Italian Tomatoes and Buffalo Mozzarella

A quick and delicious dish that I grew up with, serve with warm bread.

Ingredients
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
4 large tomatoes
Olive oil
Basil or parsley

Method
Slice your tomatoes thinly and arrange so they cover a plate. Drain your mozzarella and tear it with your hands., arranging over the tomatoes.

Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, and add a few leaves of basil or parsley to serve.

French Prawns

A quick and tasty dish that can be served as a dinner party starter or whipped up as a quick supper.

Ingredients

Salted butter

King prawns

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

Parsley

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Melt a little butter in a small frying pan.
2. Add your finely chopped onion and fry on a low heat until soft
3. Add your king prawns and stir into the onions
4. Chop your tomatoes finely and add to the pan, along with 2 whole peeled garlic gloves
5. When the tomatoes have softened and released their juices snip the parsley into the pan and stir
6. Season to taste and serve immediately

Creamy Herb Dip

An easy creamy herb dip, great for a veggie lunch box or to serve with crisps and vegetable batons. Could also work well stirred into a pasta salad.

Ingredients

A selection of herbs; parsley, basil, chives for example

Watercress

Rocket

Spinach

1/4 white onion finely chopped

3 tbsps cream cheese

3 tbsps natural yoghurt

1 tbsp mayonaisse

Sprinkle of paprika 

Splash of Tabasco sauce

Squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Roughly chop your mixed herbs and the salad leaves, and squeeze over some lemon juice
2. Finely chop a quarter of an onion and add to a food processor along with the greens
3. Add the cream cheese, yoghurt and mayonnaise and pulse together
4. Taste and add more yoghurt to loosen if needed. Add the paprika, tabasco and lemon juice and transfer to a bowl
5. Stir to ensure all ingredients are well combined, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Salmon & Avocado Unwrapped Sushi Recipe

Salmon & Avocado Unwrapped Sushi Recipe

....with wasabi mayonnaise and spring onions

I love sushi, and I think it's the addictive flavouring of the sushi rice that keeps me coming back for more. Sushi rice is easy to make at home using a few simple ingredients that can be found in most supermarkets or asian superstores. This recipe uses smoked salmon and avocados but you could use any combination of sushi filling that you like!

If you don't have a rice cooker it will take slightly more effort but still taste the same- if you are using a normal pan, I recommend tying a clean and dry tea towel around the lid to stop steam escaping while you cook your rice.

Unlike my other recipes I will be using a cup measurement for making up the rice only as this is how I measure my rice at home and it is the easiest way of doing it.

Unwrapped Sushi

Serves 2 hungry people or 4 nibblers

Ingredients

For the rice:

1 cup of Sushi rice or short grain white rice

1 1/2 cup of water

1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup of mirin (Japanese rice wine)

3 teaspoons of sugar

3 teaspoons of salt

To serve:

1 ripe avocado (if the avocado has some give when you press into it, it's ripe)

60g smoked salmon (I used trimmings or off cuts and they are cheaper)

3 or 4 spring onions or salad onions

Soy sauce

For the wasabi mayonnaise:

5 tablespoons of good quality mayonnaise

1-2 teaspoons of wasabi paste, depending on how hot you want it

Method:

*Tip: Before you start cover your chopping board in cling film to stop the smell of salmon sticking to it.

1. Measure out your rice into a small bowl and cover with cold water, stir briefly with a chopstick and then immediately drain using a sieve or a colander with small holes. Repeat until the water runs almost clear. 
2. Place the rice in the rice cooker (or pan) and add water, you made need to adjust the amount of water for a pan. Start the cooker.
3. Prepare the sushi seasoning (also known as sushi vinegar) by mixing the rice wine vinegar, mirin, sugar and salt together. Some people like to do this in a small saucepan, but I prefer to fill a shallow bowl with boiling water and then sit a small glass in the hot water in which I mix the seasoning until the salt and sugar has dissolved. I find this gives me more control and does not over heat the seasoning. It also saves on washing up! If you are making the seasoning after the rice is cooked, you can set your glass in the rice for the same effect.
4. Mix together your mayonnaise and wasabi paste, add a little at a time tasting it until the flavour is as strong as you would like. It should have a pale green colour. Set aside for later. 
5. Let the seasoning cool, and prepare your 'filling'. If your smoked salmon is not already sliced, chop it up with a pair of scissors and set aside. To prepare the avocado run a sharp knife long way around it right down to the stone, then hold each side and firmly twist until they are separated. Scoop out the stone with a tablespoon, never use a knife. Then either scoop out the flesh or peel away the skin and chop your avocado into slices. Chop your spring onion.
6. By now your rice should be cooked, so remove it and place in a large shallow bowl if you have one. If the bowl is wooden- even better! Take a wooden spatula and stir the rice allowing it to cool and the steam to rice, you can fan the rice or stir it beneath your kitchen extractor fan to speed this up. When the rice begins to get very sticky and has cooled, stir in your seasoning a little at a time. *Note if you want to serve your rice warm, simply stir the seasoning into the warm rice- the previous step is only necessary if you want an authentic sushi rice texture, the taste will ultimately be the same.
7. Add your smoked salmon and avocado to the rice and lightly mix. Sprinkle your chopped spring onions over the top and serve the wasabi mayonaise drizzled over or on the side. Serve with soy sauce and enjoy.

