BIG GIRLS DIET SEA SALT AND ROSEMARY SEARED LAMB GREEN SALAD

Gorgeous warm mixed green salad bursting full of sunshine and flavour with roasted lamb noisette with a rosemary infused sea salt seared crispy skin, wonderfully pink and juicy served with a cool fresh mint and (not strictly paleo !) goats yogurt drizzle and the all important rested lamb juices.

Prep Time 5 minutes / Cooking Time 22 minutes / Resting Time 10 minutes

Rosemary infused sea salt  

Ingredients

(serves 2 generously)

1 lamb noisette (rack off the bone)

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 generous sprigs rosemary

2 tbsp sea salt

2 large handfuls watercress

3 large handfuls spinach

1 large handful rocket

12 mint leaves torn

2 tbsp goats yogurt (optional)

1/2 tsp honey

First infuse the sea salt with half the rosemary in a jar a few hours ahead is great and even more time is better.  Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees, rub the lamb with the coconut oil and then season with the infused sea salt generously, heat a non stick pan hot add the rest of the rosemary and then place the rack of lamb skin side down and sear until a lovely light brown, repeat and sear all sides of the rack, remove from the heat and place on a baking tray and place the rosemary on the lamb, pop in the oven for a strict 18 minutes, not a second more, as soon as your timer goes off take the rack of lamb out of the oven and leave on the side to rest for 5-10  minutes, I struggle to wait until 10 minutes !

Mix the salad leaves together and season, place on your plates.  Mix the yogurt, mint leaves and honey together.  Carve the lamb and place on your salad, drizzle over all the resting juices and the goats yogurt and mint dressing, enjoy.

RASPBERRY VANILLA PANNA COTTA

Silk on a spoon, fabulous for Big Kids and smaller ones too!  Gorgeous soft velvety creamy panna cotta with a burst of fresh raspberry coulis this is a winner pudding for all.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 5 minutes / Fridge Time 1 hr minimum  

Ingredients

(serves 4 or 2 greedy adults)

The Panna Cotta

250ml milk

250ml double cream

1 vanilla pod seeds scraped out

25g sugar

3 gelatin leaves

Raspberry Coulis

400g raspberries

100g raspberries kept for decoration

50g icing sugar

Soak the gelatin leaves in a bowl of cold water, place the milk and cream in a saucepan and add the split and seeds scraped out vanilla pod, bring to a simmer then take off the heat and leave for five minutes to infuse, remove the vanilla pod, then squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaves and add them to the pan, stir until the gelatin has dissolved.

Divide the panna cotta in to your four or two if for greedy grown ups :-) serving bowls and place in the fridge to set, one hour is sufficient however once made these panna cottas can keep in the fridge for up to five days but in my home they don't make it past the first day!

To make the raspberry coulis place the raspberries and icing sugar in a blender and blitz pour into a sieve placed over a large bowl and using the back of a spoon push through all the pulp you can until you are left with raspberry seeds only, discard the seeds and reserve the raspberry coulis for serving in the fridge.

To serve top with the fresh raspberries and a generous drizzle of the raspberry coulis and a spoon !

SWEET STICKY AROMATIC PORK KEBABS

Fabulous to the last bite, everything you want in a mouthful, aromatic marinated seared pork with a drizzle of sweet sticky soy and honey caramelised glaze, then thrown in a un leven flour wrap and loaded with Asian pickled carrots, beetroot relish and a blow your head off habanero salsa, this is one of those wonderful loose yourself in the moment and not so pretty don't watch me eats !

When marinating your meat, 30 minutes will do, but the longer you can leave the meat in the marinade the deeper the flavours infuse, and a more sticky caramelised seal will develop during cooking.  I generally plan a day ahead and leave the pork in the fridge overnight.  For the toppings you can have anything, raw cabbage, onions, carrots, mayonnaise etc, I like to preserve/can some of my late summer veg in sweet and sour Asian infused vinegars and they go great on these kinda of dinners.

Prep time 30 minutes / Marinating time 30 mins - 24hrs / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1kg pork fillet or loin

1 tbsp fresh grated turmeric

or 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

100ml shaoxing wine

30ml light soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp honey

Sea salt

White pepper

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together and add the pork, place in the fridge and leave to marinate.  When ready to cook remove the pork from the marinade, skewer the pork, heat your plancher to a medium hot and place the skewers on to cook, once the pork has sealed after a couple of minutes and not before turn, repeat and turn twice more after a minute or so, the skewers should only take 2-3 minutes each side, so in effect you have turned each side twice, this helps to keep even cooking.  

Take off the plancher pile high on a serving plate and leave to rest for five minutes before taking to the table.  Serve family style on the table with a plate stacked with flat breads and all the sides of salad, shredded carrot, beetroot, spring onions, cabbage, mayonnaise and hot habanero chilli sauce.

