Category: Food

Quiche Lorraine

Adapted from Mary Berry “Cookery Course”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 6

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 10+30 min

Ingredients

  • 200g unsmoked streaky bacon rashers
  • 125g Gruyere cheese, grated
  • 1x large onion
  • 10x cherry tomatoes
  • 4x large eggs
  • 250ml crème fraiche
  • Short cut pastry sheets, ready to bake

Special Equipment

  • Oven proof quiche dish, preferably rectangular to match the pastry sheets size
  • Small non-stick frying pan
  • Bowl

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Oven
  • Preheat the oven to 220oC / 200oC fan
  • Step 2 – Onion and tomatoes
  • Peel and chop the onion into small pieces
  • Slice the cherry tomatoes in two
  • Step 3 – Bacon
  • Cut the stirps into small pieces
  • Step 4 – Pastry
  • Remove the rolled pastry sheet from the fridge
  • The pastry sheet comes rolled in baking paper, keep it attached as you unroll it
  • Roll out the pastry sheet onto the quiche dish, baking paper side down, pastry side up, covering the sides.
  • Pres into the sides. Trim any excess with a knife
  • Prick the base and sides of the pastry with a fork (to prevent air bubbles form forming during baking)
  • Line the base and sides of the dish with baking parchment paper on top of the pastry
  • Fill dish with baking beans to hold the paper down

Cooking Pt1

  • Step 1 – Bacon
  • Crisp the bacon in frying pan over medium heat for 10 minutes
  • Remove and keep aside
  • Keep frying pan ready for onions later
  • Step 2 – Pastry
  • Put the quiche dish with pastry prepared above in the oven
  • Bake for 10 minutes
  • Take out of oven
  • Remove the baking beans and parchment paper (keep the beans)
  • Trim any overhanging pastry
  • Reduce oven temperature to 180oC / 160oC fan
  • Step 3 – Onions
  • Cook the onions in the bacon frying pan for 8 minutes over medium heat (or until golden)
  • Remove Onions and add to quiche dish

Cooking Pt2

  • Step 1 – Quiche
  • Arrange the bacon bits evenly in the Quiche dish
  • Add the onions, similarly
  • Add the cherry tomatoes
  • Sprinkle the cheese all over
  • Step 2 – Cream
  • In a bowl, combine the eggs, cream, salt and pepper
  • Wisk with a spoon until fully mixed
  • Poor evenly inside the quiche dish over the other ingredients already there
  • Step 3 – Bake
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and just set
  • Be careful not to overcook (or the filling will become tough and full of holes)
  • Step 4 – Serving
  • Cut into 6 portions
  • Serve with a salad

Karen’s tips:

Put quiche dish on a baking tray to avoid bits falling at the bottom of the oven and provide more heat

Instead of cutting it, roll any excess pastry protruding over the edge inside the dish border, it will make for a thicker crust

Lazy Prawn Stir Fry

From Marks & Spencer

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 2-3

Preparation: none

Cooking: 15 min

Ingredients

  • 600g vegetable stir fry mix
  • 400g fresh fine egg noodles for stir fry
  • 160g fresh king prawns
  • Any stir fry sauce (sweet soy, garlic & ginger for example)
  • Toasted sesame seed oil

Special Equipment

  • Large metal wok
  • Pyrex dish with lid
  • Microwave oven

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Noodles
  • Break-up noodles into 4 smaller portions
  • Put all of them in a pyrex dish, cover with lid
  • Put in microwave oven for 2.5 minutes (850W)
  • Remove and keep warm by keeping lid on
  • Step 2 – Prawns
  • Put some sesame seed oil in the bottom of the wok
  • Use medium/low heat
  • Cook prawns until change colour, then turn them over
  • All done when they have all turned pink
  • Put prawns on top of noodles, cover with lid to keep warm
  • Step 3 – Vegetables
  • Increase heat to medium
  • May need to add a bit more sesame seed oil
  • Add the vegetable mix to the wok, spreading all the way up the sides
  • Cook for 3 minutes, stirring and tossing regularly
  • You can cover the wok to help with cooking (if you have a suitable lid)
  • Step 3 – All together
  • Add the noodles and prawns to the wok
  • Add the stir fry sauce
  • Mix thoroughly with vegetables
  • Stir and toss the mix until all is nice and hot

Easy meal, ready very quickly!