Edit*: Since writing this recipe I have bought a bottle of ready made Mitsukan sushi seasoning from the Japan Centre (Japanese supermarket), rather than restock my mirin and rice wine vinegar which I feel are overpriced in British supermarkets. You can pick up a 355ml bottle of sushi seasoning for around £3.

Fried Egg Sarnie 101

How to make the perfect fried egg sarnie....




Ingredients

1 medium free range egg
2 slices of wholemeal bread
Butter
Sunflower oil
Ketchup
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Take a small frying pan and fill it with sunflower oil until the whole base is coated.

2. Set the pan on a medium heat until the oil heats up, you can tell that it's hot enough when a bread crumb sizzles when you drop it in.

3. Crack your egg carefully into the oil being careful not to splash it.

4. Reduce the heat slightly and let the egg begin to bubble. It should take between 2-4 minutes for the white to go opaque. You can butter the bread while the egg is cooking.

5. If the yolk and the centre of the egg is still runny, carefully take a spoon and tip the pan so that you can collect the oil and then drizzle it over the uncooked egg.

6. If you don't like your egg runny you could flip the egg at this point. However if you do like your yolk runny then remove the pan from the heat and place it on a slice of bread.

7. Season with salt and pepper and ketchup if you like. Then enjoy!

  

Fry in vegetable oil

Check the heat with a crumb

Sizzling

Buttering the bread

Ketchup

Chilli con Carne in 30 minutes

A tasty, juicy and lightly spiced chilli in under 30 minutes. Serve with rice, a jacket potato or in a fluffy bun for a classic 'sloppy joe'.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 500g beef mince
• A diced onion
• Spice mix 3 teaspoons of each unless stated (you can use a packet spice mix if you prefer): onion powder , paprika , 2 garlic cloves grated, sugar,  plain flour, cumin, oregano, chilli powder (or crushed, dried whole chilli peppers)
• Splash of white wine vinegar
• 400g tin of tomatoes
• 200g (1/2 a tin) of baked beans
• 400g tin of kidney beans
• A squirt of #5 umami paste (available from Waitrose)
• Soy sauce
• 50g grated mild cheddar (or another hard cheese of your choice)
• 1/4 pint of boiling water
• Tabasco sauce (optional, for extra heat)
• Salt and pepper to season
• Sour cream to serve.

Method: 

1. Brown the mince and onion in a saucepan. Drain off any excess fat. If you are making baked potatoes preheat your oven.
2. Blend your spice then mix with the water and stir into the mince, along with a splash of white wine vinegar and soy sauce. Also add the Tabasco sauce if you are using it.
3. Add the tomatoes, baked beans and kidney beans and a tablespoon of #5 umami paste.
4. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously. 
5. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until thoroughly cooked. 
6. While the chilli is simmering, prick your potatoes with a fork and microwave for 4 minutes (or until soft) then move them to the oven for a crispy skin. 
7. Remove the chilli from the heat and stir in the grated cheese until melted, this will add an extra creaminess to the chilli and serve immediately with baked potatoes or rice and lashings of sour cream.

This is an easy dinner that is sure to satisfy and great if you are having friends over. If you are eating alone or with a partner just freeze the leftovers or halve the ingredients.

Quick Smoked Mackerel Pâté

This is a really simple and tasty recipe for Smoked Mackerel Pâté which uses just a handful of ingredients to create a dish fit for a dinner party right through to a packed lunch. Bags of flavour with nourishing oily fish!


Ingredients:
2 Smoked Mackerel Fillets
3 heaped tablespoons of creme fraiche (or cream cheese if you prefer)
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Splash of Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons of mild paprika
Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Break the mackerel into large chunks and add to a food processors (alternatively you could flake with a fork). Blitz at intervals until the mackerel is in large flakes.

2. Add the creme fraiche and the lemon juice and blitz again. Taste and add more lemon juice if needed, then add a splash of Tabasco (to taste), the paprika and mix.

3. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve with toast or freshly baked bread and butter. You could also serve this as an open sandwich with a sliced avocado.

 

 

Enjoy!