Filed under: food, Janathon, recipes | Tags: fairy cakes, food, Janathon, lurgy
Is there a Janathon lurgy doing the rounds? If so, I’ve succumbed to it too. Felt peaky on Wednesday, slightly worse on Thursday and awful on Friday morning. Decided to work from home yesterday to avoid the cold air and more germs, and didn’t leave the house all day. So, 28 January was the first day of Janathon that I didn’t do any form of activity that could be even vaguely classed as exercise (although I’m not 100% sure if my walking to work really counts either).
Instead, I had a surprisingly productive day working from home, and then made chocolate fairy cakes…
Luuuurrrrrve de cake
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: food, Jamie's Italy, pasta con sarde, recipe, Sicily
I don’t very often accept guest posts, but Phil offered to write one following the culinary masterpiece he served up last night. (I wonder if this was just to impress me on day 3 of living in his house; we went to the chippy on day 1, and were at his brother’s on day 2). Time (and further guest posts) will tell…
_____
This is my first guest post on Jo’s blog. It feels a bit like the electronic version of cross-dressing, but don’t worry: we have different sized feet and hips, so it’s not a real life thing.
So, in keeping with 50% of Jo’s blog title, my guest post is a recipe. Inspired by Jamie’s Italy
This feeds two greedy hungry people, or will stretch to three. And, with a mix of carbs and protein, I reckon it’s pretty good post-run food.
What you need:
Some olive oil, preferably some good stuff
1/2 a bulb of fennel
2 shallots (or an onion is fine)
2 bulbs of garlic
1 chilli
1 small tin of sardines (fresh is probably better, but I’m going with the student vibe)
handful of pinenuts
handful of raisins
2 chopped tomatoes
1 carrot
1 courgette
100-150g of pasta, depending on hunger levels
sea salt and ground pepper
half a lemon
Duration: less than half an hour, especially if you’re a quick chopper.
This is how to do it.
Chop up the shallots, garlic, fennel and chilli and put them in some hot olive oil (I saved the expensive stuff for the end). Fry on a medium heat until soft. Meanwhile, chop the carrots finely and then add to the pan. Once they’ve changed colour a bit, add the chopped tomatoes, pinenuts and raisins.
Put the pasta on in a separate pan of water.
Once the pasta’s bubbling away, add the courgettes to the other vegetables. Then open the tin of sardines, drain and put in the mixture so it heats through. Don’t stir as it’ll break the sardines up too much.
When the pasta is done, drain it and add to the mixture. Add the juice of half a small lemon. Stir it all gently, making sure the sardines are heated through.
Serve on plates. Drizzle some of your best olive oil on top. In Sicily, this dish was often served with fine toasted breadcrumbs, but I didn’t have any, so didn’t bother.
Most importantly, serve with wine. You deserve it after a run.
I didn’t take a picture of it, so you’ll have to make do with one from our holiday.
Phil
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: food, irunbecauseilovefood, plum crumble, Sunday lunch
Plums
I would blog about doing some exercise, but I haven’t done any this week following an upset tummy on Tuesday. I’m fine now, so I’ll blog about food. I’ve eaten a lot this weekend.
After a trip to Phil’s parents’ yesterday, we came back with what seemed like a car-load of plums from their garden. We were seeing friends for Sunday Lunch Club, and my job was pudding. I decided on a crumble, and stewed the plums briefly with a teaspoonful of cinnamon to add a bit of warm spicyness. Then I stole Nigel Slater’s oaty cumble topping recipe, combining the flour and butter (in the food processor, I don’t like crumble mix down my fingernails) then adding the almonds, sugar and oats.
flour – 150g
butter – 100g
ground almonds – 50g
golden caster sugar -70g
rolled oats – 50g
It went down a treat even after massive platefuls of roast chicken, potatoes, carrots and broccoli and Yorkshire puds, and boisterous entertainment courtesy of three children under three. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday.
Filed under: food, recipes, running | Tags: Amazon, Go Faster Food, Kate Percy, recipes, running
Being a fan of running and food, I’m a regular reader of Kate Percy’s blog, Go Faster Food. I recently made her Chickpea, Spinach and Sweet Potato Soup, which was absolutely delightful. Proper “luxury” soup, which tastes superb but doesn’t need any naughtiness such as cream.
On a whim, I thought I would invest in her book, Go Faster Food
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: baked raspberry cheesecake, chili con carne, dips, guacamole, lemon flan, New Year's Eve, recipe
On New Year’s Eve, we had a bit of a gathering for a few friends. Nothing too outrageous in terms of numbers, but I had a lot of fun planning the menu. In the end, I plumped for some old favourites: chili con carne, chicken tikka masala, jacket potatoes, naans, salads, dips, lemon flan; plus a new baked raspberry cheesecake – all prepared by my own fair hand.
You know what everyone was most impressed by? A bowl of guacamole, knocked up in about ten minutes.
