Gnocchi & Bacon Bake

This is just a quick & easy recipe I put together myself. It's a winner with kids, and very filling. I served it alongside some bread rolls, but no-one could manage those!

1 pack fresh gnocchi
1 tin 400g chopped tomatoes
Half red onion diced
4 slices of bacon chopped
Splash balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Italian herbs (oregano, basil or whatever you have)
Cheese for topping
(I also added crispy onions & Panko breadcrumbs to the topping, but these are optional)

Fry the bacon until coloured in a little oil. Add the onion & soften. Tip in the tomatoes, balsamic & herbs, and simmer until sauce thickens. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi as per packet instructions. Drain the gnocchi, and add to a casserole/lasagne dish. Add teh sauce & stir through. Sprinkle on your toppings & cook in the oven at 200 c for about 25 minutes.

Chicken Cacciatore

I stumbled across this fabulous cookery blog, thepoineerwoman.com, which is full of great sounding recipes. First on my list to try was this chicken cacciatore - her pictures of the dish are stunning and make it look so tasty! You can see the photos and recipe here ... pioneer woman blog . Scroll right down past the photos to findthe recipe. I'm afariad mine is nowhere near as good! The dish though, was very very tasty. My husband thought it tasted a little bit like chicken bolognaise, I just enjoyed it. I served mine with spaghetti.

Bagels

I always thought bagels would be "difficult" to make. How wrong I was! I had a quick google for a recipe, just to see how tricky it was going to be. The very first recipe that came up looked far too simple, I didnt think it coudl work. Of course, I managed to mess up even this simple recipe teh first time hee hee. I forgot to add sugar, so there was absolutely no rise in the yeast/dough. I quickly started a 2nd batch though, as soon as I realised. When they came out of the oven, I couldnt believe they looked like real bagels! I  ate one for lunch, topped with scrambled egg and it was delicious! I am going to try & adapt the recipe to make cinnamon & raisin bagels - my favourite!

4 cups bread flour
1 Tbls sugar
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 Tbls vegetable oil
2 tsps instant yeast
1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.
Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.
Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.
Pre heat your oven to 425.
Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!
Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.
After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done!
Let them cool for at least 20 minutes.

Meatloaf with tomato butter sauce

Tonight, I combined 2 recipes that I have found in the last few days. I'm a secret watcher of the show Teen Mom, and a girl on there was raving about meatloaf from the US restuarant chain Cracker Barrel. Curious, I googled the recipe and found it very easily. I didnt fancy just plain ketchup as a sauce for it though, so I decided to try the tomato & butter sauce recipe I found via the Smitten Kitchen blog. Together, they made a pretty tasty meal! The tomato sauce is also great on cooked pasta.

Meatloaf recipe

1 pound mince
½ medium onion, diced
½ green pepper, diced
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
¼ cup ketchup (I left this out & replaced with another sauce)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place all ingredients, except ketchup, in a large bowl. Mix well with hands. Place in loaf pan and press down gently. Bake at 350 f  for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Spread ¼ cup ketchup over top of loaf and serve.
Serves 4.

Tomato & butter sauce recipe (this makes quite a lot, you will probably only need half for the meatloaf)

2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
70g butter
1 onion, sliced in half & peeled.

Put all the ingredients in a pan, and slowly bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 45 mins. Remove the onion, and spoon over the sliced meatloaf.

Chicken Pakoras

This week, I bought myself a few bags of herbs that I needed to try out some new recipes. One of the herbs I bought was fenugreek leaves. I love the smell of them! I stuck my nose in the bag and took a deep breath - mmmm! It's such a deep wonderful smell, the aroma that hits you as you walk into an Indian supermarket.

I bought the fenugreek leaves  to add to my pakora batter. I've made pakora's before, but used fenugreek seeds instead (by accident) and they did not taste right. This time, they were perfect! I have eaten loads, and I am suitably stuffed now :)

Serves 2

2 chicken breasts
1 tsp veg oil
1 teaspoon garlic & ginger paste
2 tsps tomato puree
2 tsps lemon juice
pinch of salt


125g gram flour
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
1 large hadfull fresh chopped coriander
2 tsps cumin powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
120 ml water

Oil for deep frying

Chop the chicken into bitesize pieces. Add the veg oil, garlic/ginger paste, tomato puree, lemon juice & pinch of salt, and mix thoroughly. Put aside.

Combine the gram flour, fenugreek, spices, salt & caoriander in a large bowl. Slowly add the water until the mixture is thick like double cream. Add the chicken, and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Cook the pakoras in batches, for 5-6 minutes each. Try not to over crowd the pan. Remove from the oil & drain on kitchen towel.

Chorizo Spaghetti - a quick & easy supper

This was a very tasty and a very, very quick dinner to make. It's one of those 5 minute meals that you chuck together but tastes divine! I made it for my husband & Dad this evening, and they literally licked their plates clean. I added a red onion to the recipe, which I just softened in the olive oil before the chorizo.

