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  • Bean problem solved

    Well, by that I've got through the carrier bag full, previously mentioned. As it's a Friday fish is traditional and so fish and chips is the order of the day. Not with mushy peas but with crushed beans and mint as sugested by brokendowndelia and BBC Goodfood. Basically you quickly boil the beans. Seven minutes in this case. Drain, add a good handfull of chopped mint from the garden and a knob of butter, a splash of milk and mash/crush to desired texture:

    Fish, chips and

    Also on the plate a green leaf salad fresh from the garden with a few bits of Feta and a drizzle of oil.

  • Help needed...

    ...I've been given a carrier bag full of Broad beans. Still in their pods. I know of one recipie: broad beans with bacon, but thats as far as it goes.

    Anyone any other ideas?

  • Chicken Vindaloo

    One of my stalwarts.

    Ingredients:

    2 chicken breasts
    3 large potatoes
    2 tablespoons of olive oil
    1 large onion, finely chopped
    2-4 cups of water

    And for the vindaloo paste:

    5 bird eye clillies (this makes it a head sweater, so adjust to taste!)
    2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
    1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
    6 cloves
    1/4 of a star anise
    2 inch long cinnamon stick, crushed
    10 black peppersorns
    1 teaspoon of poppy seeds

    CV 3

    1 teaspoon of ground ginger
    4 plump garlic cloves, crushed
    2 teaspoons of tamarind pulp
    4 tablespoons of cider vinegar

    How to:

    1. Cut the chicken breasts into cubes.

    2. Peel the potatoes and cut into large chips and set aside in some water so they don't go brown.

    3. Mix the ingredients for the vindaloo paste together into a blender and blend away. Then put over the chicken and leave to marinate, covered, in the fridge. I sometimes have to add a smidge of water into the blender to make sure I get it all out.

    CV 1

    4. Put the finely chopped onion into the olive oil in a large pan on a low-medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or so, until nicely soft.

    5. Then add the chicken and vindaloo paste and mix around on a medium heat until the chicken has become sealed.

    6. Add 2-4 cups of water and leave to simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is well-cooked and tender. Check every now and again and add a little bit more water if it looks like it may stick.

    CV 2

    7. In the meantime, cook the chips until golden brown in the deep-fat fryer.

    8. Serve with bottles of cobra beer.

    CV 4

  • Vegetarian dishes

    Hi.
    I'm new to tis group(just joined ) and was wondering does ayone have good vegetarian recipies?

    Thanks.

  • Penne in Red Wine and Red Pepper Sauce

    This is a little number I knocked up the night before last. Very simple.

    Ingredients:

    Penne pasta (about 150-200g)
    1 large sweet red pepper, sliced into thin strips
    Olive oil
    I onion, finely chopped
    1 clove of garlic, finely chopped/crushed
    200g chopped tomatoes (half  anormal 400g tin)
    Half a glass of red wine
    Generous teaspoon of basil
    Generous teaspoon of oregano (my favourite herb!)
    2 crushed dry bird eye chillies, or two fresh finely chopped bird eye chillies (optional)
    Salt and Pepper to taste

    How to:

    1. Warm up the oil on a medium heat and fry the chopped onion for about 5 minutes until a litlle translucent.

    RW Pasta 1

    2. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.

    3. Add the sliced red pepper and fry for another five minutes or so.

    RW Pasta 2

    4. Put the penne in a large pan of boiling water and simmer in the background.

    5. Add the tomatos, red wine, oergano, basil, and chillies (if adding) and stir well. Bring up to the boil - aim is to reduce the liquid to make a nice thcker sauce.

    RW Pasta 3RW Pasta 4

    6. Once the penne has cooked, add to the sauce, stir in well and serve!

    RW Pasta 5

  • Crab Stuffed Avocado

    crab

    Ingredients

    2 avocados
    1lb crab meat (canned or fresh) or cooked baby shrimp
    ½ c fat free Ranch dressing or fat free mayonnaise
    ½ c chopped red bell pepper
    ½ c chopped green onions
    ½ c chopped celery
    2 Tbsp lemon juice

    Optional:

    ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce - to taste
    ¼ tsp Hot sauce - to taste
    ¼ tsp Old Bay seasoning

    Directions

    Drain crab and place in a paper towel-lined bowl. Allow to stand for 15 minutes to remove excess moisture. Meanwhile, chop vegetables into small pieces (about ½") and mix with dressing, lemon juice and seasonings. Lightly toss crab into mixture.

    Wash avocados, slice in half, remove pit and fill with crab mixture. Serve on a lettuce leave with a crusty roll or crackers.

    Tip: If crab meat is a little too rich for your budget, try with imitation crab meat, or a mixture of real and imitation.

    Servings: 4
    Prep Time: 20-25 min

    Taken from here

    YUM!

  • Gil's Drunken Mexican Chicken

    Can't believe I haven't  blogged this yet - made this a few weeks ago and it was absolutely gorgeous. I strongly suggest you try it if you enjoy spicy food in any way.

    Ingredients:

    Mex Chick 1

    Olive oil
    knob of butter
    2 chicken breasts, chopped into cubes
    250ml dry white wine
    250ml pineapple juice
    bay leaf
    salt & pepper
    4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
    1 spanish onion, finely chopped
    2 cloves of garlic
    2 sweet red peppers, chopped
    a large chorizo sausage, sliced (I have only just discovered these - absolutely gorgeous!)
    Some jalapeno peppers (to taste!)
    12 baby potatoes

    How to:

    1. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces on a medium heat until browned.