Some things are just not worth making by hand, as the pre-prepared stuff is so good. Hummus falls into that category. But others are well worth a small amount of effort. Supermarket guacamole isn’t a patch on the home-made variety.
Here’s the recipe, adapted from one on the ever-reliable BBC Good Food website:
Guacamole
- 1 large tomato
- 4 ripe avocados
- juice of 1 lime
- handful coriander
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
- Peel avocados and roughly chop.
- De-seed tomato and finely chop (you don’t have to bother de-seeding, but I prefer it as the end result can be a it soggy if you don’t).
- Mix all ingredients together, and mash – my avocados weren’t all that ripe so I used a potato masher, but a fork should suffice.
- If you’re not planning to eat immediately (and this is a jolly good tip) sit the avocado stones on top of your dip, cover and refrigerate. This stops the avocado going brown.
- Serve with tortillas and crudités, to rapturous applause.
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: chicken tikka masala, Gordon Ramsey, Leicester
Yeah, I know, I should change the name of this series to “recipe of the month”.
Anyway, on a night like this, you want something nice and warming, do you not?I discovered this Gordon Ramsey recipe some time ago – can’t even remember how – and have made it on several occasions for friends and received rave reviews. It’s dead easy to make, doesn’t require loads of hard-to-get-hold-of spices and tastes fab.
The original is posted on the Channel 4 website, along with a recipe for rice. I more or less stick to the original, but have added a couple of comments below. I’ve also done the same sauce for vegetarian types with potatoes and chickpeas, adding spinach at the last minute. I imagine it could also be used to add a bit of interest to leftover turkey, though I haven’t tried this.
Chicken tikka masala
- Groundnut oil - I usually use olive or sunflower. Doesn’t seem to make a difference to the taste
- 1 large onion, peeled
- 2 fresh green chillies
- 1″ piece of ginger, peeled
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 4 boneless chicken breasts (approx 150g each), cubed
- 10 dried curry leaves- I couldn’t get these in the home counties, but tracked them down in Sainsbury’s in Leicester last Christmas. Froze them, and have used them throughout the year, but guessing flavour has deteriorated now. Flavour is quite subtle anyway, so wouldn’t worry if you can’t find them.
- 4-6 tbsp natural yoghurt
- Handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
- Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan. Slice the onion and fry in the oil. Meanwhile, deseed and chop the chilli, chop the ginger and add to the hot pan, crush in the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften.
- Add the chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and sugar and cook for 1-2 minutes. Next, add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes to the pan and allow them to cook for a further few minutes.
- Transfer the sauce to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add a tablespoon of fresh oil into the pan and fry the chicken pieces until lightly coloured. Pour in the blended sauce and add the curry leaves. Simmer gently for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.Stir in the yoghurt to the chicken curry along with half the chopped coriander. Serve with rice and garnish with the remaining coriander.
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: lime, Patak's Korma curry paste, prawn, prawn and lime pilau, recipe, rice
I resolved to up the recipe count on the blog not two weeks ago, and failed at the first hurdle last week when I was busy being self-absorbed. I shall correct the situation forthwith…
While I love to spend time making curries from scratch, without the aid of a pre-prepared paste, there isn’t always time after a long day at work. This recipe is a great mid-week meal, which is very quick to prepare – it took me less than half an hour to cook and eat! I found it in one of the Waitrose freebie magazines, and it’s also on the website.
Prawn and lime pilau
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Patak’s Korma Curry Paste
250g basmati rice
500ml Cooks’ Ingredients Fish Stock
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lime
20g pack fresh coriander 200g Indonesian cooked, peeled prawns
[I halved everything on this list except the prawns, and that made enough for two as it's quite filling.]
- Gently fry the onion in the oil for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and curry paste. Stir for a further minute, then add the rice and mix well.
- Pour in the stock, add the lime zest. Season, then cover the pan. Simmer gently until the stock is absorbed and the rice cooked.
- Stir in coriander, lime juice and prawns. Warm through and season.
Image from www.waitrose.com
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: BBC Good Food, breakfast, Dorset Cereals, food, granola, recipe
I’ve decided I don’t write about food enough on this blog. Food, as anyone who knows me will testify, is a subject very close to my heart. I am pretty much always thinking about my next meal, get exceptionally grumpy when I’m hungry, and just do not understand people who “forget” to eat lunch. I love cooking, especially for other people, and am happiest pottering about in my kitchen. If I didn’t work in PR, I’d run a tea shop supplying lots of Yorkshire tea, home-made cakes and other yummy snackage.
I am not, it has to be said, particularly creative in the kitchen though. I rarely make up my own recipes, but scour newspapers and magazines for ideas to steal, some of which I adapt as I go along.
So, I’m going to try to share at least one recipe per week, referenced accordingly and with my notes. This week: home-made granola, which comes courtesy from the BBC Good Food site. I discovered this recipe when I realised Dorset Cereals granola costs over £4 a pop and I can easily go down a whole box in a week. By myself.
