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.

MUSTANG SALLY'S STEAK AND EGGS

High Protien Low Carb Loaded with Flavour

This is one of my favourite weight loss meals, it is packed full of rich sumptuous flavour and loaded with goodness, quick and easy to pull together from the fridge in under 10 minutes this is one of those good to go to meals when hunger strikes and temptation is a calling...

Cooking time 7 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 1)

6oz organic fillet steak

1 tsp olive oil

1 glug olive oil for frying

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch black pepper

2 organic eggs

1 large handful spinach

1 tbsp full fat sharp yogurt

Rub the steak in the olive oil, season with the salt and pepper.  Heat your skillet medium high hot and sear the steaks for around 2 minutes on each side, only turning once half way through.  Take off the heat and leave to rest while you place the spinach on your plate and drizzle over the yogurt.

Heat a non stick frying pan medium hot, add a glug of olive oil and crack in your two eggs, once half cooked add 30 ml of water and pop a lid or plate on top to steam for another minute.

Slice you steak and sprinkle over the spinach and top with the eggs and enjoy.

MANGO LIME AND CHILLI GRILLED FISH TACOS

TUESDAY NIGHT TACOS
(This might just be my most favourite night!)

Gorgeous fresh zesty lime and chilli marinated grilled fish served in a soft homemade taco, topped with a fresh zingy mango chilli and lime salsa finished off with a dollop of sour yogurt and pan seared peppers, these are soooo gorgeous that I question why we don't eat them more often, this batch did not even make it to the table they were loaded and eaten right there on the kitchen centre island.  A perfectly messy family face stuffing taco moment to cherish.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 7 minutes
Making Soft Tacos 7 mins / Resting time 30 minutes / Cooking time 2 minutes each

Ingredients

(serves 4)

600g white fish (sustainable sourced)
2 good glugs of cold pressed olive oil

2 limes juice

Sea salt and black pepper
2 large bunches watercress
1 pot full fat organic yogurt
1 small bunch coriander

Mango and Lime Salsa

1 ripe mango peeled and finely diced

2 tomatoes finely diced

2 spring onions finely sliced

1 red chilli finely diced

2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped

1 red pepper chopped 1" squares
1/2 lime juiced

Soft Taco's
500g 00 flour
10g sea salt
50g olive oil
320g water

If your making your own soft tacos then do this first, place all the ingredients in a large bowl with a dough hook or by hand in bring all the ingredients together, knead for five minutes and then cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Take your dough and divide in to 12 smaller balls, roll out to around 6-8" disks.  Heat a skillet to medium high hot heat and cook each soft taco for approx 1 minute on each side until slightly charred and puffed up, wrap in a warm tea towel to keep warm and place on your serving table ready to go while you make the rest of the meal.

Heat your griddle to medium heat, rub the fish with the olive oil, sea salt and pepper, place on the griddle and leave to cook without touching until 3-4 minutes and you can see the fish is half way cooked by the colour change on the side, add the red chopped red pepper now to the pan to sear and then turn over the fish and finish cooking for a further 3-4 minutes, squeeze over the lime juice and take of the heat to rest while you...

Make the mango salsa by combing all the chopped ingredients and season with sea salt and pepper then the lime juice, place in a serving bowl on your table along with the bowl of watercress, pot of yogurt and side of coriander.

Sever the fish on a family style platter with the pan seared peppers and then just let everyone dive in and load their own tacos just how they like them...

MUSTARD SEARED POTATO AND PEA CURRY

Aloo dum

Gorgeous comforting Indian food, every spoonful is almost a private moment in time, full of vibrant alive flavours where you can loose yourself in that oooh mmm moment of food pleasure and because I just love love love potato, it is such a rare treat for me as I am not an athlete so I can not eat potato in quantity very often so I save this kinda meal for a special treat and it stays so spectacularly awesome because of that.

The mustard oil is what makes this dish outstanding, it has a really Hot Hot Hot flavour quite like anything I have ever eaten, well so far!

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Mustard Oil Fried Potatoes

4 large maris piper or king Edward potatoes peeled rough diced

1 tsp turmeric powder

50ml mustard oil

Aloo Dum Sauce

1 tbsp ghee

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic finely diced

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 red chillies finely sliced

1 cup of petti pois peas

1 cup of water

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tin tomato passata

1/2 lime juiced

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

(recipe below to make your own)

This can be a really quick cook if you have all your ingredients ready to go before you start...

