Day 38 - Homemade Tomato, Mozzerella & Jalapeno Pizza

HOMEMADE TOMATO, MOZZARELLA & JALAPENO PIZZA

Serves: 2 People

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 20-25 Minutes

225g of Self Raising Flour
2 tsp of Dried Basil
3 tbsp of Olive Oil
3 tbsp of Tomato Puree
2 Tomatoes
75-100g of Jarred Jalapeno Peppers
150-200g of Soft Mozzarella

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees
• Place the flour, 1 teaspoon of basil and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add 3 tablespoon of olive oil and about 6 tbsp of cold water. Stir with a round bladed knife until the mixture makes large crumbs then bring together to make a dough adding more water if needed.
• Knead the dough lightly, then roll into a round to fit the base of a frying pan.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan. Place the dough in the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Then turn the pizza out onto a plate and cook the reverse side of the pizza for a further 5 minutes.
• Next spread the tomato puree over the pizza and lay the tomatoes and jalapenos evenly over the puree. Grate or finely slice the mozzarella and sprinkle over the top with the remaining basil.
• Place the frying pan into the oven and cook for about 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and is golden on top. Then serve immediately.

Day 37 - Jerk Chicken with Rice & Peas.

JERK CHICKEN WITH RICE & PEAS

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 25 Minutes + Marinating Time

Cooking Time: 45 Minutes

2 Chicken Breasts or 4 Chicken Thighs
5 Spring Onions
Thumb Sized Piece of Ginger
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Small Onion
2 Red Chilli Peppers
1 Lime
2 tbsp of Soy Sauce
2 tbsp of Vegetable Oil
3 tbsp of Brown Sugar
1 tbsp of Ground Allspice
200g of Basmati Rice
100g of Peas

• To make the jerk marinade, in a food processor (bowl blade) combine the spring onions, ginger, garlic cloves, onion, chilli peppers, lime juice, soy sauce, oil, sugar and ground allspice with a pinch of salt, and blend until it's a puree.
• Make slashes in the chicken and if you're using breast - bash it out a bit. Pour the marinade over the chicken and rub them together. Cover and leave to marinade for a few hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the chicken and the marinade into a roasting tin and cook for 45 minutes until tender and cooked through.
• Whilst the chicken is cooking, put salted water in a pan on medium to high heat. Once boiling, add the rice and the peas, cook for 15 minutes until the rice is soft and fluffy.
• Serve the jerk chicken on top of the rice with some hot sauce if you'd like.

Day 36 - BLT Baguettes

This recipe was a lovely easy recipe but really tasty. You could add chicken to the baguettes if you'd like or possibly instead of butter make some homemade mayonnaise. We were really tired & lazy that evening, so we just made this simple BLT baguette recipe.

DAY 36 - BLT BAGUETTES

Serves: 2 People

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10-15 Minutes

6-8 Rashers of Smoked Bacon
2 Tomatoes
40g of Rocket Leaves
20g of Butter
2 Foot Long Part Baked Baguettes
Olive Oil

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and place the baguettes into the oven for 5-10 minutes. Once the baguettes are done, remove from the the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Put a teaspoon of oil into a frying pan on a medium heat, fry the smoked bacon until a little crispy around the edges, turning every so often, then set aside. Meanwhile, thinly slice the tomatoes and set aside.
• Slice the baguettes in half and spread with the butter. Place the cooked bacon in the baguettes with the slices tomatoes and rocket salad. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve with some homemade chips.

Day 35 - Smoked Salmon & Watercress Tart

SMOKED SALMON & WATERCRESS TART

Serves: 4 People

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes

300g of Shortcrust Pastry (see here)
50g of Watercress
120g of Smoked Salmon
4 Large Eggs
300ml of Creme Fraiche
1 Lemon

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
• Roll out the pastry on a floured surface so that it's about 5 mm thick. Line a tart tin with the pastry, then line the pastry with baking paper and baking beans, bake blind for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 5- 10 minutes until the base is cooked. Then leave to cool a little. Turn the oven down to 180 degrees.
• Pick the watercress leaves, discarding the stalks. Spread over the base of the pastry case evenly. Roughly tear the smoked salmon into small pieces and scatter over the watercress.
• Lightly beat the eggs, creme fraiche and lemon juice together and season well. Carefully pour this over the salmon and watercress and grind a little more black pepper to the top. Bake for 35-40 Minutes until the filling is set.
• Leave the tart to cool for 5-10 minutes and then serve with a rocket salad.