MARSCAPONE AMARETTO TIRAMSU

A gorgeous rich decedent sumptuous dessert that only takes a couple of minutes to make and delivers lip smacking gorgeousness.  This dessert can be flavoured with any liquor like kahlua (coffee) or cointreau (orange) but for my husband the marzipan almond flavour from the amaretto goes really well with the amaretti biscotti.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 2 adults)

500g tub marscapone

4 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

75ml amaretto

12 amaretti biscotti biscuits

1 tbsp grated 70% chocolate

This is just a assembly, place the amaretti biscuits on a plate and pour over the amaretto, leave to soak for five minutes, meanwhile place the marscapone in a large bowl and add the icing sugar and vanilla bean paste, whisk to combine.

Now to assemble in your serving bowls place a generous spoonful of the marscapone in your bowl, add a third of the biscuits, repeat twice more finishing off with marscapone, then sprinkle over the grated chocolate and Ta Daa your done, pop in the fridge to chill and enjoy.

HICKORY SWEET SPICY SMOKEY OAK BAKED BBQ BEANS

Sweet Spicy Hickory Smokey with a hint of oak slow baked BBQ beans...

It was one of those moments when I took the first mouthful of these BBQ beans and I was immediately transported back to the old disused gas station parking lot of Nancy's BBQ in Sarasota FL.  It has taken me months to try and re-create the North Carolina flavours of Nancy's smoke house BBQ beans and I think these are darn close from my memory.

  

Prep Time 24 hrs Soaking / Cooking Time 4 hrs

Ingredients

(makes 8 portions)

Slow Braised Baby Back Ribs

2 ribs, skin off

1 ltr coke

1/2 cup bbq spice

1 bag Hickory wood chips or

1 tbsp liquid smoke

400g Black beans soaked for 24hrs

200g smoked sweetcure bacon diced

1 glug olive oil

1 onion finely diced

1/2 green pepper finely diced

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

500ml tomato ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Pre heat your oven 200 degrees C or 390 F or wood fired oven, I like to cook my ribs in the wood fired oven for a more authentic hickory smokey flavour, but you can also cook them in the oven with the substitute of liquid smoke.  Place all the rib ingredients in a shallow baking tin and cover with the coke, pop in the oven un covered for the first 45 minutes to infuse the smokey flavour then cover with a lid and cook for a further 1 hrs 15 minutes or until you can easily pull the bones off the meat, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the cooking juices.

It is vital you soak you black beans in plenty of cold water for at least 18 hrs and change the water at least once.  Heat a deep saucepan that can go in the oven to medium hot, add the olive oil and onions and gently soften for approx 10 minutes then add the sweetcure bacon and green peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes then add 2 cups of the rib cooking juices and the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine you want a loose soupy consistency, pop the pan in the oven and bake for around 2 hrs or until the consistency is medium thick and BBQ Bean gorgeousness.

Remove the rib meat from the bones and shred, add to the beans and season with sea salt and pepper then taste, you can adjust the intensity of the BBQ flavour by playing with the tomato ketchup, brown sugar and white wine vinegar if you want too making your choice of North Carolina with more vinegar or Texas style with more brown sugar and ketchup, then enjoy.

SUPER EASY SLOW BRAISED FIVE SPICED BELLY PULLED PORK

WoW what a fabulous dinner, aromatic sticky naturally sweet juicy pork and once again I had to fight the hoards off with chopsticks!  Simple one pan cook with mouthwatering results goes great tossed through noodles, rice or stuffed into pancakes.  I served this with pan seared multiple greens, julienned carrots and rice.

Prep Time 5 minutes / Marinating Time 0hrs - 24hrs / Cooking Time 1 hour ish

Ingredients

(serves 3-4)

1kg belly pork piece

2 tsp five spice

(want to make your own see below)

2 ltr home pressed natural apple juice

sea salt

white pepper

The longer you can marinate your pork the better, I will often marinate the pork for 24hrs, this seems to make some people feel daunted, it is no big deal, it takes five minutes the night before and then you are good to go and the pork is loaded with so much more flavour, but if you only have a few minutes don't worry the flavour is almost as good.

To marinate rub the the belly pork with the five spice, salt and pepper, place in a deep plastic tub and pop in the fridge to marinate anywhere from 30 minutes to 24hrs.

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees C / 320 F, in a small but deep roasting tin place the belly pork, add the apple juice and cover with baking paper and then tin foil to create a seal, pop in the oven and slowly cook for approx 1 hour or until you feel you could pull the joint apart easily with a fork. I decided to slice the joint for this dish but you can easily pull the pork. 

