Griddled polenta cakes with caramelized onions, goat cheese and honey

January 3, 2014February 7, 2016 Belinda

This is a real winner, especially as a starter. Crispy polenta topped with sweet caramelized onions, slightly tangy goat cheese, then the drizzle of good honey.
You can caramelize the onions ahead of time so there’s very little left to do before you serve it. I always caramelize more onion than the recipe says as I love it.

Serves 6

Polenta
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup polenta
Extra virgin olive oil

Topping
1 medium yellow onion, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices. ( I use 1 large onion at least)
kosher salt
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled (I have been known to use 4 oz goat cheese, so buy more, just incase)
good honey to drizzle

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring 2 cups water, the milk and the salt to a boil.
Slowly whisk in the polenta. Turn the heat down and continue to whisk for 5 minutes, or until the polenta is smooth and creamy. Spread the polenta into a 9” square baking dish and set aside to cool.

For the topping;
While the polenta is setting up, add the butter and olive oil to a heavy bottomed skillet set over medium low heat. Add the onion and a sprinkle of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, golden and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.

Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil into another skillet set over medium heat. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles of the firm polenta and place in the hot skillet.
Cook until slightly browned and crusty on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook the other side, another 3 minutes. Work in batches, adding more oil as needed.

To assemble the polenta cakes, arrange them on a plate, top with 1 tbsp (or more) of caramelized onions and about 1 tsp (or more) of crumbled goat cheese and drizzle with honey.

Gluten Free · Meat

The Meatzza!

January 2, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

You will just love this, especially as it tastes so good and instead of a crust, it has a meatball-ingredient base with all the pizza qualities. You could even try it with an Italian sausagemeat base too. It doesn’t get much better than this. Thank you Nigella Lawson.

Serves 4 to 6

1 lb ground lamb
3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp breadcrumbs or quick cooking oatmeal, but not the instant one
3 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 clove garlic, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
butter, for greasing
1 x 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp garlic flavored oil
1 tsp dried oregano
4 oz fresh mozzarella (not buffalo) halved then sliced
a few fresh basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 F

In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the lamb, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs or oatmeal, parsley and eggs. Grate in (or mince and add) the garlic and add some salt and pepper.
Do not over work it, just lightly mix together or the meat will become compacted and dense.

Butter a shallow, round baking pan of about 11 inches in diameter and turn the meat into it, pressing the mixture lightly with your fingers to cover the bottom as if the seasoned ground meat were your pizza crust.

Make sure you’ve drained as much runny liquid as possible from the can of diced tomatoes, then mix the tomato with the garlic flavored oil, oregano and some salt and pepper and spread, using a rubber spatula, lightly on top of the meat base.
Arrange the mozzarella slices on top then put in the oven for about 25 minutes, by which time the meat should be cooked through and lightly set and the mozzarella melted.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, then adorn with some of the fresh basil leaves and bring it to the table before cutting into wedges, like a pizza.

Asian flavors · Gluten Free · Poultry

Tandoori chicken bites with a yoghurt lime-mint dipping sauce

January 1, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

Lovely, simple and light. A good, low calorie appetizer from a fellow blogger

2 lbs chicken breast or thigh cut into bite sized pieces

Marinade
1/3 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp Garam Masala powder
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and black pepper

Yoghurt lime-mint dipping sauce

1 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 small handful fresh mint, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I roast my own before grinding)
Juice of half a lime or a full lime if it’s not too juicy
1 clove garlic crushed
salt to taste

Mix all sauce ingredients together, stir well and allow to chill for a few minutes before serving.

Marinate the chicken with the yoghurt and spices for about 6 to 8 hours in the fridge, but bring it back to room temperature (sit out on the counter about 30 to 45 minutes) before cooking.

Place chicken bites onto a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with oil.

Set the oven to broil and broil for about 8 minutes per side until fully cooked. (165 F internal temperature)

Serve with the sauce and enjoy!

Asian flavors · Curry · Gluten Free · Meat

Thai pork and peanut curry

December 31, 2013September 13, 2018 Belinda

This is the last recipe for 2013! Happy New Year to you all and thank you so much for signing up to the blog.

This was the top BBC Good Food recipe for 2013 and is well worth doing.

Serves 4

Use a fragrant hot red curry base (available in Asian markets) as the base to this curry dish with baby sweet corn, cilantro and soy sauce.