Day 34 - Rabbit Ragu

For this recipe I decided to try something new - I love Rabbit but I've never cooked it before. A lot of people turned their noses up when I told them I was cooking rabbit, obviously some people keep rabbits as pets, and I am no different, I had a pet rabbit when I was younger. Rabbit is a fabulous meat though, it's the most free range you can get, very lean and healthy!

RABBIT RAGU

Serves: 2-3 People

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

1 Whole Rabbit
2 Large Onion
6 Carrots
6 Celery Sticks
4-5 Peppercorns
2 Rashers of Smoked Bacon
400g of Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
400ml of Vegetable Stock
200g of Linguine Pasta
2 tbsp of Fresh Grated Parmesan

• First of all I am going to roast the rabbit. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Chop 1 Onion, 3 Carrots and 3 Celery Sticks into quarters and place into a large roasting dish with the peppercorns. Cover the vegetable with a good amount of water and rest the rabbit on top but make sure. (I had the rabbit cut into 6 equal sized pieces at the butchers.) Place into the oven for 30-40 minutes.
• When done, leave to rest for 10-15 minutes then strip the meat from 4 of the 6 pieces of rabbit and put aside. Save the rest of the meat, the bones, vegetable and remaining juices in the dish in the freezer to use for an amazing rabbit soup.
• Meanwhile finely dice the remaining onion, carrots, celery and the bacon, add to a large lidded pan with a teaspoon of oil on a medium heat and cook 5 minutes until softened.
• Add the rabbit to the pan and turn the heat down to a low heat and add the stock and tinned chopped tomatoes. Season to taste and place the lid on. Leave to simmer for approximately an hour, stirring every so often and adding a little water if you feel it's getting dry.
• Cook the linguine according to the packet instructions and serve with the ragu on top and grate over some fresh Parmesan.

Day 33 - Garlic Chicken Curry with Coriander Sauce

This is a delicious, healthy curry recipe given to me by my mother.

GARLIC CHICKEN CURRY WITH CORIANDER SAUCE

Serves: 2 People

Prep Time: 20 Minutes + Marinating time

Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Small Bunch of Fresh Coriander
3 Garlic Cloves
2 tsp of Garam Masala
1 tbsp of Mango Chutney
2 Large Chicken Breasts
1 Large Onion
400g of Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
2 tbsp of Natural Yogurt.

• Cut most of the stalks from the coriander and set the leaves aside. Finely chop the stalks and mix with the crushed garlic, garam masala, chutney and pinch of salt. 
• Make small slashes in the chicken and flatten a little. Smear the coriander paste over the chicken and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight.
• Heat a tsp of oil in a large frying pan, finely slice the onion and fry until softened. Add the chicken and marinade to the frying pan and turn to coat the onion. Fry for 6-8 minutes, turning and stirring regularly.
• Add the tinned tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Chop the rest of the coriander leaves and stir half of them into the curry.
• Mix the remaining chopped coriander leaves with the yogurt and serve with the Curry, Rice and some Poppadoms.

Day 32 - Roast Beef & Yorkshire Puddings

On Sunday we had Rikki's Dad and Partner over for Sunday lunch. Rikki cooked this delicious joint of roast beef with Yorkshire puddings. I was in charge of roast potatoes and vegetables - as we had guests I kept it simple and did carrots and that delicious curly kale we had earlier that week with the cajun steak.

ROAST BEEF & YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Serves: 4 People

Prep Time: 25 - 30 Minutes

Cooking Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Yorkshire Puddings

350g/12oz plain flour 

4 large or 5 medium free-range eggs

800ml/1 pint 7fl oz milk (you may not need all of it)

Roast Beef
1kg of Silverside Beef
2 Medium Onions
2 Carrots
2 Sticks of Celery
1 Bay Leaf
4-5 Peppercorns

• Preheat your oven to 240 degrees. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them.
• Pile the vegetables, bay leaf and peppercorns onto a roasting tray and cover with a decent amount of water. Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the meat. Place the beef on top of the vegetables.
• Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200 degrees and cook for 1 hour for medium beef. 
• If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them. When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so.
• For the Yorkshire puddings, Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl, add the eggs and gradually whisk in enough milk to make a smooth batter thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. 
• Pour enough vegetable oil into the well of each Yorkshire pudding tin so that it covers the bottom and place in the oven to heat for a few minutes. When the oil is hot, remove from the oven. Give the Yorkshire batter a stir and carefully pour it into the tins.
• Place the tins back in the oven and cook for about 25-30 minutes alongside the roast potatoes, until they are well risen and golden.
• To serve, carve the beef into thick slices and pile on plates with the Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and vegetables. Pour lashings of gravy over the top.  