Remove from the oven and leave on the side for 15 minutes to rest and absorb the cooking juices, if you are going to serve this later leave in the cooking juices until completely cool this makes the belly pork even more succulent, that's is simple.

To serve I pan seared a bunch of greens and julienned carrots and steamed some rice and then tossed together and served with the pulled pork on top.  This pork also goes great in a toasted bun topped with a apple slaw.

Five Spice Powder

(makes 2 tbsp)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp toasted fennel seeds ground

1 tsp whole star anise ground

1 tsp toasted szechuan peppercorns ground

Mix all together, yields approx 2 tbsp in total, keep in a air tight glass jar until needed, best used within three months of making.

HOMEMADE ORGANIC DEODORANT BAR

This is a really simple and easy make and gives you that feel good feeling of natural living and loving your body and mother earth, not contributing to land fill and the best bit is no chemicals on or in your body.

This homemade deodorant bar that has for my family and friends worked better than any store brought deodorant and other natural options I have ever used, and believe me I think I have tried them all with little success, until I suddenly started to think outside of the box and back to time with my Nan and Grandad and days gone by where people, family relied upon themselves and local producers for what they needed and I found this recipe on Wellness Mama and have never looked back.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Ready to use in 3 hours

Equipment: 1 mason ball glass jar for this job only

The Wrap: 30 x 30cm cotton / 50g solid bees wax / buttons / twine

It was not a hard decision to go organic in fact it has been liberating and the further my family travels this path the more clearer the obvious becomes, when I am asked why go organic my simple answer is WHY NOT?  When you realise that all the man made chemicals are harmful long term and that mass produced products are about profit for the manufacturers and nothing to do with your personal well being or with any respect or regard to the environment it is a simple easy answer. 

If we all had to use our gardens as our own personal rubbish dumps/tips it would not be too long before people started to want to reduce that pile and to stop adding to the pile that would eventually take over their garden, so with this thought in mind we pre-cycle, up-cycle and re-cycle.

Ingredients

(makes 1 bar)

3 tbsp organic coconut oil

2 tbsp organic shea butter

2 tbsp baking powder (3 for a stronger protection)

(I found 3 tbsp irritated me, 2 perfect protection and no irritation)

2 tbsp organic arrowroot

40 drops organic essential oil tea tree or chamomile

Bring a tall pan 1/4 filled with water to a gentle simmer, in a ball mason or glass jar add the coconut oil and shea butter, place the glass jar in to the saucepan, in effect a bain marie, when the mix has virtually melted remove for the pan and add the baking powder and arrowroot, stir well until all dissolved, add the essential oil and stir in and that is it done!

I use a small single portion cake tin to set my bar in, pour in the liquid and place in the fridge until set around 3hrs.  If you want to make a wax proof cover the instructions are below, It is just a nice touch to finish off your deodorant and great if you are giving them as gifts to friends and loved ones.

Bee's Wax Cover

Ingredients

1 organic bees wax bar

1 sheet of cotton 30cm x 30cm

2 buttons

30cm natural twine

Pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees C, 290 F, line a baking tray with baking paper and place the cotton on the paper, grate the bees wax and sprinkle over the cotton sheet, pop in the oven for 3-5 minutes until the bees wax has melted, using a pastry brush that will now only be used for this job brush the melted wax evenly all over the cotton sheet.  I now pick up the cotton sheet by the corners and just hold it in the air for about 3 minutes, this just allows the wax to cool and set, you can peg the cotton sheet to a string washing line if you were making multitudes, this I have done too!

Now for the folding, as you can see in the photos above fold the sheet in to three equal sections, like a menu, you can work this out by just gently bringing over the left and right side of the fabric loosely without making any creases in the stiff fabric until you feel you have a equal measurement.

Next measure the length of your bar and fold the bottom of the wax cloth up to just short of equal of that measurement, now I sow on the two buttons, these buttons for me are so personal as my nan collected all buttons from any garment that was past its day over her life and I have all of these in my care, in fact I know I can name some of the garments they were removed from, such memories, such up cycling, it really is not a  new thing, it really is a lost gift to the slow western greener world.

Place your set bar in your cloth and wrap up as you folded the cloth, left to right then bottom up, tie the natural twine around in a figure of eight the buttons to secure the pouch, as you use the deodorant just move the bottom fabric up, scoouch the deodorant bar up the fabric holder and re tie the twine.

BIG GIRLS DIET QUESO FUNDIDO CON CHORIZO

Gooey ooey warm melted cheese topped with seared peppers and onions and pan fried chorizo, finished off with fresh avocado, coriander and chillies, this is a fabulous dish that I don't eat to often as dairy is something I only have a couple of times a year, but when I do treat myself for a off grid paleo meal this is one of them.  I still eat this with my lettuce wraps.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 7 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 2)

50g chorizo thinly sliced

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 green pepper sliced

1 onion sliced

2 handful of mozzarella grated

1 avocado sliced

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

2 red chillies sliced

1 handful spinach

2 large lettuce wraps

A one pan cook, quick and easy.