First put a pan of water on and bring up to a simmer and place in the potato's you only want to cook them for around 7-10 minutes so that they are just starting to soften but still a little resistance from a fork prick.  Remove and drain and leave to one side.

While the potatos are simmering make the sauce.

Place your ghee in a deep skillet, add the onions and garlic and gently pan fry for five minutes, add the grated ginger, chillies, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli, ground cumin seeds, ground coriander seeds, sea salt, white pepper and mustard oil stir in well and leave to fry for a minute or so, next add the potato's and gently stir to coat all the potatoes well, now add the peas, cup of water and tomato passata leave to gently simmer for 10 minutes.

To finish add the lime juice and garam masala stir though evenly, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if required sprinkle over the coriander and serve.  I like to serve this with spelt homemade flat breads and a cool coriander and cuecumber yogurt dip.

Cool Yogurt Coriander Dip

1 cup of yoghurt mixed with 2 tbsp chopped cuecumber and fresh coriander, thats it...

Home Made Spelt Flat Breads

500g spelt flour, 10g sea salt, 50g olive oil, 15g yeast (optional), 320g water, just mix all together until you have a springy dough ball, if you leave out the yeast then your ready to go just divide in to 10 balls, roll out into 6" in disks and dry fry in a hot skillet for around 1 minute each side, to keep warm wrap up in a tea towel.  If you are using yeast, leave the dough ball to prove for 1 hour covered, then as above.  Yeast gives the bread a more softer and elastic feel more, I don't use yeast as I enjoy the more robust texture of the flatbread.  Try both see what you think.

Garam Masala

2 tbsp cardamom seeds

1 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp coriander seeds

4 whole cloves

7 cm cinnamon bark

1 whole nutmeg 

Grind all the spices together, keep in a ball mason jar.

BIG GIRLS DIET CALIFORNIA MANGO AND LIME FISH NO TACO ! WITH JALAPENO YOGURT

WoW whats not to love...Low Carb High Protien

Vibrant fresh zingy and zesty taco-less taco, I guess a salad, a dish for those of us who really do want to eat that stuffed taco shell but our figures do not allow us to!  High protein, very low carb and packed with super goodness a really feel good meal that won't leave you missing the taco!  Whats great about ditching the carb loaded taco is that you get to have double the filling, a winner dinner!

Prep time 7 minutes / Cooking time 7 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 2)

400g naturally smoked haddock or cod

1 glug of olive oil or coconut oil

2 just set boiled eggs

1 fresh jalapeno sliced

2 tomatoes finely diced

1/2 mango finely diced

1 spring onion finely sliced

1 lime juiced

1 tbsp chopped coriander

1 bunch kale roughly chopped

Jalapeno Yogurt

1 fresh jalapeno finely diced

2 tbsp sour yogurt

Sea salt and white pepper

First heat your skillet or griddle medium hot add the oil and then the fish, sear the fish for approx 3 minutes each side, don't be tempted to turn the fish until it is cooked half way, you can tell this by the colour change on the side of the fish fillet the bottom half will be white while the top half will be opaque.  Once cooked take off the heat 

Meanwhile bring a pan of water to a boil, season with sea salt and drop in the two eggs, set your timer for 6 minutes 20 seconds for a just set yolk.

Next throw the kale in with the fish to cook for the last few minutes.  In a bowl mix the finely diced tomatoes, mango, spring onion, coriander and lime juice, season with sea salt and a pinch of white pepper and reserve to one side.  

Mix all the jalapeno yogurt ingredients together and place on your serving board or in a side dish, then layer up your taco filling salad starting with the kale, then the fish and finish off with the salsa.  A extra squeeze of lime is always welcome to finish off the dish.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK WITH STICKY CARAMELISED PINEAPPLE

SERVED WITH SUMPTUOUS COCONUT RICE...

Ooooh I like this too much...Crispy succulent, juicy belly pork, sumptuously covered with a fabulous fresh sweet and sour sauce then tossed with the most gorgeous caramelised sticky pineapple that extra wow can't talk gotta keep eating making this dish one of my top favourite comfort eats...

Prep Time 10 minutes / Roasting Time Un-attended 1 hour / Cooking Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4 or in my case a greedy 2!)