Day 31 - Mexican Tomato Soup with Chilli Nachos

This soup was delicious and I just loved dipping the nachos in!

MEXICAN TOMATO SOUP WITH CHILLI NACHOS (v)

Serves: 3-4 People

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes

1 Small Bunch of Spring Onions
1 Bunch of Fresh Coriander
4 Cloves of Garlic
100g of Basmati Rice
450g of Jarred Red Peppers
2x 400g tins of Chopped Tomatoes
250ml of Fat Free Natural Yoghurt
4 tsp Pickled Jalapeno Chillies
Half a Bunch of Fresh Mint
1 Lime
175g of Tortilla Chips
50g of Cheddar Cheese

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
• Trim and finely slice the spring onions and put into a large lidded pan on a high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. Tear the coriander stalks (reserving the leaves).
• Squash in the garlic through a garlic crusher and add the rice, drained jarred red peppers and tinned tomatoes. Pour in 850ml of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and cover with a lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
• On an oven tray, empty the tortilla chips, grate over the cheddar cheese and sprinkle over half the jalapeno chillies, then pop in the oven until the cheese has melted and is golden.
• Put into a food blender the yoghurt, mint leaves and the rest of the chillies with a splash of their pickling vinegar, blitz until smooth and put into ramekins.
• Again, using the food blender, blitz the soup until smooth, add the juice of half a lime and season well to taste.
• Drizzle the soup with the spicy yoghurt, serve with the nachos and any additional yoghurt.

Day 30 - Spicy Spaghetti & Broccoli

Sorry, I'm such a procrastinator. I am now going to do a crazy big update of all the things we have eaten this last week! This recipe was delicious but so very spicy, I put 2 chillis in but it definitely only needed 1 chilli so I've amended the recipe!

SPICY SPAGHETTI & BROCCOLI (v)

Serves: 2-3 People

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes

300g of Dried Spaghetti
200g of Tenderstem Broccoli
1 Fresh Red Chilli
8 Anchovy Fillets
4 Cloves of Garlic
2 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
1 Lemon
30g of Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

• Put the spaghetti in a large pan on a high heat with boiling salted water and cook for 10-12 minutes until al dente.
• Trim the broccoli, then finely slice the chilli. In a large pan on a medium to high heat add the oil, chopped chilli and anchovies. Crush the garlic and strip the rosemary off the stalks into the pan and add the broccoli, then add a splash of the pasta water.
• Drain the pasta, saving a cupful of the starchy water, then toss the pasta into the broccoli, with the juice of a lemon and enough cooking water to make it shiny.
• Season to taste and serve with a good grating of parmesan cheese.

Day 29 - Chicken Casserole

For dinner on Thursday, we had Rikki's Sister and her partner around for dinner so I made this simple mouthwatering chicken casserole. Nothing beats a hearty casserole!

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Serves: 4 People

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

4 Large Chicken Breasts
2-3 Large Potatoes
1 Celery Stick
1 Leek
2 Large Parsnips
2 Large Carrots
800-900ml of Chicken Stock
Salt & Pepper

• Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
• Chop the chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and place in a lidded casserole dish. Peel and chop the potatoes, carrots and parsnips into chunks and add the the dish along with the chopped leek and celery. Add the chicken stock so that everything is covered, give it a good stir and pop the lid on the top.
• Place the casserole into the oven and cook for about an hour. After an hour check the casserole, give it a stir and season to taste. Whack the oven up to about 190 degrees and return the casserole for a further 20-30 minutes.
• If you need to thicken the casserole add a couple of teaspoons of chicken gravy granules. Then serve with some lovely crispy ciabatta bread.

