MINESTRONE GARDEN GROWN SOUP

Another complete self sufficient meal from my garden, well apart from the noodles, and they are not essential!  When I get to eat these meals there is such a sense of pride and fulfilment from knowing that I grew all the vegetables I am preparing, to enjoying each and every satisfying spoonful of garden bounty.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cook time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 3-4) 

The beauty of this soup is any vegetable goes, what every is still growing or over wintering in your garden or stored from your garden, for me I still have leeks, celery, beetroot, spring onions, carrots, parsnips, thyme, winter cabbage, onions and garlic in my garden, from the store I have potatoes and canned tomatoes, from my freezer a cubed courgette, peas and homemade chicken stock.

Prepare all the ingredients first to make a speedy cook.

1 small handful spaghetti broken into " long pieces

2 lrg potatoes peeled fine diced

1 lrg carrot peeled fine diced

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic grated

1 tbsp coconut oil (or homegrown rendered lard)

4 plum tomatoes fresh or canned

1 lrg handful peas

3 leaves of green cabbage finely sliced

1 courgette finely diced

1.5ltr chicken or vegetable stock

3 sprigs thyme

Sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

50g spaghetti (optional)

1 tsp organic miso paste (optional)

1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

 

Chicken stock

1 left over roast chicken carcas

2 ltrs water

1 onion halved

1 carrot chopped

2 sticks celery chopped

1 leek roughly chopped

1 fresh bay leaf

10 black peppercorns

1 pinch sea salt

Place all the ingredients after your roast chicken diner in deep pan and simmer gently for approx one hour, seive and reserve the stock.

First place your chicken stock on the hob and bring to a gentle rolling simmer, add the diced potato, carrot and and pasta if using, simmer for 10 minutes, add the rest of your ingredients and simmer for a couple of minutes, taste and season with salt and black pepper, that is it a gorgeous heart warming simple soup.

BRAMBLE BLACKBERRY AND WILD APPLE SPONGE PUDDING

Heart warming comforting old fashioned hedgerow blackberry and apple steamed pudding, from the first sumptuous mouthful you are transported back to those comforting memories of warmth and love, for me it is my nan and grandads, the quietness of the house, the ticking of the kitchen clock and the excitement of going out to pick blackberries for pudding and jam, then helping or hindering to make the jam and pudding for tea that night, the anticipation was worth every mouthful.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cook time 11/2 hrs

Ingredients

(serves 8)

500g blackberries foraged

4 apples, peeled and rough chopped

180g self raising flour

150g suet or butter room temperature

150g golden caster sugar

3 free range eggs beaten

1 lemon juice and zest

1/2 jar of blackberry jam

Blackberry and lemon drizzle

250g of your above blackberries

1/2 jar blackberry jam

Juice of one lemon

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

Place all the ingredients in a pan and bring to a simmer for a few minutes, then push through a sieve and reserve as your gorgeous sweet but sharp drizzle that will complement your pudding.

Custard ingredients

4 egg yolks

150g golden caster sugar

250ml whole milk

250ml double cream

1 vanilla pod seeds scraped out

Place the milk, cream, vanilla pod and seeds on the heat to almost simmer, remove, beat the yolks in a bowl with the sugar, add the warm milk and cream whisking all the time, return the mixture to the pan and gently heat for a couple of minutes until you can coat the back of a spoon, take off the heat and pass through a sieve, this is now ready to go.

Steamer equipment

large pudding basin and lid

1 large pan with a trivet or up-turned saucer

1 parchment circle for base of pudding dish

1 parchment circle for lid of pudding dish

1 circle lid of tin foil

string

Place the butter or suet and sugar in a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, add the beaten eggs and two tbsp of the flour, this is to stop the mixture curdle, not a worry if it does, beat in the eggs and then gently fold in the remaining flour, chopped apple and zest of the lemon.

Line the base of the pudding basin with parchment paper and place half the blackberries in the bottom of the pudding basin, fill the basin with the batter mix.  Fold a pleat in the parchment lid and place on the top of the batter mix, again fold a pleat in the foil lid and cover the top of the pudding basin, take your string and tie around the edge lip of the basin leaving a length of six cm hanging loose on the first knot, now tie another knot on the opposite side of the basin, now tie the two ends of string from both knots together to make a handle over the basin lid.

Take your deep saucepan and place a trivet (or a up-turned saucer) in the bottom of the pan and place your pudding basin, pour in boiling water three quarters of the way of the basin and pop the lid on, keep the water at a mild bubbling level and steam your pudding for around one and a half hour, to check if your pudding is cooked, insert a skewer and if it is clean when your remove it is done.

