FRIED GREEN TOMATOES FROM THE CRAZY FISH SHACK

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

This are so amazing that I ate way to many and fell off grid!  While on holiday in Florida we found a lovely old wonky wooden Crazy Fish Shack by the side of the road in Lake Wales, Orlando, the shack has some of the best ever fried green tomatoes I have ever eaten, they were fried perfectly in a crispy seasoned flour, then finished with a with a great spicy seasoned dusting.  The crispy coating and gorgeous crisp green fried tomatoes just belong together, so as soon as I got home these were one of the first things I wanted to cook, and they tasted fantastic, thanks to the chef's from the Crazy Fish who were great and gave me their family recipe for dredging and seasoning, which I now get to share with you guys, hope you enjoy these as much we have, these are another family favourite.

INGREDIENTS

(side order for 4)

6 green tomatoes

FOR THE SEASONED FLOUR

300g all purpose flour

100g fine cornflour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

pinch cayenne pepper

pinch cumin

2 eggs beaten

500ml buttermilk

2ltr ground nut oil

SEASONING

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 pinch garlic powder

1 pinch celery salt

1 tbsp fine fine chopped coriander

Standard set up for (naughty) gorgeous crispy American fried food, take your three shallow bowls place the buttermilk in one, the beaten egg in one and the flour with all the seasoning in the final bowl.  Slice the green tomatoes around half the thickness of pound coin (3ml), you should get 6-8 slices per tomato.  Lay on paper roll and pat dry, this is important as it will help the dredging set on the tomatoes.

Heat the oil to 190-200 degrees, place a plate at the end of your three bowls, then take a slice of green tomato, dip in the buttermilk, then the flour, bash off excess flour, then dip in the beaten egg then the flour again and tap off any excess, gently lay on the plate while you repeat the dipping and coating with the rest of the sliced green tomatoes.  When ready gently drop into your hot oil, don't overload the fryer as this will give you a soggy fried tomato, best to fry in small batches, once fried remove and place on paper roll to soak up any excess oil, then sprinkle generously with your seasoning, sprinkle with the fine chopped coriander and serve immediately with a lovely dip, I love a spicy mayonnaise dip with a hint of lime.

PALEO CREAMY COCONUT AND MUSHROOM STROGANOFF

Sumptuous creamy coconut wild mushroom stroganoff, with a hint of smoked paprika wondering it's way through the rich creamy mushroom infused coconut cream.

How I did not know how gorgeous and good for you the paleo lifestyle is bemuses me, I am so very happy to have finally discovered a list of foods that overwhelm me with healthy cooking inspiration, I cannot wait to eat my way to fabulousness and very proud that I have to date lost 3stone 9lb, no kcal counting and an abundance of gorgeous honest healthy fats like avocado, coconut oil, lean meats, fish and fresh vegetables.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 2)

(any mushrooms are great with this dish)

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 cep (if in season)

100g Chantalle

100g oyster mushroom

200g chestnut mushrooms

1 tsp smoked paprika

3 spring onions finely chopped

250ml dry white wine (optional-use stock)

300ml coconut milk

bunch fresh parsley chopped

1/2 lime juice

1 head of cauliflower (for rice)

First slice or tear your mushrooms, heat a deep pan and melt the coconut oil medium hot, pan fry the mushrooms gently for one to two minutes, mushrooms should only ever kiss the pan.  Remove the mushrooms from the pan and crank up the heat, add the wine or stock and reduce by half, turn the heat down to a gentle just simmer and add the coconut milk, spring onion and mushrooms.  Cook for a further five minutes or so until you have a lovely medium thick sauce, add the paprika, parsley and lime juice, taste and season with salt and pepper if needed, sprinkle a pinch more smoked paprika and parsley over the finished dish to serve.  This goes great with cauliflower rice.

CAULIFLOWER RICE

Take the head of cauliflower and coarsely grate, bring a large pan of water up to a rolling boil and pop in the cauliflower, cook for 2 minutes until just tender, but still with a little bite, drain and serve immediately.

PALEO COCONUT HARISSA CURRY WITH TURKEY

Gorgeous coconut and harissa curry with turkey, peppers, courgettes, coriander, leeks, broccoli, and curry powder, quick and simple to make in around 15 minutes and a really fragrant dinner.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 2)

250g turkey breast diced

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp tamarind 

1 tsp harissa 

200ml coconut milk

1 green pepper sliced

100g stem broccoli

1 leek diced

1/2 bunch of asparagus rough chopped

1 courgette rough chopped

salt and pepper to taste

 small bunch of coriander torn

1 tbsp dried chillies

1/2 lime juiced optional

1 cauliflower for rice (optional)

Heat the coconut oil in a pan and seal the diced turkey, season with the curry powder and turmeric, add the tamarind and harissa mix well, add the coconut milk, bring to a gentle simmer, sometimes I add a bit of homemade stock to loosen this or more coconut milk if you like.  Once simmering add the green pepper, broccoli, asparagus and courgette, simmer for a couple of minutes, add the leek, coriander and dried chillies, season with salt and pepper to taste if needed, now if you fancy a slightly more sour note to the sweet coconut add the lime juice and that's it a super quick dinner.  A side of cauliflower rice goes well with this.