• 80g pack sliced chorizo sausage
• 300g bag fresh spaghetti
• 20g pack flatleaf parsley (a good handful)
• 2 red peppers from a jar, in brine or oil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50g finely grated fresh parmesan , plus extra to serve 

1. Put a pan of water on over a high heat to boil. Meanwhile, snip the chorizo into strips with scissors, and chop the parsley and peppers (check for stray seeds first).
2. When the water is boiling briskly, add the spaghetti with a good measure of salt, stir and return to the boil. Cook for 3 minutes.
3. In a large frying pan, heat the oil, add the chorizo and peppers and plenty of black pepper. Cook for a minute or so, until heated through and the juices are stained red from the paprika in the chorizo. Scoop half a mugful of pasta water from the pan, drain the remainder and tip the spaghetti into the frying pan.
4. Add the parsley and parmesan, toss well and splash in the pasta water, to moisten. Hand round extra parmesan at the table.

Little Lousie Cupcakes.

I made these delicious little cupcakes from a recipe I found on the Good Food website. We were going to a 3 year old girls birthday party, so these seemed perfect to take along! I quite like meringue topped cupcakes, and the cocnut in these was delicious!

 

Ingredients

• 175g butter , softened
• 300g golden or white caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 eggs , 4 separated
• 175g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150ml milk
• 12 tsp raspberry jam - use a firm jam
• 85g desiccated coconut 

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cases. In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter, 175g of the sugar and the vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Beat in the whole egg, followed by the 4 yolks, before briefly beating in the flour, baking powder and milk until smooth. Divide two-thirds of the mix evenly between the cases, then top the centre of each with 1 tsp jam. Divide remaining cake mix over the top, using a wet finger to smooth it in place so no jam is visible. Bake for 18-22 mins until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Wait until cool enough to handle, then transfer the cakes to a flat baking sheet.
2. Lower oven to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼. Using a large, clean bowl, beat the 4 egg whites until stiff, then continue whisking while you gradually add the remaining 175g sugar. Beat until thick and shiny, then fold in the coconut and use spoonfuls of the mixture to top each cake. Bake for 30-35 mins until the outside of the meringue is crisp, then cool before serving.

Chinese Supermarket

I have been to the Chinese supermarket today - I love it there! I could quite honestly spend a fortune. I restrained myself though, and just bought ingredients for my Chinese dinner party this weekend. Do any of you readers do any Chinese cooking? What is your favourite dish?

 

I plan on serving  chilli shredded beef, sweet & sour chicken, satay chhicken, panko prawns, char sui pork, spare ribs, chow mein & egg fried rice.

BBQ Pork Enchiladas

With the success ofthe chicken enchiladas that I made for my family a couple of weeks ago, I thought Id try again with a variation. BBQ pork is always tasty, so that seemed like a good idea. I think they turned out quite tasty! The children & husband seemed to enjoy them too. Served the enchiladas with corn on the cobs (another of my childrens favourites!).

1/2 yellow or red pepper
400g pork stir fry strips
1 small tin sweetcorn
1 medium onion
6 tortillas
1 tub sour cream
8 tablespoons tomato ketchup
4 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
salad leaves
cheese to top


Soften the onion & pepper in some olive oil. Add the pork strips & brown. Mix the ketchup, sugar, paprika & white wine vinegar in a bowl, then add to the frying pan. Mix well & let simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon some of the mixture into a tortilla wrap, add soem salad leaves & rol up. Place into a lasagne dish. Do this for all 6 wraps and nestle them side by side in the dish. Pour over the soured cream & spread evenly on top. Add grated cheese and then put into the oven at 200C for about half an hour.

Muffin topped Beef Stew

This was perfect for a cold winters night! Lovely tender beef, vegetables and a lovely muffin topping. Sounds odd to have a muffin-lid, but it really works. It's also one of the dishes that you can make and then leave for hours to cook itself - which is perfect for me. My son has an afternoon nap, so I was able to prepare the stew while he slept, then left it for 3 hours on low in the oven until I added the topping. The stew is my own recipe, the topping is from the Good Food website.

Stew

2 sticks celery chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
2 medium onions chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
500g braising beef
2 tbsp plain flour
1 400g tin tomatoes
500 ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper


Soften the vegetables & bay leaves in the olive oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the beef & the flour & mix. Add the tinned tomatoes, stock, puree, worcestershire sauce, balsamic and season. Mix & bring to the boil. Cover & put into the oven at 180C for 3 hours.

Muffin topping

225g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
140g cheddar , coarsely grated
2 tbsp olive oil
150ml milk

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add half the cheese. Mix olive oil and milk, then stir into the flour to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Add more milk, if necessary. Spoon the dough over the meat and vegetables, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for about 15 mins until golden, risen and cooked through.