Good-for-you granola
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 125ml maple syrup
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- I also add a couple of teaspoons of spice – e.g. cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice
- 300g rolled oats (I like the jumbo ones that come in big bags in Sainsburys or Waitrose)
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds (I halve this amount, as the end result can be a bit “bitty”)
- 50g pumpkin seeds
- 100g flaked almonds
- 100g dried berries (sultanas work fine)
- 50g coconuts flakes or desiccated coconut (I halve this amount as above)
- Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Mix the oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla and spices in a large bowl. Tip in all the remaining ingredients, except the dried fruit and coconut, and mix well.
- Tip the granola onto two baking sheets and spread evenly. Bake for 15 mins, then mix in the coconut and dried fruit, and bake for 10-15 mins more. (I add the fruit right at the end, so as to avoid it drying out). Remove and scrape onto a flat tray to cool. Serve with cold milk or yogurt. The granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month (Ha!! like it’s going to last that long).
The end result is incredibly moreish. In fact, the boyfriend pronounced it “better than Dorset Cereals”. Praise indeed.
I did work out the cost, and it came out at around £4 to make 750g. Not that much cheaper than Dorset Cereals then, unless you have a good discount health food store nearby. Which I don’t, that I’m aware of. However, it is very filling – 750g equates to about ten portions (with milk) for breakfast, and staves off the hunger pangs until lunchtime which is nothing short of miraculous. It’s also rather marvellous with fresh fruit and yoghurt as a snack or pudding.
Filed under: food, recipes | Tags: Anna del Conte, food, marmite, Nigella Lawson, pasta
Me on the phone to the boyf this evening (we do talk about food a lot so this is a normal conversation, up to a point):
P: “I’m stuffed – just had round two of the soup I made last night.”
Me: “Nice – I had pasta and marmite.”
P: “Sorry?”
Me: I had pasta and marmite.”
P: “What, together?”
Me: “Yep.”
P: “What were you THINKING?”
Well, what I was thinking when I walked in the door at 8.25pm after British Military Fitness was that I was bloody hungry and I needed to eat within five minutes or I was going to kill someone. I had some fresh pasta, but only root veg which take a flipping age to cook. And I don’t buy ready-meals because I think they’re evil. Then fortunately I remembered reading something by the slight-irritating-but-undeniably-talented Nigella Lawson, recalling a recipe invented by her friend Anna del Conte, the lady she calls the “cook who changed my life”. And this lady used to cook spaghetti with marmite for her Italian-English kids when they were growing up – kind-of based a bit on the Italian habit of using the leftover roast stock a day later as the basis of a pasta sauce.
So, here it is (this is enough for one person). Try it, please…
fresh or dried pasta
25g butter
half to a whole teaspoon of marmite – depending on how much you like marmite. I used half, but will use a bit more next time
parmesan cheese
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. In a separate pan, melt the butter, add the marmite and a tablespoon of the pasta water. Drain the pasta, and mix into the sauce. Serve, with lots of grated parmesan all over the top.
Ready in five minutes flat. No need for an evil ready-meal. Life sentence for murder averted.
Filed under: British Military Fitness, circuits, food, recipes, running, spinning | Tags: banana and ginger bread, banana bread, British Military Fitness, circuit training, food, Hastings, Pulse8, running, spinning, West Hampstead
I was told off this evening at British Military Fitness for not updating my blog for nearly a week. Ooops. Contrary to popular belief, I haven’t been sitting around being a lard-arse – honest.
- Friday – spinning with Matt at Pulse8. Best instructor there by a country mile, because he really uses the music to motivate the class.
- Saturday – DIY circuit training in West Hampstead. The teenagers doing community service are still painting the railings and they’ve made staggeringly little progress since last time we were there.
- Sunday – down in Hastings, a very uppy-downy four-ish mile run around the cliffs breathing in the sea air. Hard but good.
- Monday – British Military Fitness with Dan
- Tuesday – rest day
- Today – British Military Fitness with Hayley
So, rather than bore you with the finer details of those exploits, I’ll make a suggestion as to what to do with over-ripe bananas. Although I love greeny yellow young bananas, I can’t stand them when they start going brown – they actually make me want to vomit – so I frequently end up with one or two looking forlorn in the bottom of my fruit bowl. Last night I had two manky ones, and time on my hands to do some baking.
Banana and Ginger Tea Bread
- 175g self-raising flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 40g butter or margarine
- 50g soft brown sugar
- 50g stem ginger, chopped
- 60ml milk
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line and grease a 1lb loaf tin.
- Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter/marg until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.
- Add the ginger, milk and mashed bananas and mix to a soft dough.
- Spoon into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. Run a palette knife around the edges to loosen them, turn the tea bread onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
Easy peasy. And the result went down a storm among my team-mates at work today.