Heat a skillet medium hot, add the chorizo and pan fry for around one minute on each side, add the peppers and onions and pan fry for a couple more minutes then add the cheese and at this point do not stir anymore, turn the heat down low and let the cheese melt, it will soak up all the chorizo paprika oils that will add a fabulous extra level of flavour.  Take off the heat once the cheese has melted and top with the avocado, coriander and chilli, take to the table and serve with your lettuce wraps.

BIG GIRLS DIET CRISPY MONGOLIAN LAMB

How can food that tastes this good and makes you feel like you are being really naughty be diet food?  That's because it's NOT, its LIFESTYLE food, food that will see you loose weight without being on a diet, it is really that simple, diets do not work long term, I am proof of that, as a emotional eater I finally got to 315lbs and turned 40yrs old and that was my cut off point!  So far I have lost 126lb in 22 months by just removing a few processed foods from my life, I now eat more than I ever have and have a much wider selection of meals that I ever thought I could eat without getting bigger. 

If you do try the Paleo Lifestyle you will quickly see a huge difference in how your body loves Paleo and rewards you with good steady weight loss while you get to eat gorgeous beautiful food that you never thought you could if you were on a diet!  For more on this type Paleo in my search engine at the top of my blog to see all my recipes and a complete guide to Paleo weight loss for life.  Also my inspiration has been from PALEO LEAP, PALEO NOM NOM, PALEO GRUBS & CAVEMAN DIET.

Prep Time 15 minutes / Cooking Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

2 large breasts of lamb

2 tsp five spice

70ml soy sauce

150ml shaoxing wine

50ml water

1 tsp sea salt

To Serve With

8-12 large lettuce leaves for wraps

1 carrot julienned

200g spinach leaves

10 spring onions julienned

2 red chillies finely sliced

Sweet Soy Dipping Sauce

50ml organic soy sauce

100ml sake

1 tbsp honey

Pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees C, 428 degrees F, season the underside of the breasts of lamb with the five spice and sea salt.  In a wide shallow roasting tin place the soy, shaoxing and water and then lay the breasts skin side up in the pan, season the skin with more sea salt, pop in the oven for 45 minutes by then you will have juicy succulent lamb with a gorgeous crispy crackling skin.  Leave to rest for five minutes and then finely slice or chop up and place on your serving plate.

While the lamb it cooking line each of your serving plates with a few of the lettuce wraps some of the julienned carrots, spinach leaves, spring onions and red chilli and place on the table.

To make the sweet soy dipping sauce place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a couple of minutes, remove from the heat and place in a small bowl with a teaspoon and place on your table.

Take over the rested lamb and your ready to go, everyone can stuff and roll their own warps to their own liking, family style where great food creates great family memories.

FALAFAL SWEET POTATO

You so gotta try this!  This is a lip smacking not so pretty to watch eat, but when it tastes this good who cares!  If you have never had fresh falafel then you are in for a treat and I promise you will never ever be able to go back to a dried packet mix again.  Gorgeous crispy sweet potato balls seasoned with cumin, coriander and cayenne, then dressed with homemade olive oil mayonnaise, Asian sweet and sour carrots, pickled red cabbage and sweet green tomatoes.  Each mouthful delivers a burst of sweet, sour aromatic flavours.

I like to make everything myself and the recipes are below for the olive oil mayonnaise, flat breads, pickled carrots, cabbage and tomatoes, but if you want to use store bought that's great too.  I am a bit of a prepper and I like to fill my fridge and dry store with ingredients that I can just grab and use for other meals so the toppings for this flat bread are from my canning store so no prep for me but I have given you a quick options for the sweet and sour toppings, the full recipes are on my blog for these toppings and for canning and preserving these vegetables for long term use.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 5 minutes / Un attended baking time 40 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

The Falafel

3 sweet potatoes baked

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp coriander seeds

2 cloves garlic grated

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1 hot red chilli diced (optional)

2 cups gram flour (chic pea)

30ml olive oil

1ltr ground nut oil for frying (optional)

The Wraps

500g 00 flour (caputo)

50g olive oil

10g sea salt

15g dried yeast (optional)

320g water 

To make the dough for the flat breads, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and combine to a dough ball then knead by hand or with a dough hook for seven minutes until the dough is smooth and springy to the touch.  Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm draught free place for a minimum of one hour.  You can make the dough the day before and leave to prove in the fridge for 24 hrs, bring out and up to room temperature one hour before you need it.  Just tear off a small tennis ball size of dough and roll out to the size of your biggest non stick frying pan, heat that pan hot and place your rolled out flat bread dough in the pan and cook for around one minute each side, the flat bread may puff up don't worry that is a good thing, cook all the breads and wrap in a warm tea towel until needed.