Best served warm with indulgent gorgeous amount of custard and a generous drizzle of the zesty sharp but slightly sweet blackberry and lemon drizzle.

SUPER FIBRE LOADED FRUIT AND NUT BARS

These fantastic little bars are super healthy, full of good fats, omega 3, minerals and vitamins, high in fibre with natural sweetness from the prunes and apricots.  Really quick and simple to make and lots of variety and a great and easy way to healthly increase your fibre intake.

Around 5.6g fibre and 244 calories per bar.

Total cook time 5 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 6 bars)

1 cup almonds

3/4 cup flax seed

1/2 cup dried prunes

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

30-50ml water

Place all the ingredients except the water in a blender and pulse until finely chopped and coming together like a dough, add just enough water to bring together.

Line a small tin with cling film and press in the mixture evenly, remove from the tin and cut into six bars, or more if you want, alternatively you can roll the mixture into balls.  

Store in a air tight container or in the fridge, these can keep for weeks in the fridge if they last that long!

Variations ideas

70% chocolate half dipped bars

Raisin and dates

Brazil and walnuts

Fig and lime

Cranberries and gojyo berries

Dried banana and mango

Toasted coconut oil hazel nuts

SINGAPORE SPICY ZOODLES NO NOODLES

Zoodles no noodles, low fat, low carb and overloaded with gorgeous flavours, this is a fabulous supper dish, loaded with super healthy ingredients that love your body and full of flavours that really pack a punch from the shaoxing wine, soy, sesame oil and curry paste.  Change the meat for local scallops and cold water ocean caught prawns or shredded chicken to give you variety.

Prep time 10-15 minutes / cook time 7-10 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

2 100g fillets of venison

1 tbsp (twice) coconut oil

1 courgette into zoodles (instructions below)

1 small red pepper sliced

2 spring onions sliced

2 cloves garlic sliced

2 green chillies sliced 

2" ginger sliced

1" turmeric grated or 1/4 tsp powder

1 handful red cabbage sliced

1 handful kale torn

1 handful watercress

1 handful spinach

6 stems of broccoli rough chopped

6 stems of asparagus rough chopped

1 tbsp curry paste or

(homemade recipe below)

1 tbsp shaoxing wine

1 tsp soy sauce

1 dash sesame oil

1 tbsp curry paste

Homemade curry paste recipe

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 cloves

2 cloves garlic

1 shallot diced

6 black pepper corns

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2" ginger 

1 red chilli diced

2 cardamom pods

First make the curry paste, in a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar grind the whole spices to a fine powder, then mix with the powdered spices, add the coconut oil to a pestle and mortar along with the shallot, garlic, cardamom, chilli and ginger, pound to a paste, remove the cardamom shells and add the rest of the curry spices, pound into a even mixed paste.  This will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge in a old air tight jar.

The key to fast and successful cooking lies in preparing all your ingredients ready to go, place a frying pan and a wok or saucepan on the stove, heat the frying pan medium hot, rub the venison with the coconut oil and place in the hot pan, sear browning each side, then turn down the heat a little and cook for a couple of minutes for rare and a couple of minutes more for medium, take off the heat and leave to rest in the pan while you cook the rest of the dish.

Heat some coconut oil in your wok and add the broccoli, asparagus, red cabbage, kale and garlic, stir fry for a couple of minutes, you want to cook the greens but also keep some crunch as this keeps more of the nutrients in the vegetables, meanwhile in your serving bowls place the spinach and watercress.  Take the zoodles and toss in the sesame oil add to the wok along with the peppers, ginger, turmeric, chillies, spring onions, add the shaoxing wine and soy sauce, gently stir through and let the liquid reduce, mix in the curry paste and serve into your bowls.

Slice the venison steaks on the diagonal and place on top of the noodles, now go and enjoy this fabulous fragrant bowl of gorgeousness.

No noodle zoodles, fabulous way to have noodles without the carbs, fat and calories from produced processed rice noodles.

Fabulous zoodle maker

Amazon uk

RIBEYE TOMY HAWK STEAK AND SALAD

In the mood for steak, and this gorgeous whopper fitted the bill, a grass fed 32oz four week dry aged cut of ribeye, seared and slowly pan fried rare, left to rest for five to ten minutes letting all it's glorious juices to settle evenly throughout the steak ensuring every mouthful is going to be succulent and juicy, I served mine with some gently pan fried nutty butter chewy garlic slices on a bed of watercress.  

