Vietnamese style crispy pork and little gem salad

1tbsp sunflower oil
450g pork mince
2tsp freshly grated ginger
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 spring onions, trimmed
2tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2tsp soy sauce
2tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar
1tsp soft light brown sugar
3 limes
50g dry roasted peanuts, chopped
4 little gem lettuces
Fresh coriander sprigs, to serve

Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add half the pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy. Remove from the pan and put into a bowl or dish, then cook the remaining mince in the same way.
In another bowl, mix together the ginger, chili, and garlic. Finely slice the spring onions, and add to the bowl with the herbs. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and the juice of 1 lime. Give it a good mix, then pour the mixture over the crispy pork. Scatter the peanuts over the mince.
Cut the remaining limes into wedges, and separate the leaves of the lettuces.
Scoop some crispy mince onto each lettuce leaf, add a squeeze of lime and top with a sprig of coriander.


This type of salad became really popular a while ago. All of a sudden I was seeing them everywhere. They looked good, but I tended to avoid them, as I’ve never been a terribly fashionable person. Still, they looked so good that eventually I was worn down.

I decided to try this one from Ainsley Harriott's Feel-Good Cookbook , as his happened to be the one I was looking at when I made up my mind to take the plunge.

I’m really glad I did it. This was delicious! It was beautiful to look at, it was fast to make, and it was so tasty that I wanted to make it and eat again right away. The filling of the individual leaves was a bit fiddly, and I would think that if you were serving it casually, to the family, you could probably serve it in a bowl with the leaves on the side and let people do that part themselves. Either way, it will be a crowd pleaser.

Bread and Tomato Soup

Everyone who is growing tomato plants needs to have this recipe!



from Jamie’s Italy
500g/1lb2oz ripe cherry tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
a large bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stems chopped
olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2x400g good quality tins of tomatoes
500g/1lb2oz good quality bread, stale

Prick the cherry tomatoes, and toss with one sliced clove of garlic, and a quarter of the basil leaves. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, put in a roasting tray and bake at 180c/350f for 20 min.
In a large pot, heat the oil and add the remaining garlic, and the basil stalks. Stir for a minute till soft, add the tinned tomatoes, fill the tins with water and add that, break up the tomatoes with a spoon. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 min.
Tear the bread into thumb sized pieces, and add to the pot. Mix and season. Tear in the basil and sit over low heat for 10 min. Pour in the cherry tomatoes with all their liquid, and give it a good stir.

This is another recipe that I used to make all the time before the year long cooking challenge started. When I started making a new recipe every day, this one got left behind, so I thought I would revisit it, and see if it lived up to the memory after all the recipes that I have tried and all of the things that I have learned.

It did!

If you are growing your own tomatoes, then this has got to be the cheapest soup in the world to make, as all you’ll really need is some fresh basil, and some stale bread.

The texture of it is sort of thick and sticky like porridge, but also very silky and smooth at the same time. You could probably eat it with a fork it’s so thick, and the flavour is amazing. The fresh basil, and the fresh roasted tomatoes really make it taste summer-y, even though it is filling enough to be a winter dish (if you could get decent tomatoes in the winter).

The recipe is simple and fast too. One thing I noticed is that it may not need to go a full 10 minutes in that last step, you don’t want it to start burning on the bottom.
This one was as good if not better then I remembered. I am not going to lose sight of it again.

Chicken With Olives and Sage

I was thinking about how before I started the year long cooking challenge, I had a few favorite recipes that I made all the time. I wondered if I would still like them as much, now that I have so much more cooking experience. I looked through my old notes and picked a few to make and review this week.

The first was a super easy chicken recipe that was my husbands all time favorite. It’s Chicken with olives and sage from a book called Twelve. Nice book. It’s all Tuscan recipes laid out in the twelve months of the year so that you can cook with the things that are in season that month. Jamie Oliver did the same type of thing in his last book.

5tbsp olive oil
1 chicken (1.5kg) cut into 8 portions
200g black olives in olive oil (drained)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed with the flat of a knife blade
about 20 fresh sage leaves
125ml (1/2 cup) white wine


preheat to 200c (400f)
Heat the oil in a wide saucepan or casserole dish suitable for oven use.
Add the chicken and brown on all sides (should take 10-15 min). Season with salt and pepper on all sides. Add the olives, garlic cloves, and sage leaves and cook for a couple of minutes to blend the flavours.
Pour in the wine and transfer the dish to the hot oven. Cook for 30 – 40 min.