The Mayo

1 egg yolk

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

200-300ml olive oil

sea salt and white pepper

This takes two minutes to make and really is worth the effort for the flavour is second to none.  Place the egg yolk and white wine vinegar in a bowl and add a drizzle in a tsp worth of olive oil, start whisking and do not stop until you have incorporated all the olive oil or you have a lovely thick mayo, you need to drizzle the oil really slowly for the first 50ml, then you can add a a much faster pace once all the oil is incorporated season with the mustard, salt and pepper, that's it.

The Toppings

2 carrots julienned 

1/2 red cabbage finely sliced

4 green tomatoes quartered

Quick Asian Sweet & Sour Pickling Vinegar

1 cup of white wine are apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup of sugar

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric

To make the pickling vinegar, bring the vinegar to a simmer and add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for two minutes, remove from the heat and leave to cool, add the carrot, cabbage and green tomatoes and leave to infuse while you make the falafel.

To Make The Falafel

If you have not already then bake the sweet potatoes in pre heated oven 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes then do so, once baked peel the skins off and place the sweet potato in a large bowl, heat a non stick pan medium hot and gently toast the cumin and coriander seeds for a couple of minutes, remove and place in a grinder or pestle and mortar and grind to a powder, you can use already powdered spices but I urge you to try the seeds a few more minutes work but the flavours are outstanding, add to the sweet potato along with the rest of the ingredients and mix well, as you don't want any of the gram flour left un-incorporated as this will result in a pocket of dry dust!  Form your sweet potato mix in to golf ball size balls.

Heat your pan of oil or fryer to 180 degrees, you can also bake these falafel balls in the oven at 180 degrees for around 30 minutes until soft of crispy for a healthier option, but when you fry them they have a extra depth of flavour, with a nutty crispy crunch on the outside and a soft creamy sweet aromatic centre and it just works so much better, even if it is naughty, therefore I limit when I eat this so that I can eat them in their best presentation.  If frying just drop the balls in and cook for approx 4 minutes, I turn them only once after two minutes, then remove from the oil and drain on a kitchen cloth or paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

Now you are ready to go, load your family table with plates and bowls of the falafel, flat breads, mayonnaise, pickled sweet and sour carrots, cabbage and green tomatoes and let every one dive in and make their own falafel wraps.  This is the very best of family eating, enjoy, great food and great conversation that you never know how far it goes :-) 

PALEO AVOCADO SPICY CHICKEN BURRITO

Fantastic wrap full of fabulous goodness, the wrap itself is made with eggs and flaxseed so a great start there and then I love to stuff mine with lots of spinach and watercress along with avocado, peppers, raw chilli tomato salsa and in this case spicy chicken, a pleasure to eat.  I make a couple at a time and have my paleo fridge all loaded with lots of ready to go ingredients, so this is a really quick and speedy meal to make or take when you need to eat on the go.

Paleo Fridge

Two or three times a week I will fill some glass tubs of sliced peppers, onions, spring onions, chillies, avocado guacamole, cooked chicken, sliced beef, cooked asparagus or any left over cooked vegetables and I have growing in the garden kale, spinach, land cress, beetroots, carrots etc.  This I find allows me to make speedy suppers when needed and these wraps are great for stuffing.

Prep time 5 minutes if you have a Paleo Fridge

Ingredients

(makes 2)

Filling

1 avocado diced

1/2 lime juiced

1 red pepper 1/2 sliced 1/2 diced

1 red chilli diced

2 handfuls spinach

2 handfuls watercress

200g cooked chicken fajitas

1 lrg tomato diced

2 spring onions diced

2 tbsp coriander torn

1/2 tsp fresh grated turmeric

Flaxseed Wraps

2 eggs

2 egg whites

4 tbsp flaxseed

1/2 cup water

To make the wraps, pre heat a non stick frying pan to a medium hot, spray with coconut oil, place all the wrap ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Pour half the mix into you pan and gently swirl to cover the base equally, leave to cook, don't touch!, when you see air bubbles and the wrap is not runny liquid anymore pop under the grill to finish cooking for approx 30 - 60 seconds, leave to rest in the pan for a couple of minutes and then loosen off and place on a plate while you repeat this again with the remainder of the batter.

Tomato Salsa

In a bowl mix the diced tomato and half the diced peppers, one of the spring onions, the coriander and half the lime juice, season with salt and pepper.

