess this is actually the second time I made this as the first time it was so tasty I got half way though eating it and realised I hadn’t taken a picture – doh!  So I had to make it again (what a shame! haha)

To make:

3 eggs
4 asparagus spears
1 Slice of smoked salmon
a few chives off my crazy haired chive plant

1. Put the asparagus in a pan and boil for 5 minutes until just soft
2. break eggs in to a bowl and add some chopped chives.
3. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and pour in the egg mixture
4. once the egg is starting to set, flake the salmon over the mixture and place the asparagus on one side.
5. Flip half of the omelette over the filling, cook for one more minute and serve.

 

Fish cakes from left over mash potato

Fish cakes with salad

Sometimes I get a bit carried away when making mash potato, I never seem to think there are enough potatoes in the pan.  Then after I have served up my meal I realise that i’m still left with some in the pot and feel guilty throwing it away.

But I have discovered you can use it to make fish cakes. Or rather my resourceful boyfriend pointed out to me there are also other uses for my smoked mackerel, which up until this point was destined for my salad.

And so:

left over mash
Any type of cooked fish (mackerel)
Spring onions
1 egg
parsley

1. Flake the fish into pieces and put in a mixing bowl.
2. Chop the spring onions quite small and add to the bowl along with some chopped parsley and the left over mash.
3. Use one egg to bind the mixture together.
4. Use your hands to roll the mixture into small patty shapes and then fry in a pan until hot all the way through.

You can then serve them with some refreshing salad, or even take them to work for your lunch.

Catherine wheel sausage with posh mash and gravy

Catherine wheel sausage, horseradish mash, leek gravy and salad

Fireworks night is quickly coming and these sausages look so much fun, and are certainly a firecracker of their own.

It’s easy peazy Jamie Oliver style from his 30 minute recipes

You will need

6 sausages still linked up
Sprigs of sage
Maris piper potatoes
Creamed horseradish
2 Leeks
Plain flour
Chicken stock
200ml of cider
skewers

1. This is fun – un-twirl the sausage links and squeeze in to one long sausage!! Rub a little bit of oil over and roll into a catherine wheel shape.  Fasten with two skewers and stick a few sage leaves in any gaps.  Stick on a large roasting tray and pop under the grill for 10 minutes on each side.

2. Cut up the potatoes into chunks and boil until soft.  Once ready drain the potatoes, stick back in the pan and mash it up with a knob of butter an two heaped tablespoons of creamed horseradish.

3. For the stock, slice the leeks lengthways and chop into 1cm chunks, put in the frying pan with a generous lug of oil and a little bit of water.  Cover the frying pan and put on a medium heat.   Finely chop a handful of sage leaves and add to the leeks.  Crumble in a chicken stock cube, 1 heaped tablespoon of flour and stir in the 200ml of cider.  Let it sizzle away for a while and then add 200ml of boiled water, reduce to a low heat and let it reduce until it is the thickness you like.

Ta da, when ready put it all on the plate and you are ready to eat 🙂  This makes ordinary bangers and mash so much more exciting and a real treat.  I made a quick salad to go with it but it’s a classic on its own.

Baked Camembert and Spinach Pasta

Camembert with rosemary and garlic

I love cheese, beautiful gooey cheese, this is simply so good and easy you must try it!

You will need:

1 box of Camembert
1 clove of garlic
Sprigs of rosemary
Olive oil
Pasta
100g Parmesan, grated
Spinach

1. Remove the plastic packaging on the camembert, place back in the box and then score a circle of into the top of the cheese.  Remove this part so the gooey inside is showing.

2. Thinly slice the garlic and lay on top of the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and put a few sprigs of rosemary on the cheese.  Drizzle olive oil on top.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and bake the cheese for 25 mins on a baking tray.

4. When the cheese has about 10 mins left to cook, boil the pasta in some salty water.  When cooked, just before you drain it, put the spinach in for 10 seconds to cook through.  Then drain and replace back in the pan.

