Lime leaf chicken sweet chilli & peanut dipping sauce

Darren had kept this recipe for about a year, ripped out of some magazine, he have finally got round to making it this weekend and I can’t believe we didnt make it sooner, the dipping sauce is so yummy. Hmmm wonder if we could bottle it and sell it?!!

Whizz up the following in a food processor, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tsp fish sauce (we used three crabs – thks Leluu of F&L for the fish sauce tip!) 2 tbsp honey, 3 chopped spring oinions, 4 shredded lime leaves (if you can’t get fresh buy dried and put them in hot water for a minute) and little veg oil. Cut up 4 chicken breast in cubes and put into the above marinade.

For the dipping sauce, heat 150 ml of rice vinegar with 175g golden caster sugar once it’s come to the boil and simmer for 3 mins. Once cooled add tbsp chopped coriander, 1 sliced chilli and 1 tbsp ground roasted peanuts.

Skewer the chicken and grill till brown and cooked through, then serve with the dipping sauce.

Tags: chicken, lime leaf, peanut, sweet chilli, Uyen Leluu

Sausage & Lentil Conchiglioni

We had this dish last night and it was delicious, you could substitute the sausage meat for butternut squash or sweet potatoe little cubes if you wanted to make this vegetarian.

2tsbp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 1/2 tsp tomato purée
6 quality pork sausages (we used Dutch orginal pork & herb)
1 tin chopped toms or tin of cherry toms
400g can of lentils
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
250g conchiglioni
50g parmesan

Heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic until softened, add the fennel seeds and cook for a min until fragrant.

Stir in the tomato purée and cook for a couple of mins, add the sausage meat and cook untill browned.

Add the tinned tomatoes, lentils and chilli flakes and the water, cook for 25 mintues, or until thickened, season.

While sauce is cooking, cook the pasta until al dente, then put the shells on a tray fill with the sausage and lentil sauce, grate parmesan over and put under a hot grill under the cheese is melted.

This dish was really easy to make and made a lovely change from traditional pasta and sauce dish!
Let me know if you give it a go!

Tags: chilli, conchiglioni, fennel seeds, lentils, sausage

Courgette Soup – with a little help from Aria

Sunday morning and aria was looking glum maybe if she had a lay in then she might have been in a better mood, We would have been

So to get aria in the happy mood, off to the kitchen we went, as we had a batch lot of courgettes courtsey of my friend sue, we decided to make courgette soup!

I set aria the task of cutting up the courgettes and I started with the olive oil and the onions,

Aria loved helping and you can see from her laughing that soup making is great fun!!!

Courgette soup
1 onion
1 large courgette or three supermarket size
Olive oil
750 ml of chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Three laughing cow triangles
Salt and pepper

Sauté the onions and the courgette till soft then add the chicken stock, simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into a food processor and whizz till smooth then add the laughing cow and whizz again, pour back into the saucepan and re heat. As you can see aria loved making the soup and eating it, just shows your never to young to try!!!

Olive Magazine – Pork, Lemon & Herb Meatballs

The monthly arrival of Olive Magazine always means new recipes to try,
It was Darren’s turn to pick and he chose Pork, Lemon and Herb Meatballs with Orzo Salad.

Ingredients

Pork Mince 500g
1 Red Onion, half grated and half sliced
1 Lemon, zested and juiced
1 Garlic clove, crushed
Parsley, small bunch chopped
Olive Oil
Orzo 200g (We got ours from Waitrose)
Rocket 50g
Natural Yoghurt 1 50ml pot

Put the pork mince grated onion, ½ the lemon zest, ½ garlic and ¾ of the Parsley in a bowl with plenty of seasoning. Mix well and form
Into little meatballs.
Fry the meatballs in a little olive oil, turning them after about 10 minutes until completely cooked.

Put the sliced onion in a separate bowl, with the lemon juice and the rest of the zest, season and
Toss together.

