Lamb Steaks with a spiced tomato sauce

The main reason why I wanted to try this recipe is because I’ve never really cooked much lamb before doing my recipes, and whenever I did have lamb, it was pretty much just roasted, so I wanted the chance to make something different with the lamb.

This may not have been the recipe I was looking for thought...

Serves 2 – Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients:

·         2 tsp Cumin Seeds

·         1 tsp Coriander Seeds

·         1 Garlic Clove, Finely Chopped,

·         Olive oil

·         4 lamb leg steaks

·         400g tin chopped tomatoes

·         A small handful coriander, chopped

·         Brown basmati rice, cooked to serve.

Now for the How To:

·         Gently crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar.

·         Fry the crushed spices and garlic in 1 tbsp oil for a minute or two, and then add the lamb and brown on both sides.

·         Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 8 – 10 minutes.

·         Stir the coriander through the tomato sauce and serve with brown basmati rice. 

Even though the dish calls for coriander, it really isn’t for me, but I heard that most people that don’t like the herb, they can at least stand the seeds etc. Turns out not me, I didn’t have a pestle and mortar and so I used a rolling pin and a cup to crush the seeds, but with every mouthful all I could taste was the coriander and it completely ruined the dish for me.

The lamb by itself was very tasty as long as it didn’t have any sauce on it, I'm sure everyone else would like it, my dad thought it was very tasty, but for me, it was just a step too far with the coriander!

I must stay away from recipes involving coriander, at least then I may actually enjoy them!

What is the one type of food, or drink that you have to stay away from? Something you can’t stand regardless of the form it comes in?

Next recipe is Chorizo, New Potato & Haddock!

Bye for Now! x

Lamb Steaks with a spiced tomato sauce

The main reason why I wanted to try this recipe is because I’ve never really cooked much lamb before doing my recipes, and whenever I did have lamb, it was pretty much just roasted, so I wanted the chance to make something different with the lamb.

This may not have been the recipe I was looking for thought...

Serves 2 – Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients:

·         2 tsp Cumin Seeds

·         1 tsp Coriander Seeds

·         1 Garlic Clove, Finely Chopped,

·         Olive oil

·         4 lamb leg steaks

·         400g tin chopped tomatoes

·         A small handful coriander, chopped

·         Brown basmati rice, cooked to serve.

Now for the How To:

·         Gently crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar.

·         Fry the crushed spices and garlic in 1 tbsp oil for a minute or two, and then add the lamb and brown on both sides.

·         Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 8 – 10 minutes.

·         Stir the coriander through the tomato sauce and serve with brown basmati rice.

Even though the dish calls for coriander, it really isn’t for me, but I heard that most people that don’t like the herb, they can at least stand the seeds etc. Turns out not me, I didn’t have a pestle and mortar and so I used a rolling pin and a cup to crush the seeds, but with every mouthful all I could taste was the coriander and it completely ruined the dish for me.

The lamb by itself was very tasty as long as it didn’t have any sauce on it, I'm sure everyone else would like it, my dad thought it was very tasty, but for me, it was just a step too far with the coriander!

I must stay away from recipes involving coriander, at least then I may actually enjoy them!

What is the one type of food, or drink that you have to stay away from? Something you can’t stand regardless of the form it comes in?

Next recipe is Chorizo, New Potato & Haddock!

Bye for Now! x

Summer Pork & Potatoes

Every recipe I cook I thought I had always uploaded the pictures to twitter, however I discovered that this isn’t the case, and I somehow missed posting a couple of pictures via twitpic! I have no idea how I forgot as I pretty much live on twitter but nevertheless, I have now added to twitter and it’s getting its time on my blog!

Serves 4 – cooks in 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 minutes (including prep)

Ingredients:

·         750g new potatoes

·         500g vine-ripened tomatoes

·         2 garlic cloves

·         3 – 4 sprigs rosemary

·         4 pork chops / steaks.