Prep time 5 minutes / cook time rare 7 minutes, medium 10 minutes

Ingredients

32 oz grass feed ribeye steak on the bone

6 cloves garlic sliced

1 tbsp butter (grass feed)

Sea salt

Fresh black pepper

Heat a skillet or frying pan medium hot, add the butter and garlic and gently pan fry until light golden and the butter has taken on a some light brown colour, keep your heat medium, if your heat is too high the butter will burn and leave a bitter flavour, remove the garlic from the pan and keep to one side.

Pop the pan back on the heat and turn up to high, add you steak and sear both sides for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat down a little and slowly cook to your choice.

To check if your steak is cooked to your choice you can make a incision and look, remembering that during resting your steak will cook on a little bit more, or gently prod your steak and feel the tension, to do this take your thumb and index finger and touch the finger pads together, turn your hand palm facing up and now using your other index finger prod the protruding muscle at the base of your thumb, this is how rare meat feels.

For a medium cooked steak swop your index finger for your fore finger and feel the tension, again move along to the next finger to feel the tension of well done. 

Once your steak is a minute of so away from being cooked to your choice, remove from the pan and rest on a warm plate, loosely cover with foil.  Serve on a bed of watercress, drizzle any resting juices over the salad and top your steak with the garlic and any cooking juices left in the pan, season with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

LAMB KEBAB HEALTHY AND GUILT FREE

I love that this guilt free super healthy kebab not only does it knock the socks off the take out donner kebab but it loves your body back, packed with lots of great healthy ingredients there is no reason why you can not have this weekly as a main stay in your diet.  I omit the flatbread at the moment and have a bed of spinach, watercress and rocket instead as I am still on a weight loss journey.  The flatbread dough is really quick and simple to make, almost a no knead bread that results in a gorgeous light airy natural flatbread, ready to be loaded with what ever you want.

Kebab prep time 7 minutes / cooking time 5 minutes

Flatbread dough prep time 10 minutes / resting time 1-2hrs / cooking time 3 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

Flatbread dough

Makes 12 flat breads, u can freeze left over dough

This is my perfect flat bread dough, this dough is also fabulous for pizzas, bread rolls and loafs.  

500g 00 Italian flour

15g yeast

10g sea salt

50ml olive oil

320ml water

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and either by hand or by machine with a dough hook mix for seven minutes, then dust a little flour over the dough mix and gently form into a ball, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm area to prove for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.  You can make this dough the day before and leave to prove slowly in the fridge for 24hrs, this is how I do this as it gives me much more control over time and usage, this will keep for 48hrs in the fridge ready to go, you can also freeze any left over dough at this stage, then when ready to use remove from the freezer defrost and once up to room temperature use as you would fresh.

 Take a oversized golf ball piece of dough, roll into a ball and roll out a large disk no bigger than your frying pan, heat your dry frying pan to a hot heat, place the flat bread in the pan and cook for one and a half minutes on each side, best served warm.

Kebab ingredients

200g-300g lamb fillet or leg finely sliced 

1 tsp coconut oil

6 garlic cloves finely sliced

2 spring onions sliced

2 hot chillies sliced

1/2 white cabbage finely sliced

1/4 red cabbage finely sliced 

1 onion finely sliced

2 handfuls of spinach watercress and rocket salad 

Garlic yoghurt drizzle

6 tbsps Greek plain yoghurt 

10 mint leaves chopped

2cloves garlic grated

Prep all your ingredients ready to go as this is a speedy cook, pan fry the flat breads and place on your plates, load with all the salad and cabbage leaves.  Heat your frying pan or wok medium hot, add the coconut oil and gently cook the garlic, you want to slightly brown the garlic, this will give the garlic a slightly sweet nutty flavour, remove from the pan.  Season the sliced lamb with salt and black pepper, add to the pan and stir fry for a couple of minutes for medium rare, take off the heat and leave to rest in the pan for a couple of minutes while you make the mint and garlic dip.  Mix all the ingredients together.

Place the lamb on top of your salad and top with the mint yoghurt drizzle, sprinkle over the nutty garlic, chillies and spring onions, enjoy.

ZOODLE NO NOODLE CHICKEN RAMAN

Fabulous no rice noodle courgette zoodle noodle chicken raman, this is not just a bowl of broth it is an abundance of love and hugs for your soul and body, this is a bowl that gives you outstanding nutrition with gorgeous flavours and textures, what's more there is a wide variation of ingredients that you can assemble in this dish keeping it forever fresh and exciting, in Japan this dish is a staple main stay of their diet and is eaten daily and I know why because it makes you feel so good and always gives me a glowing sense of great health and love for my body when I eat this.