Cook the orzo until tender then drain and rinse under cold water, the add to the sliced red onions
And add 2 tbsps of olive oil and the rocket.
Mix the yoghurt with the rest of the Parsley and Garlic, server the meatballs with the orzo salad and yoghurt
Dip, it was delicious, defiantley worth a try.

Boundary Review

Where oh where to take mummy for birthday lunch so many lovely places but we were looking for somewhere near Liverpool street, Boundary popped into my mind and after looking at the menu a table for two was booked!

When we arrived at Boundary and then descended the stairs to the main restaurant, I was concerned as we were going down the second flight of stairs that the restaurant was going to be quite dark, I couldn’t have been more wrong, there are glass blocks on the ceiling which let in loads of light. Our table faced the kitchen which is behind glass so you can see the chefs hard at work!

We started off our meal with (anyone that knows me this will come as no surprise!) me knocking over a champagne glass for the champagne trolley behind me! Too be fair to me this was far too close to the table and to be fair to them they didn’t make me feel too bad and I created an entrance if nothing else!

Back to lunch, we started with a Bellini was wonderful you could really taste the fresh peach juice. They have a lunch which is £19.50 for two courses or £24.50 for three. Which is great value.

The menu is very French not surprising I went from the set menu starting with Charcuterie, terrines, pâtés & rillettes, which was plated at the table a nice touch, the pâtés were the best part especially the pistachio one!

Mum went of menu and for steak tartare for starter topped with a quail’s egg, of course I tried some and the meat had a great flavour the capers and gherkins provided the right amount of zing.

For main mum went for the Wild halibut, peas, broad beans and mint which was the dish caught my eye off the a la carte menu and was cooked to perfection mum loved it!

From the set menu I had the Rôti du jour, The roast chicken, this came with selection of vegetables and a wonderful tarragon sauce. This dish was gorgeous the chicken was lovely, moist and the sauce made it! But my goodness it was very filling!!!

I choose a wine from the sommeliers recommendations at the front of the wine list, a French Viognier, Domaine Gayda, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France
it was just right for an afternoon lunch And at £25 it was reasonable price too.

So when we came to dessert we were both full but again let’s face it there is always room for cheese, which we shared. Again plated at the table with a delicious selection of French cheese, which I can never resist!

So as a mummy birthday lunch venue boundary was perfect and believe my mum is hard to please
To be honest the Sunday lunch is next on the list and the roomtop bar now open so if you are in the area pop in!

Two Greedy Italians

Let’s face it as a Foodie, is there such a thing as having too many cookbooks? No of course not!

Through twitter Quadrille publishing asked for some people to review  the latest Italian cookery book Two Greedy Italians, not only are we off to Italy on holiday this year but Italian is one of our favourite cuisine’s, so I signed up!

Two Greedy Italian’s is a collaboration between Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo and is full of amazing photographs of nearly every region in Italy, every recipe has a wonderful narrative as to why they love certain recipes which I love,  most of the recipes don’t have a arm load of ingredients which is typical Italian, just keeping  it simple!

The recipe I chose to try was a fish dish.

 Il Dentice di Gennaro – Gennaro’s Sea Bream.

Serves 4

 4 Sea bream fillets (I used Sea bass)

1 Lemon

6 tbsp extra olive oil

2 Garlic cloves chopped

1 tbsp capers

4 anchovy fillets

200ml white wines

300g cherry tomatoes

Salt and pepper

150g black olives

Place the fish fillets in a bowl, squeeze over the lemon juice and leave marinate for 30 mins.

Preheat the oven 200c.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the chopped garlic , capers and anchovy fillets for a couple of minute’s, until the anchovies have dissolved.  Add half the wine and simmer until evaporated and then add the cherry toms, squash them slightly. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minute’s then add the olives and continue to cook for another five minute’s.

Place the fish in a ovenproof dish (I used a ovenproof frying pan, so placed the fish on top) add the remaining white wine, the sauce and a drizzle of olive oil, cover with foil and bake for  10 minute’s then take the foil off to allow the fish skin to become crispy.