If you would like more sauce, remove the chicken, sage, olives and garlic to a plate, add 60ml (1/4 cup) water to the pan and put on the stovetop. Scrape up the bits with a wooden spoon mixing them into the sauce, let it bubble for half a min or so.

This recipe has to be one of the easiest in the whole world. It is simple in the best of ways it’s just a few ingredients that really compliment each other, so that with the smallest amount of effort, you have an amazing chicken dish. We liked it just as much as we used to.

I have a sage bush growing in the back yard, so fresh sage is not a problem, but when I used to make it (in our old flat), I used to use dried sage and it worked just as well. Back then I also didn’t have a pan that could go from the stove top to the oven, so I would brown the chicken in a pan, then just transfer it to a casserole before pouring over the wine. It added a touch of hassle, but worked just fine.

This recipe still rocks, I’m glad I found it again.

Prawn and Ginger Noodle Salad

Fine rice noodles 250g pack
Large prawns 250g peeled and cooked
1 small mango peeled and sliced
Light soy sauce 4 tbsp
Root Ginger 2 inch piece, finely grated
1 lime, juiced
coriander leaves, a large bunch, roughly chopped

Soak the noodles in boiling water for 6-7 minutes, until tender. Rinse under cold running water then drain and put into a bowl with the prawns and mango.
Whisk the soy sauce with the ginger, lime juice, and some black pepper and pour over the noodles. Scatter the coriander over and toss together.


So over the weekend I found myself looking for something that could be made in no time at all, and mostly out of things that I already had in the house, as I was really short on both time and money.

I found this in 101 Quick Fix Dishes.

It was perfect. Shrimp (prawns) have been on sale recently, which led to the discovery that both of the boys totally love them. My little one refers to them as “those pink-y, white-y things” and asks for them every time we go shopping.

This was everything I was looking for. It was tasty, it was one of the fastest dishes I’ve ever put together, we had most of the stuff in the house already, and as a bonus, everybody loved it.

Good stuff.

Cheese Straws

prebaked cheese straws

By Cookbad

I actually made the entire menu that went along with this, from Jan. 2008 Gourmet magazine, but these were the only part I got around to photographing.

The menu, which you can find here is ridiculously good and terrible for you. The fried chicken involves being fried in bacon fat (GENIUS!) and then is finished off with a bacon gravy and more just plain old bacon. I love a sentence that has bacon in it that many times.

I highly recommend the entire menu.

The cheese straws are wonderful because they take about 10 minutes to make and are very satisfying. If you skip or lower the amount of cayenne pepper kids love them.

They are also fun to make.

Here is the recipe:

CHEESE STRAWS
1/4 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt
Rounded 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Pulse cheese, flour, butter, salt, and cayenne in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and pulse until dough forms a ball.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12- by 10-inch rectangle (1/8 inch thick). Cut dough with a lightly floured pizza wheel or lightly floured sharp knife into 1/3-inch-wide strips. Carefully transfer to 2 ungreased baking sheets, arranging strips 1/4 inch apart. (If strips tear, pinch back together.)

Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until pale golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.

Pad Thai

225g wide dried rice noodles
450g raw prawns (I used tofu instead)
2tbsp ground nut oil
3tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
3tbsp finely sliced shallots
2 large fresh red or green Thai chilies, seeded and chopped
175g fresh beansprouts
2 eggs, beaten
1tbsp light soy sauce
1tbsp lime juice
2tbsp fish sauce
1tsp sugar
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Garnish:
1 lime, cut into wedges
3tbsp coarsely chopped fresh coriander
3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
3tbsp coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
1tsp dried chili flakes

Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of warm water for 20 min. Drain them in a colander or sieve.
Peel the prawns and discard the shells. Using a small sharp knife, remove the fine digestive cord. Wash the prawns in cold water with 1tbsp of salt, then rinse well and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat until it is hot. Add the oil, and when it is very hot and slightly smoking, add the prawns and stir fry for about 2 min. Remove the prawns with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reheat the wok, add the garlic, shallots, and chillies, and stir fry for 1 min, then add the noodles, and stir fry for another minute. Finally, add the bean sprouts, eggs, soy sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and pepper, and continue to stir fry for 3 min. Return the prawns to the wok, mix well and stir fry for 2 min.
Turn the mixture onto a warm platter. Garnish and serve at once.

