DHAL TARKA WITH TEN MINUTE SPELT FLAT BREADS

This is one of my favourite Sunday family Indian cooking comforting food dishes, a protein packed nutrious gorgeous comforting bowl of love, I can eat way to much of this if left alone!  This is one of those dishes that is great when just made and just as great cold the next morning straight from the fridge scouped up with flat breads, if I know there is dhal leftover in the fridge when I go to bed I will often find myself at 3 am walking to the fridge for a sneaky few spoon fulls (Sooo good) and then as soon as I wake up it is one of the first things on my mind for breakfast with a poached egg.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 40 minutes

LEVEL:  Super easy

Ingredients

(Serves 4-6)

Tarka Dhal

1 large mug of red lentils soaked

1 tbsp ghee

1 large onion finely chopped

8 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp garam masala

4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

4 tbsp coriander stalks chopped optional

1 tsp sea salt

Ten Minute Flat Breads

500g whole meal spelt flour

50g olive oil

10g sea salt

320g water

Heat the ghee in a sauce pan to a medium heat and gently fry the onion and garlic for around 5 minutes, remove half from the pan and leave to one side for later.  Drain the lentils and rinse then add to the softened onions and garlic along with 3 mugs of water and the coriander stalks if using.  Bring to a low simmer and pop on a lid and leave to gently cook for around 30 minutes, when the lentils have broken down and are all pulpy cook on until you have the desired thickness you like, I like mine fairly thick where others like their dhal a little looser.  

Add the turmeric, garam masala, sea salt and stir in, taste and check for seasoning then top with the reserved pan seared onion and garlic and fresh chopped coriander leaves, that's it your good to go.

Flat Breads

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl or a mixer with a dough hook and mix together until a smooth dough has formed around 3-5 minutes.  Divide in to 8-10 balls, roll out each ball to around 6" in diameter.  To cook heat a skillet to a medium high heat, place the flat bread on the skillet and cook for around 1 minute on each side, wrap in a tea towel to keep warm while you cook the rest.  Serve family style and enjoy.

BIG GIRLS DIET CRISPY GINGER HERBY CHICKEN

A fabulous twist on the sumptuous gorgeous Japanese deep fried chicken dish Tori Kara Age, chicken marinated with soy, sake, ginger and palm sugar, fried in a fresh oregano and thyme thin light tempura style batter.  Well not to far of a twist just whats at hand in my larder, I am out of sake and soy sauce, but I do have organic soya sauce and some left over Christmas Tio Pepe sherry that will substitute the sake, I always have ginger and a block of palm sugar in stock and with the lack of fresh herbs from the garden I can just about manage a teaspoons worth of fresh thyme leaves from a desperate thyme plant and I can also turn to the dried bundles of marjoram and oregano hanging in the kitchen to give this dish a twist...Some how I feel a little apothecary coming all over me...

Prep time 10 minutes / Marinate time 1-6 hrs / Cooking time 10 minutes

This is one of the best chicken dishes you could ever eat...Marinated chicken thighs in a soy, (today for me organic soya), Tio Pepe (should be Sake) with a dash of sugar and grated ginger, then tossed in a corn and egg herb thin batter that gives a partial thin crispy yet chewy herby coating that is just divine and very moorish, so make plenty.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

The Marinade

600g approx boneless chicken thigh meat diced 1" chunks

100ml soy or soya sauce

2 tsp sugar

2" ginger grated

10ml sake or tio pepe sherry

Crispy Chicken

1 egg beaten

4 tbsp cornflour

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried red chillies

1 ltrs ground nut oil for frying

1 lime cut in half

Dipping Sauce

75ml soy or soya sauce

1 tbsp mirin

2 tsp brown rice vinegar

1 pea size of wasabi paste

1 drop sesame oil

1 small red chilli sliced

Place all the marinating ingredients except the chicken in a saucepan and bring to just a simmer until the sugar has dissolved, take off the heat and leave to cool.  Once cool add to the chicken, mix well and place in the fridge for at least on hour and if you can and even longer up to 24hrs is brilliant.

Make the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients together, taste and you can adjust the sweet and sour flavour with the level of mirin (sweet) and brown rice vinegar (sour) if you find the soy sauce too salty.