Crispy Five Spiced Belly Pork

1 kg belly pork skin on and not fridge cold

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp five spice powder (recipe below)

1 onion roughly chopped

1 green pepper roughly chopped

1 carrot roughly chopped

1 pineapple cubed

2 cups basmati rice

2 cups water

2 cups coconut milk

Sweet and Sour Sauce

125g sugar

50ml pineapple juice

6 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Five Spice Powder

1 tbsp star anise ground

1/4 - 1/2 tsp whole clove ground

1 tbsp fennel seeds ground

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns ground

Mix all the ground spices together and that's it, the clove powder is personal, I am not the biggest fan of clove but I know it has its place in flavour, so ideally 1 tbsp would be correct for this recipe but I just find that so over powering on my taste, therefore I have lowered it to what I find beautiful, so this is a taste experience for you to develop for your personal flavour...

The Sweet and Sour Pork

Pre heat your oven to 220 C / 430 F and place the roasting tray in the oven to warm up, meanwhile take you side of belly pork that ideally has been out of the fridge for at least an hour or two.  Using kitchen paper pat the skin side so that it is completely dry.  Rub in the salt and five spice all over the skin, this is the key to crispy crackling.  Pop in the oven and leave to cook for 30 minutes then turn down the heat to 200 C / 392 F for the last 20 - 30 minutes.  Once cooked remove from the oven and leave to rest on the side while you make the sticky pineapple and sweet and sour sauce.

When the pork has 20 minutes left to cook place the rice in a pan with the water and coconut milk, bring to a simmer, pop on the lid and leave on a gentle simmer for 10 minutes, do not at any point take the lid off or stir the rice, stirring rice makes it more glutinous and stodgy.  When the 10  minutes is up just take the rice off the heat and leave for a further 10  minutes to finish cooking under its own steam.

While the pork is resting make the sweet and sour sauce, heat a frying pan to a medium heat, add the oil and the pineapple and sear the pineapple for a couple of minutes you want to catch the sides so that they brown up a little, then add the onions and green pepper and cook for a further minute, next add the sugar and stir in, leave the pan alone for a couple of minutes to allow the sugar to caramelise, but not burn, the sugar will change colour to a light brown, don't let it get to dark or it will become a solid caramel mass when you add the liquid!  When the sugar has lightly caramelised add the pineapple juice and white wine vinegar, there will be an eruption of spitting bubbles, that's good, stir well next add the tomato ketchup, soy and stir in, if you feel the sauce is too thick add more pineapple juice.

Slice the crispy belly pork in to inch square bites and add to the sweet and sour sauce along with any rested cooking juices and your good to go, serve with your perfectly cooked coconut rice.

SUPER FOOD QUINOA BURRITO

Complete Protein

I just love this seed, it is outstanding and so good for you, a brilliant complete protein, naturally gluten free and around 8g protein in a small portion makes this seed just brilliant.  I also love the thought that this seed was eaten a few thousand years ago in the regions of Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile for me makes this feel like more of natural food source than a processed grain.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 2)

Burrito Stuffing

120g quinoa

500 ml vegetable stock or water

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp apple balsamic vinegar

1/2 juice lime

1 pinch sea salt

1 tbsp coconut oil

10 cherry tomatoes roasted

100g raw spinach

50g raw kale

1 cup of peas

2 tbsp chopped coriander

1 tsp fresh thyme 

1 tsp chilli flakes

For the Burrito Wrap

500g 00 or spelt wholemeal flour

10g sea salt

50g olive oil

320g water

Enchilada Sauce

2 tbsp coconut or olive oil

2 tbsp 00 flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp oregano

2 tbsp chilli powder ( upto 4 if you like it HOT!)

500ml chicken stock

Making the Flat Bread Dough

First make the dough for the flat breads, this is a un leven dough so there is no proving time.  Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough knead for a couple of minutes until smooth and springy.  Leave on the side to rest while you make the enchilada sauce. 

Cooking The Flat Breads

To cook the flat breads, divide the dough in to 10-12 balls, roll out to a large thin circle the same size as your largest skillet.  Pre heat the skillet nice and hot and place the flat bread in the skillet cook each side for around 1-2 minutes, charring the bread a little adds more depth of flavour, wrap in a warm tea towel until needed.

Making The Enchilada Sauce

Heat the oil in a pan, add the flour to make a roux, on a low heat cook out the flour for a couple of minutes, whisk in the rest of all the dry ingredients then whisk in the stock gradually to avoid any lumps, whisk until smooth consistency, turn up the heat a little and simmer until a medium thick saucy consistency, that's the enchilada sauce done!  Will keep in the fridge in a air tight jar for 3-5 days.

Cooking The Quinoa

First get the quinoa cooking, place the quinoa seeds in a pan along with the stock or water, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for approx 10 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed, take off the heat and add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lime juice and coriander stir through and leave to rest until needed in just a mo.

