Scotch Egg

Hot dogs and champagne, burgers and lobster and free range fried chicken. Yup, once thought dirty food has had a glamorous makeover. This little revival has been going on for a while now and the scotch egg has also been part of it. Farmers markets and and pubs love them and so do I. Especially with salad cream.

What you need

Sausage meat ( I used 5 free range sausages)
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Seasoning
Panko bread crumbs
5 eggs
Plain flour
1 tbsp milk

What you need to do

Put the eggs in a cold pan. Bring to the boil for 2 minutes then plunge into iced water. Peel carefully!

Remove the skins from the sausages then mix in the mustard, parsley and season. Split the mixture into 4 and then lightly flour the surface of some clingfilm. Put one portion of the sausage meat on the clingfilm and then cover with lightly floured cling film and roll out. Take the top layer of clingfilm off. Nestle an egg in and then, using the clingfilm, bring the sausage meat up around the egg. Twisting the clingfilm at the top you can now roll the clingfilm parcel between you hands to ensure a round shape. Repeat with the other 4 eggs and then chill for about 30 minutes.

Turn your oven on-200c. In the meantime, put some flour into a small bowl and season. Beat the remaining egg in a second bowl and add the milk. Put the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Dip the egg into the flour, egg then breadcrumbs. I doubled dipped again for a mega crunchy coating!

Heat up some oil in a frying pan (about 2cm deep) then fry till crispy and golden. Finish in the oven for roughly 10 minutes.

Not quite a runny yolk but delicious!

Chilli Pickle Canteen

India holds a very special place in my heart. I love how diverse it is: the people, the atmosphere, the feeling you have when your there and the food! So great and so cheap! The best samosa I've ever had was from a shack in a bustling street in Mumbai, simply proves that it proper bricks and mortar don't matter!

The food in India is nothing like the stuff you get in England but if you want a great, authentic curry in Brighton then you head to The Chilli Pickle on Jubilee Street. You can't miss it; its got a fricken huge cow by the entrance.
I have been to Chilli Pickle loads now and have pretty much loved everything I've eaten there (apart from a rather odd duck soup thing), I even spent my anniversary with The Boy there. So, when I saw that they had started a takeaway service I knew I had to try it.
We decided on the King Thali and got one spicy and one mild. Being a Tuesday it came really quickly and it was like Christmas. It arrived in a huge cardboard box and when opened had several little pots of loveliness. I was reeling a bit from how un-eco all the packaging was until I read on the little menu that you could recycle or compost everything bar the tinfoil; impressive!

Christmas!

Anyway The Boy and I ordered the Old Dehli chicken and the Tanjore mutton. They both came with (deep breath now) rice, pumpkin samosa, hara bara kebab, carrot thoran, yello dal, Rajathani millet and peas, plum chutney, mint chutney, garlic pickle, cumin raita, a roasted pappad, a phulka AND jaggery and date kheer. 

 Tanjore Mutton

The mutton was incredible  Lovely balance of flavours, incredibly tender meat and just the right amount of heat. The chicken was, again cooked perfectly. The sauce of the chicken was lush; tomatoey, creamy and buttery goodness. It was so exciting having all the little bits to go with it, like I said earlier, it was like opening a stocking at Christmas! The only thing I didn't like was the jaggery (an unrefined cane sugar) and date kheer; a type of rice pudding. When I was in India people kept trying to get me into the puddings. I didn't like them then. I still don't. Nothing personal just far too sweet.

I really recommend this if you like curry and, in fact if you don't like English curry (The Boy doesn't really like curry but loves The Chilli Pickle). And try the King Thali. As it was the first week we got 25% off so it was £22 pounds but for the amount you got I'd be more than happy to pay the full amount. The only thing I hope is that they change all the bits occasionally as I want to try more of the curries but would also like to try more bits!

Jamie's (or Daisy May's!) BBQ Ribs with Cowboy Beans

Oh. My. God! These were amazing! Good old Jamie Oliver (although I was at Gatwick at a ridiculous hour this morning and he has a cake stand in Departures, I think he is slowly taking over the world....). Get beef short ribs from your butcher, you won't regret it.

What you need

5 tbsp American yellow mustard
1 x 4-bone rack of beef

Rub

4 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp chilli powder

few grinds of pepper

1/2 tsp salt

olive oil

Marinade

4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp runny honey
a large knob of butter
1 beef stock cube
2 tbsp water

What you need to do

Preheat your oven to 130c. Rub the mustard all over the meat. Then mix the rub ingredients together and massage these into the ribs as well. Make sure you get into all those nooks and crannies! Wack them onto a backing tray, bone side down, and cook for 5 hours.