Place the oil in a deep skillet pan and bring up to a medium hot heat around 180 C / 360 F.  In a large bowl place the beaten egg and whisk in the cornflour to a smooth batter, add the the dried herbs and chillies, then toss the chicken into the thin batter, drop the chicken into your hot oil and fry in batches for around 3-4 minutes until golden in colour, remove from the oil and leave to drain on paper towel or on home made reusable un paper cloth towels I have made...long story...(another blog to come!)...ie use a tea towel !  Squeeze the lime halves over the rested chicken and serve...

Straight away hot and gorgeously crispy juicy and a little bit chewy fragrant chicken with that thin herb batter, along with the wasabi sesame dip.  This would equally go great chopped and tossed over some basmati rice, or stuffed in soft flour tacos, but for my family it is all about the chicken...

BIG GIRLS DIET CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

WINNER WINNER DINNER

This is super fast, super fresh and a really good for you version with honest natural ingredients that your families health will love you back for, it feels like a naughty indulgent meal but it really is not.  Serve with fluffy rice and a fresh full fat plain yogurt.

Prep time 5 minutes / Marinating time 1hr-24hrs / Cooking time 20 minutes

I know this looks like a lot of ingredients and work BUT it really is NOT, a lot of the ingredients are in both the marinade and sauce so time halved there and the dish really does come together very fast so this with a cooking time zone in mind can be on the table within 20 minutes, minus the marinating part.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Marinade

6 chicken breasts 1" chunks

1 green or red pepper in 1" squares

1 onion chopped 1" squares

(2 skewers per person)

3 preserved lemons crushed

2 tbsp course grated ginger

2 cloves garlic grated

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 red chilli finely diced

1 tbsp dried red chillies 

8 tbsp generous full fat yogurt

1 glug olive oil

1 large coffee mug rice rinsed

2 large coffee mugs water

Masala Sauce

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large onion finely chopped

3 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp sweet paprika

4 tbsp ground almonds toasted

2 cans organic coconut milk

2 cans whole plum tomatoes

1 flat tsp sea salt

1/2 bunch coriander leaves and stalks separately chopped

4 tbsp full fat organic yogurt

2 fresh red chillies finely sliced

First in a dry frying pan place the turmeric, paprika, cumin, coriander seeds and cloves and gentle heat for one minute, remove from the pan and place in a large bowl along with the fresh and dried chillies, yogurt, crushed lemons, garlic, ginger and chicken, mix well coating all the chicken, pop in the fridge for at least one hour to marinate, I often do this the day before one for a better flavour in the chicken as the longer you marinated the better but also it makes for a speedy supper the next day.

Meanwhile make the masala.  Place the coconut oil in a skillet or frying pan, add the onion and garlic and gently soften for around 5 minutes.  Add the coriander stalks, ground coriander seeds, turmeric, paprika and toasted ground almonds and cook for a further minute, add the tomatoes and cook out for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer, take off the heat taste and season with sea salt.

Take the marinated chicken and pierce on to your wooden skewers alternatively with a square of green or red pepper and onion, repeat until you have 8 skewers.  Drizzle the skewers with a glug of olive oil.

At this point put your rice on to cook, place the rinsed rice in your saucepan along with the water, do not stir, pop on the lid and bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer for 8 minutes, do not take the lid off at any point.  When the time is up just take the rice off the heat and leave untouched for a further 5 minutes while it finishes cooking and your chicken is just finishing.

Heat a griddle medium hot and place the skewers on and leave to char up slightly, cook each side for around 3-4 minutes, then take off the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes while you bring the masala sauce back up to a simmer.

Serve the skewers on a generous bed of masala sauce with a side of rice and drizzle over a generous spoonful of yogurt, sprinkling of fresh coriander and fresh red chillies.

RED THAI PRAWN CURRY

Fresh vibrant aromatic and zingy this is a feel good curry that will leave your taste buds dancing long after you have finished eating, the wonderful fragrant flavours from the lemongrass, ginger and galangal are toned down with the rich creamy coconut and then lifted to a level of freshness with the finishing touches of the lime juice and fresh coriander, in all a brilliant Thai curry.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 10-15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 3-4)

30 fresh shell and head on cold water prawns

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 shallot finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 small bunch fresh coriander chopped stalks too

2 red chillies finely chopped (optional)

2 cans organic coconut milk

1 lime juiced

(recipe to make your own below)

4 tbsp red Thai curry paste

(recipe below to make your own)

Serve with perfect basmati rice.