CAULIFLOWER RICE

Take one whole cauliflower and grate, simmer in boiling water for a couple of minutes, you do not want to over cook this, if you do turn the cauliflower into mash.  Drain in a sieve and serve fluffed up as you would have done in the past with rice.  How wonderful it is to still have your favourite foods just adapted slightly and gaining more flavour and super health to boot, what more can you ask for!

HOT CROSS BUNS TOASTED AND LOADED WITH WARM BUTTER

Glorious spice fragrant hot cross buns, lightly toasted and topped with lashings of Irish creamy butter, a wonderful way to celebrate Easter.  I have never made hot cross buns before but was surprised how easy and un-complicated these were, I love working with dough and I knew these were going to be good as the dough was gorgeous and light to handle.  These only take 10 minutes to make and 3 x 1hr proves I followed/tweaked a little, Paul Hollywood's good food recipe

INGREDIENTS

(makes 15)

500g 00 flour

10g yeast

1 tsp salt

100g caster sugar

300ml warm milk

80g butter melted

1 egg beaten

1 apple grated

Zest of one orange

1 tsp heaped ground cinnamon

100g dried fruit

25g mixed peel

100g plain flour

water

1 tbsp apricot jam

Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl, warm the milk and butter together until the butter has melted.  Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the warm milk and the beaten egg, using a wooden spoon bring the mixture together to form a dough and knead for 5 minutes.  Place in a oiled bowl and cover the top with oiled clingfilm, not touching the dough, place in a warm place to prove for 1 hour.  Take the dried fruit and place in a bowl, add a fragrant teabag and pour over some hot water to soften the fruit.

Once 1 hour up mix in the cinnamon, apple, orange zest, mixed peel and dried fruit, (drain off the tea) and leave to prove again for another hour, the dough will be slightly wet and sticky that is good.

After this second prove, dust your worktop with flour and tip out your dough, divide the dough into 15 equal ish size balls and place on a greased baking tray with space around each bun to allow room for expansion, cover with oiled clingfilm loosely and again prove for another hour.

Now to apply your cross, mix the flour with some water to make a thick paste, fill a pipping bag and pipe on the cross.  Now they are ready to bake, 200 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  Once cooked glaze the top with some warm apricot jam, saw in half and pop under the grill to toast, load with way to much butter and I like to pop back under the grill for 30 seconds again to get the mound of butter melting from the top as the bottom will have soaked into the bun making these the best ever hot cross buns, eat immediately.

PALEO BOWL OF SOUL RESTORING GOODNESS

This is one of my top ten favourites a bowl of abundance full of honest goodness, hot, sour and sumptuous to boot!  This is a soul restoring meal, which leaves you with a glowing sense of well being.  Your body knows you love it when you eat this chicken broth. I have this for breakfast, lunch or dinner there is no rules to this dish, as it depends on which continent you are in if its breakfast or a dinner meal.  This chicken broth has clinically been proven to be 25% as effective as penicillin.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4 with lots of left over poached chicken for other meals)

THE STOCK 

1 organic chicken

2 carrots peeled and halved

1 leek halved

2 sticks celery halved

10 black peppercorns

pinch of sea salt

1 habanero chilli (optional)

THE TOM YUM STYLE BROTH

4 tsp tom yum paste

2 tsp tamarind paste

3 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp Harrissa

3" ginger grated

2 cloves garlic grated

1 tsp honey (optional)

1 lime juiced

1 stalk lemongrass bashed

1 bunch asparagus

100g watercress

100g spinach

1 pepper diced

1 chili sliced

200g raw cold water prawns

1 small bunch coriander roughly torn

This is a two stage cook, you can cook the chicken days in advance and enjoy the poached meat for other meals before making this tom yum style broth.  I am always poaching a chicken at some point in the week so this dish came about from the leftover poached chicken stock, in fact this is such an old historic dish in South East Asia it is as normal  to this as our fish and chips to us!  I know what I would rather eat!  

In a large saucepan or pressure cooker place your chicken, carrots, leeks, celery, habanero, peppercorns and salt, fill the pan up as much as you can with water and bring to a gentle simmer, you don't want to rush this stock, so a just rolling simmer is perfect, you can cook this quicker on a higher heat, but it will not give you clarity in the stock.  Cook for approx 2hrs and then take off the heat and leave the chicken to cool in the stock, this is important as the chicken will re-absorb some of it's own stock, making the meat extra soft and juicy, once cooled remove the chicken and strain and reserve the stock, taste for seasoning and add some salt and pepper if needed, sometimes I do add some organic chicken stock to give a meatier flavour if I have used too much water.