Ingredients

(serves 1)

600ml chicken stock

(homemade stock recipe below)

I make a batch of chicken jelly stock every week that keeps in the fridge in a glass jug giving me a variety of speedy from fridge to table ramans in under 7 minutes, making your own stock takes five minutes of preparation and two hours of un-attended simmering, plus you get lots of poached chicken for other meals ready to go from the fridge.

1 handful watercress

1 handful beansprouts

3 stems asparagus

3 stems broccoli

6 mangetout

1 red chilli sliced

1 spring onion sliced

1" ginger grated

1/2" turmeric grated

1 clove garlic grated

1 courgette to make zoodles or 1 ptn rice noodles

1 six minute mollet boiled egg

1 dash soy sauce

Courgette zoodles

If you don't have a zoodle maker then either strips of the courgette or using a potato peeler, peel ribbons of courgette, stack and slice longways you zoodles will be half as thick but you will still get the same gluten free effect.

First prep all your ingredients ready to go, then place your serving bowl on the side and put the watercress and beansprouts in the bowl,next bring a pan of water up to the boil and using a timer pop the egg in for six minutes exactly or if the egg is rather large six minutes twenty seconds, next this is important if you want a set white and soft dipping yolk, plunge the egg into a bowl of running cold water for one minute to stop the cooking process, if you want a hard boiled centre then just run the egg under cold water for a moment and leave on the side.  Bring the chicken stock up to a gently simmer and add the garlic, chilli, spring onions, turmeric, asparagus and broccoli, simmer for a couple of minutes then pour in to your bowl, peel the egg and cut in half and place in your bowl, season the stock with a dash of soy sauce.

Home made chicken stock

1 free range chicken

1 onion quartered

2 carrots scrubbed

1 leek rough chopped

2 celery rough chopped

10 black peppercorns

1 lrg pinch sea salt

2 bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp fish sauce

5 star anise

1 lemon grass bashed

1/2 stick cinnamon

Place all the ingredients in a deep pan and fill with approx three litres of water enough to cover the chicken and bring to a gently simmer, skim off any froth and simmer gently for two hours, take off the heat and leave to cool, allowing the whole chicken to relax and absorb back some of the flavoured stock, once semi cooled remove the chicken and strain the stock into a large jug and place in the fridge to cool, once cool lift off the set fat and discard or keep and use for cooking.  Take your chicken and pick off the all the meat and use for other meals like, coronation chicken salad, sandwiches, pie fillings, curries, raman, quiche etc...

NOODLE ZOODLES LOW FAT LOW CARB

THAI COCONUT SOUP

How fantastic is this, a courgette can become zoodle noodles a great alternative to rice or pasta noodles, I did wonder if I was going to be able to give up my rice noodles that I love in ramen and find a super healthy low carb/calorie alternative that is just as good in not only taste but texture too, I am super excited that the gadget I brought to make zoodle noodles from vegetables really does make fantastic noodles.  This recipe is a glorious bowl of super health and great taste without compromise.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 5 minutes

Zoodles

These are very quick and simple to make, you will need a zoodle maker if you want long zoodles like noodles!  Alternatively if you want to try these before buying a gadget that will end up sitting in a drawer only to be given away a few years later then you can use a julienne blade on a mandolin or a potato peeler, they will be shorter and not as thick, think rice noodles v vermicelli in size, if using a potato peeler peel long ribbons and stack them neatly back together and then using a sharp knife slice longways into thin zoodles.

The zoodle gadget

Ingredients

(serves 2)

800ml chicken broth

(home made recipe below)

200ml coconut cream/milk

1 star anise

1 tsp fish sauce

1/2 stick cinnamon

1/2 lime juiced

1 courgette zoodle noodles

4 stems broccoli

6 stems asparagus

1 pak choi 

10 mangetout finely sliced

1 red chilli sliced

2 spring onions finely sliced

2 handfuls spinach and rocket

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1/2" turmeric grated

A super fast and fabulously fragrant and healthy bowl of abundance, prep all your ingredients before you start, I often prep three times more than I need so that these ingredients are ready straight from the fridge which means I can have this meal on the table in under five minutes!