1 large coffee mug of basmati rice

2 large coffee mugs

Perfect Rice Method

Put your rice on to cook first.

Rinse your rice in a sieve and place in your saucepan with lid, add the 2 mugs of water, do not stir the rice, place the lid on and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for 8 minutes, at this point take off the heat and leave to one side, under no circumstances take of the lid or touch the rice.  Your rice will be ready to serve in 5 minutes but can sit there as long as 10 minutes.

The Thai Curry

First take the heads and shells off the prawns and place in a saucepan with around 400ml water, bring to a simmer and reduce by half, strain off the cooked shells keeping all the juice, this is your prawn stock, keep to one side and discard the prawn shells, (I mince the shells for my dogs they love them).

De-vein the prawns by running a knife along the black line of intestinal tract you can see on the inside curve of the prawn, scrape this out and discard.

Heat your skillet to a medium hot add the coconut oil then the shallot and garlic and gently soften for a couple of minutes, next add your red Thai curry paste and the chopped coriander stalks and cook out for a further couple of minutes, when the paste is starting to catch a little add the prawn stock and stir in well, next add the prawns and half way through being cooked add the coconut milk bring to a simmer and finish cooking the prawns, squeeze in the lime juice and take off the heat, as you do not want to over cook the prawns, stir in the coriander and serve with your perfect rice.

MAKE YOUR OWN RED THAI CURRY PASTE

I cannot shout out enough how fragrant and gorgeous this is, I made a small mason jar's worth that would have kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks, had we not eaten it all within the week!

Ingredients

(makes 4 tablespoons worth)

3 tbsp whole white peppercorns

1 flat tsp cumin seeds ground

1 flat tsp coriander seeds ground

8 dried medium hot chillies

(soaked in warm water)

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 cloves garlic

1 shallot finely diced

1 tbsp finely chopped bashed lemongrass stalk

2 tbsp coriander stems finely chopped

1 tbsp minced galangal

1 kaffir lime zested

This is the fun part, you can skip this and blitz all the ingredients up in a blender, but I urge you not to, it changes the flavour of the paste and is not as fragrant.  Place all the dry ingredients in your pestle and mortar and grind to a powder then add the rest of the ingredients and pound away until you have a lovely smooth ish paste, this took my husband (I borrowed his muscles!) around 10 minutes.

Place in a air tight jar and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or until needed.  Most recipes for four servings require 2-4 tablespoons of the paste according to your taste.

MAKE YOUR OWN COCONUT MILK

  

     

There is a simple effective method to opening a coconut in one hit that breaks the coconut in half, over a bowl take a bolster, not a club hammer like in my photo!  My husband hit this coconut several times and not a dent or crack did it make, a quick google and a bolster tool and hey presto successful full split all the way round in the first whack!

Take your coconut and locate the three eyes in a shape of a triangle on the end, hold the coconut with the one eye point of the triangle facing up, this is the side you are going to whack as it is the weak side of the shell, with a bolster or large (machette) style knife give one solid confidante whack holding the coconut over a bowl, a crack will appear all the way around the coconut, job done!  Pull apart and let the liquid pour off into the bowl, to remove the coconut flesh from the shell you can do this one of two ways, either slide a knife between the shell and flesh and prize off or whack the outer shell cracking and peeling off.  

Either finely grate by hand or blitz in a blender all the coconut flesh, I blended my coconut for quickness and ease.

Add twice the amount of just boiled water to the coconut and blend for around two to three minutes until you have a creamy coconut milk.

Take a bowl and place a muslin over the bowl, pour your blended coconut mix into the muslin and strain into the bowl, then gather up the muslin cloth and squeeze out all the liquid.

This is your first pressing and the top of this milk with set with the coconut cream.  Repeat the process again and you will make coconut milk again but a little thinner on consistency and flavour.  Keep the now soft coconut flesh and use in cakes, soups and stir fry's.

My geeky food science bit...