Just before the time is up put all the marinade ingredients into a pan and cook until combined. Make a tinfoil parcel and pour in most of your marinade. Put the ribs on top, meat side down, then pour the rest of the marinade in. and cook for another hour. Remove from the oven and pour off any marinade.juices. Cook for another 45 minutes to crisp up. When the time is up remove the meat to a board and rest for 10 minutes. Pour over the juices and serve!

Cowboy Beans

What you need

2 red onions

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tbsp chipotle chilli BBQ sauce (or just the chilli)

15 g butter

3 x tins of beans ( I used haricot)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

white wine vinegar

1 tbsp black treacle

4 rashers of smoked bacon

1 sprig of rosemary

 handful of Parmesan 

stale bread

What you need to do

Sweat the onions in a little oil with the paprika. Add the butter, chillies, tomatoes bay leaves and beans (along with the can juice). Give it a stir and then simmer for roughly an hour. Season with the vinegar and salt and pepper then stir through the treacle.

In a food processor whizz up the bread, rosemary, cheese and bacon. Sprinkle this over the beans then cook at 180 until crunchy!

I served this with the ribs, homemade slaw and a jacket potato, bloody lovely.

A Little Bit of Nigella

I LOVE Nigella! The Boy loves her too but for very different reasons. I really enjoyed her last series, Nigellissima, and her orzo recipe got my mouth watering. I chucked in some celery and mushrooms and replaced the water with chicken stock. This would feed four hungry people.

What you need

400g Orzo
8 rashers of good quality smoked bacon, diced
splash of vermouth/white wine (optional)
1 celery stick, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 liter of chicken stock (you might not need it all)
1 handful of peas
1 handful of mushrooms, sliced
Parmesan to taste
a knob of butter

What you need to do

Sweat the onions and celery until soft. Add the bacon then after a couple of minutes chuck in the mushrooms and cook till the bacon is crispy. If using add the alcohol and let it bubble then tip in the orzo and cover it with stock. Simmer for the time it says on the orzo packet (if it starts to look a bit dry add a little more stock but the finished result should be risotto consistency). In the last couple of minutes add the peas so they cook through.

Finish with a naughty knob of butter, seasoning and Parmesan to taste (I like loads, but i'm a pig with a future heart problem!)

Spiced Carrot and Butter Bean Soup

I've decided that my blog is going to be like a good old bus; you wait for one post then several come at once. I can't believe that some people blog everyday, maybe I should teach the kids in ICT and get a production line going!
So, winter has really hit. Gone are the mornings that I would spring out of bed as it was light and slightly warm. Common place now is grumbling furiously, sticking my toe out in the cold and then, when finally untangled from the duvet, fumbling around in the dark trying to get dressed whilst not waking The Boy, only then to get into school and have numerous kids tell me I have my clothes back to front and inside out. Winter is all about stodge. And soup. Here is a recipe for the latter.

What you need

5-6 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, squashed
1 tsp ground coriander
thumb piece of ginger, grated
1 tsp red chilli (fresh or dried)
Juice from 1 orange
1 tsp of sugar
1 litre (roughly) of stock
Juice from one orange
50 g creamed coconut
1 can of butterbeans
Small bunch of coriander, stems chopped, leaves reserved

What you need to do

Sweat the onions, garlic and coriander stalks until soft then add the ground coriander and fry for 1 minute. Next add the carrots, garlic, ginger and chilli, fry for a couple of minutes then add the orange juice, stock, sugar and creamed coconut.

Bring to the boil and then simmer until the veg are done. Add half a tin of butter beans and blend. Then add the rest of the tin alongside the coriander. Season to taste!

Foodie Penpal part 2

My foodie pen pal this month was the lovely Emily who runs a great Bristol based blog. I always get really excited when I receive my parcel (I mean, who doesn't love getting stuff in the post that isn't a bill!) and this month didn't disappoint. 

Bloody iphone. CANNOT turn this picture around!

I got some 

• Halloween cookies (The Boy polished off most of these, grrr)
• some Bombay mix 
• a jar of Barts jerk paste, I love anything spicy so can't wait to try this.
• raw beetroot 'crisps', I will be a glowing after eating these
• Pukka vanilla chai tea (this is not in the photo as it mysteriously disappeared after my birthday weekend!)

Thanks so much Emily, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed mine. xxxx

A Spanish Kitchen

I've been putting off writing this post because it just reminds me of how crap the English weather is and how much I love eating in the sunshine.

The Boy's grandad has a lovely place in Spain and we spent an amazing 2 week there this summer. Me, The Boy and lots of lovely food= perfect.

 Spanish Stew

 

 What you need

300g Pork belly

Chorizo (I used about half of a sausage!)

