Turkey Chilli

I have to admit turkey isn't my favourite but in this dish it really is quite good and obviously far healthier than a beef chilli.

I started by frying two diced onions in a little oil and a diced turkey breast, added one diced green pepper, 2 crushed cloves of garlic and about 8 diced mushrooms and continued to cook until they were starting to turn golden. I then added a finely chopped chilli, 1 tsp cumin power and seasoning and stirred well. After a few minutes I added a couple of tablespoons of tomato purée and a tin of tomatoes and then left it to bubble away for about 30 mins until it was quite thick.




I served it with corn on the cob





And made a quick guacamole (mashed an avocado with a little crushed garlic, chilli, lemon juice and seasoning), a tomato salsa (finely diced tomato with mint, a little crushed garlic and seasoning), a cucumber yoghurt (roughly diced cucumber in Greek yoghurt with mint and seasoning) and some Greek yoghurt.



A quick, healthy but tasty meal!

Autumnal Soups

I intended on posting this last night in order to keep up with my aim of writing a post everyday for a week but unfortunately ran out of time.

I always love soups, especially for lunch, but as the weather starts to turn autumnal soups come into their own. Warming and filling they are decidedly satisfying.

I made three batches of soup which I have optioned up and put in the freezer to take out for lunches either at work or home.

As most of my previous posts I'm afraid I haven't got a 'proper' recipe'. I have a tendency when cooking to cook by tasting as I go and experimenting with flavours I know complement each other, borrowing from memories of recipes I may have followed at some point in the past.

The first soup I made was a Spiced Pumpkin Soup with Mint Yoghurt. I started by peeling and roasting a pumpkin with 2 onions and 3 cloves of garlic (I know this sounds a lot but once roasted it takes on a lovely sweet and mellow flavour). I then added this to a large pan with some homemade chicken stock I had in the freezer, some ground chilli, cumin, corrinader, turmeric and garam masala (which I had dry fried for a few seconds first) and seasoned it well. I left it simmering for about 30 mins and the. cooled slightly before blending it until smooth. Taste to check the seasoning and add more if needed.

It's great served with a generous blob of mint yoghurt (I use Greek yoghurt mixed with chopped mint and seasoning).






A couple if years ago I went on a wonderful cooking course in a farmhouse in the hills just north of Rome, Italy http://www.cookitaly.it/recipes.htm

Twice daily the cook came down from the village to teach us to cook and this soup is one of the recipes I've made many times since. The original had a small potato in it added at the beginning and some risotto rice added about 15 mins before the end so feel free to revert to the original. The result is a very thick, filling soup so could even be eaten as a light dinner.

You start by frying a diced carrot, onion, celery tops and a clove of garlic in a pan. Once slightly browned and softened add a cup of dried green lentils, about 5 diced cherry tomatoes, seasoning and about a litre of stock. Simmer for about 45 mins, checking if more liquid is needed every so often. It should be thick by the end but you don't want it to dry out or burn on the bottom of the pan. About 5 mins before the end add another 5 diced cherry tomatoes and a handful of chopped parsley. Check the seasoning and serve.






The final soup I made was a Chicken, Vegetable and Barley soup. I love barley anyway and think it's a wonderful grain but in something like this simple soup it comes into it's own.

I started by sautéing finely diced carrot, onion and celery as a base (the same idea as an Italian sofritto) I then added a crushed garlic clove, a cup of barley, seasoning a handful of shredded roast chicken (don't worry you really don't need a lot) and about a litre of brown chicken stock (this is made by taking the carcass from a roast chicken and putting it back in the own until the bones and any remaining chicken are quite brown. The carcass is then boiled in plenty of water for an hour or so to make a very tasty stock. You can also add veg to the stock pot but on this occasion I didn't). Cook this for about 45 mins until the barley is soft. Check every so often that there is enough liquid and add more water if necessary. About 5 mins before the end add a handful of chopped parsley.

Sorry for the less than pretty serving bowl but this was ready to go into the freezer when I thought to take a photo!

Apple and Blackberry Jam

This morning before work I decided to make some jam. Some of the blackberries and apples I picked at the weekend hadn't made their way into my freezer yet and I wanted to use them before they went off. It's so simple to make jam and much tastier than jam from the supermarket. I tend to add apple to any jam I make as if you ate buying the fruit it is cheaper and it's also higher in pectin so helps the jam to set. This jam has 2 cups of blackberries to 1 cup of peeled diced apple and 1 cup of jam sugar (you could also use granulated sugar and some pectin) plus a squeeze of lemon juice.










I make my jam in my bread maker as its so easy. You just chuck it all in and leave it for about 90 mins, but it is equally possible to do it in a pan. Once completed put the jam into sterilised jars.

Here is the finished article. Perfect with homemade bread.

Guest baker - Cupcake Heaven!

For my 10th ever post I thought I would write about a guest baker to Sarah's kitchen. My sister Helen took over the kitchen to make some cupcakes and I might be a little bias but I think they are pretty amazing.