Now the chicken has cooled, pick off all the meat, I like to tub up the meat, the legs go for my husband, the breast and other meat for this and other meals and any jelly style bits go in a loaf tin with the fat and skin that I set in the fridge for the dogs.  In all one chicken feeds my family for a three meals each and my two dogs a Great Dane and Cocker Spaniel for two days, (see piri piri chicken blog).

Now for the fun quick easy part, place your stock (3 ladles per portion, this recipe is for 12 ladles of stock, 4 people), in a deep sauce pan and add the tom yum, tamarind, turmeric, fish sauce, harrisa, ginger, garlic, lime juice, bashed stick of lemongrass and optional honey, I don't add this but if you wanted more of a sweet and sour tang do. 

Bring to a gently simmer, add the chopped asparagus and two minutes later the fresh prawns, don't boil, simmer, cook for 3 minutes, now this is super fast bit, so meanwhile in this three minute window get everything ready to go, I place my bowls on the work top and layer them with some of the cold cooked chicken, the watercress, spinach, peppers and sliced chilies, then when ready to serve just ladle over the stock with the prawns, asparagus and gorgeous tom yum style aromatic harissa broth, finish off with a sprinkle off coriander.  This is the best ever outstanding gorgeous meal :-)

CLAY POT COOKED TANDOORI CHICKEN

Cooking in a clay pot is one of the most glorious ways to guarantee the most juiciest meat and a thick sumptuous sauce from all the juices from the chicken, beautifully combined with the yogurt, herbs and spices.  This is a simple one pot cook which is packed with flavour that will have you wiping your plate clean with your flat breads!

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4)

Don't panic you do not have to make your own spices you can buy good Tandoori spice mix from most supermarkets, which means just skip to adding all spices to the yogurt marinade part.

4 chicken quarters

1 tbsp ghee

1 large onion puréed 

2 cloves garlic puréed 

5 cardamom pods, seeds only

1tsp cumin seeds

tiny pinch ground cloves

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

2 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

2tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1tbsp tandoori masala powder

1lrg pinch of salt

2" piece of ginger grated

6 cloves of garlic grated

1/2 juice of a lemon

300g Greek yogurt

First make the marinade for the chicken, in a dry frying pan gently warm up the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, place in a pestle and mortar or a coffee grinder and pound to a powder, next intake a saucepan add the ghee and on a medium heat add the puréed onions and garlic, cook for 5 minutes until softened, add the ground spices and all the dry ingredients mix well.  

Next place the yogurt in a bowl and add the 6 cloves of grated garlic, ginger and the lemon juice and all the other mixed spices, mix well and coat the chicken quarters thoroughly with the marinade, leave in the bowl, place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, overnight is even better.

Take your terracotta crock pot, tandoori oven or chicken brick and pour the chicken and marinade into the pot with a little water, place the lid on and cook for approx 45 minutes at 180 degrees for the first 20 minutes and 160 degrees for the rest of the time, check that your chicken is cook through before serving.  

When you take the lid of your tandoori pot the aromas will be outstanding, serve with fluffy rice, flat breads and a side of yogurt with some Harissa paste rippled through.

RAVIOLI STUFFED WITH ROCKET, RICOTTA AND MARSCAPONE

For my gorgeous mum on mothers day, her favourite ravioli filling, it was my pleasure to make from scratch these gorgeous parcels of sumptuousness for my mum.  My mum wanted a simple strong cheddar and Parmesan cheese sauce with a drizzle of San Marzano tomato sauce, to finish her sumptuous, mascarpone, ricotta and rocket stuffed ravioli.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4)

FOR THE PASTA

500g 00 flour

50g rocket salad leaf

2 eggs beaten

3 egg yolks whisked

Good pinch of salt

FOR THE FILLING

250g marscapone cheese

200g ricotta cheese

salt and pepper

50g spinach

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 zest of lemon

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

1 can of San Marzano tomatoes

glug of olive oil

1 shallot finely diced

1 clove garlic grated

sprigs of fresh basil

sprig of fresh thyme

Sea salt and fresh black pepper

FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE

30g butter

30g plain flour

300-500ml creamy milk

400g strong cheddar cheese

100g Parmesan cheese

Sea salt and black pepper

I know this looks like a lot of work but it really is not, it is a few simple jobs, two that can be done days before, that produce the most outstanding and gorgeous Italian produce Ravioli one of the best I have ever made, my mum said so!  So onto making the pasta...

Finely chop the rocket and mix with the salt into your flour, tip out onto you work top and make a deep well in the centre, mix the beaten eggs and whisked yolks together and pour into the centre, now gently flick some of the flour into the eggs and start to mix the two together, now fair warning I always have a run away leak of egg onto the work top at some point so be prepared and just quickly fluff over some of the flour on to the escape egg and that will put you back in control. keep going until you have mixed all the flour with the eggs, knead your dough for 5 minutes and form a ball, cling wrap and leave to rest if you can for upto 1 hour.