Serve preferably on plates that have been heated up

Cauliflower Steak

From www.healthyrecipesblogs.com by Vered de Leeuw

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4

Preparation: 10 min

Cooking: 30 min

Ingredients

  • 2 medium size cauliflower heads
  • 1/2 tsp back pepper
  • 1 tsp of paprika
  • 1 tsp of coriander

Special Equipment

  • 1 large or 2 smaller shallow baking tray
  • Heat resistant parchment paper

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Pre-heat oven
  • Pre-heat your oven to 220oC
  • Step 2 – Cut the steaks
  • Wash the cauliflower heads, remove the outer leaves
  • Trim the very bottom of the core, but keep the core intact
  • This is the tricky bit: delicately slice each head into 3/4 inch (20mm) thick “steak” slices with a long sharp knife
  • Plan on only getting three “steaks” out of every cauliflower head as the outer slices will fall apart as florets (that you can roast together with the steaks)
  • Step 3 – Arrange the steaks
  • Line the baking tray with parchment paper and spray it with olive oil
  • Arrange the steaks in a single layer on the paper in the baking tray. Scatter the florets around them.
  • Spray (or paint) the top of the steaks with olive oil and sprinkle them with half the seasoning spices

Cooking

  • Put the baking tray(s) in the oven
  • Bake the cauliflower pieces for 15 minutes
  • Remove tray from oven, and carefully turn the steaks over
  • Spray their tops with oil and sprinkle the remainder of the seasoning spices
  • Put tray back in oven and bake until browned and fork tender (10-15 minutes)

For the perfect vegetarian meal, combine this as the “meat” together with the kale and mushroom risotto (see other recipe here) as a vegetable (as shown on picture).

Mushroom and Kale Risotto

From www.foxeslovelemons by Lori Yates

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4

Preparation: 35 min

Cooking: 25 min

Ingredients

  • 1000ml of vegetable (or chicken) stock
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 0.5 onion (red preferably)
  • 250g brown mushrooms
  • 1 cup (240ml) arborio (risotto) rice
  • 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) dry white wine
  • 250g shredded kale
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Special Equipment

  • Small pan
  • Large high-sided frying pan

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Kale quality check
  • Inspect the shredded kale and remove any hard bits of stalk
  • Cut any large bits into smaller pieces
  • Wash the kale thoroughly
  • Step 2 – Stock
  • Prepare stock in saucepan over medium heat
  • When simmering, turn off heat and keep covered
  • Step 3 – Onion and garlic
  • Peel, halve and slice the onion into small bits
  • Peel and finely chop the garlic
  • Step 4 – Mushrooms
  • Wash the mushrooms
  • Cut in slices, and halve again to roughly button mushroom size

Cooking

  • In large high-sided frying pan, melt some butter over medium-high heat.
  • Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 min, stirring frequently.
  • Add mushrooms and thyme, cook 8-10 min or until mushrooms are deep golden brown, stirring frequently.
  • Reduce heat to medium, add the rice, cook 1-2 min or until rice begins to become translucent at edges of grains, stirring constantly.
  • Add wine and pepper, stir constantly until wine is mostly absorbed.
  • Add 1/2 cup hot stock, stir frequently until mostly absorbed. Add additional broth in 1/2 cup increments, stirring after each addition and cooking until broth is mostly absorbed before adding more. Cook for 18 min.
  • Then stir in kale and cheese. Continue cooking 2-3 min longer or until rice is tender, stirring frequently and adding broth as needed (you may not need all of the broth).

Finishing

  • Serve on preheated plates.
  • Sprinkle some parmesan on top.

For vegetarians, make sure that you use vegetable stock.

In addition, for vegans, make sure that you omit the parmesan cheese.

Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff

From www.RecipeTinEats.com by Nagi

Difficulty: Very Easy

Serves: 2-3

Prep time: 15 min

Cooking time: 7-8hrs

Ingredients

  • 600g beef chuck cubes
  • 1x onion
  • 2.5 garlic cloves
  • 250g mushrooms
  • 1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 350ml beef stock
  • 100g (0.5 cup) sour cream

Special Equipment

  • Slow cooker
  • Large heavy-base frying pan

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Onion and garlic
  • Peel, halve and slice the onion into 1cm slices
  • Peel and finely chop the garlic
  • Step 2 – Mushrooms
  • Wash the mushrooms
  • Cut in medium slices

Pre-Cooking

  • Step 1 – Pan
  • Pour one table spoon of olive oil into the heavy pan
  • Brown the beef cubes all over, using high heat – approx. 4 minutes
  • Season to taste while cooking
  • Remove and put aside
  • Let the pan cool down a bit and then return to fire to cook the onion and only 1.5 (out of the 2.5) cloves of garlic – approx. 3 minutes or until softened
  • Stir in the flour and then the mustard
  • Add the beef stock and stir well, scrapping the bottom and sides, bring to simmer