Coconuts are rich in fibre, Vitamin C, E,, B1, B5, B6,, iron, selenium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous.  Extremely healthy MFCA and lauric acid easily digested and almost immediately broken down in your saliva and gastric juices.  This means pancreatic fat digesting enzymes are not essential which puts less strain on your liver allowing it to work more efficiently.  Anti viral, anti bacterial, protects body form infections and viruses.  Regulates thyroid function and is highly nutritious.

THAI LEMONGRASS SWEET POTATO CRAB CAKE

These are the Best Crab Cakes EVER!!!  Bursting full of fresh vibrant zingy flavours that have you going back for just another bite, then again and again!  My gorgeous son Oscar (Oscars Awesome Recipes blogspot) created this recipe and it is a firm winner dinner now in our home, served on a bed of herby coriander green salad with homemade lemon and dill mayonnaise.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 20 minutes / Total time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 4-6)

300g white crab meat

1 tsp olive oil and butter

1 shallot finely diced

1 clove garlic finely diced

1/2 stalk lemongrass finely chopped

1 red chilli finely diced

1 tbsp fresh dill chopped

2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 beaten egg

1/2 tsp sea salt and black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 lime zested

1 lemon juiced

2 large white potatoes peel diced for mash

1 large sweet potato peeled diced for mash

1 glug olive oil

20g butter

4 portions herby coriander leafy green salad to serve

Lemon  Dill Mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

300-500ml cold pressed olive oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 juice lemon

1 good pinch sea salt

1 diced cornichon

1 tbsp fresh dill chopped

To Make Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is really quick and simple to make this will on take you a couple of minutes to do by hand, in a large bowl place the egg yolks and white wine vinegar, take your whisk and the olive oil and start to add a drop at a time whisking in all the time, keep going and once you can see the emulsification change in the egg yolk you can add the oil in much larger quantities whisking all the time, stop adding oil when you have a lovely glossy thick mayonnaise.  Season with the Dijon, sea salt, dill and cornichon, stir in and taste, adjust seasoning if needed to your tastes by adding more lemon or mustard or salt etc.  Will keep for up to a week in a air tight jar in the fridge.

First ...

Bring a pan of water up to a rolling simmer, season with some salt and then add all the potatoes and boil until fork tender, drain, mash and season with a little sea salt and white pepper, leave to one side.

While the potatoes are cooking...

Heat your skillet to a medium hot heat and add the tsp of olive oil and tsp of butter then add the shallot and garlic, fry for 5 minutes just softening,  take off the heat and place in a large bowl, next add your crab meat, lemongrass, chilli, dill, coriander, breadcrumbs, lime zest, half the lemon juice, egg, salt and black pepper and combine.  

Once your mashed potatoes are ready add to the mix and combine well, you want the mixture to be fairly soft and tacky.

Form in to cakes, the size is entirely up to you, I like one large one as a serving but you could do two or three smaller crab cakes per portion.

Cooking The Crab Cakes

Heat a skillet to medium hot add the butter and olive oil and then the crab cakes, cook for approx 3-4 minutes on each side so that they are nice and hot and golden brown on each side.  That's it...

Serve on a bed of herby coriander salad with your homemade lemon and dill mayonnaise.

RED THAI CURRY PASTE

BRILLIANT RECIPE

I just love making all my families food from scratch as much as possible and this last year has been a learning journey to remove that last little bit of convenience!!!  I know how much easier it is when cooking family dinners to reach for a jar of paste but being a family that grows and raises all our own food I secretly knew I was cheating, there are a few ingredients that I do not and will not make and on a balance I am happy with that, ingredients like coconut oil or cold pressed olive oil, soy sauce, marmite and spelt or 00 Italian flour!  I leave that to the artisans, but a jar of tom yum or red Thai curry paste, tamarind pulp, tahini paste and peanut butter is something I can and should do.

I WILL NEVER GO BACK

I will never go back, this is such a fragrant paste that I cannot believe my taste buds ever allowed me to accept the jarred version now I have tried this.  I know, I know it is obvious...I was just being convenient...

Prep Time 10 minutes / Pounding Time 10 minutes

I cannot shout out enough how fragrant and gorgeous this is, I made a small mason jar's worth that would have kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks, had we not eaten it all within the week!