Remove from oven allow to cool and serve with some good bread or new potatoes.

This recipe was wonderful, the flavour of the olives , tomatoes and the fish worked well together. I enjoyed making the dish and this is a wonderful cookbook full of recipes that you will be able to cook at home.

 I would recommend adding this to your Italian cookery book collection!

Two Greedy Italian is widely avialable RRP £20 or at amazon.co.uk  

Hunanese Beef with Cumin

We tried this recipe last friday night as part of our Chinese night in and it was heavenly the technique that “velvets” the beef makes it taste fabulous!

Ingredients

350g Sirloin or fillet steak, trimmed

400ml groundnut oil

2cm fresh root ginger, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

2 salad onions, sliced

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Marinade

1 tbsp chinese cooking wine or Shaoxing wine

½ tsp salt

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1½ tbsp corn flour

Cut the beef into thin slices. Mix the marinade ingredients with 1 tbsp cold water; stir thoroughly until smooth and blended, then stir into the beef.

Heat the oil in a wok to about 140°C or until a cube of bread turns brown or I add a couple of sprinkles of water, once these are bubbling away the oil is ready!

Add the beef and stir gently for 1 minute – this process “velvets” the meat, giving it a soft texture. When the pieces of beef have separated, remove from the oil and drain.

Pour off all but 3 tbsp of the oil. Over a high flame, add the ginger, garlic, chilli, cumin and the salad onions stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Add the beef and stir fry for 2 minutes, seasoning with salt to taste.

When all is sizzlingly, remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve, we had this will sticky rice perfect!

Hotel Chocolat – Eggspose

Sometimes there are good things to be said for re development, especially when they go and build a new city shopping space and there is a Hotel Chocolat store for your other half to pop into when they don’t know what to get for Valentines!

This is how I was introduced to the wonderful Hotel Chocolat, with a box of the love heart truffles. These were delightful and the chocolate was just the right side of sickly sweet, I know that sounds a weird thing to say but I love chocolate and in my opinion you need to keep tasting the high quality chocolate for a few minutes after the first bite!

Well these truffles did just that, therefore when Beth from Jam&Cream PR tweeted for volunteers to taste and review one of Hotel Chocolat’s Easter Eggs, I was very keen indeed.

I received my Hotel Chocolat egg and opened it excitedly as I wasn’t sure exactly which egg I was going to get to review! 

My Egg was their White Chocolate Eggspose Egg

I really like the type set on the box, it gives this egg a grown up look and the use of vivid strawberry colour to go with the little cheeky eight strawberry eggs inside.

The egg itself is an extra thick egg so only one half, but it is double the thickness so you don’t really need a whole egg.

So to the important taste test, I liked the texture of the egg, and the extra thickness. But I have to say that the best bits were the little cheeky strawberry eggs, these were simply gorgeous and it has to be said that I didn’t let Darren have more than two!

Likes : Grown up design, Little Cheeky Strawberry eggs.

Dislikes: The price is £14.00 rrp, so probably a treat for loved one or when treating yourself!!

Raymond Blanc – Observer Food Monthly

In our house the weekend papers are an important part of the weekend enjoyment, and when the Observer Food Monthly arrives its always the one section Darren and I fight over to look at first!

So when I saw it was a French edition and that there were recipes from Raymond Blanc to go with his new book Kitchen Secrets,  I knew that I would cooking at these one soon and we did!

Chicken with morels and sherry wine sauce

This is a great classic of French cuisine and it originates from Raymond’s own region. It is quick and easy to prepare and I agree with Raymond that this dish would certainly make you popular with your friends, Darren loved it!