In a hot skillet place the coconut oil add the tomatoes and sear for a couple of minutes then add the peas and kale and cook for a further couple of minutes, then add the thyme and chillies stir in and finally add the spinach take off the heat.

The Burrito

Now just to assemble, place your flat bread on your plates and load with the Quinoa and tomato, kale, spinach filling, fold over or roll up and pour over a generous spoonful of the enchilada sauce, that's it.

You could make a batch of these rolled up in a tray and pour over some tomato sauce, then the enchilada sauce finished off with some cheese and bake in the oven for 30 minutes for glorious baked enchiladas

FAJITAS BUDDHA BOWL

Super yummy and so good for you too, what's not to love about this glorious bowl of food.  Succulent spiced chicken served on a large bed of fresh spinach and watercress with a generous amount of zesty lime, chilli and coriander avocado guacamole, fresh jalapenos and yogurt.

Prep Time 5 mins / Marinating Optional 1-2 hrs / Cooking Time 10 mins

Ingredients

(serves 2)

Now this might look like a lot of ingredients but most of them are probably in your fridge and cupboards and are repeated a few times in all the recipes.  

The Fajitas Spice Rub

Mix all the ingredients together Ta-da that's it...

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp chilli pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp corn masa flour

Pinch sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

75ml Olive oil

300g chicken thigh or breast finely sliced

1/2 red pepper finely sliced

1/2 green pepper finely sliced

1 onion finely sliced

1 fresh jalapeno chilli chopped

100g fresh spinach

100g fresh watercress

2 tbsp full fat plain yogurt

1 lime halved for squeezing over finished dish

1 tbsp fresh coriander 

Zesty Lime Chilli Avocado Guacamole

1 ripe avocado

2 spring onions finely diced

1 tomato diced

1 red chilli diced

2 tbsp fresh coriander

1/3 lime juiced

1 pinch sea salt

1 tbsp diced red pepper

I like to marinate my chicken if I can for at least a few hours, I often prepare the chicken the day before and leave in the fridge to marinate, it does make a difference but not so much so that I would not cook it straight from scratch.

Place the chicken in the fajitas marinade and leave to infuse if you have the time,  Heat a skillet medium hot and add the chicken along with all the marinade and oil, sear for five minutes and then add the red and green peppers and the onion, stir in for a couple of minutes and then add a dash (30ml) of water, this will create steam and loosen any of the gorgeous flavours that have caught on the bottom of the pan, turn the heat down low and leave to finish cooking for another couple of minutes, this will also allow the chicken to slightly rest making a more juicy fajitas chicken.

Meanwhile make your avocado guacamole, mash all the ingredients together.  Take your large serving bowls and divide the spinach and watercress between them, squeeze over a drizzle of lime, top with the chicken fajitas, avocado guacamole and a good dollop of yogurt, sprinkle over the coriander and jalapenos and finish off with another squeeze of fresh lime, and that's it your done.

HOT WATER CRUST RAISED PIE

BRITISH PIE WEEK

FRENCH PIE

WoW...What A Show Stopper...

I Love Love Love this pie tin! 

I love making this old fashioned Hot Water Crust French pie, I am not as traditional these days as I was when I first started making this pie in this fluted French tin for my market stall (search bar has recipe) which would be a layered game pie with a brandy chicken liver pate force meat, but I found I rarely got to use this tin.  So nowadays I enjoy using this tin for special pie moments like Christmas Day Left Over Pie.  I do always use my hot water crust with home rendered crackling lard the best ever melt in the mouth pastry

Prep Time 20 mins / Cooking Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

Hot Water Crust Pastry

450g plain flour

1 egg beaten

220g lard

10g salt

180ml hot water

1 egg beaten for egg wash

Pie Filling Ingredients

(this can be any fillings you want)

Left over turkey meat

Left over roast potatoes

Left over gravy

Left over cranberries

Left over stuffing

Sea salt and black pepper

Method

First make the hot water crust, place the water and lard in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, in a bowl place the flour and salt and cut in the beaten egg, pour over the hot lard and bring together with a wooden spoon and as soon as you can handle the dough knead for a couple of seconds and form in to a ball.  

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees C, grease the sides of your pie tin.  cut off on third of the pastry and leave to one side, this is for the pie lid.  Roughly roll out the remaining pastry to about an inch thick and fold in to the tin to line, press the soft pliable pastry in to all the ribs of the tin and up the sides, trim off any excess that is hanging over the top of the pie tin.