Now for the How To:

·         Preheat the oven to 200C / 180C fan / Gas 6.

·         Wash the potatoes, but there isn’t a need to peel them. Cut into thickish slices.

·         Cook in boiling water for 6-8 minutes until almost tender and then drain.

·         Slice the tomatoes to the same thickness.

·         Chop the garlic and strip the rosemary from its stalks and chop fairly finely.

·         Drizzle a little olive oil in the base of a shallow oven proof dish (has to be wide enough to take the pork in one layer)

·         Arrange rows of potatoes and tomatoes across the dish, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go and sprinkling with half of the rosemary and all the garlic.

·         Drizzle a few more tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables and bake for 15 minutes.

·         Sit the pork on top, season and sprinkle with the remaining rosemary.

·         Return to the oven for 35-45 minutes, until the pork and potatoes are tender. 

I will admit, this isn’t the best photograph of any dish, and the pork looks a bit pale, but I don’t think my oven was at the correct temperature, and making sure it’s hot enough will ensure its more golden.

I thought it was a tasty dish, and it was a new way for me to have pork, the meat was tender, the tomatoes melted down and became a brilliant little sauce and really tasty, the potatoes had a lovely roasted taste to them, and all together the dish was a success. I think I just need to take better pictures, as I don’t think they ever do the food justice.

I don’t think I’ve had any major disasters yet with my cooking, I'm waiting for that day! What’s the worst mistake you’ve made while cooking!

Next recipe is Thai Prawn Curry!

Bye for Now!x

Last Weeks Recipe : Moroccan Lamb

This recipe will get me up to date with all the recipes I have tried. Well, until tomorrow at least, but I swear next time I'm not going to do a mass update on my recipes, itll be once a week, I swear I don’t know where the time goes, it’ll be the weekend again before you know it! Anyway, last week I made Moroccan Lamb.

Serves 4 – ready in 45 minutes, including prep

Ingredients:

·         500g lamb neck fillets, cut into bite sized pieces

·         2 tsp paprika

·         3 tsp ground cinnamon

·         2 x 400g cans of chopped tomato with olive oil and garlic

·         1 tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to serve.

·         Chilli Flakes

Now for the How To:

·         Heat a large, non-stick frying pan, without adding any extra oil, cook the lamb well on all sides.

·         Tip in the spices and fry for a minute until aromatic

·         Pour in the chopped tomatoes, chilli flakes and parsley, bring to the boil and then summer gentle with a lid on for 30 minutes or until the lamb is tender.

·         Served sprinkled with parsley

It is a very easy and simple recipe. I don’t think traditionally chilli flakes are supposed to be added to the recipe, but I added them and it lifted the dish nicely, I think without them it would be a bit too much tomato. But it was very tasty, you could make out the paprika and the flavour of the ground cinnamon, and its worth a try, I served it with rice just to add some substance to the dish, but you could serve it with cous cous, or even mash potato if you wanted to, it was quick and easy, and tasted brilliant the next day.

Tomorrow I am making Paella, I have never tried it before let alone made it so fingers crossed it goes well, it’s mixed sea food, so I will be using squid, prawns and muscles! Interesting times ahead

Out of the recipes I have attempted so far, which is your favourite?

Bye for Now!x

Sicillian Style Fish Stew

Last week I made Sicilian Style Fish Stew, it didn’t quite turn out how I expected, but I will come to that later

Serves 2 – ready in 30 minutes (including prep)

Ingredients:

·         Olive oil

·         1 onion, halved and finely sliced

·         2 celery stalks, sliced

·         3 garlic cloves, sliced

·         1 anchovy, rinsed (this is an optional extra)

·         Pinch of chilli flakes

·         2 plum tomatoes, diced

·         125 ml white wine (another optional extra, if not using white add 125ml more of stock)

·         400 ml vegetable stock (a cube is fine it’s what I used)

·         50g cous cous

·         250g white fish fillet, from a sustainable source (I used coley, it was very tasty)

·         ½ lemon, zested

·         A handful of chopped parsley

Now for the How To:

·         Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a wide, shallow pan. Add the onion, celery, garlic, the anchovy (if you are using it) and the chilli flakes. Season and cook for 10 minutes

·         Add the tomatoes and cook for another couple of minutes.