Take your ball of pasta, dust your work top with lots of semolina, cut the dough half and using a rolling pin (as all the Nono's do in Italy) roll out each half , (approx 6" wide and as long as you can get it) as thin as you can and don't give in, keep going the thinner you go the lighter your ravioli will be.  Leave the two long layers of pasta on your work top, if your are not ready to stuff immediately cover with damp paper roll.

NOW FOR THE FUN PART STUFFING YOUR RAVIOLI

Take your ricotta, marscarpone, lemon zest, spinach, nutmeg, smash potato, salt and pepper and mix well together.  Taking one line of pasta place a spoon full of the filling on the pasta, I make two lines of filling on this sheet all the way alone approx 4" apart, then egg wash around each spoonful of filling, place the other sheet of pasta on top and then using a pasta ravioli cutter or knife and fork to crimp cut out your ravioli.  Place on a tray dusted with semolina until needed.  Now onto making your two quick sauces.

First make the tomato sauce, heat a dash of olive oil in a pan, add the shallot and garlic and gently pan fry until soft, add the tomatoes, thyme and basil and once simmering crush with a potato masher, season with salt and pepper and simmer until a medium thickness consistency or as you like.

To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter on a low heat, add the flour and mix well, on a low heat cook for 5 minutes to start cooking out the flour flavour, now start to add the milk a good glug at a time, whisking well incorporating all the milk into the roux before adding the next glug of milk, once you have a medium thick sauce, bring to a simmer and add all the cheese, stir in well and once melted season with salt and pepper, if you feel you sauce is too thick add a little more milk to loosen.

Now to cook your Ravioli, bring a simmering pan of water to the boil and season with salt, have your sauces gently just simmering on the stove ready to go, pop your ravioli into the pan of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, drain and drizzle with olive oil, serve the ravioli into your pasta bowls and top with a generous spoonful of cheese sauce and a drizzle of tomato sauce.  Don't dilly dally as you want to eat your ravioli hot.

PALEO SHEPARD'S PIE WITH PARSNIP MASH

Wahoo a supper that feels like a cheat dinner but it is not, wonderful to cook for the whole family and to be able to enjoy with them.  The parsnip mash is gorgeous, I was hesitant but not anymore.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4-6)

1kg chuck mince (from your butcher)

1 tbsp coconut oil

4 spring onions finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic grated

1 rich stock pot knorr

salt and pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of cumin

pinch of oregano

1 400g tin of tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

3 large carrots

10 large parsnips

1 tbsp goats butter

First peel the parsnips and pop onto boil, finely dice the carrots and simmer in water until soft, remove and reserve, meanwhile heat the oil in a deep pan and soften the onions and garlic for a few minutes, add the mince and crank up the heat, I like to catch the mince and caramelise a little as this adds great depth of flavour to the dish.  Once all the meat is caramelised and browned off add the stock pot, tomato puree, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano, tin of tomatoes, the cooked carrots and then season with the salt and pepper, stir well and bring to a simmer for a few minutes and then transfer into a roasting/baking dish.

Once the parsnips are soft and ready to be mashed, drain and mash well, season with salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil if you want.  Top the roasting/baking dish with the parsnip mash and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes until all the gorgeous meat juices bubble up and infuse with the crispy baked parsnip mash topping.  I served this as is but a lovely mixed leaf salad or a generous serving of asparagus, mangetout, stem broccoli and green beans would equally go well.

PALEO LIME COCONUT CORIANDER CHICKEN

Fantastic fresh zingy sumptous spiced pan seared chicken with a lime, coriander, coconut curry drizzle served on a watercress and spinach salad, what is not to love about this.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 2)

2 chicken breasts

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 lime juiced

100ml coconut milk

salt and pepper

rapeseed oil

small bunch of coriander rough chopped

FOR THE SALAD

2 handfuls watercress

2 handfuls spinach

8 baby plum tom halved

1 beetroot rough chopped

1 avocado rough chopped

2 spring onions chopped

2 tsp sweet chilli sauce (optional)

Really quick and simple supper, lay the chicken breast skin (less) side down on a sheet of clingfilm, place another sheet of cling film on top and with a rolling pin bash the fat end of the chicken to the same thickness as the rest, bash the rest a little to make a lovely large escalope.  In a bowl place the curry and turmeric powder, lime juice and salt and pepper, rub this all over your chicken breast and place in the bowl to marinate for half an hour or longer if you want to prepare this part earlier.

Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and drizzle with oil, leave to one side while you make the coconut drizzle, add to the mariande bowl the coconut milk and mix well pour into a non stick pan and simmer until reduced and medium thick, remove from the heat and keep to one side.  Heat a non stick pan medium hot and add the oiled chicken breasts, sear each side until carmalised, a few minutes will do, then turn the heat down and cook for a couple more minutes each side until cooked.