5. Put a few glugs of olive oil in to the pasta and stir in the grated parmesan cheese.

6. Take out the camembert and you are ready to tuck your spoons in!

Total cheese heaven!  You could even just bake the cheese and drip some baguette into it. drool…

Baked Camembert

Spinach pasta with baked camembert

Super-Quick Salmon Stir-Fry

Salmon stir-fry with rice

I have never made a stir-fry with fish before so I was counting on Jamie’s Ministry of Food to see me through.  This came out more delicious than I expected really..but whatever you do if you’re like me and not used to spice, OPEN the window before you start or you will nearly die of the spicy fumes!

For 2 people you need:

Basmati rice
350g salmon fillet, skin off and boned
Handful of shelled peanuts
1 clove of garlic
Thumb sized piece of ginger
1 fresh red chilli
Patak’s tandoori paste
1/2 a 400g tin of coconut milk
coriander
1 lime
mangetouts

1. Stick however much rice you want in a pan and boil up in some salty water.

2. Finely slice the garlic, ginger and chilli (throw the seeds away) and crush the peanuts.

3. Cut the Salmon into 2cm chunks.

4. Put some oil in a wok and fry the garlic, ginger, chilli for about 30 seconds. Then put a big heaped tablespoon of tandoori paste in and stir for 30 seconds. Chuck in the salmon, mangetouts and the coconut milk.

5. Jamie says cook for a minute, but I left it in until the salmon was cooked to my liking (also added some courgettes I had left in the fridge – naughty)

6. Then dish up your rice, stir-fry, and squeeze some lime over the top.  Sprinkle with peanuts and the coriander and it’s all ready to enjoy with a nice glass of wine!

Overall this is really easy but I hope next time I make it my face won’t be quite so red, and my eyes less watery!

Celeriac and Artichoke Frittata

If you fancy a change from the normal Spanish omelette then this could be a tasty alternative.  It’s low GI and artichokes are apparently good for your liver so a little helping hand after a night out maybe.

Decided to make this eggy concoction in honour of my friend’s new chicken getting over it’s stage-fright and finally laying her first egg, well done Nugget!

For this you will need:

200g celeriac, thinly sliced
rapeseed oil
6 free range eggs
4 canned artichoke hearts, sliced
10g of parmesan
chopped flatleaf parsley leaves

1. Slice the celeriac, stick in a pan and boil in salty water for about 10 minutes or until it’s just soft.  If you don’t know what a celeriac looks like – it’s this ugly beast below!

2. Heat oil in a small/medium frying pan (one that can go under the grill) and fry the celeriac until its starts to colour, about 8 mins.

3. Break the eggs in a bowl with half the parmasan, some seasoning and a bit of parsley.  Beat, and then mix in the sliced artichokes.

4. Turn the heat down under the saucepan and tip all the mixture in, spreading it out evenly.  Then stir quickly and leave to cook for 6 minutes (It should feel almost firm).

5. Stick under the grill for a few minutes to colour the top, and then add the rest of the parmesan and the parsley.  Then you can happily tuck in either hot or cold!

Have to say I had a bit of panic it might stick to the pan and be a horrible scooping out job, but it’s actually quite light, so lifts easily.  You can find this recipe in the 10 secrets of 100% health cookbook.

Celeriac

Frittata

Sweet potato with sun-dried tomatoes and goats cheese

I spotted this recipe in a healthy eating magazine from The 10 Secrets of 100% Health Cookbook and it is so easy I thought it would be a perfect beginning to my cooking challenge.

For this you will need:

1 medium sweet potato
Rapeseed oil
175g goats cheese log
8 Sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained

1. First, you cut the sweet potato in half length ways, be careful as it’s quite hard and I had to put some muscle in to it. Keep the skins on.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 190*c/375*F/gas mark 5, then rub the halves in the rapeseed oil and put them cut side down on to a baking tray.

3. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until soft. Easy.

4. Cut the goats cheese into 1cm thick slices, or thereabouts, and get your tomatoes to the ready.

5. Turn the potato halves over and layer the cheese and tomato on the top.  Turn the oven off and put them under the grill for another 10 minutes, keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn.

And that’s all there is to it!  They turn really quickly, I think I caught mine just in time.  They might not look very big but they are certainly really filling and taste soo good!  I cooked mine with some asparagus and parma ham, which I simply boiled for a few minutes and stuck under the grill with the potatoes.  Salad would go just as well though. Also gluten free if you have an allergy.

SWEET POTATO = SWEET SUCCESS!