·         Pour in the white wine (if using) and stock and bring to a boil, cook for two minutes.

·         Add the cous cous and turn down to a simmer and add the fish.

·         Cover with a lid and cook until the fish is done, about 5 – 7 minutes.

·         Divide between 2 dishes, breaking the fish into large pieces (or you can leave them as the fillets its personal choice) sprinkle over the lemon zest and parsley to finish. 

As I said at the start of the post, it wasn’t really what I expected, I thought it would be thick and with a lot of juice and more stew like, but I think I added too much of the cous cous and not enough of the stock, so instead of having a sauce with it, the cous cous absorbed all of the liquid leaving it with more just cous cous and fish, this being said it was still very tasty, the fish was very tender, and the cous cous which is normally really bland was full of flavour from the chilli, garlic and seasoning, it is worth trying the recipe but try not to make the same mistake I did so you have it more stew like.

What is your favourite recipe? Or what is your signature dish? Any suggestions what I should cook over the next few weeks?

Bye for Now! X

New Recipe : Tomato Soup With Marmite Twists

The latest recipe I tried was “Tomato Soup with Cheese & Marmite Twists” it was a very easy recipe and I must say very tasty, although I would make a couple of amendments if I am to do it again but I’ll come to those later.

Serves 4 - Ready in 50 minutes (it can be done quicker depends how good you are at multi-tasking)

Ingredients:

For the Twists:

• 50g Red Leicester or Cheddar cheese

• 1 sheet of ready to use puff pastry

• 2 tsp of Marmite (or English mustard, I made both)

For the Soup:

• 1 large onion

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 8 large tomatoes

• 400ml vegetable stock

• 4 tbsp tomato ketchup

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• 300 ml double cream

Now for the how to:

• Preheat oven to 200c/180c fan/ gas mark 6. Finely grate the cheese. Unravel the pastry, spread evenly with the marmite (or mustard) then sprinkle the cheese on top. Fold the pastry in half to make a sandwich and press down well.

• Cut the pastry into 12 equal strips, carefully twist each strip and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown, leave for 5 minutes to firm up a little, remove from the baking tray and allow to cool.

• Halve the onion, peel and chop it. Fry in the oil for about 5 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon until soft but not coloured, as this will spoil the colour of the soup later.

• Chop the tomatoes; add to the pan with the stock, ketchup and oregano. Season. Bring to the boil, and then turn to a low heat. Cover the pan, and summer for 15 minutes until tomatoes are soft.

• Tip the cream into the soup, heat gently, stirring with the wooden spoon until it just starts to bubble. Don’t boil as the cream may curdle. Ladle into bowls and serve with the cheese and marmite straws.

The cooking time can be shorter if you prepare the twists as the onions are cooking and the straws can cook as the tomatoes are cooking dramatically reducing the cooking time. After making both the marmite straws and the mustard straws, we found the marmite straws went with the soup better, it mixed really well with the cheese, and they were a firm favourite (in fact we ate the left over straws as a snack later that day)

Another amendment I would make next time is either to peel the tomatoes by scoring the skin and pouring hot water over them, the skin is then easily removed, or I would blend the mixture before adding the cream, I whizzed it slightly with my hand blender, but bit of skin were still present, or the final option is to sift the soup before adding the cream to get rid of any residue skin / seeds. But this didn’t subtract from the taste of the soup, it was very tasty and incredibly filling! It’s a must try!

Not really something to have regularly due to the double cream, it’s a hefty 912 calories per serving! Instead of using double cream, you can always use crème fraiche for a slightly lower calorie option.

I'm still undecided on what to cook this week. I will have to decide soon as I'm supposed to be making it tomorrow!

Bye for now!x