Serves 4

Preparation: 10 mins, plus 2 hours soaking mushrooms

Cooking: 20 mins

Planning ahead: the dried morels need to be soaked for at least a couple of hours. You can prepare the chicken half an hour in advance and warm it through in the morel sauce to serve.

dried morels 30g, soaked in 250ml water for at least 2 hours (I couldn’t get morels, so I went for dried wild mushrooms cooks ingredients from Waitrose)

organic/free-range chicken breasts 4 (180g each), skinned

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

unsalted butter 15g

firm button mushrooms 250g, washed quickly, patted dry and quartered

dry sherry or Jura wine 120ml

double cream 400ml

For the leeks

medium leeks, trimmed 2 cut into 2cm pieces and washed

boiling water 200ml

pinch of sea salt

unsalted butter 15g

 To prepare the morels or in my case the wild mushrooms, drain the morels, reserving the soaking liquid, and squeeze to extract as much of the liquor as possible. Rinse the morels, drain and squeeze dry. Cut larger morels into smaller pieces; set aside. Pass the reserved liquid through a muslin-lined sieve to remove any sand or grit and save 100ml.

To cook the chicken, season the breasts with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over a medium heat until it is foaming. Add the chicken breasts and colour lightly for 3 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and reserve.

In the fat remaining in the frying pan, soften the soaked morels and button mushrooms together, for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the sherry or wine in a small pan for 30 seconds. Add the sherry or wine to the mushrooms with the reserved morel liquid and a pinch of salt. Pour in the cream and bring to the boil.

Place the chicken breasts back in the pan, making sure the cream sauce covers them. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until they are just cooked through.

To cook the leeks, while the chicken is cooking, put the leeks into a saucepan, pour on the boiling water and add the salt and butter. Cover and cook at a full boil for 5–10 minutes until tender.

To finish the dish, using a slotted spoon, lift out the chicken breasts and place in a warm dish; keep warm. Boil the sauce rapidly to reduce until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Place the chicken breasts back in the sauce to reheat for 2 minutes.

To serve, with a slotted spoon, lift the leeks from their liquid and arrange on warmed plates. Sit the chicken breasts on top and pour the morel sauce over and around.

As Raymond would say Bon appetit!

Pizza East

This Saturday we had an Aria free day with Darren working in town, and we where meeting for a late lunch.  Next came the decision of where to go, we wanted near Liverpool street-Shoreditch and somewhere that we haven’t been to before? Places were suggested and one of them was pizza east, that’s exactly what I wanted thin crispy wood burned pizza!

So off we headed in the direction of the old tea building three minutes walk from Liverpool Street. We were greeted by a large loft type space, bare brick Walls, large glass chandeliers, over to the left were those wood burning ovens, they have a bat where you can sit in front to watch the action, we decided to sit at the bar in the middle, with its salami hanging and the gorgeous Italian cheese in a big cheese glass box. Even though it was late there were still lots of people enjoying the afternoon, the crowd was variety, and good to see some little people, at least we know we can take aria next time, as she loves pizza!

So to the food, the all day menu had a good variety from brunch dishes, scrambled eggs on bruschetta to lamb meatballs, and of course pizza. We shared the calamari to start, which wad lovely, great batter and thickness and the caper aloi was just perfect with it! I went for the spicy sausage, mozzarella, sprouting broccoli pizza and Darren had the salami,tomato,mozzarella,red onion,chilli we matched this with a couple of beers! Both pizzas were wonderfully crispy and not too much crust, not that this would be a problem as they give you a bottle of chilli oil to dip them in! My pizza didn’t have a tomato base instead a creamy garlic sauce to go with the sprouting broccoli which was the right side of garlicly. Darren had chosen a classic pizza and it didn’t disappoint, the salami wasn’t over powering and the tomato base was gorgeous!

The service was very attentive and friendly, we were going to past on dessert; however our waitress said that the salted chocolate Carmel tart was well worth a try well, so we went for it. I’m glad we shared it as it was quite rich, but delicious.

All in all pizza east was a great lunch destination, the pizza didn’t disappoint and I loved the interior and the atmosphere. If you are in the area you should give it a try.