This was from Ken Hom Cooks Thai. Ken Hom is a Thai cooking god. You should buy this book. I have made a ton of recipes from it, and the worst of them have been good, the best of them have been all time favorites that will blow your mind they are so good.

This one was fabulous. It was as good or better then what you would get at a Thai restaurant. I love this recipe.

I made a couple of changes. For one thing, I used the precooked noodles that are meant to go right into the wok. The only reason was because it was all I could find on short notice that had the right shape to it. You really do want flat noodles for this dish. I used more then the recipe said, because dried ones would have expanded, whereas mine were already cooked. I think I used almost twice the weight, and it made just enough to serve four.

The other change I made, was using Tofu instead of prawns. Partly because prawns are so expensive, partly because I was looking for a tofu recipe, and figured this one would convert well. It did.

I pressed the tofu first, which worked out really well. You just wrap it in a clean towel and put a baking sheet on top of it, and then weigh it down. I used four heavy cookbooks, and left it for a couple of hours (in the fridge). It gets rid of excess moisture, and gives the tofu a much nicer, more firm texture.

Because of the substitutions, I skipped the first couple of steps. I didn’t need to soak the noodles, or to precook the tofu, I just added it at the end, when you would have been adding the prawns back in.

I have to stress that this dish is all about the garnishes:



That is what makes it so super, crazy, unbelievable, over the top good. Also, it took about 10 min of chopping and measuring, and about 10 min of cooking. So if you make it this way, then in only 20 minutes time, you have a fabulous dinner, that is a little something different.

Beef and Broccoli noodles

225g wide dried rice noodles
450g Chinese or ordinary broccoli
450g lean beef steak
2tsp, plus 1tbsp light soy sauce
1tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1tsp sesame oil
1tsp cornflour
3tbsp groundnut oil
2 eggs, beaten
2tbsp fish sauce
1tsp sugar
1tsp chilli flakes or powder
3tbsp oyster sauce
Garnish:
1tbsp ground nut oil
3tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
3tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed
Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of warm water for 20 min. Drain them in a colander or sieve.
If you are using Chinese broccoli, cut into 1 inch pieces. If you are using ordinary broccoli, separate the florets and peel and thinly slice the stems on the diagonal. Blanch the broccoli in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3 min, then drain and plunge into cold water. Drain thoroughly.
Put the beef into the freezer compartment or the refrigerator for 20 min. This will allow the meat to harden a little for easy cutting. Then cut into thin slices 1.5 inches long. Put the beef slices into a bowl and add the 2 tsp soy sauce, the rice wine, sesame oil, and cornflour. Mix well and let marinate for 20 min.
Heat a wok or a large frying pan over high heat until it is hot. Add the groundnut oil, and when it is very hot and slightly smoking, add the beef and stir fry for about 2 min. Remove the meat and drain it in a stainless steel colander set inside a bowl, leaving about 1tbsp of oil in the wok.
Reheat the wok, add the noodles and the broccoli and stir fry for 2 min. Then add the eggs, the remaining soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and chili flakes, and continue to stir fry for 3 min. Then add the beef and oyster sauce, mix well and stir fry for 2 min more. Turn the mixture onto a warm platter, wipe the wok clean and reheat until hot. Add 1tbsp of oil and stir fry the garlic until golden brown. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle the garlic on top of the noodles together with the peanuts. Serve at once.

This is a Thai take on a classic Chinese dish from Ken Hom Cooks Thai.

I liked the trick about putting the meat in the freezer for 20 min. It worked like a charm, it was really easy to cut.

The marinade doesn’t have to work long, but it really does make a difference to the flavor of the meat. We don’t eat beef too terribly often, and all through dinner my youngest kept saying “I love the brown chicken, can I have more brown chicken please”. Needless to say, this was a big winner, clean plates all around.

All that and quick and easy to make. Thanks again Ken Hom!

Red wine and sour cherry pan sauce

1/3 cup finely diced red onion
¼ cup dry red wine
¼ cup chicken stock or water
1/3 cup dried sour cherries
one 2-inch strip of lemon zest
1 tsp packed light brown sugar
½ tsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
1tbsp butter, preferably unsalted, softened (optional)

After cooking steak, pork chops or chicken breasts, remove them to a platter and keep warm. Pour off all but 1tsp fat and heat over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until just starting to soften and brown.
Add the wine, bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen and dissolve any browned bits, and cook for 2-3 min.
Add stock, cherries, lemon zest, brown sugar, vinegar, and thyme. Cook stirring often over high heat until reduced by half and thickened, about 3 minutes. Discard the zest.
Season with salt and pepper, and swirl in the butter (if using).

