Garlic Potato Salad (V)

A good thing to bring to a BBQ, picnic or an accompaniment for a meal or another recipe of mine (*cough* HERE *cough*)

Serves 4

600g Charlotte Potatoes, cut in half
Bunch of Spring Onions, chopped
Bunch of Chives, Chopped
2tbsp Half Fat Creme Fraiche
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
Splash of White Wine Vinegar
Splash of Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

1. Boil the Potaotes for 5 - 10 minutes until soft. Drain and to cool.

2. Make the sauce, mix the mayonnaise, creme fraiche, Garlic, white wine vinegar, lemon juice and garlic cloves with salt and pepper.

3. In a large bowl add the potaotes, chives and spring onion with the sauce. Give a good mix until the potatoes are covered. Serve

Moroccan Root Vegetable Stew (V)

I'm at it again with the slow cooker. Let combine this with something Vegetarian (also realised it's Vegan too). After mulling over I came up with this spicy yet fruity concoction. It's sure to warm you up in the cold nights. Key to cooking vegetarian is to utilise herbs and spices to amplify flavour. Should contribute to your 5 fruit and veg a day (So bonuses all round).

Serves 6

Olive Oil

1 Onion, diced

2 Garlic Cloves, crushed

½ tsp Ground Coriander

½ tsp Cumin

½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Ground Ginger 

1 Cinnamon Stick

Few Strands of Saffron

1 Large Sweet Potato, peeled and diced

3 Medium Carrots, peeled and diced

3 Parsnips, Peeled and diced

Small Butternut Squash, peeled and diced

400g Can Chickpeas, drained

1.25ml Vegetable Stock

½ Mug Sultanas

3 tbsp Plain Flour

3 Handfuls Spinach

1. In a frying pan/removable pot in the slow cooker heat olive oil over a medium heat on the hob. Add the onion, garlic, flour and spices to the pan. Cook until the onions have softened.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients apart from the spinach and sultanas to the slow cooker. Give a stir. And leave for the following:

- Low - 7 - 8 Hours
- Medium -  5 - 6 Hours
- High - 3 - 4 Hours

3. An hour before the food is done add the sultanas and spinach to the slow cooker and give a stir then leave to cook.for the final hour. Then serve. 

Cider Battered Fish, Wedges and Mushy Peas

Enjoy this on a Friday! Or a Saturday or even Sunday if you don't want to cook a roast. It's up to you. If you want to cook for more people increase everything apart from the Sunflower oil.

Serves 1

Fish

175g Self Raising Flour

25g Cornflour

150ml Cider

1 Fillet of Sustainable White Fish (I used Plaice)

Salt and Pepper

2 tbsp Self Raising Flour
600ml Sunflower Oil

Wedges

1 Large Potato

2 tbsp Olive Oil

½ tsp Dry Mint

½ tsp Dry Rosemary

Salt and Pepper

Mushy Peas

Mug of Frozen

2 New potatoes, cut in half

Hanful of Fresh Mint, chopped

Knob of Butter

Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan assisted. To make the batter, sift the 175g Self Raising Flour and cornflour into a mixing bowl. Then gradually introduce the cider while whisking. You should have a thick consistency. Leave to prepare the rest of the meal.

2. Cut the potato into wedges. Par boil in a pan for 5 minutes. Then drain, add the oil, herbs and salt and pepper and shake in the pan. Then tip onto a baking tray. Cook for 40 minutes in the oven. Turn after 20 minutes.

3. For the peas. Boil the new potatoes and peas in a pan until cooked. In a deep pan add the sunflower oil and heat up to 200c. If you haven't got a thermometer drop a bit of batter in the pan and it should start to cook when dropped in the pan.

4. Put 2 tbsp of Self Raising Flour on a plate and cover the fish with the flour. Give the batter another stir. Then dip the fish in batter. Add to the pan with the sunflower oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes then turn over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the fish is golden brown all over. Place (Plaice get it) on paper towel so the excess oil comes off.

5. Mash the peas with mint, butter and bit of salt and pepper. Plate all parts of the meal on the plate and enjoy with a good cider.

Root Vegetable and Lentil Curry (V)

So I am in this expert patient programme and one of the task I set myself was to cook healthier this week. So here it is a curry with I don't know how many of my fruit and vegetables for the day.

Serves 4

Vegetable Oil
600g Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into chunks
3 Parsnips, peeled and sliced
3 Carrots, peeled and sliced
750ml Vegetable Stock
1 Onion, finely sliced
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
250 g Low Fat Yoghurt
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tbsp Curry Powder (strength- Personal preference)
Naan Bread
150g Red Lentils
Fresh Coriander

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until softened. Add the carrots, parsnips and sweet potato to the pan and fry for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the curry powder, turmeric, ground coriander and ginger to the pan and stir in. Continuously stir over the heat for about 2 minutes. Add the stock and lentils to the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat. Cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. The sauce should reduce and thicken and the vegetables should be tender.

3. Add the yoghurt to the pan and heat through for about 5 minutes. Stir in the coriander and serve with the naan bread.

Potato, Leek and Bacon Soup

It's still bloody freezing outside even if most of the snow has melted. So here is a lovely cheap warmer for you to enjoy.

