FRESHLY MADE PESTO AND BROWN BREAD.

Just made a batch of Basil garlic pesto and brown bread.  

The smells in the kitchen are divine! 

Some of the best smells on the planet……baking….garlic…..basil!

LAMB STEW

LAMB STEW:

Another dish suitable for the windy cold day that’s in it. 

1.      Heat a skillet pot on high heat and add 1 tbsp flora cuisine.  Once this is heated add diced lamb pieces.  Season with salt and pepper and just brown off the meat, stirring. 

2.      Then cover with boiling water.  Turn the heat down to low-medium.  Add 2 tbsp gluten free vegetable bouillon powder and 1 chopped garlic clove.   Stir, put the lid on and simmer for ½ hour.

3.      After ½ hour, add peeled and chopped carrots, a sprinkle of rosemary, thyme, cumin, meat aromat spice, 1 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tbsp brown sauce, 1 tbsp bisto granules and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.  Stir well to make sure everything is combined.  Simmer for a further ½ hour.

4.      With 10 minutes to go, add some diced courgettes.

We served ours with some boiled potatoes. 

This is a yummy thick stew.  The herbs and spices really compliment it and the flavours are great……thick and hearty.  Yum Yum.

But like all my recipes, they are versatile.  So if there is something you don’t like, you can omit it.  Or if you think something else would work well for you, then just add it in.  You can also use less bisto and stock powder for a more liquid sauce if you like.  

LEEK & POTATO SOUP

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the chill these days.  We lit our first fire of the year the other day and it was lovely!  Yesterday seemed to be milder but today again…..brrrr.  I'm looking out the window and it's very blustery, the trees are wild in the wind, it's overcast, dull and drizzling.  This calls for some yummy hearty homemade soup for lunch.  And it couldn’t be simpler.

More freshly baked SCONES

Mid morning cuppa with some freshly baked scones. 

My scone recipe is so easy peasy, prepared in 5 minutes and baked in 15. (Recipe previously posted)

Perfect for this dull morning. J

MORROCON CHICKEN & HEALTHY COUSCOUS

So, I had some harissa paste and a packet of couscous in the press, I had picked them up in the shopping one day.  When I decided on chicken legs as dinner meat, I decided to team them together to create a Moroccan themed dinner. 

It was really very simple and required very little preparation.  This is definitely one I would recommend for an easy dinner option. 

The spices and herbs I used really complimented the theme and the flavours were amazing.  

The best thing about this is that you can use any flavours, spices and herbs to create any theme you like!

Here’s what I did:

MORROCON CHICKEN & HEALTHY COUSCOUS:

BAILEYS CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE & PAVLOVA for a lovely family evening.

Happy Monday my easy peasers!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

We had a family evening this weekend with all my family.  It was a really really nice night with some lovely cuisine.

My parents hosted the evening at theirs and cooked some beautiful steaks for everyone.  Lovely juicy rib eye babies! 

There were sides of bean salad, garlic baby potatoes and oven cooked garlic potatoes and a simple green tossed salad.

Everyone pitched in and I made some desserts…..

 

BAILEY CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE and PAVLOVA.

Turkey and tomato piri piri Pasta:

I tend to through dishes together all the time!  When I am using meat like chicken or turkey breast I tend to search the cupboards, fridge and freezers to see what ingredients I have.  As it is a very versatile meat, there are so many dishes you can make.  Here is a pasta dish I threw together but the flavours really worked together.  There’s a little heat from the piri piri and the tomatoes go great with spaghetti.  The lime gives it a fresh twist also.

Here’s how I made it:

CHEESE-CRUSTED SCONES

(And I mean it….they really are EASY PEASY)

These are great for afternoon tea/coffee. 

I came across a recipe for cheese potato scones.  I tweaked the ingredients a little to suit.  I wanted to make them straight away for a quick afternoon snack with a cuppa and did not have the patience to boil and mash the potatoes so I just omitted them.  As I did not have the wet from the mash and milk, I just added milk and it is a really really easy dough. 

This is the perfect brown scone mix recipe too if you want to just leave the cheese and pepper out of it.  This is the recipe I use for simple brown scones….every time.

Here’s how I made them:

CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS

These are an easy yummy idea for lunch or dinner or even just an evening party snack. 