Assemble the salad by placing the watercress and spinach piled high on two plates, toss over the baby plum tomatoes, beetroot, avocado and spring onions, along with a teaspoon of sweet chilli sauce drizzled over the leaves, serve with the seared coconut lime chicken and finish off with a generous drizzle of the coconut curry lime  sauce and fresh coriander.

PALEO GOATS CHEESE AND ASPARAGUS STUFFED PAN FRIED CHICKEN

Gorgeous sharp soft goats cheese stuffed into a pocket made in the chicken breast with asparagus, pan seared in a hint of seasoned rapeseed oil for glorious caramelised flavour.  This was outstanding for me it was the warm soft sharp goats cheese and asparagus that wooed my taste buds with this dish.

INGREDIENTS

(serves one just double up for more servings)

1 large chicken breast

50g soft goats cheese

3 spears asparagus

glug of rapeseed oil

sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

FOR THE SALAD

handful of watercress

handful of spinach

1 avocado 

4 baby plum tomatoes

1 spring onion

optional 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce (naughty but essential)

small handful of mangetout

small handful of stem broccoli

small handful of harricotverts

First put a small deep pan of water on to boil and add the asparagus, mangetout, broccoli and french green beans and blanch for 3-5 minutes, remove and leave to one side.

Take your chicken breast and with a small sharp knife starting at the top fat end of the breast slice a whole 3/4 of the way across being careful not to go to close to the edge, now just keep gently pushing the knife down the chicken breast giving the knife a little wiggle left and right, in effect cutting a pocket making sure you don't pierce the outside of the chicken breast.

Season the pocket with a little salt and black pepper, cut the asparagus to fit the length of the pocket you have made and pop in the pocket.  Next take the goats cheese and a teaspoon at a time fill the pocket, and massage the goats cheese down to the bottom of the breast,fill to the top.  Rub the chicken breast with oil and sear in a hot non stick pan all sides until are caramelised, turn down the heat and cook through.

Place your watercress and spinach piled high on your plate, sprinkle over the rough chopped avocado, tomatoes, spring onion then a teaspoon of hot sweet chilli sauce, next sprinkle over the mangetout, broccoli and french green beans and finish of with the chicken breast, I sliced the chicken breast on the diagonal to allow the warm goats cheese to ooze out onto the salad giving every bite more flavour.

GLORIOUS ROAST CHICKEN WITH LYONNAISE DAUPHINOISE POTATOES

Glorious roast chicken served with infused baked butternut squash and sweet potatoes that have cooked underneath the gorgeous roast chicken soaking up all the juices from the chicken and stock, finished off with a hint of cream and an oven baked crust of Parmesan cheese.  This one tray roast is a firm family favourite.  I just fancied both lyonnaise stock braised potatoes and creamy dauphinoise with a hint of cheese, so married the two together, perfect.

Roast chicken, when done well it is one of the most loved comforting meals, and so simple to cook, a must for me, is to choose the best bird I can afford, I try to buy Organic out door reared birds, they may cost a couple of pounds more but they taste far more superior and the chicken has so much more meat on it because they have lead a life rooting and scratching outdoors doing what they are supposed to.
  

This simple one tray cooked family style roast chicken is a great dish for when you want to spend all your time talking with your family rather than stressing over the stove, with this meal the whole dinner, start to finish is cooked in one tray full of glorious flavours ensured to please everyone.

INGREDIENTS

(serves family 4)

1 large chicken

salt and pepper

rapeseed oil

3 sweet potatoes

1 butternut squash

1 Spanish onion

bunch fresh thyme

400ml chicken stock

150ml double cream

200g Parmesan cheese 

fresh ground black pepper

sea salt

First pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees then start by scrubbing the sweet potatoes removing most of the skin with a scourer, peel the butter nut squash then slice both in round disks, part of the butternut squash will need de-seeding and give you half circles, place in a large bowl, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Slice the onion thinly and add to the bowl.  Tip the squash, sweet potato and onion in to a deep roasting tin and cover with the stock. 

Now take your chicken and cut in half, this I do this by placing the chicken as brought on a board and just push my knife straight down the middle of the bird all the way through, a little force is needed at the base of the chicken, not as much as you first think.  Place both halves skin side up on top of the potato's and stock, rub with and season generously with sea salt, pop in the pre-heated oven 45 minutes.

At 45 minutes take the dish from the oven take the chicken off the top off the dish, place on another roasting tray and pop back in the oven, meanwhile add the cream to the potatoes and gently mix in, sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese, pop back in the oven for a further15-20 minutes until the cheese has browned off.   

Carve the gorgeous roast chicken breast or leg and serve with the lyonnaise dauphinoise potatoes that will have soaked up all that stock and cream and now have a wonderful browned off Parmesan crust.