Place your serving bowls ready to go and put the watercress and rocket in one side.  Place the chicken broth and coconut cream or milk in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer, add the zoodles for one minute, remove and place in your serving bowl,  Next add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for three minutes, remove the star anise and cinnamon stick then pour the gorgeous stock over your zoodles and enjoy,

This style of broth is really a blank canvas you can add anything you like to zing up or down the broth, I like to add tamarind, tom yum and hot chilli harissa paste to va va voom the broth or sometimes I just fancy a simple clean broth and leave out the coconut cream, there are so many variations you will  never feel bored of this gorgeous meal.

Home made chicken stock

(makes 1.5ltrs)

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking un-attended 2 hours

1 free range chicken

2 carrots roughly chopped

2 celery roughly chopped

1 onion quartered

1 leek rough chopped

2 bay leaves

5 star anise

10 black peppercorns

1/2 stick cinnamon

2 tbsp fish sauce

2" piece ginger sliced

1 lemon halved

Place all the ingredients in a deep pan and cover with water approx three litres bring up to a gently simmer and leave to tick away for two hours, skim off any froth that accumulates on top.  When cooked and the stock has reduced by half take off the heat and leave to cool.  Remove the chicken and keep for other meals, pass the stock through a sieve and store in a large glass jug in your fridge, once the stock has set in the fridge it is easier to remove the fat from the top of the stock, you can keep this fat in a dripping bowl in the fridge if you want and use as fat for cooking.

CHAR SIU PORK

Gorgeous sweet sticky slow roasted char siu marinated loin of pork, the wonderful aromatic aroma of five spice, hoi sin and star anise filling my kitchen with the promise of gorgeous sweet sticky char siu flavours to come did not disapoint.

Prep time 5 minutes / cooking time 45 minutes / Simplicity quick and easy

Ingredients

1 loin of pork or belly pork joint skin off

10 tbsp hoi sin sauce

6 tbsp honey

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 five spice powder

4 star anise

4 tbsp yellow bean paste

Mix all the ingredients together and place in a large zip lock bag, add the pork joint and massage the marinade all over the pork, pop in the fridge for a minimum of 2hrs, the longer you can leave the pork to marinate the better, I like to leave my pork for 24hrs,

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees, place a wire rack over a roasting tin and fill the tin three quarters full with water, place the pork joint in the centre of the rack, reserving the marinade, spoon over some of the marinade and place the pork in the oven to roast for 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to 180 degrees and cook until the centre reaches 70 degrees, approx 30 minutes, baste regularly, once cooked leave to rest for 15 minutes. carve and serve your gorgeous juicy sweet and sticky char siu pork on top of a steaming bowl of rice.  

Any leftovers can be finely chopped/shredded and added to egg fried rice with peas and ocean caught prawns for a quick and sumptuous supper meal.

TWENTY CLOVES OF GARLIC CHICKEN

Twenty cloves of garlic may sound like a lot of garlic, it's not, by cooking the garlic in brown butter you create a nutty subtle flavour to this dish and the infused butter becomes a rich glaze that coats the juicy succulent stir fried chicken, this is a gorgeous bowl of simplicity, balanced with the freshness from the shards of ginger, spring onion, chilli, mangetout and asparagus, in all a sumptuous dinner.

Prep time 7 minutes / Cook time 5-7 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

600g of free range chicken thighs or breast

50g butter

1 tsp coconut oil

20 cloves garlic thin sliced

2" ginger 

2 spring onions sliced

2 red chillies sliced

8 stems of asparagus chopped

100g mangetout sliced longways

(Serve with plain rice)

Prepare all your ingredients ready to go, thinly slice the chicken and set to one side, heat a wok or non stick frying pan, add the butter and coconut oil, once melted add the garlic and gently fry until the butter turns light brown, this gives the butter and garlic a rich nutty flavour, remove the garlic and butter from the wok and reserve to one side.

Wok back on add the asparagus and stir fry for one minute then add the chicken and stir fry when the chicken is almost cooked add the mangetout, ginger, chillies, spring onion, reserved garlic and nutty butter, toss through and serve on its own or with a side of plain rice.

Additional serving suggestion add a glug of double cream or mascarpone cream cheese and serve tossed in linguine pasta with a dusting of Parmesan cheese and some fresh ground black pepper.