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Slow cooker
  • Transfer all the content from the pan into the slow cooker
  • Add the beef cubes
  • Put lid on and cook for 7-8 hours on low (or 4-5 hours on high)

Finishing

  • Step 1 – Mushrooms
  • Melt some butter and fry the mushrooms over high heat until golden
  • Add them to the slow cooker
  • Step 2 – Finishing
  • Extract 1.5 cup of liquid from the slow cooker
  • Mix thoroughly with it the 0.5 cup of sour cream, before adding back to the slow cooker (not doing it directly in the slow cooker enable you to mix it thoroughly and also apparently avoids getting sour cream specs in the sauce)
  • Step 3 – Serving
  • Serve with rice or pasta
  • Sprinkle a bit of parsley on top for colour

Might try to experiment with adding a few spices to give it a more exciting taste when I next do this recipe

Columbo Chicken

Mashup of recipes from Vanessa Bolosier on “Sainsbury web site” and from Jean Francois Mallet’s book “Simplissime”

Difficulty: Very Easy

Serves: 2

Prep time: 30min + 2-8h

Cooking time: 60 min

Ingredients

  • 2x large chicken breasts
  • 2x large onions
  • 1x lemon
  • 1x bunch of fresh coriander leaves
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground turmeric
  • 0.5 tbsp mustard seeds
  • 0.5 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 400ml coconut milk

Special Equipment

  • Metal oven baking tray
  • Mortar and pestle

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Columbo powder
  • Put the coriander and mustard seeds in the mortar, crush and grind them with the pestle
  • Add the turmeric and cumin powder and grind some more
  • Crush and mix them all together
  • Step 2 – Marinade
  • Put 1 tbsp of olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon in the baking tray
  • Add salt and pepper and 2 tbsp of Columbo powder
  • Add the chicken breasts and cover them heartily
  • Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours and overnight if possible
  • Step 3 – Oven
  • Preheat the oven to 170oC
  • Step 4 – Onions and coriander
  • Peel the onions and cut in small pieces
  • Chop-up the coriander leaves
  • Step 5 – Chicken breasts
  • Add the chopped onions
  • Add the remainder of the Columbo powder
  • Add the chopped coriander
  • Cover the chicken breasts with the coconut milk

Cooking

  • Place the baking tray in the oven
  • Cook for an hour,
  • Stirring a few times, if can be bothered

This is not a hot curry in any way shape or form !

Just a very lovely tasting chicken

Chicken Pot Pie

From Jamie Oliver “5 Ingredients”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4

Prep time: 25 min

Cooking time: 35 min

Ingredients

  • 4x chicken breasts ( approx. 600g)
  • 3x onions
  • 350g of mixed mushrooms
  • 500g block of puff pastry
  • 2x bunch of fresh thyme

Special Equipment

  • 30cm diameter ovenproof frying pan
  • Smaller non-stick frying pan
  • Rolling pin
  • Oil brush

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Onions
  • Peel and roughly chop the onions
  • Step 2 – Oven
  • Preheat the oven to 220oC / 425oF / gas 7
  • Step 3 – Mushrooms
  • Wash the mushrooms
  • Cut in medium slices
  • Step 4 – Chicken breasts
  • Roughly chop 2/3 of the chicken
  • Finely chop 1/3 of the chicken

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Mushrooms
  • Put both pans on medium heat
  • Place the mushrooms in the non-stick frying pan
  • Let them toast and get nutty for 4 minutes
  • Step 2 – Chicken part 1
  • Pour one table spoon of olive oil into the oven-proof pan
  • Fry the onions for a few minutes and then add the chicken
  • Cook for 4 minutes and add the mushrooms and strip-in half the thyme leaves
  • Cook for a further 2 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally
  • Remove the oven-proof pan from the heat
  • Add sea salt and black pepper
  • Stir-in one table spoon of red wine vinegar and 150ml of water
  • Step 2 – Pastry
  • Working quickly, lay the pastry block on a flat surface coated with flour
  • Roll out the pastry in both directions and on both sides (making it evenly thinner), keeping it in flour so it does not stick to the flat surface. Continue until the thin pastry square obtained can cover the pan diameter with 2 cm to spare
  • Remove the pastry square by half-rolling it over the roller
  • Place the pastry over the whole content of the pan, tucking in the corner and pressing on the sides to make a seal
  • Very lightly criss-cross the pastry with a knife, then brush with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, making sure no puddles are formed
  • Create a hole in the middle and poke in the remaining thyme sprigs
  • Step 2 – Chicken part 2
  • Put to bake on the bottom shelf of the oven
  • Bake until pastry is puffed up and golden brown
  • You may need to pierce a few more holes to let air escape if the pastry is puffing up too much in certain locations