PALEO LIME CORIANDER AVOCADO CHICKEN

Gorgeous zesty lime and Dijon homemade mayonnaise loaded with shredded poached chicken, jalapenos, fresh coriander, with a hint of cumin and curry powder, served with a creamy avocado guacamole and watercress spinach salad.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 2)

2 chicken breasts

1 lime zest and juice

small bunch of fresh coriander torn

1 red chilli finely chopped

10 jalapeno slices chopped

1 pinch of cumin

1 tsp curry powder

1 pinch cayenne 

salt and pepper

1 clove garlic grated

1 ripe avocado

6 stems of asparagus 

2 big hand fulls of watercress

2 big hand fulls of spinach

HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 lrg tsp Dijon mustard

3 egg yolks

250ml rapeseed oil

salt and pepper

First poach the chicken in stock or water for 8 minutes and leave to cool in the liquid.  This can be done the day before.  Cook the asparagus on a griddle for 3-4 minutes, rough chop and place in a mixing bowl.  Shred the chicken and add to the bowl.  Next make the mayonnaise, in a large bowl place the white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and a glug of oil, using a balloon whisk mix the ingredients together, add the egg yolks and whisk well, slowly drizzle the oil in to the mix, whisking all the time, once the emulsion starts to thicken you can add the oil a bit faster. Once you have a glossy gorgeous emulsion that ribbons, season with salt and pepper, then add the cumin, curry powder, coriander, chili, cayenne, jalapeños, lime zest and start with half the lime juice adding more as you go.

Add the mayonnaise to the mixing bowl with the chicken and asparagus, taste and check for seasoning.  Mash the avocado and season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of lime juice, add the grated garlic.  To assemble your gorgeous zesty salad place the watercress and spinach on a plate and either load the centre with the avocado topped with the lime, coriander chicken mixture or using the avocado shells fill with avocado first and the top with the chicken mix, sprinkle with fresh chillies and more coriander.

PALEO FAJITAS GLUTEN FREE

WOW what a fantastic way to have fajitas without breaking my new commitment to avoid wheat, I am finding my 80% commitment to the Paleo lifestyle very rewarding and love the helpful bloggers out there that have shown me how to still have all my favourite foods without substituting the wheat with gluten free processed replacements, how wonderful it is to replace the flour tortillas with iceberg lettuce leaves as the wrap, what's more the lettuce leaves held more fajitas filling than a wrap and did not leak any juices!

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4)

FAJITAS SPICE

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cumin

 pinch black pepper

pinch cayenne

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

pinch of sea salt

1 lime

1 red pepper sliced

1 tsp coconut oil

1lb turkey breast thinly sliced

8 whole iceberg lettuce leaves

ACCOMPANIMENTS

1 tub sour cream

1 avocado mashed with garlic, salt and pepper

1 bag watercress

1 jar sliced jalapenos

This is a super fast pan to table in under 15 minutes, first make the fajitas spices by mixing all the ingredients together, generously sprinkle over the turkey, heat a non stick pan, add the coconut oil and melt, add the turkey and on a medium heat cook, 2 minutes before the turkey is cooked add the peppers, then when ready to serve add the lime juice. 

Meanwhile while why the fajitas is cooking, take off the first eight leaves of your iceberg lettuce and place on a serving plate, I found gently crushing the iceberg lettuce before trying to lift of the leaves ensured split free leaves perfect for wrapping.

I love to serve this family style, place the sour cream, mashed avocado with garlic salt and pepper, jalapenos and watercress in bowls on the table along with the iceberg wraps, serve the fajitas on a skillet or in the pan you cooked it in on the table and let everyone dive in and enjoy, this creates great communication and a wonderful family dinner time.

WOOD FIRED AUTHENTIC MARGHERITA PIZZA

The gorgeous simple Margherita pizza one of the best mouth watering pizza's it is so much more than it states, it has a wonderful history with links as far back as 1860 where it is mentioned in Francerco Debouchard's book of customs and traditions of Naples.

The Margherita pizza has remained honest and true to Naples and when using only the local ingredients from Naples you get to make the STG (specialita Tradiionali Garantite) Margherita, you have to use the local ingredients grown in Campania Italy, the tomatoes have to be San Marzano and they will have been certified with a DOP certificate stamp, the flour has to be Caputo 00, and the buffalo mozzarella will be di Campania.

I was supper excited to find a supplier who can deliver from Italy the Caputo 00 flour in a 25kg sack, fresh Naples Campania buffalo mozzarella and the San Marzano DOP certified tomatoes, so I can truly cook a authentic Margherita pizza in my wood fired oven.

INGREDIENTS

(makes 6 pizzas)

For the dough

15g yeast

500g 00 flour

10g salt

50g olive oil

320g water

semolina for handling

For the toppings

1 tin San Marzano tomatoes

1 shallot

1 sprig of thyme

1 sprig oregano

3 balls di campania buffalo mozzeralla

fresh basil

Mix all the ingredients together and  knead for 5-7 minutes until the dough becomes springy and smooth, cover and leave to rest at room temprature for 1-3 hrs, this is then ready to divide into six balls ready to roll out on a flour dusted worktop.  Once you have rolled out your pizzas sprinkle with semolina to make handling easier and use immedaitly.