Avocado

Mash the avocado and mix with the remaining half of the red pepper, the spring onion, the lime juice, chilli and turmeric, season with salt and pepper.

Now just load your wraps as you like with the chicken, watercress, spinach, peppers, tomato salsa and avocado guacamole, wrap up and enjoy.

RICE CUSTARD PUDDING

This is soooo rich and decedent that it really is unfair to all traditional old fashioned school rice pudding lovers to call this a rice pudding, if I do you will not be happy, firstly this is much richer and more of a creme englaise custard rice pudding, in its own right a gorgeous pudding but the main reason is that the skin is missing, and I know for some of you traditionalist this is a big part of your rice pudding, this I will work on, yuk! from my husbands point of view it is the best bit and essential.  But with all that said, my family gobbled it all down with delight.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

90g pudding rice

90g sugar

250ml double cream

250ml full fat milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

5 egg yolks

Wash the rice several times and place in a pan with the cream and milk, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for approx 20 minutes until the rice is cooked, meanwhile place the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy.

Take two ladles of the rice milk from the cooker and add to the egg yolks mixture, whisk quickly to incorporate, add the rest of the rice milk and mix well, add everything back to the saucepan and cook gently for a further 2 minutes and then serve.  If you want a hint of skin place the rice pudding under the grill for a couple of minutes, this will not give you that traditional thick baked skin but might be a compromise.

ONION PAKORAS

Bahjis, Pakoras they are all gorgeous and are not dissimilar to each other the difference is regions, a  slightly different recipe for each region, onion is the most common, but potato is also very popular.  Often a wedding or celebration food and I can see why, these little balls are amazing, full of gorgeous moorish Indian flavours and I find these very difficult to stop eating !!!

Onion Pakoras

1 large Spanish onion

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

2 fresh chillies chopped

1 hand full fresh coriander chopped

1 cup chic pea flour

100ml water

200ml nut oil to cook with

Makes approx 6

Place all the nut oil in a pan and bring up to a medium hot heat around 180 degrees C, meanwhile in a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients except the water, squeeze the onion mixture by hand this is to encourage the salt to react with the onions releasing their juices, this is the start to the batter as the juices mix with the chic pea flour they will start to make a thick paste, this will help with ensuring you do not end up with a stodgy centre from even mixing, start to add some of the water and mix to combine until you can easily form a ball of onions that holds together without question but not cemented, there should be loose movement.

Scoop up a large golf ball size in your hands and shape a firm ball, using a spoon gently place the pakora in the oil and fry for around 2 minutes on each side, turning only once.  Remove and place on kitchen paper to drain, repeat with the rest of the mixture, you can cook more than one at at time, just don't overload the pan as it lowers the heat of the oil and then the pakoras will absorb oil rather than cook and seal in the oil, enjoy.

LIVER AND ONIONS

One of my top favourite dinners, packed full of glorious flavour enhanced with the onion gravy and over loaded buttery mash.  Producing our own organic meat just adds to the light flavour of the liver, this is the best I have ever eaten.  You can buy liver direct from your local family abattoir, this I highly recommend as you will be buying meat that has had a high quality of life.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Liver

1 kg fresh lambs liver

glug olive oil

Salt and white pepper

Mashed Potatoes

1 kg King Edward potatoes

250g butter YES 250g !

1 tsp white wine vinegar

Sea salt

White pepper

Onion Gravy

2 lrg onions sliced

1 glug olive oil

1 tbsp sugar

600ml boiling water

1 knob butter

2 tbsp cornflour & water mix

For the time line, first peel the potatoes and place in a large pan filled with water and bring to a simmer, cook for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile place the onions in a pan with the olive oil and gently cook for 20 minutes, add the sugar and water and bring to a simmer, add the cornflour and water mix to thicken, season to taste and finally add the knob of butter, this will give the gravy a rich finish and a lovely sheen, leave on a low heat to tick over, while you make the mash.

Once the potatoes are drained, mashed and seasoned, place back on the cooker on the lowest heat.  Heat a non stick frying pan to a medium high heat, oil and season the livers and place in the pan, sear each side for around one minute, turn the heat down and add a cup of water, pop on a lid, or cover with a plate and leave to cook for another minute or so, depending on the thickness.  Remove the pan from the heat and leave the liver to rest while you serve up the mash, before you serve the gravy add all of the cooking juices from the liver pan to your onion gravy for that extra touch of flavour and enjoy.

GARDEN SPRING ROLLS WITH GINGER GARLIC PORK

Fabulous parcels of happiness, every crispy mouthful is bursting with gorgeous aromatic flavours from the ginger and garlic seasoned pork and fresh crunchy veg from the winter garden, served with a soy, sesame and mirin dipping sauce these are a great lunch treat that I could eat all day!