There are so many variations you can try with different flavours.

Start by preparing all your chicken drumsticks.  Remove the skins, rinse and pat dry.  

Here I used different coatings:

1.      Asian:

·        Mix together in a bowl:      

-6tbsp hoisin sauce

-2tbsp peanut oil

-4tbsp runny honey

-sprinkle of chilli flakes

-2tbsp soy sauce

-2tbsp grain mustard

·        Cover over the chicken and bake 220°C for 25 mins. 

2.      Sweet chilli sauce:

·        Just coat the chicken with the sauce and bake in 220°C for 25mins.

3.      Cajun:

·        In a bag place:

-breadcrumbs

-salt & pepper

-Cajun spice

-garlic powder

·        Coat the chicken with mayonnaise

·        Then with breadcrumbs

·        Bake in 175°C for 45 minutes 

4.      Southern fried:

·        Prepare 2 bowls – 1 with beaten eggs and the other with flour seasoned with garlic powder, salt and pepper, yellow and red aromat shake, cajun spices and any other spices you like.

·        Coat your prepared chicken in the eggs and then coat with flour mix.

·        In a frying pan on medium heat, just brown your chicken drumsticks before placing on a tray and baking in 175°C oven for 45 minutes. 

Monday Madness - Random PAVLOVA

I whisked up a random Monday pavlova this evening.  Just because! 

Because it’s so easy peasy to make, I had it decided, made and in the oven in 10 minutes.  The only things you will need are eggs whites, sugar and vinegar.  And of course a mixer.

Chocolate Birthday cake

We had a birthday in the house this week.  So I did a bit of baking.  I made a simple chocolate cake to mark the occasion. 

A stroll through The English Food Market, Cork

I took a trip to The English Market in Cork city this morning.  This is just the most wonderful place.  Walk up the busy main street and enter into a world of food and spices and aromas!  Filled with counters and stalls of meats and fish; spices and sauces; treats and sweets; olives and pestos; breads and cakes…………..It’s fantastic. 

Tapas evening.

So, I’m visiting some friends down in Co Cork at the moment.  Beautiful part of the country.  I love it down here.  The weather is not the best at the moment, but it’s not a problem.

Some great food, great friends and great conversation.......all we need to a nice relaxing catch up.

PESTO, OLIVE TAPENADE AND HUMMUS

I made a couple of sauces this evening to bring to friends tomorrow.  Great on a board with some crackers, tapas and a glass of chilled white wine – Pesto, olive tapenade and hummus.

Once you have all the ingredients ready, it takes no time at all to whizz these babies up!

I had fresh basil from my herb garden, pine nuts in the press and Parmesan in the fridge.  I always keep a jar or two of olives in the press and also a tin or two of chick peas.  And……there’s always garlic and olive oil in our house!!

There are a lot of variations to these.  Here’s how I do mine.  Obviously you can amend yours to your own taste:

SIMPLE ROAST CHICKEN & STUFFING

So, I know I know, roast chicken is fairly easy to prepare and cook.  But maybe not for everybody!

It was always my favourite dinner growing up and whenever we were brought out for dinner I only ever wanted to eat chicken! 

Chicken is a favourite now in our house too.  Whenever I make roast chicken, I have to make the whole works!  All the trimmings.  It’s definitely scrummy comfort dinner with roast potatoes, buttery veg, juicy stuffing and thick flavoursome gravy. 

This recipe is the basic simple version for Sunday roast any day of the week.  There are so many different herbs, spices and flavours people like to add to their roast chicken.  This is how I do mine.

(apologise for the picture.....i kind of dissected the top of the chicken checking its status!- but don't let that fool you.  It tasted devine!)

MY CHICKEN CURRY

 Dinner’s up!  Tonight, chicken curry is on the menu.

I’ve tried this so many ways, from scratch and from a pack.

My good friends from Cork once gave me a really yummy curry paste.  We devoured it in no time.  I couldn’t find it anywhere after and trying to find a replacement proved tough.  I eventually found a paste/powder and it works good…….for now!

Here’s what we enjoy now in our house.  It’s really very scrumptious and creamy:

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Just cooked a batch of chocolate chip cookies for a treat on this dull and wet Friday.  Surely that should put a smile on the boy’s faces. (And me!) Lovely crispy and chewy cookies.

