Oeufs En Cocotte

I stumbled across a Nigella recipe for a tasty breakfast. I get bored with breakfasts very quickly, so I love it when I find something new to try. We always have eggs in the house, so was able to rustle this up as soon as I saw this recipe. You will need a ramekin for each person.

Grease the ramekin with butter.
Preheat the oven to 189 c,
Allow 1-2 eggs per person. Crack them into the ramekin. Season & top with a tablespoon of cream.
Put the ramekins into a deep baking dish & pour in hot water to make a bain marie.
Pop the whole thing into the oven for around 10 minutes, a little earlier if you want a runny yolk.

Prawn Cocktail Salad

This was our starter at Christmas. Simple, traditional (old fashioned maybe?) but to me, lovely!

I love having this for lunch, sometimes swapping the prawns for crayfish tails.

Prawns
1 tblsp mayonnaise
1 tblsp tomato ketchup
Tiny pinch paprika

Mix the mayo, tomato sauce & paprika and mix with the prawns, Serve on a bed of salad.

Loaded Chicken

I am back! After an extended Christmas break from my blog, I am here raring to go. I got a few good cookery books for Christmas that I will be testing out, including the Masterchef Everyday which I am excited by! I also got some fab foodie gifts, including a box of Pimenton, a grow your own Funky Veg kit and some Kewpie mayo. All will feature at some point, I am sure.

This is a recipe I threw together the other night when I just had bits & bobs left in the fridge. You could add anything that you would add to a pizza - go wild! I have tried with with chorizo instead of bacon, which was lovely. You could also try different cheeses. We ate ours with a side salad & homemade coleslaw.

The photos I took after it was cooked came out too blurry :( but I can vouch for how tasty they looked!

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, cut into halves (so that you have 2 thin breast pieces per person)

Tomato sauce -

2 tblsps tomato puree
2 tblsps water
Pinch Italian herbs or basil
1 crushed garlic clove
Pinch onion powder/granules

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Suggested toppings -

Cheese (I used grated cheddar)
Bacon bits
Fried onion
Mushrooms
Ham
Sweetcorn
Peppers


Spread each chicken breast with the tomato sauce. Add your toppings (I used bacon, onion & mushrooms) and then top with cheese. Pop into a preheated oven at 200C for 30 minutes. Make sure the chicken is cooked through, and serve.

Merry Christmas!

A huge Merry Christmas to all my blog readers!

 Peace & love to you all!

Easy Lasagne

I needed an easy, no-fuss dinner for the lead up to Christmas. We all love lasagne here, so it seemed ideal. I used a mixture of Gordon Ramseys's al forno lasagne recipe, and use the topping recipe from Jamie Oliver. I love his simple & quick topping idea, when you dont have the time or the energy to make a white sauce from scratch.  I like to serve mine with a salad & garlic bread.

Serves 4 -
2 tbsp olive oil
½ large onion, peeled1
large carrot, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 pinches dried oregano
300g minced beef
1 tbsp tomato pureé
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp red wine
400g tin chopped tomatoes
50ml milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fresh lasagne sheets

200ml tub creme fraiche
Pinch nutmeg
100g grated cheddar
2 tbsp grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C. Heat the olive oil in a hot pan. Grate the onion and carrot and crush the garlic before frying together. Season with the bay leaf, a pinch of oregano, Worcestershire sauce and a little salt and pepper. Allow the onion to soften before making a well in the centre of the pan. Place the mince in the middle of the pan and stir to break it up. Add the tomato puree and allow to cook out for 30 seconds. Continue until all the meat has browned nicely. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol before adding the tomatoes. Leave to simmer for a further 2-3 minutes. Finally add the milk, turn off the heat and set aside.

Layer the mince mixture & lasagne sheets in a deep over proof dish. Finish with a final layer of lasagne sheets, then pour over the creme fraiche. Sprinkle on the nutmeg & the 2 cheeses.

Pop into the oven for 25 minutes, golden & bubbling on top.

Red Cabbage with Balsamic and Cranberries

This is one of the side dishes I am planning on having with our Christmas dinner this year. We don't really eat turkey, so we are having a gammon instead and probably a roast chicken. I think this dish will go lovely with those meats. I have a few other dishes too, but this is one I can prepare beforehand, and the flavours will develop in the fridge. I will prepare some more side dishes tomorrow (Christmas Eve) so that leaves the bare minimum for the actual day.This recipe is perfect for freezing too.

3 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions , halved and thinly sliced
2 whole cloves
1 medium red cabbage , quartered, cored and thinly sliced
200ml vegetable stock
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
100g brown sugar
200g fresh or frozen cranberries

 Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and fry, stirring every now and then, for about 10 mins, until they start to caramelise. Stir in the cloves, then add the cabbage and continue cooking, stirring more frequently this time, until the cabbage starts to soften. 
Pour in the stock, add the vinegar and sugar, then cover and cook for 10 mins. 
Stir in the cranberries and cook for 10 mins more. Cool and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze for 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat until very hot before serving.