For the pie lid, roll out the remaining pastry and place the tin on the pastry, cut around the pie dish.  If you have any left over pastry cut out some decorative leaves or hearts for the top.

Now to layer, I went with cranberries first followed by turkey, stuffing, gravy, repeated that again and then finished off with crushed roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts, if I had more cranberries I would have finished off with a final layer.  Egg wash the top of the pasty and place the pie lid on the pie, crimp the edges and decorate the top with leaves, skewer a small hole in the centre of the pie.

Brush the pie with egg wash and place in the oven to cook for around 35-45 minutes until golden and crisp.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.  The pie is ready to serve, but I like to egg wash the sides and pop back in the oven for 10 minutes to set the glaze and then serve.

Serve with creamy buttery mashed potatoes and fresh sprouts and any left over gravy.

TRADITIONAL TOAD IN THE HOLE

One of the best winter dinners ever!!!  Gorgeous Yorkshire pudding stuffed with our homemade Oscar's Acres Henley's Down Herb sausages, served just with garden peas and a pork stock and maderia gravy, this is a fabulous family and friends favourite in our home.

Prep time 5 minutes / Resting time 1-4hrs (optional) / Cooking time 45 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

The Yorkshire Batter

200g plain flour

200g eggs

200g milk

1 large pinch of sea salt and white pepper

Toads in the Hole

12 excellent animal welfare sausages

3 tbsp of lard or dipping

Gravy

1 ltr pork or chicken stock

300ml Maderia

50g butter

1 tbsp heaped corn flour

3 tbsp water

Make the batter first, I like to leave my batter to rest on the side at room temperature for at least half an hour and up to 4 hours.  Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees C, place you sausages in a roasting tin with the lard and pop in the oven for 20 minutes, at this point turn up the heat to 220 degrees C for five minutes, then really quickly open the oven door and pour the batter in to the roasting tin around the sausages, do this as fast as you can and pop back in the oven, I have got this down to 20 seconds, but don't rush and burn yourself!  

Leave the oven at 220 for five more minutes then turn back to 200 degrees C, for the last 15 minutes of cooking time.  This is not totally neccessary and if you are not in the kitchen during the cook or have to divide your time with the family, then just keep the oven at 200 degrees at all time.  The reason I pop the heat up is I find I can get a better rise in the batter.

Under no circumstances, well apart from burning the house down, do NOT open the oven door until the final cooking time is up.

Meanwhile to make a speedy fabulous gravy, bring the stock up to a rolling boil and reduce by half, add the Maderia and reduce by 1/3, now whisk in the butter on a lower heat.  If you want to thicken the stock gravy further add the water to the cornflour and start by adding half the cornflour mixture, whisk and cook for a few minutes before deciding to thicken further or not.  Taste and season with salt and pepper or more butter to taste.

Serve with creamy buttery mashed potatoes, peas and gravy, a winner family dinner, enjoy...

BEST EVER LEFT OVER TURKEY ROGAN JOSH CURRY

This is so good you won't even know it is left over Christmas Day Turkey!!!  So fragrant and full of flavour not heat (optional) this is a new best for our Christmas curry and I will not be going back.  This was so good I had to remove the spoon while it rested or their would not be enough left to feed the family, ops... this would not be the first time that has happened!!!

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Fresh Fragrant Ingredients

2 tbsp ghee

1 onions finely diced

3 cloves garlic finely diced

2 tbsp finely grated ginger

Whole Spices

1/2 about 4" long stick cinnamon

8 cardamom pods bashed half open

2 whole cloves

Dry Spices

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 pinch mace powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp garam masala toasted

1 tsp toasted fennel seeds

Curry Ingredients

500g chicken thigh or breast diced

3 tbsp tomato puree

400ml water or stock

Finishing Ingredients

50ml double cream

125g natural yogurt

1/2 bunch roughly chopped coriander

1 tsp garam masala

Heat a saucepan medium hot and add the ghee once melted add all the whole spices and gently fry for a couple of minutes, next add the onion and garlic and soften for around 15 minutes, add the ginger and fry for a further couple of minutes before adding all the dry spices, stir in well.

Add the chicken and coat well in all the spices then add the water and tomato puree, stir in and bring to a low gentle simmer, pop on a lid and cook for around 30 minutes, take the lid off and reduce the sauce if needed, I like a lot of sauce!  

To serve stir in the cream, yogurt and coriander and adjust seasoning if required.  Serve with fluffy rice and warm flat breads for dunking and scoping up this wonderful curry.

This fabulous hand painted tiffin tin came from India and I absolutely love it...