Prep time 30 minutes / Cooking time 5 minutes per batch

Ingredients

(makes 10)

To Make The Spring Roll Wrappers

(you can buy these made from Asian stores or online)

1 cup plain flour

3 tbsp corn flour

1.5 cups of water

1/4 pinch sea salt

2 tbsp coconut oil

Place the flour, corn flour and salt in a bowl and mix, then add half the water and whisk to a smooth lump free paste, then start to add the rest of the water stopping when you have a consistency that covers the back of a spoon and some, dip your spoon and draw your finger through the middle, like parting the red sea!  you want to keep the parting but not with banks!

Ginger Garlic Pork

500g pork mince

2 tbsp grated ginger

8 cloves garlic grated

1 tsp fresh grated turmeric

4 spring onions finely chopped

2 tbsp shaoxing wine

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Winter Garden Veg

(any vegetables will do)

1/4 red cabbage finely sliced

4 carrots julienned

8 spring onions halved and julienned

Dipping Sauce

50ml light soy sauce

20ml rice wine vinegar

10ml mirin

1 tsp wasabi paste

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 red chilli chopped

Mix all the ingredients together

I like to prepare all the ingredients before I start, so first prep all the vegetables, make the spring roll batter if your making your own wraps, next cook the pork, in a dry non stick frying pan pan fry the pork until half cooked then add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and spring onions, cook for a further two or so minutes until the pork is cook through, add the shaoxing wine and soy sauce, stir through, cook on for one further minute and remove from the heat, tip into a bowl and leave to cool while you make the spring roll wraps.

Wipe out your non stick frying pan, pre heat to a medium heat then with a pastry brush coat the pan with a hint of the coconut oil, take your rested spring roll batter and pour one ladle into your pan and gently tipping your pan spread the batter to cover the whole base of your frying pan, cook for a couple of minutes, you do not need to turn this wrap, so once you can see it is cooked all the way through, turn out cook side up on to a plate, repeat until all the batter is used.

Now the fun can begin, lay a spring roll wrap on your kitchen surface and one third of the way down the wrap and in the centre of that point lay some of the raw veg and the cooked aromatic pork, fold over the top of the wrap over the filling then fold in the left and right side, now roll the rest of the spring roll up, it is easier if you support the folded sides while you roll, that is it, repeat with the rest of the ingredients.

To cook heat the ground nut oil to 180 degrees C and gently fry the spring rolls for approx one and a half minutes on each side, drain and then enjoy with your dipping sauce.

CHICKEN YAKATORI JAPANESE WHITE COLLAR STREET FOOD

These are stupidly GORGEOUS, so much so I had to fight the family off as soon as each batch was cooked they all dived in and I was not only the one to make and cook but the last to get a mouthful, note to self, new house rule, cook gets first dibs !  

Gorgeous marinated chicken thighs in soy, sake and mirin with a great aromatic hint of ginger, garlic and turmeric, no wonder these wonderful skewers are a staple Japanese white collar street food, 

Prep time 5 minutes / Marinade time 1hrs min 7hrs is better / Cook time 5-7 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 10 skewers)

600g organic chicken bone/skinless thighs rough diced

6 spring onions bashed

100ml light soy sauce

50ml sake

75ml Japanese mirin

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 cloves garlic grated

1 tsp grated fresh turmeric

2 tbsp coconut oil

If you can only marinate the meat for at least one hour great, but if you can do several hours it really makes a difference to the depth of flavour that penetrates through the chicken.  First make the marinade, in a pestle and mortar bash the spring onions to a paste, then in a saucepan add the soy, sake, mirin, honey, ginger and turmeric, bring to a simmer and take off the heat stir to combine and leave to one side to cool, once cooled pour over the chicken, add the spring onion paste and mix together well, pop in the fridge to infuse.  

When ready to cook skewer the chicken, you will need to cook in two batches unless you have a large flat plate, melt half the coconut oil in a medium hot frying pan, not to hot as the sugar from the honey will burn before the chicken is cooked, so slower is better, you can always increase the heat at the end of cooking to caramelise the chicken. place the skewers in the frying pan and sear, cook each side for around two minutes and remove leave to rest for a couple of minutes once all skewers are cooked add the rest of glaze to the pan and simmer down on a high heat to make a reduction glaze, paint this over the finished chicken to intensify the flavour and enjoy.

SELF SUFFICIENT SUNDAYS CRISPY CRACKLING ROASTED RACK OF PORK FRENCH TRIMMED WITH DAUPHINOISE POTATOES

Sundays are always something special in our home, a slow family day where we together go down the farm feed and muck out the animals, then home to start the Sunday Brunch and Sunday Roast, all reared and grown by ourselves, after brunch and a family activity we all bundle on the sofa for a movie while the roast is in the oven, then great family memories are made round the table over our home raised and grown ingredients, a truly soul satisfying family day.