First attempt at puff pastry but gives a lovely crisp and light crust to this pie

Might try to add more ingredients next time to give it a more exciting taste

Herb Chicken Traybake

Variation on Jamie Oliver from “5 Ingredients”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 2

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 50 min

Ingredients

  • 2x 200g chicken legs
  • 400g of potatoes
  • 200g of button mushrooms
  • 2x shallots
  • 2x sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 lemon

Special Equipment

  • Roasting tray
  • Small grill to sit on top

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Oven
  • Preheat the oven to 180oC / 350oF / gas 4
  • Step 2 – Potatoes
  • Wash and scrub the potatoes
  • Slice them into 0.5cm thick slices
  • Place them to evenly cover the bottom of a roasting tray
  • Step 3 – Shallots
  • Peel the shallots
  • Cut length-wise and then slice and dice
  • Add the shallots to the potato slices
  • Add 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste
  • Step 4 – Mushrooms
  • Wash the mushrooms
  • Cut in medium slices

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Chicken part 1
  • Arrange the chicken legs on the grill
  • Sit the grill on top of the roasting tray
  • Place both in the oven and bake for 40 minutes
  • Step 2 – Chicken part 2
  • Strip the rosemary leaves off the sprigs
  • Peel strips of lemon zest
  • Add both evenly into the roasting tray
  • Add the cut mushrooms to the tray
  • Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon into the tray
  • Return to the oven for a final 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender and golden

Provides a lovely moist, soft and tender chicken

Nice pairing with a bottle of Cotes de Bordeaux red whine

Chicken with chorizo, butter beans and new potatoes

By Stephen Jeffers from “Belfast cookery school”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 min

Cooking time: 35 min

Ingredients

  • 4 skinless chicken breasts
  • 100g chorizo sausage (sliced)
  • 200g butter beans (can)(drained, from a can in water)
  • 12 small new potatoes
  • 36 Brussels sprouts (approx 400g)
  • 2 shallots
  • 150ml chicken stock
  • 150ml double cream
  • Basil

Special Equipment

  • Large frying pan
  • 2x small cooking pan

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Potatoes
  • Leave skins on new potatoes
  • Put potatoes to boil
  • Cook until soft inside (approx 10 minutes)
  • Cut them in halves
  • Put them aside
  • Step 2 – Stock
  • Prepare the chicken stock
  • Step 3 – Sprouts & Chorizo
  • Prepare the Brussels sprouts
  • Slice the chorizo into medium slices
  • Step 4 – Shallots
  • Peel the shallots
  • Cut length wise and then slice and dice

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Chicken
  • Put oil in bottom of frying pan
  • Fry the chicken breast on both sides until golden brown on the outside, cooking sufficiently long on medium heat to make sure it is cooked through,
  • Remove from pan and put on a plate covered with aluminium foil to keep warm
  • Step 2 – Brussels sprouts
  • Put Brussels sprouts to boil in small pan
  • Cook for approx 8 minutes
  • K’s tip
  • If the breasts are too thick, slice them in two to make them easier to cook
  • Do not use the same cutting board after having cut raw chicken meat
  • Step 3 – Chorizo
  • Put oil, shallots and chorizo in a small cooking pan
  • cook until chorizo changes colour and onions are brown
  • Step 4 – Sauce
  • Remove chorizo and shallots from the pan and set aside in bowl
  • Add chicken stock and double cream
  • Reduce on slow boil
  • Step 5 – Cooking
  • Put potatoes and beans in the large frying pan
  • Add the chorizo and shallots
  • Add the stock/cream reduction
  • Cook on slow boil until sauce becomes slightly sticky (approx. 10 minutes)
  • Add the chicken to the pan to warm it up
  • Add basil and season to taste
  • Cook for a further few minutes

Presentation

  • Use heated plates
  • Serve the chicken with the beans, chorizo and Brussels spouts displayed around it

The perfect dish for people allergic to vegetables and anything green (if you dispense of the Brussels sprouts) !

Goes down well with a nice bottle of Rioja Reserva red wine

Serrano Ham Crisps

Tired of regular plain crisps, and even of the new fancy flavoured ones, full of chemicals ?

Karen found these Serrano ham crisps “made using 100% Spanish pork”. The package describes them as “oven baked sliced dry cured Serrano ham” and they are definitely like very thin crispy ham slices.

They are certainly very moreish ! and available from your local M&S!