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

50 g tin of anchovies

1 red pepper

1 jar of haricot beans

2 tins of tomatoes

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp of sherry vinegar

1 handful of parsley

What you need to do

SO easy! Fry off the chorizo and remove. Fry the pork belly in the oil and remove. Saute the onions until soft. Chuck everything else in (apart from the parsley) with a good grinding of black pepper. Put in the oven (about 175c). Go and drink gin and tonics and play scrabble. Roughly 2 hours later (or indeed however long you want as long as the pork in lovely and tender) remove from oven and check the seasoning. Throw in the parsley

Serve with lots of crusty bread.

Gazpacho

 

This was lush. Really fresh and zingy. Even better the next day.

 

What you need

2 slices of stale bread
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 kg really ripe tomatoes (skinned)
1 green pepper (deseeded)
1 cucumber
1 onion
300mls of tomato juice
juice from 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper

What you need to do

 

Tear the bread up and mix with the garlic, vinegar and 4 tbsp of water. Leave to soak for roughly half and hour.

Then put the bread mixture, plus everything else into the blender. Blend to desired texture and add water to your preferred consistency. Season with sherry vinegar to taste.

Top with any or all of the following: hard boiled eggs, onion, tomato, croutons, green peppers and cucumber.

Seafood Pasta 

 

This dish is so quick once you've prepped everything so make sure you start frying the tomatoes and garlic roughly 5 minutes before the pasta is ready.

 What you need

 

3 cloves of garlic

2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

Couple of handfuls of clams

2 baby squid

Splash of white wine

12 prawns

2 big tbsp of creme fraiche

chilli

200g pasta

squeeze of lemon

parsley

What you need to do

Put the pasta on to boil.

Steam the clams in the wine until they have opened (throw any unopened ones in the bin). Strain the juice through a fine sieve save for later. 

Fry the garlic and tomato. Add the prawns and squid and cook until the prawns turn pink. Add the clams, their juice, chilli, peas and creme fraiche. 

Quickly drain the pasta (if you drain it quickly the pasta will retain some of the cooking water which adds to the sauce) and add to the fishy pan, give it a good season, sprinkle with parsley and a lovely squeeze of lemon.

As it was just the two of us and we were on holiday we ate it out of the saucepan with lots of wine. You can use a bowl if you want!

Did this a second time, check out the clams!?

Tapas, Duck Style

 

Tapas is amazing. Whenever The Boy and I go out we share whatever we have so we get to try as many things as possible. My life is one big tapas.

L-R Soda bread, crispy pork in tomato sauce, tomato and onion salad, calamari, fried iberico chorizo, prawns with garlic aioli, tortilla

 

Crispy Pork in Tomato Sauce

 

What you need

 

Pork belly strips (about 4)

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Splash of sherry and sherry vinegar

400 mls pasatta

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 anchovy

1 tbsp chopped parsley

 What you need to do

Season the pork belly and cook until crispy.

In a pan saute the garlic then add the sherry and vinegar, reduce. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. 

When the pork belly in ready, cut into pieces. Pour over the sauce.

Tortilla

 

What you need

 

2 potatoes, peeled and sliced

1 onion, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

6 eggs, beaten and seasoned

What you need to do

 

In a pan slowly cook the potatoes, garlic and onion until soft. Add the mixture to the eggs, stir, then return to the pan. Don't stir the mixture whilst it cooks, but shake the pan as it helps with the shape of the tortilla.

When the tortilla is beginning to look set on the top, invert a plate over the top and turn the tortilla out. Then carefully slide in back into the pan. Cook for a few more minutes. Turn onto a plate and serve lukewarm.

Went down well!

Arroz con Lagontinos y Almejas 

Known to us mere mortals as rice with prawns and clams!

What you need

350g of paella rice
2 large tomatoes, grated

2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
few strands of saffron, steeped in boiling water
6 slices of chorizo
1 small glass of white wine
1 litre of stock
handful of prawns
handful of clams
handful of peas
1 lemon

What you need to do 

 

Gently fry the tomatoes, pepper, chorizo and garlic. Add the rice and stir so all the grains are covered in the chorizo oil. Add the wine, saffron and stock. Leave simmering for roughly 20 minutes. Try not to stir it! When the rice is nearly done add the clams, peas and prawns. Cook for 2 minutes then remove from heat. Cover with tin foil and leave for 5 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of parsley and lemon wedges.

A few more foodie photos

Duck Pate

Prawns Pil Pil

Fillet with Prawns and Bearnaise Sauce

Duck with Calvados Sauce

Crispy Minted Lamb Chops

Butterflied Sardines a la Duck