CHICKEN RAMEN NOODLE

Beautiful bowl of gorgeous goodness, health boosting chicken broth with fresh turmeric, ginger, garlic, chillies and spring onions served with rice noodles, beansprouts, watercress and mangetout, simplicity at its very best.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

1 ltr chicken stock

(recipe below)

1 clove garlic grated

1" ginger grated

1" turmeric root grated or 1/4 tsp pdw

1 red chilli sliced

2 spring onions chopped

2 handfuls watercress

2 handfuls bean sprouts

1 handful mangetout rough chopped

2 ptn cooked rice noodles

1 tsp light soy sauce

THE CHICKEN STOCK

Ingredients

(makes 1.5ltrs )

3 ltrs water

1 free range or organic chicken

1 bay leaf

2 onions halved

4 cloves of garlic

1 leek halved

2 carrots rough chopped

2 celery halved

10 black peppercorns

1 large pinch of salt

2 tbsp fish sauce

5 star anise

1 stick cinnamon

2 cloves

Place all the ingredients in a deep stock pan and bring to a gently simmer, skim off any froth that accumulates on the surface of the stock and discard, simmer for two hours, when ready take off the heat and leave the stock to cool for an hour or so if you can, this is so that the chicken can absorb some of the stock as it relaxes making the meat really juicy.

Remove the chicken and strain the stock through a fine sieve and place in the fridge to set, once set you can easily remove the fat that will have set on the top of the stock.  Pick all the meat from the chicken and store in the fridge for use with ramens and broths or with other meals.

This is a really quick assemble, bring your chicken broth up to a gently simmer, add the grated garlic, ginger, turmeric, chopped spring onion, chillies and mangetout and simmer for two minutes, meanwhile assemble your bowl, add the watercress, beansprouts and noodles, pour over the hot broth, use the sou sauce as your salt seasoning add to your taste and enjoy.  You can add any variation of meats and vegetables to this meal.

SINGAPORE NOODLES

Wonderful spicy and fragrant singapore noodle stir fry with crunchy shasoxing peppers, beansprouts, broccoli florets and seasame soy marinated chicken all tossed in a spicy curry and soy dressing and finished off with a aromatic medley of spring onions, ginger and garlic.

The key to success here is to prepare all the ingredients ready to go, this is a speedy cook and from start to finish should only take you around 15-18 minutes.

Prep time 7-10 minutes / Cooking time 8 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 pack of vermicilli rice noodles

2 tbsp coconut or ground nut oil

2 tbsp good curry paste

(recipe below)

1 red pepper sliced

1 green pepper sliced

100g bean sprouts

4 spring onions sliced into thin sticks

2 red chillies sliced

3" ginger sliced into thin sticks

1 head of broccolli florets

1 small bunch chopped coriander

4 cloves garlic sliced

8 mushrooms sliced

1 red onion sliced

1/4 red cabbage finly sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp shaosing wine

1 tbsp sesame oil

(optional)

200g leftover roast chicken

CURRY PASTE RECIPE

1 tbsp coconut or ground nut oil

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

2 whole cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cloves garlic grated

2" ginger grated

1 red chilli slices

1 sm onion finely chopped

2 cardamom pods bashed

(In a pestle and morta pound all the curry paste ingredients together and discard the cardom pods, add a teaspoon of coconut or ground nut oil bash some more to form your curry paste)

First cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, but generally you place the noodles in a bowl and pour over boiling water and leave to soak for two or so minutes, drain in a seive and run under cold water for just a split second, reserve to one side, at the same time blanch the broccolli florets in simmering water for two minutes, drain and reserve, meanwhile place the cooked or left over chicken in a bowl and toss in the sesame oil, then line up all your prepared vegetables ready to go!  Have your serving bowls and chopsticks ready to serve straight in too.

Heat your wok fairly hot and add a little of the coconut oil, stir fry the spring onion, red onion, garlic and ginger for one minute, remove and keep to one side, next add the peppers and stir fry for one minute, add the shasoxing wine and toss, remove and keep to one side, next stir fry the broccolli florets, red cabbage and mushrooms for a minute and again reserve to one side.

Now your ready to finish the dish, in the wok add the curry paste, peppers, mushrooms, broccolli, red cabbage, chicken and bean sprouts, stir fry for one minute, add the noodles and toss in the curry paste coating evenly, then add the spring onion, red onion, ginger and garlic mix and toss through, dish up into your bowls and sprinkle over the red chillies and coriander, serve with the side of soy sauce as your seasoning and enjoy this wonderful vibrant healthy dish full of flavour and goodness.

PHO A GLORIOUS BOWL OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

A glorious bowl that hugs and loves you back, this wonderful yet simple dish is loaded with super health giving properties that boost your immune and detox your system, there is nothing you won't love about this dish.  Gorgeous thin ribbons of steak and thai noodles bathed in a seasoned broth with star anise, lemongrass, ginger and a hint of cinnamon.