This is just from plain old Joy of cooking. An underappreciated work horse of a book. I’d say that just about everybody that cooks in America has a copy of this book. I like to dip back into it from time to time.

I thought I’d try this one, because I made a balsamic and cherry dish before, and I wanted to know if a quick pan sauce would come out as well.

It was a really good sauce, and very easy. Just minutes from start to finish and you have a great way to make a boring old pork chop into a super fancy meal. It definitely gets points for that, and also for tasting so good.

It still didn’t move me the way the Chicken dish did, but it was a really wonderful sauce to have in you repetoire.

Spicy Thai Tuna Salad

450g tuna fillet
3tbsp fish sauce, or light soy sauce
3tbsp lime juice
1 ½ tbsp sugar
2tbsp groundnut oil
225g fresh tomatoes
6 spring onions
3 tbsp finely sliced shallots
2 small fresh red thai chillies, seeded if desired, Coarsely chopped
Handful fresh coriander leaves
Handful fresh thai or ordinary basil leaves

Cut the tuna into 1 inch pieces. Combine it with the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar and marinate for 1 hour. Drain the tuna from the marinade, and set the marinade aside.
Heat a wok or large frying pan, preferably non-stick, over high heat and when it is hot, add the oil. When the oil is slightly smoking, add the tuna and stir fry for about 1 min. The tuna should remain rare. Remove tuna to a warm platter.
Quickly pour off the excess oil from the wok, add the reserved marinade, and deglaze for 30 seconds over moderate heat. Pour this over the tuna and set aside.
Cut the tomatoes into slices. Cut the spring onions into thin diagonal slices. Add the tomatoes , spring onions, shallots, chilles, coriander and basil to the warm tuna, toss well and serve at once.

This is another from Ken Hom. He is a genius. I have made several of his recipes, and I have never been disappointed. This one is one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever made. I don’t buy tuna that often, because it is usually very expensive, but I found some that looked good, and was affordable so I couldn’t resist. It’s such a beautiful piece of fish.

Making this was a breeze. It has to marinate for an hour, but other then that it is so quick to make. The cooking literally takes a minute and a half.
This was so good my husband asked if we could just have it every day from now on. The combination of the fresh basil, and the fresh coriander with the lime juice and shallots is completely out of this world. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The flavor combination is very authentic, and so clean and refreshing. I loved this dish! If you ever come across some really nice fresh lovely tuna, try this, it’s the nicest thing that you could do for it.

Stuff dipped in chocolate

These were mostly just a spur of the moment idea. I had all this stuff in the fridge, so I just put it all together. You make a small slit in the top of the dried apricot, and stuff some marzipan in it, then just dip the apricot in some melted chocolate and lay it on parchment paper. I also dipped in a bunch of sections from a Clementine. Then put it in the fridge to harden the chocolate.

I melted the chocolate in the microwave by the way. It’s the easiest way to do it. 1 minute, then stir it up. It’s that easy.

The apricots weren’t really what I had hoped. They were tasty, but the flavor of the marzipan was lost. It was unnecessary. Really it was the Clementine pieces that won me over. They were just really simple, and totally perfect. The fresh juiciness of the orange, and the dark chocolate were a wonderful combination. I would definitely do that again.

Stollen Slice

25g mixed peel
50g pistachio nuts, chopped
50g dried cranberries
50g raisins
1tbsp brandy or rum
375g pack ready rolled puff pastry
225g marzipan

For the glaze:
4tbsp apricot jam
2tbsp brandy or rum

Preheat to 220
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Mix the peel, nuts, cranberries, raisins, and brandy or rum. Soak while you make the glaze. Gently heat the jam and brandy or rum in a small pan, then bubble for 1 min. Sieve into a bowl, cool.
Lay the pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Spread the fruits and nuts almost to the edges. Roll the marzipan into a long sausage. Lay it along the pastry’s length over the filling, 1 inch from 1 edge. Roll pastry around marzipan, join underneath.
Trim the ends, slice into 12. Lay the slices in a ring, slightly overlapping, on the baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 min until golden. Brush with glaze. Cut slices. Serve warm.

This was cool. It was like cake baking for people who don’t like baking cakes. It was that simple. Just spread out some toppings, and roll it up. It takes no time at all, and it comes out really well.

