Savoy cabbage, courgette & runner bean stir-fry

Ingredients:

1 small or half a large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 medium courgette, sliced
4 runner beans, chopped
3-4 Savoy cabbage leaves, cut into 1cm strips
olive oil
vegetable stock powder

Method:

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan.  Add the onion and garlic and sautee over medium heat until soft and translucent.

Add the runner beans and courgette and continue to sautee for a further 3-4 minutes.  Add the cabbage, stir fry for another minute, then add enough water just to cover the base of the pan.  Sprinkle half a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder over the vegetables and steam fry until all the water has evaporated and the vegetables are tender but retain some crunch.  If you wish, grate a little Parmesan cheese over the vegetables and serve hot.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 11:18 ص تحت قسم

Mini pistachio tarts for a WTSIM picnic

FOR THE FILLING:

100g golden syrup
150g granulated sugar
75g butter
3 Tbsp clear honey
3 Tbsp rum
pinch of salt
3 eggs
150g pistachio nuts

FOR THE PASTRY:

200g cake flour
50g icing sugar
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp iced water

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Rub the butter into the flour and other dry ingredients.  Add the lightly beaten egg yolk and water, mix well and knead lightly until the dough comes together.  Roll the dough out to about 3mm thickness and press into lightly greased loose-bottomed mini fluted flan tins.  Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes if you can.

Gently heat the syrup, butter, honey, rum and salt.  When the mixture is warm, dissolve the sugar in it – make sure the sugar if totally dissolved before removing from the heat.  Once it has cooled a little, whisk in the eggs and nuts.

Fill the pastry cases with the pistachio mixture and bake for 15 minutes or until set (As I only had 4 mini fluted flan dishes,  I used the remaining pastry and filling to make the slightly larger square tart pictured below – it took a little longer to cook).

Serve warm with a good dollop of double or clotted cream.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 11:13 ص تحت قسم

Potato salad with chive flowers and my Pinterest love affair

Ingredients

• about 1kg of salad potatoes
• 4-6 heaped tablespoons of good mayonnaise
• a good handful of chive leaves
• about 8 chive flowerheads
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Steam the potatoes unpeeled until soft enough to poke a knife right through them. run cold water over them until cool enough to handle, then peel them. Chop into cubes and place in a salad bowl.
2. Rinse the chive leaves and flower stems and snip into the salad bowl using a pair of scissors.
3. Add the mayonnaise, salt and pepper and mix well.
4. Rinse the flower heads and pull off the individual purple flowers. Scatter over the salad and serve.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 11:08 ص تحت قسم

Sautéed Brussels sprouts – do it right

Ingredients

• About 600g Brussels sprouts
• 4 shallots
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• olive oil
• vegetable stock cube/powder

Instructions

1. Clean the Brussels sprouts and cut each one vertically in half.  Finely chop the shallots and crush the garlic.
2. In a large flat-bottomed frying pan, heat enough oil to cover the base of the pan.  Place the Brussels sprouts in the pan, cut side down, in a single layer.  Scatter the chopped shallots and garlic over the sprouts.
3. When the sprouts are just starting to caramelise (you will smell them), turn them over and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
4. Add enough water to just cover the base of the pan with about 1mm of water and crumble half a vegetable stock cube into the pan (I used Kallo organic vegetable stock cubes). Give the pan a good stir and then allow to steam-fry until all the liquid has cooked off and the sprouts are tender.  Serve hot.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 11:06 ص تحت قسم

Rhubarb and pear muffins

Ingredients

150g (1 cup) wholemeal self-raising flour

• 150g (1 cup) white self-raising flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 115g (½ cup) + 1 Tbsp sugar (I used golden caster)
• 45 g (3 Tbsp) butter, melted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp runny honey
• 250ml (1 cup) milk (I used full cream)
• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 2cm lengths
• 1 pear, peeled and cut into small cubes

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C.
2. Stir 1 Tbsp of the caster sugar into the chopped rhubarb.
3. Mix both flours, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg into a large bowl, then add the sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, egg, honey and milk. Pour this mix into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined but do not overmix.
5. Fold the rhubarb and pear into the mix – the mixture will be quite dense and relatively dry, rather than a batter. Don’t worry! The rhubarb will release moisture as it bakes.
6. Spoon the mixture into lightly greased muffin tins (12 standard or 6 jumbo muffin cups).
7. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden – test by checking if a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
8. Allow to fool for 5 minutes, then run a palette knife round the rip of each muffin cup and remove from the tin.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 11:05 ص تحت قسم

Moroccan-spiced roasted vegetables

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized aubergine
2 courgettes
1 large red onion
half a butternut sqush, peeled and deseeded
olive oil

FOR THE MOROCCAN SPICE MIX:

2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chile powder (I used Osman's chilli powder that a friend brought from South Africa)
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I omitted this as I had none)
a pinch ground cloves
1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Chop all the vegetables into bite-sized chunks and place in a bowl.  Add a good glug of olive oil and 2-3 tablespoons of the Moroccan spice mix, depending on how spicy you want your vegeteables.  Using your hands, toss the vegetables in the oil and spices until they are thoroughly coated.

Turn the vegetables out onto a foil-lined roasting tray and plae in the centre of the oven.  Roast for about 40 minutes, or until the butternut squash chunks are tender.  Serve on couscous, or as a side dish with chicken or fish.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 11:00 ص تحت قسم

Spicy Moroccan chicken tagine

Ingredients

• 2kg chicken pieces (I used drumsticks and thighs)
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 5 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 Tbsp paprika
• 4 Tbsp ground ginger
• 3 Tbsp turmeric
• 5 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 Tbsp argan oil (I used sunflower)
• 6 large onions, finely diced
• 9 cloves garlic, minced
• 500ml tomato juice
• 3x400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 300g dried apricots, halved
• 150g raisins or sultanas
• 2 preserved lemons, chopped
• 200 g blanched flaked almonds
• 2 tsp strands saffron, soaked in cold water
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 3 Tbsp clear honey

Instructions

1. Place the cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and toss together with half of the spice mix. Cover with cling film and leave overnight in the fridge.
2. Preheat the oven to 150C.
3. Heat 3 Tbsp each of the olive oil and argan oil in a large casserole dish that can be used on the stove top or in the oven. Add the onions and the remaining spice mix and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the garlic for the final 3 minutes.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a heavy griddle pan and when it is really hot place the chicken pieces skin side down in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes (use a splatter screen – it’s going to sizzle and spit!). Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and place in the casserole dish.
5. Pour 250ml tomato juice into the griddle pan and stir well, scraping up all the bits on the bottom, then pour the contents of the pan into the casserole dish.
6. Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, preserved lemon, raisins, flaked almonds, saffron, stock and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover with a tightly fitting lid and cook in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

بواسطة فريق التحرير في 10:58 ص تحت قسم