SAN MARZANO TOMATO BASE

1 tin of san marzano DOP tomaotes

glug of olive oil

1 shallot fine diced

2 springs of thyme chopped

1 sprig oregano chopped

salt and pepper

Soften the shallot in a pan with the olive oil for a few minutes, add all the other ingredients and simmer until you have a medium thick base sauce, season to taste.

MARGHERITA

Place your dough on your pizza peel or wood board and spread on the San Marzano tomato sauce, not to much and leave at least 1-2" gap around the edge, this is so that the pizza rim can puff up, tear the buffalo mozzeralla and place on your pizza, pop in your wood fired oven for 2 minutes at 400-500 degrees or if cooking in the oven use a pizza stone and crank your oven up as hot as it will go, the pizza will take approx 6 minutes at 230 degrees.  I can not tell you how good this pizza is!

CRISPY SWEET CHILI BEEF

This is so good make sure you make extra because once you have tasted the crispy sweet chili beef you won't want to stop, with my family serving this up was like feeding time at the zoo!  I was surprised how simple and quick this was to make and loved that this meal created that wonderful sharing dinner time.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4)

2x 8oz (227g) sirloin steak

6 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp sweet chili sauce

1 tbsp marmalade (optional)

1 orange zest and juice

1 ltr groundnut oil

2 spring onions finely sliced

1 carrot julienne

1/2 courgette julienne

8 pancakes 

First get your steamer up to a simmer ready to cook the pancakes when serving, next in a deep wok or pan gently start to bring the oil up to 180 degrees, meanwhile in a saucepan mix the soy, sweet chili, marmalade, orange zest and juice together, bring to a rapid simmer and reduce until thick and syrupy, leave in the pan to one side. 

 Next julienne slice the carrot, spring onion and courgette and place on a serving dish.  Now thinly slice the sirloin and toss in the cornflour, place on a plate ready to fry.

This is fast so have every thing ready to serve, steam the pancakes while you are deep frying the beef in the hot oil for approx 3 minutes for medium cooked, drain on paper and toss into the sweet sticky orange sauce, serve with the pancakes and julienne vegetables.

RAS EL HANOUT MOROCCAN LAMB FLATBREAD

Gorgeous outstandingly amazing and sumptuous spiced North African Moroccan lamb, charred over a hot coal pot and wrapped up in a flatbread with Greek yogurt, harissa paste, onions, peppers and watercress spinach salad.

This is my first experience with Ras El Hanout, which translates to "head of the shop", meaning the very best top shelf ingredients reserved for special occasions or special family meals.

INGREDIENTS

(Serves 4)

FLATBREAD DOUGH

(makes 6)

500g 00 flour

15g dried yeast

10g salt

50ml olive oil

320ml water

INGREDIENTS

2 lamb loin fillets

100g watercress

90g spinach

Greek yogurt

1 onion sliced

1 green pepper sliced

4 tsp harissa paste

RAS EL HANOUT SPICE PASTE

(Don't panic you can buy this paste already done)

PLACE THE FOLLOWING IN A COFFEE GRINDER OR PESTLE AND MORTAR

1 fresh chilli chopped

1 shallot finely diced

1" ginger grated

2 garlic cloves grated

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp fennel seeds or star anise

1 tsp chilli flakes

5 cardamom pods seeds only

1pinch sea salt

1/2 lemon juiced

IN A DRY FRYING PAN TOAST THESE SPICES

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

ADD THESE TO THE ABOVE INGREDIENTS AND GRIND TO A PASTE

1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika

50-100ml ground nut or rapeseed oil

LASTLY ADD THESE TO THE REST OF THE SPICES AND MAKE A PASTE

When adding the oil to your spice mix add enough to make a paste not to dry but not loose either.  Rub the Ras El Hanout generously all over the lamb fillets and pop in the fridge until needed, (min 30 minutes).

To make the flatbread dough mix all the ingredients together and knead for 5 minutes, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest.  This dough is wonderfully versatile you can use it immediately but resting for 20 minutes would give you a better flatbread, however if you want a lighter more airy flatbread leave the dough to rest for 1-3 hrs.  Any left over dough pop in the fridge covered with oiled cling film wrap and when ready to use bring out and leave on the side to come up to room temperature approx 15 minutes.  This dough can be kept for 48hrs in the fridge or popped into the freezer until needed, just bring up to room temperature before use.

You can cook the lamb one of two ways, for that authentic charred smoked flavour cut the lamb into large chunks and placed them on a skewer, cook them over hot coals, don't turn the skewer until it has sealed and charred a little, approx 2-3 minutes each side for medium rare.  Or you can cook the lamb fillet whole in a dry non stick pan on a medium hot heat, sear all sides of the lamb, then turn the heat down and cook for  2 minutes more for rare, 4 minutes for medium and 5+ for well done, remove from the pan and leave covered in foil for 5-10 minutes to rest.  Cut on the diagonal.

