Baking

Divine Roquefort cookies

January 3, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

These just melt in your mouth and are gorgeous to serve with a nice red wine.

Makes 36 small ones

4 oz self raising flour
4 oz butter
2 oz really mature Cheddar cheese
2oz Roquefort or other blue cheese that is pungent
1/2 cup sesame seeds

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the butter
Crumble in the Roquefort.
Grate the cheddar cheese and add to the bowl.
Using your fingers, mix all the ingredients together well to form a dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins to 1 hour.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until golden, stirring and watching they don’t burn.
Remove and set aside to cool.
Roll the dough into 36 balls and toss each ball in the sesame seeds, pressing to coat well.
Place the balls on a greased baking sheet and press on each one lightly with a fork to flatten a bit.
Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes or until golden.
Store them in an air tight container. (but you won’t have any left to store!)

Sweet herring salad with apple and dill

January 3, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

This is so refreshing and tangy and a lovely way to start a meal.

Serves 4 to 6

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
pinch of sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 tart apples, like Granny Smith, cut into thin slices, or bite sized cubes
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp dried dill weed
2 x 8oz jars pickled herring, drained and cut into bite sized pieces
chopped chives for garnish, if you fancy

Combine the sour cream, yoghurt, lemon juice, sugar, sliced onions that have been separated into rings, apple and dill.

Alternate herring and sour cream mixture in layers in a dish.

Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours or more.

Serve very cold

Accompaniments · Gluten Free · Vegan · Whole30 compliant

Great caramelized onions in your slow cooker

January 3, 2014January 5, 2017 Belinda

Now you can do a heap of caramelized onions and not have to watch them incase they burn. Do far more than you need, and freeze them in small containers for up to 3 months. Perfect!

Makes several cups

5 large yellow onions
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or melted butter, or a mixture of the two
1/2 tsp salt
Optional: 1/2 to 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

You will need a 4 to 6 qt slow cooker

Thinly slice all the onions; Peel and thinly slice all of the onions into half moons. Transfer all the onions to the slow cooker. The slow cooker should be 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Toss the onions with the olive oil; Drizzle the olive oil/melted butter, the salt and the fresh thyme, if using, over the top of the onions. Toss evenly to coat all the onions with a thin glaze of oil

Cook for 10 hours on LOW; Cover the slow cooker and cook for 10 hours on LOW. If you’re around while the onions are cooking, stir them occasionally – this will help them cook more evenly, but isn’t strictly necessary.
After 10 hours, the onions will be golden-brown and soft and they will have released a lot of liquid. If you like them as they are now, stop cooking and pack them up.

Optional, and worth it – cook for an additional 3 to 5 hours with the lid ajar; If you’d like jammier, more concentrated onions with a deep color, continue cooking for another 3 to 5 hours on LOW. Leave the lid ajar so the liquid can evaporate.
Check every hour and stop the cooking whenever the onions reach your desired doneness and taste good to you

Appetizer Vegetarian · Appetizers · Gluten Free · Grains

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!