I found this in 101 Christmas Dishes.

This is a good recipe to have around, because it’s a lovely dessert cake, and it’s also nice to serve with coffee or tea. And like I said before, super easy, super fast and tasty. What more could you ask for?

Tagliatelle with smoked salmon

1tbsp vegetable oil
250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
375g dried or fresh tagliatelle
125g pack smoked salmon (trimmings are fine), chopped
3tbsp chopped fresh parsley
200ml carton half-fat crème fraiche
juice of ½ lemon

heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and cook for 8 min until beginning to brown.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
Stir the salmon, parsley, crème fraiche, and lemon juice into the mushrooms and season. Drain the pasta and quickly toss with the creamy sauce.

This is another fast easy wonderful thing to do with pasta. I got it from 101 Cheap Eats. I’m not sure on what planet Smoked salmon could be considered a cheap eat, but it does make a point of saying that you can use trimmings, which are usually a lot less expensive.

There’s not much to say about how to cook this, because it’s just so easy. It takes no time at all, and it’s really very good. It tastes a little alfredo-ish.

I’m making it again right away (I’ll make a cake as my new thing). My older son loved it so much he’s been begging me to cook it again. For a fussy four year old, that is better then the best review.

Give it a shot.

Blackened Pork chops with mango salsa

1tbsp chili powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
2tbsp olive oil
2 thick cut pork chops
1 large mango, diced
2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 halved
1 large tomato, diced
handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Rocket to serve

Mix the chili powder, salt and sugar with the olive oil, and rub on both sides of the chops.
Cook the pork chops for 2 min on each side on a griddle or in a frying pan, then turn down the heat, and cook about 5 minutes more, turning once. Griddle the lime halves till caramelized.
For the salsa, mix the mango, lime juice, tomato and coriander, and season with salt.
Serve with the griddled lime halves, some salsa, and rocket.

So easy and fast. It’s short on cooking time and prep time too. Ideal for last minute, or after work cooking.

I forgot to pick up a tomato, so instead of mango salsa, we really had herbed mango. Still the combination of coriander, lime, and mango, was nothing to scoff at. As a matter of fact, my youngest son had a whole bowl of it.

This was delicious. As always, I cannot resist good pork chops, or the lime and coriander combination, so this was perfect for me. I got it from 101 Global Dishes. I’ve been using these 101 books a lot. I just got a whole set of them, and they are cute and fun, and their recipes tend to be fairly simple, because they have to fit into that tiny little format. Some of them are better then others, but all in all I find them to be much better then I expected them to be.

This was definitely a winner.

Steak au poivre

1tbsp Black, mixed, or green peppercorns, crushed using a pestle and mortar
2 sirloin steaks, about 175g each, choose a steak with a nice marbling of fat through it
1tsp butter
2tbsp brandy
2tbsp red wine
2tbsp whipping cream

Press the crushed peppercorns into both sides of the steak, to coat it evenly.
Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat, and add the butter. When it is foaming, sprinkle the steaks with salt and put them in the pan. Cook for 2.5 minutes, then turn and cook for another 2.5 minutes on the other side for rare (add another minute each side for medium rare, 2 for medium).
Tip in the brandy, allowing it to bubble for a couple of minutes. Take out the steaks and rest on hot plates.
Add the wine to the pan, scraping to get up all the sticky, caramelized meat juices. Stir in the cream, bubble gently till thickened. If it separates and looks curdled, add a little bit of water and stir vigorously; it’ll come together nicely.
Serve the steaks on warm plates with the sauce spooned over and with chips on the side.

This was another from 101 Global Dishes. I have mixed feelings about this one. The sauce was lovely, but I felt that there was big flaw with the way it was written. It says “Cook for 2.5 minutes, then turn and cook for another 2.5 minutes on the other side for rare (add another minute each side for medium rare, 2 for medium).
Tip in the brandy, allowing it to bubble for a couple of minutes. Take out the steaks and rest on hot plates.”
I think that it meant to say that you should put the brandy in for the last couple of minutes of cooking, not cook then put in the brandy and cook for a few more minutes.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that, and my steaks were over cooked. I was hoping for rare, and there was no bit of pinkness anywhere in there.

That disappointed me really severely because we don’t buy good steaks like that very often, and to wind up eating it well done, was depressing.

Still, the sauce was good, and the coating was nice too. Enough pepper to give flavor and heat, but not crazy over the top (thought it looks like it would be).