CHILLI BULGAR WHEAT & PRAWN

 Time for lunch.  It’s just me in the house for lunch so I check out what I got!  I spotted the prawns in the freezer and remember a fab lunch I had out with Siobhan, my sister……….Bulgur wheat and prawn salad.  I just happen to have some bulgur wheat in the press.  Fancy that J

Baking day.

Today, i decided to do some baking.    I mentioned I got a great present from my sister for my birthday of “Bake” cook book by Rachel Allen.  I absolutely love this.  It’s so great, so easy to follow and there’s a whole 278 pages of deliciousness!!

Rachel goes through basic recipes and techniques like cake decorating and fillings; pastries; equipment; jams & preservatives and sauces…….it’s a great baking bible!

Baked potato with creamy ham

Fancy an easy yummy lunch today?  Then try this creamy ham topping for a baked potato.  (The only thing about this is to make sure you pop the potato into bake for up to 60 minutes.)

Baked potato with creamy ham:

1.      Prepare your potatoes by washing them and piercing them several times with a fork.   Rub them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

2.      Pop the potatoes straight into a pre heated 220° oven, on the middle shelf.  (Baking them directly on the shelf helps the heat to bake through them).   If you like you could put a metal skewer through them as the skewer with heat up through the potato helping it to cook through easier.  

3.      Cook for up to 60 minutes until the skin is crispy and potatoes are cooked through.

4.      To make the topping, start by softening sliced red onion on a medium heat.

5.      To this add some crushed garlic, wedges of tomato and ham bits (see a previous post on ham packs I did)

6.      Cook for about 3 minutes until the ham bits are coloured, then add a splash of white wine.

7.      Cook the wine down and once it’s reduced add in few spoonfuls of crème fraiche (or if you’re really bold add cream….it is more luxurious!).

8.      Season again with salt and pepper and cook for few minutes until the mix turns a dark creamy/brown colour.

9.      Serve this creamy delicious mix over the opened baked potatoes.

SMOOTHIES!

It proves tough to get the daily recommended portions of fruit into children, especially in the winter months.  Smoothies are not only great for this but are so refreshing in the summer months and so versatile.

I tend to fill up the smoothie maker or a blender and make some delicious smoothies as a day time snack.

The best thing about them is you can add virtually any fruit to a blender (bar the likes of kiwis or apples as they need to be juiced) along with any other ingredients you like. 

Trying to encourage them to eat fruit can be tricky but these smoothies will be the answer to your problems!

They are great for a cool refreshing snack drink during the warm summer days too.

Delicious apple tart

Apples are great to have as they are so versatile.  You can make so many things with them from buns to sauces, pies to breads.  It’s great to get some fallen tree apples, if you know of anyone who has apple trees.  I remember one day coming across a whole lot of apples on a road, fallen from a huge apple tree.  I gathered as much as I could in the car!

Apple tarts are so easy to make, are a great comfort food and great to freeze.  Here’s how I do mine:

Homemade pork burgers

Sometimes it’s nice to have a change from meat and potatoes. 

I started trying to make my own burgers by just looking up recipes online and from cookbooks.  I started with beef mince.  It’s a nice burger but I turned to pork mince, tried it out and found it was better to cook with, that bit healthier and lighter. 

I have to say, this is without doubt the number 1 treat dinner in our house!

I am not a huge fan of burgers but every now and again I will join the boys and have one.  Once you’ve made your own, you will never attempt to buy frozen burgers again! 

I have been making homemade burgers a while now.  I have tweaked them, added things in, taken things out and this is where I’m at at the moment.  

(The burger is under there somewhere....i promise :-) )

This is what works for us:

HUMMUS.

 I usually always keep a tin of chickpeas as one of my cupboard stores.  They are a great ingredient for quick and easy yumminess!

I struggled to find a snack for lunch one day.  I looked in the fridge and spotted some leftover chickpeas in a bowl from a salad the day before.  Hummus…..

It’s one of those things that you can make up a batch of.  It’s delicious for a dip or spread on a pita or a wrap with some chicken.

Once you make it once, you’ll be amazed how easy it is.  You can also vary your hummus.  I recently posted a guide to varying hummus, check it out.