Meanwhile take the dough and divide into 6 balls, roll out each ball to the rough size of a dinner plate around 8" however ops! my dinner plates are 12" !!!  Using the same pan on a medium hot heat cook the flatbreads approx 1-2 minutes on each side, the first flatbread will soak up all the aromatic spices and juices from the lamb, that bread is the chef's perk!  If you want to share this just add half a teaspoon of the Ras El Hanout paste to the pan with each bread you cook.  Keep the breads wrapped in a tea towel to keep warm.

To serve I like to place lots of bowls or a large chopping board with all the ingredients on so that everyone can dive in and help themselves to load up their warm flatbread with spinach and watercress topped with lots of Ras El Hanout lamb, Greek yogurt, harissa paste, onions and peppers, just gorgeous!

HOMEMADE MUSTARD MAYOANNISE

You really will struggle to open another jar of shop brought mayonnaise after you have made this, it is outstandingly good, quick and simple to make and a pleasure to eat.

INGREDIENTS

(makes 250ml approx)

1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tsps Dijon mustard

3 egg yolks

200-250ml rapeseed oil

1-2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

fresh ground white pepper

salt

I urge you to make this by hand with a balloon whisk, the reason for this is a far superior finish with a lighter texture.  First place the white wine vinegar and mustard in a large whisking bowl and whisk together, add a glug of oil and the egg yolks and whisk, keep whisking and drizzle another glug of oil, repeat this until you have a glossy thick ribbon mayonnaise, season with the lemon juice, salt and pepper and taste, adjust season if needed.  This can be keep in an air tight container in the fridge for around a week.

This mayonnaise can be flavoured for many other accompaniments,  for example for a Reuben sandwich you would add some horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, chopped dill pickles, chilli sauce and parsley or to make aioli you can grate a ton of fresh garlic into the mayo and toss with new or roast potatoes and one of my favourites is adding a glug of nandos hot piri piri sauce and making pirannaise, this goes with everything!

TANDOORI CHICKEN

This is so good and was great fun to cook, I love cooking outside, despite the rain and wind at present!   After many attempts I have finally married up several inspirational recipes and found this marinade tasted as close to the proper tandoori chicken cooked in a traditional tandoor.  I used my hot coal clay pot to cook the chicken and this allowed me to get that all important charred essential layer of flavour on to the chicken to add that authentic tandoor taste.  The flat breads really are worth the effort to make they only take 5 minutes to set the dough up and 3 minutes to cook and are outstandingly fabulous.

I have used kashmiri mild chilli powder in this recipe, you can find this on Amazon or in good deli stores.  If you want a redder traditional colour like in the Indian restaurants this is achieved by adding a paprika extract known as, paprika oleoresin I was unable to find this, it is used commercially and you can find it in the mix of tandoori masala powders readily available.  I used 1 tbsp of this rather than use food colouring.

MARINADE

5 cardamon pods de-seeded

2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

2 tsp  coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 grated nutmeg

2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tbsp tandoori masala powder

1 lrg tsp salt

2" piece of ginger finely grated

6 garlic cloves finely grated

300g Greek yogurt

1/2 lemon juiced

4 chicken breasts 

FLAT BREADS

500g 00 flour

15g dried yeast

50ml olive oil

10g salt

320g water

ACCOMPANIMENTS

200ml Greek yogurt

 8 tsps Harissa paste

watercress salad

 1 sliced onion

 1 sliced peppers

2 tbsp fresh chopped coriander 

First make the flat breads, mix all the ingredients together and knead for 5 minutes, don't add any extra flour the stickiness will go with kneading cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes, if you want to make this further in advance, leave to prove at room temperature for 2-3hrs or make the day before and leave to prove in the fridge, up to 48hrs just bring out to come up to room temperature 15 minutes before using.

MARINADE

In a pestal and mortar or my favourtie a coffee grinder, grind the cradamon, cumin, cloves, black peppercorns and coridander seeds, tip into a larage bowl and add the yogurt, cayenne, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, chilli powder, tandoori masala, ginger, garlic, salt and lemon juice, mix well into a gorgeous paste and coat the chicken really well.  The longer you can leave this to marinate the deeper the flavour, 30 minutes and you will have a tandoori chicken meal but 5 hours or overnight in the fridge and you will have outstanding tandoori chicken.  Once marinated place the chunks of chicken on your skewers, if using wooden skewers soak them in cold water for 30 minutes prior to use.

FLAT BREADS

Heat a dry non stick frying pan to a high heat, divide the dough into 6, dust with flour and roll out to the size of a dinner plate, place in the hot pan and cook each side for approx 2 minutes, wrap up in a tea towel to keep warm while you cook the tandoori chicken.

Fire up your BBQ or coal pot and to start cook the skewers low down near the coals so as to char the chicken, don't turn the skewers until the meat has sealed, then once you have charred both sides pop higher up to finish cooking slowly, serve stuffed and rolled up in your flat bread with salad, yogurt and harissa.