I do recommend this recipe, as long as you heed my warning.

When it comes down to it, I think the real problem is that I’m not terribly good at cooking steaks. Sometimes it’s the simplest things, that can be real tough points. Don’t know why. I’m going to try again over the holiday. Wish me luck.

Spaghetti with Tomato and Brie

300g spaghetti
500g courgettes, halved lengthways
3tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
140g brie, diced

Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water according to packet directions. Meanwhile, slice the courgettes. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the courgettes and garlic for 3-4 minutes till softened.
Add the lemon zest , tomatoes and about 3tbsp of the pasta water (enough to make a sauce). Cook for a further 2-3 min until the tomatoes begin to soften. Remove from the heat and stir in the brie so it just starts to melt. Season and add lemon juice to taste.
Drain the spaghetti well and toss with the tomato mixture.

This came from 101 Cheap Eats.

This was another one of those super easy, quick spaghetti sauces I love so much. It did have a bit of chopping, but you could still, quite easily make the sauce in the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta.

This one was interesting to me because I had never thought of using Brie in a tomato sauce before. It was wonderful. I don’t know why I never thought of it, it’s such a brilliantly melt-y cheese.

I really like this a lot. The lemon perks it up without making it any less of a comfort food. I’m going to try it again in the summer when the good tomatoes come back, but even with winter tomatoes, it’s still worth making.

Stuffed Peppers with rice, pine nuts and dill

Olive oil, 2 tbsp plus extra for drizzling
1 Onion, finely chopped
4tbsp pine nuts
1tsp smoked paprika
1tsp ground cinnamon
125g cooked basmati rice
4tbsp fresh dill, chopped
100g feta, cubed
2 peppers orange, red or yellow, halved

Heat the oven to 180c
Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the onion over low heat till golden. Add the pine nuts and brown lightly. Stir in the spices and cook for a minute. Add the cooked rice and dill and stir together. Season well. Fold in the feta.
Put the peppers cut side up into a roasting tin. Divide the mixture among them and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Cover with foil and roast for 40 min until the peppers are tender, then remove the foil and cook for a further 5 min.

This came from 101 Global Dishes.

These were very nice. I have to admit that I usually wind up liking stuffed peppers more in theory then in actual practice, but these were really nice ones. They were incredibly easy and fast to make, and the dill and feta combination is always a winner. I don’t know if I would make them again, but that has more to do with my feelings about stuffed peppers, then my feelings about this recipe. It was good.

Chocolate Brownie Cake

100g butter
175g Caster Sugar
75g brown or light muscovado sugar
125g chocolate (dark or milk)
1tbsp golden syrup
2 large eggs, beaten
1tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
2tbsp cocoa powder
To serve:
Fresh fruit and double cream

Preheat to 180c. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Place the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, chocolate, and golden syrup in a pan, and melt gently over a low heat until smooth. Remove from the heat, add the eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and cocoa, and mix thoroughly.
Pour into the tin and bake for 25-30 min. Allow to cool in the tin for 10-15 min, then cut into wedges and serve warm with fresh cream.


This was from a little book called 101 Chocolate Treats.

I’m not sure I get the point of it being cake shaped and not brownie shaped, but I have to say these were dead easy, and really the perfect satisfying, fulfilling brownies. They were soft, and chewy at the ends, and a little squidgy in the middle (in that good way), and perfectly chocolate-y.

I’ve been wanting to try out a bunch of brownie recipes for awhile now, to find a good one. I don’t think I need to look further. This is just a melt and mix batter, which I have always found to be the easiest and most forgiving, and it uses real chocolate.

Make these next time you need some chocolate. You won’t be sorry.

Stilton squash risotto

1 tbsp vegetable oil
50g walnuts, roughly chopped
15g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp freshly chopped sage
400g arborio risotto rice
1 litre vegetable stock, boiling
225g winter squash, deseeded, peeled and roughly chopped
75g Blue Stilton cheese
4 sprigs fresh sage for garnish
Instructions
1 Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan, add half of the chopped walnuts and allow to brown. Spoon the nuts onto a plate and set aside.
2 Add the butter, onions and chopped sage to the pan and soften for 6-8 minutes.
3 Stir in the rice to absorb the cooking juices. Add the stock and the chopped squash, then simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
4 Switch off the heat, crumble in the Stilton, add the remaining chopped walnuts, cover and allow to finish cooking in its own heat for 5 minutes.
Serve each portion garnished with a sprig of fresh sage.