Easy Cranberry Sauce

This is the first year that I have tried to make my cranberry sauce. I looked a few recipes, and came up with this easy recipe to try out. It can keep in the fridge for 4 days, and it is also fine to freeze. I like to make as much as I can ahead of time, for the Christmas meal, so this was cooked this afternoon & is now all ready for Christmas. I will have more recipes popping up in the next couple of days, so be sure to check back for more!

250g fresh or frozen cranberries
100g light brown sugar
100ml fresh orange juice
1 star anise

Heat the orange juice, sugar & star anise in a pan until bubbling. Stir in the cranberries & cook until they are soft but still mostly holding their shape. This will be about 5 minutes if using frozen, a bit longer for fresh. Decant to a jar or large ramekin, and allow to cool. Fish out the star anise, and keep in the fridge until it is needed. It can be frozen at this point too.

Saucy Chicken & Vegetable One Pot

This was just a recipe to use up some odds & ends that I had in the fridge. I was trying to clear some room for the epic Christmas Dinner shop. You could add any vegetables you like or need to use up. Chicken thighs, skin fried crispy first, would also work well. I am looking forward to some serious Christmas cooking, but I will be doing simple dishes up until then. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this, and it was very filling.

Serves 4
Olive oil
4 chicken breasts, diced
Half an onion or 1 shallot, finely diced
2 carrots, cut into thick circles
Half a head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
Half a head of broccoli, cut into small florets
Cupful of frozen peas
400g new potatoes, thickly sliced
Fresh tarragon, snipped
150 ml double cream
1 litre chicken stock

 Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Fry the chicken for 5 minutes then add the onion (or shallot). Fry until soft, Stir in the potatoes, and toss until coated. Pour in the stock. Cover & cook for 10 minutes, until the potatoes are almost cooked through.

Turn the heat up high & reduce the stock until it just covers the bottom of the pan. Throw in the veg, and cover & cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the double cream, season & add the tarragon. Serve with crusty bread.

Chicken & Vegetable Coconut Curry

This is my entry for the Cook Off/Blog Off competition run by Gourmet Garden. They sent me some of their products to use in my recipes. I was quite excited to get my pack of herbs & spices - most of my herbs in my garden have died in the frosts :(

I love a tasty curry, so decided that's would I would make for my entry, as it uses as many of the products as possible. You could add any veg that you like, I just happen to love mushrooms! I also had green beans to use up, so added those too. I think this recipe would freeze well, and it definitely tastes the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight - most curries do! This is quite mild, so add more chilli to taste.

1 onion, sliced
5 mushrooms, sliced
100g trimmed green beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
35g butter
4 chicken breasts
400g tin tomatoes, drained of juice
400g tin coconut milk
10 crushed cardamom pods
5 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden ready ginger
1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden ready garlic
1 teaspoon (or more if you like it spicier) of Gourmet Garden ready chilli
1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden ready coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons garam masala


Heat the oil & butter in a large frying pan or wok to a medium heat. Add cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander paste, coriander spices & cumin spices and stir for 2 minutes to release the flavours & aroma. Add the chopped chicken & stir through. Add the tomatoes & coconut milk, and allow to come to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer and reduce slightly for 30 minutes. 2 minutes before serving, add the garam masala & stir through. Serve with rice & naan.

Kids Can Cook - Sticky Chicken Noodles

Tonight it was the turn of my 10 year old daughter to cook tea for her & her sister & brother. I thought a simple stir-fry would be a good start, so she could learn some knife skills and to help her balance flavours when making the sauce. She did really well, with minimal input from me. Dinner was eaten in record time, so I think it was a huge success! This is a good recipe for a beginner, as it has just a few simple ingredients and its hard to get it wrong. It's also great for a quick lunch if you are stuck for ideas. You could use any veg, we talked about how next time we would maybe add mushrooms and baby corn to the stir-fry.

Serves 3 children

2 chicken breasts, diced
Half a red pepper, chopped into bite size pieces
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Pinch Chinese 5-spice
200g egg noodles (cooked by an adult if you are a beginner)

Olive oil to fry

Heat up the olive oil in a large wok or frying pan on a medium heat. Stir fry the onions & peppers until they are soft. Add the chicken & stir fry until it is all golden in colour. Put your egg noodles on to boil for 3 minutes (or get an adult to help). Drain & put aside. Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil. honey & Chinese 5-spice in a small bowl, and mix it up with a spoon until it is all combined. Pour over your chicken stir fry and toss everything in the sauce. Add the drained noodles, and toss again. Serve quickly to warm bowls & serve.