Generally traditional Pho is made from roasting beef and marrow bones and making a simple yet packed with flavour stock that you then build your dish around, you can also make your Pho broth with left over roast chicken or roast pork bones.  Building your dish traditionally you would add to your bowl thai noodles, beansprouts, thinly sliced rare beef, sliced chillies and a dash of fish sauce and lemon juice finished with a sprinkling of coriander, but this is just one way to enjoy this beautiful meal, I get my inspiration from Japanese ramen's and thai tom yum and laska style thin stock soups

Prep 15 minutes / Un-attended cooking time 3 hours / Assembly time 5 minutes

I make my broth up in advance the reason for this is two fold, firstly I like to store my broth in the fridge so that once it has gone cold and jelly set I can scoop of the fat and discard and secondly it is ready to go for quick and speedy suppers during the week, I can have a gorgeous healthy meal on the table in under five minutes.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

BEEF BROTH

2 beef knuckle/leg bones

1 marrow bone

2 carrots scrubbed

2 sticks celery rough chopped

1 leek rough chopped

3 star anise

1 stick lemongrass bashed

1/2 stick cinnamon

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 onions halved

1 lemon halved

3" piece ginger halved

FOR THE MEAL

6oz piece of rib or fillet beef

(allow 20 minutes chill time before use)

1 tsp coconut or ground nut oil

1 handful beansprouts

2 spring onions

1 red chilli

Thai noodles cooked

1 tbsp fresh coriander

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

First pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees to roast your beef bones for approx one hour, no need to do this if you are using leftover roast beef bones.  Place the roasted bones and scrapings from the roasting tin into a deep saucepan, add three litres of water and bring to a simmer, meanwhile in a frying pan on a medium heat and caramelise the onion, ginger and lemon, this releases their natural sugars and adds another depth of flavour to the broth, add these to the saucepan along with the rest of the broth ingredients, carrots, celery, leek, star anise, lemongrass, cinnamon and fish sauce.

Leave to gently simmer for three hours and skim off any scum that collects on the top, the slower you simmer the less scum will be produced and you will make a clearer purer stock.  Once your stock has bubbled away for three hours and reduced by half, increasing the depth of flavour, strain through a fine mesh sieve or muslin.  

Heat a non stick frying pan to medium hot, rub the beef with a dash of oil and sear the fillet on all sides for three to four minutes for rare and five to six for medium, take off the heat, wrap in clingfilm and place in the freezer, for twenty minutes, this will firm up the beef making it much easier to thinly slice, while the beef chills, place 600ml of stock in a saucepan and bring to a rolling simmer, turn down to tick over, take your beef from the freezer and thinly slice into ribbons.

In your bowls place a handful of thai noodles and top with a handful of beansprouts, a sprinkling of spring onions, chillies and coriander, place the ribbons of beef piled high in the centre and then pour over your hot beef stock, adjust the seasoning if needed with a dash of fish sauce and or lemon juice then enjoy your bowl of goodness, health and happiness.

AMARETTO ESPRESSO TIRAMISU

Decadent glorious over indulgent happiness in every spoonful, this is a pudding that will take you several attempts to finish, the gorgeous rich marscapone custard and fragrant amaretto espresso biscotto will bring a cracking smile to your taste buds.

Cook time 7 minutes

This is really an assembly of ingredients very quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

20 biscotto amaretti almond biscuits

75ml disaronno Italian liqueur

1 espresso coffee

250g marscapone

2 egg yolks

4tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp cocoa powder

First make the espresso, place the biscotti biscutis on a plate pour over the disaronno and espresso and leave for a couple of minutes to soak up all the liquid.  In a large bowl whisk the marscapone, sugar and egg yolks together until smooth, now you are ready to assemble the layers.

In individual or one large serving bowl place six of the soaked biscotto biscuits top with one third of the marscapone custard, dust over a third of the cocoa powder, repeat this twice more and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours before serving.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK HONG KONG STYLE

My best ever fresh sweet sumptuous classic take out dish that is so easy to make, super fast from wok to table in under 15 minutes and full of fresh clean flavours, you will never order this from a takeaway again!  Why it can not be this good from fast food take outs is a mystery to me, juicy pork belly encased in a light crispy thin batter then tossed in a gorgeous fresh pineapple and orange sweet glaze, this is sumptuously gorgeous.