Day 28 - Risotto Alla Milanese with Courgette Ribbons

On Wednesday we had this tasty vegetarian risotto which is usually made with bone marrow, due to the fact I didn't really fancy cooking with bone marrow but also so I could make it vegetarian, I did it without. Saffron as you may already know is more expensive by weight than gold, but it's easy to pick up in the supermarkets for not a massive expense, I got a jar for £2.50.

RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE WITH COURGETTE RIBBONS (v)

Serves: 2 People

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

1l of Vegetable Stock
60g of Butter
1 Small Onion, Finely Chopped
300g of Arborio Risotto Rice
A Small Glass of Dry White Wine
2 Good Pinches of Saffron
1 Courgette, sliced into ribbons.
50g of Parmesan, finely grated
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil

• Melt half of the butter in a large pan on a medium heat with the chopped onion until softened.
• Add and stir in the rice so that it is well coated in the melted butter. Then add the wine, let it evaporate completely and add the saffron.
• Pour in the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring well continuously. When each addition of stock has almost evaporated add the next ladleful. This should take around 15-17 minutes.
• When the risotto is almost done, turn the heat down to low but continue adding the stock when needed. Meanwhile in a small pan on a medium to high heat melt the rest of the butter and add the courgette ribbons and cook for about 3-4 minutes until softened.
• Add the grated Parmesan and some seasoning to the risotto and mix well. Serve with the courgette ribbons on top and some artisan bread.

Day 27 - Cajun Steak, Smoky Baked Beans & Greens

This has to be one of my favourite dishes that I have cooked so far!! Everything was so yummy and I would recommend it to anyone! If you don't fancy steak, you could replace it for chicken, but make sure you bash the chicken breasts out nice and flat so they cook quickly! Also if you've never had curly kale before this is a fantastic way to cook it, we're going to have it again on Sunday with our roast. ;)

CAJUN STEAK, SMOKY BAKED BEANS & GREENS

Serves: 2 People

Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 - 20 Minutes

2 Rashers of Smoked Bacon
1 Carrot
4 Spring Onions
200g of Curly Kale
1 Chicken Stock Cube
2 Tins of Mixed Beans
350g of Passata
1 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp of Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp of Runny Honey
1 heaped tsp of English Mustard
40g of Cheddar Cheese
2 Sirloin Steaks (Fat Removed)
1 tsp of Sweet Paprika
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil

•  Preheat the oven to full whack (240 degrees) and boil some water in a kettle.
• To begin, slice the smoked bacon and put into a large lidded pan on a medium to high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Trim and finely slice the carrot and spring onions and add to the pan, stirring regularly.
• Drain and rinse the beans and put into a medium ovenproof pan on a medium heat with 2 tablespoons of oil.
• Slice the kale (if needed) and add to the large lidded pan, crumble in the stock cube and add 300ml of boiling water from the kettle and put the lid on.
• Add the Passata, Worcestershire Sauce, Tomato Ketchup, Honey and Mustard to the beans and bring to the boil. Grate over the cheese, the  place in the oven for 5-10 minutes until golden and sizzling.
• Rub the steaks with salt, pepper and paprika. Put them in a really hot large frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, turn them every minute until cooked to your liking.
• Carve the steaks and serve with the smoky beans and greens. Delicious!!

Day 26 - Fish Pie

I've been so busy recently, meaning I haven't been updating the blog, but don't worry we've still been cooking different meals everyday and I've got some really tasty recipes to share with you! Here's the first of the recipes, a delicious simple fish pie!

FISH PIE

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 45-50 Minutes

700-750g of Potatoes
300g of White Fish Fillets
50-100g of Salmon Fillets
150-200g of Frozen Peas
300ml of Semi-Skimmed Milk
50g of Softened Butter
25g of Plain Flour
50g of Freshly Grated Cheddar Cheese
Salt & Pepper

• Firstly preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks, boil in a large pan of salted water for about 15 minutes until soft.
• Meanwhile, cut the fish fillets into bite sized chunks and place in a casserole dish with the frozen peas. For the white fish fillets I used Coley which are cheaper than Cod but just as tasty.
• Next in a saucepan, melt the butter and heat the milk, next add the flour and mix well with a whisk until thick, creamy and smooth. Season well and add to the fish and peas.
• Once the potatoes are done, drain them and mash with a little milk and butter and spread over the creamy fish.
• Sprinkle over the grated cheddar cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top, then serve and enjoy!