Serves: 6

2 Leeks, finely sliced
25g Butter
1 Onion, finely sliced
450g Potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 litre Vegetable stock
4 rashers of Streaky bacon, chopped
100ml Whole Milk
150ml Double Cream, plus extra
3 Extra rashers of Streaky Bacon,

1. Melt the butter in a pan. Add the onion and bacon to the pan and cook until the onions have softened.

2. Add the leeks and potatoes to the pan and reduce the heat. Cook gently for about 10 minutes with the lid is on. Shake the pan occasionally so the contents don't stick to the bottom.

3. Pour in the stock and season. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Cover and leave for about 20 minutes.

4. While the soup is boiling, heat some olive oil/butter and fry the extra bacon until its crispy.

5. After the soup has boiled, use either a hand blender or food processor, blend the contents until it's smooth. Once it's blended add the milk and cream to the pan and stir well. Taste and season. Pour into bowls, top with the crispy bacon and a drizzle of cream. Serve with bread.

Tips:

• Make it creamier by adding a bit more cream

• Make it vegetarian by getting rid of the bacon and top the soup with croutons

Bubble and Squeak (V)

So Christmas has come and gone and we have all had our fair share of Christmas food. The one problem is what do we do with the left over carrots, roasties and the dreaded Brussels sprouts. This recipe will give you an easy way to use those left over veg and makes a great accompaniment with the left over meat or some cold meats.

Serves: Whatever leftovers you have will depend on the servings

2 Medium Onions
Left over Mash/Roasties -  Mashed up
Left over Vegetables (Brussell Sprouts, carrots, peas, parsnips etc), cut into small chunks
50g Butter
Olive Oil
Plain Flour
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven for 200c/180c fan assisted.

2. Fry the onions in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil for a few minutes until soft. Then put in the mixing bowl.

3. Add the potatoes and vegetables to the mixing bowl. Add the butter to help bind the mixture together.

4. Put the flour on a separate plate with seasoning. Form the bubble and squeak mixture into patties  Cover with the seasoned flour.

5. Fry the patties in batches of 2. Fry on each side for a few minutes. When frying the first side it may be an idea to do it for longer as it will be easier to flip and will keep its shape.

6. Once they have all been fried, put on a tray and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve with cold meats or meat leftover from the night before.

Lancashire Hotpot

It's getting cold outside so we need something to warm our bellys. This is where Lancashire Hotpot comes in, with a mixture of flavours that go so well together. This was tweaked a bit, so it isnt your standard Lancashire Hotpot. I added black pudding and red wine to give it a bit more body.

Serves 4-6

800g Stewing Lamb
250g Black Pudding
2 Onions, finely diced
A Good handful of  fresh Rosemary
A Small Glass of Red Wine
400ml Lamb Stock or Vegtable Stock
A good shake of Worcestershire Sauce
4tbsp Plain Flour
100g Butter
4 Carrots, peeled and sliced
900g Potatoes, peeled and sliced

1. Preheat 160c/140c Fan assisted. Put some of the butter in a pan to fry the lamb. Do this is batches. The lamb should release some of the juices so you won't need to keep adding more butter. For each batch put it on a plate. Once the meat is done fry the black pudding for a few minutes and put on the plate with the lamb.

2. If the pan is dry add more butter. Fry the onions and carrots until soft. Add the stock, wine, rosemary and Worcestershire Sauce to the pan. Let it boil for a couple of minutes then add the meat and black pudding to the pan. Boil for a further couple of minutes, then transfer to a casserole dish.

3. Add the sliced potatoes to the top of the meat. It should be covered and add a bit of butter to the top of the potatoes. Cover with tin foil or the lid and put in the oven for 1 Hour and 40 minutes. After remove the foil, increase the heat to 200c/180c fan assisted for 8 minutes to cook the potatoes more. Serve with green vegetables.

Need some decent Cassarole dishes, check here :

Dauphinoise Potatoes (V)

A side dish which I would always pick over chips. So delicious and is a good accompaniment to steak.

Serves 4

1 Kg of Large Potatoes, peeled and sliced
6 Shallots, finely sliced
3-4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
500ml Double Cream
50g Butter
100g Cheddar Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan assisted.

2. Put the butter in a pan and fry the shallots for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and cream to the pan and leave to simmer.

3. Place the potatoes in the pan and leave for about 5 minutes.

4. Tip the contents of the pan into an ovenproof dish. Top with the grated cheese and put in the oven for 30-40 Minutes. The potatoes should soften and brown

Salmon Fishcakes

An easy recipe that tastes nice and doesn't burn a hole in your wallet.

Serves: 4 /Makes about 8 fishcakes

300g Potatoes (Maris Piper preferably)
1x Can Red Salmon
Pepper
1 Lemon (Juice and Rind)
Butter
Parsley
Bit of Beaten Egg

To Coat the Fish cakes
White Flour
Bit of Beaten Egg
Breadcrumbs (About 3 slices of white bread blitzed in a blender)

1. Boil the potatoes until soft enough to mash

     2.  Add the mash to the mixing bowl with the salmon, black pepper, lemon juice, lemon rind, a bit of butter and parsley.

    3.   Stir the mixture while adding the egg so that it binds together.

    4.   Pick up a bit of the mixture and shape into a cake (Making sure it isn't too thick so that it doesn't  break apart when cooking). Dip the cake in flour, egg and then the breadcrumbs.

    5. Fry one one side for a few minutes. Flip and fry for a few minutes. It should be golden on both sides

Serving Suggestions: Veg and Tartar Sauce