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 60 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1kg rack of pork french trimmed, chine bone off and tied back on

2 tbsp lard

1 kg potatoes peeled and finely sliced

200ml double cream

4 clove garlic finely chopped

Sea salt

White pepper

100g Gruyere cheese finely grated

1/4 tsp nutmeg grated

4 large carrots peeled and sliced in to fingers

1 swede peeled and sliced in to fingers

Prep all your ingredients while your oven pre heats, as this is a relatively fast cook and the one hour countdown starts from when the pork goes in.

Pre heat your oven to 220 degrees, generously rub the skin of the pork with sea salt and place in your roasting tin along with the lard, pop in the oven for 30 minutes at this high temperature, this is what will set your crackling, after 30 minutes turn the oven down to 180 degrees and leave to cook the last 30 minutes.  Meanwhile make the dauphinoise.

Place the grated potato in a large bowl, pour over the cream and add the garlic, mix well so that every slice of potato is coated with cream.  In a roasting tin place a single layer of the potato over the base of the tin, sprinkle over a little, Gruyere cheese, sea salt and white pepper and nutmeg, repeat this layering until you have used up all the potato, finish off with a final layer of the seasonings, pop in the oven fifteen minutes after the pork goes in, 45 minutes left on the cooking time.

Bring a pan of water to a rolling simmer and part boil the carrots and swede until almost fork tender, drain and toss in the rack of pork's roasting tin, pop back in the oven and cook for the remaining thirty minutes.  When the hour is up, remove the pork to rest for ten minutes, if you want to test the pork is cooked insert a temperature probe you are looking for 65 degrees if you like you pork just cooked with almost a hint of pink, juicy and succulent (not suitable for the young, elderly or pregnant), if you prefer your pork a little more cooked 72-75 degrees will give you  thoroughly cooked pork.

Serve the pork sliced with a wedge of the creamy rich dauphiniose potatoes and your glorious roasted carrots and swede fingers.

LARDY CAKE YOU GOTTA TRY THIS !!!

How gorgeous is this!  A crispy sweet toffee dough cake crust that gives way to a gorgeous mouthful of old fashioned fruity pudding, a truly outstanding cake, completely outrageous as far as my expert cake eating husband says.  I was so pleased to watch him scoff this down with no dignity, the perfect compliment.  With our nose to tail eating there is plenty of rendered down crackling lard in our house from our Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs and this is a top favourite way to use it.  

Making Your Own Lard

It is easy to make your own lard, ask your local butcher for some back fat and a little bit of skin if available, pop in the oven on a high heat and after 40 minutes remove from the oven and pour off the liquid lard into a loaf tin, return the fat to the oven and repeat until the fat is not rendering any more lard, leave the lard to cool and then turn out of the tin and wrap in parchment paper, store in the fridge and use as needed.

Prep Time 15 minutes / Proving Time 1.30 hours / Cooking Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 8" cake)

The Dough

250g 00 flour

8g dried yeast

5g sea salt

25ml olive oil

160g water

Lardy Cake Filling

250g caster sugar

200g fresh lard softened

2 tbsp fresh softened lard

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

200g dried fruit

100ml earl grey tea

First to make the dough as this will need to rest and prove for an hour, place all the ingredients together in a bowl, I keep the salt on the opposite side to the yeast until mixing, using your hands or a dough hook bring the mix to form a dough and knead for seven minutes, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for a hour.

Mix the lard and caster sugar together and leave to one side, in a bowl pour the tea over the dried fruit and leave to infuse while the dough proves.  When the hour is up roll out your dough to a thin circle, spread two thirds of your sugar lard all over the dough.

Take one side of the dough and fold half in to the middle so you now have a straight edge on one half of the circle, take the bottom corner and fold up in to the centre of the dough circle, repeat with the top corner which will in turn create another corner and then another, now you will have a circle again, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for twenty minutes.  When time is up gently roll out the dough circle to half the size again, spread the remainder of the sugar lard over, drain the soaked fruit and sprinkle evenly over the dough, now fold up again as before.  

Line and grease your 8" cake tin base with the two tablespoons of lard, sprinkle over the sugar and place the dough circle in your tin, leave to rest again covered for half an hour, meanwhile pre heat your oven to 210 degrees and if you have a baking stone place that in the oven to heat up as this will stop your cake getting a soggy bottom and over browning the top as you are cooking at a high heat.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, once done, leave to cool in the tin for 15 - 20 minutes, so that the gorgeous toffee bottom can set, otherwise it will just run off if you remove the cake before.  Turn the cake upside down and make sure you get yourself a slice first as this will be gone fast.