Thai Style Prawn Porridge

Thai Style Prawn Porridge

This is a bit of a thrown together dish but dead tasty. Not authentic Thai, more inspired by Thai flavours.

Ingredients

300g King prawns (shelled and pre cooked)
2 bok choi, roughly chopped
a sliced red pepper
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1cm root ginger (sliced finely)
small piece of dried galangal
a birds eye chillie
one tin of coconut milk
150g cous-cous
Chopped corriander

Method

Heat some groundnut oil in a frying pan and add the garlic, ginger, galangal and chillie for one minute. Keep the chillie whole rather than chopped.
Add the pepper and bok choi for a further minute then add the tin of coconut milk.
After 3 minutes add the cous-cous - this is definitely not Thai style but makes the porridge texture.
After five minutes add the prawns then serve and sprinkle with chopped corriander.

Fish Florentine

Fish Florentine

This is rich and calorie packed but dead tasty as a treat.

Ingredients

2 haddock fillets (skinned and boned)
150ml dry white wine
good handful of spinach
50 grammes butter
plain flour
150ml milk
75ml double cream
100 grammes grated mature cheddar cheese
110 grammes dried bread crumbs
dash of mace

Method

Poach the fish fillets in the wine for about 10 minutes. Remove from the poaching liquid and flake the fillets.
Make a sauce by melting the butter in a sauce pan and adding the flour.
Cook for 30 seconds and then start gradually adding the milk and stirring with a wooden spoon.
When the sauce boils and thickens remove from the heat and stir in the cream and half the cheese.
Stir until the cheese is absorbed then add the fish and the mace.
Steam the spinach for 5 minutes (so that it keeps some shape rather than going to a pulp).
Layer in ramekins spinach, fish, then spinach. Top with breadcrumbs and then more grated cheese.

I served with French beans and mashed potatoes.

Chicken Liver Spaghetti

Chicken Liver Spaghetti

This is quick and dead tasty

Ingredients

300g Chicken Livers (trimmed of sinew etc.)
plain flour (to dust the chicken livers in)
A finely chopped red onion
2 cloves of crushed garlic
Slug of brandy
150ml Double Cream
50 grammes Grated parmesan cheese
chopped parsley
wholemeal spaghetti

Method

Get the pasta on the go first
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan add the onion and then the crushed garlic. Fry for 1 minute.
Dust the chicken livers in flour and add a few at a time to the frying pan.
After 5 minutes flambee by adding the brandy and then lighting the liquor.
Take off the heat and add the double cream and then throw in the parmesan cheese.
Stir in the chopped parsley and then mix with the spaghetti.

Chorizo Roast Chicken

Chorizo Roast Chicken

A roast Chicken is a great meal. If you are sensible enough you can get 3 meals for 2 from a medium size bird. Recently in the British media there has been a big push to promote the use of organically reared birds rather than use of battery chickens. Personally I support this movement, the taste is superior and it is a better life for the bird.

This recipe uses a trick that I often use to add flavour and keep the breast moist. I insert the sliced chorizo between the skin and the breast. The fats from the chorizo baste the breast and the paprika-y spicey flavour permeates into the meat.

Ingredients

One organic chicken
8 slices of chorizo sausage
6 small dried red chillies
salt & pepper
olive oil

Method

Insert the chorizo slices under the skin of the chicken.
Drizzle the bird with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Scatter the dried chillies over the bird.
Cover with foil and roast in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for about an hour and a half. For the last half hour remove the foil so that the skin crisps. Check the bird is cooked by making sure the juices run clear.

Serve with whatever you like. Either traditional Sunday roast style (roast potatoes and a couple of veg)or perhaps with some rice and roasted peppers.

Italian Style Salmon and Cannellini Beans

Italian Style Salmon and Cannellini Beans

This is a fantastic, healthy dinner which goes marvelously with a glass of sauvignon blanc.

It is really easy to pull together and is a nice taste to zing up winter.

Ingredients

fish
300g salmon fillet
salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon

beans
tin of Cannellini Beans
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 cloves of garlic
100ml water
juices of half a lemon
olive oil
chopped parsley
3 chopped spring onions

tomatoes
200g cherry tomatoes
a finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
12 torn basil leaves
salt, pepper
olive oil


Method

Start by putting the beans, rosemary and whole, peeled cloves of garlic and water in a saucepan and very gently heat until just starting to reach a boil then remove from the heat. The purpose of this is to infuse the flavors.

For the cherry tomatoes, cut them in half and place in a bowl with the shallot (finely chopped). Add the red wine vinegar and a glug of olive oil and stir and let stand whilst you prepare the rest of the meal.

Skin the salmon, cut into healthy size chunks (about the width of 2 fingers), season with salt and paper and coat in olive oil and place in a searing hot pan until just cooked through, squeeze over the lemon juice 30 seconds before removing from the pan.

Whilst the salmon is cooking drain the beans and remove the garlic cloves and sprigs of rosemary. Discard the sprigs of rosemary (don't worry if a few leaves stay with the beans) and mash the garlic in the lemon juice. Add the chopped parsley and spring onion to the beans and lemon juice and garlic. Mix well with a glug of olive oil.

Just before serving, season the tomatoes with salt and vinegar then add the ripped basil leaves mix well with a little more olive oil.

Serve and enjoy.

Salmon Fishcakes

Salmon Fishcakes

Ingredients

600g skinned and boned salmon
generous handful of coriander
100ml goats milk
good knob of goats butter
salt and pepper
2 tsp chillie chutney (see previous post)
egg
flour
dried breadcrumbs
500g mashed potatoes (I used King Edwards)
sunflower oil

Method

Poach the salmon in the milk with the stems of the coriander and some salt and pepper for 10 mins. Set aside to cool and flake.

Boil the potatoes and then mash in a little of the poaching milk and a good knob of goats butter. Let cool

Chop the coriander leaves and mix with the mashed potato, flaked salmon and chillie chutney.

Shape into patties using a small fist of the fishcake mix.

Cool in the fridge for an hour then dip in the beaten egg, then the flour and then the dried bread.crumbs. Shallow fry in sunflower oil. Dry on kitchen towel and serve.

I served with grilled peppers in olive oil and garlic.

Turkey Chillie

Turkey Chillie

Ingredients

500g minced turkey
3 carrots
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
tin of chopped tomatoes
glass of red wine
200ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
tin of kidney beans

2 tsp Chilli Chutney

Chilli Chutney

Ingredients

20 birds eye chillies
2 inches of root ginger
4 cloves of garlic
100ml red wine vinegar
50g brown sugar
100ml water
packet of gelatine

Method

for the chilli chop the onion and fry in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the minced turkey and brown. Add the peppers and fry for 3 minutes. Add all the tomato puree stir for 30 seconds and then add the wet ingredients (tomatoes, wine and stock) and the carrots. Simmer for 15 minutes. Just before serving add the kidney beans and the chilli chutney.

Serve with brown rice

To make the chilli chutney

in a food processor chop the chillis - a mix of red and green is what I used (less the stalks), the ginger and the garlic.

In a pan make a syrup with the water and sugar then add the chopped chillies, garlic and ginger. then add the red wine vinegar and reduce down. add the gelatine (as per packet instructions - some require mixing in cold water) and let cool. Jar and put in the fridge.

This is really versatile and can be used in sauces, on sandwiches and the fishcakes (in the next recipe). It is really firey hot but you can modify the heat with the ingredients. The recipe above made 2 jars.