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bunch scallions (spring onions) sliced
a small bunch fresh cilantro, stalks finely chopped, leaves picked
1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced
4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
4 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
a 14 fl oz can of coconut milk (you can use light coconut milk too)
1/2 a 14 oz tin of baby corn, drained
juice of 1 lime
steamed Jasmine rice, to serve

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or flameproof Dutch oven.
Add the scallions and cilantro stalks and cook for 1 minute. Add the pork slices and cook for 5 mins until starting to brown.
Stir in the curry paste and peanut butter.
After 30 seconds, add the sugar, soy sauce and coconut milk, plus 1/2 can water.
Mix well, put a lid on and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the lid, add the baby corn and increase the heat.
Bubble for 3 minutes until the corn is heated through and the sauce has thickened a little.
Stir in the lime juice and check the seasoning.

* It can now be frozen for up to 2 months at this point

To cook from frozen, thoroughly defrost, then heat in a pan on the hob until the curry is hot all the way through.
Serve scattered with the cilantro leaves and steamy hot Jasmine rice

Asian flavors · Fish · Pasta

Addicting Asian sesame garlic noodles

December 27, 2013November 13, 2022 Belinda1 Comment

This recipe is to die for and you won’t be able to stop eating them. You can serve this dish hot or at room temperature and is perfect for a pot luck as you can make the sauce ahead of time, prep whatever you’re going to add to the noodles, and just cook the spaghetti nearer the serving time.
You can augment this recipe as much as you want, but be careful with the red pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you like it.

These noodles are great just with a few chopped scallions added, but you can also add;
cooked prawns
chopped cilantro
chopped scallions
cooked chicken pieces
chopped red pepper
corn

Sauce recipe for 1/2 lb spaghetti. If making 3/4 lb spaghetti for 4 people, double the sauce recipe. You need the extra sauce as it gets soaked up by the hot noodles.

The Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 large garlic cloves, chopped roughly
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup vegetable or avocado oil

Add the sauce ingredients to a food processor.
Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water, according to the instructions of the packet. Drain the pasta and put it into a large bowl and add the sauce into the hot drained pasta.
Add anything else you want and toss well.
Enjoy!

Vegetable sides · Vegetable-related

Roasted pesto, parmesan vegetable traybake

December 11, 2013January 10, 2016 Belinda

Yesterday, I did another traybake. I was on my own so decided to cut up a whole pile of vegetables, toss them with a container of pesto sauce from Trader Joes, lots of garlic, and when they were 3/4 through with the roasting, I threw at least half a container of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese over everything and roasted it till it was all melted and browned.
It was divine and so healthy!

Preheat oven to 350 F

Vegetables

You can choose whatever is in your fridge, but I used;
3 leeks, sliced into 1 inch slices
1lb Brussel Sprouts, trimmed
1/2 large cauliflower broken into florets
2 large red onions, cubed into 1 “ pieces
2 Delicata squash, unpeeled and cubed into 1” pieces
2 zucchini, cut into 1 “ slices

6 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 container Trader Joes pesto sauce (8oz)

6 oz (at least) grated Parmigano Reggiano

Put all the vegetables into a very large bowl then season well and add the garlic and pesto sauce.

Mix together well with your hands and tip all the contents out onto a large baking tray with shallow sides, like the one in the picture.

Roast the vegetables for 25 mins then turn all the vegetables to avoid burning and continue to roast for another 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with plenty of grated cheese and return to oven, turning the oven up to 400F for another 15 to 20 minutes until toasty and melted.

Serve on it’s own, or with a salad

Poultry

Chicken “Gloria”

December 7, 2013February 7, 2016 Belinda

There is something about this dish. I always hesitate before putting recipes on my blog with any form of tinned soup in them, but this is just way too good not to and it’s “gloriously” delicious and comforting.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and filleted in half lengthways
1/3 cup flour
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 8oz container of fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sherry
1 small can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup whole milk
6 slices of Muenster cheese
3 tbsp chopped fresh italian parsley
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, dredge lightly in flour to coat both sisdes. Shake off the excess.
Add oil to a frying pan and brown the chicken in batches on both sides. You don’t need to cook the chicken completely. It will finish cooking in the oven.
Transfer the chicken to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Add the butter to the frying pan and let it melt over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and brown them until golden. Then add the sherry and cook for another minutes or two.
Add the creamy mushroom soup and milk and mix well.

Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts, cover with foil and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top each piece of chicken with one slice of Muenster cheese. You can fold the cheese in half if it is too wide for the breast.

Place the chicken back in the oven, uncovered and broil for 1 to 2 minutes to brown the cheese.
Remove from the oven, top with the chopped fresh parsley and serve.