Ingredients

(makes 4 tablespoons worth)

3 tbsp whole white peppercorns

1 flat tsp cumin seeds ground

1 flat tsp coriander seeds ground

8 dried medium hot chillies

(soaked in warm water)

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 cloves garlic

1 shallot finely diced

1 tbsp finely chopped bashed lemongrass stalk

2 tbsp coriander stems finely chopped

1 tbsp minced galangal

1 kaffir lime zested

This is the fun part, you can skip this and blitz all the ingredients up in a blender, but I urge you not to, it changes the flavour of the paste and is not as fragrant.  Place all the dry ingredients in your pestle and mortar and grind to a powder then add the rest of the ingredients and pound away until you have a lovely smooth ish paste, this took my husband (I borrowed his muscles!) around 10 minutes.

Place in a air tight jar and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or until needed.  Most recipes for four servings require 2-4 tablespoons of the paste according to your taste.

THAI PRAWN RED CURRY

Ingredients

(serves 2)

20 fresh raw cold water prawns shell on/off

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion finely diced

1 clove garlic finely diced

1 small bunch fresh coriander, stalks too chopped

1 can organic coconut milk

2 tbsp red Thai curry paste

Serve with cooked basmati rice

Peel the fresh water prawns and place the heads and shells in a pan, cook for a couple of minutes until all pink, add 300ml of water and simmer until reduced by half, strain through a sieve pushing all the juices out of the shells and reserve to one side as your prawn stock.

Heat your saucepan medium hot and add the coconut oil, onion and garlic and gently soften for a couple of minutes, next add the red Thai curry paste and cook out for a couple more minutes until the paste starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the prawn stock and de-glaze the pan, bring to a simmer, add the prawns and cook half way through, add the coconut milk and bring back to a simmer to finish cooking the prawns, finish with the fresh coriander and serve with some light fragrant basmati rice.

COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY STUFFED CHICORY LEAVES

Low Carb Eating

WoW loving these flavour packed little beauties.

Fabulous nutty buttery pan roasted chicken sauteed with fragrant curry spices and elevated to a sumptuous level with some decadent thick creamy coconut milk, finished off with fresh chillies, coriander and a drizzle of lime yogurt to lift the dish.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

500g chicken thighs minced

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp butter

1 onion finely minced

2 red chillies minced

2 tbsp fresh ginger minced

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 good pinch sea salt 

1 good pinch ground white pepper

1 can organic coconut milk

4 chicory lettuces

To Finish

1/2 tsp fennel seeds toasted

10 stalks with leaves of fresh coriander rough chopped

1/2 lime juiced 

4 tbsp yogurt

Place your pan on a medium heat, add the butter and coconut oil to melt, add the onion and garlic and soften for around 5 minutes, add the chillies and ginger and fry for a further 2 minutes, next stir in the chilli, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon powder turn up the heat, add the chicken and sear until browned all over, turn the heat down to a medium low heat, add the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes, season with sea salt and white pepper to taste, take of the heat and leave to rest for a couple of minutes while you assemble the chicory leaves on your plates and make the finishing garnishes.

Mix the lime juice with the yogurt, load your chicory leaves with the gorgeous sumptuous coconut chicken, drizzle over the lime yogurt, top with the fresh coriander and toasted fennel seeds, then enjoy.

CRISPY PULLED BBQ PORK CHIMICHANGA

Fabulous crispy parcel stuffed with juicy braised BBQ pulled pork and black beans, topped with fresh vibrant zingy salsa, jalapenos and sour yogurt, served with fluffy rice, a brilliant mouthful every time, happy food makes happy family memories.

For a quicker dinner you can use organic canned black beans and slowly braise you your pulled pork for a couple of hours in the oven a day before, but I like to use organic dried black beans which require 12hrs pre soaking before cooking, then 4 hours of slow simmering to cook the beans, the advantage is that you can slowly braised the pork in with the beans which infuses more flavour to both.  I will also add a ham hock to this pan so that there is another whole family meal cooked at the same time and turn some of the beans in to Boston beans.

Overall prep and Cooking time 30 minutes when below is made...