I got a coupon for a free block of stilton, so I set about finding something interesting to do with it. It turns out that stilton cheese has an official website, it’s http://www.stiltoncheese.com/.

An official web site for a cheese, fabulous. I found this recipe on it. It calls it’s self a risotto, though I know that any risotto maker worth their salt would scoff at adding all the stock at once like that. Still, if you just think of it as a rice dish, then it won’t offend anyone’s sensibilities. Also it made it super easy and quick to make, and it was very tasty. The combination of the walnuts, squash and strong blue cheese, was really surprising, and good.

Tagliatelle with peas and Parma Ham

600g Tagliatelle
200g fresh peas, podded weight
50ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 garlic clove, crushed
Handful of freshly chopped mint
Handful of freshly grated Parmesan
8 slices of parma ham or 200g soft goat’s milk cheese, crumbled
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to packet. Actually the recipe called for making your own, but I used store bought because I was in a hurry.

Bring a medium saucepan full of water to the boil. Add the peas and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and plunge into iced water. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a low heat and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add the drained peas, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Drain the pasta and add to the pea mixture. Toss well then season to taste and add the chopped mint and a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle in the parmesan, and drape over the parma ham or scatter with the goat’s cheese before serving.

This was from a book I just got called Angela Hartnett’s Cucina.

This was a really simple and lovely pasta dish. It was interesting to me because it used mint. I have not had a pasta dish that used mint before. I was wondering if it would be strangely like eating toothpaste, but it was not at all. The mint works beautifully with peas, and it winds up being a subtle background flavor. You don’t notice it right away, but then if you are told it’s there, it becomes obvious. This was Italian cooking at it’s best. Super simple, only a few ingredients, and only lightly cooked, but perfectly balanced, and ever so comforting.

This is a perfect dish if you’re in a hurry too, because you can make it in the time it takes to make the pasta. I am definitely going to try it again in the summer when the peas are fresh, I’m sure it will be at it’s best then.

Cucumber noodles

225g fresh or dried thin egg noodles
2tsp sesame oil
750g cucumbers
2tsp salt
2tbsp groundnut oil
1.5 tbsp finely chopped garlic
3tbsp finely chopped spring onion
2tsp chili bean sauce
1tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2tsp sugar
2tsp sesame oil

If you are using fresh noodles, blanch them first by boiling them for 3-5 min in a pot of boiling water. If you are using dried noodles, cook them in boiling water for 4-5 min. Plunge the noodles into cold water, drain them thoroughly, toss them in sesame oil and put them aside till you are ready to use them. They can be kept in this state, if tightly covered in cling film, for up to 2 hours in the fridge.

Peel the cucumbers, slice them in half lengthways, and using a teaspoon, remove the seeds. Then cut the cucumber halves into 7.5cmx3mm (3x1/8inch) shreds. Sprinkle them with salt and mix well. Put the mixture in a colander and let it sit for 20 min to drain. This rids the cucumber of any excess liquid. When the cucumber shreds have drained, rinse them in water and then squeeze any excess moisture from them in a linen tea towel. Set aside.
Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high heat till hot. Add the oil and when it is very hot and slightly smoking , add the garlic, spring onions, and cucumbers and stir fry for about 30 seconds, then add the noodles, chili bean sauce, salt pepper and sugar, an stir for another 30 seconds until they are well coated in the spices and flavorings. Continue to stir fry over high heat for 3-4 min until most of the water has evaporated and the cucumbers are cooked. At this point add the sesame oil, transfer to a warm platter and serve immediately.

I have to admit, this is a bit of a cheat. I forgot when I was about to make this, that you needed Chili bean sauce, which you would need to go to an actual East Asian grocery to get. It said in the book (Ken Hom) not to use the sweet chilli dipping sauce that you can get anywhere, because it is not the right flavor (the sweetness is wrong). Still, it was almost dinner time, and I had everything else I needed, and I’d never cooked with cucumbers before, so I decided to give it a go anyway. I used Oyster Sauce instead of the chili bean sauce. I know that’s probably horribly wrong, but it came out really nicely.

Turns out I like cooked cucumbers. They taste very sweet, and have that semi-crunchy-ish, but still soft-ish consistency that they have as pickles.

I know this is not what this dish was supposed to be, but it was very good, and I am going to seek out the chili bean sauce, so I can try it again properly.