The first cupcakes she made were for a friends birthday. They vanilla cupcakes but decorated in the style of ombré using plenty of red food dye, the theme of the party (for anyone who doesn't know ombré hair is very fashionable at the moment and basically means a graduation of colour so perhaps dark roots fading to blonde ends). The icing was piped using a Wilton 2D nozzle from the centre outward. For anyone who wants icing tips You Tube has loads of how to videos.

The recipe was just a simple sponge and butter icing but if anyone wants it let me know.







She then moved on to make two sets of cupcakes for an afternoon tea and to take to work with her.

The first was again a vanilla cupcake but this time she removed some of the centre of the sponge and hid a whole strawberry under the icing and decorated it with edible glitter and edible lustre.






















Finally she made a dense chocolate sponge using hound almonds for extra moisture and decorated them with chocolate ganache.















Again both of these were piped using the Wilton 2D nozzle.

All in all pretty successful I would say :)

Healthy Curry

I've decided to try and write a new post everyday for a week, so this is day two of seven. I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment and decided I fancied a curry so adapted a Madhur Jaffrey recipe.

I started by dry roasting the spices (i.e. in a pan with no oil). I used 1 tsp cumin seeds and 2tsp coriander seeds. Removed from the pan and ground them to a power and added 1tsp turmeric and 1tsp of garam masala, 2tsp of mustard seeds, about 10 whole cardamom, 10 cloves and a couple of inches of cinnamon stick (just watch out for the whole spices as you're eating it) and fried for a little longer before removing them from the pan. In a food processor whiz an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a couple of inches of ginger and a chilli into a paste. Put the paste in the frying pan (again with no oil) and cook until a little browned. Add the spice mixture, your choice of veg to the pan along with some water and half a tin of tomatoes. Cook the mixture for about 40 mins. I used mushrooms, cauliflower, green beans, onion and broccoli. You could also add chicken.





I served it with a simple raita and a hot cabbage and carrot salad (shredded cabbage and carrot fried in a little oil with a tablespoon of mustard seeds and finished with the juice of half a lemon).

Autumn treats and Random Bakes of Kindness

I've spent the weekend at my parents so decided to go blackberry picking. Luckily the spot I picked had been well designed by mother nature and had wild apples growing next to the blackberries. My neighbour had also given me some walnuts from a tree in his garden.












I decided I'd make some blackberry and apple muffins with a streusel topping. I just made a basic sponge but used soft light brown sugar and added some cinnamon (4oz self raising cake flour, 4oz light soft brown sugar, 4oz butter or margarine, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp baking powder and a scant teaspoon of cinnamon). I lined the tin with baking parchment rather than using muffin cases for a more rustic finish and once I'd put the mixture into the tins I popped a few blackberries and some diced apple on the top of each, picture below.






I then sprinkled with some streusel topping (equal amounts of butter and flour rubbed together until they resemble breadcrumbs, stir in the same amount of dark soft brown sugar, a few oats and chopped walnuts and another teaspoon of cinnamon). Here they are ready to go into the oven.





Then baked at 180 degrees for about 15-20 mins. Next time I think I'd add the streusel topping half way through the cooking time to get a better rise. They still tasted yummy though!

I had some leftover streusel topping so used it to make a blackberry and apple crumble by putting blackberries and diced apple in an oven proof dish and then sprinkled to streusel topping all over and baked for about 20 mins until golden.

I packed up some of the muffins and gave them to my 90 year old nan who doesn't bake for herself anymore and tends to buy rubbish cakes from the supermarket. She always appreciates homemade treats so
perfect for my first Random Bake of Kindness for the month :)

I also picked some rosehips and rowan berries so will blog about them once I've turned them into something edible!

L'Atelier des Chefs

I recently went to a cooking course at L'Atelier des Chefs on Wigmore Street, London I didn't really know what to expect but it was fantastic value and we all had a great night. The group were all varying levels of experience but we all still went away learning something.

We made two courses. The first was sea bream with provencal vegetables and for desert saffron and pistachio cake served with orange and cinnamon cream.

I decided to try the main course for dinner at home. I didn't have any sea bream but substituted sea bass and then made the veg.

Basically you an aubergine, courgette, pepper and finely chop an onion and two cloves of garlic. Start by frying the onion first and then add the garlic and the vegetables add a couple of swigs of thyme and rosemary and season. Once the veg is soft add a small amount of chopped tinned tomatoes or passata and cook for about 10 mins.

Pin bone the fish and fry skin side down until crisp and just cooked. In the lesson we were told to start with oil in a cold pan, then add the fish before putting it onto the heat. The chef said this prevented the kitchen smelling of the fish as much as it cooked and it did seem to help. We didn't turn the fish over as the filets are thin enough to cook through without doing. It also allows the skin to get very crispy.

Serve the fish skin side up on a ladle of the veg and drizzle with balsamic glaze - yummy!

Here is a picture of the veg...



The chef also said variations were good such as putting cumin seeds in and serving with Moroccan chicken and that it was also good with lamb.

Here is a link to the L'Atelier des Chefs website where you can book courses and find lots more recipes http://www.atelierdeschefs.co.uk/

Recipe adapted from L'Atelier des Chefs.