Slow braising the BBQ pork and tin beans 2 hrs un-attended

If using dried beans 12hrs pre soaking overnight / 4 hrs Cooking time

Ingredients

(makes 4)

THE PULLED PORK AND BBQ BEANS

1 glug olive oil

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic diced

1 carrot finely diced

1 stick celery finely diced

1 leek finely diced

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup tomato ketchup

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 cups dried/soaked (12hrs) black beans

1 kg loin or shoulder of pork

1.5 ltr coke a cola (optional)

2 ltr water (+1.5ltr if no coke)

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

THE PULLED PORK AND BEANS

(soaked beans and joint of pork 3-4hrs)

OK lets get this cooking, Place the oil in a large deep casserole pan on a medium heat, gently soften the onions, carrots, leek, celery and garlic for around 5 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a gentle simmer, pop on the lid and leave to do it's magic for the next 3-4 hours.  When the pork is fall apart tender and the beans are soft, remove from the liquid, crank up the heat and reduce the sauce until slightly thickened, this is your BBQ sauce.  Add back the beans and pork pulling the pork apart as you do.  Now your ready to stuff your burrito.

OR

(JUST COOKING THE PULLED PORK IN THE OVEN)

Place your pork in  a casserole dish with a lid and place the carrots, onions, garlic, leek and celery, coke and water, pop on the lid and place in the oven for 2 hours at around 180 C / 360 F, once cooked add the tinned black beans, white wine vinegar, sugar and ketchup, reduce if needed and pull the pork apart in the BBQ sauce, season to taste.

Burrito Flat Bread Wraps

(makes 6 wraps)

(Or use store brought 10" tortillas)

500g 00 flour

10g sea salt

50ml olive oil

320g water

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and bring together to form a dough ball, knead for 5 minutes until smooth, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest while you make the salsa.  You don't need to leave this dough to prove as it is un leven (no yeast) but you can leave the dough to rest for a few hours and it will naturally prove a little.  To cook divide in to 6, roll out and in a hot hot dry frying pan cook for around one minutes on each side, keep warm wrapped in a tea towel until needed.

Ahead Planning For Speedy Suppers

I make batches of this dough up, portion in to 6 balls pop in to zip lock bags, freeze and then I have fresh dough to hand when ever I want to make flat breads, pizza's or tacos, just defrost, roll out, cook, eat and enjoy.

Salsa

1 can plum tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 small onion

1 red chilli

1/2 bunch fresh coriander

1 juice lemon

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp pickled jalapenos

Place all the ingredients in to a blender and blitz until smooth, any left over salsa is great served chilled with a bowl of corn chips.

Rest Of Ingredients

1 ltr ground nut oil for frying the burrito

8 tbsp full fat organic yogurt

10 steams fresh coriander chopped

2 red or green chillies finely sliced

PERFECT COOKED RICE EVERY TIME!

2 cups basmati rice

4  cups water

Put the rice on to cook when you are ready to cook the flat breads and stuff the burritos and fry them.

This is a really simple and quick way to cook rice, place the rice and water in a pan with a lid, do not stir or take of the lid at any point!  That is very important!  Bring the pan to a good simmer and leave to cook for 8 minutes untouched, take off the heat and leave to rest for a further 5-10 minutes, again untouched, then your rice is ready and perfect.  Your rice is ready after 5 minutes resting, but will retain it's heat for a further 5 minutes if you need that time for cooking the rest of your meal.

STUFFING THE BURRITO

First place a deep frying pan or skillet on a medium heat and fill 3/4 with the oil

Take your flat bread and place 3 generous tablespoons of the filling in the centre of the bread, now you need to fold the burrito in a set way so that none of the filling can leak out while frying, so...

FOUR FOLDS TO MAKE A CHIMICHANGA

First fold:  Take the top of the side in front of you and fold over to the far side of the filling.

Second fold:  Take the far side and repeat, this time the fold is coming to the far side of the filling in front of you, but on top of the other flat bread flap.

Third fold:  Turn the whole burrito over, face down on your work top

Forth fold:  Take the left and right sides and fold in to the centre of the flat bread, turn back over and now you have a beautiful secure burrito ready to be fried to become a glorious chimichanga.

TO COOK THE CHIMICHANGA

Place the burrito flap folded sides down in to the hot oil and cook for around 2 minutes each side until crisp and golden, drain on a towel and serve with the rice topped with your fresh salsa, sharp yogurt, chilles and fresh coriander, every mouthful is a joy and one I don't want to end.