Ingredients 

(Serves 4-6)

1kg of belly pork, skin removed

2 eggs beaten

2 tbsp cornflour

200ml water

1 pineapple chunked

1 orange zest and juiced

1 bottle of tomato ketchup

100ml pineapple juice

8 tbsp sugar

2 ltr nut oil for frying

This is great fast food!  First put the oil in a wok and warm up to 190 degrees, while this is coming up to heat make the sweet and sour glaze, place the pineapple juice, orange juice and zest along with the tomato ketchup and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil and reduce to a pulpy sauce, taste and adjust the flavour if needed with sugar and pineapple juice, keep this gorgeous sauce on a low heat ticking over ready for the next stage.

Next make the lovely thin crispy batter by beating the eggs and cornflour together to make a smooth paste, slowly start adding the water until you have the consistency of thick double cream.

Cut the belly pork into small squares approx one inch square, when your oil is up to temperature dip the pork belly in the batter and gently place into your hot oil, these will take approx 4 minutes to cook, remove from the wok and drain on kitchen paper, once all your belly pork is cooked, add to your hot sweet and sour sauce gently tossing to coat and serve immediately and enjoy.

HOME PRESERVED ROASTED GARLIC AND RED PEPPER TOMATO SAUCE

I am so pleased with my first batch of canned tomato sauce, the huge amount of joy and satisfaction I feel when I know our own onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, celery and leeks made this sauce, it is another successful step forward in our self sufficient lifestyle, I also love the glut of over a hundred jars in my larder, just from the tomatoes!  I am going to need a bigger larder!  

This paves the way for next year's food growing and preserving list, I am currently working on our self sufficient cook book on all the meals we can provide from our garden to plate throughout each season with only relying on a few larder items that we don't grow.  This lifestyle envokes a truly positive satisfying feeling from producing your own fresh food and lowering the burden on Mother Nature, what's more all the fodder and weeds from the garden supplement the feed for our chickens and pigs

Ingredients

(makes 14 jars)

(14 kilner or glass jars with lids)

8kg tomatoes or 5kg tinned

1 tbsp coconut oil

6 red peppers

4 whole bulbs garlic

Sea salt 

Fresh black pepper

6 onions diced

10 sprigs of thyme

4 sprigs oregano

4-6 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 lemons juiced

First job is to sterilise all your new kilner or used jam, chutney or pickle jars, all jar lids must have a pvc coating because tomatoes have a high acidic content and this important to the safety of the long term preserve.  Take all,your jars and lids and run them through the dishwasher on a high heat or wash in hot soapy water and rinse and dry well, the jars are now ready to use.

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees, take the bulbs of garlic and loosely wrap in tin foil, pop in the oven and roast for an hour or so until the garlic just wants to ooze out when a minimal amount of pressure is applied to the skin, remove from the oven and squeeze out all of the gorgeous roasted sweet garlic purée, keep to one side for later.

In a deep large pan place the coconut oil, on a medium heat add the onions and gently cook, not allowing them to colour for twenty minutes, while the onions are soften turn on your gas ring if you have one, if not crank up your grill to it highest heat and roast your red peppers under the heat until the skin burns turn until all sides are burnt.  Place in a bowl and cover with cling film, this will allow the heat from the skins to creat condensation which will make the next stage of removing the skins and seeds really easy making this a quick process and worth every bit of effort for the final flavour in your sauce.

Next add the tomatoes, garlic puree and the skinned de- seeded roasted red peppers to the onions and heat through, the tomatoes will slowly break down creating a sauce, once all the tomatoes have broken down completely add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, thyme, oregano, sea salt and black pepper, gently simmer for half an hour.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, next you want to remove the tomatoe skins from the sauce, you can stick blend the sauce or as I do pick them out of the sauce one at a time, then stick blend or you can pass the sauce through a fine meshed sieve using the back of a spoon to apply pressure to squeeze all the sauce through.  Return to the heat and keep on a low simmer while you heat the preserving jars.  

Place all the clean dry jars and lids in your pre-heated 200 degree oven for five to seven minutes to sterilize, remove the jars fill each jar with a teaspoon of the lemon juice then the tomatos sauce leaving a inch gap at the top to allow for expansion in the next stage of preserving, screw on all the lids tightly and place in a large pan of boiling water, when the pan comes back up to the boil start timing for 35 minutes, remove from the pan and leave to cool, one of my favourite sounds from my kitchen is hearing the pinging of theses canned jars re-sealing the pressure button on the lids while they cool, the jars are now ready to be stored for use when you need them.