    Mex Chick 2
    Mex Chick 3

    2. Transfer this to another larger dish and then pour in the wine and pineapple juice together and leave to simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes, also adding a bay leaf.

    Mex Chick 4

    3. In a food processor, mix together the tomatoes, chopped, onion, garlic, red peppers and process until its a smooth puree. Also start boiling up the baby potatoes in readiness for later.

    Mex Chick 5

    4. Skin and saute the sliced chorizo sausages in the original frying pan and then pad on some paper towels.

    Mex Chick 6Mex Chick 7

    5. Back in the frying pan, add the puree and stir around for around 5 minutes.

    6. Add the puree to the casserole with the wine, pineapple and chicken, and then also add the chorizo sausages as well.

    Mex Chick 8

    7. Add in the jalapeno peppers.

    Mex Chick 9

    8. Stir everything in well and leave to simmer for a bit longer, about 15 minutes

    Mex Chick 10

    9. You don't really need to serve this with anything as the potatoes are already in the dish!

    Mex Chick 11
    Mex Chick 12

  • Split Pea and Bacon Soup (with veggie option)

    Ingredients

    Half a beer mug of dried split peas (soaked over night top up the other half of the beer mug with water)
    1 chopped large onion
    Some chopped garlic (optional)
    Some chopped bacon (optional you can replace with smoked paprika if non- meat)
    A little (olive) oil
    2- 3 dried bay leaves
    2-3 dried red chilis
    2 teaspoons Paprika (use 3 teaspoons of smoked dried paprika/pimenton if you leave out the bacon )
    Glass infused white wine
    Half a teaspoon dried lime powder or a squeeze of lemon juice
    About a pint and a half of stock
    Fresh ground black pepper to taste

    Method

    Soak split peas over night as descibed and rinse well.
    Soak the dried bayleaves and dried chilis in the wine and bruise them a little with the back of a teaspoon
    Fry chopped bacon, garlic and onions till onions are clear
    Add paprika and fry for a minute or two
    Add the infused white wine and cook for a few minutes
    Add the lentils and some stock and boil hard for 10 minutes
    Add the lime powder
    Boil gently for another 40 minutes till the split peas are tender
    REMOVE the dried chilis and bayleaves
    Whizz the mixture in the pan till smoothish with some rough bits with a hand blender
    Grind a little pepper over the top.

    Enjoy with some nice freshly baked crusty bread.

    X

  • Pineapple Icebox Pie

    8 oz Cream Cheese
    1 can sweetened condensed milk
    Lemon Juice
    1 Can pineapple tidbits, drained
    Mini Marshmallows(the multi color kind)
    12 oz container cool whip

    Set out cream cheese to soften. When soft beat with sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add some lemon juice about quarter cup and beat again. Fold in drained pineapple and cool whip and then mini marshmallows.

    This made 2 pies with purchased graham cracker crusts. You could make a 9x13 pan of it if you make your own graham cracker crust. I was just too lazy.

    Chill for 2 hours or until set up and serve.

  • Leek and Parsley Bake

    Ah, there's nothing like a nice filling pasta dish. Can eat warm and heated up at work for lunch as I did this week - just slap it in the fridge.

    Ingredients:

    leek and parsley 1

    Olive oil
    300g macaroni
    2 leeks, chopped
    50g butter
    50g plain flour
    1 1/2 pints of milk
    half a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard (optional)
    250 g cheddar cheese
    2-3 slices of bread (to make into breadcrumbs)
    1 generous tablespoon of chopped parsley, dry or fresh
    salt and pepper
    25g extra cheese (grated) for the topping

    How to:

    1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree or Gas Mark 4. Then add the macaroni to a large pan of boiling water and the oil and a bit of salt.

    2. Chop the leeks and also add to a large pan of boiling water - then simmer for around 10 minutes to soften. I cut mine diagonal and then in half again to create nice ribbons.

    leek and parsley 2

    3. In the meantime, make the cheese sauce by bringing a hob to full power and melting the butter. Once this is melted, add the flour into the butter and mix well. Make sure you have a large pan for this as you will be adding 1 1/2 pints of milk to this in a mo!!

    leek and parsley 3

    4. Then add the milk (and the mustard if you are having it) and take back to the hob. Bring the sauce back to the boil, then immediately take off the heat. This will take a bit longer than you think - mine took about 10 minutes to get to this stage so you may want to think about this when timing everything.

    5. Add the cheese to the hot sauce slowly and stir well. Then drain the leeks and stir these in as well. Then add the parsely, salt and pepper to taste and mix everything together.

    leek and parsley 4

    6. Once the macaroni is cooked, drain this and add to the sauce as well.

    leek and parsley 5

    7. Move all the mixture to a large caaserole dish (it should fill it!) and cover over with the breadcrumbs. If you want to add more cheese on the top here (maybe a mozzarella or a double gloucester) then this would be very tasty. I was greedy and used all my cheese in the sauce so had none left

    leek and parsley 6

    8. Place in the central shelf of the oven uncovered for about 30-40 minutes until the breadcrumbs and cheese (if using) on top are nice and crispy and brown.

    leek and parsley 7

    9. Serve with a nice green salad.

    leek and parsley 8

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