CHICK PEA CAULIFLOWER AND POTATO COCONUT CURRY BUDDHA BOWL

Vegetarian Eating

I sooooo love this bowl of wonderfulness, it is a bowl that hugs me back and I like to eat this tucked in to the corner of our sofa legs crossed with a spoon, so that I can get more in my mouth with each spoonful than a fork!  Pure comfort food.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 3-4)

1 onion finely diced

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds ground

1 tsp dried chillies (optional)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 cup of peas

2 potatoes peeled and roughly diced

1 cauliflower cut in to florets

1 tin organic chic peas

1-2 tins organic coconut milk

10 sprigs fresh coriander chopped, stalks too

1 fresh red chilli finely diced

1 good pinch sea salt

1 good pinch ground black pepper

1/2 juice lemon (optional)

Perfect Rice

2 cups of basmati rice

4 cups of water for the rice

First get the rice on to cook, rinse the rice in a sieve and place in your pan along with the water, pop on a lid and bring to a simmer, turn down the heat to a low simmer, under no circumstances take the lid off or stir the rice!  Simmer for 8 minutes and then with out touching the lid ! take the rice off the heat and leave to one side, the rice will be ready in another 5 minutes but will be good to stand and stay hot for at least 10 minutes, while you cook the curry.

Meanwhile bring a pan of seasoned water to a rolling simmer and add the diced potatoes these will take approx 8 minutes to become fork tender, after 3 minutes add the cauliflower florets, once fork tender drain and season and leave in the sieve on the side while you start the curry.

Place the coconut oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat and add the onions, gently soften without colouring for 5 minutes then add the garlic and soften for a further 2 minutes then add the dried chilli, ground cumin and turmeric stir in and cook for 1 minute then add the chic peas and one tin of the coconut milk (add the second tin if you want a more soupy curry) and chopped coriander stalks only at this stage.  Bring to a gentle simmer add the peas, potato and cauliflower, season with sea salt and black pepper to taste and simmer for a couple of minutes, sprinkle over the coriander leaves and fresh red chilli and your good to serve.

I sometimes like to add a squeeze of lemon to the finished dish as this lifts the richness of the coconut milk and I love that flavour, this is personal and for you to decide, take a spoonful of your curry and just drop a tiny bit of lemon juice on to your spoon and taste, that will give you a good indication if you will like to add the lemon or not.

Serve in large Buddha bowls with the rice in first and then ladle over the wonderfully comforting curry and enjoy.

If you love flat breads these go great with this style of meal and are great for scooping up the curry.

CUSTARD TART

So simple yet so divine...

These gorgeous little rustic sweet pastry egg custard tarts are a perfect treat, light crumbly melt in your mouth pastry filled with a rich decadent egg and vanilla cream just set wobbly custard finished off with that all essential dusting of nutmeg to send this tart to perfection...

Prep time 10 minutes / Pastry resting time 1 hour / Cooking time 30-40 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 10)

Sweet Pastry

350g plain flour

150g soft unsalted butter

100g icing sugar

pinch of salt

2 eggs beaten

Egg Custard Filling

5 egg yolks

55g caster sugar

333ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp grated nutmeg

First make the pastry, place the soft butter and icing sugar on your work top or in a bowl and gently using your fingers and thumb in a pecking action (think chicken beak pecking action!), incorporate the butter in to the icing sugar until combined.  

Add the eggs to the butter sugar mix and beat together until incorporated as one.

Add the salt to the flour and start to add to the eggs and sugar mix chopping the flour in until you have a rough dough, it will happen, bring together with you hands and knead a couple of times to form a smooth dough ball, wrap in baking paper and pop in the fridge to rest and chill for 1 hour.

Meanwhile make the egg custard, place the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk, add the sugar and whisk until light and fluffy, next add the vanilla bean paste and cream and whisk until smooth.  Leave on the side until needed.

Roll out the pastry as thin as you dare and using a circle cutter cut out the circle size that fits your baking tins, line your tins with the pastry and then some baking paper and baking beans.  Blind bake at 180 C / 360  F for 10 minutes then remove the baking paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 120 degrees, fill your pastry cases, take the egg custard and skim off the bubbly top from the custard, then pour in to the pastry cases and dust the tops with a little pinch of the nutmeg.

Pop in the oven to cook for approx 20 minutes, the custard tarts are done when there is a almost set wobble in the centre when you jiggly the baking tin, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a cake rack, then enjoy.